Chapter Four: Yin and Yang Reminiscence

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Shadow's mind blanked for a moment; he certainly hadn't expected to run into Rouge out here, in a frozen plain around the Doctor's base . Then again, she had a knack for showing up unexpectedly in his life. It was a little reminiscent of when they'd met during an attack on Eggman's supply depot over a year ago. After a few moments of silence between the two, Shadow closed his eyes, smirking slightly.

"I… owe you one, for that," he admitted, nodding in the direction of the giant mechanical hound. Rouge crossed her arms, her smirk growing more smug.

"You owe me more than one, hot-shot," she replied assuredly. Scoffing, but still smirking, Shadow shook his head at her.

"I suppose I do."

The two looked at each other, caught up in the quiet that swallowed those who had so much to say. The only sound was the cold wind cutting through, some flames crackling from Shadow's attack and the muffled whining of machinery. For Rouge, this uncertain silence was dreadfully familiar.

'I should apologize…' Shadow thought, his eyes darting down nervously for a split second. First thing he wanted to do when he met her; say sorry. Looking up at Rouge, he couldn't deny he was more than a little elated to see her again. That didn't mean his stomach wasn't gripped by raw nerves. Did he want to risk ruining their reunion by bringing up their argument right off the bat?

'He's okay… say something, let him know you're happy to see him,' Rouge told herself, her eyes softening as she took in the sight of her friend, her ally. Shadow looked as good as ever, even standing amongst the wreckage of another base. She was happy and relieved… but still a little angry at him for being gone so long. They needed to talk, but Rouge had learned not to press at a bad time. Hadn't she?

"You…"

"It's-"

They spoke simultaneously.

"Oh, you-" Rouge started.

"No, you go ahead," Shadow insisted.

"Just… it's good to see you again," Rouge chuckled. "It wouldn't kill you to check in once in awhile, y'know?"

"Hm… you know I'm not one for chit-chat," he replied.

"Tsk. Saw that reply coming a mile away!" she replied with a look of mock surprise and laughed again. "Even taking a second to say 'Hello!' is too much socializing for Shadow the Hedgehog!"

"Mm. Well… it's good to see you too," Shadow said, his eyes darting down again. He didn't want to keep the conversation focused on any issues he'd caused for their relationship and start another fight. Shadow was well-aware of how hard he made it to get along with others; it was more or less the point. He always felt things were better off if he was alone. But he knew he had to at least try to make things right, so he made himself make an effort to be kind.

Rouge was surprised by Shadow saying that, and immediately a little relieved; if he was going to run off, he would've done so by now, and he wouldn't have said that. Scarce as words were from the ebony hedgehog, even rarer were words of any kind of sentimentality. Her sly smirk softened into a warmer smile.

Their talk was cut short however, when they turned at the sound of whirring hydraulics and crunching of metal on ice. The giant robotic hound was getting back on its feet, and turned to look at them. Rouge's attack had knocked the red visor off the head to reveal two large, glowing orange eyes fixed on them. Now outside the base with a clearer view, Shadow noted it had a glowing long spine along the back and a similarly-glowing horn adorning it like a crown just behind the head.

"What a rude interruption! We're having a reunion here!" Rouge said with disdain, holding her hand up to show a weapon of hers; a round bomb adorned with her signature pink heart, flashing blue as it primed.

"Let's finish up here. Then we can talk," Shadow said simply, eyes narrowing as he focused on the mechanical foe.

"As long as you don't count your grunting as 'talking', then deal!" she shot back with a wink as she spread her wings and then took off into the air.

Shadow sped right at the hound until it started bounding at him, roaring in apparent fury. He zipped off to the right to circle around it; now that they were out in the open, he could utilize his speed to his full advantage. The massive metal canine fired missiles at him, but Shadow was able to jump and dart around them with ease now. He retaliated with several Chaos Spears, but his opponent could move with fair agility for something so large, and was either able to avoid them or block them with more missiles.

While Shadow had Eggman's creation distracted, Rouge looked their enemy over from above. Her device detected significant energy focused in the glowing horn-like "crown", and an idea struck her. She flew down again at a high speed, but more carefully than before; even distracted, the giant guard dog might be keeping an eye out for another attack from above.

