I think my weakness in writing fanfics is that I don't think about what I'm gonna type until I get to the computer so I either end up rushing the relationships like I did with the knuxrouge chapter and things get a bit corny. So I'm going to have to start revising what I write so I can re-type parts of it if it doesn't go well. Ok.

Chapter 5: The flames that helped to bring happiness.

"My god that was a long day…" Rouge said as she flew in the night sky. She looked at her diamond watch and it read, 12:37 am. "I shouldn't have to under go any kind of training. I'm a perfectly good agent." She rubbed her aching arm and sighed to herself. "Well, I guess I do need some practice, just not this late at night."

All of a sudden, Rouge's ears began to twitch. She swiftly glided onto a building rooftop and lightly landed on her feet. She listened closely to the continuous and nerve-raking sounds not far away.

"Sirens…?" Rouge began. She took to the air once again and glided to her apartment. She realized that as she got closer to home, the sirens got louder. As she neared her destination, she began to see clouds of smoke viciously rising into the air.

"…no." Rouge said, flapping her wings faster now. What she had thought had come true. Her apartments and the surrounding ones were on fire. At the bottom was a crowd of the people who lived in the apartment and some of the neighbors. Firemen were constantly shooing people away while others were standing on ladders trying to put out the fierce flames. Rouge looked at all the commotion the people were making and flew about 20 feet away from her window. She could see all of her precious belongings now red and ruined. She felt her heart skip a beat and felt her stomach grow cold.

Rouge didn't know what to do but stare at the disaster she was able to once call her home. She glided down to the crowd of people and just remembered about Amy. She frantically looked around for the pink hedgehog, but she was nowhere in sight.

Rouge ran to the closet fireman she could see. She grabbed his arm.

"Excuse me, Sir!" Rouge said, beginning to feel worried.

"Yes?"

"I'm looking for someone who lives in the apartment right here." She said pointing at it. "Did an Amy Rose get out? I don't see her down here with every body else." The man grabbed a checklist from his truck and looked down the name of the list.

"I'm sorry ma'am. No one of that name is out here." He could she that the fear in Rouge's eyes began to grow. "But don't worry. I'm sure she'll be ok. Our firefighters are trying to get someone out of there now. It may be her…" Rouge leapt into the air and looked at where a fireman was spraying a window with a hose. It was indeed Amy's room.

"Amy!" Rouge called, getting closer to the blazing flames. Something from below caught her eye. It was an ambulance. Rouge was about to focus on Amy's room when she saw a firefighter carrying someone out of the blazing building wrapped in a scorched blanket. Rouge dove down and saw that it was Amy he was carrying.

"Amy!" Rouge yelled. She was placed on a stretcher and was placed in the truck. Rouge ran up to the man who carried her out.

"Was Amy alright!" she asked him, shaking.

"Oh, that girl? Yes, she's fine. She just passed out from inhaling too much smoke." Rouge let out a sigh of relief and looked back at the apartment.

"All of my belongings. My home. My money. My jewels…" Rouge began to tear up. She took to the air once more and turned to look back at her home, but she couldn't. Almost everything she worked for was now up in flames.

Rouge flew to the only place she could think of.

Angel Island.

The bat was really tired now and almost collapsed from exhaustion, but she kept going to the shrine. It wasn't like her to normally go out and seek comfort from others but she felt the need of it.

"Knuckles!" Rouge said as she saw the red echidna come into view. Knuckles immediately looked up and saw the tired bat almost fall over. He jumped up and caught her just before she hit the ground. He sat her on the grass against the shrine and sat next to her.

"Rouge…what happened to you? You look horrible."

"I just pushed myself more that my body could handle. I went to my house and saw a gruesome sight…" Rouge looked down, but then wrapped her arms around Knuckles' neck. He laid a hand on her head.

"It's okay Rouge, just tell me what happened." Knuckles could feel a few warm tears running down his neck. It was silent for a few minutes before Rouge got herself together and spoke.

"My home and everything is gone." She said calmly.

"What?"

"Apparently, a fire started somewhere in the apartment and spread pretty quickly. Amy was taken to the hospital too…"

A soft breeze blew across the peaceful island, playing with Knuckles' dreadlocks. He hugged her tightly before speaking again.

"You're more than welcome to stay here Rouge." She pulled away from the hug and looked up at him. 'You really trust me now Knuckles…' She thought.

"You don't think I'm gonna steal your emerald?" Rouge said, with some sadness left in her voice. Knuckles looked into her eyes.

"I don't see any betrayal in you. I guess trust is the most important thing I need to give you right now." She looked up at him and smiled.

"I…love you, Knuckles." He cupped her chin in his palm and brought her face to meet his. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for you to say that?" he asked softly. Rouge glanced downwards but was shocked when she felt Knuckles' lips brush against hers. She deepened the kiss by forcing herself on Knuckles a little more. Knuckles then wrapped is arms around Rouge's slim waist. A few minutes passed and they broke for air.

Rouge had her arms around Knuckles' build and her head against the white crescent on his chest. Knuckles put his arms around her once again.

"Thank you Knuckles." Rouge said quietly but loud enough for Knuckles to hear. He smiled down at her again.

"Anything, Rouge. Anything…"

Back at HQ

A military agent dressed in black rushed in the president's office. He was out of breath and was covered in burns.

"Sir!" he said saluting to his boss, "we've completed act one of project emerald, number A-08412."

"Very good. Did anyone suspect anything? Any flaws? Tell me in detail." The agent let his hand down to his side and spoke firmly to the President.

"No sir. No obstacles. After agent Topaz helped us to break into the apartment, we were able to slide the bomb under her door. We evacuated the building soon after and detonated it. No one had any major injuries of what was reported to us."

The President rubbed his chin in pleasure of hearing this news.

"Excellent job agent. You are dismissed." The man in black nodded in response and exited the room. The president let a grin creep across his face.

"That bat is just making everything too easy for us. I have to give her credit for falling for that damn echidna."

…O.o

ookie. Umm…slowly inches away cheesy chapter for a reason as you can see the president is up to no good, blah. Um, yeah next chapter soon I promise.