Chapter 1-Crash Course
Rouge lay awake that night, thinking about the day her whole world came crashing down. She sighed as she remembered that day all too well.
Flashback
Rouge awoke to noise coming from her mother and father's room. She had gotten up, grabbed her teddy bear, and headed toward her parents' room. As Rouge walked down the hall she could hear voices. All she knew was that she had to find them. When she reached their room. It was too late…..
Flashback Ends
Rouge looked at the alarm clock. She still had three hours. She sighed as she stepped out of bed and headed toward the shower.
"Why? Why do I still think of them? Damn them!"
Rouge bounded her fists into the shower wall. She pulled back as a light pinkish-red color blended into the hot water running down the shower wall. Rouge finally had had enough and stepped out of the shower.
Rouge pulled her vest over her head and snapped the 9 mm into her belt loop. She sighed as she slammed the door behind her. Rouge didn't stop as she walked past a guy on the street until something told her to. Rouge stopped as the guy stared at her. She sneered a hiss as the guy quickly hurried on his way.
Rouge's feet carried her to the Chaotix as always. She sighed as she used her ID and walked in. Rouge looked at the clock and realized it was only five o'clock, she still had three hours before everyone else showed up. She walked into Shadow's office and sank behind the desk and looked around the office.
There was the usual stuff: awards, papers, and other crap. Then there was the unusual stuff: Street Punk clothes, dog tags, Kayla's picture in a frame setting beside the one of him and Rouge, and finally there was a blind-fold laying over a loaded pistol.
Rouge sighed, "Damn. He never does learn." She chuckled as she looked at her own gun in her belt loop.
Rouge got up and headed toward the front of Detective Hedgehog's office and toward the shooting range. She sighed as she loaded her 9 mm and shot the target. She swore as she missed.
"Damn bastard." Rouge reloaded and took dead aim at the moving target.
The gun tripped and flipped out of Rouge's hands. Rouge took and looked at the blood on the gun. She looked down at her hands and sighed,
"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit! Bastards!"
Rouge looked at the target. Her eyes held pain, rage, and sadness all at once. Rouge was usually right up there with Shadow in shooting, but the target told a different story. Out of the thirty shots Rouge had taken, only seven of them took dead aim at the target's face, chest, and torso.
8:00 AM
Vector walked into Chaotix and looked around. Something was different. He looked and saw Espio's wife, Tonya, sitting at her computer; punching in numbers for upcoming cases. Espio was leaning against her desk watching her smooth motions of her fingers gladding across the keyboard. Charmy was flying around with screwdrivers, bombs, and various other items in his hands. Shadow was leaning against the wall smoking his last cigarette until after work.
Vector grabbed his clipboard and started to call role.
"Charmy Bee!'
Charmy stopped for a second and screamed, "HERE!"
Vector nodded and continued on, "Espio!'
"Here."
"Tonya!"
"Here!"
"Shadow!"
"Here!"
"Vector!"
Shadow sighed, "That's you boss."
Vector sighed, "Rouge."
"Here."
Everyone turned as the solid white female bat came into the lobby. Her right hand was bandaged from a faulty target practice.
Shadow looked at her hand, "What happened?"
"Gun misfired."
Everyone stopped and looked at her. Rouge could tell that they knew something was up. She sighed as she stepped into her office and closed the door. Everyone looked at Shadow. Shadow raised his hands in his defense.
"Don't look at me. I didn't do anything to her."
Rouge came back out with a box in her hands. She tossed it to Tonya. Tonya looked at her weird. Rouge stopped as she caught something on the computer screen. Rouge looked at the name…..Lance. She sighed as she continued to walk out to the front of the building. She pulled out a pack of Shadow's cigarettes. She flipped a match against the bottom of her boot and lit the cigarette. She inhaled and knew that today was going to be along day.
30 minutes later
Rouge looked at the last of the fire die on the cigarette. She sighed as she dropped it and walked back into the Chaotix. She was bombarded with questions. She slammed the door close and the questions silenced to a dull roar. Rouge looked at Tonya. Tonya nodded,
"Rouge. Where did you get these things?"
Rouge sighed, "They originally belonged to me. Why do you ask?"
Tonya nodded as she sat back behind the computer. Rouge nodded as she headed toward the firing range. Vector pushed Shadow on the back.
Shadow sighed, "Fine, but she's got a gun. And she knows how to use it."
"Don't worry she won't kill ya."
Shadow nodded as he headed toward the firing range.
At firing range
Rouge looked at the 9 mm in her left hand. She sighed as she pulled the trigger. Her right hand throbbed from the pain that the gun's recoil caused. Rouge put the gun down and stared at the target. Yet again there was only five to seven shots that made it.
"Tough luck. It took me more tries before I could get even four shots on that damn moving target."
Rouge turned to see Shadow walking toward her. Rouge blushed and turned back to the gun laying on the wall.
