Shadow looked at his watch as he arrived at Tails' workshop. 9:29 A.M. Tails had contacted Amy last night, instructing Shadow to be here today, mostly just to get his bearings on the location and an idea about what he'd be doing while working for the little fox boy. Well, Tails wasn't a kid anymore. He was 15 now. And all the work he had been doing on his machines and robots really showed. Tails was built somewhat well. He had obvious muscles on his arms. It wasn't budging or anything, but compared to how he was when he was a kid, he was exceptionally built. Everyone was just glad he hadn't let all the looks go to his head.
Shadow knocked on a large metallic door of the workshop, and it quickly opened. Then a screen lit up next to the large entrance, "Hi Shadow!"
Tails was on the screen with a big smile on his face, which was covered in oil and grease, "Just come on in, and follow the stairs down. I'll meet you there."
Shadow nodded as he walked in, and the door closed behind him. He then found the stairs and began descending. 'The fox boy's shop is much bigger than I thought it be. I was expecting a garage or something along those lines.' The dark hedgehog became so lost in thought, that when he came to the bottom of the stairs, Tails almost made him jump from surprise.
"I'm glad you could make it Shadow." Tails extended his hand, and Shadow mirrored the response.
"Thank you for giving me the opportunity." Shadow replied as the two shock hands. "I'm sorry, but I thought your laboratory wasn't going to be quiet so... impressive."
"Haha," Tails chuckled as he turned around and began to walk towards a large desk, "Don't worry about it. It wasn't like this at all when I was younger. But over the years..." Tails flipped on a switch, that in turn, made lights in the facility to flash to life, revealing how large the workshop really was, "... I've expanded my work station a lot."
Shadow tried to remain stone faced, but the surprise couldn't help but creep up. After a few moments of awe, Shadow recomposed himself, and brought his attention back to the two-tailed fox, who was still admiring his work.
"So what do you want me to do today?"
Tails looked over to Shadow, who had dressed himself in a pair of torn up jeans, and a white tank top. "Well today I'm just going to have you look around. I'll explain more about what we will be doing, and also about payment as we go. But for now..." Tails reached into a pocket on his overalls, "...I think this will cover your first week here." The twin tailed fox held out a Chaos Emerald to Shadow, who was even more shocked at this point.
"Wait!" Shadow looked at the emerald, and then back at the smiling fox, "Why are you just giving me this?"
"Well," Tails smile grew, "When me and Amy were talking last night, she told me that you have a bunch of money left over from your time with G.U.N. and that you had said that you were covered for a while. And also that you taught her a little about Chaos Control. Amy said she's really good at it."
"Yeah..." Shadow's face glowed a slight red, remembering how 'good' Amy was at Chaos Control. "She has some control over time, and has already gotten a hold of teleportation."
"But" The dark hedgehog eyes narrowed slightly back at the emerald in Tails' hand, "I thought you need the emeralds for some of your machines?"
"I used to," Tails began scratching a spot behind his ear, getting even more oil and grease in his hair, "But I've recently found a safer option for energy source. I no longer need to rely on the emeralds to power some of my stronger creations."
Shadow slowly grabbed the gem in Tails' hand, "Well, I appreciate this. I'm sure Amy will as well, seeing as how she wont have to take my emerald anymore."
"Your welcome Shadow." The fox had a big grin on his face.
Tails and Shadow walked through the facility, with the fox pointing out some projects he's working, and began to talk about how the dark hedgehog would be getting paid.
"Now, in terms of payment, how it's going to work is that you and me will make a machine, or a robot, as a request. And they will pay us for said creation. And you will get 50 percent."
"Wow!" Shadow stopped in his tracks. "Miles, I appreciate that, but I couldn't except that much."
Tails turned back to see the ebony hedgehog with his arms crossed and a confused look on his face. "Well why not Shadow? If you help me with making the order, you should get appropriately. And I've already done the math. The parts for each device I make don't add up to the price of the machine itself. So we will be making money off it regardless."
Shadow didn't unfold his arms from his chest. "Well how much do you usually receive from one of your creations?"
"Well," Tails began rubbing his chin, leaving black streaks of oil on it, "I usually sell to the government, or super rich people that want a maid that they wont have to pay. I'd say I make anywhere from... 5000 to 200,000 a sale."
Shadow's eyes widened as he heard the fox say that last number. "Then I'll be fine with 30 percent. And I won't take no for an answer."
