Rouge the bat, jewel thief, G.U.N. agent and treasure hunter. A woman far from virtuous with a love for luxury and jewels, especially if they involved some chaos emeralds or the mother of the emeralds, the constantly well-guarded beauty, the Master Emerald. She was well-known for being a flirty, vivacious and wild woman.
She lived the high life. Taking care of herself, her boyfriend Knuckles, and best friends Shadow and Omega. Knuckles being the Master Emerald's guardian and echidna who stole her heart. Shadow, her closed off secretly kind hearted friend. And Omega, he was the most human robot she has ever met, despite his monotonous voice and large bulky frame, he was more alive than most of the people she has met. Shadow and Omega worked with her on Team Dark under G.U.N.s top reliable agents.
Rouge loved her free style life, running a club in her free time, spending time with her friends whenever and working when she had to. Today is the day that her life changed greatly with a phone call one evening when she was lounging about home alone.
"W-what?" Rouge was always able to keep a steady flow of words, being a charismatic woman and all. Now...she could only repeat very little words. Rouge didn't comprehend the woman's words, her heart seemed to have stopped beating and chills crept through her body.
"I know this is some...sorrowful and upsetting words Miss." A strange woman's voice said over her phone. "But you are the only remaining family we could find. Your cousin Heather has you as the emergency contact. We'll need you to come down to the Mobius police station and we'll be able to sort out the legal papers in guardianship."
"B-but I- I-" Rouge's pink lips trembled, stuttering nervously over her words. "-I know nothing in raising a- a- kid!" The woman on the other end of the line paused in her words.
"There...is an offset chance that guardianship of your niece go to the state or even to an adopti-"
"No!" The ivory bat cut the woman off before she could finish those dreaded words. "I refuse to have her go to an adoption home or any other place...I-I'll be there in ten minutes."
"Very well then. I'm sorry for your loss Miss." Click. The line went dead and Rouge stared off into the distance, her wide teal eyes focusing on nothing at all. She ended the phone call from her wrist communicator, limply dropping her hands to her sides.
She had received news that her cousin Heather and her wife Charity had just gotten into a fatal car accident, miraculously her niece had survived thank chaos...but for her cousin and wife to not make it...
There was a pit of guilt pooling inside of Rouge as she thought about her small family. Growing up it was just Rouge and Heather, they lived together in foster home after foster home with only each other. Eventually Rouge left home early to become the independent woman she is today. Heather wished to stay with the family, even begging Rouge to stay but Rouge despised knowing why they were even in foster care at all.
Rouge's parents had left her as a child...she would have died had her auntie Claire not had taken her in, wanting to raise Rouge with Heather but Claire had died after getting struck by a drunk driver. Ever since that day Rouge detested driving altogether, hating her foster family. When Rouge left her and Heather's bond had been greatly weakened and the two eventually stopped contacting each other. She regrets this so much, but there were no time for tears at the moment.
Rouge took a deep shaky breath, 'Get it in control Rouge. That little girl needs you. Just like when you needed someone to take you in. This shouldn't be...too difficult...right?'
The bat held up her communicator and quickly dialed in Shadow's number, it only rang for a few moments before the ebony hedgehog answered it fairly quickly.
"Rouge?" His deep voice asked, it was soothing to hear someone she knew and trusted.
"Shadow-" Rouge quickly said, wasting no time in speaking quickly. "-Can you get here as soon as possible? I need your help."
. . .
Shadow was already at her door in a mere two minutes thanks to his incredibly fast speed that is equal to Sonic the hedgehog's own speed. Concern was laced on his face, ruby red eyes looking her over for any injuries, tan lips pressed into a frown.
"Is everything okay?" Shadow asked, once Rouge opened her door. The bat blinked back tears that threatened to fall down, she nodded her head. Then quickly shook it. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. She'd normally fly but that would take longer. The reason Rouge called for Shadow was one, he was a close friend. He very often picked her up as she refused to drive cars and if she did, it was with extreme caution and resentment. And two, Knuckles was off on some adventure with Sonic and Tails at the moment, which worried her as she didn't know how to explain what had just happened to anybody.
"I got some bad news concerning my...family." Rouge started, "My cousin Heather and her wife got into a car accident. They didn't make it... The police want me to go down to the station right now."
"For legal reasons?" Shadow asked, to most his lack of emotion would make him seem uncaring and cold. But Rouge knew him enough to know that Shadow was very concerned at the moment, however he liked to keep a level head, being a strong and tough hedgehog carrying the weight of the world and much more on his shoulders.
"Yes-" Rouge nodded. "-They have a daughter and I need to go down there to pick her up and take custody-"
"Hold on Rouge." Shadow stopped the bat from speaking. "Custody? Of their daughter?" She nodded her head once. Shadow frowned.
"I'm going to get some type of custody of their daughter." Rouge said, her brows were knit in worry. For the future. For the present. Worried about the unknown. Once, maybe twice did she ever give a thought about having children someday but she paid it no mind. Rouge could see the wheels turning in his head as he thought of all the possible outcomes. "I refuse to have her sent into some foster home or adoption home. I make plenty of money, I have more than enough room to keep a child here-"
"But have you thought about Knuckles? Or yourself really? Having a child isn't easy, raising and taking care of them takes a lot of time and dedication." Shadow said, he knew his words wouldn't really influence Rouge or change her already made up mind, but he still wanted to think over this. "It's a big responsibility."
"I know. For Knuckles..." The ivory furred bat didn't know how Knuckles would react to this. They have been in a relationship for two loving years. Would the echidna be mad? Upset? Would Knuckles decide that Rouge suddenly getting custody of a child was too much and...possibly leave? Chaos she hoped not. "We can-" She licked her lips nervously. "-only see."
"Come on then." Shadow said to Rouge, holding out his hand for her to take. "I'll take you. I know this means more to you than you think." In the future Rouge would see how right Shadow's words were. With no sign of hesitation, the bat took his hand and the two disappeared in a dim flash of blue from the chaos emerald Shadow owned.
Interesting? Boring? Cool? Lame?
What'd you think? It's another story idea that wouldn't leave me alone so I decided to get started on it. I'm already typing up the next chapter!
How old do you think Rouge's niece is? What do you think her appearance'll be like? Personality? How do you think Knuckles will react like? Your feedback would be greatly appreciated, many thanks for reading!