Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The loud ringing of a bell jolted the rabbit from her sleep. With a loud gasp, her body bolted upward, and a yelp escaped her as she toppled out of her bed and down onto the ground. The bell stopped for only a moment before it began to ring again, this time much more impatiently. Letting out a groan, the rabbit pulled herself up from the floor and made her way out of her room. Even as she made her way down the cold, stone hallway and down the long flight of stairs, she could hear the bell still ringing behind her. The journey down to the depths of the castle’s lowest bedchamber felt all too long as she realized that it wasn’t just the bell in her room that was ringing; he was ringing all of the damn bells in the castle at once. 

The large mahogany door to the wolf’s suite loomed over her tiny form, and as she reached to knock on it a deep sound resonated through the wood. Immediately all of the bells stopped and she pushed it open to step inside. 

“Clover, Darling , what took you so long?” 

There he stood, facing away from her and towards all of the labeled pullies that set off the bells throughout the castle. Rather than getting any sort of communicator or even getting himself a proper phone so that he could simply call or text her, Dr. Lazarus insisted on still using the system that had been installed in his castle oh so many years ago. Apparently he liked the sound of the bells far more than any sound a phone could make.

“ I was sleeping ,” Clover replied, moving to brush a strand of bubblegum pink hair out of her face. 

Lazarus was a vampire, and therefore slept whenever the sun came up and awoke when it set.  The rabbit, however, was a bit more erratic thanks to the wolf’s failed attempt to turn her--the transformation into a vampire seeming to stop half-way. Her body was still in a more “natural” diurnal Mobian sleeping rhythm, but her master’s strict habits left her on the more sleep-deprived side most nights.

“Sleeping already?” The wolf asked, clicking his tongue as he shook his head. “Clover, Clover, Clover. You know I had errands for you to do today. The sun is rising and you absolutely must get these items for me as soon as possible.”

He reached to dramatically flip his bangs before he held out a roll of parchment paper for her. Damn, if he wasn’t so pretty it might have been harder to stay mad at him. The rabbit sighed, reaching to take the parchment. 

“Yes, Doctor,” she responded obediently. “I’ll head out to take care of things.”

“That’s a good girl~,” he half-sang out, reaching to pat her on the head. “But before you go, dress me for bed.”

He held his arms out expectantly, flashing her his usual charming smile. The mere look in his eyes was enough to make her shiver. Clover shifted the parchment in her hands, setting it down on the bedside table with a roll of her eyes. The action didn’t please him and the wolf reached out to run his fingers under her chin, caressing her cream and brown fur.

“Don’t forget your manners, my dear,” he warned, his voice silky smooth and dripping with venom. “ I own you . Never forget that.”

Once more, Clover shivered. Her ears perked forward as he spoke, and his words held so much weight to them. The sound of his voice excited her, but the meaning behind it was so dark and toxic that it almost made her sick. She’d been doomed the instant she’d entered his castle four years ago, fated to either be food or his servant till the end of time. 

“Yes, Doctor,” Clover repeated, getting to work on the buttons of his fancy vest. 

Pleased with himself, Lazarus allowed her to continue. Before Clover came along, he’d missed having his servants dress and undress him. It was a sign of the wealthy to have as many servants as he did. They bathed him, dressed him, cooked for him whether he actually ate the food or not. Usually he didn’t bother. He simply sat at his table, drank his wine, and basked in their attention and adoration. When he hunted for his actual food, it was so much fun to force them to take care of the bodies and watch their reactions should they recognize who the meal once was. 

That time, however, had long passed. Soon all of his servants began to die off one by one. None of them ever left or had any children, so there was no one to replace the staff he was quickly losing to old age. It wasn’t long before he was all alone in his castle. The days became years, years became decades, and decades became centuries. It got to the point where he would take quite long “depression naps” where he would sleep for decades at a time to pass the years without the crippling loneliness. Even his inventions suffered. 

Then Clover entered his life .

Feeling one of her soft ears brushing under his chin as she finished, up pulled him from his thoughts. A much softer smile graced his features as he reached to rub it affectionately. Clover’s actions paused and she glanced up at him in surprise. It always gave her such mood-whiplash when he was like this: toxic and horrible one second, then sweet and tender the next. Perhaps it was just in his nature as a Vampire. Or perhaps he was just an asshole. She supposed she’d never truly know. His red eyes glittered in the candlelight of the room, calling to her very soul. Once more his finger hooked under her chin and the wolf pulled his prey up to press their lips together. Dear lord, she both loved and hated this. The affection he gave her always felt so nice, but it always came with a price. His lips left her own and Clover was left in a daze as he made his way over to his coffin to turn in.

“Now that you’ve kissed me good morning, I can finally rest,” Lazarus teased. “Don’t forget to blow out the candles for me before you leave. And don’t you forget your list! I expect everything to be done before sunset.”

“Yes, Doctor,” the rabbit cooed, still in her lovestruck daze as she made her way around the room to blow out each and every candle. 

The Doctor smirked as he watched her, closing his coffin and rolling over to let sleep take over his form for the day. Clover took the parchment from the table once more before blowing out the last candle and making her way out of the room. For only a moment she thought that perhaps she was just being overly sensitive whenever he was being mean. Maybe she just needed to grow a thicker skin. However as she unrolled the paper to take a look at what he wanted her to do, the smile quickly fell from her face. 

Here was the damn price for his affection . There was so much to do, there was no way she was going to get any sleep during the day. It would surely take her all day to get everything done. With a grump huff, she made her way back upstairs to wash up and get dressed. It was going to be a long day.

---

The old bike squeaked here and there as it rolled down the pathway on the side of the mountain. As much as Clover didn’t really like using it, it made hauling everything she needed to get for the Doctor much easier on her. She would simply ride it down to the town below, collect everything he needed in the huge wheeled basket attached just behind the back wheel of the bike, and then push the bike back up the hill to the castle. 

She was thankful that the day was more overcast than anything. While she enjoyed the way the sun made everything around her look, her eyes had admittedly grown a little bit more sensitive to it after Dr. Lazarus had attempted to turn her into a vampire. For some strange reason, it hadn’t quite worked all the way. Sunlight didn’t kill her, it was just… mildly uncomfortable. Meanwhile the dear Doctor couldn’t bear to be in the sunlight for more than a moment or two before it began to burn him alive. As strange as it was, Clover was grateful for the ability to still be able to live a relatively normal life when it came to being able to go out in public. As much as she loved the night, she wasn’t sure how she would have survived not being able to go to a store in the middle of the day or a cafe for a fresh espresso in the morning. At night everything would be closed and she was sure she would have gone insane from pure boredom. 

“Man, I’d kill for a coffee right about now,” she muttered to herself. 

As much as she enjoyed the town down below, it wasn’t really like they had any cafes that would give her a cup to go while she shopped. For the most part, every place that served coffee was a cute little cafe that was meant to be sat in for quite some time and drinks could be slowly enjoyed. They were places to hang out with friends and chat the day away. Perhaps she could just order a shot or two of espresso and just bang them down before the waitress could bring her to one of the seats. The girl who worked there was a sweet cat who always tried to be as attentive as possible. The rabbit really enjoyed seeing her there whenever she actually had the time to sit. Today was not one of those days, however. 

A sudden strange noise called her attention and her ears perked up to try and hear it better. It was hard to hear over the squeaking of the bike, but it sounded like a cross between a whizzing sound and wind rushing through the trees. Clover actually found herself squinting as she tried to listen for it. It wasn’t a noise that was familiar to her. Not here in this area, anyway. Before she could even think to stop her bike and look around, the sound rushed closer and a blue blur whizzed past her with such an intensity that it made her swerve and nearly topple over the edge of the cliffside. Terror gripped her chest so tightly that it was hard to breathe. She didn’t even realize she’d let out a scream so loud that she’d let all of the air out of her lungs and was too afraid to breathe in to get it back. 

