Confessions

Yeah I'm gonna go ahead and keep going. Right now I'm more awake and will probably be able to get a bit more descriptive with it, so expect a longer chapter.

The events in this chapter happen the morning after chapter 1.

-----[ Two: Training Exercise

Never in a million years ... would she make that mistake.

Rouge was thinking that while holding a glass of water soaked with powders and remedies to help settle her stomach. Most of the medicine had settled on the bottom by now, leaving a less than attractive looking drink. Today was the day the agents go in for their annual 'examination,' which is used to detect any problems within the agents or anyone that might be in for early retirement. Even though Rouge always finished at the top of the list she hated going in for the examination. Being the only mobian agent on the force they were bound to find something wrong with her.

' Rouge the Bat, please report to the training room. '

Her ears instantly pinned back against her head in agony. The woman's voice droning over the speakers just struck her wrong, almost bringing the little bit of food she managed to eat before coming in right back up the way it entered her body. She couldn't go into the room dragging her feet, they would know something's wrong right away. So with a sigh she stood up strait and tried to walk without making a grab for her stomach. Still some of her fellow agents gave her odd looks as she passed, which made her more uneasy. Some of them were grinning and muttering among themselves.

What do they know that I don't? Was the mental question as she walked out of the room.

---

Knuckles wasn't enjoying his day off. After a sleepless night he decided that it would be best to be honest with Julie-Su and admit that he did something wrong. There was little that Knuckles was sure of in the situation, but he was certain that he really loved Julie-Su.

But if he did ... why did he do it?

" Knuckles, man... "

Snap. In reflect he clenched both paws, shattering the mug that he held in his right paw. Hot coffee splashed against his face and burned his hand. " DAMNIT! " He looked up to find that the customers around him quickly relocated to the booths on the outer rim of the cafe.

Espio moved in to quickly wipe away the spilled coffee and pick up the sharp pieces before Knuckles injured himself further. This was the 'job' that Knuckles envied: wiping up things and cleaning dirty dishes at a local cafe.

"What's wrong with you? You seem ... different. " Espio couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but there was something wrong.

" I'm just stressed... it happens. " A half truth at best.

After wiping up the mess Espio threw the wet rag over his shoulder. " You should be anything but stressed. We haven't been in action for a few months. "

Knuckles closed his eyes in thought. " It's about Julie. "

That brought a moment of silence between the two friends. Julie-Su was always a hard subject to talk about among the Chaotix, given who she is and where she came from. The ninja knew he shouldn't have gone any deeper into it, but something was tempting him to ask. " What about her? I thought things were going great betwe- "

" It was! It was! " Knuckles cried, cut him off. " I don't know where things went wrong, but they did. " Admitting that aloud caused his eyes to start burning with tears. He kept them back. Pride kept him from crying in a public place over it.

It was a wound Espio kept picking at. Not to try and hurt his friend more, but to try and help. " Did you ... apologize? "

" I... " His head was hurting, throat dry. He couldn't find the words to describe the dread he felt about the situation. Julie-Su wasn't the most forgiving person in the world from experience. He'd been afraid to come clean to her about certain things for quite some time, ever since he heard of what she did when he forgot about their date once. " I can't... "

Fear consumed his mind. This was much less forgiving than standing her up on a date.

---

Rouge was feeling more sluggish now than in the waiting room. Unfortunately this was not the place for failure.

A standard Guard Robotto was her opponent, which she had a hell of a time trying to hit with a punch. With every passing second her vision became more blurred, to the point where she stood in place in a daze trying to get a lock on her opponent's position. Her breathing was must faster than usual, indicating that she had some unexpected pressure on her lower stomach.

Her eyes closed for a moment in a futile attempt to clear her senses, and in an instant it was all over. A cold metal barrel could be felt pressing against her back seconds later. Rouge froze, her heart skipping a beat.

'If this was an actual battle you would be dead, Rouge, ' The voice overhead droned. She failed! Rouge couldn't remember the last time she failed such a basic drill!

Finally her knees would give way under her, letting her fall to the ground on claws and knees. From there she would vomit and relive herself of the nauseating feeling she was experiencing ... if only for a few hours.

'Miss Rouge... ' The voice overhead was uncaring of her situation, it seemed. ' Report to the medical bay at once. We need to run a few tests. '

The bat with burning pride drenched by reality pulled herself to her feet in a less than dignified fashion, looking more hopeless than she was a few moments ago. With wings and ears drooped she would walk out of the training area with an arm tightly wrapped around her stomach.

Now those unforgiving human doctors were going to prod her with who knows what in only the Walkers know where!

---

Thanks to the two people who reviewed so far. The rating will go up in later chapters as the language gets heavier and moments from that fateful night are revisited, but I decided to leave what actually happened that night up in the air until the end.