Note: sorry, the summary was wrong.

She is nearly 16 in this story. Not to say in future chapters she'll turn 17

Shadow sat on a bench smoking a cigarette delightfully. His first one for the day, but definitely not his last; he inhaled deeply, and his frown turned into a slight smile as he savoured the inhalation of fine tobacco, filling his lungs, working up to his brain, and swooping into his cells with a strong, high sensation.

Mmm. He thought to himself. Nothing could be better than this. A first cigarette in the morning? There's truly nothing better.

It's not like anyone else around here could compare. This place is so fake… so pathetic. They all run around on their toes like it's the end of the world when a new dude with a mask shows up… And yeah, it's partly my fault… But hey. This is what its all about.

Smoking another drag, Shadow closed his eyes and smiled. He looked up to the clouds and noticed many images in the clouds. He was at that moment when, you've realised that life has so much more to offer, than whats in front of you. Even the sky looks beautiful, when you're in that kind of mood.

And it was a shame, really, what was about to happen. What was about to destroy that mood for good.

Shadow heard noises from the distance in between one of his final drags. "Huh?" he said, coughing slightly and putting his lighter in his pocket. He looked around in search of the noise of crying and pleading, and as he noticed what was happening, he dropped his lit cigarette, a tailor made, burning his arm violently. "Ouch." He said. But it was simply a force of habit; he felt no pain as he stared at a green hedgehog trying to pin down a light pink fox in the distance.

He became infuriated and focused only on what he was looking at.

He sprinted over, his shoes firing up , and paused in front of Scourge.

"Fucker!" Shadow threw a punch straight at his face, just below his glasses, almost smashing them to pieces.

"Dude! What the hell!" Scourge yelled. The pink fox fell to the ground in a mixture of relief and anxiety: relief that she had miraculously escaped from another one of Scourge's attacks, but yet anxiety to see what Shadow was about to do, and if she would ever escape from the imprisonment of Scourge's abuse.

"I told you —*punch*— not—*punch*—to fucking come here *punch*— again!" Shadow yelled at the top of his voice. "First, you interruppted my peaceful, delicious morning cigarette. And then I walk over here, to find that you are about to rape this young girl?! What is she, 15? Are you fucking kidding me? And what about your girlfriend in your dimension?"

Shadow kneed him in the crotch and pulled his ears violently. He grabbed Scourge's jacket and twisted it around his neck so that he couldn't breathe.

"Dude—*choke*—It was nothing. She was asking for it. Trust me, she'll tell y-you. *wheeze* - i'll go back to my home. Just let me go. I promise I won't come back."

Shadow let him go and Scourge sighed of relief. "Thanks, ma—" Before Scourge could finish, Shadow had pulled out a gun and aimed it straight at him.

The pink fox stood up slowly and put her hands forward. "n-no, don't shoot him. Please. I don't want to see any more violence…"

Shadow looked at the girl. She was bruised, weak, and she was trembling. Possibly anorexic, looking as if she hadn't eaten in days. Maybe she was on drugs, he thought, but then, why would she be? She clearly wanted to die rather than feel a different sense of life.

"Fine." Shadow lowered his gun, and grabbed Scourge in a flash, in a chokehold. "If I EVER fucking see you again, it'll be more than just me after you. I can guarantee that. If it wasn't for this girl… You'd be a dead fucking hedgehog at the end of my revolver. You hear me?"

Scourge nodded, and created a portal. Shadow threw him in viciously and Chaos controlled it shut, sealing it for good.

Shadow sighed and shoved his gun away. He grabbed a new cigarette, cursing under his breath. *Selfish fuck, stealing my one good moment of the day. Now I can't get that back.*

As he lit up the end of the cigarette, the pink fox shivered, cold, and hungry. She was weak all over, aching and afraid. But something in her eyes had changed seeing Scourge being eliminated - she felt somewhat at ease, as if she could be herself again.

Shadow took the first drag and then looked at her softly.

"Do you want some?" He asked her, holding the cigarette in his hand outwards to her.

"N-no, thanks. I… I don't do drugs."

"Hmph. It's not a drug, sweetheart. Its a vice. A sweet, sweet vice, like your favourite cup of coffee , or…" He then hesitated and realised who he was talking to. "Wait. How old are you?"

"You were right. I'm 15. I'm 16 in a couple of months, which is the legal age. Not that that's stopped Scourge."

Shadow stared emptily. "He fuck you?"

"Yeah… he… yes. Many times. When passed out. When drunk, of his own creation. When awake, when asleep… When in public, when alone. You name it. He has "fucked" me inside out, and made my life hell. And I'm pretty sure if i smoked that right now, I'd vomit every last drop of stomach acid, that that I still have in my stomach that is."

Shadows expression didn't change. He wasn't one for empathy, but he had compassion, and while he didn't want to give away any vulnerabilities, he still wanted to help this girl as best he could.

"You eaten?" He asked flatly.

"No."

"You want to?" He asked in the same tone.

"… Of course I do. But I can't. If I try… I'll be sick."

"Alright then."

Silence.

"Listen, he won't be coming back. but you're gonna be pretty distraught these next few days. I imagine you live with your parents—"

"I don't."

"well, wherever you live, you probably won't wanna be there, considering Scourge has penetrated every area of your life, so to speak." A clever pun, but he didn't exhibit any signs of humour whatsoever.

"So, I am currently supervising a high security facility while investigating some things with my business partner. Following up on Infinite and whatnot, seeing if he will be making any returns. Theres constant security and the only people you'll see are me, Rouge, and some others from the hero team, possibly."

The pink fox nodded blankly.

"What I'm proposing, is that you come with me, and spend the night. You will have your own room and Rouge is a decent female … er, companion, I guess. You'll be safe, definitely from Scourge, and additionally from anything else. And in addition, I'll be making extra sure that that fucker doesn't cross our dimension borders again."

The pink girl nodded. "Okay. I can come. I don't really want to go anywhere but to be honest, I'd rather be somewhere like that than by myself."

"Good. And I don't know your name. You don't have to tell me, of course, I'd understand. But it may help to keep watch on any gang-associated follow ups Scourge could facilitate."

"Petal. Petal Rose."

*Rose… I wonder if she's related to…*

"And I'm Shadow, of course."

"Of course. Sonic's secret lover, of course."

"While you may be joking, I'll have you know that love is no part of me. That was stripped from me long ago when the only person I ever loved was killed. I possess respect, and loyalty. Maybe a bit of sympathy. But love is the last of my features. Except for my gun, I love my gun. Let's go."

Petal smiled shyly as Shadow picked her up and chaos controlled them to the spy facility.