Brothers in Arms

Shadow: A Sagacious Spy

"I'm back, hun!" I glance up as Rouge walks in, her smiling eyes and mischievous grin falling at my tetchy, aggravated appearance. "Oh, hun," she says, fluttering over, bags in her hand forgotten. "What's wrong?"

"I talked to Topaz. He is being monitored. So, it was just me, after all." My ears fold down, flattening themselves against my skull as I scowl. I still can't believe I ever made such a blasted stupid mistake. What kind of Ultimate Lifeform forgets such a crucial detail?

"Shadow, everyone makes mistakes," Rouge comforts, putting a friendly hand on my shoulder, having obviously understood my ambiguous sentences. I don't shrug it off, but I'm tempted to. I don't like being around other people when I'm angry, and Rouge is no exception, despite being my best friend.

"Yes, but not in front of their Commander. Now he thinks I'm just shirking blame."

"He does not. He knows you better than that. If anything, you were trying to be responsible when you expressed concerns Eclipse was messing with you. I mean, what if you hadn't come to him, and you were being manipulated? It's much better that you make that mistake, rather than trying to deal with something yourself."

"It's much better if I make no mistake at all."

"Shadow, that's ridiculous," Rouge frowns. "You can't expect yourself to be perfect."

"I don't. I just expect myself not to make stupid, irresponsible blunders. Which I seem to be failing at."I cross my arms, huffing dejectedly.

"Shadow, it's fine--"

"It's not fine!" I growl. "What if I do something like that again, and it costs lives? What if it already has? That's bad enough. But, to think I figured out why I forgot only to find out it was my fault and make an utter fool of myself...! How is Tower going to trust me after that? I'm a tenuous hero as it is, and now he's seen firsthand how unreliable I am. Again."

"Shadow, you're a great hero! So what that you forgot one detail?"

"So what?!" I gape at her, not understanding this lack of concern she's showing. "Rouge, I could have compromised the whole mission! I could have let Eclipse attack the Commander at close range!"

"But you didn't! So stop worrying about it so much!"

"I--"

"Could you have done anything to anticipate him, anyways? If he had decided to destroy G.U.N.'s leadership on a whim anytime before this, you wouldn't have had any warning! But, he might have had the Dark Arms near the mission location, and you're acting like it's some huge deal? Think about it, Shadow! Why is this so important, anyways?"

"It's important because I screwed up!" I reply angrily. "I didn't just forget the Chaos signals; I also falsely accused Eclipse. Have you stopped to think why G.U.N. didn't tell me they were monitoring him?" I freeze as soon as the words are out of my mouth. I haven't stopped to think why, but, now, the question looms. "Does the Commander have any trust in me at all?" I ask quietly, feeling a bit shattered by the thought.

"Shadow, listen to me, alright?" Rouge sits down next to me, turning to look me right in the eye. I stare at her, surprised and unsure what she's doing. "For one thing, you only saw the Commander when Eclipse was first brought to G.U.N. After escorting Sharkboy for an hour or so, you went right to bed. The scientists were probably still setting everything up; and, you know Abe doesn't sleep hardly at all. You were probably asleep when he got confirmation the monitoring was working. Was Abe supposed to wake you up? No one expected a problem at four in the morning on the first day Eclipse was here.

"Second, even if he had an opportunity to tell you about watching Fireeyes' mind, he might not have wanted to in case it didn't work properly. If you thought your mind was safe, you would have been way more susceptible to manipulation than you would be when you were suspicious. I'm sure he would want you on the highest guard. It's not anything against you, it's just--"