01.28.2019 / Update: I updated dialog and descriptions. However, nothing was added to plot, and nothing new is imperative to the plot. Simply updated for a smoother read and for your enjoyment. :)

Hello again!

Well here is the second chapter as promised! I will be uploading this story on the 5th and 20th of each month. I will make an update in my bio if I am unable to meet the deadlines for any reason. Again, please, please, please review if you have read my story. I love to hear feedback, also please favorite the story if you like it.

Happy Reading!

P.S. I have now changed the rating from T back to M. I did this because of some great advice I received from a review by 1Past and Present1. I believe that the M rating will be more in line with the topics brought up in my story. I apologize if I misled anyone, and hope that won't deter people from reading my story.

Happy Reading!


CHAPTER 2: Foul Language

Jade colored eyes snapped open to see a red-brown cave ceiling.

"Ugh..." She moaned, her head felt like a rock. Her right arm blazed in protest of movement, and her lower back creaked as she moved up into a sitting position.

"Where am I?" She mumbled. Her vision was blurry for a couple moments, and she had to blink several times to bring her body into focus. She was receiving strong pain indicators from several places, and as she scanned herself, she noticed that most of her injuries had been tended to. Bandages covered her arms, and her right limb had been placed in a makeshift sling. Her next revelation was that she wasn't wearing her normal adventure outfit, and was instead sporting a quite tattered rag that looked to have been a large t-shirt at the beginning of its life. She had a sudden flash of Stick's brown loin cloth that she passed as a dress… Amy was not grateful for the similarity.

Now satisfied that she wasn't in grave need of medical attention, her focus turned to her surroundings. She was sitting in a cave, and it was quite dark and wet. She realized with a shock that she hadn't the faintest idea where she was… She could remember walking around the Skye Arc ruins, searching for artifacts, when Lyric had ambushed her. He was stronger than the time when he had come after the crystal shards, and she had been totally unprepared. Chaos, I'm so stupid. I should've brought Knuckles with me. She had asked Sonic, but he had, of course, refused. He claimed he had a date, with that nasty bandicoot, Perci. And dammit she had been so pissed, that she had just left on her own. Now she was alone, with no idea where she was or how she was going to get home, all because of some childish anger and pride.

"Fuck." She said out loud, her emotions spilling forth like poison. The ability to say such a word without criticism gave her a small feeling of release and helped her anxiety at her situation lessen.

"That's not very lady like, now is it?"

The husky voice came from somewhere behind her, and she felt her blood freeze in fear before a strangled scream ripped from her throat. Jumping to her feet, she snapped her hammer to existence, turning to face whatever threat laid in wait. Pain shot throughout her body, but she ignored it with the help of adrenaline.

"Whoa, there! Calm down! Is that anyway to treat your savior?"

All she could see at first was the relief of a male hedgehog against a small fire, but with a squint she was able to identify him. Immediately, she relaxed, but she could still feel her heart beating a million miles a minute.

"Shadow. You scared me! What the hell are you doing here?" She asked plopping down again, and putting her hammer back in its other-dimension home. Shadow the Hedgehog smirked folding his arms and giving her a crude look. He was wearing a black leather jacket, and a low cut tank top that showed off his white fluffy chest fur. His jeans were black and ripped and he wore his usual black and red air shoes.

"You really should work on that mouth of yours, no wants to be around a indecent female."

Amy rolled her eyes. Shadow was the last person she wanted lecturing her on politeness, being someone who also had very colorful speaking habits of his own. She hadn't seen Shadow in a while, and she had to admit it was nice to see him. The last time, about 6 months ago, he'd come over to the village to speak with Sonic, about… who knows what. And Amy could honestly care less, but she did consider the black hedgehog a friend, even if she couldn't stand him.

"I guess, I should thank you for helping me." She said, just the smallest hint of sarcasm in her voice.

He shrugged, and turned to the fire beside him. Amy could smell something being slowly roasted over the heat, and her stomach started to growl. However, more pressing then the idea of a full stomach was a question that kept nagging at her mind.

"Um, just a question, where are we?" She asked, trying not to sound nervous. The black hedgehog looked up, his hand turned, what looked like fish, over so that the other side would begin to brown. Amy could feel her mouth starting to water.

"One of my many hideouts. I couldn't take you far, with you being in that condition and all."

"Oh," Amy replied, swallowing some of the excess saliva, "Um, what about Lyric?"

Shadow shrugged, stood up and walked over to a pile of wood. He took a log and fed it to the fire. The warm orange tendrils jumped up to meet the fuel, and small red sparks of ember burst into the air, landing on his body, but Shadow didn't even flinch. Amy shuddered at the scene, his ability of indistruction was always a little unnerving to witness.

