Chapter Text
Rouge checked back into the G.U.N. records room in Amy's restoration. It wasn't Amy's restoration, but calling it that had pissed Knuckles off once, and that made it worth always calling it that forever.
Since G.U.N. was dissolved, but owned an unknowable amount of assets and secrets, it was up to any kind-hearted ex-agents to come in as volunteers to sort it, bin most of it, and declare anything potentially dangerous. And among the selfless, Rouge came in every day, searching quickly but systematically through droves of files.
It was laughable to see all this important knowledge - some even she herself had dedicated months to procuring and been sworn to secrecy over - stashed in unassuming metal drawers, indistinguishable from the PTO denials and budgeting amendments. In fact, this was probably the most secure they had ever been: who would bother rifling through them, unless they were sure what they'd find?
She poured another six hours into digging in folders in drawers, when she finally found what she was looking for. Unsure where it ended, she took the whole cabinet, and wheeled it with purpose so nobody questioned her.
Team Dark didn't have an office, or a flat anymore. They had a 'breakout space' - a modern use of space employed by organisations that couldn't pay for walls so opted for an open plan. It afforded them no privacy - she thought that was Amy's design - so naturally they hated it and barely visited the space the restoration reserved for them. But in this case it was better than clogging up Rouge's house, Shadow's empty hut, or Omega's transport container full of robot parts. Shadow sneered at the mess of papers around her, stepping on one as he approached from behind.
"You called?"
"I did. Where's the bot?"
"Chewing on wires, no doubt."
"Well, maybe that's better, gives you time to think. Sit down." She ordered, shunting a pair of glasses up her nose. Shadow frowned, but sat.
"Think?"
"Well, don't take it the wrong way-" she began, and judged from his sour face he already had, so she tossed him the folder she had been collating.
"The ARK. What of it?" He sneered at the cover, quills spiking dangerously around his cheeks.
"You remember what we told you about it, we talked it over after the comet?"
Shadow pursed his lips, and didn't nod, but she knew he did.
"There's been some private companies sniffing around it since G.U.N. is no longer keeping an eye on it. Most likely some scavengers, I heard one opossum of a man tried to get a license for tours, and it looked shady. Oh, and Eggman, but the resistance shot him down this time."
Shadow snarled, opening the case file dimly. He had none of her talent for understanding corporate jargon, so pretended to glean something from it, sniffed thoughtfully, and closed it.
"So?" She said expectantly, looking up from her messy piles.
"So what? Something rots, it brings flies. You expect me to be surprised?"
"Maybe a little emotional?"
"Is that all?"
"No. The resistance is operating on an honesty policy for for the assets they've taken in: anyone with good intentions is welcome to claim it and do something with it - Amy signs them off. They've got no power or time for dealing with this, and although she won't just give the Ark away for nothing, the next person in her shoes may just sell it off, so our window is closing."
"You want to claim the Ark?"
"Before someone else does; you have more right to it than anyone. If I remember right, and I do, there are more floors, more weaponry, on here than I've found recorded by G.U.N. themselves."
"So you want to raid it for parts. That makes you one of the flies."
"I'm trying to take the teeth out of it here, Shadow, so you can put yours away. It's in nobody's interest to leave powerful weaponry loose in orbit." She snapped. Shadow prickled, and pouted, but let her go on. She flicked through the folder for him to the page with pictures.
"Amy's still here: If you can pull the 'memorialising' angle, tell her it's about honouring the dead and making sure there's no more ammunition up there for anyone to take - she's bound to hand all this over, and then the restoration's got our back. Or my back. You don't have to come." She added the last quickly, offering a brisk smile. Shadow grimaced in return.
"I do have to go if you're going. But... there's merit to the idea. You propose it."
"No, you. Amy never believes me. You make some big statement about change and growth and you'll have her, but if I tell her all the practical reasons to do this she'll accuse me of having something in it for me."
"She'd be right. Fine."
As he took the pages to paw through, Omega clanked down the stares with pieces of robot in his newly installed jaw.
