Chapter Text
The processing department was a soul-sucking black hole of never ending paperwork. A carousel of the worst of the worst offenders needing to be sent to No Zone prison in order to keep the multiverses nice and tidy. And that's just how Zonic liked it.
He hung up his visor on the well worn hook by his office door and shook out his quills. He’d had a long day of running around on patrol and the last thing he needed to do before punching out was tackle the mountain of papers on his desk. Each file was an arrest. Some that he’d made, some from the rest of his team that needed double-checked, and some were files that he took on to try and alleviate the stress on the rookies.
The work is never done , he thought, plopping down in his office chair and picking up a pen.
Several hours went by in a blink. It wasn't until Zonic heard a soft knock on the door that he even realized the time.
“Come in,” he called out, signing one of the final files with a flourish.
“Are you ever leaving Sarge, or do we need to drag you out by the quills?” Zespio teased, walking into the office with Zails in tow.
Zonic smirked at his old partner and leaned back into his chair, “I’d like to see you try. The real question is why you two are still here. Didn't you finish your patrols already?”
“We got a live one in interrogation room four,” Zails explained, Zonic could see a bruise blooming on his cheek, the skin starting to swell, “Repeat offender brought in for suspicious behavior but we have to add assaulting an officer to it as well now.”
“Repeat, huh?” Zonic hummed, “Don't leave me in suspense. Anyone I’d know by name?”
“You could say that,” Zespio smirked, “It's Scourge.”
Zonic furrowed his brow and pushed a knuckle to his temple. Of course it was Scourge. The biggest pain in his ass he could think of, a two-bit zone hopper pest turned into a nightmare. He and his old gang had staged and completed the largest jailbreak in history that was still being cleaned up.
When the jailbreak had first occurred, the Zone Cops had been spread so thin with their war on Eggman Nega, there had been no resources to chase after Scourge and the Destructix and whoever else got away in the chaos. The warden was pissed but it was out of Zonic's hands. They would just assume the offenders went home and would be their respective zone’s problems. As long as they weren't messing with the delicate structure of the multiverse, Zonic really didn't give a shit.
But the war with Nega was over and Zonic had only just started to wash his hands of the whole jailbreak mess. The ones that had gotten away weren't dangerous enough to track down to throw back in jail. And the really dangerous ones, the ones that could do actual harm to the multiverse, were re-captured and placed in the new max security facility. But Anti-Sonic? A pest who had gone relatively quiet and hadn't been seen zone hopping or trying to disrupt anchor zones? It wasn't worth the time, resources, or effort. Zonic hadn't even given him a second thought.
“What was suspicious about his behavior?” Zonic inquired. Zespio and Zails exchanged a look before passing over the file.
“He was skulking around an active crime scene,” Zespio spoke up as Zonic opened to the arresting paperwork, “Under ropes and kicking up evidence.”
Zonic sighed and rubbed a hand over his tired eyes, “Why?”
“We don't know, that's why we came in. He says he won't talk to anyone but you.”
Of course , Zonic lamented. He rubbed his face and pointed at the rookie fox, “When did he punch you?”
Zails’ muzzle dusted pink as Zespio coughed to cover a laugh behind him, “When I went to put the inhibitor collar on him, sir. He started swinging.”
“Well, you're lucky it was just his fists,” Zonic stood and grabbed the file, making his way to the door, “He mauled the arm of the last guy to collar him with his teeth. That thing was torn to ribbons. Pretty sure you could see the bone.”
Zails went white with this new information as Zespio and Zonic tried to keep straight faces. He may be a sergeant, but he still liked to haze the newbies when he could.
“You guys get out of here, I'll take over from here. I know you've been pulling doubles since the Prism Incident.”
“Thanks, Sarge,” Zespio gave a mock salute and took off towards the locker rooms, Zails slightly shaken but following close behind.
“And get some ice on that cheek,” Zonic called out after them. He hoped they heard him but it was unlikely as they were already chatting away about hitting up Zamy's bar. Zonic shook his head. Sometimes it was like he was babysitting all day long.