Everything happened in a matter of seconds. She was blown over, feared for her life, and then found a hand grasping her forearm to yank her back into place on the solid ground. The poor rabbit’s eyes were wide with shock and her mouth hung open as she tried to focus on what the hell had just happened. 

“Woah there, breathe!” The hedgehog said, reaching to pat her on the back. “Come on, deep breath.”

Finally Clover managed to give a great gasp, slumping down onto the front of her bike as she let it out. The adrenaline was kicking in hard and one of her legs began to jitter against the pedal as the other held her in place against the ground. 

“What did… how… wh--,” she sputtered out, reaching to push her long bangs out of her face. 

“Sorry about that,” he said sheepishly, reaching to rub the back of his neck. “I didn’t realize there was anyone else out here. I woulda been more careful if I’d seen ya sooner.”

“That was you ?” Clover asked, still feeling shock rushing through her system.

There was only one hedgehog she knew of who was that fast. She hadn’t heard the stories about him or seen him at all in so long that she’d honestly forgotten he’d even existed. In fact, the last time she’d even heard about him was during the battle of Infinite. The city had been so destroyed that she’d actually lost her job and gone to travel with the money the company had given her for letting go. Heck, that was how she’d gotten into this whole mess. Being locked away in the castle with only this small town of people to talk to really had kept her out of the loop, hadn’t it? But there’s no way it could possibly be him, could it? Not this far away from his home. 

“Yeah. Lemme make it up to you?” The blue hedgehog offered. 

Rather than take him up on his offer, the thought of Dr. Lazarus being angry with her for not finishing things on time crossed her mind. Her curiosity was quickly replaced with anxiousness and Clover shook her head quickly. 

“Sorry, I don’t have time,” the rabbit replied. “I need to make sure I finish all of my errands for the Doctor.”

As she spoke, she felt around her clothes to make sure the list was still there. When she pulled it out, she felt a small flood of relief. The last thing she needed was for it to have flown out of her pocket in the fray. The hedgehog glanced at before a mischievous grin plastered itself across his face. He snatched it from her, much to her dismay, moved her away from the edge, and then took off running once more. 

“H-hey!”

Calling out was no use. He was long gone before she could even fully get the word out of her mouth. In frustration, she got off of her bike and moved to kick it with a loud noise of displeasure. Surely she was going to feel Dr. Lazarus’s wrath later that evening. 

Or so she thought. 

The blue blur returned, planting quite a few items down into the back basket of the bike. Again, he was off like a shot, and again he returned to place more of the items on her list into the basket. He repeated the motion over and over again until the basket was not only full, but the list had been crossed off completely. 

“There!” he grinned, reaching to hand her back the list. “That should be everything. Double check to make sure?”

Clover could only stand there agape. This hedgehog had just done an entire day’s worth of chores in all of five minutes. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she’d never had this much free time in all of her days with the Doctor. She almost didn’t know what to do with herself now.

“The name’s Sonic, by the way,” he continued, interrupting her thoughts as he held his hand out for her to shake.

“C-Clover,” the rabbit stammered as she gingerly reached to give his hand a shake. So it was him. Who’d have thought she ever would have run into the world’s most famous hero in this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere?

“Nice to meetcha, Clover. How’s about we get this stuff back to your place and then you show me around town, huh?”

If anything, he felt the need to do something to make almost knocking her off a cliff into less of a traumatic memory. Clover glanced between the stuff in the basket and the hedgehog before her as she tried to make her brain hurry up and finish processing what was going on. She’d wanted some excitement in her life, so why not go ahead and take the chance?

“Yeah. Yeah, sure,” she finally managed to say.

Sonic grinned, giving her a thumbs up as she agreed. It was a bit of a strange gesture, but Clover awkwardly gave him a thumbs up right back. This had just gone from being a long day to an interesting one.

Chapter Text

The absolute joy that rushed through Sonic as his body shot right through a whole line of Badnicks was simply too strong to be contained. The hedgehog let out a loud laugh, grinning as he felt the heat of explosions behind him.  A good majority of the damage to their world had been reversed and repaired, and it felt good to finally get back to normal. Sure Eggman’s hoard of robots plaguing the land was always going to be bad, but at the very least they were back to a tolerable level. It was easy to deal with the man again, and Sonic and his friends could extinguish his evil plans before they managed to affect all of the residents of their cities more than just a daily annoyance. 

The hedgehog’s actions pulled noises of frustration from Dr. Eggman’s throat as he watched on from his Eggpod. His robots were flimsy and he knew it. With each passing battle, he seemed to be finding less and less materials to use for his armies. The clean-up on the world had demolished his factories and take-overs far faster than he felt comfortable with. To make matters worse, they were somehow managing this despite losing untold numbers of Mobians during the horribly named “Operation Big-Wave.”  Even the Eggpod itself was struggling to stay up in the air despite how flawlessly it had flown in the past. 

The machine gave a strange little sputter as it dropped down a few feet. The Doctor’s panic was enough to distract him from the two-tailed teenage fox slapping a tiny device onto the back of his transport. With the device in place, Tails got out of the area as fast as he could. The last thing he needed was Eggman noticing the fox within firing range or being suspicious about what had just been planted on him. Thankfully, Sonic had just finished up with the small army of robots the scientist had brought with him. Nothing but piles of scrap metal lay on the grass all around the blue blur. 

“You okay up there, Egghead?” Sonic teased. “You’re startin’ to look a little grey! Maybe you’re going soft-boiled in your old age.”

“You may have won this time, Sonic,” the old man started. “But I swear, if it’s the last thing I do I’ll--”

“Yeah, yeah,” the hedgehog scoffed, waving his hand at the other to make him shut up. “Save the ‘if it wasn’t for you meddling kids’ speech you always say when I kick your butt and run away like you always do.”

A deep red flush of anger covered Eggman’s face as he growled to himself. As much as he hated to admit it, Sonic was right about one thing: His attack attempts were getting softer. He was running out of power and materials. Oh how he hated it when Sonic was right about things. Rather than trying to keep the argument going in his defense, the man did exactly what the hedgehog thought he would do. He turned the Eggpod around and flew back in the direction of his base.

Tails let out a happy yell as he gave  Sonic a high-five. Victory was once again theirs and they would have peace for the rest of the day. Heck, maybe they’d be left alone for a good couple of weeks while the man stayed in his base nursing his hurt pride.

“Great job, Sonic!”

“You too, bud,” Sonic replied. “But uh… what was that thing you put on his hover-dealie?”

“Oh, that?” Tails rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “It’s partially a tracking device, but it’s mostly so that I could remotely remove whatever plans he might have stored in his computer. Eggman’s Eggpod connects back to his home base. If he’s got anything he’s plotting, I can figure it out ahead of time.”

Sonic gave a great grin, reaching to give his friend’s shoulder a light and playful punch. 

“Great thinking, Tails! So long as we stay on top of him, he can’t cause any trouble.”

“Thanks,” the fox said with the softest of laughs. “So now, all I have to do is--”

Tails pulled a small tablet-like machine out of the front pocket of his overalls. With a few tip-taps here and there on the screen, a hologram appeared from the flat device. He spun the circular hologram back and forth with his fingers, managing to peek through the data even as it was working on being copied.

“There!,” He said triumphantly. “Now, even if Eggman finds the device and detaches it, we’re still got a copy of everything he’s currently working on.”

“Nice,” Sonic cheered, leaning in to try and get a peek. “He got anything good in there?”

“ Let’s see .”

