Me: Hey bitches! Sorry it took me so long to get back here.

Cream: It's okay, Mr. AK.

Espio: You have a whole series to work on other than this. We're just glad you haven't abandoned us or anything.

Me: Thanks you guys.

Silver: So did you get any help from the readers like you thought you would?

Me: I did get a few, but I'm still taking them. This is gonna go on for a while. If you want Knuckles to do something for Rouge while she's sick, leave me your request in a review at the end of this chapter. I did get some on the last chapter's reviews. And all of those ideas I intend to use. One of them will be in this chapter, and the other one will come later on. I promise. So thanks goes to those guys. You know who you are.

Shadow: Are you going to have me be more of a badass like I was in chapter 2?

Me: I'll think about it. But for now let's get to chapter four. Who wants to do the disclaimer?

Charmy: I'll do it! I'll do it!

Me: Alright. Take it easy. Go.

Charmy: AK doesn't own me or any other people here in the Sonic world. I wished I owned this place though. Then I would rise up and all of you would bow down to me!

Vector: Oooookaaaaaayyy. No more sugar for you.

Me: Agreed. Enjoy chapter four folks and remember to review and leave a request if you want.

A Spy's Day Off

Chapter 4: A Little Stroll

(Angel Island; 2:00 PM)

Knuckles had spent the last couple of hours taking orders from Rouge. He opened windows, left the island to buy a humidifier, which he did not like. He was going all over the island and off for Rouge. But after a couple of hours, through the puking, coughing, and sneezing, Rouge finally fell asleep for a nap, giving Knuckles a break. He decided to step out of the house and got back to standing in front of the Master Emerald. But before he left, he decided to check on Rouge. He opened up the door to his room to see Rouge sleeping soundly. But she seemed to be shivering. She was cold. Knuckles went to the closet and found an old blanket and put it over Rouge. A few seconds later, she stopped shaking. Knuckles took one last look at her and gave a small smile.

"She may be the bat girl, but she's kinda cute when she's asleep."

Knuckles' smile faded as his brain said those words. Did he really just think that? Knuckles just shrugged thinking it was nothing and then walked out the door and slowly closing it. He went to the Master Emerald and then he decided to snooze as well.

He got on top of the giant green gem and lay down on his back looking at the sky. Then he closed his eyes and drifted off to who knows where in his head. In his dream, he was all alone enjoying the peace and solitude of a wide open land. A large open field with the grass as green as the Master Emerald itself. He walked looking around the gorgeous scenery. No speedy Sonic to come and ruin it all, no loudmouth Tails to constantly talk, no crazy Amy to complain, and now dark Shadow to make the whole thing seem gloom. HE would have tolerated Tikal or Blaze because they KNOW when to keep quiet.

All was going well in Knuckles dream, but then he looked up at the sky and one of the clouds got to him. It was shaped like Rouge and she was standing in a sexy pose. It even had her flirty smile. Knuckles frowned as he saw the cloud and turned away. But then the echidna looked up yet again and saw another Rouge shaped cloud. This one made her look like she was flying and winking at him. Now Knuckles was getting confused. Why was this happening to him?

Knuckles woke up and sat straight up rubbing his head. Wondering what just happened, he decided to go with two choices, either he was starting to develop feelings for Rouge, or he was getting sick from taking care of her. He decided to go with the latter choice.

Knuckles decided to go back to the house to see if Rouge had woken up yet. When he walked inside he first checked his clock to see how long he had been asleep. It was 3:10 PM. He had been asleep for almost an hour. He went upstairs to see if Rouge had woken up yet. Slowly he opened to door and saw Rouge was still sleeping and the blanket was still on her. As he turned around to leave, he heard a small coo. He turned around once more just as Rouge opened up her eyes. She sat up and saw Knuckles looking at her. She smirked.

"Just couldn't help looking at me, huh? Good to know I still have that effect on the guys when I'm sick." She teased.

"Hey! I was just coming up here to check on you!" Knuckles went into defense mode.

Rouge giggled and then she noticed the blanket that was on her.

"I don't remember falling asleep with this." She said.

Knuckles looked away. "You looked cold."

Rouge smirked again. "So you care about me enough to keep me warm?"

Knuckles started to growl. "Get this straight! The only reason and wrapped that around you was so you wouldn't get sicker than you are now. If you get worse that'll only mean more work for me."

