"What?" Wade blinked.

"I found another kid for you to foster," Layla said with a big smile and turned toward the teenager. "Her name is Rouge."

The girl waved at him and in her other hand she held a cell phone. The sound of her taking a photo quickly followed.

"You should have seen your face." She laughed. "It looks so funny." She turned the phone screen towards him, showing the picture of shocked Wade.

Layla narrowed her eyes. "Where did you get that phone?"

Rouge smiled. "If I answer it, it will be your problem. If I don't answer it, " She pointed at Wade. "It will be his problem."

Layla looked at the phone and then at the girl for long enough to make a decision. "We can talk about it later."

Rouge nodded with a grin. "Of course, we will." She turned to Wade. "Can we come in?"

Wade was staring at them processing. "Sure." He said as he moved to the side to let them in.

Layla left a suitcase next to the door. She was already familiar with the house layout so she made her way toward the living room with the girl following. Rouge was looking around with a smile.

"You have a nice house." She commented and took a few pictures before she sat down on the sofa next to the social worker.

Wade sat down confused in the chair across from them.

"I don't understand. I was only certified to foster one child. I don't have another room ready."

"Yes," Layla said with a smile. "But as you can see Rouge is a special case. I checked your home last time and I know that you have a guest room that you can use."

Wade scratched his face. "But I didn't plan to foster more than one child."

"Wade." She said with a sigh. "You know that I don't have too many options when it comes to finding homes for our alien friends. You're the only one I got. You can't tell me you want her to be sent to some military facility because you're afraid of some challenge."

Wade's eyes went wide. "Of course, I don't want that."

"So what is stopping you? I know that you can do it. How can you say no to such a sweet girl like her?" Rouge smiled brightly and looked at him with her big eyes. "On top of that, she has her birthday on the same day as Shadow and she is also 15 years old. It's like a match made in heaven. You can't fight destiny, Wade."

Wade was slowly crumbling under Layla's assault. "I don't hear anything from Wanda. Shouldn't she be here?"

The social worker's expression turned sad. "I wasn't able to reach her. You know how time sensitive those things can be. I couldn't wait for her to get back to me. G.U.N. is itching to get her. Rouge deserves a nice life rather than military training."

At that, the girl lifted her eyebrow and looked at Layla amused. "I had my objections about you but I like your style." The bat looked very impressed with her social worker. "And you found me a nice place to live."

"See, she already loves it here." Layla smiled and ignored the girl's first comment.

"I'm only confused about one thing. I thought that you were fostering only one hedgehog." Rouge looked between Layla and Wade to make sure that she remembered it right.

"I do." Wade furrowed his brow. "I only take care of Shadow."

"So someone lied to you." The bat pointed behind Wade. "He isn't 15. Look at his face. Maybe he could be 14 years old but it would be pushing it. If he has a birthday in a few weeks it would say that he's 13 years old."

Wade turned around and saw Shadow standing in the doorway. The boy's face was neutral but his eyes were judging a new arrival.

"Are you sure?" This time it was Layla who was surprised.

"Yes, and it's very obvious. Didn't the other kids tell you that already?" The girl said.

"We," Wade gulped as he remembered what happened that morning. "We didn't have time to have a proper conversation yet."

"Ok, thank you for telling us." Layla made a note in her notebook. "I'll update his file."

"Don't," Shadow said sharply. "Bigger number means that I can leave this place faster. You let me choose the number. I want it to be 15."

The social worker was unphased. "It doesn't work like that. We didn't have all the information. Now we have someone who can tell us how old you are. I'm responsible for you so I need to put down your proper age." She paused. "Proper perceived age. We need to do everything according to the law or you will end up with G.U.N. No one wants that."

The hedgehog stood there and slowly his frustration built up. He clenched his fist and growled with annoyance. He stormed out of the room, unable to do anything more to deal with his anger without breaking a law. Layla sighed and Wade looked like he wanted to go after the boy. It was Rouge who broke the silence.

"He's a ray of sunshine." The bat said with a smirk. "I used to do some babysitting. I think that I should be able to handle him. I've some experience with moody kids."

"That's great!" Layla said with enthusiasm. "You'll be such a great help to Wade and Shadow. The boy doesn't know anything about your species and he didn't interact with kids. It would be very beneficial for him to have you around." She put a lot of emphasis on the last part and looked at Wade almost daring him to say otherwise.

"Sonic was able to adjust just fine on his own." Wade tried to counter her argument but his defenses were crumbling.

