He would have probably flown her there three months ago if he knew what she was going there for.
Rouge relaxed in the back seat of Tails' plane and stared out the window. The clouds were no more interesting than the files in her lap. Tails turned and smiled at her.
"We're preparing to land," he joked, "Please put your tray tables up and restore your seat back to the full upright position, thank you!"
Rouge sighed; Tails was almost as bad as Sonic when he wanted to be. Sometimes she wished he would be mister-tech-talk full-time.
Three months was a long time to resurface a runway, but when you had to outsource for most of your workers it made some sense. Rouge had hoped to get there before the regular shutdown of the small airport to complete her mission, but she figured there was some divine reason for the delay. After all, in those three months, she had done a favor for Tails, and he owed her this ride. Of course, if she could tell him her mission, he would have done it even before then, she was sure.
However, it was top secret, and "of the utmost importance that the information she held not be compromised or disclosed," as her boss put it, "to anyone but the predetermined recipient." That guy was all talk, to tell the truth. Even so, Rouge was worried about this mission.
"We have arrived! Hope you enjoyed flying the Tornado Express; buh-bye now, buh-bye."
Tails opened the hatch for Rouge and held her manila envelope as she climbed out, the white bat snatching it out of his hands once she was safely on the ground.
"Thanks, Tails. We're even, now, but if you want to come pick me up in a few days…"
Tails nodded, "A week good for you? I'm all booked up until then!"
Rouge gave him a wave and fluttered off the runway as he started up his little two-seater and took off. She felt guilty for not filling him in on her mission; after all, it did have to do with his sort-of brother, but orders were orders and Tails was known to be a bit of a blabbermouth at times. Rouge took out her cell phone and dialed up the nearest hotel, booking a room for the next few nights.
Shadow woke up, squinting in the light before closing her eyes again. How much had she had to drink last night? She felt lightheaded; dehydrated. No, she hadn't been out drinking; she'd been smoking- she remembered the diner fire and the fight beforehand. Biting her lower lip, Shadow opened her eyes again, this time getting them used to the light. She was in the hospital, and judging by the side table with a vase and bouquet, it was the one on Tenth by the flower shop, also known as "the granny hospital" because of the average age of the nurses. Made sense, as it was also the hospital closest to the diner.
Shadow pulled herself into a seated position, enduring the head rush and pain from her previous injury and scoped out the rest of the room. A small window across the way provided a nice view of the upper branches of an oak tree and a chair closer by provided an okay view of Mr. Eiglestein, snoring away with his earbuds in. Shadow sighed and inspected her shoulder, which had been hit in the fight. The doctor had already set her arm back in place and it was bruised, but otherwise healing. Shadow smiled. She had given Amy some hell and it was worth it.
The doctor walked in, smiled at Shadow and pulled up a chair.
"What's the diagnosis, Doctor Epperson?" joked Shadow, smirking a bit, "Will he live?"
Dr. Epperson glanced back at Mr. Eiglestein and chuckled.
"Oh, I'd say he's got a few more years on him… How do you feel?"
"Dehydrated, but other than that, fine. How about you?"
"Very talkative today, aren't we?" laughed Dr. Epperson, getting up again, "You're free to get up if you feel like it; your arm is healing up fine. The water fountains are just outside and visiting hours have begun if you want to see how your friend is doing."
Shadow nodded. "Oh, was her arm broken or just dislocated, like mine?"
The doctor paused on his way out the door, raising an eyebrow.
"…Mabel?" asked Shadow, "My waitress friend Mabel?"
"Oh, you were talking about Mabel… She was released a half-hour ago. It was broken, just a single fracture. She should be fine with a couple weeks of rest. I was talking about Sonic."
Shadow nodded; a little depressed. Sonic had received head trauma a la Amy Rose in the fight and passed out cold. Dr. Epperson left and Shadow stood up to go, shaking off another dizzy spell and exiting the room, leaving Mr. Eiglestein to be woken up by an elderly nurse and proceed to fall in love with her another hour later, but that's a different story.
A nurse directed Shadow to Sonic's room, but Shadow could not convince herself to enter. She stood outside, staring through the small window in the door at Sonic, who was unconscious on the bed. She stood there for several minutes, her hand poised to touch the doorknob, looking in as Sonic rolled over, scratched at his ear, shrugged off the covers, pulled up the covers, and snored loud enough to wake the dead. And she left.
Rouge watched in fear.
She had been told Sonic was in the hospital on Tenth Street and she wasn't at all happy to hear so. Seeing Shadow here at his door confirmed her worries; no doubt he was the one who put Sonic here. Rouge hurried into the room, not realizing how quickly she had shut the door until she heard an exclamation from the bed.
"Wha! Whuh? Rouge?" Sonic sat up quickly, his mouth getting ahead of the rest of him before: "Ooohh…" he leaned forward, holding his head in his hands, reeling from the biggest dehydration-caused headache he'd ever had. He shook his head to get his brain working properly again and turned to Rouge.
"Oh, hey Rouge. Out here on vacay with Knuckles?" asked Sonic, suggestively raising an eyebrow over half-lidded eyes.
"Don't you wish." responded Rouge, rolling her eyes.
"Don't I wish I was out on vacation with Knuckles? No thanks! We're pals, and that's it."
"Sonic, this isn't about Knuckles!" Rouge exclaimed. She seemed steamed, so Sonic decided to actually listen.
"Sonic, you're in danger."
Sonic raised his eyebrows and glanced around the room.
"Is she here already? I didn't see her come in! Omigod, is she hiding?"
"…She who?"
"Amy! …The one who put me here in the hospital in the first place? …Pink hair? Carries a deadly weapon with no license? …Pink hair?"
Rouge frowned. "I'm not talking about Amy…" then she raised an eyebrow. "She put you here?"
"Conked me on the head with her Hammer of Death and KO'd me. Doc says I'm on bedrest until I can touch my chin to my chest again. Ow! Crap!"
Rouge covered her eyes with the palm of her hand and shook her head as Sonic attempted to perform this random action. Then an odd thought occurred to her.
"I thought Amy liked you, Sonic. Why would she hit you?"
"I, uh, kinda got in the way of her hammer while she was trying to hit Shadow. I dunno. Why?"
"Shadow? You've seen Shadow recently? Like, within the past three months?"
"Like, a few hours ago, like." Imitated Sonic. He could tell he was grating on Rouge's nerves and he liked it.
He considered it playing hard-to-get when she feigned relaxation and pulled up a chair, sitting back and crossing her legs.
"So what happened a few hours ago?"
"Well, I had just escaped from Amy and went to Eiglestein's diner for lunch. While I was in the restroom, a fight broke out between Amy and Shadow, who I guess works there or something, and…"
Rouge narrowed her eyebrows as Sonic put a hand to his head, as if suddenly remembering something distant.
"…Sonic?"
Sonic sat back up; a stunned look on his face.
"Sorry, Rouge. Anyway, Shadow took a hit and then I jumped in, of course, getting hit myself."
"Hate to say it, Sonic," sighed Rouge, leaning an elbow on the arm of the chair, resting her chin against her knuckles, "but you're kind of stupid for doing that."
Sonic copied her again.
"That's funny, I thought you liked guys like that," he taunted, getting Rouge somewhat ticked.
"That's what I get for trying to protect you, I guess," she grumbled, getting Sonic's no-foolin'-attention expression.
"Tryin' to protect me? From what? I mean, why would you…? Ugh."
Rouge sighed.
"Trying to protect you from Shadow."