The fox’s fingers flew over the hologram with such speed that even Sonic himself had trouble keeping up. Sure he was the fastest hedgehog around, but he still couldn’t type anywhere near as quickly as the resident genius. Tails paused as he passed over something, pulling back the hologram to pull up something strange. It let off little pulses, making Sonic tilt his head to the side in interest.

“The heck is that?” he asked. 

“It looks like…” Tails paused to try and zoom in on it. “Eggman’s tracking something. Some sort of radiation waves, it looks like. Honestly, I can’t be too sure without whatever this is actually in front of me. There’s a set of coordinates though.”

The more he thought on it, the more Tails realized that this was probably what Eggman was on his way to. The man had completely bypassed the city nearest them in favor of heading down a route the two friends had never seen him take interest in before. 

“It’s somewhere in there,” Tails said as he pointed up towards the distant peaks.

They were hard to see from where they were, but they weren’t small by any means. There was a singular path that most travelers would venture though, but the rest of the steep summits had never been fully explored. The terrain was dangerous, and only those that lived far up in the mountains really knew how to navigate the area. Most of them were quite old-fashioned for the most part and never really ventured into the city. 

“Or maybe… it might be on the other side of the mountains?” The fox added, trying his best to make the hologram bigger. “I’d have to hook this into my workshop computer. It’ll be easier to pinpoint it.”

“Huh. Well, what are we waiting for?” Sonic asked, jogging in place. “Race ya there!”

Before the younger one could protest, the hedgehog was off like a flash. 

“Sonic! Wait up!”

---

Tails took a deep breath of fresh air, adoring how the smell of the smog and pollution was almost entirely gone. It was finally back to how things were before Eggman’s takeover with Infinite. It finally felt fun to fly again. With only the sound of the Tornado’s engines and the wind whipping around them, he finally felt at peace again. Nothing made him happier than being up in the air, soaring through the sky. The way the sun played off of the high peaks of the mountains around them was truly a beautiful sight to behold, and the terrain kept him on his toes. 

“We’re almost there,” he shouted out to his best friend, peeking over his shoulder just enough to see Sonic give a yawn of boredom. 

“ Finally ,” the hedgehog groaned out. 

“The readings are coming from somewhere around here.”

As they passed a high summit, Tails spotted a castle down below. The architecture looked incredibly old, but well kept up. The only thing beside it was a forest, but it seemed as though there was a town not too far away. Though the readings said they were from this area, they’d still have to properly search on ground level before they would be able to find it. The mountains themselves made finding the location with his reader alone incredibly difficult. 

“It looks like I’m going to have to find someplace else to land,” Tails admitted, calling out over the wind as he looked around. “Nothing over here is flat enough.”

“Just drop me off here,” Sonic called back. 

Knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop the adventurous hedgehog, Tails swooped down towards the forest beside the castle. Sonic was already unbuckled and climbing out of his seat by the time Tails found a decent place to let him drop. 

“I’ll call you when I find a place to land!”

With a wink and a salute, Sonic took a dive straight down into the forest. After all, it wasn’t like he hadn’t done it a thousand times before. He used his speed to his advantage, dashing forward the instant his feet touched the ground. Through the trees he sped, rushing onto the path he’d seen from the plane--and nearly knocking a poor rabbit off of the cliff in the process. He was quick to stop himself and grasped her arm before it was too late. Guilt swelled up inside of his chest as he looked over her in worry. She wasn’t breathing. Her mouth was open from the loud shout she’d given when she was pushed over, but it looked as though she’d let out all of her air and couldn’t seem to get it back again.

“Woah there, breathe!” Sonic said, reaching to pat her on the back. “Come on, deep breath.”

Finally the rabbit managed to gasp in a big gulp of air before she all but collapsed down against the front of her bike. As guilty as he felt, Sonic had to try and keep himself from laughing as she wheezed and noticed how her leg was jittering up and down against her pedal. 

“What did… how… wh--,” she sputtered out, reaching to push her long bangs out of her face. 

“Sorry about that,” he said sheepishly, reaching to rub the back of his neck. “I didn’t realize there was anyone else out here. I woulda been more careful if I’d seen ya sooner.”

“That was you ?” she asked, mouth still agape.

Again he had to hold back the urge to laugh. Her expression reminded him of a fish: eyes wide and mouth all the way open. 

“Yeah.”

He stopped, a sudden idea popping into his head. She knew this area better than he did for sure. Surely she either knew where they could find that they were looking for, or possibly knew someone they could ask for better information.

“Lemme make it up to you?” The blue hedgehog offered. 

Sonic thought that surely she would have said yes. However he was shocked to find her expression changing to one of fear before she shook her head quickly. Sure he’d almost knocked her off a cliff, but surely he wasn’t that scary. 

“Sorry, I don’t have time,” the rabbit replied. “I need to make sure I finish all of my errands for the Doctor.”

The hedgehog couldn’t help but give a bit of a pout. Normally it wasn’t this hard to get someone to agree to go with him. He watched her feel around and pull out a piece of parchment paper. Strange, didn’t others usually keep their to-do lists on their phones and the likes at this point? Tails had a tablet that he kept all of his lists on, and he’d even seen others around town scrolling through their phones and communicators while they did their errands. Maybe the rabbit was just old-fashioned. Without asking for permission, Sonic reached to snatch it from her hands. 

“H-hey!” she shouted. 

Everything on the list looked simple enough. Most of it was shopping. Once more, he didn’t wait for her permission. The blue blur took off like a shot, making his way down the path and into the town. The townsfolk seemed shocked at just how quickly he moved around. Between each few errands, he ran back up the cliff, dropped things into her basket, and headed back down again to get more. Some of this stuff was heavy, after all! There was no way he could manage it all in one go. Finally, he managed to finish it all up, coming to a stop right at her side.

“There!” He said, reaching to hand her back the list. “That should be everything. Double check to make sure?”

She was staring at him again. At this point, Sonic was beginning to wonder if she even knew who he was. Normally people recognized him right off the bat. Then again, for all he knew she was from this town and had never really gone outside or gotten any outside knowledge. He had to set his own pride aside and just give her the benefit of the doubt.

“The name’s Sonic, by the way,” he said, interrupting her thoughts as he held his hand out for her to shake.

“C-Clover,” the rabbit responded as she gingerly reached to give his hand a shake. 

“Nice to meetcha, Clover. How’s about we get this stuff back to your place and then you show me around town, huh?”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure,” she finally managed to say.

Sonic grinned, giving her a thumbs up as she agreed. Awkwardly, she returned the motion and turned her bike around. 

“Here,” he offered. “Let me.”

Gently, he took the handlebars from her and hoisted himself up onto the bike. 

“Sit up on the bars,” Sonic suggested.

Clover looked at him suspiciously before she shrugged and moved to do as he asked. What did she really have to lose at this point? Once she was safely in place, he began to pedal up the cliff towards the castle ahead. The rabbit squeaked as they sped forward; grasping the handlebars tightly to keep from falling off. The bike felt old and rickety, and Sonic had to go much slower than he would have prefered to keep the darn thing from falling apart. It was still faster than walking. As they reached the castle, he let out a long whistle.

“You live here?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she replied as she slid down onto the ground. “I mean, it’s not my place, but I live here with someone.”

Once Sonic was off of the bike, she shoved the whole thing into a stable-like area. She could pull things inside through the door there later. For now, Clover had to worry about doing whatever it took to get the hedgehog off of her back.

“Seems like a pretty cool place,” Sonic said.

The building was much taller than it looked from the air. The stone looked weathered but sturdy, and the pretty stained glass windows all looked like they would truly be sights to behold from inside with the sun showing through them. 

“Y-yeah, it’s pretty nifty,” the rabbit replied. “But we’d better head into town. The guy I live with is uh… pretty private .”

“I hear that,” Sonic agreed with a shrug. “Come on, let’s get going.”