Team Dark suited up and proceeded to their space shuttle, and bravely tolerated being checked over by the restoration scientists. Amy and her soon-to-be replacement, Jewel, stood before them in some kind of departing line, like they expected a handshake. Jewel bored Shadow with details, dates, and specifications. He was too busy watching Amy, who kept looking over her shoulder and round the shuttle at something. When he met her eye, she smiled too wide.
"See you guys soon! We, uhm, packed some extra snacks in the second layer of the ship. Don't forget to take them out as soon as you get there, so they stay fresh!" She said brightly, and distracted him by giving him a bouncy, squeezy hug, then inflicting the same on Rouge, and on Omega's midsection. Jewel did not - she bowed her head politely, and cleared the deck for launch. She rocketed up in Shadow's estimation.
A rocket launch was, in Shadow's opinion, not much different than a plane launch. Omega seemed to agree: he counted to the millisecond and excitedly pointed out that the release was just a fraction too late. Rouge, however, started to look pale.
"You've done this before." He remarked coldly. She watched the buttons, flicking the display over.
"I have, yes."
"Observation: Rouge is travel sick."
"That must be why they gave us bags."
"Nope. Not travel sick. It's just a weird feeling. I preferred one that we were in control of, not this Self-Piloting thing."
"The Doctor flew us up before." Shadow remembered aloud, as their heads jerked back against the seats with force; "That ought to have been more unsettling."
"He's a lot of things, a bad driver isn't one."
She shivered, and gripped the handles on the seat hard like they were a hand to hold. Shadow and Omega looked at one another, but they did not offer her a hand.
The ship docked safely into the old bay, and Rouge couldn't unclip herself fast enough. Shadow stayed behind to help unmount Omega from his dock.
"This will be boring for you. You didn't have to come." He huffed quietly.
"This unit is efficient in use of food and air. And was informed there might be monsters." Omega whirred as he shook his head, mimicking speech with his new mouth out of time with his speech.
"Don't do that, it's weird." Shadow smiled a toothy smirk all the same at his weird puppetry; "There shouldn't be. On your own head be it."
Omega pushed past him once he was unclipped, guns ready as he bashed out the door. He beeped disappointedly when he only found Rouge leaning on the wall, squeezing her hip and taking deep breaths. She straightened up immediately as Shadow stepped out, pulling a computer tablet from her bag and unzipping her space suit slightly so it was as low cut as her shirt below.
"Right, shall we scope before we unpack? I'd like to know if the bathrooms are operational. Semi-urgently."
They left their supplies in the shuttle. As they left the dock, Shadow thought he heard something move, but trusted it was only the ship settling into its spot.
Rouge's wings quivered as they passed the entry chamber, lined with space suits with tanks, long-since deactivated screens, and empty holsters for handheld weapons. She scanned around with her tablet, the new map building in the machine.
"They had weapons for the crew? I never saw them used." Shadow hummed, assessing the holsters.
"Puny. Shotgun shaped. Pathetic, with a long reload." Omega sneered, as they both descended on the firearms to inspect.
"This was over sixty years ago. And they surely never imagined using them. Compared to the ship, they're antiquated."
Omega's enormous fingers were wider than the holsters as he inspected them.
"Hunting rifles: not combat standard for any era. Suggestion: dart guns."
"That makes sense: the biolizard was here. Mystery solved, how dissappointing."
"Biolizard has been detailed in my records. This unit will find another."
Shadow laughed humourlessly. He was more relaxed than Rouge had planned for, but it didn't calm her. Returning here felt like a nightmare, and she kept checking she was armed, holding her gear, and older than she once was, to remind her she was awake as she scanned the unchanged area and took photos of the weaponry.
"Are you done?" Shadow huffed, and just the pinch of coldness sent shivers down her spine. He wasn't the creature he once was: years had passed. Unfortunately, Shadow looked the same which didn't comfort her; but he was flanked by a big, beefy Robot she loved that looked nothing like anything on the Ark. She focussed on Omega's red chest as she smiled and nodded.
"We can go down the residents' corridors, or straight to the armaments." She sighed, adding stress and excitement on what she wanted.
"Armaments!" Omega cheered with her, and she beamed, but Shadow scratched his chin.
"Is that the most efficient route?"
"Oh, but mapping the bedrooms? How boring!" Rouge's teeth chattered, but she disguised that with a laugh. Shadow rolled his eyes.
