Hope you enjoy this chapter, SpiderDom! I'm doing a little more character time for a certain black hedgehog. And this is how the relationship so far is going- with neither one of them knowing how the other person is feeling about them.

[1 week later]

Alexis walked alongside Mighty the Armadilo, helping to carry a long wooden beam towards one of the tall trees that formed some of Knothole's homes. As Mighty set the beam down, Alexis looked at the trunk of the tree. She pointed upwards, saying, "Badnik must've hit it on one side. A large part of the tree's caved in. Bit of a dent."

"Then let's get to work," said Mighty, tugging on his gloves slightly as he looked up the tree, "We've got a lot of work to do today."

Alexis raised her hands, allowing a few flames to swirl into a platform. Mighty grabbed the beam and stepped on, allowing Alexis to lift him upwards. As he set the beam against the damaged part, Alexis had her flames wrap around the tree trunk and the beam. After a few moments, the scarred part of the tree vanished as the beam melded into the wood.

"That is really handy," said Mighty as Alexis sat him back down on the ground, "How exactly do you do it?"

"Honestly?" she sighed, "I really don't know. Tails said something about my flames being able to change things at the molecular level, or whatever geeky stuff he was spouting off. I might be a former veternarian, but when it comes to major science, I'm like a mixture of Knuckles and Sonic. Goes in one ear and comes out the other." She gave a sheepish giggle.

Mighty laughed. "In all honesty, I'm like that too! So... anything caught your eye lately? Like anything or anyone on Mobius?"

"Well, I was pretty surprised with how many time-traveling adventures that Sonic has had! He even has a friend from the future!"

"Kinda surprised me too," said Mighty, shrugging, "What do you think of my old Chaotix buddies?"

"Vector, Espio and Charmy?" asked Alexis. When he nodded, she said, "I think they're pretty cool. They didn't exactly leave a good first impression on me back on Earth."

"Sonic told me about that. Kidnapping Cream?" He burst out laughing, the female hedgehog joining in. "What about your squad mates? Squad H they were called?"

"Pretty cool guys," said Alexis, "Kobara gave me a few tips with an Extreme Gear even though I can fly. Uncle Chuck and Dad are working on making one for me. Hopscotch was a little bit of a leader himself. Ought to reccomend him to Sally to lead a team. Chromia and Gadget are really brave kids too. Chromia isn't afraid to pick on somebody not her own size and Gadget has a lot of heart. All those guys are really great."

Mighty nodded. "They sound like a great team. But what do you think of Team Dark?"

"In all honesty, only Shadow could pick a name like that. Rouge would probably have chosen 'Team Jewelry' or something girly. Omega's a really good fighter, even for a former Eggman robot. But Shadow? He really does deserve a team like them. And I wasn't expecting Shadow to be on Mobius either! I really missed him too."

Mighty looked to the side to see Alexis looking off into the distance with a fond look in her mismatched blue eyes. His own turquoise eyes widdened when it struck him.

"Oh sweet Mobius... you're in love with him, aren't you?"

Alexis snapped back to reality, whirling around to see a grinning Mighty. "Uhhhh... why do you say that?"

"Ah, so you don't deny it!" cheered Mighty, "You are in love with him!"

The blush on Alexis's cheeks was as bright as Knuckles fur. "Just... don't say anything to the others, expecialy Sonic! He'll go all protective brother on me! And I don't think Shadow knows about how I feel about him, or if he even feels the same way about me! And I-!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Slow down!" said Mighty, holding up his hands. When she had quieted down, he placed them on her shoulders and said, "My old mentor, Moss, told me that we should always take things one step at a time. Never speed things up or 'jump the gun' as some Mobians like to say."

Alexis looked up at him and nodded. "But... what do I do?"

"Just one step at a time. That's what I did, and that's what you can do too."

Neither of them realised that a long ways away, a similar conversation was going on...

()

[Former Resistance HQ- Now WRE(War Recovery Effort)

Shadow sat on the balcony railing, looking off across the ruined city of Sunset Heights. Or mostly ruined now. The city was looking much better with the rebuilding going on. But he couldn't really take the stares that many of the returning citizens had been giving him. It was going to take a long time before the world fully trusted him again. He wished it would come sooner, and easier.

He gave a sigh, thinking of a certain blue-black hedgehog that was possibly currently in Knothole Village. He had been around Rouge for a long time, but he didn't really get the feelings from her that he got from Alexis. Alexis was... he didn't know how to put it.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Shadow jumped, turning around to the doorway. Rouge was leaning against the doorway, a small smile on her face. "What's a penny?" asked Shadow as the bat joined him.

"Human currency," she said, "The term is as Earth term. So anyway, what's bugging you? And..." She looked down off the railing. They were at least five stories up. "...Aren't we a little to close to the edge?"

"I've fallen out of outer space and jumped out of planes higher than this. Heights don't scare me," he told her, rolling his red eyes."

Rouge chuckled. "Just saying."

Shadow looked away, but not far enough for Rouge not to see the look on his face. He looked... contemplative? Sad? Lonesome? Love-sick? Wait a sec.

"Shadow? Are you in love with somebody? You've got the look that Amy had before she decided to stop chasing Sonic."

Shadow looked to the side to see Rouge staring up at him with a slighty expectant look with a small amount of shock added in. He looked at her for a few seconds before looking out at the city again. "Um..."

"You are!" she cheered. She couldn't believe it! Shadow, of all people, had fallen in love! She sort of expected it with Knuckles, and she knew that Tails had an eye on a certain cream-colored fox in the city, whose eye she was returning. And Amy was taking an interest in a bright green hedgehog that loved smashing stuff as much as she did. Even Silver had fallen in love with a firey princess from a different dimension! And she was in love right back, even though both of them refused to admit it!