The two starred at each other for a moment. "Amy said you'd be stubborn. But I expected that. I thought I'd at least try. But don't be afraid to request more if you need more, Okay?"
Shadow nodded as they continued walking, until they come up to another desk.
"So, Rouge told me you broke your old G.U.N. communicator so they couldn't track you," Tails reached down and then handed Shadow a small red device, "I took the liberty to make you a new one. I programmed it to have Amy's, Rouges, and my number in there already. And I have your schedule already in there for you as well. Go ahead and take a look."
Shadow began to fiddle around with the red box, until he saw that the three contacts that Tails mentioned there, and then found his work schedule as well. "So you wont have me back for another three days?"
"Yep." Tails nodded, "That's when I intend to start the next project. And with your help, we should be able to get it done in no time."
Shadow brought his attention back to the phone in his hands, inspecting it thoroughly. It had a camera on the back, and one on the front, three buttons down the side, and on the back, it had Shadow's crimson symbol, which was a darker shade of red from the phone, with black out lining it. The ebony hedgehog smirked as he opened the phone up again, and began typing.
"Amy, it's Shadow. Tails gave me this device to keep in contact with you."
"Well," Tails voice broke Shadow's train of thought, "Do you have any questions for me?"
Shadow shook his head as he stuffed his phone into his pocket, "No. But thank you for what your doing. I understand this must be weird, since Sonic is your friend."
"Nah it's no big deal," Tails chuckled as the two began to walk back to the entrance, "Honestly, I don't know what has gotten into Sonic lately. I haven't seen him since the other night. I know about what happened yesterday at Amy's house, but he hasn't even tried reaching out to me, or Knuckles. I bet he thinks we betrayed him or something like that. But we just didn't want him to make a mistake by attacking you, or forcing Amy into something. But don't worry about him. He'll get over it eventually, I hope."
Shadow nodded as they reached the stair way, "Alright Shadow. You're free to go. And I'll see you in a few day." Tails waved as Shadow began walking back up the stairs, only to stop midway to the top. Sonic was at the top looking down.
"Oh, hey Shadow. What are you doing here?"
"Miles has allowed me to work with him on his projects."
"Oh... Neat..." Sonic began walking down the stairs, "Don't you and Amy have a date or something?"
Shadow ignored him as he began to climb up the stairs.
"Come on Shadow, you can talk to me." Sonic's voice was condescending. But Shadow wasn't taking the bait. He was having to good of a week for Sonic to get to him. As they got right next to each other, Sonic stopped Shadow.
"Look, I'm just concerned for Amy. You're not really the nicest of guys, there Shady."
"Stop calling me that, Sonic." Shadow pushed Sonic's arm out of the way, "And your 'concern' for Amy isn't needed. My intentions are not to hurt her, and even if they were, Amy would have seen right threw that. If you had ever given her the time of day, Sonic, you would know how smart she really is. Besides, I'm more than certain she can handle herself." Shadow continued his climb up the stairs, leaving a speechless Sonic behind. For all the things he 'knew' Shadow was, Sonic was sure Shadow wasn't a liar.
Sonic turned around to continue to talk to Shadow, but Shadow had already vanished into the cold November air. The ebony hedgehog left Sonic something to think about, and he was now debating if he was even being fair to Shadow and Amy.
Amy was behind the counter of an cafe in the middle of town. She had gone there this morning, hoping the owner would give Amy her old job back. Amy really liked the old lady who ran the cafe, and was always eager to work for Mrs. Banton. And Mrs. Banton saw the pink hedgehog walk threw her front door, she instantly pulled Amy into her office, hoping she came back for her old job. Now, Amy was serving coffee to a happy customer, and she was enjoying every second of it.
"So," Mrs. Banton was fixing the money in the cash register, "How does it feel to be back home, Ms. Rose?"
Amy blushed at hearing her pet name Shadow had given her. Shadow was still heavy on the pink girls mind. "It feels..." Shadow walked into the cafe with a small smile on his face, "... Amazing."
Mrs. Banton followed Amy's gaze to the dark hedgehog. A smile formed on her face and she looked back to Amy, "I see. Well in my opinion, your new boyfriend is much cuter than that blue guy you used to chase around. Now how about you help that handsome young man, and I'll finish up with the other customers."
Amy politely nodded and walked over to the part of the counter Shadow sat at. 'Boyfriend? Yeah, I definitely want that. Maybe it's time I asked.'