"This trip is meant to be boring. And it was your idea."
She swallowed, and shrugged.
Her silence rubbed off on them as they walked the corridor. Shadow eyed her curiously, as her hand trembled on the first door, but she opened it to reveal an ordinary but small dorm, with an unmade bed and a pair of shoes out.
"Oh. I suppose you stayed in one of these when we were here." He remarked. She hummed non-committally, and opened the drawers after she'd scanned it, taking pictures of the possessions left there.
"None of this was returned. I... suspected they didn't empty them. It would have given it away, since the Ark was meant to be uninhabitable after the incident." She mumbled, turned on her heel and pushed past him out.
Omega couldn't enter the small bunks, so he watched them, bored out of his mind, as they entered and exited identical dormitories. He had nothing to do but watch, as Rouge's eyes darted to a door down the corridor, and Shadow gazed nonplussed into the dorms, pausing to look at off items of clothing.
"Every room is identical. We are wasting time." He huffed, stomping down to the room Rouge looked at - number 38. As he assessed it, he noted signs of forced entry. In his peripheral, she sweated.
"Alright, well we can skip some, I'll come back to this." She said quickly, catching him up and marching past. Shadow stomped his foot once.
"If it's worth doing, we'll do it properly. I can do this faster than you, give me that." He beckoned to Rouge's tablet, forcing her to walk past the door and shiver again. Shadow didn't notice, and began scanning the rooms and taking pictures in a hurry. Omega waited until she was in another room with him to open the door, and extended his head inside.
It was another ordinary room: a bunk bed, with the bottom bunk a desk, and a small cabinet. And a dried-out body on the bed, with a dark spray on the wall behind it where it had been shot.
"They are not identical." Omega called down the corridor. Rouge peered out, suddenly all pale white. She gripped the door to another room, and tried to look unconcerned.
Shadow span through the next few, and caught Omega up, then skidded to a halt as he approached the room at the strange smell. He stared in for a long time, as still as the body. Rouge dawdled her way behind him, and glazed her eyes as she peered under Omega's arm. Her ears trembled with her fast heartbeats. He saw her not look at it, just dissociate.
"Oh. How horrid." She finally said. Shadow blinked back into action, and looked hard at her.
"I thought they disposed of all the remains: surely they were emptied into space."
"I suppose they must have missed this one. Perhaps someone was sleeping in." She still didn't look at him, her eyes vague, and her voice sounded odd.
"Observation: Rouge knew this was here." Omega trilled. She took the tablet from Shadow's slack hands, and raised it to photograph the room, but her fingers wouldnt rest on the buttons.
"What? How would I?" She murmured. They were both watching her, but she thought she was out of her own body now, somewhere in a dream.
"Yes. Omega is right. Why did you not mention this?" Shadow huffed, his eyes dragged back to the room. She tried to leave past Omega again, and he blocked her.
"Disclose all intelligence." He beeped.
"Let me out. Things to do." She snapped, shoving again. Shadow took the tablet from her hands and she squeezed out.
"Rouge." He growled. She walked down the corridor, her head straight ahead. Shadow narrowed his eyes, and gestured to Omega to follow. He closed the door to the body, and darted in and out of the rest of the rooms, that were all empty of anyone's remains, besides a few books and clothes.
Through the double doors at the end of the corridor was the cafeteria, where Rouge leant her head on the cold wall, and took a deep breath. Before she could finish it, Omega burst through and startled her, starting a shake that didn't stop.
"Mission is continuing." He said lamely. They stood apart across the room in the dark and cold, lit by the glow of Earth through meters of glass beside them.
"Yes. It is." She said plainly.
Omega stared at her expectantly as she tried to reform herself to stand straight upright. Her brow was sweaty, and she tapped it lightly with her glove, smearing some foundation on her white fingers. He blinked his red eyes. She blinked too.
"Can the mission continue?" He rephrased, and extended a hand towards a light dial; he could see her face had gone from white to pink now, and she looked away.