Sure enough, after unleashing another volley of missiles at Shadow, it turned its fiery gaze up at Rouge and prepared to fire a laser from its maw. But the huntress was ready. While sharply pulling out of her dive by spreading her wings, she flew right over its back, and she heaved the bomb she had right at the crown. With a *Clang!*, it stuck to it's base.

"All too easy for me!" Rouge boasted with a wink, flying away as the bomb detonated, destroying the crown and unleashing a surge of energy all through the robotic beast's body. With a screech and the snapping and sparking of parts overloading, the hellhound mech flailed back to the ground, moving sporadically as its damaged parts struggled to get it back up.

Shadow was upon it as soon as it crashed. He leapt up, rolled into a ball, and began slamming Homing Attacks into the metal monster's head. The speed and frequency of his attacks increased, the head rapidly becoming dented in and its functions even less responsive. Once the head was sufficiently crushed and the eyes were shattered, Shadow charged himself up with Chaos Energy, and slammed into it harder than any time before, and tore the head of the beast right off, leaving it to fall to the ground with a resounding crash.

Rouge couldn't help but admire how Shadow looked when he landed. She couldn't tell if he ever meant to do it, but he sure seemed to like to do that "superhero-landing" pose, all dramatic and whatnot. If it wasn't intentional, the edgy hedgy still pulled it off with style.

"Yeah, yeah we get it, you're so cool," she teased as she floated down to the ground. "Seriously though, nice work hand-" She stopped herself from finishing "handsome." Rouge was with Knuckles now; she probably shouldn't be throwing flirts around like that anymore. Especially at…

Shadow raised an eyebrow at her; he was accustomed to her flirting, but not with cutting her own passes short. He became aware of his own hardened frown. Was he… disappointed?

"Hm. Thanks," he said nonchalantly, deciding not to press it. Rouge flirted all the time with him and other people, it got annoying. It was good if she wasn't doing it so much now. Right?

"Though of course, you couldn't have done it without my help!" the white bat went on with a very smug look.

Shadow only grunted in response and looked over at the torn-up entrance to the base below.

"I have some business here. If you want to talk, we can talk while I get what I need."

"Yep, it's always 'Business, business' with you," Rouge replied with a sigh. "Fine. Lead on, Mr. Unsmiley."

The two of them quickly made their way back into the destroyed building and managed to find a working lift at the back. It was locked down due to Shadow's attack, but Rouge quickly went to work at the lift's terminal. Inserting a small flash drive she had, she uploaded a subroutine she'd coded herself to unlock every door and lift in the base.

"You can shower me with my well-deserved praise whenever you like!" she said with another smug smirk, looking back over her shoulder at Shadow. Despite being a little annoyed at her boasting, the dark hedgehog couldn't help but smirk back.

"Fine. I guess it's lucky for me you dropped in, Rouge," he admitted, folding his arms. "You're good. I never had the same patience for hacking that you do."

"Hah! Thanks Shad!" Rouge said with a chuckle. As they entered the lift, it occurred to her that she felt a little… giddy. Her reunion with Shadow was going well so far, and it felt… almost nostalgic, to be on another mission with her old friend. Of course, Rouge eventually wanted to try and mend that fight they had… but perhaps this was the best way to start?

"So… what exactly are you doing in White Acropolis?" Shadow asked as the lift descended to their destination; the base's central mainframe. "Were you looking into this base as well?"

"Well…" Rouge paused; she had wanted to keep things light to start, but she knew this conversation was inevitable. "I… was looking for you, actually," she answered somewhat awkwardly. "G.U.N. needs your help for a mission." She wanted to say she'd been worried, she wanted to make up and just wanted to see him again. But of course, leading with the mission and ignoring that for now was easier for some reason.

Damn it.

"G.U.N. can wait until I'm done here," Shadow replied with a look of derision. "I don't work for them." Things had never been smooth between the Ultimate Life-Form and G.U.N., even after Abraham and the President pardoned Shadow and even requested his aid on the odd mission. Still… there was some bad blood on both sides that couldn't be forgotten. Not completely.

"Okay, well it's your turn then; what are you doing here?" Rouge replied with a frown, folding her arms. She'd hoped it'd be awhile longer before Shadow started acting difficult; it was beginning to bring up bitter memories.