He walked the long hallway from his offices down to the interrogation room, stopping briefly in the break room to pour a coffee. He had a sinking suspicion he was in for a long night.
“Hey bud, you're still not home yet?”
Zonic turned to the familiar sound of Zector, “Funny, you're the second person to ask me that in so many hours. I'd think you were trying to get rid of me.”
“You're a workaholic, Nic. I keep telling you that,” Zector sighed, walking around him to pour his own cup of coffee, “You need a better work-life balance.”
“I'll try and keep that in mind. But the real question is, why are you still here?”
Zector’s face fell as he looked slightly bashful and ashamed, “Hiding.”
“From….?”
“Home,” Zector sighed again, much deeper this time, and sunk into a break room chair, “These teens are driving me crazy. Zharmy can't keep out of trouble and Zream is going through this whole rebellious phase. What happened to my sweet kids? Zanilla is no help either what with her new business. She's out of the house majority of the time so whatever punishment I give the kids doesn't stick.”
“Yeesh. Well, you wanted to be a family man.”
Zector gave Zonic a leveled look over his mug, “And it's worth every minute. Even the bad parts. Better than going home to an empty house after looking over this case file all day.”
Zonic's ears perked up, “Which case?”
“No, no. Don't do that. I see that look in your eye, Nic,” Zector half-chuckled, “You've got full case loads already. ‘Sides, it's dead in the water till we get a new lead.”
Zonic sat with Zector at the break room table now, attention grabbed. He held his hand out expectant for the file. Zector relinquished it with a heavy sigh and a warning.
“This isn't just some zone hopper. It gets pretty graphic in there. Don't say I didn't warn you, kid.”
Zonic scoffed, “I'm only two years younger than you, don't call me kid.”
He flipped open the file and his stomach turned. He wouldn't admit it but Zector was right. The sights were graphic. Photographs of corpses, bloody murder scenes, were laid out in front of him.
“No discernable patterns to the killings,” Zector rattled off, his tone level and unbothered, “All in different zones. All with different weapons. The victims are all different ages, backgrounds, species, and zone categorizations.”
“So how do you all know it's done by the same person?” Zonic asked as he flipped through the dozens and dozens of bodies.
“Because each of our fifty-seven victims have the exact same markings sliced into their chest,” Zector said, flipping to the back of the thick case file. Photographic evidence of twin parallel straight line scars, no longer than a thumb, sat diagonally on the sternum of each victim. One slightly offset from the other. The lines were cut with obvious precision. Even the victims that looked like they had been torn to shreds with little thought involved had the same care given to their markings.
“So you think it's a serial killer?”
“I know it's one,” Zector nodded, “We haven't had a body in months though. There's never any DNA evidence left at the scene except the victims. No witnesses to canvas. No security footage to comb through. Majority of them aren't even reported missing persons. It's like, the bodies just appear in this state. Whoever they are, they're smart, an absolute psychopath.”
“Which zones are being hit?”
“Minor ones. Small insignificant twigs off the main branches. It's why they've been so hard to catch.”
“And each victim is found in their own zone?”
Zector stuttered on that and sipped his mug, brow furrowed, “I, uh, I don't actually know. We haven't looked at it from that angle yet. We assume they are.”
“You know what they say about assuming,” Zonic trailed off as Zector huffed for a moment.
“I guess it's always good to get a fresh pair of eyes on something,” Zector finally admitted.
“And that's why you need me on it,” Zonic said with a smug grin, flipping through a few more pages of victims, “It could be why they're not reported as missing. You're not looking in the right zone. Are these even the original murder sites or are these second locations? Have you looked into that?”
“Well…no…”
Zonic closed the file and rubbed his temples, sipping his coffee, “Local law enforcement hasn't been any help have they?”
“What do you think?” Zector snorted, standing and stretching out, “If you want in, I won't stop you. But really give what I said about work-life a think. Okay, Nic?”
