Chapter Text
The Confession (Thump)
Chapter 1
The Before
Before everything else that could and would follow afterwards, there was a time, a place, and a long-standing coffee date…
The café is small, tucked away in a quiet road just on the outskirts of Station Square, and wasn’t really the sort of place you’d ever expect to find Shadow the Hedgehog.
And yet, there he was, waiting and unbothered by the occasional stare he got from passersby.
He isn’t exactly sure how or when exactly the agreement to get coffee with Amy Rose had started, or why she had insisted they go to the one establishment so – pastel-colored, but aside from him dragging his feet that first time they did, Shadow had since come around on the place.
After all, it suited both of them well enough – his in terms of the coffee, and hers for the tea and ‘aesthetic’.
Speaking of Rose, however, she’s running late, and as he checks the time on the communicator watch, he huffs as a notification from Rouge pops up, reminding him about their training session later that afternoon at G.U.N. Headquarters.
He’s tempted to message her back when he hears his name being called.
“Shadow, hey!”
Recognizing the voice as Rose’s, just as he’s about to greet her back, he looks up and, for the first time, when he sees her, his words just – fail.
Instead of her normal red dress, she’s wearing a bright yellow sundress with a black bow cinching her waist and has half of her quills tied back with a matching black ribbon.
(Thump.)
Admittedly, it takes him a moment to remember he still needs torespond, and he does so with a nod and a simple, albeit oddly strained “Rose.”
If she noticed, she doesn’t say anything and she smiles as she walks up to join him. “Were you waiting long?”
“No.” He clears his throat and straightens up to save some of his dignity. “It’s fine.”
“I’m sorry, I ran into Vanilla and Cream on the way over.” She says apologetically. “…They say hi, by the way.”
He nods stiffly, and because he clearly hadn’t made enough of a fool of himself, he adds, “You look – different.”
She tucks a stray quill back. “Oh, well, I wanted to try something new today.” She then winks at him, “Cute, huh?”
Dammit - damn. He shouldn’t have said anything.
“Yes. Good.” Oh for- “You look… fine.”
She giggles. “Good.” She echoes before flashing her wrist. “It even matches the charm on the bracelet you got me, see?”
Sure enough, as his eyes fall on the small, golden sun gleaming in the late morning light, it did.
(Thump.)
It hadn’t been particularly expensive or valuable in any real sense, just a beaded bracelet that had caught his eye while he, Rouge and Omega were finishing up a mission in a secluded, seaside village.
Perhaps it was the bright green glass beads the same hue as her eyes or just the charm itself, but when he saw it, it made him think of her.
He had gone back and forth on whether he should get it or not until Rouge made the decision for him and haggled with the vendor until they walked away with it – and several other pieces – paying next to nothing for what he wanted.
(Afterward, the bat had slipped it into his hand with a smile like she had read his mind. He didn’t – and still doesn’t – reallyknow what to make of her generosity, and he has even less of an idea when he had become so obvious.)
…He couldn’t say Rose’s reaction when he had given it to her the week before wasn’t worth it, though.
“I’m glad you liked it.” He says before changing the subject, “…Should we go inside?”
She nods eagerly and links their arms together, “Mm! It’s my treat today.”
He raises a brow. “That right?”
“Yup. You got our order last time, so it’s only right I do it now.”
He holds the door open for her. “It’s not like I mind, Rose.”
“I know that, I just want to. So let me, okay?”
When they walk through, one of the owners – an elderly sheep mobian with powdery blue wool and a flowery shawl – looks up from the register and smiles at them warmly.
“Miss Amy, Mister Shadow – my, what a sight you two make. Welcome back to The Clover.”
“Loraine, hi!” Rose greets as Shadow nods curtly.
“I hoped I’d be seeing you today.” The sheep tells them, “Especially you, Shadow dear. We just received a specialshipment of coffee beans from the South, and my Alphonse is adamant this new blend will knock your socks off!”
“A bold claim,” Shadow says dryly.
“But a confident one! May I interest you in trying a cup?”
He shrugs. “Sure.”
“That would be without sugar or cream, yes?”
“…Yes.” When he feels Rose gently squeeze his upper arm, he lets out a sigh and adds, “Thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome.” Loraine chuckles, writing the order down before turning to Rose. “What about you, Amy dear? Anything catch your eye today?”
Rose’s eyes scan the blackboard behind the counter, biting her lower lip in thought until she settles on the tea side of the menu.
“Mmm… I’m thinking chamomile?”
“Excellent choice. With or without honey?”
“With, please. Oh! Is there still any of the red velvet left?”
“There is, in fact. You’re lucky I saved some, Miss, it’s been a best seller recently.”