"Of course it can. That was a nasty surprise, but I know G.U.N. was far more fallible than we cared to admit. Well, obviously. We're on the Ark. You don't get more fallible than what happened here." She laughed oddly. Omega shook his head, and stared at her, the beam of his eyes increasing pressure on her. Finally, she squirmed.
"I... this place is weird. I have this recurring dream of being here, and - how stupid." She murmured shaking her head.
Omega finally clanked over to her side, unblocking the door, and crouched to closer to her height.
"Nightmares: sleep inventions?"
"Yes. Just inventions."
"Inventions from memory."
"... perhaps. While I was here there were so many things happening. I didn't have time to really think about it. I mean, if I did - no, of course I wasn't frightened, but someone could have been-" she flinched as she spoke quietly. Omega blinked at her, tilting his head. He wasn't a problem solver, but he was more used to being with Rouge at her vanishingly rare unflattering moments, so he put his huge finger on her hand, and she squeezed it in her palm. The quiet was interrupted by a knock. She quickly patted her face and sat on a dining chair, pretending to yawn as Shadow opened the door.
"Sorry, handsome, I think I am feeling just a little off-colour from the flight. Anything interesting out there?" She said quickly. Omega straightened up, and nodded to Shadow, who passed him the tablet.
"Understandable. I will go for refreshments. Sorry to... interrupt."
He fled the room, trying to forget the puffiness around her eyes. Shadow couldn't handle his own emotions, let alone hers, so he left the honour to Omega. Somewhere in him, he wondered if he should be at least better than a killing robot when it came to feelings, but he filed that as a problem for another lifetime, dashing past the bunks again and through the foyer.
Rouge sighed as he left, and looked guiltily at Omega.
"Perhaps he needs help with the bags?"
"Shadow accepts no help. He would rather struggle." Omega grunted as he lowered himself onto the bench opposite, which creaked angrily. She huffed tunefully, reminding him of Shadow as she looked out at the sky.
"You should have seen him then. Really, he's come a long way."
"I have observed."
"Even more so than since you met him. He was... scary. He had this hatred. He was the scariest thing on the Ark."
"The Ark contained a corpse that recurrs in your dreams, the Biolizard of great destructive fame, and Doctor Eggman, correct?"
"It did, and all of those things seemed more frightening. But then he really went, and I realised I was out of my depth too late... yeah. I don't think I have ever been so scared. Don't tell him I thought that, it'll go to his head." She laughed.
Omega laughed with her, practising his mouth movements, which made her giggle more.
"Shadow is a worse shipmate than the mad doctor."
"He can be! Even though it was Eggman who-" she snickered to herself, and covered her mouth. Omega leant forward on the table, serious again, but with his jaw hanging slightly open. She closed it and shook her head.
"Doesn't bear repeating."
"The Doctor has new atrocities? Something to destroy here?"
"No- no it was just, probably his idea of a prank. Really."
Shadow was sure he heard something shifting when he opened the dock doors again. He crouched to the ground, eyes expanding and ears back, as he silently crept to the door. It was completely dark in there, with no chance of a view in without revealing himself, so he waited an unnatural amount of time, before pressing the door release, his back flat against the side of the ship out of view.
Something blue shot out, and Shadow smacked it on instinct, his fist connecting with its stomach. When he saw who it was holding their gut and whining, he kicked him on purpose.
"Sorry, Shadow, did I scare you?" Sonic chuckled in strain, wincing for one second more, before he bounced back up, cracked his back and grinned.
"What are you doing here?" He snarled, grabbing Sonic's quills roughly and shoving him against the ship.
"Eek, that's cold!" He whined in jest again, making sad eyes at Shadow; "I'm only here to help!"
"Go. Now. Before I open this airlock."
"Oof, that's cold! You can't open it, you're here! 'Sides: didn't you hear me? Amy thought I could help!"
Shadow considered how much rage he ought to save for the restoration on the ground, and ultimately felt he could muster up more when he needed it, and smacked Sonic's head flat against the shuttle.
"We don't need your interference. Leave."
"How am I gonna do that without taking your ship?" Sonic chuckled, finally tired of having his head smacked, and leapt out of his hands. Shadow growled, fists shaking.
"There's... an escape pod."
"Pretty sure I took the last one down last time!"
"There must be another. You cannot be here!"