"I'm still looking for information," he told her, his tone growing more bitter at his failure to find any of said information so far. "I've raided many bases over the last few months, trying to find any information on Mephiles or Black Doom, or White Space. Nothing new on any of the servers anywhere."

"Still looking? It's been a year, Shadow. Maybe it's time to give it a rest?" Rouge said gently. "No offense, but you just might need to wait for some sort of opportunity to come along if you've had so little luck. Change strategies, y'know?"

"Hmph. You may be right," Shadow replied bluntly. He was still irritated at the lack of results he'd had, but Rouge hadn't said anything he hadn't thought to himself.

"Y'know… this might not be the best time, but… you might be getting answers to some of those questions," the ivory bat said gingerly. She had to tell him sometime, and the lift had a little ways to go. Besides, if Shadow wanted answers about Black Doom, this might be his only chance.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, eyes widening slightly.

"It's about what G.U.N. needed you for," Rouge continued carefully. "Apparently, there's another… Black Comet headed to Earth. It'll be here in a few days, and they want your help fighting them off before they can make landfall."

Shadow's mouth fell open slightly as he stared at Rouge, frozen from the information she'd just dropped on him. Months and months of searching for answers, and now it seemed they were being delivered to him in the worst possible way.

"The Black Arms… again?!" he said in nearly a hiss.

"Yeah… it looks that way," Rouge replied softly, ears drooping slightly. She knew hearing this would be hard for him. "They're still unsure what exactly is going on, but they're preparing to fight them off. I'm sorry Shadow… I know you were hoping to be done with this…" She tried to muster a smile at him "Still… maybe it's our chance to stop them once and for all?"

Shadow just grunted and glared at the floor of the lift, his hands clenched tightly.

"Hey…" Taking a risk, Rouge gently grabbed one of his hands and held it firmly. "I'll help you, Shadow. Omega too. He, Knuckles and I all came here to Soleanna to find you. G.U.N. has all this research they've done since the first invasion to fight them. Whatever the Black Arms are planning, we'll stop it. Together. I told you I'd be there for you… that still holds true."

Shadow looked up at her, his frown softening slightly at her words. For now, he simply nodded.

"Thank you," he replied softly, and managed a brief, small smile back at her.

Shadow and Rouge looked at each other for several more moments. For the time being, it felt like Team Dark had never gone their own ways. The familiarity they shared over all their struggles together came rushing back. Shadow felt the rare comfort he only got with the company of his long-time allies, and Rouge felt like some missing piece of everything had fallen back into place…

*Clunk!*

The lift finally came to a stop, and the slight jolt snapped them out of their moment. Looking down in unison, the bat and hedgehog realized they were still holding hands.

"Let's go," Shadow said quickly, walking through the doors as they opened. Rouge stared after him a moment, her cheeks a light pink shade. She'd been so caught up in Shadow's eyes it was like time had lost meaning during those last few moments. And…

Had Shadow been blushing a little as well when he left the lift?

Shaking away some intrusive thoughts, Rouge quickly followed after him.

"How could they be back? Has Black Doom returned again as well? They cannot function without a ruler governing the hive mind!" Shadow spoke as they ran down the hall to their destination. He slowed his pace enough for Rouge to easily keep up by flying, which was still a fair speed by his standards. It was an old habit he fell back into during his past missions with her and Omega.

"Nobody has any idea yet," Rouge replied, relieved that Shadow had changed the subject. Normally she wished he'd talk about things other than "the mission" but it was a good distraction right now. "We probably won't know until after we engage them."

"They're fools to return. I've defeated Black Doom twice, they should know they're only rushing to their death!" the black hedgehog growled, and with a shout, fired two Chaos Spears at the door to the central mainframe. Several of Dr. Eggman's mechs remained inside, some immediately fleeing and others turning to desperately defend themselves.

Shadow, his body flaring with red Chaos Energy, unleashed his wrath upon every mech in sight, save for the only one he ever spared; the designated overseer unit. Punching and kicking the others to scraps within seconds, Shadow slammed the overseer's torso into the main console.

"Pull up some information for me!" the Ultimate Life-Form demanded, but Rouge, her face utterly calm, stepped up between them.