If she didn’t want him inside, he wasn’t going to push. Clover felt relieved that he was going to let it go. At least, she felt relieved until he picked her up . 

“Hey, what are you--?!”

She didn’t manage to finish before Sonic began to run down the pathway once more. Instead, a loud noise of surprise left her lips before she found herself clinging to his shoulders for dear life. He really was fast!

“Don’t worry, I won’t drop ya,” he assured her. “I do this all the time. It’s faster this way!”

Going slow quite literally wasn’t his speed. The faster he could get into town, the better. By the time they finally stopped, the rabbit’s head was spinning and she nearly stumbled as she was put down. Sonic was about to check on her when the chirping of the communicator on his wrist caught his attention. 

“Sonic, do you read me?” Tails’ voice called over it. 

“Read ya loud and clear, buddy,” Sonic called back. 

“I’ve found a place to land. Shouldn’t take me more than 10 minutes to walk into town. Where should I meet you?”

For a moment the hedgehog had to pause and look around for some sort of land mark. The thing he spotted first was a small coffee shop.

“There’s a place here called The Violet Cafe,” he said into the wrist-device. “Meet us there when you get here.”

“Us?” Tails asked curiously. 

“Yeah. I might have made a friend,” Sonic answered, glancing over at Clover as she finally seemed to get her bearings back. 

The rabbit pouted. Friends, huh? She leaned down to speak into the device as well.

“He almost killed me…”

“Yeeeaah…. Sounds about right,” Tails mused. “I’ll see you both there soon!”

With another little chirp, the communication cut off. Sonic laughed sheepishly and motioned towards the cafe.

“Shall we, then?”

Chapter Text

Sonic stared outright at the rabbit in front of him. While he’d ordered just a simple, small iced latte, Clover had ordered the largest cup he’d ever seen of just straight black coffee. At the rate she was sucking it down, he was sure the ice in the cup wouldn’t even get the chance to melt before every last drop was gone. Could one tiny rabbit’s body handle that much caffeine? Apparently so, because before his eyes she drained the entire cup from top to bottom. With a happy sigh, she pulled her lips from the straw and pushed the cup away.

“That’s better,” Clover hummed. 

“You… gonna be okay with that much of it in your system?” Sonic asked curiously. 

“Hm? Oh yeah! This was just the first cup.”

“ First…? ”

The hedgehog was flabbergasted. He could only handle a shot or two of espresso before he was quite literally bouncing off the walls and running in circles. It was hard for him to comprehend how others could drink more than that. Clover meanwhile waved at the waitress and pointed down at her empty cup. The feline quietly chuckled to herself, knowing her main customer’s habits at this point. With a soft smile, she brought the second cup and took the empty one.

“Yeah, I’m working on two hours of sleep. I need all the coffee I can get. Marna’s got my order memorized at this point. She’s the best,” Clover mused, gazing after the waitress as she started to suck down the second drink.

Sonic wanted to ask her why she’d gotten such little sleep, however Tails entered the shop at that moment and threw off his train of thought. With a grin, he waved down his friend. The fox trotted over to the two of them, taking a seat between the two at the round table. 

“Well hey there~” Clover half-sang out. “I take it you’re the voice I heard over the radio?”

“Tails,” the fox replied, holding his hand out for her to take. “Nice to meetcha!”

“Trust me, the pleasure’s mine,” the rabbit said as she shook his hand. “It’s been a while since I’ve met any new people around here.”

Truthfully, she usually kept to herself. Other than her errands she was either in the cafe having a cup (or three) of coffee, or she was stuck in the castle working with the Doctor. 

“So,” she started, “What brings you here?”

Tails hesitated, shooting Sonic a look that more or less said, “ Can we trust her? ” Sonic merely shrugged and nodded. From what he’d seen, she was harmless. The fox heaved a heavy sigh. Sonic always was the reckless type. At this point, it wasn’t like he had all that much of a choice if his friend had bonded with the girl.

“We’re looking for some weird energy readings that are radiating from this area,” Tails admitted. 

As he spoke, he pulled out the small machine he’d been using with Sonic when they’d first found the readings. A holoscreen appeared in the air and zoned in on the area as it showed the little green blips. 

“Someone we know is looking for it,” the fox continued. “But he can’t be allowed to get ahold of it or else it could spell disaster.”

“...Huh,” Clover muttered, nervously starting to sip at her coffee again.

Surely they weren’t picking up on--

“Know any evil scientists ?” Sonic joked.

The rabbit choked on her coffee, almost spitting it out on the spot. A hand flew up to keep her lips clamped shut, muffling her sputtering as she struggled to swallow while her tiny pink nose did its best to keep up with her frantic need for air. Sonic sat up quickly, unsure of what to do other than to reach out awkwardly. Tails on the other hand was quick to move his device out of the way in anticipation of an actual spit-take. Once she finally caught her breath again, Clover slumped back against her seat with a loud huff. 

“That’s… the second time you’ve almost killed me today,” she tried to tease, giving a breathless laugh.

“Sorry about that,” the hedgehog said sheepishly. 

“Pretty strong reaction though,” Tails pointed out. “ You wouldn’t happen to be an evil scientist, would you?”

With a strange noise of unhappiness, Clover tried to slide down even more. She pulled her coffee cup closer and outright tried to hide behind it. 

“Well, it’s not me ,” she admitted hesitantly. “It’s kinda… sorta… the guy I live with?”

“Don’t tell me,” Sonic groaned. “You’re the--

“Minion,” Clover sighed. “And girlfriend. Sort of? It’s complicated.”

Her relationship with Dr. Lazarus was more than just tricky. More often than not his actions had her head spinning so badly that she couldn’t tell what was up or down, or what he truly thought of her. For the most part she was sure she was simply a tool. Even still, there were nights where he seemed so emotionally attached to her that it made her think twice about his feelings. It was one of the biggest pains in the ass she’d ever experienced in her life. 

“No kidding?” The hedgehog asked.

“Well, can you take us to his lab?” Tails asked curiously. “All evil scientists have labs. Whatever we’re looking for is probably in there.”

“We’ll be in and out before you know it!” Sonic promised. 

Clover averted her gaze as she thought it over. For the most part the Doctor was harmless. His unwillingness to upgrade his technology or go outdoors made all of his evil inventions all but useless. He had slowly become a shut-in over the centuries and because of Clover’s presence all of it was kept pretty well contained. Then again, if something he was making was dangerous enough to send out readings that others were picking up on then it would be a good idea to take whatever it was down before it could hurt anyone. There was really only one thing standing in her way. 

The idea of getting caught terrified her.

Clover took a shaky breath and clanced outside to check on the position of the sun. As long as they were out before the Doctor awoke from his slumber, she supposed it couldn’t really do any harm. He was all but dead when he was sleeping.

“In and out?” she asked. “You swear it?”

“Cross my heart,” Sonic agreed, doing exactly that with an index finger. 

The rabbit glanced at Tails as if asking him to promise too. The startled fox stiffened up before he reached to repeat the motion Sonic had done. Her fingers fidgeted against her cup, clearly still nervous about the whole idea. Taking another deep breath, she leaned in to suck down the rest of her brew. There was no sense in letting good coffee go to waste.

“Alright,” she said as she pushed away her freshly emptied cup. “I’ll take you. But first, we’re gonna set some ground rules.”

Both boys leaned in, awaiting said rules. It was worth nearly anything to get to whatever this strange thing was before Eggman did.

“First things first,” she started. “Don’t touch anything except the thing you’re looking for. The doctor is very particular and he’ll notice if something is out of place. Second, you’re out before sunset. He sleeps during the day and if you’re still there by the time he wakes up, we’re all dead.”

“Well I don’t know about that,” Sonic laughed. 