"Oh don't too excited, sweetie." Rouge was still smirking.

"Don't call me that." Knuckles said.

"Whatever." Rouge went for a tissue and held it up to her nose. "Aaaaaahhhhhh…aaahhh…AAAAHHHHCHOOOOO!"

Knuckles turned away and Rouge blew her nose.

"Bless you." Knuckles said.

Rouge groaned. "Thanks."

"Okay. Call me if you need anything." Knuckles turned to leave.

"Can we go for a walk?" Rouge asked.

And yet again, Knuckles faces the bat. "No way. You're sick. You should stay in bed."

"Oh come on. My nose is all stuffed up and my sinuses are killing me. Maybe some fresh air would do me some good."

"Yeah. That's all I need. For you to get dizzy from walking around too much and then fall off the island. Then I'll never hear the end of it from Amy."

"Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaassee?" She made those cute big eyes again.

Knuckles was starting to get angry. This was the second time she used that trick. But then he pondered that fresh air theory. The island was very high up in the air and over the ocean. If there was any fresh air left in the world, it was on that island and Knuckles knew that for a fact.

"Alright fine. We'll go for a walk. But do you have any clothes to put on?" Knuckles asked.

Rouge blushed as she remembered that little detail. "Uuuummm…no."

"Well then I guess you're staying right there." Knuckles said.

"It's okay. I've got my sheets to cover me." Rouge said as he slowly got up.

Knuckles was shocked that Rouge was actually okay with going outside without any clothes on except for underwear. But then she looked down at her feet.

"What about shoes?" he asked.

"I'll be okay. Let's go." Rouge said.

"If you say so." Knuckles said. "Who knows? Maybe she'll get worn out and fall back to sleep."

Rouge weakly walked out of the room and Knuckles had to help her go downstairs. The two of them walked out the front door and began to walk along the edge of the island. Rouge took in a deep breath through her nostrils. The scent of the fresh air was a joy. And she didn't have to sneeze either. Smiling as her sinuses became clear like she hoped, she decided to mess around with Knuckles.

"So tell me, Knuckles. Do you LIKE taking care of me?" she asked.

Knuckles glared at her. "Of course not. The only reason I'm doing it is because Blaze threatened to burn my grapes."

Rouge looked at him strangely. "You mean she threatened to burn your…you know." She pointed to in between his legs.

Knuckles blushed freaked out a bit. "WHAT? NO! The grapes I'm talking about are actual grapes! You know! The fruit!"

Rouge giggled as he screamed at her. "Okay I'm sorry." Then she got back to her teasing mode. "So you were forced too."

And Knuckles went back to glaring as they kept walking. "Yes I was. Hopefully the girls will be done shopping soon and you can get off my island."

"But until then, I'm all yours, Knuckie. How does that make you feel?" She asked.

"It makes me feel like throwing up myself." Knuckles said.

Rouge placed her head on his shoulder and still retained her evil smirk. "Aw come on. Don't talk like that."

Knuckles pushed her off. "Get off me! I don't wanna get sick from you!"

Despite being yelled at, Rouge kept that smirk on her face. "You know, if you did get sick it would only mean fun for me."

"Why's that?"

"Because than I would have to take care of YOU." She said.

As Rouge turned around to look down over the edge of the island, Knuckles' fists were clenched and violently shaking. No one was looking at him, but if someone was that person would have seen actual steam coming out of the top of his head. Knuckles was angry so he came up with an idea. Rouge had her back turned. He opened up his hands and held them out in front of them as he were about to push someone. Quietly, he tip toed closer to Rouge. He was just about to push Rouge over the edge when suddenly he heard a voice inside his head.

"Don't you do it Knucklehead!"

That voice stopped Knuckles in his place. That voice sounded a lot like Sonic.

"Sonic? Why are you in my head?"

"I'm your conscience."

"If you're my conscience, why do you sound like…never mind. What do you want?"

"I want you to think about what you're doing, Knucklehead! You're about to push her off your island!"

"So what? She's a bat. She can fly."

"Not when she's as sick as she is."

The Sonic inside his mind was right. If Knuckles pushed a sick Rouge off the island, it would have been basically killing her.

"Besides, you know she's only messing with you. Right?"

"Ugh. Yeah I guess."

"Then put your hands down and back away."

