There's a sudden swing, a crunching connection, a tumbling flourish, a heavy thud, a collective gasp.

The fog of hot emotion and hormones dissipates, leaving Amy standing over the crumpled body, staring at the open, sour air the body had occupied when it was upright.

"Shit!" bellows a familiar voice upon realisation of what has just transpired, followed shortly by a muttered string of, "Shit, Shit, Shit," the voice, belonging to a friend, getting louder as the friend hurries closer, pushing through the other patrons to reach her quickly.

She lowers her eyes, a vibrant green, and stares at her hands in silent disbelief and victory. They're still held out before herself, a combat stance she hasn't forgotten despite her age and disuse since the last war, they're still making fists, but they're numb, now, red speckles like rubies scattered over her fashionable big-girl glove. She only used the one.

Suddenly, other hands grab her by the shoulders of her coat and she's yanked away from the groaning body, trying to help himself up, and she's pulled into familiar perfume.

"Amy! God! What the hell!"

She blinks, stumbling against Rouge's chest as the older woman, like a lifeguard wading through the sea with someone in need of saving, drags her away from the scene they're guiltily leaving behind, the ocean of upright bodies gathering all around, swarming in, yet parting timidly to clear a path for the both of them, lest they be churned.

"God dammit…"

It's shocking how cold it is, outside the bar, and they almost trip over the step on the way down from the swinging door, escaping from the light that had emanated from within.

The bat's blue-green eyes are narrowed in cold fury, disappointment, confusion as she hoists herself and the hedgehog upright, breathing cigarettes and booze into the other's ear. "What the fuck was–?"

"I don't know."

It's cold when they're struggling down the street, hastening to get away, too drunk to fly, too drunk to run.

Rouge pulls Amy with her, sees a hiding place, pulling to get around that redbrick corner, slamming herself, her back, against the redbrick wall and it stings, but her body buffers the blow, so the younger woman in her embrace isn't hurt by it, pink quills buried against snow.

"I'm sorry," comes out pathetic, one face to another, struggling through harried breaths as their world slows down around their racing, intoxicated bodies. "I didn't… I don't…"

Then silence. This moment passes, silently, save for their laboured breathing and roaring hearts.

"Are you okay?"

The hedgehog sniffles, nuzzling the bat.

"Amy, dear, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Rouge. I… think so."

"Did he hurt you?" a husky voice asks tenderly, no less angrily, large hands dragging over slender shoulders, ruffling cropped quills as they pass over cheeks, fondling blushing skin, cupping a precious face and trying to prop a pretty head upright, so their eyes can stay, hazily meeting in bewitching clarity.

"On the inside," is about the most sober thing to come out of the hedgehog's mouth in reply.

"Amy, honey," the bat murmurs, still simmering, "what did he do?" There's something dangerous in those diamond eyes, a threat left unspoken.

"No, no, he…"

"I dragged you out here to keep you out of the rest, but I'll go back in there without you, and I'll fucking kill him on my own, if he goddamn touched you without you being okay with it."

"He didn't. And... please, don't."

"What did he do to you, Amy?"

"Rouge… you don't… hit people," the hedgehog slurs, tearful, ashamed, stroking the bat's abdomen below, hiking up her expensive jacket and crisp shirt to get at the firm, knotted belly beneath, living and hot. "Too strong, too…" A woman leaning against another, older woman, fumbling to get at her heat. "Could… do so much… harm…"

"You don't hit people. Not without a fucking good reason."

"Heh, you're… so funny, sometimes."

"I've got the reason. That's what I'm here for."

"No, no." A shake of the head within embracing palms, scattering quills. "You don't… have to!"

"Amy, Amy, listen to me."

"You'll get in… trouble!"

"I am trouble."

"You're a friend!"

"Amy. You should never, ever have to hit somebody."

"I know!"

"Never again. That shit, it's over now. You're a veteran. You can live your life. The scars aside."

"Rouge..."

"I wanted to help."

"Not your… fault. You… You have helped."

"I said I'd look after you, Amy."

"I can… take care of… myself…"

"This was supposed to be fun."

"It was fun! Mostly! Because... I happened!"

"No, not you. This is his fault. What'd he do? What made you hit him, honey?"

"Sorry. Sorry!"

"Why'd you do it?"

"I'm in trouble."

"You're not in trouble. Just tell me, please."

"You're so… angry."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm angry. But not at you. Okay?"

"You could... do harm."

"I'd never, ever hurt you."

"Not me. Him."

"So? Some scumbag, nobody'll miss him."

"That's... not fair, even if..."

"Amy. Honey. You just have to tell me what he did to you. Then stay out here, stay safe, and wait for me."

"Don't..."