"No need, here," she said casually, plugging another of her flash drives into the console. Immediately, a download command queue was brought up on the screen. "You wanted information on the Black Arms, White Space, aaannd…?"

"Mephiles," Shadow reminded her, his demeanor growing a little less intense, his Chaos Energy relaxing a little. His ally's adaptability was assuring, putting him at ease and calming his anger a little. Quickly typing away, Rouge began downloading every relevant file on those subjects. Sometimes her sheer expertise blew Shadow away, especially with how easy it seemed to come to the huntress. Deciding he no longer needed the overseer, he hurled the mech out the door they'd come through.

"Rouge?" Shadow asked as they waited for the download to finish.

"Hm?"

"On the lift, you said Omega and… Knuckles came to look for me as well?"

"Yeah… oh shit! That reminds me!" Rouge swore as she pulled out her communicator. " I almost forgot, I told them I'd radio them both when I found you!" She switched it to her, Omega and Knuckles' collective channel. "Hey boys, Rouge here. You copy?"

Shadow sighed; looked like his question would have to wait.

"Omega here, I copy," came the familiar artificial tone, making Shadow smirk a little.

"Knuckles he- hello? Rouge? Can you he-hear me?" Knuckles' voice followed, apparently struggling with the controls.

"I found Shadow, alive and well. We'll meet you two soon. We ran into trouble but we're about done here," Rouge told them.

"Great! We'll head to your coordinates right away!" Knuckles said cheerfully. "As soon as the chopper gets us-"

"No, there's a storm coming soon," Shadow chimed in, arms folded per usual. "A severe one. The chopper won't be able to safely make it through until it passes. I have a shelter not too far from here."

"What, a storm?! Hold on Rouge, I'll-!" Knuckles started to worriedly insist, but Rouge interrupted with a laugh.

"I'll be okay, handsome! I can handle a storm; whatever shelter Shadow has I'm sure will be fine. Why don't you and Omega spend the night in the city, see some sights and we'll meet up once the storm passes?"

"My optics do not require 'sightseeing' unless the sight is a scope," Omega replied wryly.

"Well, okay, if you're sure… just be careful, 'kay Rouge?" Knuckles asked gingerly.

"I always am, Red! See you two soon, goodnight!" she assured him. After Knuckles bid her goodnight and Omega wished her luck, they ended the call. Rouge looked over to see Shadow staring at her.

"...What?" the ivory bat asked pointedly, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I was going to ask… why did you bring Knuckles along?" Shadow asked, eyes narrowed slightly. "Do I deign to guess?"

"We had a whole country to search, Shadow!" Rouge said rather defensively. "Like I told Omega, he's a great hunter! Both he and I can sense the kind of energy you, the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald put out. We needed to find you as quickly as possible."

"Is that all?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What's the deal with you and Knuckles?" Shadow asked point-blank, raising an eyebrow back at her. He had detected the change in the way they talked since last he'd seen them. It was less heated, open concern on Knuckles' part… and the fact that Rouge had called him "handsome," but had refrained from doing the same to Shadow.

Was his pride wounded? No… of course not.

"Hm! That's a tad personal, don't you think?" Rouge retorted, turning her nose up and away from him to hide the potential blush the question might have brought on. "Why do you care anyway?"

Damn it. It felt like they were falling into their old habits again.

"I don't. I just haven't heard you two talk to each other like that," the dark warrior said, turning his head slightly. He was trying to refrain from being overly-callous or hostile in any way towards Rouge, but it was just so goddamned reflexive of him. Shadow scowled as he mentally berated himself.

"Well… if you must know…" the ivory bat blushed a bit more. Why was she having trouble telling Shadow this? "We're… dating. Have been for a couple months now."

"Oh."

An uncomfortable silence fell on them, very different from the silence on the lift earlier. Rouge couldn't read the tone from Shadow's one-word reply, and she found it difficult to look over and read his reaction. The ebony hedgehog felt annoyed; did this mean Knuckles would be tagging along on missions now? He wasn't as irritating as Sonic, but Shadow could find the echidna's dull wit insufferable.

But why did it feel like he was upset at the answers to his unasked questions? Rouge was right; why should he care who she was dating? Why?

Thankfully, they were snapped out of silence again when the flash drive beeped to signify it was done downloading. Trying not to visibly sigh in relief, Rouge went to retrieve it.

