Roam In To Life

"Oh come on! I look so stupid in this!", Vickie yelled in the dress store. Her other friends, Amy and Rouge, tried to calm her down.
"No you don't! You look great! Purple is DEFINITELY your color!", Amy said.
"Try to put your best pose in to it, then see how you feel about it", Rouge added.
Vickie placed her hand on her hip, letting her curves fix in. Her hip jutted out a little, showing off her original curvy sides. She gave a small grin.

"I.. I guess it'll have to do.."

"So you'll have it?", Amy asked.

"Sure..", Vickie shrugged. When the dress let her curves show, she felt smooth and sexy. It's something she never felt with when she was in her usual attire. A tank top and shorts, which were easy clothing to have when you were fighting all the time and saving the city's ass from aliens and a bunch of nobodies(thugs and the like).
The trio left the store, Vickie was glad to be out of there because the smell of perfume and the annoying sound of sales girls were getting on her nerves. She didn't know how Rouge or Amy could stand it. She carried the bag which contained the newly bought dress and some wrist accessories.

She was staying with someone at the time, Vickie was almost always homeless. She lived here, she lived there. She lived with old friends and new friends. This time, she was living with a very interesting new friend. Jada, the Echidna. A very old echidna, someone that Knuckles would probably know. He always wore a black and purple bandanna around his head that kept up his dread locks. An eye patch that he had since he was younger(Probably in his late twenties), Vickie had never seen him take it nor has she ever asked him how he got it. He was an old jerk but was laid back about her rent coming in. She told him the first time when she moved in that the rent would come in slow since she was a free lancer. He never asked her what she did for money, and she never got in to his personal life.

She unlocked the door to the apartment, placing the key back in to her pants pocket and continuing further inside.
"Hey, I'm back!", she called out.
She heard laughter coming from the hallway, putting her bag on the couch and walking to the end of the hallway, where Jada's room was. She peeked in and saw a little echidna boy playing with Jada. Jada's face had changed, it was bright, like a newly lit bulb. His eyes sparkled with excitement that Vickie had never seen.
After a minute, Jada noticed Vickie and his expression slowly came back to his old self. He kept a grin on, to not let the little boy see his true expression. Jada put down the toy he was holding and stood up, that made the boy turn around and see Vickie for the first time.

"Uncle Jada, who's that?"

Instead of the usual greeting that Jada gave her, which was "Put the groceries in the fridge and don't talk to me". He introduced Vickie to his nephew.

"Cayden, this is Vickie. The lady I'm living with. Say hello, Cayden"

Vickie felt like she would freeze for some reason when Cayden walked in front of her, looking up at her with those big, green eyes. He smiled, "Hello. I'm Cayden! Want to play Jets?", he asked. Vickie looked up at Jada, who didn't say or do anything. She kneeled down and tried her best to put a denial politely.

"I'm sorry, kid. I have to do important stuff in a minute. Maybe when you come back and visit again I'll.. play with you"

She didn't know what to expect from a little boy who just got denied from playing. Her worst fear was that he would burst in to tears and wrap his arms and legs around Jada's leg while Jada was giving her an grimly glare.
Instead, the kid just nodded and smiled. Then turned to Jada and smiled at him, while pointing at Vickie.
"You hear that, Uncle Jada? She said she would play with me! Yay!"
Jada smiled down at the boy, "That's great, Cayden. Go get ready for your mother, all right?" "Okay!"
Vickie let her breath go. She had been holding it until she knew the out come of her denial. When Cayden ran out of the room, Jada gave her a grimly glare anyway, the smile gone from his face. Vickie almost cringed; she left the room to enter her own.

An hour went by before Vickie started getting dressed for the "Date". How dumb the faces looked on Rouge and Amy when they found out Shadow the Hedgehog had asked Vickie out on a date that day. They immediately grabbed her arms, kidnapped her on a high speed pursuit to the mall and kept her hostage at the mall's dress room for nearly four hours.
When she had found that right dress though, she didn't regret being inside the mall for four hours. Only a little regret was not finding it sooner or else the sale's woman's face would have been everywhere. The tall cracked mirror leaning against the wall made use for her turnings and looking-behind pose. What could a little purple dress do? No harm, according to her.
Vickie opened her door and made her way to the living room. There, Jada sat on the couch. The T.V wasn't on but his mind seemed else where. He looked moody, like he wanted to snap at her for something but kept it to himself.. Not quite.

"Why didn't you play with my nephew?", he asked.