"We both know that their situations were different. Sonic at least had his first guardian. Shadow didn't even know what he was. He had never seen anyone like him. It isn't a healthy way to grow up and he might have questions that you're unable to answer and that he wouldn't be comfortable asking Wachowskis." She was saying it as if she was a used car salesman trying to convince him what a great deal he was getting.

"I'll be a great big sister." Rouge chimed in and nodded eagerly. "I've 13 years of experience living on my original planet so I should be able to answer any of his questions."

Wade gulped. He knew that they were right. All alien kids were special cases and Shadow was an even more special case. He had only experience with the Wachowski trio and the dark hedgehog already proved that he had a much different personality. After their first meeting, he also didn't seem willing to interact with them anymore. Wade could say that it was just a bad first impression and the boy would get over it. But honestly, he wasn't so sure about it. He might not know how to interact with kids.

"You want him to be a well-adjusted kid, right?" Layla dealt the final blow.

Taking on another kid that he didn't plan on was a big responsibility. But the girl seemed so well behaved so he shouldn't have any problem with her. It would also be a great help to have another person looking after Shadow.

Wade sighed. "Let me see her file."

The social worker smiled and Rouge gave her a high five. Only the sound of the girl tapping on her phone was heard as Wade read the file. A few times his eyes went wide and glanced at the bat. After he finished, he laid the folder down on the coffee and looked awkward.

Rouge noticed it so she looked away from her phone. "You seem to have questions so shoot."

Wade seemed to get even more awkward. His lips were dry, not sure how to tactfully ask what he wanted so he just went for it. "So you're a thief."

"I was a thief." She said casually. "But can you really tell that I was a thief when I was just a girl who tried to survive in a new world?"

This time it was Layla who lifted her eyebrow. "The only reason we found you was because you were taking jewelry from the homes that you broke in. Your backpack was full of them when we caught you."

"It isn't my fault that some rich people left jewelry at their summer homes. It was the only place where I was relatively sure I could stay for a long time. They weren't using it and I like having nice things. You can say that it was emotional support jewelry. I was so distressed after leaving my planet." She had a mischievous smile. "I didn't sell any of it."

"And what about the phones and credit cards?" Wade said and both adults looked at the phone in her hand.

The girl looked annoyed. "It's a gift from Linda. The nice lunch lady. Her kids already went to college. She had their old phones and wasn't using them so she gave me one." She lifted the phone and pointed at the screen. "See, it doesn't have a sim card and is old. I would get something nicer if I stole it." She said casually. "Also 12345678 is a horrible wifi password. You should change it. But back to the topic. I couldn't go to a shop. I had to order food and other things that I needed online. Remember, I was just a lonely girl trying to survive."

Rouge waved her hand. "But it doesn't matter anymore. Thanks to our Red friend I was pardoned for all of it. G.U.N was lazy and didn't want to worry about finding out later that the other two aliens did something that would need to involve them again. So they issued a general pardon for aliens." She laughed. "And lucky me, Layla was able to include me in it. It was funny how angry the commander got. It seemed that it was a second document that messed with his plans. He has only himself to blame for his incompetence."

Layla nodded, proud of herself. "You don't have to worry about any of that following her."

"And I promise to behave since now I'll have dad to look after me." The girl smiled sweetly.

Wade opened his mouth at the word dad. He wasn't sure what to do about it. Should he encourage or discourage it? Being a foster parent was a temporary solution. He should manage her expectations and the title felt unearned. There was also unsettling how quickly she was willing to use it.

"You seem…" Wade looked for a nice way to phrase it. "Well adjusted to Earth."

"Of course. Because I chose it." She put her phone down. "I don't have a sob story. I was already 13 when…" She paused. "My parents stop being around. It just happened and I needed a change of scenery and Earth seemed fun."

Wade could tell if the girl was a good liar or if she dealt with her loss so quickly. He wasn't sure if her being so casual about it was a good or bad sign. It was something to unpack later. He noticed his mental slip-up. So he was already planning what to do with her. It seems that he already made up his mind.

"OK. She can stay." He smiled weakly at the girl. "Should we call Wanda?"

"Wonderful." Layla quickly pulled the documents and placed them in front of Wade. "There is no need for that. I'll contact her on my own or swing by her office." She said as she pushed a pen into his hand.

Rouge looked at the social worker with a smirk. "All that paperwork will take some time. Can I look around?"

Wade looked up from the stack of paper. "OK. I'll give you a proper tour later."

"Sure."

She got up and as soon as she turned around, her pleasant smile turned into a much more neutral expression. She had a few minutes of free time so she should use it to learn as much as could. She walked quickly and kept opening doors until she found the master bedroom. She stopped and looked back to make sure that they were absorbed by their documents. When the coast was clear, she walked in and started going through all of Wade's drawers.

