She felt nothing... at first.

But then, her chest slowly raised up and down, her body in a relaxed mood as her fingers slightly twitched. The ivory bat's eyes shook until she cracked the right one slightly open, trying to find out where the heck she is. Her gaze softens all of a sudden, she was in a resting room.

Rouge tried to move her body, but it didn't seem to respond to whatever she wants it to do, ticking her off as she rolled her eyes. She tried sitting up, her arms felt heavy. Then attempted to roll to her side, no luck. Every time Rouge wanted to position herself more comfortably, it always ends up with the bat to just give up.

Her mind suddenly flashed back to her last known memory, which was, of course, Shadow leaving her in Amy and Tails' care until she's back up on her step. Even though he was concerned with her fragile state, Rouge couldn't care less, and thus still wanted to leave and find him.

She then heard the door open and lucky for Rouge, unlike the rest of her unresponsive body, her head was able to at least turn left and right. That's when Amy walked in to see Rouge now wide awake, she instantly remembered Shadow's departure and already decided to brush it off.

"Hey Rouge, I was wondering when you'd wake up." Amy said, forcing a smile, holding a tray with food on it.

The white bat just looked at the pink hedgehog and gave her a small smile, "Hey Pinky, those for me?" She asks with a grin.

"Hehe, yeah. I was gonna wait until you're awake, it looks like I don't have to." Amy chuckles and walks over to the bedridden Rouge, firstly she put down the tray on the counter and helped the bat sit up. The gave her the tray of food, which Rouge gladly ate and started gobbling all the food in her mouth, all the while Amy sat down there with sweat dropping down at the side of her head.

"Guess she hasn't eaten for a while..."But soon her thoughts were interrupted when she looked at Rouge, she soon had flashbacks of when she and the thief had the conversation about Shadow, it was really awkward. Amy wanted to bring it up to confirm her suspicions but seeing Rouge struck with body paralysis put that on hold until she questions her properly. The female hedgehog still couldn't help but feel curious about the two agents' real feelings towards the other.

While Amy is off wandering in her own world, Rouge meanwhile didn't seem to mind the hedgehog sitting there. But as she continued eating, her mind kept on wondering about what is up with her gloomy partner. For once, she actually felt that there's a spark between them, a real one at that. Looking back at her past failures and deeply guarded secrets, she barely recognizes any love interests of hers.

There was Knuckles but he was a different story, it was all just for fun after all and most of all, it was just some dumb crush. But Shadow was a different case.

Never would Rouge thought that she'd run into such a stoic and edgy person like Shadow, he was definitely new to the mix of the many boys she ran into in her life. Sure, there was Sonic but to Rouge, he just looked like a freedom seeker, like her, but almost everyone seeks that. Knuckles was just a small crush and Silver and Tails? They were the naive type.

To her, meeting Shadow came off to her as nothing but a one-time meeting, but then years later they are partners at G.U.N. and to Rouge, Shadow is really the only person she's in good terms with. They bicker sometimes, but it just ends up with them making it up to one another with Rouge helping Shadow accomplish a goal of his and him accompanying her in treasure hunts.

Out of all things that Rouge and Shadow had done together something other than just being partners, she certainly didn't expect that to happen. The kiss was surprising, yes, but to the ivory bat, it was probably a step forward in their more personal relationship, if they ever had one.

"Are you gonna finish that?" Amy blurted out. Rouge's eyes widened and she blocked twice, seeing a loaf of bread in her hand. She began to chuckle nervously and continued to finish her last loaf. The pink hedgehog smiled but noticed Rouge staring off into space again. "Is there something up?"

Rouge looked at Amy but soon went back to eating, "Well, it's not a big of a deal." She said.

"Come on Rouge, I know you and I don't hang out much so let's try to make this one count!" All Rouge did was look at the hedgehog with a surprised look on her face, her eyes drifted off to the side and thought about it for a while as Amy backed away a little to give Rouge time to think it over.

It may come to her as odd, but she never really opened up to any friend, which includes Shadow or Omega. Rouge herself is a female, a literal girl, yet she has no acquaintances that are of her gender. Quite strange for a gal like Rouge, normally her natural charm to draw in a crowd would definitely lead the dashing ivory bat to have friends. But if she happens to be a jewel thief, who is also working as an agent for an elite military force, she has her hands full to interact with anyone outside of work.