Knuckles took a deep breath and did exactly that just as Rouge turned back around to continue walking forward. As they did, Knuckles was calm and Rouge decided to strike up another conversation.

"So tell me something." She said. "Do you choose to stay up here on this island because you like being alone or were you somehow assigned that job?"

Knuckles looked at Rouge confused. She had never asked him a question like that before. He actually had to think about the answer to her question before actually speaking it.

"I took it upon myself to do it after I lost my father." Knuckles said.

Rouge was surprised to get that answer. No one had ever heard Knuckles make any references to his family.

"Your father?" she said.

"His name was Locke. He was the one who trained me to become the guardian of the emerald. He started training me at a young age and I took on the duty when I was only ten."

"You were only ten? Why so young?"

"It wasn't supposed to be that way." Knuckles said. "Usually a guardian takes on his full duty when he turns 18. But one night, my father was called away when Angel Island was in danger. I never saw him again after that."

Rouge felt sorry for the echidna. Rouge never knew her parents and she found it hard to miss someone she never even knew. But to know your parents and then lose them like that, that would feel horrible.

"So that made me the last alive guardian." Knuckles said.

"What about your mother? What happened to her?" Rouge asked.

"My mom? I don't really remember her that well. She divorced my dad when I was only a baby." Knuckles said.

"Do you even know if she's alive?"

"I've looked around. But the last news I heard came to me just a few years ago saying she left the island. The trail goes cold after that. Whether she's dead or alive is unknown to me." Knuckles said. "I've never really had time to look anyways. I've been too busy doing my job."

"Has there ever been a female guardian?" Rouge asked.

"I think there was one. But that was a long long time ago. I don't even remember her name." Knuckles said.

"Maybe Tikal would know." Rouge said.

"Maybe." Knuckles looked up at the tree line. "But there are some days that make me wonder why I do what I do in the first place. You know. The reason I was meant to do this. This may sound like something Shadow might say, but I often wonder what my true purpose is. Guarding that emerald day in and day out is something that I've grown used to over the years. But I know that there is a greater calling for me than just that. You know what I'm saying?"

Knuckles looked to his side to look at Rouge, but all he found himself looking at was air.

"Rouge?"

He looked behind him and saw Rouge lying on her stomach throwing up over the edge of the island.

"Look out, ocean. You've got incoming." Rouge said while moaning.

"Way to ruin the moment, Rouge." Knuckles went over to her and kneeled down to pick her up. "Okay. Walk's over. Let's go back."

Knuckles picked the bat up bridal style and carried her all the way back to his house. She put him back in his bed and then went downstairs to fetch a thermometer. He came back upstairs and put it inside Rouge's mouth. A few minutes later, Knuckles took it out and looked at the temperature. It was 103 degrees. Rouge was burning up.

"Maybe that walk wasn't really a good idea." Knuckles said.

"Could you get something cold for my head? I'm roasting." Rouge said.

Knuckles nodded and went down to his kitchen and got a rag. He held it under his running faucet, got it wet, rolled it up, and went upstairs to place it on Rouge's forehead. But then a gurgle was heard from Rouge's stomach.

"Knuckles get the bucket and run." Rouge said.

Knuckles eyes went wide as he realized what that meant. He handed Rouge the bucket and bolted for the door.

"TAKE COVER!" he shouted.

He DOVE out the door and kicked it shut with his foot. He landed on his stomach and covered his head like he was in a trench war. He cringed as he heard Rouge throwing up whatever contents she had in her stomach. He actually felt sorry for her. He knew what she was doing right now wasn't fun for anybody. But then he remembered how peaceful the walk was.

"Maybe this won't be SO bad." Knuckles said. "As long as she doesn't puke on me, we won't have a problem."

Me: Once again, I'm so sorry it took me so long to update on this. I promise I'll try harder to work more on this.

Sonic: Be sure that you do. This is one of your more popular stories, AK.

Espio: He's right. People want to see more.

Me: I know that you guys.

Amy: Is there going to be anymore couplings in this presides Knuckles and Rouge?

Me: Of course there are, Amy. I've already mentioned Shadow and Tikal are together. And now that you mention it, next chapter I'll be focusing on another coupling as well.

Blaze: Really? Who?

Me: I'll leave that a surprise. But I'll do my best to make sure you readers like it. Remember to leave a review and an idea for the next chapter if you want. Until then, peace bitches.