Intro.

The night was quiet, Shadow and Rouge found themselves outside a small farm town in the middle of nowhere. The two have been assigned to do some recon of the area, in hopes of finding Eggman's whereabouts, or possibly one of the missing chaos emeralds that had been stolen.

Chapter 1 - The Mechanic.

'It's getting late.' Shadow thought to himself. He took one last glance at his watch, reading 4:51 a.m. before he decided to head back to the small motel he and Rouge were staying at. Shadow walked quietly down the dirt road, sulking in his thoughts. 'Why the hell would the doctor be all the way out here? There's NOTHING out here, other than some cattle and farmers, a diner and a small motel. Something is just so… off about this town. I think Rouge feels the same way, though she hasn't said a word to me since we arrived…

His thoughts were broken when he heard the sound of a truck attempting to start up. He found himself on the outskirts of the town, he didn't notice the mechanic shop when they first arrived. A green hedgehog wearing overalls and clunky boots was working on a tractor when he looked up and saw the ebony hedgehog walking by.

"Well hey there mista', ain't it sorta late to be out and about?"

Shadow glanced over, coming to a stop and crossing his arms. "Just headed back into town for the night. You been in this town for a while?"

The green hedgehog wiped some grease off his hands and walked over to Shadow, continuing the conversation.

"Yeah, say I've been here going on 10 years now. Quiet town, but it's peaceful, out of the way from all this crazy technology and such."

Shadow nodded, he remembered how foreign everything was to him we woke up from his cryogenic slumber.

"Well you're right about it being peaceful, just took a walk to clear my head."

The mechanic nodded, showing a smile.

"Yeah, I gotta say when I seen ya roll into town, ya looked like ya was gonna be trouble. Never seen a hedgehog with stripes like ya self."

Shadow gave a small smirk. "Guess you could say I'm one of a kind. Mind if I ask you something?"

The mechanic nodded, waiting for the question.

"Ever heard of a guy, goes by the name Eggman? Real name Robotnik?"

The mechanic scratched his chin in thought before letting out a deep sigh and replying "Nah sir, can't say I've heard of an Eggface before. He a bad man mista?"

Shadow debated on how much information he should give away. 'I shouldn't give too much away, but the guy seems genuine when he says he doesn't know him.'

"He wasn't always bad, but yeah, I guess bad could describe him now."

"Well, I don't know how long y'all will be in town, but if I hear anything bout a Eggface or whatever his name was, I'll give ya a holla ya hear?"

Shadow nodded, he was having difficulty following the slang, but he picked up on most of it. He wished the mechanic goodnight, then returned to walking towards the motel.

Once he finally arrived, he found Rouge laid out on the bed, typing something up on her computer. She froze once he entered, meeting his eyes and shooting daggers towards him.

Shadow glanced her up and down. She was wearing one of Shadow's black t-shirt's and black panties, she was obviously getting ready for bed. Shadow on the other hand was, well, Shadow. He had his hover skates on, his white gloves and golden rings. He wore a black t-shirt and black sweats. He also wore a necklace, given to him by Rouge years back.

"What's up with you?" Shadow snarled, shooting daggers right back to his longtime ally. Very rarely did the two hold a grudge against each other, so whatever it was had to be serious.

"You tell me." She responded, somehow with more attitude than Shadow.

Shadow didn't respond, he just let out a deep sigh and walked onto the balcony.

'I need to smoke.'

Rouge watched as he walked onto the balcony.

'Sometimes I wonder if he really cares. Whatever, I have work to focus on right now.'

Rouge has been typing away since they arrived. Shadow tried to get a room with two beds, since the two had been arguing, but no such luck. Usually, the two shared a bed. They have showed flashes of romantic interest to each other over the years, but nothing has completely blossomed. The two were very professional however, and they didn't mind working together at all, they enjoyed each other's company in fact, well, most of the time. Rouge was just finishing up her report on the town when Shadow returned from his smoke break.

"Gonna shower, want anything while I'm up?"

Rouge looked up, then rolled over and turned off the lamp, leaving Shadow in the dark.

'Whatever, I'll fix whatever I did tomorrow, I gotta get clean and get what little rest I can.'

That's just a little taste of what's to come. Wonder what's bothering Rouge so much, sure isn't like her to show so much attitude and anger towards Shadow. More chapters will follow, so make sure you stay tuned to follow Shadow and Rouge on the journey to find Eggman.