Sonic raised his hands, a sheepish grimace on his face.
"Sorry I surprised ya, I'll go. If I can just, have a quick squiz 'round, I'll ring Amy, tell her it's in hand and get her to send one up, yeah? She's just worried about you- you guys. Help me out here, and we'll get me outta here?" He smiled cheekily as he spoke, balanced by Shadow's perfectly sour face. Shadow thought his mind might be shortcircuiting with hot fury, so he shut it out, and grabbed a bag of supplies.
"Oh, I'll take some-"
"Get. Out. Go to the cafeteria, Rouge can deal with you." He hissed. Sonic huffed, and sped from the bay just as Shadow realised why he'd just left them, and that he shouldn't have sent Sonic there.
Omega's hand was on the table, and Rouge traced it as she chattered, half laughing and focussing on the cold, regular metal.
"He gave me a room key to stay in when I was here, said it was the only one he'd found, and he'd 'let me' stay there, 'cause a lady can't sleep in the break room, he says. But obviously, obviously, you know what room he picked." She laughed, teeth bared.
"38."
She laughed and nodded, gesturing to the ceiling above.
"So, I slept up there. But everytime I went to get my stuff, it was just... there. God, I was such a wuss. Shoulda just given him what for, but I was younger then. It was my first ever undercover... I didn't want to get anything wrong."
"And seeing a corpse is frightening for meatbags." Omega nodded sagely.
"It was the first dead person I'd seen. Like I said, I was a wuss." She laughed, tracing his fingers.
"Wuss-ness logged as secret." Omega agreed. She smiled, and sniffed firmly, before one ear twitched upright.
"Is Shadow-"
"Hey, hey, the party can start now! Here I am!" Sonic cheered as he burst in. Rouge folded her arms quickly in front of herself, and Omega leapt from the chair, ready to shoot. Sonic sucked in through his teeth, and tried to catch Rouge's eye, but she just glared at him, running explanations in her head.
"So you're the extra 'snacks'? Not impressed. Omega might make a mince of you, though." She huffed, standing and subtly wiping her makeup.
"Easy, friends! Geez, I think I got a better welcome last time, you're all as cheery as a dirge!" He breezed, as Shadow kicked the door open, invisible with all the bags and boxes he'd stacked up.
"We had a stowaway. He'll phone Amy and be sent home now." Shadow growled, dumping the boxes down. Rouge tutted, rising to pass Sonic and dig through her stuff.
"Perhaps it was too much to hope for an honest deal with the likes of her." She sighed, and as hoped Sonic slipped from cool friendliness into something more comfortable to her - he glared daggers with the most sarcastic smile.
"Not hearing that from you lot. Not least you, Rouge. I think I'd rather play against Eggman than you. Amy's a saint for trusting you, don't think we thought Shadow wrote that sappy spiel."
"Does she ring you every time she has a decision to make? Cute."
"She phoned to make sure you lot don't do something crazy with the Ark. Or with the Doc, but I hope even Shadow's not that stupid."
Rouge turned on her heel, eye's narrowed, hand on Shadow's arm before he could swing it.
"How dare you say that of Omega." She hissed, taking Sonic and her team by surprise. Omega himself still had his guns impatiently pointed at Sonic, and stared straight at her, waiting for a clearance.
"Doubt me and Shadow if you've got nothing better to worry about, but it'll be winter in hell before Omega shakes Eggman's hand." She said fiercely.
Over Sonic's shoulder, Omega maintained his pose, but his mouth shifted awkwardly as he tried to arrange a smile. Sensing he'd failed, he instead offered a thumbs-up. Sonic frowned as he considered.
"Didn't think about that. Mostly, it didn't seem likely at all." He admitted.
"Of course not. You're just interfering." She smirked.
"And you're done here. Get out." Shadow snapped, as Rouge dug out a snack bar, a pouch of water, and a small bag of makeup.
"Yeah, sure, you guys have fun. Ju-ust let me take a quick look, check the cannon's definitely not reparable, then I'm gone." He tapped on his toes, shuffling his jumpsuit awkwardly, and skittered off.
"Shadow, can you-"
"Obviously." Shadow sighed, jogging after him.