The concept of having a friend that is a girl is new to Rouge, she didn't wanna mess this up either if she's being completely honest with herself. However, since she is going to have a conversation with Amy Rose, it may help her ease in easily into the discussion.

Coming to decision, Rouge breathed in and let out a sign, turning her head towards Amy with a smile, "Alright Pinky, you win." Those words were enough to send the pink hedgehog cheering and giggling as she clasped her hands together out of sheer enthusiasm. "That's great, thank you for considering it!"

"Y-yeah... So, about your question..."

"Yes?"

Rouge didn't know what to say that she whipped her head to the side in embarrassment, does she really wanna share her thoughts with Amy?? But as desperate as Rouge is to keep her thoughts to herself, she just had this urge to outright tell Amy about her unrequited feelings for Shadow. "I... just don't know what to do with that stubborn black hedgehog... he's always running off headfirst..."

Amy giggled and crossed her arms, her facial expression turned into an amused look, "I feel ya. You have Shadow to deal with, Sonic is almost the same. Not thinking about the consequences." She giggled with glee, feeling so relatable with Rouge's situation with the white bat's partner. Rouge raised her hand carefully towards over mouth and laughed, just imagining Sonic and Shadow both saying that they'll just get the job done in less than a minute is pure gold.

"I know! Even when we're not doing any work, he's like that! He's got to get himself a chill pill, What an idiot..." Rouge said, followed by a chuckle before looking down on her legs, thinking back of when she and Shadow first started working as teammates and partners, "But he's my idiot..." Amy's eyes widened at Rouge's last comment about Shadow, but she won't deny that Sonic, too, is her idiot.

"That's cute..." Amy said sweetly, Rouge realized what she had said and tried to lie but it was no use when it comes to Amy, it was pretty obvious anyway. "There's no need to be ashamed about it Rouge, I did speculate that this might've happened to you."

"Hehe... I have Tails to deal with, so promise me you won't tell anyone. Kay?"

The pink hedgehog raised her thumb okay with a smile on her face, "Of course! I promise." Rouge smiled as well, talking to Amy felt nice. She had never felt so open about herself before. It felt nice.

"I have another question though, " Amy started, a thought that has been in her head for quite a while now, but was unsure to ask about it. But hey, It's better than saying nothing, right? "What's it like? Being with a guy like Shadow? How exactly do you put up with him?"

A question like that seemed to give Rouge a sudden realization, her exact feelings towards Shadow. Sometimes she thinks he's handsome, sometimes stubborn, even considering that he's probably braindead. Because the thing to note about the black hedgehog is that his actions are parallel to those of Sonic's. This wasn't jumping to conclusions, the similarities are there in front of them. The way those two speedsters would run in the face of danger without thinking ahead is just pure idiotic.

What her thoughts about Shadow are vague, even to Rouge herself. She was sure that he's just a partner of hers, they work together, end of story. After trying to think it over, she wasn't sure that she gave the right answer, " Well... probably the same as Sonic, I guess... but at least he's saner. And being with Shadow," for a split second, a ton of memories started flowing in a flash in the bat's head. "...I honestly don't know..."

As if she thought of something worth laugh about, Amy began to giggle softly, which seemed to have caught Rouge off guard when she was just getting pessimistic about herself. But she was curious as well, "What are you giggling about?" Asked the confused Rouge, feeling a little left out and she doesn't like it when she doesn't know what others are thinking.

Amy then rubbed her arms, gently stroking them with her gloved hands and looked off outside the window, which was left unfixed, "It's nice to see him worry about you...He definitely is trying to be happy, for himself... and for Maria..." She said, smiling. Rouge just looked at Amy but then started to look at the broken window as well, vaguely remembering when she broke out after eavesdropping on Tails, Amy, and Shadow's conversation.

She didn't want to do it, but the feeling of Shadow caring for her and the fact that she knows the black hedgehog is always there by her side, it made Rouge crack a genuine and beautiful smile. The beautiful and cunning thief closed her eyes as a chuckle escaped her mouth.

"Yeah...He's an idiot... but I like him that way..."

There, just by the distance only being obscured with mere clouds in the sky, was an airship flying that looked Eggman-like to the eyes of the anti-hero. But before he can set foot in the flying ship, robotic noises and metallic stomping neared Shadow as he sighed. "You ready to do this, Omega?"

"Affirmative."

"That's all the answer I need. Let's go."