Zonic gave a short nod before gathering up the files on the table and walking out of the break room with Zector. He started heading down towards the interrogation rooms, head clouded now with the new case. It was almost enough to make him forget the unpleasantness he was about to walk into.
Almost.
The monitoring room was empty, just a few old to-go coffee cups littering the counter. Zonic scrunched his nose up at them before picking up a wastebasket and swatting the cups into it. He had set his own files and mug of coffee down already and settled into a chair in front of them. Through the one-way glass he could see into the interrogation room prior to actually entering it. Zonic liked this little side room for a couple reasons. It was useful for seeing how a perp was sweating out time alone, to have other officers monitor an interrogation, and/or to give extra prep time to review a case file while having the perp in full view.
Right now though, he was just using it to bide time between what he thought was the beginning of a headache and what he knew would later be a migraine. Scourge was standing in front of the glass, smoothing out his quills and picking his barbed teeth. Every few minutes he would tap on the glass with his index finger as if that would prompt a response. Zonic just slowly sipped his coffee and watched the green hedgehog make more and more of an ass of himself until he finally gave up and went to sit back on one of the chairs in the room at a small table.
Scourge propped his feet up on the simple table, rocking slightly on the back legs of his chair, arms crossed. He looked straight up at the ceiling, sunglasses over his eyes to keep them from burning under the fluorescents. He counted the flickers and the time between them, bored out of his mind.
“Hey, anybody out there?” Scourge called to the empty room for the fourth or fifth time. He'd been stuck in this small room for over an hour now, jammed into the seat by a smirking approximation of Miles, inhibitor collar roughly snapped around his neck. He slid a finger under the metal and tugged, not that it did anything to loosen it, but they were uncomfortable as hell and it got it off his skin for a second. He was pretty damn sure the fox had made it tighter than normal on purpose. Although, maybe he deserved it for decking the kid.
Maybe…
“Stop touching the collar,” a voice said over the PA system, causing Scourge to jump and nearly topple over in his chair. It was the first sound he’d heard besides the hum of the lights and his own voice in a while.
“Why don't ya come in here and make me,” Scourge challenged to the mirror, knowing whoever was on the mic had to be watching him behind the glass. He flipped them off for good measure, trying to goad someone - anyone - into the room.
The small beep of an electronic key being accepted and the turn of the door handle signaled to Scourge that someone was finally entering. And what a someone it was. All navy quills and a stick so far up his ass, it was a wonder to Scourge how the hell the guy walked around without waddling funny.
“Helloooo nurse,” Scourge wolf-whistled, flashing his smile at his former arresting officer, flicking his glasses to the top of his head, “No visor? What’d I do to deserve all this eye candy?”
Zonic ignored the comment and sat across from Scourge, “You want to tell me why you're here?”
Scourge grinned wider and held out his empty wrists in mimed shackles, “Didn't ya know, Za-nicky baby? I'm caught.”
“So I’ve heard,” Zonic muttered, opening the file flat on the table and rubbing his temple. He felt the headache settling in earnest now.
Scourge peeked at the contents. He could see the most recent arrest and others, brief lines of text outlining his life. A bulleted list of sentences trying to summarize him up. It was funny, a joke, until he saw something that wasn't.
“You fuckers are so slow on the uptake, ain't ya? When are you gonna update that shit?”
Zonic threw up a brow, “How do you mean?”
“This,” Scourge poked a finger at the blue quilled, unscarred mugshot of himself from years ago. A reminder of who he used to be, “I ain't looked like that in years.”
Zonic quietly stared, unphased. Tired. He simply lifted the corner of the picture and underneath sat the more recent mugshot. Green quills, barbed teeth, scarred chest, “We carry images of every iteration. That's standard. But if you're really itching for it I can take you back and give you your close up again.”
“Only if you're working the camera, babe.”
“If you're done interrupting,” Zonic shuffled through the rest of the file, not looking at Scourge, “You break out of prison three months before you're up for parole, rove around with your old crew for a bit, causing mayhem, then go M.I.A…and now you're what? Loitering around crime scenes for kicks?”