He quickly shut up when the rabbit shot him a look more serious than he’d expected. He was about to reply when Tails outright reached to put his hand over his best friend’s mouth.

“We promise,” the youngest one said. “In and out before sunset and we won't touch anything.”

Clover stared the two of them down for a long moment before she finally conceded defeat. With a small nod she stood and motioned for them to follow her. 

Unbeknownst to any of them, a dark hedgehog had also found his way to the mountain town. Shadow stood atop one of the buildings as he looked around. It was such a small area in comparison to the cityscapes he was used to. Everything was soft and quaint. He wasn’t sure he liked it. 

“Rouge, come in,” he called over his communicator. 

“Rouge here,” came the bat’s voice.

“I’m here. Send me the coordinates Gamma picked up on?”

A set of numbers and a soft green blip similar to the one Tails had picked up on appeared on the watch-like device. It looked close, but not close enough to be in any of the buildings around him. 

“It’s going to be somewhere large. Somewhere that can distort the readings,” said Rouge. “I can be there in a couple of hours if you need my help breaking into the place when you find it.”

The noise of a bell ringing as a door opened caught the dark hedgehog’s attention. Out came Sonic, Tails, and a rabbit that he didn’t recognize. The blue hedgehog’s typical grin sickened him, as did the fox’s equally cheerful demeanor, but the rabbit… whatever they were doing, she clearly didn’t want to be a part of it. There was no way the two heroes would be in this no-name town without a good reason. It didn’t take a genius to tell that they were after the same thing Shadow was. 

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” he replied. “I’ll call you back when I find it.”

The hedgehog jumped down from the roof without a second thought, startling the rabbit as he landed beside the group. Even Tails jumped in surprise as he looked up at the taller male. Sonic on the other hand looked less than amused.

“Shadow?” the blue blur asked. “What the heck are you doing here?”

“The same thing you are, I assume,” the darker one answered. 

The sound of his voice had Clover’s ears perking at their full height and a shiver ran straight down her spine. He was so damn edgy! As silly as it was, he reminded her much of her younger goth-wanna-be days. Back then she would try her best to look as dark and broody as he was despite her more perky tendencies. Did she find him attractive? Absolutely . First a vampire and now this guy. Apparently she had a type . The rabbit let out a loud noise of frustration, reaching to slap at her own cheeks a few times. She needed to focus, and no hot hedgehog was going to distract her. 

“You uh, okay over there?” Sonic asked, raising a brow. 

Her actions seemed to come out of nowhere to the rest of them. She waved it off, motioning for them to follow her as she headed towards the path they’d come down earlier.

“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I assume this is a friend of yours?” she asked.

“Clover, Shadow . Shadow, Clover ,” Sonic replied, trying to get the introductions out of the way as fast as possible. 

“ Greeeat ,” she sighed. “More to look after in the lab.”

“Oh yeah, rules,” the blue hedgehog said, turning to the other. “No touching, out by sunset. Cool?”

“ I’m not making any promises ,” Shadow growled. 

As much as he didn’t want to be stuck with the others, it would be easier to just be led to the source of the readings rather than trying to seek it out himself. 

---

Clover’s nerves could hardly take the anxiety rushing through her as she led the threesome down the set of wooden stairs. It was completely dark save for the soft sunlight coming in whenever they passed a cliffside window and the torch she held in her hand. The castle was so old that for the most part it didn’t seem to have electricity. Not in it’s lower rooms, anyway. Only a few of the upper rooms had been outfitted with some old-fashioned electric lights. Usually it made Clover feel like she was living in some old-styled fantasy. Now, however, the dark was unsettling. Even the silence felt somehow loud as they descended down into the deep recesses of the cliffside. She could see the door just ahead of them, but before they would reach it they had to pass the stairwell that led even further down to Dr. Lazarus’s bedroom. 

The frightened rabbit stopped just before the passage. As much as she didn’t want to admit it to herself or the others she was coming a bit undone. She was so nervous that she felt downright queasy. Perhaps this should have been one of the many red flags that showed just how unbearable her relationship with the wolf really was. There had been many warning signs over the years. Yet for some reason she still couldn’t find the strength to leave. 

“Hey,” Sonic started softly. “You oka--”

“ Shh ,” she hushed him quickly. 

Shadow curiously peered around her to try and get a look at what was down the stairway. What could have possibly been scaring her so badly that she couldn’t seem to move past it? 

Clover took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she tried to steady her shaking hand. She took one step forward, then another, and another until she was finally managing to continue at a normal pace. This was it. They were past the point of no return . 

Sonic and Tails shot each other a concerned look. Whatever they wound up doing here, they seemed to come to a silent agreement to try and help Clover as well. If she was living with someone that made her feel this much fear, then she needed to get out of there as fast as possible.

The dark walnut wood door had never looked as dark and menacing as it did in that moment. Her fingers jittered as she reached out to push the door open. The loud creak it made had her fur standing on edge and she froze up completely. Clover looked over her shoulder, afraid that even the slightest noise would wake Dr. Lazarus from his death-like slumber. Shadow on the other hand gave an annoyed grunt. He stepped forward and pushed the door open completely, the resulting racket making the already frazzled rabbit nearly jump out of her hide.

She rushed inside and crouched down in fear. Tails had to snatch the torch from her before she had the chance to drop it. If he and Sonic weren’t concerned before, they surely were now. The darker hedgehog rolled his eyes as he pushed the door closed. Only then did Clover seem to relax enough to speak. 

“S-so uh, what was it you guys were looking for again?” she asked, her voice cracking here and there. 

“Don’t worry,” Tails said, pulling up the hologram once more. “I can find it.”

He made eye contact with Sonic and tilted his head towards the girl. The blue hedgehog awkwardly glanced down at her. Clover even looked like she would be sick at any second. She stayed crouched on the ground, holding her stomach and rocking ever so slightly back and forth. Slowly, Sonic lowered himself down to crouch beside her. 

“Hey there,” he started, biting his own bottom lip nervously. “You doing okay?”

“I hate this,” Clover admitted. “He’s gonna find out. I know it. He’s gonna find out and then he’s gonna…”

One of Shadow’s ears perked up as she trailed off. Though he was watching Tails search the lab, he couldn’t help but listen in. Even he could feel that something was horrible wrong here. Just what kind of person was the owner of this castle?

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” Sonic tried to soothe.

He reached out to place a hand on her back only to feel Clover stiffen up and tremble. The reaction spoke volumes to him. 

“Clover,” he started, unsure of how to approach the subject gently. “Has he… hurt you? ”

The way her eyes widened and shifted away from him gave Sonic the answer he was dreading without a single word. At this point, even Shadow turned to look at her. Usually seeing weaker beings tremble was something that didn’t phase him in the slightest. This girl however, wasn’t someone in a battle. She wasn’t someone who thought she was strong and was getting knocked down a peg. She was seemingly completely defenseless. The fact that someone was taking advantage of her to the point of crippling anxiety bothered him . 

“He’s…. A vampire ,” Clover finally spoke up, much to both hedgehogs’ surprise. “It’s in his nature to hurt.”

Despite the severity of the situation, Sonic let out a loud bout of laughter. In that moment, it took all Shadow had not to give the other a swift kick in the metaphorical pants. Strange or not this was no laughing matter. Sonic’s laughing made Clover pull into herself more. Now she felt outright silly for admitting anything at all.

“I-I’m sorry,” he stammered as he tried to get his guffaws under control. “It’s just that, vampires don’t exist. Whatever story he’s feeding you, he’s totally lying.”

Her expression quickly shifted from hurt to angry, and the rabbit shot Sonic a glare so poisonous that he stiffened up in shock. Sure she’d had some sass when they’d first met, but that was nothing in comparison to the look she was giving him. Without a word, Clover held out one of her arms. She rolled it so that he could see her wrist and reached to move some of the fur there out of the way. Sure enough, there were bite marks there from two fangs. 

