Knuckles gasped and froze, his face seemed to not be able to make it's mind up how to act and so just stayed still. Rouge also stared for a moment, but then the tears came. They ran down her cheek, so many of them she was sure they had come from the ocean. How could this happen? Her baby, her and Knuckles. It was dead. No second chances, nothing. It wasn't fair, but somehow, it happened. Rouges heart sank as she thought of all the pain she had been through. All of it , for nothing.

The nurse approached. She laid down the little bundle by the parents. Rouge managed to pull herself together just enough to open up the bundle and see what was inside.
When she laid eyes on it she gasped lightly . It was a truly amazing sight . The little bundle lay, still and sprawled across the blanket. Its featured a morph of echidna and bat. Its eyes were the shape of an echidnas as well as most of its face. Prominent eye ridges framed its eyes. However , the sought was shorter than an echidnas , while Rouge was sure it would be longer than her own. Tiny knuckles rested atop its hands and little quills rapped with smooth hair covered it's head. On the side of its head rested red bat ears , although they were fairly small in comparison to the average of bat babies and tiny wings were growing on its back. Its tail was short and didn't curve over as Knuckles did. It's fur a lighter shade of red. The tiny hands it possessed seemed so delicate, especially with the knuckles perched atop.

Rouge picked it up, her tears held at bay for a while from the shock of it all. She immediately felt an overwhelming urge to hold it in her arms and she pulled to her chest, resting it's lifeless form against her as the tears came thick and fast. While the bat choked on her own tears Knuckles watched, astonished, waiting for his mind to catch up. It took a while, but when it did, he reacted the complete opposite of Rouge.

" WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP IT!" He yelled in an enormously loud voice at the nurses.

" Please sir, calm down, there was no-"

" DON'T TELL ME TO FUCKIN' CALM DOWN! I JUST LOST MY KID ! HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK I FEEL!" He said, the rage boiling within him. The nurses exchanged frightened looks and one said timidly

" We did all we could". Knuckles shook with pure anger. He didn't care if he hurt anyone, he didn't care if anyone was watching. His little child was dead, that was all he cared about.

He advanced on the cowering nurses, raising a fist, ready to take out all of his confusion on them and any nearby object that might have the unfortunate experience of getting in his way. The doctor rushed up, trying to hold Knuckles at bay. But the fuming echidna was too much for him, and he quickly reversed the hold he was in, taking his spikes up to the neck of the doctor. His sharp teeth gritted together while his breaths raced through the gaps, deep and bellow like. For a while he simply stood there, staring into the terrified eyes of the doctor, listening to Rouges low weeps and the nurses cowering whimpers. He was about to lower the doctor, his anger simmering away, before something quick and hard tackled him, sending them both skidding across the tiled floor and smashing into the wall.

Pushing it off, he found Shadow had rushed in and tackled him away from his unfortunate victims. Suddenly energy less, Knuckles let Shadow drag him out, not caring about anything anymore. His baby was dead and it was all his fault. Soon he found himself on a bench outside the hospital, staring into the ground with Sonic and Amy by his sides.
For a while they sat in silence, unsure what to say, until Knuckles spoke up.
" I guess I should have realised it would never work between us. We're just too different , it's never going to be right. It's all my fault, my fault for being the last in my god dam race!" He said, the end of his sentence turning into a yell. Amy looked at Sonic fearfully.
" Knuckles, I can't imagine how you feel" said Sonic, not sure what to say to his old friend.

" I can" came Shadows voice from behind. Both Sonic and Knuckles looked back to view the hedgehog, looking sombre. " I don't know if I could live if I ever lost Draco "he finished, taking the seat nearest to Knuckles and putting a hand on his shoulder. The echidna slouched.

" My life his ruined" he mumbled into his hands. None of the hedgehogs knew what to say.

A few minuets later, a nurse and the doctor came out to see them.

" I know this probably isn't what you want to here right now, but the baby needs a name, for the death certificate" the nurse said, trying to keep her voice low and sympathetic, not wanting to be threatening by Knuckles.

" Why doesn't Rouge name the thing?" He half-yelled, making the nurses jump. He was frustrated and upset, plus the word death didn't help.

" Please sir, she refused to, she said something about an agreement? "said the second nurse, waiting for an answer. Knuckles put his head into his hands, staring down at the ground. For a while his brain didn't respond, until he realised something.

" It's a boy? "he said, realising for the first time he hadn't stuck around to see the gender. The nurse smiled and said

" Yes. It's a little boy". Knuckles didn't know what to think. He broke into a slow trickle of tears, realising he had always wanted a little boy.

" Sir, a name?". The echidna looked up, unsure of what to name his dead son.

" Well, I..." he sighed " Seth, name him Seth". The nurse smiled and walked away, leaving the group of friends on their own. Knuckles fixed his gaze on the pavement again. He began to wonder if his son would have liked his name, what he would have been like, whether he would have been a good fighter, or a supportive friend.