"I knocked him briefly unconscious so that I could get you away. You were very close to dying, you know. Couldn't spend time kicking the bastard's ass, had to be a quick in and out." His voice had a slight annoyed tone to it, and when he turned to face her once more, his expression was of irritation.

Amy felt her heart sink in humiliation, and self anger. She prided herself as someone who could hold her own in battle, and it had taken years of training to get to that point. To hear that she had become so defeated that someone had to swoop in and save her like a damsel in distress, frustrated her to no end. On top of all that, the 'hero' had to be this cold blooded hedgehog before her. Shadow hardly ever got involved in other's business, especially whenever it had to do with Sonic or his friends. Whenever he was forced to, it would annoy him to no end. It must have been bad enough that he had forced himself to intervene, most likely causing his annoyance to grow to new heights. Amy wasn't clueless, she knew Shadow was irritated with her on a good day. She was embarrassed he'd witnessed her struggle, because she knew it just made his hostility towards her worse.

"Well, I'm sorry. I... I know it was dumb to come to these parts alone..."

Shadow grumbled in response, and it was enough to cause her already stressed emotions to stretch to their max. Against her wishes, she felt tears begin to burn in the corner of her eyes. No… crying will just make him even more annoyed. You don't want him to leave when you have no idea how to get home. She blinked profusely, attempting to push the tears back.

"Here."

Along with the word came a fish shoved underneath her nose. The action shocked her for a moment and forced her to look up. Shadow was standing before her, offering the grilled protein to her with a stern look. His expression wasn't warm, but he wasn't reflecting any of the annoyance or revulsion that she had feared would be there.

"Thanks..." She hesitated before grabbing it carefully with her left hand. Once the stick had left his grip, Shadow turned and sat a few feet away, but he faced in her direction, observing her silently.

Amy pulled the fish up to her muzzle and sniffed carefully, as though testing whether it had turned or not. Surprisingly, the scent that hit her nostrils was attractive, and caused her stomach to growl in anticipation. She hadn't even realized how hungry she was, but now she could feel her stomach tightening in anticipation. Wasting no more time she took a bite, and was pleased at the flavor explosion on her tongue. The meat melted in her mouth like butter, and she could taste a tang of lemon. Her eyes widened in delight, and she turned to the brooding hedgehog with a bright smile.

"This is soooo good, Shadow! How'd you make it?" Once the words were uttered, her mouth again chomped with vigor into her meal.

Shadow blinked, and turned to look at the fire. He felt a little tinge at the compliment, a feeling that could be described as... warmth, but the feeling was not something he was used to. He gritted his teeth to rid himself of the unwanted tenderness, and he clenched his fists.

"Just threw some shit I found around the cave entrance and some things I had in storage together. Nothing fancy."

Amy narrowed her eyes at his crude language, but shrugged and continued to devour the fish. When she was finished she sighed and leaned back against the wall of the cave. The pain from her broken arm had subsided greatly, and with a full stomach she was starting to feel sleepy. A comfortable smile slowly formed on her lips, and she wiggled in contentment. She was starting to get comfortable, or at least as comfortable one could be with a broken arm in a wet cave. Her eyes closed and she started to ponder once again on her surroundings. Shadow lived here? He'd said this was one of his 'many' hideouts, but what about his actual home? With a jolt, she realized she didn't even know where he lived. This wasn't the surprising part, Shadow was a secretive guy, and she could hardly imagine him giving that information out. No what shocked her was that it was entirely possible that he didn't have one.

"Shouldn't you be calling your friends?" He asked, his voice coming from another side of the cave. Amy opened her eyes, she hadn't thought of that. Mostly because of the obvious reasons of embarrassment, but also because she had thought she wouldn't need their help since Shadow was already assisting her. She felt a little knot form in her stomach, just as she had originally thought. She didn't want to be a burden any longer and there was someone that she could call who wouldn't make her feel embarrassed.

"Hmm, I guess I should." She looked around for her purse, but couldn't find it.

"Here." She looked up from the side of the bed she was searching, to see shadow standing beside her with her purse thrust in her face. The large maroon purse was tattered and burned, it's shape no longer recognizable, and she'd have to throw it out when she returned home.

"Uh, thanks," she said, grabbing it from him. She pulled out a bronze cylinder, it had studs circling it on the top and bottom. She pulled it apart, revealing a digital screen. It was one of her favorite inventions of Tails, and she was glad it seemed to be working fine.