"Because I told him I had other things to do. You heard me tell him I would play with him next time he came to visit", she told him. She didn't like where this was going. The two always had a argument to scrabble with. Jada usually started them, always complaining about something Vickie didn't or did do to make him mad.
"My nephew just met you and you didn't want to play with him because you had a DATE to go to! And you wasted your time inside your bedroom getting ready and putting on all your fancy accessories.. Next time, you WILL play with my nephew!"

This made Vickie angry. If she agreed to do something once and someone else came in and told her she WAS going to do it, she didn't want to do it anymore. She didn't like being bossed around by people who thought they had control over her. She despised it. Her eyes narrowed, jaw tightening.

"I don't have to do a damn thing if I don't want to! I agreed to play with him next time he came over and he was HAPPY about it and you should be too! Damnit, I have to get going..", she grabbed her key and stuck inside her bra. A lined shape of the key formed on the inside of her dress but she didn't care. Jada scoffed at her.

"Look at you, all pretty for this dumb ass date about to take place! Whaddya want? Roses, dim lights and nice wine? You cheap whore.. I bet he's just waiting to take you and pound his..", there was a knock suddenly. Vickie stormed to the door and opened it quickly before Jada could say anything else vulgar.
Standing there was Shadow, wearing nothing but a black tie and his usual garments. Vickie couldn't the smirk, before she could speak he put his hand up to stop her from humiliating him further.
"Don't say a word.. Rouge's fault", he mumbled.
"All right.. You look classy though"
"Can I come in?"
"Um.. N-Not a good time right now. I was just about to head out the door!"
Jada, still cursing to himself on the couch about Vickie, was unseen by Shadow. She stepped out in to the cities windy night. She slammed the door and didn't bother locking it. Vickie saw Shadow almost giving a smirk too and knew just what he was going to comment on. She put her hand up this time, "Not. A. Word".

Some people dressed just as formal as Vickie and Shadow, were waiting outside the restaurant to have their seats inside. Vickie rolled her eyes.

"Seriously.. Why does this one have to be so popular?" she sighed.
"Hm.. I know I.. made reservations, let me go check. Wait here", Shadow shuffled past the hungry crowd. Vickie crossed her arms and sat herself down on the nearest bench. A few long minutes past, Vickie was becoming curious of what might have happened. Shadow could have been ambushed by G.U.N and made his escape out the back of the place. She heard a murmured, "Excuse me" "Pardon me" in the crowd's direction to see Shadow holding two plastic bags that was probably their dinner. Shadow saw Vickie and walked over, holding one bag in each hand.

"What's this?"
"Come on.. I know a better place"
"A better place? But.." she stood up and began to follow Shadow as he started crossing a street "What about the reservations?"
"I was lying", he answered.
"Then where are we going?"
"You'll see"

Shadow would never directly answer someone unless it was important. Vickie hated this about him, but liked it in a way. Mysterious and yet could be deadly to the touch. When they always reached their destination, she never knew what he was going to say to her. It was always something new. When she was in deep thought about him, she didn't notice her surroundings. She snapped out when she nearly tripped on a root that was sticking out of the ground. She caught herself, and exhaled.

"Careful, there's a lot of roots sticking out around here", he said blantly.
"Noooo, really?", the comment made her nervous. Her smart ass remarks could have ruined the "Date" entirely. Shadow kept walking with their food, until they came in to a clearing. A circle-shaped space surrounded by thick trees and vines. The vine's flowers were in full bloom and beautiful. Red, blue, yellow, orange, pink, purple flowers, all glowing beneath the moon's gentle light. Shadow walked towards the middle of the circle, setting down the food.
"We're here.."
Vickie looked in awe. Such beautiful flowers, unseen and unnoticed by the world around them. She wanted to pick and take all the flowers back with her. She caught sight of a large yellow flower that mesmerized her. She stuck out her hand, ready to touch the flower's petals.
"Don't touch them", Shadow spoke up loudly, making Vickie lose her hypnosis.
"Why not?"
"One touch could either, 1, send you to the hospital. 2, give you a burning rash for weeks. 3, give you a disease you've probably never heard before". Vickie sent her hand back to her side, not wanting to think about the punishment she would endure for not listening. She walked over by Shadow and crossed her arms.
"How did you find this place?", she asked as he began with a blanket and lightly placed it over the dirt then take some of the food out and began to properly place them in the right spot. Plates went where they were supposed to, forks, knives, spoons, etc, etc. Finally, the meal Vickie and Shadow were to have.
"I found it one night when I was having a nightmare.. About Maria.. about the Black Arms.. About the whole war" She felt bad for asking now, making him remind himself of the nightmares he all ready had when Maria wasn't alive. He didn't notice her expression and continued.
"One night I must have slept walked.. I was in bed, the next thing I knew I was here. Surrounded by this.. beauty"
Vickie nodded, and sat down as well, the blanket was comfortable.
Shadow took out her supposed meal and placed it in front of her. He all ready began to eat on his own plate. Vickie opened the package, it smelled perfectly. The scent of Italian scents, spices and herbs all mixed in a sauce that was poured on a tender chicken patty. Parmesan cheese sprinkled the thin pasta noodles, this brought Vickie to a drooling state.