“That’s good! Then, I’ll have a slice of that, too.”
Loraine’s eyes light up, “To share?”
When Rose looks at him hopefully, he relents, “…Fine.”
“I’ll be sure to bring two forks.” Loraine says as Rose pays for them. “Ah, and since I have you here now, Amy dear, have you… by any chance, given that proposal some thought?”
Shadow feels his spine stiffen at this.
Proposal?
Rose in contrast, perks up somewhat, “I have, and… I think I’m going to accept.”
…What?
“That’s wonderful news! I’m so happy to hear that.” The sheepbrings her hands together in delight. “I’ll let Alphonse know right away. Ah! But don’t let me keep you any further. I believe your usual table is open.”
“Thank you, Loraine.”
“I’ll bring your orders over in a few minutes, dears.” Lorainetells them before ducking through a pair of swinging doors leading into the kitchen.
When they’re left alone then, Shadow speaks up. “What… was that about?”
Rose looks at him again. “I didn’t tell you?”
There’s an odd, heavy feeling in his chest.
“No. You didn’t.”
The shift in his mood must have shown on his face, because Rose blinks at him, slightly taken aback.
“…Why don’t we sit down?” she suggests, still smiling.
Shadow nods stiffly and allows Rose to lead him through thepeaceful café until they get to the table at the back.
The spot afforded them both a view of the street outside and a relative level of privacy, and had unofficially become ‘their’ spot ever since they started going there.
When they arrive, Shadow pulls the chair out for her and offers a hand to help her sit.
(Rogue called him ‘old-fashioned’ whenever he did this for her as well, whereas Rose usually just smiled and accepted the gesture.)
This time is no different, but she seems distracted, and when he goes to take his seat across from hers, she hesitates before speaking.
“…I wanted this to be a surprise when I saw everyone again, but I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.” She starts, closing her eyes for a moment as she takes a deep breath. “Okay, so… you know how I like to bake?”
…What? Bake?
Unsure how to respond, he just nods, and when Rose goes on she sounds almost – shy.
“W-well, um, I’ve been – sort of – taking orders over the last few months?”
Orders? “You mean – professionally?”
“Y-yeah, that! It really just started out with me making things in my kitchen and dropping them off in my spare time; I’d make birthday cakes, cupcakes– things like that. I made some extra money on the side, and it was fun since I got to meet new people. It’s actually how I found out about The Clover.”
That – wasn’t what he was expecting. But why was that such a relief?
“You never mentioned you started a business.” He says.
“That’s because it didn’t feel… official, I guess?”
“But that’s changed?”
Rose nods and some of the excitement from before re-enters her eyes. “It’s been going really well lately. I even started carryingbusiness cards!” She grins, sounding proud of herself. “I do other pastries now, pies, macaroons – custom orders. I even tried making ice-cream cake the other day… only, um… I didn’t exactly have the space in my freezer for it so it was kind of a disaster.
“I can’t tell you how much of a pain it was to clean up when it started to melt, Shadow, but… like it’s been pointed out to me;it’s a really good problem to have.”
“And how’s that?”
Her smile widens.
“It means that if I want to keep up with my orders, I’m going to need a bigger space, better equipment… And, that’s where The Clover comes in.
“Loraine and Alphonse are my best customers, so when I was dropping off their order earlier last week, I mentioned that I started looking at places I could rent, and… it turns out, The Clover might be able to help me out with that.”
“The proposal is a business proposal?”
He hadn’t – entirely meant to say as much out loud, and perhaps it’s his confusion or the tone of his voice, but Rose tilts her head to the side in puzzlement.
“Of course it is, what else would it-”
She stops midsentence when the realization sets in, and when it does, her eyes widen as a blush spreads over her cheeks.
“Ohh… You thought that meant…” She then giggles before reaching out and squeezing his hand. “…I’m not even wearing a ring on my finger, silly.”
Shadow’s eyes dart down – to her hand and his, and, sure enough, she isn’t.
He feels the blood rush to his ears in what he could recognize as embarrassment.
Still, clarification never hurt.
“Then, you’re not…?”
“I’m not seeing anyone… but if I were, I’m pretty sure I would be yelling from the rooftops if I ever got engaged, Shadow.”
(Thump.)
“Good to know.”
“Good to know?” She teases.
Oh, this was going terribly for him.
“…My mistake.” He clears his throat. “…I take it Loraine and Alphonse offered their assistance?”
“Nice transition.” She says, grinning at him, “But, yeah! The Clover used to be an old mill a long time ago. They only use half of the building for the café right now, but it shouldn’t be toohard to convert the rest into a small, working bakery.”
