Title: Rose's Turn

Category: Drama/Romance

Rating: M

Summary: When Sonic is kidnapped Amy has resolved herself to rescuing her hero. But in order to do this she is forced to seek the help of Shadow the hedgehog that will lead her on a journey that may well endanger her very life.

Disclaimer: I love Shadow and as I'm through relying on SEGA to do me any favours I decided that if you want something done it's best to do it yourself. So no, these characters aren't mine.

A/N: Don't expect this to follow the video game canon as I thought SEGA didn't stick to what Shadow's character originally was. He started off as a tortured soul along with being smooth, calm and calculating in SA2 and I'm going to stick to those aspects in this story. And Amy is... a lot older in this game and her character will be a lot different to how it is canon.

Oh how time passes. Yes it's a phrase that was often used but that didn't make it any less true. Somehow Amy found it hard to believe that the hedgehog staring back at her used to be short, flat-chested and overall just a simple woman-child at most. But now when she looked in the mirror... she discovered that she had really grown into herself. Gone was the awkwardness of her childlike youth, the irrational hot-headedness and complete naivety of the world around her. Or so she liked to think. Still though, for once she could flaunt her curvaceous form and declare:

"Now this! This was the body of a woman!"

She had done a lot of maturing, in more ways than one. And she'd even managed to discover what she thought about the people she had grown up with over the past six years. Cream and Tails would forever be her best friends; they'd stuck through her through the most difficult times in her life. Those times that everyone goes through where they're truly trying to find out who they are in life; what they want to make of themselves. And she'd do the same for them within a heartbeat. And then there was Sonic...

Oh, Sonic

Deep down inside her she will always be in love with him, and in love with the idea that they could've had the chance at being the gang's latest power couple. It took her falling flat on her face –quite literally- to realize that; though she would never forgive herself for acting like such an idiot that one time with him. At least she'd tried to bury the hatchet with Sally in that one, though the other squirrel only seemed to be interested in burying the hatchet in her head. Not that Amy could blame her in the slightest, if she had been Sally she would've have been just as equally jealous of the girls who threw themselves at Sonic. But if there was anything that Amy Rose was good at it was dusting herself off after a blow and putting on a brave face, even if everyone could see right through it.

"Amy I'm ready... I, um... what do you think?"

The pink furred hedgehog's eyes were instantly drawn to the vision of Cream in white. A smile graced Amy's delicate features, white always was Cream's favourite colour and it played right into the aura of innocence that seemed to radiate from the bunny rabbit.

"You look radiant Cream, absolutely radiant,"

Cream's pale fur reddened along the cheeks as she smiled.

"Oh...I, why thank you, I mean... are you sure it looks okay, it's not too big on me?" Cream pulled at the skirts of her dress and let them flow back into place. Emerald greens eyes looked at the dress critically, examining Cream's body shape and size and how the dress complimented her.

"Hmm, It looks a little big on the behind but you should buy it anyway it's nothing a good sewing can't fix," Amy concluded and with a smile and a wink at her friend Cream became notably more flustered

"Oh... oh Amy thank you, you're the best," Cream stepped towards her as Amy stood up to embrace her friend, Amy held her close breathing in the fresh clean scent of her. Being with Cream always seemed to put her at ease, it was impossible to become frustrated with the bunny unless you were truly bad-natured or irritable.

"Anytime, now..." Amy spun her friend round "go wait in the queue and I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

"What are you doing?" Cream's warm brown eyes gave away her fear of being alone in a queue instantly, Amy's heart went out to her friend and she was almost tempted to go with her but Tails' voice rang in her mind. "If you keep coddling her she'll never be able to stand on her own feet..." He was right, as always but it didn't make this any less painful for her.

"I still have my eye on that little blue number I tried on earlier; I'll only be two seconds...promise." Amy smiled reassuringly

The bunny rabbit inhaled sharply before she nodded "I'll save you a space if you decide to buy it." And with that Cream seemed to melt into the crowd ahead.

The pink hedgehog made her way over to the row of deep blue dresses, the deep velvety cerulean colour served to make the sky look boring. Lifting the hanger of the dress with a gloved hand she inspected it; the dress was a simple little thing, figure hugging and slightly short yet leaving enough to the imagination. Had it been a few years ago the very thought of wearing a dress like this would've made her blush bright scarlet, as it would've looked pretty ridiculous on her boyish figure. But now she had the curves to fill it out she thought she looked pretty good in it... sexy even and she wondered if Sonic would feel the same. The more she thought about it the more she didn't see why she shouldn't; after all he and Sally hadn't been an item for months and he had been flirting with her these past few weeks... Amy felt her face flush and puffed out her cheeks. She was supposed to be over this by now; she was supposed to be better than this. So why did she still want to be his trophy girl after all this time?

o.o

Amy's heels clacking against the earth, the pacing matching that of her heartbeat. She felt her chest tighten as the familiar house came into view, Sonic's abode. One of many anyway, he seemed to have quite a few dotted along Earth and Mobius since he was always up and going all the time. Was she really going to go through with this? The answer to the question came from deep within her in a place so intimate that she realized that she had known the answer all along. Yes, she wanted this, more than anything.