She sighed, "I guess. Still I can usually get all my shots on that damn thing."
Shadow stood back at the pain in her voice. Shadow looked at his bat girl, she was usually the only one that was hard to get under the skin with. But today was different. She was unstable and every little thing was upsetting her. Shadow walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. Rouge stopped as she felt something different in her towards anyone at the Chaotix. She pushed away from Shadow. Shadow stared at her.
Rouge shook her head, "Stay away from me!"
Rouge took off out of the range and slammed the door close. Rouge ran past Tonya, Espio, Charmy, and jumped over Vector. She stopped when she Shadow staring at her with pain in his eyes. Rouge shook her head and ran out of the Chaotix and down the street. She headed home. She didn't want anything to do with work anymore.
Chaotix Lobby
Vector, Charmy, Espio, and Tonya all looked at Shadow. Shadow looked at all of them. Vector sneered at Shadow.
Shadow growled back, "What? What do you want me to say? That I did something to her. I did nothing."
"Shadow. What happened to Rouge?" Tonya's voice calmed Shadow down a bet and looked at all of them.
"I…I…don't know. I just don't know," Shadow replied to all four of the Detectives.
Shadow walked out of Chaotix and headed to the only place he could think of that Rouge would be.
Club Rouge
Rouge set on the couch and looked at the TV. The screen was playing over a scene from when Rouge was little; her father, Blaze Bat, was calling her name off screen, while her mother, Yuki, was walking with her holding her hand. Rouge sighed as she knew she hated this. She was just killing herself inside. Rouge picked up the remote, but then another person appeared on the screen. Rouge knew his name.
The figure turned toward the video cam and smiled as he whispered, "I'm coming from you Rouge. Don't you worry about that."
Rouge shrieked as she turned the TV off. She looked at the blank TV as she tried to calm her nerves down. It wasn't working. Rouge thought of the next best thing. She grabbed the home phone and dialed a number from memory.
Back with Shadow
Shadow felt his phone vibrate against the side of his leg. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and pressed 'talk'.
"Hello?"
"Shadow!"
Shadow stopped for a second. He knew the number was Rouge's, but it didn't sound like her.
"Rouge?"
"Shadow. Can I stay at your house tonight?"
"Rouge. What's wrong? Rouge?"
"Shadow….please."
Shadow sighed as he nodded, "Sure Rouge."
The phone died. Shadow swore as he headed over to his house.
Club Rouge
Rouge opened the door as light flooded the doorway. Rouge sighed as she closed the door and left it unlocked. She walked the seven extra blocks to Shadow's and stopped as she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned and there was a figure. She braced herself as the figure came closer.
The figure smiled, "My…my…you look younger than you did when you were a small yearling Ms. Bat."
Rouge recoiled against the figure's comment. She looked at the figure and knew him at once.
"Lance?!"
The figure nodded as he stepped up to Rouge. Rouge didn't move. Lance smiled as he placed his palm on Rouge's cheek.
"You're so much like your mother, Yuki. Too bad I had….."
Lance looked behind him as he saw a black blur coming from a mile up the road. He smiled as he walked away from Rouge and disappeared. The last words Rouge heard where:
"Don't worry I'll have you my perish Yuki. You can count on that and no Blaze the Bat will stop me."
Rouge walked up to Shadow's apartment door and leaned against it. She was confused and hurting. By the time Shadow got to his apartment Rouge was setting down and leaning against his apartment door. Shadow bent down and started to touch Rouge's cheek. About that second he heard a safety lock click. He backed up. Rouge opened her eyes. She tore her eyes away from Shadow's shocked red gems.
She sighed, "I'm sorry. It's just….I don't know anymore."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it Rouge," Shadow whispered to her.
Shadow stretched his hand out, Rouge took it as Shadow kicked his door in. Rouge stared at him. Shadow shrugged as he walked into the apartment. Rouge smiled as she walked into the familiar space. She sighed as she sank onto the duck taped couch. She leaned back as Shadow stared at her. She patted the space beside her.
Shadow smiled as he walked over and jumped down beside her. Rouge leaned against his chest. Shadow placed his head on top of hers. Rouge finally couldn't take it anymore. She started to cry. Shadow looked down at her with sadness. Rouge leaned deeper in the gap of Shadow's neck. Shadow pulled Rouge's smaller figure into his lap. He cradled her as a baby and whispered: 'I love you' over and over again. Rouge finally quieted down.
Rouge looked up at Shadow. She smiled, "Thank you, Shadow the Hedgehog."
Shadow smiled down at Rouge as both of them drifted off to sleep.
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'Tonya The Cat, Kayla Parkinson, Lance The Fox, Appex The Porcupine, Zena The Squirrel, Maxcell The Chipmunk, Nails The Bat(whoever else is in the fic)belongs to shadrougeforever. These characters are not mine!'
Please review it would be a great help...