" You could always try again" suggested Sonic, trying to get to talk. Knuckles shock his head in his hands and said in a defeated tone

" What's the point? Even if Rouge did get pregnant again, I don't think it would survive", he growled in depression " IT'S NOT FAIR!" He suddenly yelled, making a flock of nearby crows fly from their perch in the trees. Sonic looked around uneasily and said

" I know this is probably going to be the thing you don't want to here right now, but when are you going back to the emerald? Me and Tails could guard it is you want". Knuckles didn't respond for a while and Sonic decided he had best be quiet. The silence stretched for a couple of minuets more, until Knuckles suddenly looked up. " What is it pall?" Asked Sonic at his sudden movement. Knuckles eyes widened and he suddenly shot to his feet. He twisted round to face Sonic and yelled

" What time was he born?". The question caught Sonic off guard and confused he replied

" Huh?". Knuckles growled and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck

" What time was Seth born!" He yelled, louder this time. Shadow and Amy watched cautiously.

" I don't know! Your the only one who was in there!" Sonic yelled back, getting annoyed with grip on his neck. Knuckles bellowed in frustration and threw Sonic aside, rushing off shouting

" I have to save him!". Sonic got up, rubbing his sore neck.

" What was that?" Asked Shadow, watching the echidna run off in full pelt. Amy looked around, worried and Sonic said while shrugging

" Dunno', guess he wants to see his little boy again"

Rouge lay quietly, sniffing and holding her little boy. Even though it was dead she still didn't let anyone take it away from here, although she knew it would have to be buried eventually. She had begun thinking about why it had died. Her thoughts immediately went to when she had got drunk, the very memory made her heart sink even lower.

Suddenly the wards doors crashed open and Knuckles pelted up to her bed.

" Knuckles!" She exclaimed, in shock at her husbands sudden appearance. His face looked deadly serious and he said in a dark tone

" Give him to me". Rouge didn't object and handed the little creature over to his father. The echidna stared at him intently for a few seconds, holding the slumping creature in his arms.

" Knuckles what-" Rouge began

" Shhh!" Said Knuckles, silencing her at once. Rouge simply stared as the temperature of the room began to increase. Knuckles brows hardened with concentration and his eyes seems to loose their original colour and flashed into a shiny red. Rouge didn't have a clue what was going on, until Knuckles fur began to glow. She watched , astonished, as Knuckles performed what she thought only Sonic could do. He transformed into Hyper Knuckles. His dreadlocks spiked and began flowing in the breeze that had suddenly appeared. His fur shimmered and wavered, bleaching into a beautiful golden colour. His ring gleamed and shone, pulsating energy. A golden aura surrounded him and, gently, around his little son. Knuckles red eyes stared intently at his son, the golden energy now streaming into the little creature. Like clouds it drifted and was absorbed into his sons body, until all the energy that Knuckles had accumulated was used up and he collapsed onto the floor, his fur fading back into it's red colour.

Rouge shot up when she saw Knuckles collapse. She jumped out of her bed and rushed over to him. He wasn't breathing.

" No!" She sobbed weakly. She began shacking Knuckles still body " No! No! No! You can't die Knuckles! You can't die! Your the only one I have left! Please! No!" She screamed in desperation. She kept shaking him, eventually giving up when she realised it wasn't working. She slumped in defeat. Now she had lost both of them. Fresh tears rolled down her already soaked cheeks as she lounged over Knuckles and Seth dead bodies. She didn't even know why Knuckles died, was he trying to save Seth? Her brain didn't seem to work for a while as she simply grieved. It seemed like nothing in her life mattered anymore and Knuckles had died in vain.

But suddenly, she felt movement beneath her. Her heart skipped a beat as Knuckles arms began to move. Her eyes widened.

" Knuckles?" she called softly, but he didn't respond. His arms, still clutching protectively his little child, moved once more. Rouge suddenly realised something and threw Knuckles arms aside, revealing Seth, her little baby boy, wriggling against his grip and perfectly alive.

Cautiously , she reached out and delicately touched Seth's tiny ear. The sensation caused him to flicker it instinctively and Rouges mine accepted that miracles can happen. Temporarily forgetting Knuckles, she grabbed hold of her child as her tears turned to one of happiness. She cried and cuddled the little crossbreed while knelling on the floor. Seth , in turn, stared up at her, seeming slightly confused for a while, but then snuggling in her arms. Rouge noticed he had a little golden tint, which seemed to be fading every second. Knuckles must have saved him somehow, using the chaos powers he possessed but rarely used. The bat looked over to her fallen husband and silently thanked him. She looked down at Seth, who's eyelids were dropping. She would make sure he knew what his father did for him and how noble he was. Another tear escaped her eye as she looked at her husbands dead body.

" Thank you, Knuckles" she said, looking down at Seth. The little crossbreed was fast falling asleep.

" Your welcome"

AUTHORS NOTES

Hehe. Isn't this exciting. Wow, talk about improvisation, this wasn't meant to happen. By the way, do you like the name? Its my favourite name in the whole world so I decided the name the child of my favourite couple it, is that ok?