Again i don't own knuckles or rouge

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Chapter: 5…

Location: Station Square's harbour

Time: 9:00pm

The bat came to a halt and panted slightly, looking behind her she saw Knuckles trailing behind.

"Awww too fast for you?" Rouge mocked, poking him in the chest.

Knuckles pouted "no… I just didn't see the point-"

"Ha, admit it. I'm just better than you" she hummed.

Knuckles scoffed "yeah, you wish bat-girl"

"I can't help it if you're a sore loser now can I?" she laughed. Winking playfully at him.

Knuckles muttered something under his breath then sat down in exhaustion. Rouge couldn't get rid of the huge smile written on her face but the echidna didn't find it funny.

Rouge pauses "I wonder if-" as on queue, Si-harah's gem interrupts.

"Ahem, I have found the location of the ruby. But it might prove difficult…"

Knuckles got impatient "well we haven't got a choice, so just tell us what we have to do already!"

The wolf growled a little 'I'm going to enjoy killing you when this is over' her mind shot, she laughed falsely "…you need to meet up with my ally in the capital of France. There he will take you down the river seine to the final location"

"And that is?" Rouge questioned.

"In the heart of the English channel… see you there" the gem vanished in a puff of smoke.

Knuckles paused then cringed "uh Rouge…"

"Hm?" she turned to him.

He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly "what's the capital of France?"

"Paris, why?" she froze "oh god no!" 'W-why is this happening to me? First I'm on this dam quest with him, now, I'm heading off to the city of…love, with him…' her mind raced, she glanced over to Knuckles who looked back at her. 'But then again… oh what am I thinking!' Rouge looked away and shook her head.

Knuckles, quick to change the subject asked, "how are we going to get over there?" he glanced out to sea.

Rouge flashed a smile "leave that all to me"

XXXXXX

One phone call later, a large black G.U.N boat soon appeared at the dock, awaiting the two.

Rouge waltzed over to the boat as the ramp lowers. Two black uniformed G.U.N guards stepped out. Both wearing dark sunglasses, wore earpieces and had a handgun tucked away in their jackets.

"Welcome miss Rouge, we hope the boat is up to your standards." Explained the first guard.

"This is a new model, capable of reaching 60 miles per minuet. In the sleeping quarter, there are two single beds with two ensuite's" the second guard explained.

Knuckles leans over to Rouge "uh, I thought you weren't working for G.U.N" he asks, whispering in her ear.

"I'm not, but because I was such a good little spy, I get to use their transport where and when ever I like" she boasted, smirking. She waltzed on board with Knuckles trailing behind.

Within no time the boat started to move.

Rouge entered the sleeping quarters and wondered around. Knuckles soon came in.

"Rouge…"

"What?"

He looked around "uh I thought we had separate rooms…"

"Don't be silly, this boat is big but not that big" she thought for a moment. 'I never thought about that… this makes things more complicated'

Knuckles turned around and went to exit but stopped as Rouge spoke. "Knuckles…" she started.

He looked back around "yes?"

She hesitated, which is rare for her "…n-never mind" a knock on the cabin door interrupted the two. "Come in"

A silver tiger in a white captain suit entered the room. "Miss Rouge, I need to know our destination…"

"Of course" she nodded and headed out the door, following the captain.

Rouge followed the captain all the way to the head of the boat. Once there, the captain rolled out a map on the table.

"Okey, we need to go to Paris," she pointed out on the map.

The captain paused "fine, but either we head straight there which will be a shorter route or we-"

"That will be fine, I need to get there as soon as possible," Rouge urged.

The captain nods "yes miss Rouge, we will be there in approximately three hours" Rouge muttered a thanks then exited.

Knuckles leans forward on the rim of the boat. Watching the endless blue sea race past. It was pitch black; the Milky Way shone through so brightly you could all most touch it. He gazed up to the stars, like he's done a thousand times before but each time he looked they seem to amaze him more. With a sigh of content he felt he could stay there forever.

Rouge soon spots him, she watches him for a few more minuets before turning away.

"Wait…stay" his voice called. Rouge looked back to him, he hadn't moved but he knew she was there. The bat came and stood by him, she felt slightly uneasy either because of the speed of the boat or something else.

Knuckles turned to face her "was there something you wanted to tell me… earlier in the cabin" he asked. A strange feeling swept over him when he looked into her eyes, they caught the glow from the moon and sparkled magnificently.

Rouge didn't notice his longing glance "well, I'm not into fate or anything… but I get this feeling that… that we were-"

CRASH!

Both Knuckles and Rouge where thrown to the floor. The boat came to a halt.

Knuckles pulled him self up and quickly glanced about looking over board as well.

Rouge quickly stood up "quick, to the head of the boat" she shot. The two ran up the steps and into the bridge.

The captain and the two guards stumbled to their feet, rubbing their heads.