"Now, G.U.N. will probably want to see this stuff eventually too y'know," she said as she pulled the drive out. "Buuuuut… as long as you promise to give it back when you're done, keep it as long as you need to. Deal?" She gave Shadow a wink, hoping to lighten the awkward tension a little.

"Fine," Shadow replied with an irritated look, taking the drive as soon as Rouge held it out to him looking it over. "I doubt it's anything we don't already know, but I can't be too thorough." He glanced up from the flash drive and nodded at her in thanks. Whatever irritation Shadow felt, he knew he should put that aside. He hadn't even made amends like he wanted to yet. Compromising that with animosity would be foolish.

"Good! Now then," the ivory bat nodded towards their exit. "I saw on the terminal that this base is set to self-destruct in about eight minutes from now. What do you say we make our exit and you can look at that stuff later?"

"Very well, just try to keep up!" Shadow shot back with a smirk, and zipped back down the hall to the lift.

"Hey! No fair!" Rouge snapped after him, taking off in a frantic hurry.

It was a competitive playfulness that, by Rouge's account, had started around the first time Team Dark had been on a mission together, on Seaside Hill. Eight minutes was more than enough time for both of them to escape, they knew that. Why not have some friendly competition on the way out?

Despite having quite a lead on her, Shadow came to an abrupt halt once he reached the lift. Activating it, he tapped his foot impatiently as the lift seemed to crawl upwards. He glared up through the shaft, and was just about to find a faster way up…

"So long, hotshot!"

With a look of frustrated disbelief, Shadow watched as Rouge caught up to him, winked, and then quickly flew up and over him, then straight up the shaft leading out.

"I don't think so!" The Ultimate Life-Form began rapidly jumping from wall-to-wall of the shaft, outpacing the lift. He jumped upwards through the shaft as fast as he could but Rouge was a little faster than him in this regard. The ivory huntress flew through the door with Shadow following a few seconds later. After they'd fled a fair distance away from the opening of the base, Rouge abruptly landed in front of him.

"Hah! I think that means I win!" she teased, sticking her tongue out at the ebony hedgehog. "You're fast, Shadow, but you can't beat me in the air!"

"Can't I? Hmph. Perhaps I'll test you on that sometime," Shadow growled, frowning at his supposed loss. It quickly turned to a sly smirk as he had a thought.

"How about round two, race to my shelter?" he suggested. "It's a little over a mile from here but we should still get there well before the storm blows in."

"Okay, but… on one condition," Rouge replied with her own shifty smile. "We both skate there." She activated a hidden button on her glove's palm, and her suit deployed a pair of ice-skating blades.

"Huh. That's new," Shadow remarked.

"Oh come on, act impressed for once!" Rouge said with a pout. "Ah, fine! You accept my challenge? No flying or warping, only skating on the ice and jumping over obstacles. I won't be a pushover, I promise!"

"I know; you told me about the mission you learned how to skate to go undercover as a professional," he told her. "You were trying to give me tips on how to improve my own skating."

Her eyes sparkled a bit; Rouge didn't know Shadow remembered things like that. If he did, this was the first time he'd commented on it, at least.

"Well look at you, paying attention!" she said with a wink, and floated around in the air for a bit. "Soooo…?"

"Yes, fine. Challenge accepted," he finally answered. He pushed a few buttons on his communicator, and Rouge's blipped with a new signal. "That's where it is. Ready when you are."

Landing to stand right next to Shadow, Rouge got into position by a giant patch of ice to begin their race. There were fields of snow and many hills and mountains between them and Shadow's shelter, but there was a frozen river down the valleys that also led there that would suffice for skating. Exchanging looks that burned with the desire to win, Shadow and Rouge smirked at each other, and then took off.

Despite believing her stories, Shadow was surprised to see how fluid and masterful Rouge's movements were when skating. They were very similar to his own style, but more with the same unique grace the huntress had in battle. Realizing he'd gotten distracted for a moment, the ebony hedgehog cursed and picked up the pace. The two maneuvered expertly, weaving past trees and boulders with speed dangerous for humans. Determined not to be bested again, Shadow gritted his teeth as he accelerated as much as he could around the bends of the river. He soon slid past Rouge, who huffed and began moving faster as well.

