A/N:Oh wow! Twenty chapters :D! That's a BIG number! And I know you're thinking "When is Emma going to finish this? I'm getting tired of reading her junk!" Well, bear with me people. I'm writing whenever I get the chance :). I got my brain-enhancing Dr. Pepper, and I am so READY TO WRITE :D! YEEAH!

--LA

I'm watching Edward Scissorhands :)! Isn't the gorgeous team of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton just THE SEX?! Yes. It is. Loved 'em in Sweeny too. I'm going to do my disclaimer. I don't own anyone but the usual novel of OC's… sniff.

Apprehension. It was so unusual, so uncharacteristic; after all of her law-breaking plundering, all of her numerous heists, her nerves had never acted up this relentlessly. Rouge fiddled with her fingers, her feet walking with a sort of rebellious determination against her mind, which was fervently trying to stop them and force them to walk backwards.

But they were persistently defiant, and continued their march onward, the museum their destination. Her legs began to itch with uncertainty. Completely tired of them, Rouge leapt off of the ground and flew to her goal instead. Flying was one of the things that she missed most, besides home and Knuckles, of course. Being with Grace, who was, naturally, incapable of flight, walking was their only mode of transportation. The fox had decided, rather randomly one night, that a car was too easily traceable. It was nice, for once, to be totally alone. The Indian air was warm and muggy, even though it was ten minutes to two in the morning, but it was amazing to be airborne again.

She landed on the soggy grass, knowing that she had ten minutes of sweet aloneness. Grace was to arrive at two. They had agreed it best for them to leave at different times to avoid looking suspicious.

Rouge sighed contently, her brief spurt of flight momentarily letting her forgetting her anxiety, and plopped down onto a nearby boulder. She absent-mindedly placed both hands on her abdomen, and her thoughts strayed, as they had several times over that day, to the unfortunate young boy who had been caught in the act. She wondered dully what his parents had been like. Had their influence drove him to be such a rule-breaker?

"Rouge?" hissed a voice. The bat gave a little jump and glanced up to see Grace.

"Hey." The bat replied, getting to her feet and brushing a few specs of dirt from her behind. Having been walked through their plan several dozen times by her partner, Rouge promptly set to work. She took wing and fluttered up to their chosen window – the one which led into the dinosaur exhibit - while Grace scaled the building skillfully.

They both arrived at similar times, and slid through the propped-open window. It was lucky that they were both such slender females, as the opening caused a tight squeeze, even for them.

Almost robotically, as she had been through this procedure during various other break-ins, Rouge glided up to the security camera and disabled it with ease. It was a simple matter of staying out of the frame, and quickly cutting the right wires. During their day visit, they had made quite certain that this was the only camera in the room. It was, it turned out, not under particularly heavy guard. She fluttered back down to a waiting Grace.

The duo, both deeply in their elements, stealthily and wordlessly snuck through the maze which was the dark museum until they arrived at an elaborately decorated archway. It was the entrance to the precious gem room. Now, it was Grace's turn to do her thing. The fox shot ahead, dodging about where she had found the lasers. Rouge waited in silence, watching Grace at work. Most of her anxiety had melted away, but she was still feeling uncertain and mentally queasy.

Her train of thought returned, again, to the poor chipmunk and his parent's. Was that what her own baby would be like? A petty criminal? She felt an unpleasant squirming sensation coming from her naval. There was no way she could do that to her own baby.

Grace tapped her shoulder, awakening her from her pensive trance.

"Go." The fox breathed. Rouge quickly set to her job. As she flashed a tiny light around the room, her gaze froze upon something familiar. It was a glossy painting of a beautiful, round ruby bordered with gold. There was a caption below it.

"The ruby depicted above has been seen throughout history in several different cultures, by different names. Historians are unsure of where it originated, but its last recorded location was with the Plantarian" the next few words were cut off by a large drawing of a male reproductive organ "disappeared" more crude drawings done in permanent marker "appeared suddenly one morning in the hallway leading to a teleporting room." There was more on the plaque, but it was corrupted by large swirls of assorted colours.

She was certain of where she had seen it before. Cosmo.

"Hurry." hissed Grace. Rouge blinked, but couldn't seem to make her body move. She was suddenly hit by a wave of remorse. She felt like she was up to her neck with filth; no matter how much she tried to struggle, there was no way she could back away. She was in too deep.

"I can't." She breathed, backing away. She couldn't give birth to a child into a life of crime and deception. "You can do it on your own." She said, sprinting past Grace. The fox watched her go in disbelief and shock.

As the bat soared out the window, she felt a knot loosen in her chest.

"Take a right here." Knuckles said gruffly, gesturing out the car window. Gabrielle turned, though she watched him out of the corner of her eye just as she had throughout the entire ride. The children snoozed in the back, not yet awakened by the front seat passengers' light conversation. Of course, she knew all along where the fox's house was. She was moving in next door to it. She just thought it would seem intrusive to barge in on him. And it may have had a bit to do with sitting next to him.

They arrived at the house and pulled up, Knuckles leading Gabrielle to the door. She chose to let the children sleep and keep an eye on them.

Knuckles knocked at the door and waited, looking everywhere but at the squirrel.

The yellow fox with that distinctively strange second tail, Tails, answered the door.

"Knuckles?" He asked, looking perplexed, "Gabrielle?"

"Tails." Knuckles said, crossing his arms, but sounding much more natural than what Gabrielle had heard of him. "She needs help."

With that, he promptly turned to leave. As soon as he turned a corner and escaped from their sight, he broke into a jog. He strongly disliked being with Gabrielle. She made him feel uncomfortable and awkward. The fact was, she was extremely pretty. Her hazel eyes sparkled when she spoke, and her slender frame only added to the image. He shook his head. He honestly didn't feel attracted to her, but he believed that she didn't share his diction of dedication. He actually found himself missing Rouge terribly, and at the same time was furious at her.

He had felt so betrayed when she departed so suddenly, with only a piece of paper for an explanation.

He crossed his arms, breaking out of his run and into an irritated walk.

The sun perched its self high in the sky, now a brilliant goldenrod. Sonic mumbled something in his sleep beside Amy. She elbowed him gently.

"You know you're pathetic." Amy said softly. Sonic blinked drearily. He suddenly sat bolt upright, looking angry with himself. Their magnificent sunrise had ended hours in the past, and Amy had been sitting, making bored daisy chains for the last few hours.

"I'm so sorry." He said, sounding upset, and giving Amy a huge hug.

"Don't worry about it." She said with a smile, placing a massive chain of flowers around his neck. Sonic grinned.

"Well," He said, placing his hands behind his head and lying back down on the grass, moist with dew. "What rush are we in? There's always sunset."

A/N:Blegh. Sorry it's short… but it was this or you would have to wait until Monday for your update :P. Alright… so I'm thinking about five more chapters. Probably more, knowing how bad I am at my estimates. Is anyone picking up on some... ahem... connections?! I didn't just stick chapter ELEVEN in there for nothing! Hint hint... Anyways, I've got another question for you guys. Do like… people know about you being on FF:P wow that made a ton of sense. Do you tell your friends or family or whatever? Because I don't. this is my secret second life. It's my… like… guilty pleasure? Yeah. No one knows… because I'm such a subtle, well-mannered little thing… HA. Thanks oodles for sticking with me :)! Please review?!

--LA