“I’m his main source of food,” she nearly growled out. “His food, his minion, his toy ...You name it, I’ve probably done it for him.”

Finally she plopped all the way down onto the ground, pulling her knees to her chest so that she could lean on them grumpily. At the very least, it felt better to be angry than frightened. It made the nausea subside, if even for a moment. Sonic reached to rub his own arm awkwardly. He’d seen a lot in his life, and having been a werehog himself at one point he probably should have known better than to tell her that vampires were fake. Thankfully it was Shadow who spoke up.

“Why don’t you leave , then?” the darker hedgehog asked. 

“I can’t ,” Clover replied, simmering down slightly as she looked up to him. “He’s pretty much told me that if I ever leave, he’ll track me down and either drag me back here or finish me off.”

“I found it!” Tails finally called from deep inside of the lab. 

The excited fox ran back over to the group and motioned for them to follow him. 

“Come on, guys. The readings are coming from a machine over here.”

Both of the fox’s tails wagged back and forth enthusiastically. Stopping the machine was step number one. The faster they could get that done and over with, the faster they could focus on other things. Clover stood from her place on the floor and brushed off her bottom. 

“Which one is it?” she asked, following the younger one with both hedgehogs not far behind her.

Clover thought she’d gotten used to this lab long ago, yet at this moment everything felt new in a terrifying way. Large machines full of cogs and wheels loomed over her and made her feel far more tiny than she actually was. Beakers with strange liquids sat up on shelves with labels in a language she couldn’t read. The floor almost felt slick from how worn down it was from the Doctor’s pacing. Despite all of his inventions being metalic, all of the work tables and shelves were wooden and flimsy in comparison. There were so many machines in here that looked as though they did nothing at all. Nothing useful, anyway. The one that Tails brought them to however happened to be the only one that ever really worried her. There were endless knobs and levers attached to it, and a large container of a bubbling, glowing green liquid towered over the group. The glass tube was topped with a device that had a smaller tube coming out of the top. Said smaller tube led up to the ceiling and straight out of the castle to a point in the cliff where it could be released out into the air. 

“ Of course it’s this one,” she droned. 

“You know what it is?” Tails asked curiously. 

“Yeah. It’s the Lazinator ,” Clover grumbled in reply.

“The what ?” Sonic asked with a laugh.

She couldn’t blame him. Even now she could remember when the Doctor told her what the invention was called. 

“And this beauty is the Lazinator,” the wolf had boasted proudly. 

“Is… is that what you’re actually calling it?” The rabbit asked. 

“Yes, why? Do you have a problem with that?”

“It just sounds kinda… lame,” Clover admitted. 

Even the thought of the way his fur bristled in anger despite how calm and cool his features look sent an unhappy chill through her. 

“And what do you suggest I name it?” He’d asked, venom dripping from his words. “The Clover-Killinator ?”

“ N-Nope! ” She’d answered quickly, going completely rigid. “No, the Lazinator’s a perfect name! It’s sooooo cool!”

“Yes, that's what I thought,” the doctor said, draping an arm around her shoulders. 

The memory made Clover roll her eyes. 

“He’s not very good at naming things,” she admitted. 

Tails gave a sheepish grin at that. Sure a lot of his invention names involved his own name or Foxes in some way, but surely his sounded a heck of a lot better than “Laziantor.” Maybe he’d have to look over all of his names when he got home, just in case. 

“So uh, what does it do?” He asked.

Normally the young genius was great at figuring out most types of tech relatively quickly. This was sadly confusing for him. There wasn’t anything for him to be able to type into, and there were no screens or things that seemed to display information. There was a thick notebook over on the main work desk, but something told him that would take ages to sift through. They were running out of time, and if Clover knew anything about it, that would be their fastest source of information. Sonic scoffed. In his opinion, the machine looked downright silly. For all they knew, it just had some sort of vampire punch inside of it. 

“It can’t be that bad,” he said, moving to lean against part of the machine. “Look at it! Not even Egghead’s machines look this stupid.”

And then the thing he was leaning on moved . 

Clover reached to grasp her ears in dread as the lever under the hedgehog’s arm shifted downward. 

“ Idiot! ” Shadow shouted out, reaching to yank Sonic off of it. The rabbit meanwhile scrambled to push the lever back up again. 

“I told you not to touch anything!” she hissed. “I don’t know how bad it actually is, but what I do know is that there’s a virus in there!”

“Oh,” Sonic chuckled out nervously. “ Whoops ?”

“Whoops my foot!” Clover reached to give his arm a shove. “If that stuff gets released, we could have a legitimate zombie apocalypse on our hands! I’m talkin’ the worst stuff you can imagine.”

The Doctor had mentioned it once or twice to her. He considered this sickness to be his greatest invention yet. Clover wasn’t fully sure it worked. As far as she knew it had never been tested, and honestly she wanted to keep it that way. Zombies were the last thing the world needed at any given point in time. 

“Alright, alright! I’m sorry!” Sonic said, holding his hands up in defense. “I messed up, I got it. How do we shut this thing down?”

The rabbit had been about to reply when the sudden chimes of the clock in the lab caught her attention. It was an old wooden clock that sounded almost like an old-fashioned music box as it played a tune that could only mean--

“Sunset,” she gasped out. 

“Wha--” Tails started, only to have the girl suddenly pushing them all towards the door. 

“It’s sunset. You’ve gotta go, now !” She insisted. 

“W-wait, but--” Sonic tried to insist.

“ You promised! ”

As much as any of them hated to admit it they had promised. Or rather, Sonic and Tails had promised . As the group made their way up the stairs Clover could swore she heard Lazarus’s bedroom door open. Fear gripped her heart and squeezed it so tightly she couldn’t tell if it was still beating or not. Once they finally made their way back to the front door, she flung it open and started to shove them all right out of it. 

“Thanks for coming, been real fun but you’ve gotta go now,” she insisted at an overly-fast pace. 

“Clover wait, let us help you,” Sonic insisted. 

“Not today. Not in the stars. Can’t do it,” she insisted, her leg jittering as she reached for the door. “Bye now!”

And with that, the door was all but slammed in their faces. Sonic gave out a sigh in frustration. The machine worried him sure, but Clover’s reactions worried him all the more. Had they been able to talk for even a few minutes more, maybe he would have been able to convince her to distract the vampire so that they could take care of the machine and then focus on getting her out of there. 

“Hey uh, Sonic?” Tails asked, looking around the area. “ Where’s Shadow ?”

“Huh?”

The blue hedgehog mimicked his friend’s motions, glancing around as well. 

“That’s weird. I thought he was with us when Clover pushed us out.”

The rabbit let out a soft sigh of relief as she slumped against the door. They were gone, and perhaps she could fix whatever had been touched in the lab before Lazarus decided to climb out of his coffin. Her comfort was short-lived, however. The sudden ringing of bells met her ears and had all of that nervous nausea returning with a vengeance. He knew. She could feel it in her gut.

He knew .

Chapter Text

The mere sound of the bells were enough to make Clover’s legs feel as though they’d just turned to jelly. Everything around her felt so loud as she forced herself forward. Even her own breathing somehow sounded like it was echoing off of the walls of the castle. She reached to grasp her ears, pulling them down and pressing on them to try and mute any of the noise around her. Her footsteps felt so heavy as she inched forward. The instant she stepped onto the first stair, the ringing of the bells stopped. 

Her heart raced uncomfortably in her chest. Either he’d gotten tired of ringing, or he knew she was on her way. Though the former would be the better option, she could swear she could feel his anger radiating from down below. Releasing her ears, she continued down into the depths once more. She had to try her best to look normal and gripping her ears so tightly that she might tear them off didn’t exactly fit the bill. 

