"I'm not gonna fuck you," is the pained undertone, passing through teeth. "It wouldn't be right."

Red eyes search aquamarine gemstones.

"You're not interested. I'm not gonna guilt you into doing something that disgusts you."

"Even though this hurts?"

"Ha! I'd rather be sore than sorry, honey."

"But you're sorry, now."

"Yes, it's hopeless."

"No." Shadow's cheek rests in the palm of Rouge's hand. He is crouched at her side, remembering now to pass her the canteen, because she's just gestured for it. "You aren't that selfish."

She unscrews the cap and takes a conservative sip.

"I'm sorry."

She takes the time to swill some of the water about in her mouth before turning to spit a darkened projectile. Then wipes her mouth on the back of her dirtied glove, smearing red. "Bah, don't be."

"Rouge, this is my fault."

"Shit. That's not true. Honestly, it's not your fault that you're beautiful and clever and strong and intoxicating overall. Like a fucking walking wet dream."

He smirks distantly, hollowly. "I'm so glad you're still here."

"You know it'll take more than that to snuff out this old bitch."

"I'm counting on it."

Another mouthful washes away the taste of iron, so she spits again and passes the canteen, watching the globular projectile sink shallowly into the pores of the concrete, darkly glistening.

"But after all you've done for me, I–"

"No."

"It's the least I could–"

"Shadow, no! I don't want a pity fuck! God dammit, leave this alone."

"You could have died."

"And I didn't."

"It seems like you might reconsider."

"I don't believe in fate or divinity, but I suppose this would usually be the right time for me to be getting laid. After all we've been through, together."

He has some water, too, lukewarm and flavourless.

"I mean, in a flash, I got to regret my life choices." The free hand sweeps melodramatically before her face, as if spreading out some phantasmal canvas over her eyes, piercing through. "Now, I've got a future."

"With me."

"And that's what I want."

"But you want more."

"I can't have more."

"It's hurting you."

"That's just too bad."

"You have my consent. I'll give you my body, as I've given you everything else."

"I wish you'd stop offering to whore yourself to me. You're the fucking Ultimate Lifeform. What's my longsuffering to you?"

"We're best friends."

"Oh, honey. That's sweet, but… it's not so bad. C'mon. It's been a decade or so I've spent, pining over you. I can keep going."

"Or we could change the course of things."

"And if I were a lesser woman, I'd say yes. In a heartbeat. In many erratic heartbeats, over and over again, I'd say yes to banging you, handsome."

His angular frown relaxes vaguely as she draws circles with her thumb.

"But I guess, when it comes to you, I'm too noble. Fancy that! Even my libido can't quite push me to it. That precipice. It leads to a forbidden place and the fall is a long way down from here."

"I love you."

"I can love you without it."

"This must seem extreme. But I was… afraid."

"You're my best friend. Of course you were."

He flinches beneath her caress.

"Thank you for caring so much. Not many people do."

In a rare reversal of saviour and sinner, Amy Rose carries Sonic on her back, trudging through the desolate battlefield that used to be the lifeblood of the town.

Corpses of machines and men are sprawled about, like clots or cells.

He is in a place that sits between wakefulness and sleep. Every step, boots sinking in muddied ash, is the echo within a surreal dream. The downpour is cold yet faraway. He knows her smell and he feels her lithe strength moving against him, beneath him, waning in and out.

She stumbles sometimes but his tenuous life keeps her going, trying to keep her eyes ahead, her mind focused on seeking help, so as not to find his delirious moaning or rattling breaths too disturbing, distracting. She'd go faster, but her body has been broken in places and it really hurts.

He stares at the sideways world, his cheek resting on her quills, and he is trying to say something but the words are too hard. His arms are loosely draped over her shoulders and his thighs are in her hands. He must seem like a child carried by another wretched child, like they're just innocent victims in some great adult crossfire.

The madman wants to turn their world into metal. Indeed, this makes no sense to the animals, who have a naïve trust in technology as something that is safely useful. He saw more. He has shown them much.

"Chaos, not right now."

Robots trundle through the rubble, forcing Amy to limp aside as hastily as she can without crying out, pressing herself against a shell of a wall.

Sonic is moaning, but he quietens when she turns her head to briefly nuzzle against him.

"Go away," she whispers.

Eggman's soldiers emit the most terrible of vibrations as they move on revolving treads, churning and crushing bone and brick.

Shadow doesn't want to leave Rouge alone, but he respectfully keeps his distance at the window, peering out on their ruined horizon, their future together.

"I hope Omega is okay," the bat eventually says, for the sake of saying anything at all.

"Me, too," answers the hedgehog.

The apartment is too oppressive in silence.

She is seated on a chair, staring at her dented boots, tasting blood again. She can smell the sourness of sweat. "I'm fucking sick."

He sighs.

"You brought it up because you knew. You know."

"I don't blame you."

"This isn't the right time." She rubs at her thighs, as if in the stinging rain. "It's a… A coping mechanism, that's what it is. I'm horny because I'm trying to cope, not because I'm a bad person, and you…"

"I'm here for you."

"You're the better person."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Oh, god, Shadow."

He turns sharply back when he hears her choke.

"We've lost."

"Hush."

"We're alive." She allows him to hurry over and seize her, holding her at arm's length whilst she croaks huskily, "We're lost."

His face contorts.

"Amy."

She's busy rummaging about, desperately searching for something that might heal.

Laid to rest close by, Sonic knows that she can be a little deaf when focused, but he suspects that his voice has gone.

"Don't worry, sweetie." Her eyes are wide and wild, hands a blur. "I'm your hero. You're safe because you're with me, because we're here."

He smiles at her and tries to speak about hope.