"Because I'll go back in there and – hell, that's stupid, I won't leave you out here, by yourself, fuck me, what the hell am I talking about." Rouge sighs into Amy's open, panting mouth. "Someplace safe. I'll… Yeah, that diner you like so much."

"I'm not… hungry, right now."

"Not even for pancakes?"

"It's too late… for pancakes."

"Bugger that! For you, it's never too late for pancakes." The bat breathes the hedgehog's air, steadying herself, too. "I'll take you to that diner, the one that I call old-fashioned and I always bitch about how their shiny, clunky coffeemaker never works right, but you call it authentic, and I'll get the prettiest waitress to stack you some pancakes, then I'll go back."

"But pancakes without you…"

"I'll go back, beat the shit outta that guy, if he hasn't run off by then, and I'll get back to you real quick. You can wait for me to come back. Eat your pancakes, chat up the waitress, wait for me."

"But I don't like… that plan."

"Amy Rose."

She shrinks at the use of her full name.

"Tell me what happened."

"Promise not... to hurt... him."

"I can't do that. But you can tell me, or we'll be here all night, doing this."

"Shit."

"Amy.

"He... said something… mean… about you, Rouge."

"Something mean."

"It was gross. It… cheapened you. Made you… less."

"So, he demeaned me?"

"Cracked a wise one. Wasn't funny. Not… one bit, not to me."

"Honey."

"So, yeah, I got mad, like… I sometimes do, or… like I used to, and… I decked him!"

"Honey," the bat repeats, stroking the hedgehog's tearstains with her thumbs.

"I'm sorry! It was wrong when… I think about it. But… it felt right to do it, and… afterward…"

Rouge allows Amy to tug on the shiny buckle of her belt.

"Just after it was done…" The hedgehog swallows loudly, shaking her head again, more fiercely. "It felt… like nothing!"

There is another silent pause.

"Amy Rose."

"Rouge."

The bat steadies her again, murmuring, "You guarded my honour."

"I wasn't thinking straight. I was… feeling so much. I wanted… to defend it, or… something like that, it was… nobler in my heart."

"I understand."

"Do you?"

"Yes. I do."

"I don't."

"That's okay."

"Is it, really? Because… the fog was in… my head? That… excuses me, excuses what I did?"

"No. But that explains it."

"Oh."

"You've always been passionate. Sometimes you boil yourself over."

"But I got… better, right? Over time? With age?"

The despair is enough to make Rouge wince up close, sagging against the wall, causing Amy to sag with her, against her.

"I'm better, now… Right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, honey. You're better, now."

"Good. That's... good."

"Oh, Amy."

"I can explain."

"You just did."

"So I… I got real mad, before, after he… said those shitty things about you, because… I mean, I didn't always like you very much, but… I like you a lot, now. I think… I'm… feeling sick."

"Shall we skip the pancakes, then?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Do you wanna go home?"

"Yeah."

"Mine? Yours?"

"Shadow will... ask questions."

"Yours, then."

"Okay."

The bat eases the hedgehog alongside, looping a slack, lithely muscular arm over broader shoulders.

"But my home… is yours, too… y'know."

"I know." Rouge pushes away from the wall, gently drawing Amy away from the redbrick. "Thank you."

"And… I mean, about before, about… what I said… about… liking you, more… than I used to…"

"We've both changed, over time. I'm easier to like, now. Mellowed out, Shadow said."

"Exactly. Me, too. I mean… I mellowed out."

"Somewhat."

"Well. If a guy… or a girl… talks down my friend… I'mma throw hands, I guess."

"Yeah." Chuckling, the bat guides the hedgehog further down the street. "I guess. With a few drinks in you, at least."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. We're cool."

"But as I was saying…"

"I'm listening."

"I mellowed out. When I grew up and… Sonic said… no, again, and I saw… God, I saw it."

"What did you see, honey?"

"I saw how sad the world could be… I felt, too, how it all could… hurt."

"I'm so sorry."

"Me, too. I was sad… all the time, but then…"

"I was sad, too, wasn't I?"

"Yeah."

They pass below streetlamps, lighting their way, the moon blanketed by smog, a layer of acidic clouds Eggman had left as a parting gift, poisoned years before, by the end of the war.

"You showed me how… it can be happy, too, being here…"

Rouge won't admit that her eyes are burning because of unshed tears, as opposed to any irritation caused by the atmosphere itself.

"With you."

"Fuck," she mutters.

"Mm?"

"That's cute."

"I am... cute."

"Yeah, yeah."

Amy smirks, leaning lovingly against the older woman, tucked in so comfortably within her shapely side.

"Don't say stuff like that."

"Why not?"

"I'm too old for that fluffy, sentimental shit."

"Tough guy."

"Damn right."

The hedgehog turns a little more, just then, as they stumble, pressing her mouth firmly against the upturned corner of the bat's.