“And you’re going to rent it from them?”
“…I am. They sent over a contract yesterday, and all that’s left is for me to sign it.” She says before tucking a stray quill back, suddenly nervous again. “But… um, w-what do you think about it?”
He raises a brow. “You want my opinion?”
She nods. “I know you won’t say anything just to be nice.”
Shadow snorted. “In other words, I’m an ass?”
Instead of denying it or laughing, Rose is sincere, “More like… you’re the friend I count on to tell me the truth when I need to hear it.”
A stray sunbeam chooses then to shine through the window, falling perfectly just behind her the moment their eyes meet again – and Shadow is unsure whether he should stare openly or internally fixate on the gentle circular pattern her thumb traces over his wrist.
(And since he could multitask, he settles on doing both.)
“So… be honest with me, Shadow.”
(Thump.)
Were he not, in fact, Shadow the Hedgehog – G.U.N.’s most capable agent and The Ultimate Lifeform – he probably would have done something unbecoming… more unbecoming.
(Like audibly swallow.)
He doesn’t, however, and instead takes a moment to really thinkon how he should respond to her.
“Do you doubt any part of the arrangement?”
Rose’s expression sobers up a little but her eyes remain bright. “No. I must have looked at the contract ten times over by now.There’s nothing in it that makes me think Loraine and Alphonse would try to trick me.”
Shadow nods. “...And you’re sure you’ll be able to put in everything required to run the business?”
It’s Rose’s turn to be quiet for a while.
“…I know it’s going to take a lot of work.” She starts off. “Iknow I still have so much I need to learn, and I know there’s always a chance I might fail, but I… I’m excited about it, too… about the possibilities. And the best part is that I think I can make it work, you know?”
She takes a deep breath before lifting her head, determination shining through.
“But, really, most of all… I really want this.”
He believes her.
“If that’s what you’ve decided, then I doubt anything I say could stop you, Rose.”
Her smile softens and she squeezes his hand.
“Probably not… it’s still a relief to hear you say that, though. You’re the first person I’ve told about this.” She then pulls her hand back. “But, hey, enough about me – what do you havegoing on after this, mm?”
Shadow tries not to feel slighted by its absence. “That’s hardly interesting.”
She moves her chair just a little bit closer.
“Tell me anyway?”
Aware of both Rose and Loraine watching him with a mix of amusement and genuine anticipation, once he’s reasonably sure he won’t burn the inside of his mouth, Shadow brings the coffee cup up to his lips.
There’s a distinct smoky aroma that that comes through when he takes his first sip, followed by a faint nutty taste that paired well with the sharp bitterness of the coffee itself, balancing it out somewhat.
He takes another sip before lowering the cup again.
“Hazelnut?” he guesses.
“I’m told there are notes of dark chocolate as well,” Loraine tells him, “Alphonse assured me he did his best to ensure none of the flavors overwhelmed the other.”
Now that she mentioned it, there was a subtle aftertaste of something richer he hadn’t picked up at first. He makes a mental note of the combination before taking a longer drink.
Rose grins at him when he lowers his cup again. “Good?”
“It’s decent.” Shadow allows, “Better than the last blend.”
The sheep chuckles, “My husband will be thrilled to hear you say that.”
“Is he here right now?” Rose asks. “We can thank him in person.”
“No, a call came through just as he was finishing up your order. It’s nothing serious, but I’m afraid he had to step out for a moment.” Loraine explains before smiling at her. “Before he did, however, he and I discussed your decision… and we would like to invite you to dinner, Miss Amy.”
Rose’s eyes widen. “You do?”
“It’s our way of welcoming you to the family, so to speak. You could sign the contract then, and we can celebrate with a home cooked meal – not to mention some good company.” She then looks at Shadow. “Of course, you’re more than welcome to join us as well, Mister Shadow.”
He stares at her. “Me?”
“I know Alphonse would appreciate another man’s presence.” Loraine teases. “…But really, he’s just eager to talk through his more experimental ideas with someone who would appreciate them much more than I would.”
The offer is an interesting one, but he holds back from accepting it outright and glances over to Rose.
She smiles back. “It sounds like it could be fun.”
“Are you’re sure? It’s your celebration.”
“Yeah, it is, and I want you to celebrate it with me.” she says.
The sudden urge to do something impulsive – like be the one to reach out this time – is strong enough that he almost follows through with it.
Instead, he holds himself back, like always. “…Very well.”
Loraine chuckles. “I’ll start planning a menu tonight. Say sometime next week?”
“We’ll be there.” Rose promises.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the sheep leaves them to attend to another customer that had entered the shop, and Rose turns back to him.