Shadow never took his eyes off Amy as she poured him a cup of coffee. She remembered how it like it from this morning. "Two sugars and one cream right?"
The smile on Shadow's face grew slightly, "Yes, please."
"Shadow?" Amy handed him his cup, and she could feel her face fluster up. It shouldn't be this hard to ask him this, right? "I've been wondering, and I just wanted to ask... if..."
Shadow took a sip of his coffee, then placed a hand on Amy's shaking hand, "Yes."
"Yes what?" Amy gripped the dark hedgehog's hand.
"I want you to be my girlfriend."
Amy's shaking instantly stopped as a smile grew across her lips, "Really?"
"Tonight, after you get off work, come straight home. I will have a romantic dinner set up just for the two of us."
The pink hedgehog just stared at Shadow as he casually drunk his coffee.
"Wait! You! Romantic! I gotta see this." Amy threw her arms around her chest.
"Hmph." Shadow finished his drink, then paid his bill with a hundred dollar bill, "Keep the change as a tip, Ms. Rose."
Amy just blushed. Shadow just gave her a 98 dollar tip!
"Oh, and one more thing." Shadow fished in his pocket and pulled out a shining purple gem, and handed it to Amy. "This was my first payment from Tails. I want you to hang on to it."
Amy looked at the Chaos Emerald in Shadow's hand, and brought her attention up to his face, which, even threw the purple shine of the stone, she could still see red on the dark hedgehogs face.
"Awe Shadow!" Amy grabbed the emerald, then threw herself over the counter to give Shadow a hug, "I love it."
"Just make sure you practice with it, okay?" Shadow returned the hug almost instantly, "And I'll see you at home, alright, My Rose?"
Amy nodded as she pulled away with a large grin on her face. Shadow returned a smile to her and then warped away.
"You got yourself a fine young man, Ms. Rose." Mrs. Banton walked up to Amy, patting the pink hedgehog on the back.
"I sure do." Amy leaned against the counter, thinking of Shadow, while playing with the emerald.
Ruby red eyes scanned frantically over a cook book as Shadow flipped threw the pages. Panic was beginning to set in. Shadow promised a lovely romantic dinner for Amy when she got off, but after some time looking threw the book, the ebony hedgehog realized the hard truth. "I don't know how to cook."
Shadow looked over to the clock in the kitchen, 4:43 P.M. Amy had sent Shadow a text that she gets off at 6:30. A little less than 2 hours to make a nice dinner for the two of them, and Shadow had gotten no where. 'I'm the Ultimate Lifeform. I of course should know how to cook.' Shadow just stared at the book...
"I... I need help." the dark hedgehog admitted as he grabbed his phone from his apron pocket and dialed a number.
"Hello?" Rouge answered.
"Rouge, it's Shadow."
"Edgy!" Rouges voice grew in playful excitement, "Tails finally got you that new phone. Sweet. Now I can bug both you and Amy all day long!"
"Rouge, I need your help."
"Wait. What? Mr. Shadow, the 'ultimate badass', needs little oh me to help with something?"
"...."
"Come on Shadow. I promise, I wont laugh."
"I... I am trying to cook Amy a...romantic...dinner. And..."
"And you don't know how to cook?" Shadow could hear a cackling sound on the other end of the line. Rouge was doing everything in her power to not laugh.
"...yes."
"Okay, don't worry Shady. We will be right over." Before Shadow could say anything, Rouge hung up the phone. 'What did she mean by "We"?'
10 minutes later, a knock came from the door. Shadow reluctantly opened the door, revealing Rouge, Blaze, and Cream. Shadow's ears dropped when he saw the three girls.
"Did you need to involve them?"
"No, but it's funnier this way." Rouge and the girls pushed passed Shadow into Amy's kitchen, "Okay girls. We need a good first date dinner. Shadow, how long do we have?"
"6:30." Shadow kept his head down as he walked back into the room, closing the door behind him.
"An hour and a half?" Rouge threw on a huge grin, "Perfect. Shadow, go to the store and pick me up a lobster. It needs to be fresh. Me and the girls will stay behind to get everything prepared. Got it?" Shadow nodded as he threw off his apron with joy, and teleported away to find a fresh lobster.
"I didn't know Mr. Shadow had this side of him," Cream said as she began to turn the stove on.
"Yeah, who knew he had a romantic side to him?" Blaze began to fill a huge pot full of water.
