I Am...All of Me

Office Drama pt. 3

A/N: I promise I will finish the Prime!Shadow fic! I'm still workshopping it, but I already had this chapter in my drafts and wanted to share.

Let me know what you think!
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"Shoot!"

Sometimes, Gertruda loved her job. Watching agents stumble in on Monday morning after a long weekend would always be hilarious. Without fail, every week, someone would forget something, trip out drowsiness, or leave their professionalism at the door after spending several days without it.

She never expected Agent Shadow the Hedgehog, resident ultimate lifeform, to perform all three actions . . . within the same hour.

Team Dark entered the base at 7:00 a.m., a very rare occurrence. Gertruda had barely logged in and had only finished half of her first cup of coffee when they walked in.

Omega stomped in as usual, fully charged and ready to cause mayhem. Rouge flew a few inches off the ground, wide awake with her nocturnal nature still working in her favor for a few more hours. Shadow, on the other hand, walked in with a drowsy shuffle, almost tripping over his own feet before catching himself. As he came closer to the receptionist's desk, he checked his quills in a way Gertruda had seen other mobians do when they stored small objects for travel.

She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she wished she could also store things in her hair like Shadow did.

However, this morning, he stopped and ran both hands through his quills with the barely concealed frantic energy of someone who'd forgotten something.

Rouge's heels clacked on the tile as she landed. "Everything all right, handsome?"

"Forgot my phone," he growled.

"It was not on its charging port this morning," Omega stated helpfully.

Gertruda absently made a note that Team Dark lived together. She always assumed they carpooled or something.

"I think I left it—" Shadow cut himself off.

Rouge's grin turned, for lack of a better word, predatory. "This wouldn't have anything to do with me having to bail you and a certain someone out of jail this weekend, does it?"

Crimson eyes slid over and caught Gertruda's gaze for a split second. She didn't even pretend she wasn't listening at this point. This was gossip gold.

"Never mind," he sighed, "I'll grab it after work."

Rouge cackled as her partner strode through the door to the base, Omega marching in behind him. The pearly bat gave the receptionist a wink and a wave as she strutted in last, her heels clicking with the confidence of a woman who knew how to cause mischief.

Gertruda couldn't believe it. Shadow had to be bailed out of jail? And from the sound of it, he wasn't alone either. She needed more information. So she pulled out her personal cellphone and began texting her more reliable sources in the group chat Agent Liz Marcy had made.

Shadow and an unknown had to be bailed out of jail this weekend. Does anyone know anything?

Chances were, with such a high profile operative like Shadow, something about it would be posted on social media. However, Gertruda could begrudgingly admit that she failed to understand a lick of those sites. Hence why she sent the younger gossip bees to work.

Marcy was the first to reply with an incoherent string of capital letters followed by a promise to look into it.

Marcy: Just remembered! That text I mentioned from someone named Rose. They were talking abt a concert this wknd. There has 2b a connection!

A few other agents replied possible theories, and Gertruda was surprised by the potential undercover romance story between Shadow and the pink hedgehog who'd delivered breakfast last week.

Her work phone buzzed, and the old receptionist allowed the gossip channels to do their thing while she tended to the job she was actually paid to do. Once she gets a free moment, she'll check back.

The phone call lasted a full twenty minutes longer than expected, and Gertruda sighed to herself when she was finally able to hang up. She swiped her computer mouse to wake up the screen and send an email up to Director Wallace.

"Hello?"

Gertruda startled, accidentally typing a string of letters that she thankfully didn't send. She looked up, and her eyes widened behind her glasses.

The same pink hedgehog who'd delivered breakfast last week winced and gave an awkward wave. Her bakery uniform was replaced by a red, sleeveless, white-striped dress with matching boots and a headband to pull back her short quills. Solid gold bangles not unlike Shadow's inhibitor rings hung on her wrists.

Gertruda squinted. Why did she look so familiar without the bakery uniform? What an awful time to blank out!

The hedgehog looked back and forth and waved a black phone in one hand. "Um, so uh, funny story," she laughed awkwardly, "You probably don't even remember me, but I know Team Dark, and Shadow kinda left his phone? I don't wanna get him in trouble, so, uh, yeah I am came here."

She smiled tightly and tugged on her bangs with her free hand. "Sorry, I tend to ramble. But can you make sure this gets to Shadow?"

Gertruda eyed the phone and then the pink hedgehog. She should just take the phone and send it up to the dark agent or summon him here to pick it up himself. But maybe someone inside would recognize her more easily, and getting her network a visual could help them create a more accurate story about why their top agent was incarcerated over the weekend.

The pink hedgehog looked too adorable to be the one causing trouble, but then, that could be exactly what she relied on to get away with things if the mafia story had any weight to it.

"I'll need to see your ID."

The mobian blinked. "What?"

"To get a guest badge," she elaborated, "I can't handle other agent's devices, so you'll need to deliver it yourself."

"Oh! I guess that makes sense. Here."

The girl pulled a thin red wallet with a white, all-too-familiar spiral in the bottom corner. She rambled about how mobians didn't use physical ID cards and how she was fortunate to remember her wallet, but Gertruda was already distracted by the symbol. It was Agent Shadow's personal signature and the unofficial signet of Team Dark as a unit.

The receptionist knew some of the heroes had their own merch, but there was no way Shadow agreed to that, which meant two things. Either the wallet was personally designed, or Rouge agreed to a marketing campaign behind his back.

Gertruda scanned the ID automatically and handed it back. A few seconds later, a name badge with her picture and name printed on it slid out of the scanner.

Amy Rose.

"You're Amy Rose!"

The pink hedgehog beamed. "That's me!"

"You were a commander in the war against Infinite and Dr. Eggman."

Amy laughed. The girlish, adorable sound didn't compute with the older woman. "I was! But after it ended, and things finally settled down, I decided to expand my horizons a little bit, you know? Do something I love that doesn't require bashing bots."

She was a war commander who giggled and baked. Gertruda couldn't quite wrap her mind around it, so she handed Amy her name badge and allowed her to enter the main doors.

"Team Dark's office is on the ninth floor."

"Thanks! Nice to meet you!" Amy replied and almost skipped through the door before catching herself. "Wait! What's your name?"

"Gertruda."

"Nice to meet you, Gertruda! Thanks again."

The receptionist waited until the other was fully out of sight before opening her personal cell. Her team needed to see this. It changed everything.