Introspection

Chapter 2 - The Commander

Both of their hands were now extended to Xavier, and there was a glove-muted slap of hands meeting. It took a second to notice, but Xavier had reached for Gunner's hand rather than hers. She knelt there for a few extended moments as the boys got to their feet. The Secretary Bird and Hippo hulled themselves over the edge at last and then joined the rest of their squads.

Amy stood up, fists clenched. A wave of deja vu rushing through her. Her idea was ignored until there was someone else's input, regardless of how good of an idea it was. Regardless of Xavier's open acknowledgment of her strength at the start of the week, he took Gunner's hand. Regardless of how quickly she'd come to the solution while Gunner pleaded with his lungs to catch his breath. Jaw clenched, she decided to reserve this frustration; letting it out now, in front of the entire cadet wing, would just make her seem like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. Stepping over to stand by her group, ever so often she couldn't suppress shooting a passive glare at Xavier. This wasn't the Freedom Fighters, he wasn't Sonic, she wasn't just letting this one go.

As everyone caught their breaths, Dimitri's barking voice from below rang out again. "Well done, Cadets! You only shaved fractions of a second off your time. I'm sure you'll make excellent Badnik fodder while the real Agents get the job done!" The energy from the Doberman's compliment quickly fizzled out with the insult that followed. "Now! Get your asses down here and get over to the training pavilion! The Commander is coming to inspect you pups later today, and I want to make sure I have something worth showing 'em!" With that, he spun on his heel, marching toward the other end of the Assault Course.

"Damn it, puppy... I just got up here." Xavier exasperated from under his labored breath as he pushed his hands off his knees. He addressed the rest of Squad Green with a nod, and all the other cadets began their descent off the wall.

"Appreciated the assist, doll." Xavier threw a casual wink in the pink hedgehog's direction. Her anger flared, and she contemplated if pushing him off the edge would be causality for expulsion. He's a bird, I thought he could fly! The made-up excuse played out in her mind but she decided to tuck the thought away for a later date.

"Yeah," came out of her dismissively, "You good to climb down on your own?" She couldn't help herself. Her brow raised at the exhausted owl who addressed her with a ginger nod. "Great." She smiled before crawling to the edge of the platform and beginning to make her way down with the others.

Xavier and Gunner weren't trailing too far behind as their boots crunched against the pavement, by the time Amy passed the zigzag balance beam. The clacking of their shoes eventually fell into rhythm with her own as they jogged alongside her.

"So, I gotta ask." Gunner broke the silence as they headed towards the center pavilion. "How the Hell do you know how to climb so well?" He walked a few paces ahead of the two before turning to face them. Arms folded behind his head, as he continued to walk backwards.

    My best friend is Knuckles? Amy wanted to reply with the obvious, but considered her words. "My best friend is a really good climber, and there's a few cliff faces near my house. So sometimes, I like to practice." She softly tucked her hands behind her back.

    "Wait wait, you own a house? Like a "house" house? Aren't you like 22?" Gunner questioned.
   
    "Hmm yep! And, I'm flattered, but no. I'm 26 this year, actually." Amy smiled towards the ferret who seemed to be taken aback with the new knowledge.

    "Doesn't explain how you have a house..." Xavier added in his natural cool tone, but his expression was studied against Amy.

    Amy hesitated to respond. She'd been given a small home as a thank-you gift from King Acorn. It was the "least he could do" when she, Knuckles, Team Dark, and the Freedom Fighters had worked together to reseal Dark Gaia into the worlds core, and meld the planet back together. While that was a fantastical story, she realized that telling it here would either pin her as the "Crazy Pink Girl" or require her to go into full detail about her association to the Freedom Fighters. Normally she wasn't up for lying, but in this case, she supposed it'd be the simpler option.