Scourge shrugged and leaned back in his chair, “You're not exactly the easiest guy to get a hold of, sweetheart. It ain't like I got your number or nothing to call you up.”
“And why do you need to call me?” Zonic asked, vaguely remembering that Scourge had asked for him by name, “Why were you at that crime scene?”
“Easy Za-nicky. All business, no pleasure? That ain't the way we do things is it?” Scourge teased, winking and looking the officer up and down, “I got a couple questions of my own for you.”
Zonic sighed and cracked his neck, settling into the torture of the next few minutes. He'd forgotten how obstinate Scourge was, always having to throw up some kind of road block or toss around faux bravado before an actual point could be made. It made dealing with the hedgehog so much easier to give in to the smaller demands now before he started asking for more ludicrous things later. An illusion of control, as much as Zonic hating relinquishing it.
Scourge swiped a thumb under his nose and gave a crooked grin, “Now why do youse look so tired of me already Za-nicky? I was almost hurt when I found out ya didn't come after me. I thought we had something special, all those sessions of just you and me and that bat bitch therapist.”
“Her name is Zouge and you know that,” Zonic replied, “and why in the world would I ever come after you?”
Zonic knew that'd be a hit to the hedgehog’s ego and he was right. The easy smile on Scourge's face slipped into something more sour right away. It was almost too easy playing on his emotions. The green hedgehog wore them out on his leather-clad sleeve as much as he didn't want to admit it. All the bluster in the world couldn't cover that up.
“Cause it's your job, ain't it?” Scourge asked, tinge of hurt behind his eyes he tried to cast away by looking to the wall, “Runnin’ after criminals.”
“And you're a criminal?”
“Accordin’ to that damn file.”
“Sorry excuse for a criminal,” Zonic hummed, flicking through the file for emphasis, “So why are you trying to fake it by hanging around active crime scenes?”
Scourge lit back up again, the run-around not lost on him, “You didn't answer my damn question, pig.”
“And what's that?”
“Why the fuck didn't you chase me down?” Scourge demanded, fist pounding down on the table.
“Because not having to chase down your sorry green ass has been the longest vacation of my life,” Zonic yawned back, looking up from the file, “I thought I'd finally gotten rid of you for good. Whether you’d finally given up or choked on your own vomit in a gutter.”
“Can't get rid of the king,” Scourge scoffed, “My reign is eternal, babe.”
“You know, I’d almost forgotten to miss that childish sense of inflated purpose,” Zonic hummed.
“Childish?” Scourge growled, “I am the king of Moebius and I earned that crown by-”
“Murdering your family, taking over a couple different warlords territory, forming a shambled slapdash monarchy, beating your allies into submission,” Zonic’s tone dripped with sarcastic malice, “Did I miss anything, your highness?”
“Nah, you got it all. Though you did leave out the part where I kicked in Blue’s face.”
“Right. Your first enactment as king was to completely decimate your reign with a poorly thought out war…that you lost and landed you in jail,” Zonic sneered, “Real kingly shit. And your monarchy ended in total rebellion, correct? Complete dissolvement of the crown royals and any legacy you had hoped to leave?”
Scourge fidgeted, running a hand through his quills and bouncing his leg. He let the annoyance play out clearly on his face, “Ya know, for a Sonic, you're stupidly direct.”
“It’s the job, kid,” Zonic shrugged, “And I'm not ‘a Sonic'. That's kind of the whole point, Anti-Sonic.”
“Peh. Figures,” Scourge spat at the ground, his leg bouncing picking up in tempo, “First the fuckin’ picture and now this shit. The name’s Scourge. Do you need me to write that down for ya sweetie? Put that in your fuckin’ file?”
“No, your name change has already been well documented. As well as that little stint with the Master Emerald,” Zonic commented, “Unauthorized Use of non-Zone compliant energy source. Not to mention all your illegal zone jumping activities. You've built up quite a reputation with all your arresting officers.”
Scourge smiled at that, “Yeah? You thinkin’ ‘bout me a lot Za-nicky?”