The rabbit was unaware of the other set of eyes in the castle. While Sonic and Tails were currently outside making their way back to the town to regroup their information, Shadow stayed behind. Sure he wasn’t a professional thief like Rouge, but he had his ways of sneaking about when he needed to. For now the hedgehog stayed in the main hall. The lab and hallway had been far too small to allow a quick escape or reasonable hiding places should things go wrong. He had to wait and watch for the best opportunity to sneak back down to try and get information on the machine in question.

Clover fiddled with her gloves while she walked and tried her best to take slow, deep breaths. At first, she’d been about to head to the Doctor’s bedroom. More often than not, he would awaken and call her to dress him before his evening began. Tonight however, she could see the light from inside of the now-open lab door. A shadow shifted inside of it, and before she could make it all the way there the wolf’s figure appeared in the doorway. Though his face looked calm as ever, there was a shimmer of malice in his glowing red eyes. 

“G-good evening, Doctor,” the rabbit said nervously. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, dear. Like the dead,” he nearly purred back.

The wolf motioned for her to come closer with a single finger. However when the frightened one couldn’t seem to move forward, he stepped forward instead. 

“Tell me, darling,” Dr. Lazarus said softly. “Why was there a torch lit in my lab?”

Clover’s body stiffened as one of his hands slipped onto the back of her neck to guide her up the stairs. This was a motion she’d loved when they’d first met. It felt strangely intimate back then. Now? Now it just felt like he was lording over her body and forcing her to do what he wanted instead of letting her act on her own. 

“I was getting ready to move all of the supplies into your work space,” she answered quickly.

It was a good enough reason, wasn’t it? Hopefully he didn’t see right through her. Clover was sure the wolf could feel her trembling in his grasp. 

“I see,” he said, squeezing hard enough to make her flinch. “And what have I told you about my lab?”

As they stepped into the main hall from the stairwell, Shadow ducked behind the grand staircase that led to the upper rooms. The last thing he needed was to be spotted now. 

“N-never to go in it without you,” Clover sputtered out. 

“That’s right,” Dr. Lazarus said in a voice that sounded like baby-talk. “So what does the silly bunny need to do?”

As he spoke, he released her neck and reached instead to pinch her cheeks. It was uncomfortable and Clover wished she could pull away from his grasp. Every time she shifted, he seemed to shift with her.

“I need to stay out of the la--” she started.

“ Stay out of the lab! ” he snarled, cutting her off and making her flinch backward.

Her fear made his anger melt into a smirk. Finally he released her cheeks and reached to pat one of them instead. 

“You can’t even seem to follow simple instructions,” the Doctor said as he turned away from her to head back to the stairs. “Sometimes I wonder how you even survived out in the real world without me. You’re functionally useless, Clover. Even as a vampire! I mean…”

He laughed as he turned in the archway. 

“You can’t even feed properly,” he scoffed.

This new turn of events had Shadow’s interest fully piqued. The rabbit had mentioned that she was the vampire’s primary source of food, but she hadn’t mentioned that he’d tried to turn her. Was that why she’d allowed the heroic duo to join her in the first place? Had she been planning on trying to either have them for dinner herself or offer them up to her vampiric master? Really he was left wondering if these vampires were anything like the few legends he’d heard about them or if they were a breed all their own. He didn’t have time to think about it, however. Lazarus seemed to have closed off his only way back into the lab and there was no way he could get into it without taking the other out. This left him with a new issue. Unless he completely removed Lazarus from the equation, there was a chance that the wolf would turn around and come after Clover . While the ultimate life-form was sure he could go up against a creature of legend with no issues, he also had to figure out if immortality was a factor in Lazarus’s powers. The dark hedgehog watched as Clover’s fur almost seemed to puff up as anger filled her. 

“I can too!” she protested.

“Really, now?” the doctor asked, raising a brow. “Name one time that you’ve actually been able to bite and drain someone.”

Clover opened her mouth to speak, only to stop and close it again. She reached to rub her own arm as she averted her gaze. Truthfully, she couldn’t name a time when she’d managed to feed off of another being. Though she had little fangs of her own, they didn’t seem to be sharp enough to pierce through fur and skin all at once. They weren’t like the ones that the natural born predator in front of her possessed.

“That’s right,” Lazarus mused. “You haven’t, and you never will. Face it darling, you’re nothing without me.”

He waved his hand at her, motioning for her to leave his sight. 

“That will be all. I need to go and make sure you haven’t messed anything up downstairs. Once I assess the damage, we’ll have another little chat ,” the wolf promised.

As he disappeared from sight, the rabbit still found herself shaking. It was a mixture of her previous fear and her newfound anger swirling together and making her feel more ashamed of herself than she ever had. Clover found her mind telling her, ‘ That wasn’t so bad! At least he didn’t hurt you. ’ That thought alone sickened her. While he hadn’t physically hurt her, she knew that none of this was right. She should have left long ago. She should have left when he first tried to turn her. That felt so long ago now, and all of the time she’d spent being stuck within the walls of the castle had all been wasted. With a deep and shaky breath, she yanked the front door open and ran outside. 

This moment left Shadow with a conundrum. Either he could head downstairs and start a battle with Lazarus, or he could chase after Clover and make sure she was alright. The former, of course, was his preference, but even he realized that the lab was no place for a showdown. Collateral damage wasn’t typically a concern for him, but that machine… whatever its contents were, even he knew they had to be contained. Besides that, as much as he hated to admit it, he was worried about the rabbit. He hadn’t seen if she’d been injured at all down below or heard the first part of the conversation. 

Having her on his side was going to be a crucial factor in this mission. If she could lure Lazarus out of his hiding place, Shadow could have at him while the others worked to take down the machine and destroy it’s contents. It took him only a moment to make his decision. The hedgehog took off after Clover, following her down the cliffside path.

---

Silver heaved a great sigh of frustration as he looked around the forest, completely unaware that he had gained the attention of a set of particularly sensitive ears. The rabbit turned predator stalked him from behind the trees, watching Silver fiddle with the machine. He’d received a message from Tails requesting some back-up, but for some reason his locator seemed to be scrambled. Between the mountain range seeming to confuse the device and his own psychokinesis making it short out on a regular basis, the hedgehog was sure he was going to have to search for the others without its help. 

Shadow all the while found himself searching up and down the path from the castle to the town. Somehow Clover had gotten away from him in the mere moments it took for him to hesitate in his chase. Hadn’t she been heading for the town? It would have only made sense for her to seek solace in someone she already knew, or possibly even the two heros she’d met earlier. 

“ Damn ,” he muttered under his breath. 

If she wasn’t on the path and there was no way she’d made it to town, then that only left the forest to be searched. Now Shadow found himself regretting his decision to chase after the girl. This felt like far more trouble than it was worth. It was then a familiar voice rang out through the air. It wasn’t a noise he was used to hearing from the other, but that shriek of terror was obviously coming from Silver . The dark hedgehog darted through the trees at top speed, angling his ears forward to try and find the location of the other. 

“Silver!” Shadow shouted as he burst through the bushes, only to find… Silver laughing?

The hedgehog outright squealed as Clover bit down on his neck, flailing around and laughing like a maniac. He tried to beg her to stop as best as he could as his power flickered in and out around him, but the rabbit’s bites were tickling him far too much for him to actually focus. 

She let out strange little snarls as she tried over and over again to bite through the thick ruff of fur that made its way up his chest and around his neck. With a frustrated yowl, she finally released him and kicked at the ground. “Why are these stupid fangs so useless ?!”

“ Why was I even worried? ” Shadow groaned, rolling his eyes. 