"It's food, Vickie, not a possession from some century..", Shadow poked.
"This looks amazing.. I can't wait to eat it!"
"Well take your time, we have a lot to talk about?"
Vickie tilted her head, "Talk? Talk business?"
"Something like that"
"THIS is why you asked me on a date! To talk about business!", her fury gaze leaped at Shadow, he didn't even look at her. He kept munching on his dinner, swallowed and sighed.
"This one is important.. It involves someone you haven't met yet either"
"Oh well that's TERRIFIC. Who the hell is it?", she growled.
"You must have seen him once or twice on the news, the white hedgehog who helped out Sonic in Italy.. Silver", 'Silver' came out of Shadow's mouth like he despised saying it, annoyed with the word and the name itself. Vickie had heard from Sonic that they had had a quarrel, Shadow was still getting used to Silver being around in their time zone.

"Hm.. Yeah, I have. Sonic said he was from the future. He even tried to kill Sonic because.. he thought Sonic was the cause of the destruction in the future?"

"Something like that. Silver has come in to our time once again, to tell us of another disaster that will happen to us. He's heard of you many times, he wants to know if you could help him out this time, instead of Sonic.."

Vickie was a little surprised; not asking Sonic to help out with a disaster was like not asking the fire fighter to take out the flames in a burning building.
"M-Me? Why would he ask for my help?"
"Because your race plays a big part in the future, according to him", Shadow sipped on the wine that he had bought along with the dinner, "I told him you needed some cash if you were going to help him out.."
"You told him I would only work for money!?", she yelled. Furious at the lie Shadow had told Silver, 'Would only save the world for money', how stupid! She couldn't believe her ears. Shadow nodded.
"You're in serious financial trouble correct? You could use the money to get your own place like Sonic and everyone else.." he pointed out. Vickie crossed her arms.
"You and Sonic get money from the Government.. Who just HAPPENS to my very old enemy! Did you forget?"
"I haven't forgotten anything from those days.. We we're both being hunted, you know"
That was something Vickie did forget, Shadow was also in a high speed chase with G.U.N. They didn't know what side Shadow had taken, they were always after him. Even when they didn't know that Shadow was helping to save the world along with Sonic.
Vickie always got nervous when someone around her drank liquor, wine, whiskey, gin, etc. Shadow had always told her that he wouldn't drink an enormous amount, just a little to savor and enjoy the time that it was good to have it in.
Watching Shadow take sips of the red liquid, the redness smears on his lips and a drop manages to escape his mouth and trickle down his chin. He took the glass away and wiped his mouth off with a napkin. Vickie, still in a daze, didn't see Shadow notice her staring. He smirked, putting the glass to her lips.
"Want a sip?"
She snapped out of her dream world, feeling the glass on her bottom lip. Shadow's smirked seemed much more closely now. She blushed, the rim of the glass rubbing along the smooth skin. She pushed his arm away, making sure not to spill the wine.

"Stop that.. that wine smells horrible"
"Hmhm.. you were in a dream-like state, I had to snap you out some how. Seriously, want a sip?", he was being serious. Vickie had never tried wine in her life. Something that the humans had created to add to their entertainment and pleasure. She took the fragile glass in one hand and sniffed the fragrance of the wine again, the wafted scent of grape and other tasty smells over whelmed her. She hesitated at first but then raised the glass to her mouth and took a huge gulp. The taste of it stung her taste buds and made her make a disgusted expression. How could people like this!?
She immediately spat the liquid out on the grass and wiped her mouth of the remaining poisoned juice and handed it back to Shadow. He shrugged, "It's not for everyone"
"You're damn right! That stuff is horrible!"
"It's not like I forced it on to you"
"I know that! ..Heh, this reminds me of when I was new to Earth. You were teaching me what was good food and bad food, all the pleasant restaurants and bad junk food to eat.."
"You still remember? ..Hmph. I remember everyone suddenly coming to my house for dinner because Knuckles had opened his giant mouth about you to Sonic"
A happy smile grew on her face, there was something sentimental about it. She remembered the memories of when the gang had introduced themselves to her and brought her in the family as if she was related to them all that time.
"Everyone was so nice.. Amy, Cream, Sonic.. .. You.."
Shadow's eyes locked on to Vickie's when she referred to him. She felt her heart jump, the entire night could go by and they would still be staring in each other's eyes. She nearly gasped; her breath held as Shadow took her hand and massaged a knuckle with his thumb. He stared at her hand for a while, thinking of something to say.
"You're worth more to me than just money.. No currency in this world could buy the happiness you give me"

"Shadow?", Vickie couldn't help but feel flushed. He was holding her hand gently, rubbing the knuckle with care.
He snapped out when she called his name, he let go of her hand suddenly and turned half his body to the plastic bag, bringing out desert.

