Chapter 1

Rouge huffed slightly as she adjusted her weight to find a suitable spot in which to carry the person draped around her shoulder, still unconscious. Emerald green eyes took a little peek at the slumbering ultimate life form she was holding and supporting.

"I can't believe this!" She complained out loud, even though the dimly light streets were completely empty. "This is the second time I'm carrying this guy around!"

The bat was currently on her way to Night Babylon to head back to Cub Rouge, in which to stay and also house the dark hedgehog. She would have taken them both to her mansion but it was currently under repairs.

During the final battle with Eclipse, there was a…unfortunate incident involving her mansion and a large chunk of forcefully removed earth and dirt. The repairs didn't cost much by the huntress' standards but it would take a couple of months to fix.

She didn't mind at all though. Sure, Club Rouge was considerably smaller but after all, that was her first real home. The bat continued to drag the sleeping Shadow down the streets until she passed the old abandoned Gimme Shelter Dr. Robotnik used to use.

Suddenly, the bat felt a tinge of frost on her delicate nose. She looked up into the gray clouds hovering in the sky to see multiple tiny crystal objects fall from them. Snow.

Through all the recent adventures the bat had completely forgotten that Christmas was just a few days away. She had to stop momentarily to adjust to Shadow's weight again. Sure, he was heavy but she had insisted on bringing him to her place when the others asked about where he would stay.

But since Christmas was just around the corner, she would see all her companions again. Amy was throwing a huge Christmas Eve party followed by a sleepover for Christmas morning. Even Amber and Knuckles were coming down from Angel Island.

Her emerald eyes once again focused on her surroundings as Rouge spotted her club a few yards ahead. The lights were dimmed and there was no music blaring out of it. She had decided to close the club for the Christmas season and even take some time off from treasure hunting.

Reaching into her pocket, the bat managed to pull out a set of keys. After going through them she found the correct one and stepped up to the door, unlocking it. Rouge huffed again and dragged Shadow inside, shutting the door behind her and simply dropping the keys to the ground.

She looked around the darkened room, which was considerably large in size, with all the slot machines and other gambling gadgets shut off. Rouge swiped some sweat from her face as she turned right and headed up a small staircase, taking small steps because of the dark hedgehog she was carrying.

She finally reached the end of the stairs and opened a door marked "Authorized Personal Only". Dragging the ultimate life form inside, Rouge felt on the wall for a second before finding the switch. With a small click, the lights in the room came to life.

Rouge smiled as she examined her personal quarters, relived that she was finally home. The living room was rather large with three red couches surrounding a big screen television set. One doorway lead into a large kitchen containing a stove, fridge, and other standard appliances. There were three other doors on the sides of a long hallway leading from the living room. One room was her personal sleeping quarters, the other was the bathroom equipped with toilet, bath, and shower, and the final one had a staircase behind it that lead to the flat roof of the club.

Rogue struggled slightly as she dragged Shadow over to the largest couch she had and nearly dropped the slumbering hedgehog onto it. "This…is…the last time…that I…carry you!" Rouge said in between heavy breathing.

The night hedgehog did not respond but only continued to sleep soundly. Rogue couldn't help but smile as Shadow rolled over and rolled up his entire body to get warm.

"Rouge, have you returned?" A monotone voice asked.

The huntress turned around to see E-123 Omega standing in the doorway of the kitchen with a frying pan in one hand and a cook book in the other.

Rouge couldn't help but laugh at the sight as she made her way over to her robotic companion. "Yeah Omega, it's me."

The robot's life-less eyes seemed to rotate slightly as he spoke again. "Sensors indicate life form: Shadow in the vicinity."

"Yeah, he's on the couch." Rouge said pointing to him with her thumb.

"Affirmative!" Omega replied as he turned around and went back into the kitchen.

Rouge also turned back around and with one glance at Shadow, headed towards her room. Shutting the door behind her, Rouge sighed out of exhaustion and went over to her king sized bed, sitting on it. She slowly started to remove her combat boots and her gloves when something gold caught her eye.

She had completely forgotten about Shadow's bracelets, which were still on her wrists. "Oh well," She said quietly. "I'll give them to him when he wakes up."

And with that said, Rogue stripped the rest of her clothing and went to her closet, pulling out a rather revealing silk robe. Tightening the band securely around her waist, the bat headed out of the door and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

-

Shadow's ruby red eyes slowly opened as the ultimate life form awoke. He had to blink several times on the account of his vision being hazy. "Where…am I?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

"At Club Rouge."

Shadow lifted his head slightly to see Rouge standing in the hallway, wearing a purple silk robe that barely reached below her calves, not to mention her chest, which was semi-revealed.

Shadow couldn't help but blush slightly at the sight. Rouge giggled and slowly walked over to him. Sitting down beside him, the bat put a hand to his forehead. "You should be fine." She said, removing her hand.

"Why…did you bring me here?" Shadow asked slowly.

"Because," She answered while smiling. "You had nowhere to go after G.U.N. captured you and all."

Shadow's blood red eyes shot wide open. "G.U.N.? What happened to them?"

Rouge raised a brow. "You don't remember?"

