A/N: Hope you guys are enjoying the story. Sorry the chapters are so short. ^^;

Chapter 14

Knuckles was out knocking down more trees. He was deep in thought as he did so. He was wondering where Rouge was. He knew that she was probably avoiding him, but he hadn't seen her come to bed the night before and he hadn't seen her at breakfast. He wondered if he would see her at dinner this evening. He heard the sound of hurried footsteps. He turned from his work to see Lilly running out to him and Anna coming behind. Anna was the one to speak. "Is Rouge here with you?" She asked.

"No she isn't. What's wrong?" Knuckles blinked.

"She's not upstairs and I haven't seen her since last night. I thought perhaps she had slept in this morning but I can't seem to find her."

"She's gone!" Lilly was crying as she flung herself into Knuckles. "She left without us. She left me behind!" She cried harder.

Knuckles picked her up holding her to him. "Shh." He tried to sooth her.

"Why would she go without us?" She cried. "Why would she leave us?" She held tighter. "I want my mom!" When Knuckles heard Lilly's words he was sure that she was not acting. He knew Lilly wasn't faking the tears or sadness. Lilly really thought of Rouge as her mother and the pain of Rouge's leaving was like that of losing a real mother, and more over Knuckles knew that Lilly must have felt this pain once before.

Knuckles ran his hand over Lilly's head. "It's alright. She couldn't have gone far. She probably just went to stretch her wing." He tried to sound optimistic against his better judgment. But even with these words Knuckles couldn't convince himself. He too didn't understand why Rouge had just picked up and left. Even more so that she had gone without Lilly. He knew there must be a reason. Rouge loved this little girl so much and it would take more than a little irritation from him to make her go without Lilly.

Rouge was flying over tall pines as she made her way toward the west. "I should be there soon." She had been flying since the night before. She ignored any pain she felt although it was very little. Her wing had healed well and she was fueled by determination. She pressed forward not wanting to waste a second. It only took a few more hours before she reached the outer limits of a city. She flew higher so as to get a good look at the streets from above. She recognized the city to be the same as the one Nova had shown her. The Tokda Stone was here somewhere. "Guess I'd better start with the biggest building. That's where the organization will be." She thought about Daniels and his 'high ranking' taste.

Rouge spent most of the day scouting out the area around the largest buildings she could find. She was sure if she kept it up she would find some clue as to where she should look next. She currently set next to a gargoyle as she rested near one of the buildings she had been scouting out. She was glancing down at the entrance when something caught her interest. She perked her ears and all her other sense became very alert as well. She saw two men leaving the building and she recognize them as some of the agents that had attacked her and Lilly not too long ago. "I'll never forget those faces." She whispered as she remembered the looks in the eyes of those men, they would have killed Lilly, if only to tie up a loose end. She watched them carefully as they walked down the street. She stayed a good distant away as she followed. She could tell that they were attempting to be alert themselves. It was obvious that they didn't want to followed, but none the less they were. Rouge stayed aloft, never going down any closer than need be. She wanted to stay high where they would have a hard time seeing, and if she were seen she hoped from this distance she might be mistaken for bird or a hawk. She watched the two turn a corner. "Lead on you fools." Rouge watched them almost without blinking.

"Anyone following us?" One looked around cautiously.

"No, if we were being tailed we would have spotted them by now." The other answered.

"You think the boss is right?"

"About what?"

"You know all that mumbo jumbo about that rock." The other looked rather thoughtless.

"Who knows. Half the stuff I hear around this place sounds unbelievable."

"That rock gives me the creeps. I mean have you seen it?" He shivered. "The lights in the place went out yesterday at the thing was glowing. I wonder if the boss knows. He's never even laid eyes on it." He said looking around again before moving toward a pair of locked doors.

"He's busy running an empire. He only wants the end result you know. Can't imagine him getting his hands dirty."

Rouge watched them enter the building. "Now I know of at least two buildings in which they are involved." Her eyes shifted as she was deep in though. "Now all I have to do is find out which building has the stone and then I'll be ready."

Rouge waited for dark. The night would help to hid her and give her an advantage of sight as well. She knew that no human could see as well in the dark as she did. She had decided to check the new building she had learned off. She made her way to the entrance as stealthily as she could, watching out for cameras and guards. She was rather surprised by the lack of security. Surely they wouldn't be keeping the Tokda Stone in place where the protection was so lacking. She moved to the doors that the men had entered through early that day. As she had expected the doors were locked. Being a master thief it took her no time to pick it. "Even the locks are low grade." She mentioned to herself as she entered cautiously. Even more strange once inside there weren't any lights on in the hallways. There was no way anyone could keep a proper guard under these conditions. "Why would they be here?" She whispered in thought.

She continued to sneak along the dark hallway until finally her ears began to pick up sounds of movement. She looked further down and could see a door that was cracked open and a shaft of light came through. What really worried Rouge was the noise that she heard. It sounded more like a construction site than a protective base. "What's going on here?" She carefully made her way to the door. She twitched her ears for the sound of a guard. She picked up nothing and then positioned herself to look through the cracked door.

Inside, large lights were turned on and the sound of steel banging on steel could be heard. She also heard the hiss of a blow torch and the buzz of a metal cutting saw. She blinked bewildered as she watched closely. Whatever was being worked on was huge. It reached from the floor to the ceiling, which was a long way considering it was a warehouse. Rouge had been so intent on trying to figure out what was being worked on that she hadn't heard the two men from before approaching the door. Every instinct told her to jump back from the door, but she held fast. If she tried to run they would hear her for sure. She took a breath as she prepared for them to open the door. She waited, but the door never opened more than the crack that had already been there. She leaned forward again swiveling her ears to hear more intently. Suddenly she realized that the two men were standing just by the door talking.

"I guess I'd rather be here than back at headquarters." The first yawned.

"Yeah things here are much calmer."

"And we don't have to watch that stupid rock." The other said in an annoyed tone.

"Or help move it tomorrow." The other groaned.

Rouge's ears perked and her eyes widened. 'It's not here.' She thought loudly. Rouge waited for the two men to become deeper into conversation before she very carefully began to slip back away from the door. As soon as she had made it around the corner she broke into a run and made her way out of the building. "The stone's not here. It must be in the first building. Tomorrows my chance." She pushed through the doors and took flight. As she flew through air she began making mental preparations for the following morning. She was in deep though when something suddenly came to her. "If the stone is in the first building, then what are they hiding in that one?" She looked back over her shoulder at the ominous warehouse.