Eternal Guardian

It was about noon when he heard the knock on his door that woke him up.

Shadow cursed and pulled the towel over his head, then drifted back to sleep, opting to not give whoever it was the time of day. Probably some girls who wanted a petition signed so they could go on some stupid trip or something. He'd had people ask them to sign something like that before. He couldn't remember the specifics, and they weren't important. Neither was answering the door now.

He gave himself a couple of more hours of sleep before he finally woke up completely and sat in bed. He was sweaty and felt very dirty, and he realized why when he spotted the towel in his lap. He frowned at his own stupidity of going to sleep with his fur still wet. He ran a hand lazily through his damp fur and walked to the bathroom to grab a towel and urinate. He couldn't believe how long it had been since he'd last done so, and he cramped accordingly. When he glanced down, his eyes widened.

"What the fuck?" His erection was back. No way. But.. he furrowed his brow... it wasn't the same at all...

With some effort, he managed to return himself to his normal size and used the bathroom before sheathing himself again and washing his hands and face. He pulled a towel out of the still-open closet and shut the door, scrubbing his wet fur almost dry before dropping the bundled towel on the counter and heading back to the bedroom. He pulled on a new pair of gloves and tucked the band underneath his gold braces. He slid on some socks and tread calmly into the living area. As his gaze lifted to the couch, he felt all hell break loose, the barrier of sanity shattering like glass in his mind.

"Rouge?!"

The bat was lounging on his couch, legs crossed, looking almost too comfortable as far as Shadow was concerned, especially taking that all-knowing grin into account. She uncrossed her legs and stood, hands automatically sinking into the wide, swinging hips. "You look surprised to see me, but you missed work today."

Shadow's mouth opened a bit, eyes relaxing. He wasn't sure what to say, but she was right. He hadn't told anyone that he was going to be the Guardian, and he seriously didn't expect anyone to be concerned about his well-being. Shifting his gaze to the badge and gun on the dining room table, he strode over, lifted the small ID case and tossed it at the scantily clad Rouge. "Take it. I quit."

She barely snagged it out of the air before looking down to see what it was, then peering over at the ebony hedgehog. "You're kidding, right? You know you can't do that. You're an information powerhouse, they'll think you're up to something, and--"

He scoffed, interrupting her. Dammit, she was right. He really didn't want to deal with the consequences of such an impulsive act. "Whatever." He started for the kitchen.

Badge discarded on the floor, Rouge was on him in an instant, leaning far too close for comfort, and drawing her face near to his chest. Shadow suddenly felt very hot and nervous as his muzzle turned a deep shade of red. She sniffed him suspiciously before lifting her head and smirking up at him, icy blue eyes freezing over the fiery crimson.

Before Shadow could protest the uncomfortable lack of distance between him, she said matter-of-factly, "You're hiding something. Where's the Emerald?"

"What? You're being absurd." He glared at her and squeezed between her and the door frame, opening the fridge door and searching its contents. "Where's the food?"

"Not today, sweetie. It's all business." This roused a frown from the other - he didn't eat unless Rouge brought him something. It was typically a frozen meal or some flavorless pasta dish, but it kept him fueled to face the day. He would never admit defeat by hunger, however, and he turned away from the useless appliance collectedly, staring at the faucet for a second before filling a glass he found on the counter. Rouge continued. "Why weren't you at work?"

"How long have you been in here?" he countered, receiving a grin in response. "Ah... you skipped out, as well." He emptied the glass and peered over the contents in the meantime at his fellow GUN agent. When he finished, he sighed and shook his head, looking away. "I don't have it."

"So what's the story?" She approached him, knowing that she was in for a real treat simply through judging the look on his face.

Feeling that he didn't have a whole lot of choice, and being put off by that fact, he gave in and began explaining everything to Rouge. He left out certain aspects of his tale, mostly the ones she already knew, such as his age - she tended to be a little inflated, egocentrically speaking, whenever it was mentioned - and the parts where Sonic was concerned. As he spoke however, he saw a noticeable change in her features, and she quickly turned this to anger, which she wheeled onto him.

"You didn't tell anyone!"

"I shouldn't have to." He glanced to the clenched fists by her side. Feeling cornered, he tried to slip by her into the living room, where it was much more spacious.

"Maybe not! But you should have! Do you have any idea? We would have been more prepared! We could-- we could have saved him!" Ah. She was on THAT. He stared at his destination, and she cut him off, drawing his gaze back to her cold glare. He had to admit, to himself anyhow, he felt a bit intimidated by the hate gleaming in her expressions.

"That's not true. Don't think so illogically."

"I want the Emerald." She shoved him roughly. "I'll take over." Shadow took a couple of steps back, eying her carefully. "Turn the Guardianship over to me!" She pointed at her chest to indicate.

"I can't."

"You can and will!"

Shadow closed his eyes, incapable of handling an angry woman. Men he could deal with. It was straightforward territorial battle. But with women, if you countered, you had better watch your back. That was something Shadow didn't feel like he could take on at the moment. "Rouge... I can't..."

Before he knew it, a flash of blinding pain struck him in the jaw. His eyes came into focus as she reeled the metal-tipped boot back to the floor. Tasting blood, he moved a hand to the throbbing cheek, darting his red orbs up to meet her stare. She seemed satisfied and removed of much of her stress and turned to go into the other room accordingly. Relieved, Shadow followed suit.