“So, what were we talking about?”
“You were inquiring about Rouge’s plans for the weekend.” He says dryly before sipping at his coffee again.
“Oh, yeah! Do you have any missions coming up?” She asks eagerly, pouring herself a cup of tea.
“…Before I answer, does this have anything to do with her and the echidna’s supposed ‘mutual attraction’ to one another?”
When she grins at him broadly, he sighs.
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Nope.” She says, taking a casual sip of her tea. “…Anyway, if she isn’t busy, I was thinking I could invite her out on Saturday – I know she’s been thinking about replacing her gloves, and since I need a dress for our dinner anyway, it’ll be a good excuse, don’t you think?”
“Rose…”
“C’mon, Shadow! Where’s your sense of romance?”
Where indeed? He thinks wistfully, lowering his cup again.
Naturally, instead of being honest about - that, he deflects, deadpan expression and all. “The same place I buried my sense of humor.”
“So, it’s alive and kicking, then?” Rose shoots back sweetly.
…What is he even supposed to say to that?
His eyes move over to the slice of red cake in the middle of the table. It’s a decent size and, he'll privately admit, beautifully decorated – red crumbles sprinkled over the top of pristine white icing and dotted with tiny daisies.
He almost feels bad when he takes one of the forks on the plate, and cuts off a piece from the edge.
…Sweet, but not overwhelmingly so.
“…Good?” Rose asks, suddenly nervous again.
He almost rolls his eyes – like she had any reason to doubt her own skills?
“Yes.” He says honestly, and after a beat, “Does the echidna even feel the same way?”
She regains her previous zeal in a heartbeat.
“He has to, I’m sure of it! I mean, you’ve seen them around each other.”
Shadow grimaces because he had – multiple times.
“…What’s your plan?” He relents.
Rose looks eager to explain, and sets her tea cup down as she starts to do just that.
“Okay, so while we’re shopping, I’ll casually bring up how Knuckles has been talking about getting new shoes for weeks-”
“He has?”
She huffs but takes up the other fork. “Like you wouldn’t believe – he has a hole in the heel of his right shoe, but do you think he’ll leave the Master Emerald for something as ‘silly’ as shopping?”
“…No?”
“Exactly! But! That’s not the point.” She says, pausing long enough to take a bite of the cake herself. “…Okay, wow, this tastes so good with tea, but… mmm… Maybe I should go easier on the cream cheese next time…?”
She shakes her head. “I’m getting sidetracked - anyway! I’ll bring it up with Rouge, we’ll go shopping, and I’ll pick up a pair of shoes for Knuckles.”
Shadow feels his lips perk at the corner as he watches Rose go through several different emotions in the span of a single minute.
“You’re fine paying for that?”
She waves it off. “It’s almost his birthday. Besides, they’re important for the next part of the plan.”
He cuts off another piece of cake. “And that is?”
“When we leave, I’ll make up an excuse; that I can’t give Knuckles his gift and it’ll mean the world if she could drop it off for me. She does, they spend time together – and the next thing you know, we’re all getting invited to the wedding!”
“…You’re not serious.”
She huffs as she pours herself more tea. “Okay, fine, it’ll take more than that, but baby steps are important, Shadow!”
Shadow just shakes his head, because, honestly – this girl…
He sets his fork down and picks up his coffee again, intending to finish the last of it, and changes the topic. “…Not to take away from your terrible plan-”
“Hey!”
He continues, unbothered, “-But there’s a concert happening in a few weeks.”
This seems to immediately pique Rose’s curiosity. “Anyone we know?”
“They’re relatively new - I believe their name is Indigo?”
“Indigo… Huh… why does that sound familiar… mmm…” She perks up, suddenly excited again. “Wait -they opened for Hot Honey last year, right? We went to that show!”
“Yes. You liked their second and last song, but thought their lead-singer needed to work on his breath work a little more.”
She pauses, and blinks at him. “…You remember that?”
He also remembers how, near the end of the band in question’s set, she’d put her arm around his waist and leaned into his side, completely oblivious to the fact she had even done so as she sang along to the chorus.
(…Or to the fact that he’d stopped listening to the rest of the performance when she had.)
He looks away. “…It was a decent time. Regardless, they’re playing their own show in that new bayside stadium down south.”
“That’s… in the town over, isn’t it?”
Shadow nods. “There’s also supposed to be a food festival in the same area on the day - food trucks, pop ups, the sort.”
“Ooh. That sounds like fun.” She grins.
“We could go.”
Rose opens her mouth like she’s about to agree, when she stops herself like she had just thought of something, “…Just the two of us?”
Shadow imitates her in as much that he opens his mouth – only the implications of what he had just suggested suddenly dawns.