"Hm." Rouge grabbed the cook book and found a page on lobster, "Ames is a lucky girl. I doubt big blue would have done this for her. Now, see if Amy has any salad in the fridge, along with butter. Cause if not, I'll just have Shadow pick up some while he's out."
6: 35 P.M. Rouge and the girls, along with Shadow, had just finished preparing the food and now had the table fully set. A big lobster dinner with salad on the side, bread and butter, and a bottle of champagne. Shadow looked at the clock.
"Thank you so much for the help Rouge," Shadow scratched the back of his head, "I owe you."
"You owe me double sweetie," Rouge winked at Shadow as her and the rest of the girls made their way out the door, "But I will forget one of the favors as long as you treat Amy right tonight."
Shadow nodded, a small smile on his lips. The girls waved as they ran off the porch. Just in time, too. In a flash of purple, Amy warped right into Shadow's arms again, but Shadow was ready this time, and caught her while staying on his feet.
"Welcome home, My Rose."
Amy looked up at Shadow with a big grin on her face and her emerald green eyes shinned, "Hi baby!"
Shadow blushed at the name given. He definitely liked it better than sweetness.
"So," Shadow turned Amy to the table, "Care to dine with me?"
"Oh my Chaos!" Amy ran over, admiring all the food, "Did you do all this?"
Shadow looked at the ground, and rubbed his shoe lightly on the floor, "No...I had help from Rouge, Blaze, and Cream."
"Awe," Amy leaped from her spot at the table and tackled Shadow, "You asked for help... for me? That is so sweet."
Amy leaned in closer to Shadow to kiss him, but was cut off.
"How about we enjoy our food first, My Rose?"
Amy leaned back up as her face went red, "R...right or course, heh."
Shadow never had lobster. Shadow never knew he would like lobster. But he did. And so did Amy. The entire time the sat at the table, they were silent. They just ate, and stared at each other when one wasn't looking. Both Shadow and Amy felt a little embarrassed about how they ate their food, but found the other cute when they would look away while chewing their food. But now had began talking after they were finished, enjoying each others company, and some champagne. Neither Shadow or Amy were much for alcohol, but the two decided to at least enjoy a glass together.
"So," Amy swirled the little bit of champagne left in her glass around, "How long have you liked me for, Shadow?"
Shadow had just finished his last drink of the red liquid, "Since before you left. You took the time to get to know me. Not even Rouge got that close that fast, and she's one of my best friends. How about you? When did you notice you had feelings for me, Rose?"
Amy thought for a moment as she looked into her wine glass, a soft smile on her face, "Honestly, it was about the same time for me as well. I had no idea there was so much to you. But when I finally got you to open up to me a little, I knew I had to learn more. And soon, I found myself thinking about you a lot. And while I was on my trip, I only thought about you. You're like a good book, that I only got to read half-way through, but I was dying to find out the big twist in the end."
Shadow kept his gaze on her, "Yeah. I... felt the same. Like it was all to good to be true, and the twist would reveal something that would drive them apart. I... I'd rather skip that chapter..."
Amy brought her attention back to Shadow, who now looked down at his empty plate. A look of sadness plagued his face.
"Shadow," Amy got up and walked over to the obsidian colored hedgehog. She knelt down besides him, and took his hands in her's, "I promise, there is no twist with me. I'm not going to hurt you."
Shadow's eyes shifted to the pink hedgehog, "It's MY chapter that I'd rather skip..."
Amy cupped Shadow's chin in her hands, "What would possibly make me leave, Shady?"
A tear began to form in Shadow's eye as he looked down at the pure an innocent girl, "I have done a lot of bad things in my past. I've killed hundreds, if not, thousands of people. I have tried to destroy this planet. And now I've put you at risk with my choice to leave G.U.N. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you."
Amy just kept her eyes locked onto Shadow's as she wiped away the tears from the dark hedgehog's muzzle. "I can forgive you for that, because you want to change. I have forgiven you for trying to blow up the planet, because I got to see that change. And I will gladly have my life at risk if it means I get to spend that life with you." Amy leaned up and planted a kiss onto Shadow's lips. Her sweet flavor over took the ebony hedgehog's senses. He couldn't believe Amy would still choose him even after everything he's done.
"I...I don't--"
Amy placed a finger on Shadow's lips and whispered into his ear, almost seductively, "Aren't you the one that's always on about letting the past go?"
Shadow blushed, and he grabbed Amy in a hug, and returned the whisper, "Thank you, Amy Rose."