"Mine's not working. I can't get it to glow all beautifully like it normally does." Shadow seemed lost, so she cleared the confusion. "My Chaos Emerald."

He shook his head. "I don't know what you mean." He had only a split second to catch the dull blue gem that was tossed his way.

"It did that fairly early this morning at work. I figured...what..." she trailed off as the light flickered in his hands, then returned to it's dull state. He seemed entranced, and when he looked back up, his eyes were dull as the Emerald's.

"That's what it meant." His dream came rushing back to him all at once, like a whirlwind of misfortune. He really had gotten in deeper than he ever intended.

Without so much as another word to Rouge, he snatched up his gun and slid on his shoes loosely, tightening them while hopping into the hallway. Rouge followed him, giving him a weird look. She'd never seen the black hedgehog so uncoordinated. As if reading her mind, he shot her a glare over his shoulder and raced to the stairwell, bounding a set at a time. The bat flew neatly behind him, tucking her gray violet wings under each level she got too close to. "You know, it's still my Emerald."

"Maybe not." He kept his gaze ahead, focused primarily on his destination - Angel Island. As they burst through the exit, receiving varying degrees of stares from Shadow's fellow tenants, she piped up.

"There's no maybe to it. What's mine is mine." She swooped in at him, only to be swatted away like a common cave bat. Rouge huffed audibly and continued to stay close on his heels. "What is a girl to do if you just go around stealing things from her? Ohh..." she whined, beating her wings hard to keep up.

Shadow lowered his lids. Well, SHE was one to talk. "I'm going to the Island. You coming?"

"Are you taking my Emerald? Then I'm coming, mister.”

It didn't take them long to get to the bay, and when they arrived, Shadow was very grateful that Rouge had tagged along. He still hadn't practiced with the Emerald since becoming Guardian, and he didn't know for sure that he could make it up there. He turned to the snowy bat, determined expression on his face. "Give me a lift."

"What?" She laughed at him. "Yeah, right. Like I would overexert myself to carry you up there? Ha."

Shadow closed one eye. "Hm. Should have known you weren't strong enough."

Without a second thought, Rouge was beating her wings, swirling the dust around their feet. She grabbed his wrist roughly and began the ascent. Shadow was honestly surprised at the powerful grip she held on him, and was a little astounded that she actually got close to hurting him with her jerky movements. She dumped him unceremoniously into a pillar, and he pushed off, landing on one knee. He stood, ignoring her attitude, and climbed the stairs to the Master Emerald.

Shadow stared at the massive gem before taking a step forward and glancing down at the blue one in his hand. He reached up and touched the top of the Master Emerald to support himself as he leaned in to gaze into it. He saw... Nothing.

Rouge watched him momentarily before bursting into laughter. She doubled over, chest shaking in a rather energetic manner. Disgusted and annoyed, Shadow pointedly looked in another direction. "Pftt! What you think you're some kind of--!" Another chorus of laughter. "Looking into a crystal ball?!" She snickered and covered her mouth, eying him amusedly.

He bared his teeth, loathing her with every fiber of his being. "That's how Knuckles did it."

She silenced and frowned. "Well, that was his schwing, honey. You're getting nowhere just by going around acting like him." She folded her arms and leaned her weight on one leg, stance condescending. "I told you to let me take over."

Shadow bristled. She was getting on his nerves, and fast, "I told you, I can't. I didn't pick this as one of my top ten most desired responsibilities; the damn thing chose ME, and if you think for one second that you're a better option..." He took a deep breath and pulled his gaze back to the Chaos Emerald. "I just need to concentrate. If you don't mind."

Rouge surrendered and stomped down the steps, sitting at the base as Shadow had before.

Shadow closed his eyes and thought, thought back to how he had been told to channel the Chaos energy. It wasn't very different from how he had used it in the past, but it was still a separate power source, and he hadn't quite tied himself into the Master Emerald like he should have. Deciding to give it another shot, he slowly opened his eyes, letting them fade out of focus. He felt a jolt, a surge, and built on that.

His eyes widened and came back into focus as he heard random words jumbled together in his mind. Colors and words that didn't appear to be linked together, until he looked down at the twinkling sapphire-like stone in his hand. He peered over at Rouge, then shook away his train of thought, bringing him with a sickening jolt back to reality.

He sighed, leaning against a pillar and looking over at the red Emerald to see if it was behaving the same way. Shadow blinked, then glared over at Rouge. "I don't suppose you found anything of interest?"

She grinned over her shoulder at him, head propped on one hand. "I wouldn't worry about that."

He growled and began the descent. How could one person be so generous one moment and greedy at the same time? Besides, he had paid her in full for most of the things she got for him and his apartment, and he figured that her favors were mostly due. However..

"It won't work, either."

She whined, pulling the missing gem out of her suit and turning it over in her gloved hands. He was right, and it pissed her off. She stood and faced him, eyes lighting up at the sight of her jewel gleaming in his palm. "You fixed it!"

"Wrong." He held it back, out of her reach. She offered up a pout that went unnoticed. "It wasn't broken." He glimpsed to his left at the greedy bat, then stepped forward and folded his arms, expectant.

"What are you doing?" She questioned roughly.

"Waiting." The female agent blinked at Shadow, confused.