Dammit!
(Does that mean he just asked her on a-?)
“-Because,” Rose interrupts, however, “That’s totally fine if it is!”
It was? Did that mean that she was fine with-
(But… surely not.)
Rose catches herself again, and it could be his imagination, but he catches the subtle way her ears droop in disappointment.
“…Unless you want to invite someone with?”
…What?
“No.” he says without a moment’s hesitation because, frankly,why on earth would he do that? “I don’t.”
Again, it’s could just be in his head, but he thinks Rose cheers up somewhat.
“Then, great! It’s a date.” She says, unaware of the flawless way she just blew his mind – and proceeds to do it again, “We can take my car, make a trip of it.”
Wait – she called it a-
Something like hope starts to rear its ugly head in his chest, and it’s as nauseating as it is – nice.
He opens his mouth in a last-ditch effort regain his momentumand add more to the conversation, when Rose’s purse starts to vibrate.
She reaches for it, but pauses when she fishes out her cell phone.
“Do you mind if I take this?” When he waves it off, she flashes him a quick smile before answering. “Hello? Oh, hi, Sonic!”
At the mention of his rival’s name, Shadow feels himself scowling automatically.
Rose, having seen this, mouths ‘be nice’ before respondingagain.
“No, I can talk. Is everything okay? Uh-huh…” Her smile fades and a more serious expression takes its place, “Infinite…? He is…? I see… Mm - I know you think he’s up to no good… Did something happen?”
She listens for a while, and Shadow watches as Rose goes from serious to considering, and then nodding to herself, apparently having made up her mind.
“Well, obviously I’m willing to help. Yeah - of course! I can bethere in… um, actually, I might need a little time? Like, half an hour? No – no, it’s nothing like that, I just need to change. Mm-hm… no, it’s fine if Tails picks me up there. Uh-huh… Okay. See you soon?”
She says her goodbyes, and when she slips her phone back into her purse, she looks at him again, smiling apologetically.
He beats her to the punch, “Infinite?”
She nods. “Yeah… Tails tracked him down, and Sonic wants to stop him before he causes any trouble.”
“Hmph… that's an unusual show of foresight from the Faker.”
She pointedly ignores the backhanded compliment aimed at the blue hedgehog and starts to gather her things together. “Knuckles is coming, too.” She tells him, but pauses long enough to look over their table, her ears drooping a little once more. “…I didn’t even get to finish my tea.”
“There’s always next time, Rose.”
She pouts at him, but her eyes are bright.
“I suppose…” she says softly, and pauses for a moment. “You know… even if it was a little short, I had a good time today.”
He acknowledges this with a curt nod of agreement, and watches as she finally stands up.
“…Don’t hold back.”
She flashes a small, vicious grin that sends a not-unpleasantthrill down his spine.
“I never do.”
Then, for some reason, Rose hesitates again.
“Hey… um… c-could you hold still for a second?”
He thinks he sees a blush spreading over her cheeks, but before he could verbalize the question, she leans down until their faces are inches apart.
His mind goes blank because she’s close enough he can make out the exact shade of her eyes and pick up the subtle, floral scent of her perfume.
“Is this okay?” she asks quietly.
He only has a split second to decide, and when the answer, unequivocally, came down to ‘she could do whatever she damn well pleased’, he manages a stiff nod.
Rose gives him a fond look he had no idea how to even start unpacking, and before he could, she presses a kiss to his cheek.
Admittedly, the moment she does, any higher functions in his mind just – stop, and are swiftly replaced with thoughts of softness and what-ifs.
(All of it is completely, utterly impossible, of course, he knows that much.)
But… in that moment…
When the brief contact ends all too soon, his brain-to-mouth filter is practically nonexistent – which would have been a problem if he had anything of substance to say.
No, instead of anything cool or, hell, suave (probably?), he stares at her like a fool.
“What…?”
She giggles again as she straightens up.
“It’s just my way of saying – ‘thanks’, I guess… for listening.” She then starts to turn, but not before smiling at him sweetly over her shoulder. “…Text me later about that concert, okay?”
Again, all he can manage is a nod as he watches her leave.
When she walked out the door with a final, parting wave to him, he reaches up and touches the exact spot on his cheek, and he must have been out of it for a while, because he didn’t hear Loraine approach his table.
“May I tempt you with something else, Mister Shadow?”
The question startles him out of his head, and when he looks upat her, the elderly sheep’s knowing smile gives her away.
…Was he really that obvious?
“No.” he says sharply, only to catch himself.
He clears his throat, trying, in vain, to salvage his dignity.
“No… I think I’m done, too."
