CHAPTER 3

LOST

The sun was shining brightly through the window and lit up Rouge's entire bedroom. With the sun brightening up the room and the sound of birds happily chirping, the tired hedgehog shifted positions lazily while he was sleeping beside Rouge in her bed. He continued to sleep peacefully until he was suddenly awakened by loud heavy metal music coming from the cell phone that was in his pants pocket. He and Rouge instantly sat up from the bed in alarm. "Shit!"

Rouge rubbed her head in annoyance by the obnoxious music. "Damn it, Shadow! Turn that shit off!" She saw him leaning over the bed and searching through the pockets of his pants to find the phone. "For God's sake! It's too early in the morning for that shit!"

"That's the whole point of it being my alarm", he snapped in an irritated tone. Shadow turned the music off and looked at the time that was on the phone. Once he saw what time it was, he slammed the phone down on a table and got out of bed angrily. "Shit! I knew this was going to happen!"

Rouge held the bed sheets over her bare breasts and watched him angrily storm around the room to find his clothes to get dressed. "What time is it?" She saw him go into her closet and tossed a black trench coat on the floor. On the upper right arm of the coat was a white armband and it had a red kanji that read 'captain' on it.

He quickly put on his black jeans and red t shirt, "It's fucking six o'clock", he spoke in an angry tone. "I need to be at the Chaotix now." He picked his phone off of the table and placed it back into his pants pocket. "Vector's gonna flip shit on me for being late opening up the agency…again!"

She sighed and spotted Shadow's cigarettes on the table beside her. "Calm down, babe. Maybe he won't be there." She took a cigarette out of the pack and lit it with the white lighter that was setting on the table as well.

After when he put his shoes on, Shadow gave her a cold look as he saw her take one of his cigarettes. He sighed heavily and snatched the box of half empty cigarettes off the table along with the lighter. "And you! Get your lazy ass out of bed! You have an hour to get ready!"

Rouge leaned her head back on the headboard of the bed while calmly smoking the cigarette.

"I come as your supervisor first! If I don't see you there on time, I will write you up!"

She blew out some smoke out of her mouth and sent him an annoyed look. "Oh Shadow, shut up! You won't do shit! Besides, you're just grumpy cause you woke up late!"

He started to put on his trench coat, "I wouldn't be late if somebody didn't keep me up all night!"

She shrugged her shoulders, "It's not all my fault. You're the one who said only one time."

"Yeah and you came along and turned that one time into two or three more times instead!" He rubbed his forehead as he felt another headache coming on, "Forget it! We'll talk more about this at work! I'll give you Hell then!"

She made a small smile as she was enjoying the fact that he was so angry with her. "Mhm, I'm sure you will, hun."

"Fuck you, Rouge", he growled.

She watched him open the door to the bedroom and then slam it shut. She put the cigarette out in the ashtray that was setting on the table beside her. She looked in the ashtray and saw that the many cigarettes that were in the ashtray that mainly belonged to Shadow. She never thought of herself as a smoker but she always intended on smoking while her and Shadow always got in a spat with each other. Especially when the cigarettes she had most of the time were his. She looked out of the window and stared at the clear blue sky. "Just another average day for a gal like me."

Later, Rouge was walking down the crowded streets of the city. She walked sluggish and she seemed tired like. She huffed and drooped her ears. "Damn that hedgehog", she murmured. "He thinks he's the only one tired, he'd better think again. I knew that one cup of coffee wasn't going to do the trick." She suddenly paused and stopped in her tracks when she had an uneasy feeling that she was being followed. She shifted her eyes to the side, enough so that she could catch a glimpse of a small child standing behind her. She didn't think it was a big deal after knowing it was only a child so she kept walking. Once she saw the child following her again, she immediately stopped and turned to the child in annoyance.

The child appeared to be a 10 year old brown raccoon with black hair with most of it being hidden under the dark blue hat that he wore. The child was dressed in ripped and dirty clothing. The child wore a ripped blue jacket, with a white shirt underneath, blue ripped denim jeans, and torn up white sneakers. Judging by the appearance, the child seemed homeless.

She couldn't put her finger on it but the child seemed familiar to her. She tried to shake off the thought. "Are you following me, kid?"

The child said nothing and just stared at her.

With the child staring at her with wide bright green eyes, it started to make her feel uncomfortable. "If you want food, I don't have any on me. So go bug someone else." When she continued to walk, the child started to follow her again. She once again stopped, clenched her fists and spun around to the child in annoyance. "Stop following me!" She saw the child pointing at her.

"…Are you a cop?"

She arched an eyebrow at the child and looked down at the purple uniform she was wearing. She had supposed the child knew that she worked for some kind of special force. She crossed her arms and looked back at the child. "I'm just a detective."

The child gave her a look full of curiosity. "But you still help people right?"

She began to wonder why the child was asking her so many questions. Perhaps the child was in some kind of danger or maybe the child was expecting her to save him from the street life he was living. She slowly kneeled down at the child, "What's wrong, sweetie? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

The child shrugged and shook his head slowly. "I…don't know…"

She arched her eyebrow as she found it odd if the child didn't know he was in trouble or not.

The child spoke in a low voice so that only Rouge could hear him. "I'm too scared to go to the police…don't take me to the police…"

Her heart raced as she heard the child's strange request. "Where are your parents?" She asked softly, "Are you lost?"

Tears swelled in the child's eyes as he remained quiet.

Suddenly Rouge was embraced by the child.

"Promise you'll help me", the child begged while he hugged her.

Not really knowing what to do, she embraced the child with an uneasy feeling deep down in her stomach.

In The Next Chapter...

Shadow: What's going on here?

Rouge: I think this child is in trouble, Shad.

Joseph: My name is Joseph and I'm a girl you jerk!

Shadow: I'll kill you, you mouthy brat!