And with that information at hand she strutted over to the pathway, the door in plain sight and the doorbell only meters away.

"Hello, Amy," it was like her blood had turned to ice water but it melted as soon as it froze and suddenly her body was filled with an incredible heat. Amy let out a gasp as her face flushed; she knew that voice... she would never forget it until the day she died.

Shadow...

And as soon as she turned to the direction of the voice, there he was. The dark, menacing form of Shadow the hedgehog... the one she had never been able to figure out. The fact that Shadow scared her was an understatement, he literally terrified her but at the same time he gave off this raw sensual air about him and it made her feel so... on edge. Amy realized she was staring but she couldn't help it, she couldn't force her body to move if she tried... she would have to settle for words. If she could manage to force out what she wanted to say.

"I've come to see Sonic," such an obvious statement that Amy could've slapped herself for opening her mouth to begin with but it was done now. All it seemed to do was provoke a smirk from the darker hedgehog, so obviously amused with her anxiety. Pushing himself off the tree he made his way over to her in such as cool fashion that Amy couldn't help but know he was purposely doing it to frighten her. Still she found herself unable to take her eyes off his cocky swagger; the rhythmic sway of his hips as he walked making her wonder if the purpose was to scare her after all. Perhaps she was reading too much into this... Sonic, I came here to see Sonic. Because I love Sonic and I know that he can love me too if he'd just let himself.

"That blue compliments you well," Shadow flicked his tongue over his lips before flashing a roguish grin.

Amy's breath caught in her throat, she had no doubt that Shadow would be able to devour her whole within seconds. And not just the physical way.

"I'd better get going," Amy blurted out instantly, anything to draw the attention away from thoughts of Shadow and those burning red eyes, like twin flames flickering and blazing right through her. Turning on her heels which had sunk into the moist earth, every step she took towards Sonic's door felt like she was pulling at a magnetic force. If she stopped for one moment then the pull would claim her once more.

"I wouldn't if I were you," and those few words were just enough to make her halt on the spot, Amy bit down on her lip, hating the influence he seemed to hold over her. "He's not home,"

Amy's head whipped round instantly, her brow wrinkling in confusion. "What do you mean he's not home?"

"Sonic's missing," Shadow stated without even missing a beat

And just like that Amy felt her whole world crumble around her. And Shadow didn't even seem to batter an eyelid, couldn't he see that this news was destroying her. How could he be so calm about this?

"Missing?" Amy breathed

Shadow gave a serene nod. "He was taken,"

"How? When? Who?"

Not Sonic, not her Sonic... he was invincible, untouchable, thousands had tried to get him into this position and had failed multiple times. What made this one anymore special?

"That... is where my involvement ends," Shadow responded as he began a leisurely stroll away from her. Had Amy not known his character better she would've thought he'd stop to smell the roses along the way the twisted son of a... Amy trembled with rage.

He knew more, Amy knew that he knew more. He was trying to torture her the bastard, he was trying to make her plead and beg for him to help her. What kind of sick, twisted person revealed horrific news such as this and then simply turned their back on those in need so coolly? Amy never knew that anyone could be so cruel and in that sense her naivety was still very much intact, but she was learning.

"Shadow," she yelled, running after him despite her heels slowing her pace down. He was still walking in that same unhurried fashion and yet Amy could never get in touching distance with him, he was still that out of reach. "Shadow, you have to help me..."

Still he kept walking, as if he had nowhere to go at all and Amy suspected that he hadn't. Shadow only seemed to pop up where chaos emerged it seemed, and as soon as the excitement was over he stole away like a thief in the night. But not this time, Amy wouldn't let him.

"Shadow, please this is Sonic we're talking about,"

The hedgehog stopped then and turned to her. With his arms secured around his chest he merely raised an eyebrow at her. That gesture spoke volumes.

"Shadow come on... you know I would never ask you if there was any other way," Amy said gently, placing a hand on his arm. Shadow's fiery irises shot down to her arm and then straight into her eyes, for a few seconds there was utter stillness. No sound, no movement, not even breathing... Amy felt Shadow's eyes burning into her soul as his fur began to flame up where her fingers touched it. The pink hedgehog dropped her hand and staggered backwards; still no expression was visible on Shadow's face... until, he nodded.

"Meet me outside G.U.N at five o'clock sharp. Don't be late, or I'm leaving you behind." And then he was gone.

Relief overcame Amy as she realized that she could once again breathe easy. But still she was almost sad to see him go; she didn't want to be alone at a time like this. Not when the love of her life was missing and she her only way of helping him was by joining forces with the person who occupied most people's nightmares. Was it worth being in the company of Shadow the hedgehog on a mission where she would most likely be fighting for her life? Especially with the chilling knowledge that she had she been dangling on a knife edge, Shadow would most likely stand there and watch her fall than reach out and help her. In most cases she was more the damsel in distress than the hero, the little kid that Sonic had to constantly save from her own reckless self.

Can she save her saviour? Was it even worth trying?

Yes, hell yes because in the end this was Sonic and Amy couldn't think of a better person to die for.

Reviews are always appreciated... as well as constructive criticism