Rouge finished dressing and sat on the couch. She found the remote and cut it on, flipping lazily through channels she had no interest in until something caught her eye. She watched it for a few minutes. Then Shadow walked back in, bandages around his stomach. He smiled at Rouge, who was scrawled out on the couch like she owned the place. He came over and lifted her slightly, then laid next to her and put her back in her place. He wrapped a arm around her waist and she closed her eyes, tiredly. Shadow smiled.

They stayed there for about 2 hours before Shadow finally decided to start dinner. He gently got from under Rouge, not wanting to wake her but failing. She opened her eyes drowsily and blinked several times.

"Go back to sleep my sweet princess," Shadow kissed the top of her head, then her nose, then on the lips and walked out of the room without making another sound. Rouge went back to sleep, her dreams twirling around images of Shadow until they focused on one, which then began to move and turn into a dream. Shadow took her hand and twirled her around, over and over again, Rouge spinning on her heel. She wore a long gown, and a tiara on her head that crowned her a princess. Shadow smiled a beautiful smile and the light that shined out onto the balcony made his eyes sparkle like rubies. He smiled wider and stood there looking like an angel. Rouge's breath was taken away from her, and she couldn't bring herself to speak and disturb the moment, so she settled on dancing. They began to twirl again, over and over again until Shadow dipped her down and laid a soft kiss upon her lips.

Rouge opened her eyes and looked up at the metallic ceiling of the ARK, she felt her heart drop. She wished so greatly that the dream had been real, but she couldn't change the fact that it hadn't. Rouge sat up and sighed. She looked around. Where is Shadow? she thought. She suddenly caught the smell of butter, garlic, and tomatoes. Suddenly Rouge heard footsteps and Shadow walked into the room holding 2 trays. He gave a smile that would make any girls heart melt. He seems so happy, even after what happened. That was a little weird.

"I hope you like Italian." He smiled.

"Like it? I love it! One of my faves." Rouge smiled and sniffed again. Shadow chuckled and set the trays on the table in front of Rouge. She took a bite of hers and smiled again, taking another bite. "This is delicious!" She took another bite. She looked up and noticed Shadow was just staring at her. "Um, Shadow?" She waved a hand infront of her face. He grabbed it and put it down on the couch, holding it down as he continued to just stare. Rouge tried to take her hand back, but he held it tighter.

"You think that's delicious. God you look so delicious right now." Shadow suddenly pulled her closer and kissed her. She kissed him back, even though he seemed so creepy about a minute ago. By the time he stopped kissing her she couldn't even remember that. He moved his lips down to her neck and kissed it gently. He then ran his tongue on her neck and Rouge shivered. He suddenly stopped and Rouge could feel his breath on her neck. He suddenly froze, his whole body going still. He stood and left the room hastily. His face was blank.

Rouge stared after him, not sure what to think. "What was that?" She looked down and noticed her dinner which was beginning to get cold. She sighed and went back to eating, not sure what to think.

Shadow then returned, a smile on his face. Rouge gave him a weird look but he kept on smiling. He walked over and sat next to her. She leaned away a bit and he frowned, looking confused.

"What?" Shadow asked, obviously lying about not knowing.

"You know."

Shadow sighed and looked down, twiddling his thumbs. "I'm going to be honest. I have no idea what came over me. You just looked so good and I... I don't know what I was going to do. I scared myself for a moment. I thought I was going to hurt you, or worse..." His voice got quieter until he completely trailed off and went silent, looking away.

Suddenly you heard barking. Two small Pomeranians ran into the room, one was a red-orange color and the other was white. They jumped up on Rouge and stared licking her repeatedly. She laughed and hugged them tightly. A smile broke out on Shadow's face.

"Who are they?" Rouge asked and finally calmed them down by petting their heads.

"The white one is Misty, and the orange one is Lixinne. They were 2 puppies I found on the street, hungry. I guess they were related. It happens all the time. People don't know what to do with the puppies their dogs have so they just dump them. I thought they'd be good enough company." Shadow shrugged.

Even Shadow didn't think it was much, Rouge thought it was so sweet. "They're so cute!" They licked Rouge again. Shadow smiled and picked up Lixinne.

"This one Is my favorite out of the two though. She's less yappy, even f she is the runt of her litter it seems... She's the one that came and laid with me while I slept while the other ran around." Shadow kissed the top of the orange doe's ear.

Rouge smiled widely, then looked back down at the snow white dog. She jumped up and kissed Rouge again and she giggled.

2 Weeks Later*********************************

Rouge groaned loudly and looked down at the huge stack of papers now sitting on her desk. "Are you kidding me?" She looked down with a hopeless expression. Jackie laughed awkwardly.

"Sorry Rouge! I did some of it for you already..." She pointed to a stack about the same size over in the completed bin.

"MY GOD! Why is there so much all of the sudden?" Rouge asked, curiously.

"It's all the random attacks lately. Since we can't find the culprit, we're constantly making different forms for the next person to try and hunt them down. I guess it's your turn next." Jackie shrugged.

Rouge sighed again and took the paper on top of the stack and looked at it. "Wait a sec... This is for Shadow! Not me." Rouge looked at Jackie. She took the sheet and looked it over.

"Well actually, it's for both of you. Since you guys are partners they'd probably send you together on this mission. Want me to go get Shadow and you guys can do the work here in the lounge?"

"Please do." Rouge said and pulled a pen from in between her breasts and clicked it. She started the information on the first sheet. Name, specialization, powers, experience, she scrawled on the page in purple ink. She heard the door of the lounge close and two pairs of footsteps walk in. She heard the chair next to her move and someone sit, but she didn't move. She continued to scrawl.

Suddenly, she found herself beyond unable to look at the paper. Shadow pulled her into a heart-melting kiss, and his hand on her waist slid onto her back and gripped her shirt tightly. He then suddenly let go, and pulled out a pen and started writing himself, ignoring Rouge, who was panting slightly. She just stared at him. He finally looked up at her, away from the red writing on his paper. He smiled then burst out laughing. Rouge joined him.

"What the hell did we just do?" Shadow laughed again.

"I don't know, but whatever it was, it was fun." Rouge smiled.

They spent a few more hours doing paperwork until they finally finished. Rouge sighed and Shadow put his arm around her. "I know we should've eaten at lunch time, but we didn't so want to eat now? Even if it's like dinner time... Or do you want to go for a walk and stop at the first place that sounds nice?"

"Walk." Rouge smiled. "But can we hang around back first?"

Shadow just smiled and picked Rouge up, bridal style and carried her through the office hallway, getting stares, a few aw's, and one ew. He carried her out the back and set her next to the tire swing. She smiled.

"I'm afraid to get on. I'm in a skirt..." Rouge trailed off.

Shadow chuckled. "Oh Rouge, don't worry. From what I've seen, you have very good taste in underwear." Shadow squinted his eyes and smiled.

"When have you ever seen my underwear?" Rouge looked at him like he was a creep.

Shadow didn't answer. Instead he just pointed to the swing. "Get on." Rouge sighed, knowing she wouldn't be getting an answer anytime soon, so she went over and started to climb on the swing to get in. Shadow grabbed her waist and helped her in. He then pushed her gently, and she swung back and forth.

They spent an hour or so out there, swinging and whispering little things together, flirting quietly. They giggled and hugged one another.

When they were about to go get dinner together, Rouge realized that she forgotten her purse in her office and asked Shadow to wait there for her while she went in to get it. She walked through the hallway and into her office. She went and grabbed her purse and turned to see a note on the door. She took it down and read over it then gasped, her eyes wide.