There was a distant rumble as Eggman's base finally exploded, causing the ice behind them to crack and fall apart. The splits in the ice seemed to be chasing the two, but instead of causing fear, it only exhilarated the both of them.

"The Doctor's going to be feeling that one!" Rouge laughed as she skillfully leapt over a large crack with a twirl, and landed gracefully right behind Shadow again, tailing him.

Thankfully, the jets on Shadow's skates weren't hot enough to affect the ice in any significant way, so she was able to follow directly behind him. With a giggle, Rouge used one of her wings to wrap around Shadow, and spin the both of them around so that she was in front. Stunned with wide-eyed rubies, the dark hedgehog shot the snowy-white bat a playful glare. He tried to run past her again, but Rouge's reflexes were too good, and she spun him around again to keep him in the back.

"Rouge!" he growled.

"What? I'm not using my wings for flying! I didn't break any rules," she said innocently.

"Yeah, hard to break the rules to your own game," Shadow retorted. "Well, you didn't say anything about this either!" Pushing himself out of her hold, he used a moderate amount of Chaos Energy to melt a big gap in the ice between the two of them, with him in the lead. With a short chuckle, Shadow continued towards the shelter.

"Oh you ass!" Rouge hissed, building up speed and then leaping over the gap after him, no wings. She used her powerful legs and guileful reflexes to catch up as quickly as possible, but now Shadow had the clear edge. By the time she got to the foot of the hill where the shelter was tucked away, she had lost. Looking up and sighing, she saw the hedgehog standing towards the top of the hill, where the signal for his shelter seemed to be indicating.

"Alright, not bad Shadow. Not bad at all!" Rouge said jovially as she flew up towards him. Despite losing, the experience had been… fun. It wasn't often she could talk Shadow into doing anything that wasn't totally serious. "Have you been skating your whole life, or did you just have a really good teacher?"

"Heh. The latter," Shadow replied with the ghost of a smile. "Come in, the storm will be blowing in soon." He walked down the hill a little ways to reveal a carefully-concealed entrance to a cave. Following him inside, Rouge looked forward to helping herself to whatever rations Shadow had, and then cozying up and riding out the cold until they got to see Omega and Knuckles again.

"Y'know Shadow…" Rouge spoke as they walked. "I know it's been awhile, but… it's been nice. Today, I mean. Even if we had to fight a giant killer robot dog, it's been… fun, y'know?"

"Mm." Shadow paused in his walking to look back at her and nod briefly. "Yes. Today improved when you showed up." Then he kept walking. Rouge beamed at him as she followed.

"Look at you, all smooth-talking!" she teased, giving him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Hm." The angsty hedgehog grunted again.

"No seriously Shadow! I like hearing you actually say things like that," Rouge said, still smiling warmly at him. Now that they were out of the wind, she removed her snow goggles. "Considering how long it's been, I'd say seeing you today has been-" Her smile wavered and her eyes dimmed when they arrived where Shadow had been staying.

"Today's been…?" he repeated for her.

"Shadow… what the hell is this?!" Rouge demanded in a low voice, gesturing to her ally's "camp."

The Ultimate Life-Form traveled light; one advantage of his creation was being able to run on minimal resources. All Shadow had brought with him was a bedroll, a small travel-heater, a radio, his gun and a matchbox-sized cloaking device to hide Shadow and the minimal tech he'd brought with him.

"...What? It's my shelter," he answered carefully, not seeing the issue.

"Shelter?! What are you, a masochist?!" Rouge snapped back, gesturing dramatically at the most minimalistic living arrangement she'd ever seen. "Look at this heater! This couldn't warm up a bathroom, and you brought it to an arctic region?!"

"It worked well enough for me," Shadow said with a shrug.

"Good for you, not everyone has thick fur everywhere like you do!" she said pointedly, blushing a little at her own implication. "But come on, not even a first-aid kit? And you didn't bring any food?!"

"Not much," he said with a sigh; Rouge's criticisms were starting to annoy him. He knew she was used to living lavishly, but come on. As far as a first-aid kit, Shadow was built like steel, and very rarely got an injury that his regenerative powers couldn't eventually shake off. Walking over to the pack he'd brought everything in, he reached in and pulled out a single flavored nutritional bar. "This is it."