“Yeah,” Zonic smirked, closing the file, “You’ve definitely kept me up at night, Anti. The worst Sonic in the multiverse. It's a pathetic title held by one. Congrats, I'll get the boys to make you a patch for your new prison jumpsuit.”
“Pathetic? Ain't nothing pathetic about me. No more than you. What's a Sonic got business with being a cop anyway? Say, I got a joke for you. Two cops walk into a bar-”
“Oh, believe you, me,” Zonic interupted, patience starting to run thin, “You're a big enough joke to keep me laughing for a long fucking time.”
“I'd rather see you choke than laugh. Got something on me right here to get ya started on.”
Zonic rolled his eyes, “Just as laughable as the rest of your miserable life, Snot.”
He knew he'd gotten under the other’s skin then. Using a nickname the hedgehog had garnered in prison. A dark look crossed over Scourge's brow, the shocking electric blue of his eyes dulled. His leg stopped bouncing as he went deadly as still. His hands curled into fists.
“Call me that again, motherfucker.”
“What?” Zonic goaded, “The only Sonic to ever get locked up in No Zone was too much of a mouthful. Don't you think Snot is a better nickname? Do you know how many Sonics end up being taken in as children by Robotnik in the multiverse? And none of them even come close to being as big a joke as you. Just an absolute laughingstock, a snot-nose punk who-”
Scourge growled and lunged across the table. Zonic didn't even blink. He dodged the attack with ease, his own fist ready in retaliation. It made contact with Scourge's gut, the force sending him flying to the ground. Sunglasses skittering off his head into the corner of the room.
“Slowest Sonic too,” Zonic smirked, standing over the flattened Scourge, “Did you fucking forget about the collar, Snot? Keep that up and I'll personally shave your quills to nubs myself.”
“Your foreplay’s gotten rough babe and I didn't even give you my safe word yet,” Scourge coughed, trying to sit up. Zonic kicked him back down hard, the flat of his boot making contact with Scourge's chest. He brought it down parallel, stepping on the fallen hedgehog, toe pressing in slightly to the twin scars that crossed over the hedgehog’s chest as he twisted his ankle from side to side.
Zonic leaned in, voice so low the cameras couldn't pick him up, only the sensitive ears of the chaos-transformed hedgehog below him, “You haven't seen rough yet, princess.”
Scourge swallowed. He hated the way that sent a shiver up his spine in anticipation. He wanted nothing more than to see how rough things between the two of them could get. And Chaos had he tried whenever he had seen those navy quills and stupid red bodysuit walking around his prison block. He'd flirted, catcalled, made advances. Hell, he'd done shitty guards in the hopes that word of mouth’d get back to the tight assed buzzkill. He licked his lips and imagined tugging the look-a-like down to the ground with him right now and showing him just what he'd been missing out on.
But instead of instigating that, he flipped Zonic off with one hand and shoved the boot off him with the other, sitting up.
“You cops are all the fuckin’ same,” Scourge complained, finding his feet and taking a seat again, “Same shit, different pig. Feeling all high and mighty while this fucking collar is on. Take this shit off and we’ll see who's on top.”
“If you think I need you collared to take your ass down, you're even stupider than you look. A leashed prison bitch like you should just behave like a good little boy and answer my questions.”
Scourge shivered and crossed his arms over his chest, “You're gettin’ better at the dirty talk, Za-nicky. Wanna take this somewhere more private? Course, if ya got friends on the other side of the glass, I don't mind given ‘em a show either.”
“Why were you hanging around that crime scene?” Zonic asked, ignoring the comment.
“Are you deaf? I told ya already. I had to get a hold of you somehow and it ain't like ya gave me your phone number,” Scourge growled back, avoiding eye contact.
“And why did you need to get in contact with me specifically?”
“Cause.”
“Because why Scourge?
Scourge went silent and started to sink in his chair. He sank further forward until his forehead sat on top of his arms that were crossed on the table. His ears and quills flattened. Zonic sat up a little straighter, brow furrowed. This was a new position for the green hedgehog, he almost looked…defeated. Not the depressed that Zonic had seen him in prison, poorly disguised with crude jokes and fake smug looks. No. This was something different.