Shadow put a hand to his head, thinking. "No, the last thing I remember is G.U.N. putting me into some sort of machine. From there on, everything is black."

'So he doesn't remember transforming at all.' The huntress thought to herself.

"Why am I at your residence?" Shadow asked, bringing the bat out of her train of thought.

"Because," she answered. "After we rescued you from G.U.N., you had nowhere to go and I offered the others for you to stay with me."

Shadow smirked. "Oh really? Well then, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you want me around."

Rouge's face became tainted with crimson. "WHAT?"

Shadow leaned back against the armrest of the couch and closed his eyes, smiling slyly. "Nothing."

Rouge continued to blush as the two sat in silence until a robotic voice called.

"The nourishment dishes are ready."

Shadow opened his eyes and raised a brow. Rouge caught on and spoke. "Dinner's ready."

Shadow opened his mouth to speak but Rouge once again seemed to read his mind. "Don't give me any of that 'I'm the ultimate life form and I don't need to eat stuff', you need some food."

Shadow's eyes narrowed. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she was mocking him! Shadow didn't have more time to ponder on that though as Rogue grabbed him by the arm and yanked him up.

Reluctantly, the hedgehog followed the bat into the dining room, where there were two silver plates filled with an assortment of food, two glasses of wine, and a candle in the middle.

Shadow raised a brow. "Are you sure you weren't planning this?"

Rouge stared at the layout of the meal in awe, while shaking her head. She spotted her robotic companion in the corner of the room. "Omega, don't ya wanna join us?"

"Negative." Omega replied, and stalked off.

Rogue shrugged and sat down on one of the seats, with Shadow taking the one across from her. Silently, both picked up their food and began eating.

-

Omega headed towards the small phone on the wall of Rouge's room. Picking it up, the robot typed in a few numbers and placed the phone near where his ear would be. The phone rang for a few seconds before it clicked.

"Hello?" A voice asked.

"Life form: Sonic. I have successfully completed the assignment you gave me."

The voice, now known to belong to Sonic, got excited. "Good, the candle and fancy dinner, all there?"

"Affirmative." Omega replied.

Sonic laughed. "Good job Omega. You'll be getting an extra gallon of oil from me this Christmas.

"Affirmative." Omega replied before hanging up and stalking out of the room.

-

Shadow curiously pried off a piece of what looked like meat off his fork and held it to his nose. Sniffing it, Shadow's nose wrinkled slightly as he spoke. "Rouge, what the hell is this?"

Rouge looked up from her plate and examined the food in his hand slightly. "That's steak Shadow."

Shadow tilted his head. "What's steak?"

"A type of meat." Rouge answered.

Shadow looked back down upon the meat and with great hesitance, popped it in his mouth. Chewing and tasting around for a second, the dark hedgehog swallowed it. And at that very moment, Shadow decided he loved steak!

"I gotta get some more." Shadow mumbled as he fumbled around with his fork and knife. The hedgehog positioned the silver ware over the large slab of meat before him. Tilting his head, Shadow adjusted them before growling slightly.

Noticing Shadow's struggle, Rouge wiped her mouth with her napkin before standing up and heading over to her companion. She gently took the silverware away from Shadow and cut the vile with ease. "See," She said. "It's easy."

Shadow looked down onto the plate before facing Rouge, who was standing over him. As soon as he moved his head though, Rogue also moved hers and they ended up coming within centimeters from each other's lips.

Both Shadow and Rogue immediately turned around and blushed furiously. Rouge rubbed her arms slightly as she retreated her body. "W-Well, it's getting kinda late. I'm gonna turn in for the night."

Shadow only nodded as Rouge hurried out of the dining area and into her room, shutting the door behind her. Shadow looked back down upon the steak and picked another piece up, popping it into his mouth and enjoying the taste.

-

Rouge pounded her fists against her bed at the thought of what had just happened. How could she act so stupid in front of him? Rouge looked up and sighed slightly as she crawled into her bed.

But…hadn't he blushed as well? Yes, he did, if she recalled correctly. Rogue couldn't help but smile. Maybe this little incident would turn out better than she thought.

With those things in mind, the bat reached over to her lamp on the small table next to her bed and turned it off.

-

Shadow had finished his entire piece of steak by now and just laid on the couch Rogue had given him to rest on, with the thoughts of what happened still in mind.

The dark hedgehog couldn't help but smile slightly when he remembered how Rouge looked while she blushed. Simply beautiful, just as always.

The huntress was probably asleep by now. Shadow recalled seeing her once, whiles she was asleep. How peaceful she looked.

Shadow smiled again and closed his eyes. "Sweet dreams Rouge. "He said softly before drifting off to sleep himself.

Author's Note- Now, I know this is far from my usual style of stories but this one is a must if I really want to complete the Ultimates Saga. Also, this story will be twice as long as my previous ones but sadly, there will be none of the DBZ style fighting I usually write about.

This may suite some of the other fans out there, who prefer a romantic comedy, because this is what this is about this time. Don't worry, you'll still enjoy it and after this, I'm back to my classic battle filled stories.

Until Next Time.