"Ugh! I wish we had time to go to Soleanna before going back to G.U.N.!" Rouge groaned, leaning back against the cave wall. "To think, Omega and Knuckles are in the City of Water, around luxury and restaurants, and I'm roughing it in the Ice Age with Shadow the Survivalist!"

"What, you didn't bring your own supplies?" Shadow asked with a scowl. He had genuinely been happy to see Rouge, but now it felt like she was deliberately trying to complain to him to death. "You seemed like you were ready to spend a lot of time looking for me. Isn't that why the echidna was invited along?"

"It's Knuckles," she replied with a leer. "And of course I did! I just wish I'd brought more now is all." Rouge pulled a small, white backpack that blended in with her snowsuit, and with a smug look, pulled out a small device that quickly unfurled into a much-larger, thicker bedroll that rolled out across Shadow's. Slightly alarmed, the ebony hedgehog looked back from the bedding's sudden appearance to the rest of what the ivory bat was unpacking. Another device that also folded out to create a slightly-larger space heater, a first-aid kit, an inflatable pillow, radio, flares, her various bombs, spy-tech and specially-packed rations followed. All somehow fit on her utility belt and into the tiny pack Rouge had brought.

"How the hell…?!" Shadow muttered, kicking the part of Rouge's bedroll that had covered his own off of it.

"G.U.N. has a lot of improved tech for making travel lighter on longer missions," she replied as she tried to make herself comfortable. "This thing even has its own built-in heater! If you worked for them, you'd have access to it too!"

"Hmph." Rouge rolled her eyes at his predictable response. Shadow shot her a look when he noticed, but tried not to say anything. He still wanted to avoid another argument with her, but he felt like he was on his last nerve.

"Well, it may not beat wherever Knuckles gets to stay, but it's an improvement," the ivory bat muttered with a sigh as she tried to finish adjusting her equipment. She was trying to be patient as well, focusing on how relieved she was to have Shadow back. For whatever reason, it felt like the Ultimate Edge-Lord was bent on being unbearable.

"So sorry you couldn't be with your boyfriend tonight," Shadow practically spat back. "Then we wouldn't be so crammed for space!" Damn it, why did he get so touchy when Rouge mentioned Knuckles? Maybe if she'd stop complaining for a few seconds!

"Tsk! Excuse me?!" Rouge snapped back, standing to face the black hedgehog, hands on her hips. "He's got nothing to do with this! I finally find you after months of not hearing from you, and when we get to your 'shelter', it's not even suitable for one person, let alone two! Then you seem bent on being a total prick about it! If I hadn't brought my own things I would've froze to death!"

"I didn't know I was supposed to expect company! If it's so miserable here, maybe Knuckles should've come and saved you!" Shadow retorted, getting to his feet.

"Oh screw you!" Rouge yelled at him, her blue eyes sharpening into a glare. God, why did Shadow always have to ruin their nice moments by being such an unbearable, angsty asshole?! "Just tell me Shadow, why the hell do you care so much about who I'm dating?! You've never taken an interest before!"

"I… just don't get it Rouge, he's beneath you!" he replied, pulling at reasons that he himself was looking for. "He's a gullible fool, he's scared of ghosts, he's muscle-headed as hell, he hangs around that idiot Sonic, he-"

"Yeah well, at least he's around!" the ivory bat shouted, her hands now fists as she took a step towards Shadow. Part of her felt better to have told him that, and another small part of her was worried that she was causing irreparable harm. But it was difficult to stem her emotions at the moment. "I've been worried about you ever since you took off, running around everywhere, wasting time-!"

"I'm not wasting time!" Shadow snarled back, taking a step towards Rouge in turn. "I have a responsibility to Earth, and questions I need answered! Questions that haunt me! Even if I haven't found answers, what else was I supposed to do?!"

"Maybe ask us for help!" Rouge cried as she advanced more. "Why is it so much easier for you to internalize and brood by yourself?! Huh? Why?! Because we're not Maria?!"

Shit.

"Don't…!" Shadow's hands balled into fists too, his eyes shooting red daggers now. He took another step forward. "That is not fair! Don't bring her into this, you ignorant ditz!"

"Stubborn asshole!"

"Spoiled bitch!