It was mostly clothing but then she hit the jackpot. One of them was filled with documents. She grabbed the pile and sat on the bed going quickly through it. Wade seemed like a very boring person. Other than his very unusual foster kid, there wasn't anything of note in his documents. That was good. It probably meant a few calm years ahead of her. The last thing for her to read was Shadow's file.

"Why did you do that?" Her head jumped up from the documents and saw the hedgehog standing in the doorway. How did he manage to sneak up on her? Her eyes lingered on him for a few seconds and when she made sure that she wasn't in danger, she returned to reading his file.

"I did a lot of things." She said as he saw the folder with Shadow's name. "You need to be more specific than that."

"Lied about my age." The hedgehog said sharply.

She sighed. "I didn't lie about it. You look younger than you claim. Your human was having doubts so I needed to show that I was useful. You should be grateful. You have a few more years of living for free thanks to me. It might not seem like it but it's a big deal."

"So he's no longer your dad," Shadow said dryly.

She glanced at him. "You know, being angry at people isn't the best way of getting what you want from them. You should try another tactic. This," She gestured at her neutral expression. "is my way of being nice to you."

"So you're a spy." He narrowed his eyes

She laughed. "Don't be silly. I just like getting what I want. Now I want to know with whom I'll be staying and I want to get away from G.U.N. " She lifted his file. "It's something that can bond over. Their confusion about your age makes much more sense now."

"I don't need your help." He said with a growl.

"Don't get too full of yourself. I'm not helping you. I'm helping myself. You just got caught in the crossfire." She sighed. "I need to impress him, not you. But I'll admit, being on your good side would be nice."

Shadow looked at her unconvinced. She rubbed her forehead. "How about this? I promise you that I don't care about you and that I don't want to help you. So any act of kindness from me is just a friendly fire. My way of getting what I want from Wade."

The dark hedgehog looked at her for a moment. His demeanor was much calmer than when he came in. He folded his arms on his chest. "Ok." He said and left the room.

A proud smile grew on her face as he left. They were making it way too easy for her. She put everything back where she found it and made her way back to the living room before they would come looking for her. A pleasant smile returned on her face as she entered the room. Layla was checking documents with a smile.

"Ok, I think that will be all. One copy is for you, one for me, and I will drop the last one at Wanda's office." The social worker said as she was collecting the documents, and getting ready to leave. "I'll visit you in a few weeks to check how things are going. As always it was a pleasure working with you."

"Ok," Wade smiled weakly. "Just slow down with the number of kids that you are bringing me."

"No promises." She smiled.

Wade's went wide. "I was serious."

"Me too. But don't worry. G.U.N. is not aware of any other aliens than them. So you should be fine for some time." She checked her watch. "But now I need to leave. Don't worry I'll see myself out. Bye."

She got up and left. They could hear her car starting and driving away. Wade sat in the living room looking stunned. Then a warm laugh filled the room. Rouge was holding her stomach trying to stop herself from laughing.

"She is something." The girl said with a smile that warmed Wade's heart.

"Yeah." Wade smiled back. "I'm still not sure if it is something good or bad."

She shrugged. "Why not both?"

"It seems that way." Wade stood up. "Ok, let me show you your room."

"Ok. I'll grab my suitcase." She said and she could see the realization growing on his face. She wished that she had been recording it. His head turned toward Shadow's room and then back to her.

"You're wearing clothes," Wade said worriedly.

Rouge lifted her hand to stop him. "I know what you're thinking. No, boys don't need to wear clothes. It's a cultural thing. Some of them like to wear clothes but most guys don't do it since everything is hidden already."

"Ok," Wade said awkwardly as she went to grab her suitcase.

A moment later she was pulling the suitcase on wheels behind her. "You can't imagine how much I wanted to go on a shopping spree and now I finally will be able to do it. The town is a little small but I am sure that you have some nice stores."

"Sure," Wade thought about how much money had in his bank account. He should eventually start getting checks for fostering them. "Maybe when things settle a little bit."

"Of course." She nodded. "So which room will be mine?"

"Oh, yes, sorry." Wade gave her a small tour of the house before they arrived at the guest room. Or what used to be a guest room. The room was cozy. It only had a bed and a wardrobe. "This will be your room. We'll get you a desk soon. We can also change a few things about it if you like."

Rouge bit her lip when she saw how shallow the wardrobe was and her head slowly turned towards the bed.

"It's fine. I'll make myself comfortable and unpack. I'll see you at dinner." She said and closed the door behind her.