Oh my gosh I'm writing this fast. Here's the next chap. It's a little sad, a little dramatic. Enjoy.
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The next morning, Knuckles and Rouge were getting ready to go to the police station. He'd asked Tails to watch the M.E. because he didn't think it would be polite to ask Amy twice. He also figured she'd be a little preoccupied after last night, if Sonic had listened to his suggestion that is.
Knuckles had been ready for a few minutes when Rouge came out looking nervous. (Sonic Heroes style outfit)
"Okay." She said with a shaky sigh. "Let's go."
"Right." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and walked her to the door. Tails was already sitting on the altar. He had his laptop open and was typing up some machine plans. "Thanks for doing this Tails." Knuckles said ving him a thumbs-up.
"No problem, Knux. I'm happy to help. Besides, it's peaceful here. I'll have a much easier time working on these schematics here than I would in my busy workshop."
"Heh, well thanks either way." They walked to the edge of the island and flew in the direction of Central City. Rouge flew on her own this time.
When they got to the station. Rouge took a deep breath before entering.
It was busy inside, jumbles of desks and offices with cops running every which way. There was even a police dog here and there.
Rouge went immediately to Detective Leonard's office and knocked. Knuckles noticed the man's name was painted in gold letters on the door.
"Come in." The detective called.
They entered and he smiled at Rouge. "Good to see you again miss. Who's your friend." He asked glancing at Knuckles.
"This is my boyfriend, Knuckles. Knuckles, this is detective Gerald Leonard. I've known him since my mom died."
"Nice to meet you Knuckles." He said, getting up and shaking his hand. "Good to see the little lady has found someone to take care of her."
"Nice to meet you sir. She doesn't need a lot of taking care of though. Rouge is tough." Knuckles smiled at her.
"Hey, you took care of me for the past three months." She gave him a playful punch on the arm.
"That's different, you're limbs were broken." He scowled slightly.
Rouge laughed at his seriousness.
"Yowch." The detective said. "Well glad you're feeling good. Now how about we get down to why you're here."
"Right. Who is he?" She got straight to the point.
"He's a bat like you actually. Named Al. You want to see him? We'll go behind the two-way mirror first."
"Yeah." Rouge scowled slightly. "Do you know if it was an accident, or…?"
"Not sure, he won't confess fully yet. We finally got him when we found an obscure witness."
"They want to be anonymous, or can I send them a thank you card?"
"Anonymous. This guy seems pretty scary."
"Hmm."
"Come on."
He led them down a long, gray hallway filled with doors that had thick locks. He stopped at one and opened it for them to enter.
"There he is." He pointed at the glass where a large, gray male bat sat at a table. He had messy fur and black wings, and looked to be in his late thirties.
Rouge gasped and nearly fell over. Knuckles caught her quickly. "What's wrong?"
She never took her eyes off the man as she spoke. "It's my dad." Her breathing was becoming erratic.
"Woah, calm down. How do you know, I thought you didn't know him?"
"M-my showed me a picture. It's him." She turned around and hid her face in Knuckles' chest. He wrapped his arms comfortingly around her.
"Well then," Detective Leonard said with a frown. "That makes it much less likely it was an accident."
Rouge took a deep breath and turned around. "You want me to talk to him, don't you?"
"Hmm, you know cops well. He won't talk to us. If you can get a confession out of him, we'll have enough to go to court, and send him to jail. I know it's hard, but if you can do it, he'll serve his time for what he did to your mother."
She turned back to the window and stared again. "If I end up smacking him, you won't put an assault charge on me will you? That bastard has done a lot to my mom and me."
The detective smiled. "You're good."
"That counts for me too right?" Knuckles asked.
"Be my guest."
Rouge smiled at the echidna.
"You ready for this?" He asked gently.
"I guess."
They walked out and stood in front of the next door.
Rouge stared at the it, suddenly unsure of what she was about to do.
After a few minutes, she finally turned away.
"I'm scared. Let's just go back Knuckles."
He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes to make sure she understood him. "Rouge, this is something you have to do. If you don't do this now, you will regret it for the rest of your life."
She stared back still afraid, but she knew he was right. She looked down at the floor . "Your right. I have to do this." She turned back to the door. This was something she had to do, but she didn't have to do it alone. "Knuckles, will you hold my hand?"
He smiled. "Of course."
He wrapped his hand around hers, and suddenly she wasn't as frightened.
She took a deep, shaking breath and opened the door.
They walked in together and stood on the opposite side of the table from Rouge's father.
He was first to speak. "Wow. You look just like your mother."
"Thanks." She used a flat tone.
"Never thought I'd see my baby girl again."