She tapped the screen, and dialed Sticks number. A picture of a badger with crazy blue eyes, and smile to match, and a ringing tone filled the cave. She didn't answer at first, and Amy glanced up nervously at Shadow. He was standing with his arms crossed and his red eyes narrowed into a speculative glare.

Amy gave a nervous smile, "It's late… she's probably asleep…" Shadow said nothing, but he didn't soften his stare. Thankfully, she saw the screen flicker as the badger answered,

"Ugh, hullo?" The tired voice of Amy's friend echoed through the cave. Amy let out a small sigh of relief and she saw Shadow scoff and shake his head from the corner of her eye. What a jerk, it's not like I want to be here anymore then he wants me here. Despite the spark of anger towards her stubborn savior, she plastered a happy expression on her face for the sake of Sticks.

"Hey, Sticks, it's Amy!"

"Amy? Why are you calling in the middle of the -" suddenly the screen brightened as the badger woke up and turned on the lights of her room. Amy could see the messy face of the brown animal staring at her with crazy blue eyes. Amy groaned inwardly, she already had a guess as to what Sticks was about to say next.

"Is it the robot takeover? Have you been kidnapped by a destroyer bot?" She was now screaming in her scratchy voice and started moving about frantically. This caused the image on the screen to blur and twirl frantically, and Amy could feel a headache coming on from the movement, but she also felt a warmth begin to enter her. In her own insane way, the badger was worried for her, and Amy realized it helped her feel safer.

"No! No Sticks!" Amy said laughing, "I'm just checking in, I had a bit of... well a bit of an accident." Amy heard Shadow scoff again, and she chose to ignore him.

"Wait, so you're not becoming the wife of the ladybug robot king?"

"Wha-? No! I'm fine, I just think I need to go home now is all, I just wanted to let you guys know I was fine, in case you were worried." Amy was blushing, and Shadow was watching her, his eyes filled with dark amusement.

"Oh, well none of us were. But I can have Sonic come pick you up." Sticks started to walk towards the door, but Amy shouted, "No! Um, it's fine, I, uh, had a fight with him. Could you get Tails?"

"What? I would, but he left, shortly after you to go visit Knothole." Amy sighed, perfect, of course he chooses now to visit Cream.

"I'll take you back." Amy jumped slightly, not expecting to hear Shadow say anything, let alone something that was… well not nice persay, but decent, from the dark Mobian.

"Who's that?" Sticks asked growling. Thankfully the screen had stopped moving about frantically, but now it was filled with a badger with her hackles raised.

"It's fine, Sticks, it's just Shadow," Amy quickly stated, her good hand waving before the camera like a flapping wing.

Sticks looked puzzled at first, no recognition of the name on her expression. Amy opened her mouth to explain, when suddenly Sticks eyes brightened and she said loudly, "Ooh, that black gloomy guy that looks like Sonic?" Shadow growled and ripped the device out of Amy's hands,

"Hey-!" Amy tried, but the look she received from Shadow was enough to seal her lips.

"I look nothing like that blue faker, badger!" He growled.

"Oh there he is! Hi, Mr. Shadow, tough-guy!" Sticks said laughing.

"I am taking Amy home. We will be there tomorrow." He growled, slamming the cylinder shut.

"Hey!" Amy shouted again. "What the hell?!" Shadow flung the thing into her lap.

"Get some sleep, we're leaving in the morning." He turned and walked over to a chest on the other side, that Amy hadn't noticed before, and pulled out a huge blanket.

"Here." He said tossing it in her direction, he turned and went back to the fire.

Amy sighed and leaned over, the best that she could, to pick up the blanket. She was too tired to complain, and besides anything was better than having Sonic come save her. She shuddered at the thought, and again her mind was full of him.

After moving away from Knothole, Amy had really thought that they might have a chance at something more than friendship. There had even been times that they'd hung out alone, and it even seemed like he wasn't annoyed with her anymore. Part of it was because they were older, Amy was 20 and Sonic was 22, so both had grown out of their childish ways. Amy no longer pursued him like a crazy fan, and Sonic didn't run at the first sight of her. Hell, they had seemed to grow closer in the past year, to the point that they enjoyed each other's company.

Until he had met Perci, that lavender colored siren. She was older, and her body more mature, so she had easily caught the eye of the blue hero. He stopped hanging out with her, would stand her up, and even avoid speaking with her, even at friend gatherings. Amy was convinced that they both weren't in a serious relationship, that it was only for pleasure. But it still hurt, because now she was back to square one, her chasing and him leaving.

Amy sniffed, and a silent tear rolled down her cheek as she finally drifted to sleep.