Loraine hums mildly and starts to clean up Rose’s side of the table.
“Miss Amy,” the sheep says again conversationally, actually catching him off guard as he moves to stand up. “She’s quite extraordinary, don’t you think?”
He pauses, bites back the immediate instinct to deny whatever it was the sheep was seeing-
…Only to relent with a sigh.
“Yes…” he says after a minute. “…She is.”
Loraine’s smiles softens somewhat, losing some of its teasing edge.
“You should try bringing flowers next time, dear.” She suggests.“They really are the best way to get the message across without doing too much.”
Shadow considers the elderly sheep’s words and nods.
“…I’ll remember that.”
When he finally stands up, he inclines his head towards her.
“Thank you for the coffee.”
Loraine chuckles good-naturedly and returns the gesture. “Welook forward to your next visit.”
Later…
They stand back-to-back, surrounded by inactive, blank-faced androids, waiting on the signal to lay into them once again.
Stretching her arms over her head, when Rouge straightens up again, she lets out a short huff as her wings flutter behind her.
“Is it me, or did the boys in R&D actually try this time?”
Shadow rolls his shoulders back before adjusting his stance slightly, eyeing the dozen or so androids still remaining in front of him with disinterest. “Mm. Did they?”
The bat shrugs. “The lasers that last round were a nice touch.”
“Hmph. Pity they didn’t do much to slow us down.”
“No? Why are you trailing behind, then?”
He shoots her a half-hearted glare over his shoulder. “What are you talking about?”
“You should check for yourself,” she says smugly. “I’m up four points, handsome.”
Sure enough, when he looks over at the digital scoreboard on the other side of the room, Rouge was ahead of him by a slim margin.
There’s a chime signaling that the next round is about to start as the timer above the scoreboard reset to three minutes.
Omega’s voice drones over the intercom as the lights in the room then change from red to green.
“Begin.”
As one, the androids come back to life, their weapons already locked on them.
“Don’t fall behind now.” Rouge teases, throwing a wink over her shoulder before darting up in the air.
The corner of Shadow’s mouth quirks a little despite himself,until the decisive hum of a laser pistol firing up brings him into the moment.
Four points, huh?
Fine, then.
He sidesteps the first of the energy beams shot at him before using Chaos Control to appear behind the attacking androids, dealing with the lot of them in one fell swoop.
“Seriously, though, what’s on your mind?” he hears Rouge ask somewhere overhead once he takes out another, slightly bulkier with a spin-dash.
He scoffs as he straightens up. “You want to talk? Now?”
She comes down hard on the head of an android as it was about to leap at him from behind, caving it in, in a shower of sparks as she does.
“Why not? You’ve been distracted this whole time, we might as well.”
Shadow spots an android as it’s about to shoot at her from behind, and instead of answering, throws a chaos spear and gives her a look when the machine bursts apart.
She delivers a swift kick on another larger bot.
“Ngh. Don’t be that way. Think of it as bonding experience.”
“You mean this doesn’t count?” he drawls once he takes out another five bots after an – unsuccessful – attempt at crowding him.
“That’s the beauty of multitasking.”
There’s another chime that signals that the round had reached its halfway point, which usually came with a difficulty spike. In this instant, it came in the form of a dozen or so laser drones being deployed.
Rouge would have a slight advantage in the air, but he had the upper-hand in speed.
“It’s nothing bad, right?”
The concern in the bat’s voice actually makes him miss his nextattack, and he shoots her a bewildered stare.
“Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Rouge does an admittedly clever maneuver where she uses one drone’s laser to take out the others, and even some of the remaining androids until the smaller machine is completely drained of power.
“Just making sure.” She tells him. “But… Wait, didn’t you have your little coffee 'meet' with Amy this morning?”
While it doesn’t happen often, Shadow could practically hear the warning bells ringing, recognizing that, regardless of what he said or did, Rouge would have – or come up with – an answer all her own.
(Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.)
“What of it?”
Rouge lets out a delighted laugh. “Oh, well, that explains everything.”
Perhaps it’s the way she says it, but it trips him up enough that,while he does manage to land his punch, it’s off-center and didn’t have the impact it normally would have.
He shoots the bat a glare. “Explain what?"
Unbothered, she waves him off, “Nothing to break your pretty head over, handsome.”
They hear the intercom again. “Thirty seconds.” Omega warns them.
When he gets nothing further out of the bat, he takes his annoyance out on what is left of the androids until time finally runs out.
Once it does and the lights fully turn back on, Omega’s voicechimes in once more.
“Today's training exercise is concluded. Rouge is the victor. Shadow’s performance was… adequate.”