But Shadow? This had 'getting-struck-by-Cupid's-arrow' written all over it. It was just impossible! "Who is it? Who? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

"You don't know?" he asked in very slight amusement.

Rouge thought for a few seconds, then she remembered who had hugged Shadow... and he had returned the hug.

"No way. Alexis Rey Hedgehog? Sonic's new little sister? That's who you're in love with?" She glanced over to the side to see Shadow blushing very slightly. She nearly burst out laughing when she saw it. He, Shadow the Hedgehog, was blushing! "You know, for an artificially created hedgehog, I didn't think you could blush," she commented.

He turned to her. "Don't. Say. A word to her," he said, a slight growl in his voice.

Rouge held up her hands. "Alright. I won't." As he returned to silence, she asked, "Why do you love her?"

"I..." he started, but trailed off. He didn't know how to say it. "She's done so much for me. She helped me remember Maria's promise. She helped me to... open up. To feel. I owe her so many things.

"But... I don't know if she thinking the same thing. I don't know if she loves me back. I don't..." He sighed and asked, "How do I tell her what I feel?"

"Shadow."

The black hedgehog looked over at Rouge as she said. "It's just one step at a time. That's all it takes. Besides, in my opinion, I think she loves you right back."

"You really think so?" he asked.

"I know so! She's what? Hugged you like twice?"

"I think so," said Shadow.

"Besides," said Rouge, "She might be thinking the same things about you right now."

"Then how do I tell her?" he asked.

"When the time is right," said Rouge, "That's when you do it."

"Shadow! Rouge!"

The two members of Team Dark turned to see Knuckles standing at the doorway to the room. "You guys are needed in Downtown Sunset Hill. Hopscotch says that there's a lot of collapsed building over there."

"Alright," said Rouge.

As Knuckles left, Shadow turned to Rouge and asked, "You love him, don't you?"

She turned in mock surprise. "Why Shadow! Is that a teasing air I detect around you?" she asked. "Come on! Let's get downtown."

She quickly took off, heading for downtown. Shadow looked after her for a few seconds, then closed his eyes and smiled. He needed that talk.

He quickly jumped off the railing and headed for downtown as well.

()

"So, what do you like about him?"

Alexis looked over at Mighty before thinking to herself. "He's... nice. Kind. Able to take a beating and willing to stand up for others. And he was willing to accept the blame that his Ruby Clones did. He spent so long in trying to take them out, and protected me and Sonic when we were about to get killed. He's just... always there."

"Why are you not sure that he doesn't like you in return?" asked Mighty.

"Because he's, like, way older than me! He's the hedgehog version of Captain America, except he was asleep for fifty years and not seventy. Comic book superhero from Earth," she quickly said at Mighty's confused look.

"He's also incredibly powerful, being able to control Chaos Energy. He might think that he's too dangerous to be around people that he doesn't completely trust or that don't trust him."

"And you don't trust him?" asked Mighty.

"Of course I trust him!" said Alexis, "I'm just worried that he might not trust me! What do I tell him? When do I tell him?"

"Um..." Mighty paused here. He didn't know completely how to handle this. This was rapidly turning into a girl situation. "I'm not too sure here."

"Maybe I could ask my Mom?" asked Alexis.

"Yeah. That'd probably do."

"Well, thanks anyway Mighty," said Alexis.

"Anytime. So, should we help with the reconstruction a bit more?"

"Alright! Let's go."

But throughout the day, Alexis's mind couldn't help but go back to the conversation that she had with Mighty.

What should she tell Shadow? When should she tell him?

()

[Knothole- evening]

As Bernadette was getting ready for bed, she suddenly heard a knocking at her door. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Mom."

Bernadette crossed over to the door and opened it to reveal Alexis, already dressed in her pj's. "Can I... talk to you?" she asked.

"Of course." Her mother held open the door and allowed Alexis to come in and sit on the bed. "Is something wrong?"

Alexis looked at her hands, sitting on her lap, before telling her mother about the conversation she had with Mighty. She told her mother about what she had been feeling about Shadow and how she wasn't sure how he was feeling about her.

"What do I tell him?" she finally finished, "And when do I?"

Bernadette looked at her daughter for a few seconds, a gentle understanding look in her eyes. She got up from the chair that she had been sitting in and sat next to her daughter. "These kind of things you can only figure out with you heart," she told her, "What you'll tell him? You'll know when that time comes. When it will happen? You'll know that part too. You do love him, but wait for him to share his feelings first. But just know that whatever he says, you have to be okay with, alright?"

Alexis looked at her mother for a few seconds, then nodded. "Okay," she said, "I think I can wait."

"That's my girl," said Bernadette. She wrapped her daughter in a hug and Alexis returned it. "I love you Alexis."

"I love you too, Mom," said Alexis.

"Hop into bed now," said Bernadette, "It's past your bedtime."

Alexis giggled slightly and exited the room. She nearly bumped into her father and hugged him goodnight as well. Jules smiled and hugged his daughter before she went down the hall to her room.

He entered his own and asked, "What was that all about?"

"Girl talk," Bernadette told her restored husband, "Nothing boyish."

"Oh," said Jules, nodding. He figured out what she meant.

I think I'm going to be having Alexis make a lot of pop-culture references from Earth throughout the series. Kinda enhances her personality, don't you think? And what do you think of Alexis' and Shadow's relationship so far? They're far apart, they love each other, and they don't know what the other feels. Reminds me of something, but I can't think what.

R&R