"Why is everyone bothering me so much about Shadow and Amy?" Rouge grumbled, fixing herself a drink behind the bar of the empty nightclub. The sun was a bit blinding, even with the tinted windows of her club, so the bat wore dark sunglasses even indoors. "Haven't I meddled enough?"

"You're just angry at me for waking you up. Which I'm sorry about, by the way." Tails replied, chin rested on his hand while his legs kicked freely under the too-tall barstool. "Should you be drinking this early?"

"It's morning. Perfect time for a bloody mary." Rouge replied somewhat defensively.

"Whatever. Who else am I supposed to talk to? Amy knows I'm Sonic's best friend, and Shadow and I have never even spoken to each other, and I assume that's for the same reason. Knuckles even said he didn't know anything."

"So, you have no connection to the two of them, and yet you expect me to answer all your prying questions? The reason I won't tell Knuckles anything is because he went blabbing the first time, and it really hurt Amy. Besides, who says I even know what's going on?"

Tails' ears flattened against his head in frustration. "I know you keep your ears on the ground. You know everything that happens in this town."

Rouge sipped her drink, staring at her companion with distrust in her eyes. "What do you want to know?"

Tails frowned as he spoke. "They were here last night, right?"

"For a short time. They left pretty quickly, since Sonic was pestering the poor girl."

"So, what, are they together now?"

"I wouldn't say so. Not like Shadow to jump into something like that. I had to put the pressure on just to get him to take her out." Rouge said, walking around the bar and taking a seat beside the orange fox.

"Sonic was really shaken up about last night." Tails replied absently. "What's Shadow's angle?"

Rouge cocked a brow. "What do you mean?"

Tails huffed and rephrased his question a bit more forcefully. "What does he want with Amy?"

"From what I can tell? A lot more than Sonic ever wanted. I wish you would stay out of their business." Rouge added bitterly. This felt more and more like high school drama as it developed, and Rouge couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. If she hadn't been so insistent on involving herself, perhaps the poor hedgehogs could get a little peace.

"I'm not doing anything to bother them!" Tails' tone was defensive, and his small hands balled into fists.

"Why are you here then? Trying to groom me for information you can take back to Sonic?" Rouge spat.

Tails took that in, then hung his head in shame. "You're… not entirely wrong. It's just that Sonic's is the only side of the story I'm getting to hear, and he doesn't exactly paint a picture that would set my mind at ease. I care about Amy, too, you know."

Rouge sighed, beginning to understand where the fox was coming from. "Why don't you go home and rest easy knowing it's fine. I mean, you all trust me, don't you?"

Tails hesitated before he relented, "Yeah." Although the truth was, Rouge had been their enemy almost as many times as Shadow had. If it weren't for her being engaged to Knuckles Tails would be as weary of her as he was the black hedgehog. Maybe then, he thought to himself, I could come to trust Shadow too, if Amy seems to think he's okay…

"What about Sonic, though? I don't think he's going to let it go."

Rouge reached over and gave her young friend a pat on the head, telling him, "I know that Sonic is your best friend, but if he's going to win Amy back, he has to do it on his own. You simply can't help him."

Tails had always been a good natured and polite young man, but Rouge's assurances were about as comforting to the boy as if they'd come out of Robotnik's mouth. "Fine, whatever. I'm gonna get out of here." Tails pushed away from the bar and hopped down to his feet. "I should make sure Sonic's doing alright anyway. Thanks for nothing, Rouge."

Rouge narrowed her eyes at his bitter response but said nothing in return, knowing her temper often came back to bite her. Her eyes remained fixed on his back until the door shut behind him, then sighed deeply. What a mess. God forbid two adults go about their private lives.

The bat stretched as she meandered into the back room. She regretted meeting Tails here so early and was debating going back home to catch some more sleep when she noticed Shadow's logbook on the counter. Out of curiosity she opened it, taking a few minutes flipping through pages of receipts from her own business she'd never actually seen before. Damn. The nightclub is almost as profitable as flipping jewels.

A distant door slamming caught her by surprise. "Tails?" She called, heading back to the front of the club. "Did you forget something?"

Before she could reach for the doorknob, the backroom door swung open, knocking the bat off balance and forcing her to take a step back. As she recovered from her stumble, she felt something pressed into her that caused her to freeze up and twitch in painful agony that quickly claimed her consciousness. Her attacker calmly placed his taser back in his pocket and waved for his companions to lift her slumped form away.