Zonic took a breath, about to regret every empathetic move he made but he couldn't help it. He’d guessed why Scourge called on him first and it had everything to do with his time in prison. Zonic had been far too involved with his rehabilitation. Starting as a favor to Zouge who was getting nowhere with him, it turned into a soft spot for the green pest. Sitting in on therapy sessions, going during visiting hours, volunteering guard duties to keep an eye on him inside the prison walls. Hell, he was even going to put his neck out there to get Scourge on parole.
Then the Destructix had shown up and all that good will went sour. Scourge escaped prison and took his entire cell block with him. Hours of extra work for Zonic, endless nights of overtime and headaches. He'd vowed to never get suckered like that again. He should have known better. He did know better.
So why was he reaching across the table to put a hand on a leather-clad shoulder?
“Scourge, why did you need to see me?”
He mumbled something into his arms, still avoiding Zonic's stare, quills bristling at the touch on his shoulder.
“What?” Zonic asked, growing more than a little exasperated.
“I need…your help,” Scourge garbled out through gritted teeth and muffled fabric.
“With what, Scourge?”
“I was…jumped a few nights ago,” he started, lifting his face up from his arms, chin still resting on the table, “Don't ask me how but those bastards got the better of me and…”
There was a pause, a shaky intake of air as Scourge’s eyes glazed over.
“Who was it?” Zonic asked.
Scourge snapped back, steeled over, ears flat with anger now and not despair, “Maxx and his crew. Caught me between an alley. Threw a cuff around my wrist that does,” he gestured to the collar around his neck, “If it wasn't for my quills…if I ever see St. Croix again, that skunk is roadkill. I'll skin that creep alive.”
Zonic sat back and chewed on the inside of his cheek, digesting the information given to him. It was clear there was something Scourge was leaving out but what was even more clear was the fear in the hedgehog’s eyes.
“So you're here to what? Press charges?” Zonic asked slowly, still not seeing why he was involved specifically in this.
Maxx and his gang had their boot down on Scourge's neck pretty harshly in prison and yeah, maybe Zonic had stuck his nose into it when he was on guard duty. Cut off contraband lines Maxx was running that other guards turned a blind eye to. Threw a couple of his bigger guys in the SHU for infractions to get them out of the yard that day. Maybe if you twisted his arm he'd admit he harped on Jeffrey St. Croix for breaking regulations more than other inmates. But that was it.
Scourge scoffed at the suggestion, leaning back into his chair again, kicking off the ground and balancing on the back legs, “I ain't a snitch.”
“So why report this to a cop,” Zonic sighed, the headache was back or more like he was aware of it again, it had never really gone away, “I can take a statement, try and track them down and get local cops to arrest them with assault charges. But beyond that, Anti…”
“That's not- you ain't listening! I need your help,” Scourge growled, slamming his palms down on the table, “A Sonic's help. Not a damn cop.”
Zonic blinked at him, expressionless.
“Look,” Scourge inhaled deeply through his nose before continuing, “I don't need no one. I can handle shit just fuckin’ fine. But something about these guys- No one gets the jump on me. Fuckin’ no one, but they did. Normally…normally I'd go to Blue. But that goody-good is AWOL. And you're the next closest Sonic I know.”
“I'm not a Sonic,” Zonic responded wryly, “and I don't do street justice.”
“Well there's a first for everything, right babe?” Scourge flashed his teeth, “I ain't gonna beg. But you of all people should know how desperate I am for comin’ to you. You were gonna help me at one point. Just think of it as…past due.”
Zonic snorted, “Past due? You screwed me over and you think I owe you a favor ? Was your head kicked in?”
“Yeah,” Scourge scratched at his ear, “but that's ‘sides the point. Don't tell me you ain't wanting to let loose? Lose the cop shit for a night. I'll show you a good time.”