Rouge lets out an exaggerated wince and pats his shoulder when she lands next to him.
"Better luck next time."
Shadow rolls his eyes but allows her to throw her arm over his shoulder as they leave the training room to meet up with the other third of their team.
"So… spill - what happened today?" Rouge asks eagerly.
There was no use in trying to ignore the bat, but like hell if he was going to make it easy for her.
"Can you be specific?"
"You failed to exploit approximately five immediate openings. Nor did you follow up on three attack that would otherwise have netted you more points." Omega points out, much to Shadow's displeasure.
Rouge's grin widened. "Not to mention this is different from your normal pining, so something good must have happened."
He rears his head back, affronted. "I don't pine."
She gives him a look back. "Yes, you do."
"Affirmative." Omega, the traitor, agrees far too easily. "I have video evidence."
Sparing both of them a look, he ducks out from under the bat's arm before stepping out of the hallway.
Of course this doesn't discourage either of his so-called 'friends' from following after, and Rouge is all too happy to continue her prying.
"C'mon, you know I'm just going to keep speculating until you tell me."
"Why?" he asks with exasperation.
"Eh, why not? My love life's been as barren as a desert lately soI might as well live vicariously through you." She says with a shrug. "…And besides, stuff like this is supposed to be fun."
…Fun?
The thought gives him pause, and Rouge, no doubt picking up on it, sighs.
"I mean… you don't have to say anything, of course."
Several beats pass and, once they do, he stops walking long enough and relents with a grunt.
"It wasn't… like that. Nothing 'happened'."
Some of Rouge's enthusiasm returns, and when he doesn’t immediately shake her off, she links their arms as they walk together.
"I find that very hard to believe, but please go on."
"We mostly just talked." He grumbles. "We met up, we got our order, and that was about it."
It wasn't the whole truth, but his outing, actually, all of his outings with Rose no matter how mundane, they felt personal.
And, today, well…
Perhaps picking up on the fact, Rouge pouts at him but doesn't press him as hard as she probably would have.
"What did you talk about?"
He rolls his eyes. "Believe it or not, you."
She perks up, clearly pleased. "Oh-ho? Should I be flattered you two gave me any thought at all?"
"Rose wants you to go shopping with her. She wants a new dress for our dinner next week, so-"
It's only when he hear the sharp intake of breath that Shadow realized what he had just said, and he promptly shuts his mouth.
"Oh no, don't stop now." She purrs, her hold on his arm not unlike a steel manacle. "Tell me all about the dinner plans you have with the girl you definitely don't have gooey feelings for."
"I don't have-"
"Again," Omega chimes in behind them, cutting him off, "I have video evidence to prove the contrary."
Shadow questions what exactly this video evidence entailed (as well as when and how Omega had filmed him without him noticing), and grimaces when he sees Rouge's smug grin.
Luckily for him, they enter the mess hall only to find most of the off-duty staff and agents crowding around the large flat screen against the wall in the back. There must be something going on, because there was no mistaking the excitement in the air.
"-did you see that move?" they hear an awe-struck rookie agents gasp, standing at the back of the crowd.
One of the cooking staff snorts. "Just barely, he was like a blur."
Shadow's eyes dart to the television at this, where, sure enough, he sees shaky ground footage of Sonic trading furious blows with an ominously glowing Infinite in what looked like a shipping yard.
The footage then cuts to a studio set where the two anchors were reporting on the situation, and, tch - of course the Faker would make the evening news.
Rouge finally lets go of his arm as she approaches the group.
"What's going?" she asks, absolutely scaring the pants off of the rookie.
"A-agent Rouge! Ah - wh-what are you doing here ma'am?"
When she raises a brow at him, he backtracks.
"N-not that you wouldn't be here, I mean…"
"Deep breath there, sweetie." She tells him, making him blush even further.
Taking pity on the stuttering baby agent, the cook steps up to her in. "It's that friend of yours, Agent Rouge - that talky blue hedgehog? He and his team picked a fight with that angry-lookin', glowy fella."
Rouge blinks in surprise.
"Huh… That's… weirdly proactive of him." She says, making Shadow snicker.
"-and now, reporting live on site - Jonah, what's happening down there?"
Shadow looks up at the screen in time to see the reporter, a tuxedo cat mobian in a bad suit jacket, standing in the shipping yard as Sonic dodges a barrage of projectiles in the background.
"As you can see, the battle is still ongoing, and while the hero, Sonic, seem to be on-top of things at the moment, other members of his team are currently trying to stem the worst of the chaos."
The footage then cuts to briefly show both Rose and the Echidna evacuating a burning warehouse, before switching back to the reporter as he approaches Prower while the fox tends to the wounded outside some distance away from the building.