Rouge's fur bristled. "Don't you dare call me that. After everything you did to mom and me…"
"I didn't do nothing to you!"
"You put out a cigarette on my arm!" She screamed and Knuckles eyes widened. "I was two! I still have the scar!" She ripped back her left sleeve to reveal a small, circular burn scar on her forearm.
"Damn. I was hoping you wouldn't remember that."
Knuckles involuntarily let out a low growl.
"Who the hell is this?"
"I'm her boyfriend." His voice was a low rumble.
"Nice. That explains the hand holding."
"How did it happen?" Rouge asked, her voice trembling.
"What?"
"Was it an accident, or did you kill her on purpose?"
"Oh. A little of both I guess. I was drunk, happened to see her in the road, and figured I'd get her back for taking my daughter away." He shrugged as if it was nothing to him.
"You son of a bitch!" Rouge was screaming again. Tears were rolling down her face. "What is wrong with you?! Why would you do that?! It was your own fault we left anyway, and you think you deserve revenge?! Mom was all I had and you took her away from me!" She couldn't yell anymore, so instead she cried into Knuckles chest again.
He pulled her close and glared at Al in a murderous way.
The older bat scoffed. "You think you're tough boy?"
"I think you'd better shut up and not push me unless you want your skull caved in."
"Bring it kid." Al stood up and a cracking sound issued from his back as he stretched.
"Don't test me pal."
"It's no test. It's a challenge."
"You really want to challenge me while your handcuffed?"
"I don't need my hands to take on a punk like you."
Rouge finally looked up and wiped her eyes. "He's not worth it Knuckles. Just forget it."
"Knuckles?" Al laughed. "What's that, some kind of gang name?"
"No, it's the name I was given at birth, because these." He lifted his fists to show his pointed namesakes.
"Impressive. This might be more fun than I thought." Without warning, the bat dove forward kicked at Knuckles hard.
He shoved Rouge aside and caught the foot effortlessly. Without missing a beat , he threw Al into the wall. He just laughed and stood back up, charging once more. Knuckles threw a single punch that landed hard in the man's gut, then he was down on the ground, winded and unable to get up. Knuckles placed a foot on his chest. "I could m mess you up really bad for the things you've done. But I think it would be better to just let you rot in jail, because now you've got confirmed counts of vehicular homicide, DUI, child abuse, and hit-and-run." He kicked him in the side and walked back to where Rouge stood.
"Wow." She said. "I guess you learned a lot about the law from my stories."
"My girlfriend works for the government, I've got to know this kind of stuff." He winked playfully and she smiled.
"You work for the fuzz?" Al groaned from the floor.
"GUN actually. My partner is the infamous Ultimate Life Form." She stared down at her father with contempt.
"Dang, guess you've made a better place for yourself than I thought."
"You bet I have." She glared for a moment more before turning back to the red echidna. "Let's get out of here Knucky, I don't want to waste any more of my time on this freak."
"Sounds good to me." He held her hand again and walked to the door.
Before they left, Rouge turned back one more time. "I'll see you in court, asshole." And with that they walked out. They had hardly closed the door when Detective Leonard came out from the other room.
"Nicely done you two. That's one sick S.O.B. I'll contact you when the court date is set."
"Thank you Detective." Rouge said with a grateful nod.
"Thank you, Agent Rouge." He tipped his hat to her with a grin.
"Don't let it get around." She told him. "Shadow will pissed if our cover gets blown. He doesn't want anyone but his friends and the people he works for to know about what he does. And I'd prefer if I wasn't swamped by reporters."
"Hey, no problem missy. I understand, your secrets safe with me."
"Thanks. I'll see you later."
"You too Rouge." He waved, and they walked away.
Once outside the station, Knuckles spoke. "So, you ready to go home?"
"Not just yet." Rouge said with a sad look. "There's one more thing I want to do."
"Alright."
They walked a few blocks down. Rouge stopped once to buy a small bouquet of white tulips before they continued. Finally, they came to a cemetery. Rouge walked purposefully toward one grave. She stood in front of it and stared for a moment.
The inscription on the headstone read:
Candida Bat
Loving mother Loyal friend
May your spirit live on
Rouge had small tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Knuckles wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She smiled at him before bending down, and placing the bouquet in front of the stone. "I miss you Mom." she mumbled quietly. They stood there for a few minutes before Rouge was ready to go. She blew a kiss to her mother's grave before they went back to Angel Island.
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Wooh. I'm tired. Would you believe how quick I'm writing this? It'll probably have like, one or two more chapters and that's it. Let me know what you think. That's a polite way of saying REVIEW! Really, please do, it makes me happy, let's me know whether or not I'm doing a good job. I think I might go take a nap. It's been a long week. Talk to you later.