"What happened" Rouge asked the dazed captain.

Knuckles froze "uh Rouge…"

"Wait a minuet!"

"No Rouge, I'm serious look out the window… Rouge!"

Rouge spun around "What is it Knuckles!" she shot. Her eyes shifted to the window. A huge snake like monster looked down on the small boat, its purple dull eyes fixed on the bridge. "What the hell is that… why didn't you tell me sooner!"

Knuckles face went blank "your kidding right?" another violent crash came from the back of the boat, as the sea beast whips its tail against the metal walls.

"This boat can take a few more hits, but that's it!" shot the guard; he grabbed his handgun from his jacket and exited the bridge, firing a few shots at the beast. Soon the second guard joined him, both blasting the beasts face.

Rouge got up again and headed for the door.

"Rouge where are you going?" Knuckles shouted out.

The bat turned around "I'm the only one who can reach the beasts head…" she shot back before opening the door.

"No…" Knuckles mutters. He stables himself and heads off in her direction.

Rouge swiftly flew to the head of the beast and glided around a few times. 'Concentrate Rouge, find its weakness…' her mind commanded. "Wait…" flashbacks of her training flashed through her mind. In basic training she fought with a robot ten times her size. The weakness was in the eyes… "That's it!" she muttered. Swiftly she glides down to the firing guards.

"Quickly, one of you give me you weapon" she ordered. The second guard nods and hands over the gun. "Aim for the eyes" she shouts before flying back up to the head.

She fired one shot directly in the beast's eye. It roared with anger and snapped at Rouge, she flew away just in time. The beast shakes its head in pain as the eye bled. Rouge took another shot but missed as the monster snapped its huge jaws at her again. Panicking, she barely missed being torn apart, trying to focused her aim on the angered beast.

Knuckles watched from the ship, growing tenser as the beast lashed at her. 'I need to distract it some how…' Knuckles thought for a moment. Then it came to him. He ran back to the bridge and to the captain. "Does this boat have any lights or spotlights?" he urged.

"Uh yeah…" the captain hesitated "up on the hood, there is a spotlight…" Knuckles mutters a thank you and heads to the hood, once there he swung and aimed the light to the beasts face. Switching it on full blast.

The serpent turned to the boat, suddenly blinded by the light gave Rouge the chance she needed. She fired endless shots into its eyes, blasting away until she had no more bullets. 'If this doesn't work…then nothing will' her mind raced as she lowered the gun.

The serpent thrashed around violently roaring and groaning with pain, it returned to the depths leaving a trail of blood on the surface. Rouge sighed with relief, but failed to notice something. The beasts tail rose from the water, Rouge couldn't act before it swung hard at her before sinking to the depths.

The bat plummeted down past the boat and into the icy water.

"Rouge!" Knuckles gasped, he took no time in diving into the water. The cold ice hit him hard like a dagger to flesh, his muscles stiffened up as his tried swimming to Rouge. A small current pulled him under. Kicking his feet hard he barely manages to keep his head out of the water, by now he could see Rouge starting to go under.

Knuckles finally caught up with her just as she slips under. He grabs her and pulls her up to breath. She was unconscious, swallowing a hell of a lot of water.

The guards on the boat soon threw a life ring to the two, Knuckles, now getting weak, grabs the ring and in no time they were back on the boat.

"Quick, get some blankets!" orders Knuckles, laying Rouge down on the floor. He gritted his teeth, he knew what he had to do to keep her alive… but the thought of it made him blush madly.

"You better thank me for this bat-girl…" he sighed, then started to press down on her chest, three times then… he placed his lips to hers breathing out then pressing on her chest again. By this time, his face was as red as his fur.

Rouge choked out and sat up quickly, coughing madly. She sniffed a few times as the guards wrapped a warm quilt around her. Knuckles was nowhere in sight.

A few minuets later after the boat stated off again, Rouge went to the cabin, still feeling worse for wear. She lay down on her bed and sigh.

Knuckles splashed his red sweaty face with some cool water, looking in the mirror he groaned a little 'I can't believe I did that… Rouge can't know, I won't tell her, what she doesn't know won't hurt her…right?' he splashed his face again then paused as he heard movement in the cabin. "Dammit, its Rouge" he sniffed, now feeling some affects from the icy water.

He opened the bathroom door and stepped out, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Oh hey Knuckles…" she spoke, her eyes on him

"You feeling better…?" Knuckles mumbles. Rouge closes her eyes half way, sniffing a little.

"Yeah, a little better." Her voice sounded groggy. "W-what happened? All I can remember is getting hit, then waking up coughing…" she asked, yawning. Knuckles gritted his teeth.

"Well…you…"he hesitated then turned to her, to his relief she had fallen sound asleep. 'Thank god!' he thought as he fell back on his bed with exhaustion.