"Mmm.. What is it?"
"Crème Brule"
Vickie gasped loudly, putting her hands to her cheeks.
"Oh my sweet Saturn! That's my favorite! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my GOSH! Hehehehe! How did you know!?"
"I remember I took you to this place in Black Emerald City, a fancy restaurant that was serving a desert that you had never tried before. You tried it and nearly went ecstatic from the taste. I had known it was good but from your point of view, you fell on Cloud Nine with that desert" Shadow said, eyes closed, as if visioning the day inside his mind.
"Shadow, you really shouldn't have. I mean, bringing me here.. Buying dinner.. Getting my favorite desert. Thank you.."
"It's nothing. I know you've been in and out of homes. I thought you could use the relaxation"
Vickie scratched her ear, "I NEEDED this.. Jada has been driving me crazy.."
"Jada?"
"The old echidna I'm living with.. Knuckles might know him, since they're both echidnas"
"We'll have to wait and see, think you can invite him for dinner at Amy's house?"
"I-I don't think that's a good idea.. Jada's a complete asshole"
"Send him out way, we'll fix that stupid attitude of his"
"Heh. Maybe I will.."

Shadow and Vickie continued to talk about both their lives, about the news, people and friends. When two A.M came around, Vickie began to grow tired. Shadow had cleaned up the food and tied it all up in a plastic bag to throw away later. They both stood up at the same time, walking out of the grove together.
When they had reached the side walk of a busy street, Shadow tossed the bag in a trash can. Vickie sighed, content with the moment she had with Shadow. Shadow crossed his arms.
"You know, you're always welcome at my place. Rouge is taking on bedroom but you can always take your place at the couch"
"Ha! Okay, I'll be sure to write my name on that couch of yours"
"Seriously.. If Jada is such an ass, why are you living with him?"
"His rent is low, only three hundred a month.. He's easy with the dead line too. I usually hand him the cash before he starts losing his cool. ..What? Are you getting worried?"
Shadow turned his attention to the traffic on the night's street.
"Tch, hell no. Don't ask me that again.."
"Hehe, all right, but sure, I'll think about your place.. Thanks again for dinner, we should do that more often" Vickie reached her hands over to Shadow's chest and unstrapped the tie that was around his neck. She kept it around her hand, grinning.

"There, you look a lot better. Best not listen to Rouge on dressing you for something like a date" she said as she placed the tie in to Shadow's hand. Shadow chuckled, "You're right.. Though, she did a good job with you. Purple was always your color". Vickie blushed lightly. "Hm.. T-Thank you.. Shadow.."
"Hm?"

She thought it would be too bold of a move but she took her hand, cupping one of Shadow's cheeks with her hand and putting her other hand on his back side. She leaned forward and gave him a light peck. She pulled back to see Shadow's expression. She caught a smile twitching on the corner of his mouth, she was happy with the result and began to turn away. Something important just jumped right inside her head then.

"Does Silver know of my power?"

"No, the only ones who know are I and the rest of the team"

"I guess I'll have to be extra careful then, I'll be fighting without my weapons and Form"

"If you like, we could always knock him out and tell him he was just seeing things" Shadow suggested.

Vickie grinned, almost laughed at the thought, "No, you idiot! Hehe.. Just. No.."

"Taking all the fun out of messing with the annoying brat.." he grumbled.

"What's the time and place for Silver?"

"Three P.M, at Frostvein Cave.. Don't be late", He didn't want her to change the mood so quickly, not by a long shot, but Shadow wasn't one to not hold still for so long, much like his non biological twin.
"Want to bet on that?", she dared.
"Bet you twenty bucks you won't get there before three.."
"It's a bet! Hmhm, good bye, Shadow!"
Both hedgehogs went there separate ways, Vickie couldn't wait to meet Silver, or wait to see a new cave outside the city. She hated going back to her place, maybe she could stay at Shadow's for the night.

"I made up my mind!" she said out loud, turning sharply the other direction and running to Shadow "Hey! Shadow! Wait up!"