"Mr. Prower? Mr. Prower, sir! Can you give a statement on what is happening?"
To his credit, Prower only addresses the camera once he sends off the worker he'd been helping, and when he does, his expression is calm but serious.
"We have the situation under control right now, but you shouldn't hang around here. It's not safe yet."
"But can you give an estimate on how long it might take? People have gotten hurt."
The only thing that gives away Prower's annoyance is the tight line of his mouth. "Yes, they have, that's why we're all doing our best to help. That's why Sonic is doing this best to stop things from escalating-"
Shadow thinks he's heard enough, and he's about to turn away-
"-please, you should really-"
-when an explosion makes him - makes everyone there, watching - jolt and then freeze as they realize what had just happened.
He hears Rouge gasp and his head snaps back in time to see that the footage on screen cut out.
The news anchors from before, in a state of shock themselves, starts spluttering something about a technical difficulty, as the entire mess hall starts to fill with confused and worried voices.
When they eventually get back in touch with the camera at the scene, the audio cuts in and out as the reporter, clearly shaken by the explosion, does his best to describe what is happening.
Shadow's attention isn't on him, however, as he's too distracted looking at Prower's reaction.
The fox's horrified expression says it all, and when the audio cuts back in, he's mid-yell.
"-ckles! Amy!"
The realization hits like a kick to the stomach, and whereas Shadow feels himself go still - feels his mind and the empty space in his chest fill up with white noise - Rouge forces herself through the crowd gathered around the television until she's right at the front.
"No, no, no…" she says under her breath, "You better show your stupid face right this minute, Knucklehead, or I swear I'll-"
"-ovement! There's something in the fire!"
The camera pans back up, and while it takes a moment for it to focus properly, sure enough, there's a shape against the inferno.
Alive but clearly injured himself, Knuckles is carrying Rose on his back as he limps out of the collapsing building.
The echidna makes it several feet before his legs give out and he slumps over face-first into the dirt as Rose rolls off his back with the force of the fall, landing on her side.
Neither of them are moving, nor do they as Prower rushes over to them.
The entire hall is silent, no one daring to say anything as Rouge lays a hand over the screen, over the echidna's prone form, her expression one of disbelief and quiet desperation.
"C'mon, dummy… get up. This isn't funny."
As for Shadow-
(She's bleeding.)
- he can't look away for her.
(Why isn't she moving…?)
The white noise is in his ears now.
(Why is she…?)
Vaguely, he's aware of things happening around him - there are voices, he senses that Omega was standing next to him now, no doubt gauging his reaction - and he's only partly registering what is happening on screen.
(So then, why can't he look away from her?)
The reporter makes an awkward attempt to help before Prower rounds on him, stepping between his friends and the camera.
"-get out of here! Now!" the fox snarls with surprising ferocity.
The footage then cuts out completely, and everyone goes quiet again when Rouge turns the television off and speaks with almost glacial calm, keeping her back turned.
"Do we have eyes in the area?"
There are some uneasy looks between everyone there, until, eventually, one of the more seasoned agents speak up. "Yes, ma'am, we do."
"Good, because if I don't have answers about what is happening down there in the next half an hour, I'm reporting everyone here for shirking their duties."
Rouge wasn't usually one to dole out threats, idle or otherwise, so there's an immediate current of disbelief, and then dissent,among those gathered.
It is, however quickly stifled when Rouge turns around, and-
"If I didn't make myself clear, that's an order."
-oh, she's pissed.
"Go."
The agents scatter like roaches, and even the staff return to their stations as fast as they could until it's just the three of them left.
Rouge, once they're alone, shuts her eyes tight and runs her hands down her face, her façade of anger slipping with a heavy breath.
"Omega, do you think you could get a team carrier ready? We'llneed one once we get the name of a hospital."
"Doing so may fall under personal use, meaning we would be violating G.U.N. protocol." He warns.
"I know, and I'll take the hit if I need to, but this is more important right now."
The robot pauses, clearly weighing his options when Rouge touches his arm, her flat against her head as she looks up at him.
"…Please?"
A beat passes, until, finally, he turns around and walks off.
"Alert me when you have the coordinates."
The bat lets out a relieved sigh until she looks at Shadow.
Rouge bites her lip in a rare show of uncertainty, and to her credit, she doesn't try to comfort him with hallow reassurancesor how everything would be alright.
Instead, she watches quietly as Shadow reach up and lays his hand over his chest, trying to find the telltale thump of his heart beating.
Logically, obviously, he knew it was impossible for it not to be there.
But then, why…
(Why couldn't he feel anything?)
-TO BE CONTINUED-