"Jar-headed edgelord!"

"Selfish thief!"

"Arrogant dick!"

"Screw you!"

"Screw you!"

"SCREW YOU!"

At this point, Shadow and Rouge had advanced to be in close proximity. Quite close. Barely more than an inch. They glared down at each other, neither one backing down as their anger had reached a point where words no longer came to mind. Their faces were flushed with anger as they glared… and then gradually became aware of certain things.

They'd been too caught up in their emotions to even notice how close they'd grown. In the cold, they could easily feel each other's warm breath on their faces… and how close everything was. Their noses, their lips… The details they could see in each others' eyes, the crystalline aquamarine sparkles and the deep, luscious-red glimmers. Shadow and Rouge's expressions of venomous anger quickly gave way to flustered astonishment.

The red flush of anger on their faces was quickly replaced by something else… part of which turned to embarrassment.

"Sorry!" they said in unison, quickly turning to face away from each other. Another awkward silence fell between them, and again it was different. Both of them were muted by the confusing rush of flustering emotions that consumed them.

'What… was that?!' they both thought to themselves. How had they not noticed how close they'd gotten? Why were they blushing so much? Why was this getting to them so badly?

What had they even been arguing about?!

Shadow risked a quick glance over at Rouge, who still had her back turned, too embarrassed to look at him. She was caught between addressing her emotions and berating herself for them. Knuckles was her boyfriend now damn it, why was she finding herself in a compromising position like this?!

"Rouge… I'm sorry…" Shadow finally spoke.

"Hm…? What… what for?" Rouge asked distantly, Shadow's words snapping her out of her emotional turmoil for the moment. She turned to face him now.

"For… a lot of things," he continued, rubbing the back of his quills in uncertainty. "I'm sorry… for what I said, that time after Sonic's party, a year ago. I'm sorry for never checking in, for being a bad teammate… and a bad friend." Shadow sighed. He maintained eye-contact with her now to let her know how sincere he was.

"You were just trying to help that day. I don't know how to address the things you wanted to talk about; all I know how to do is be a warrior, apparently." The Ultimate Life-Form looked down at one of his own fists and grimmaced before looking back at Rouge. "I don't feel I deserve friends… especially not one like you who has saved and helped me so much. Someone that I feel I can trust."

Rouge's eyes widened a little, and shimmered at Shadow's words. She couldn't believe he was actually apologizing to her… when had she heard him do that last?

"Hm… well y'know, a double-crossing thief like me probably doesn't deserve friends either," she replied with a weak chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yet here we are, helping each other out, racing for fun… trusting each other, even though I've proven to be untrustworthy and you're always going rogue," she added with a smirk.

"But… to be honest Shadow, I'm sorry too… I know it's difficult for you to talk, and it's fine. I shouldn't have pushed you so much," she continued, her ears drooping a little sadly now. "Maybe… you would've stuck around if I hadn't…"

"It's okay, Rouge," Shadow assured her, but Rouge insisted.

"No, let me say it. I'm sorry for the things I said, for… bringing up Maria…" she looked down at the cave floor somberly.

"It's… okay Rouge… we both said foolish things. But I've thought a lot about that day… and I owe you an apology more than anything. Nothing you did justified what I did and said then. You're…" he sighed heavily, struggling to bring the words up. But he'd convinced himself awhile ago he needed to say them.

"You're my best friend, Rouge… after everything we've been through, I owe you so much, and I'm sorry I failed you…"

"Then be better," Rouge said softly, taking both of Shadow's hands in hers again. "We'll both be better. Just… stick around and talk to us once in a while, yeah?"

"Yeah… of course," he replied gently, and nodded at her. Rouge smirked at him, and dropped one hand so they each had a hand clasped.

"Team Dark?" Rouge asked hopefully.

"Team Dark," Shadow echoed with his own smirk. They unclasped their hands and, just for old times' sake, bumped their fists together.

-llll-

Author's-

-Note:

WHOOF. Here it finally is, chapter four! Sorry for the long wait, as you can see this is a LONG chapter. There was a lot I wanted to write, and I couldn't split this into two smaller chapters. Hopefully the others will be a bit shorter on average lol

So finally some Shadouge in this story! Still got a long ways to go for couple-material but at least they're starting to make amends?