“As fascinating as this all sounds,” Zonic stood, grabbing his files off the table, “You are currently under arrest. How you think you're leaving here to enact any kind of revenge is beyond me. If you're not going to cooperate then I'm done here. Maybe, if you're lucky, I can swing you into getting your old cell back. I'm sure you miss home.”
“That's…that's it?” Scourge’s face fell slightly, unable to hide his disappointment that their back and forth was over.
“That’s all she wrote, Anti. It gives me great satisfaction to know your pathetic hide will be locked up again. And I hope you go to sleep every night knowing that.”
Zonic turned to leave, ready to end this farce of an interrogation.
The panic started to settle in Scourge now. The memories of prison that had been so effortlessly repressed came bubbling to the surface. The restlessness, the daily beatings in the yard, the cruelty of the guards, the un-ending sense of dread and helplessness that crawled its way into his guts every night alongside his brutish cellmate-
“Wait!” Scourge jumped up and slammed his fists into the table, his voice containing a noticeable edge, “Wait a damn minute!”
Zonic slowly spun around on the heel of his boot, “Do you have more to say to the pig?”
Scourge licked his lips, his mouth dry. He'd lost sight of his main reason for getting Zonic to come talk to him in that room. Trying to talk him into helping him get back at Maxx’s gang was one. But keeping his ass out of prison was an even bigger factor. It had been a dark time. A really dark time. Only pulled out of the darkness by the traitorous trash of his former team. Trash he was more than willing to burn to keep his life lit.
“What if I got info to trade?”
Zonic looked amused, “For what? Your freedom? Nice try, but nothing is worth that. You've been a thorn in my side for far too long, Anti.”
“I'll tell ya where Fi and the Destructix are.”
Zonic paused and narrowed his eyes, “Why?”
“Cause fuck ‘em. That's why. How the hell do you think Maxx found me? Fi fucking told ‘im. Had to have, the bitch. So fuck her and him and the whole gang hard and fast up the ass dry. They ratted me out first.”
Zonic weighed his options for a minute. The Destructix and their new leader Fiona were a bigger pain in the ass than Scourge ever had been. She was smart, cunning, and had a small enough ego to keep from making the same mistakes Scourge did. Pilfering zone after zone, staying one step ahead enough to have a whole dedicated task force. The offer was tempting.
“You can take their sorry asses out,” Scourge continued, trying to sweeten the deal, “And Maxx and his gang? They're all wanted for breakin’ out of jail too, yeah? So make it two for one. All I want is the chance to even the score with Maxx before you cart him off. And, ya know, to not be in jail.”
“You realize we still have to continue detaining you until any of this information can be verified,” Zonic started slowly, returning to his seat across from the green hedgehog, “Put you up in jail until your freedom can be bought.”
Scourge blanched, the pain and panic falling back into place. It sat so plainly on his face that Zonic almost felt something like pity settle in his chest. And it was that feeling that would keep him up at night for the next few days, kicking himself repeatedly over and over again for the next words out of his mouth.
“Or we put you in witness protection. Not much of a stretch considering you've already been assaulted by one of the gangs. You'd be under protective custody though, given your flight risk issues.”
Scourge swallowed, “What's that mean?”
“You'd…live with an officer. Twenty-four seven surveillance until the Destructix and Maxx are back behind bars.”
“Who with?” Scourge's eyes narrowed, “Not that Miles punk. The little shit snapped this fuckin’ thing on harder than he had to. And I ain't living with that croc either.”
Zonic closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. This was the tipping point into his migraine. He knew he couldn't shove this burden on any other officer, especially not a rookie like Zails. Zespio was too…And definitely not Zector with a family at home. A heavy sigh fell from his lips. The lamentations were already palpable as this was his case now. A witness he was now responsible for.
“I suppose you'd be staying with me.”
“Gee Za-Nicky,” Scourge grinned, sharp teeth glinting under the fluorescents, mood doing a 180 as the bravado found its home again, “I didn't know you were so eager to get me back to your place.”
Yeah, Zonic was going to regret this.