Silver fought to get his laughter under control, biting his bottom lip as he reached to cover one of his cheeks. Perhaps he should have been more on edge considering the fact that this rabbit he’d never met had just tried to bite him, but the experience had him more bashful than anything else.

“Hey, Shadow,” the lighter hedgehog said breathlessly. “I uh… take it this is a friend of yours?”

Before Shadow could answer, Clover threw her hands up into the air and stormed off. She was frustrated with herself for failing, and even more frustrated that she’d even tried in the first place. Her motion made Shadow reach to rub at his own temples. He could feel the start of a headache coming on.

“Less of a friend and more of an annoyance ,” he corrected.

Now that Silver wasn’t in danger anymore, the darker hedgehog could care less. Rather than sticking around, he instead moved to follow the rabbit to make sure she didn’t try to bite anyone else she came across. 

“H-hey, wait for me!” Silver called, chasing after him. 

If Shadow was here, then Sonic was definitely here as well. All he had to do was follow along and sooner or later he was sure he’d run into him. 

“Clover!” Shadow called. “Hey, Clover! Hold on, would you?”

He reached out to grasp her arm and immediately the rabbit stopped. Immediately he could feel her pull into herself. As soon as he was sure she wasn’t going to keep walking, he released her to give her the space she desired. 

“I don’t know what’s more infuriating,” she admitted. “The fact that he told me I’m useless on my own, or the fact that he’s right .”

Now it was Shadow’s turn to pull into himself. He wasn’t exactly good with comforting speeches or supportive talks. He’d made the choice to go after her without thinking about the fact that he was actually going to have to do more than just track her down. The darker hedgehog looked to his friend, to which Silver made a motion for Shadow to step up and speak. Shadow shrugged to show that he had no idea what to do and made a motion for Silver to speak instead. The lighter hedgehog gave him an unamused stare, and with the simple motion of his finger, he used his psychokinesis to actively slide Shadow closer to Clover. Shadow’s brow furrowed. Damn.

“You know,” he began, trying to hide just how uncomfortable he felt by the situation. “He’s only right if you let him be right.”

Raising a brow, Clover looked to him in confusion. What the heck was that supposed to mean? Silver had to fight the urge to face-palm behind them. Shadow cleared his throat, trying to word this in the best way he could without sounding like an absolute jerk. 

“The only one who gets to decide your worth is you ,” the dark hedgehog said. “If you just roll over and let him push you around, then he’s always going to be right about you. You will be nothing without him.”

“I guess you--” Clover’s words halted and she turned to him with wide eyes. “ Were you spying on me? ”

Now Silver face-palmed. Shadow meanwhile waved it off nonchalantly. 

“I wasn’t spying on you ,” he protested coolly. “I simply snuck back into the castle to gain more intel and happened to be in the room when he was treating you like garbage.”

For a long moment, Clover stared the dark hedgehog down. Silver was almost sure this was going to turn into a brawl, but instead the rabbit burst into laughter. With a grin she gave Shadow’s arm a playful punch. 

“Thanks,” said the much more cheerful rabbit. 

The punch was a bit of a surprise. It wasn’t like it hurt. It was simply that no one really bothered to get all that touchy with Shadow unless they were actually fighting. Her change in demeanor was enough to make him smirk. Maybe she wasn’t a lost cause after all. If given the right chances, she could turn her life around in no-time. 

“ Clover! ”

The loud shout had the rabbit’s cheerful smile gone in a millisecond. The three sound themselves turning quickly to find that the source of the shout was an incredibly angry looking vampire heading down the path towards them. Instantly Clover felt all of her anxiety return. Her frightened body made the move for her, taking a step backward and outright hiding behind Shadow. This made the wolf look all the more enraged; the glow from his eyes radiating into an aura around him. 

“Find the stables outside of the castle,” Clover whispered only loud enough for Shadow to hear. “There’s a door there. It’s never locked. Go down to the lab and get the leather-bound book on his work desk. It’ll have all of the information you need. Get it and get out, no matter what you hear .”

“What?”

Shadow looked at the rabbit in surprise, only to see her give him a nervous smile. Despite all of her fear, and despite the fact that she knew she was about to be badly hurt, she was taking one for the team . Dr. Lazarus lashed out to grasp her, yanking her away from the two hedgehogs. 

“ Well, well, well, ” he growled. “Here I was talking a walk out onto my balcony as I thought that perhaps I might just forgive you for disobeying me. But what do I see? Who are they, Clover ?”

“Hey, put her down!” Silver shouted, only to have Shadow hold up his hand to stop him. 

The darker hedgehog hated every second of this. He knew she was right, but that didn’t make the decision any easier to make. Lazarus was so close to her that he could break her in half if either of them decided to make the wrong move. 

“Guys, it’s okay, just--” Clover was interrupted as the doctor gripped her tighter. 

“Don’t answer them ,” the wolf snarled. “You answer me . Who. Are. They ?”

“They’re ju… Just some friends I made in town today,” she replied, stumbling over her words. “They’re travelers. I just thought… th-thought they were cool.”

She’d hoped that the explanation would have calmed his temper if only a little. Sadly, her showing interest in the others only fanned the flames. Releasing her arm, Dr. Lazarus put an overly tight grip around her shoulders. 

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” he said, waving the two hedgehogs off. “If you don’t mind, I’ll be taking what’s mine and going home.”

“And if we do mind?” Silver shouted, ready and rearing for a fight. 

“ Silver !,” Shadow scolded.

Already he could see the increased anger in the Doctor’s eyes. The more heated they got him, the more Clover was going to have to deal with once he got her alone. 

“Drop it,” the darker hedgehog commanded.

“But Shadow, I--”

“ Drop it. ”

“You’d do best to listen to your friend there,” the vampire warned. 

With that, he turned on his heel and began to drag the smaller being along with him. Clover stumbled along, trying to keep up with him. Glancing over Lazarus’s shoulder, she tried her best to make eye contact with Shadow. She pointed up the path and then to the right to try and tell him the general area of the stables. 

‘ Get the book ,’ she mouthed out wordlessly. 

He nodded, standing his ground for now. Silver on the other hand felt like he was going crazy. Surely he couldn’t have agreed with any of this! He stared at his friend, wondering what in the world was going on. Shadow was someone he looked up to and respected. How could he let such actions go unpunished. Before Silver could even get a word out, Shadow reached to cover his mouth completely. 

“Just give it a second,” the darker one said. 

Reluctantly, the lighter hedgehog gave a nod. If the other had some sort of plan, Silver was just going to have to trust him. Staring down the two as they headed into the castle was all Shadow could do for the moment. The instant the doors were closed, he jolted forward.

“Now!”

Silver stumbled at first. The start was sudden and all he could do to keep up was use his powers to let himself hover quickly after the other hedgehog. 

“What’s the plan?” he asked.

Just knowing that they were going inside was enough to make him feel better. He hadn’t known this girl for more than ten minutes, but the way the wolf was treating her had Silver uncomfortable on edge. Though he wasn’t the best at using his powers to read minds yet, he’d been getting horrible vibes off of the murderous wolf. 

“Get inside, get the book, get out,” Shadow explained as he glided easily through the stables. “She’s made an opening for us. We can’t let it go to waste.”

“Book? Shadow, what book?” Silver questioned in frustration. “What the heck is going on?!”

“Look.” Shadow stopped beside the door the rabbit had told him of. “I don’t have enough time to explain it to you right now. We’ve just gotta do this and get out of here. Then you’ll get all of your answers, got it?”

Geeze, he hated being kept in the dark! Even still, Silver reminded himself that right now he needed to trust Shadow . He nodded despite the fact that he didn’t like any of what was going on. As he agreed, the darker of the two pushed open the door and headed inside. The area they entered was a strange empty room that attached to the old kitchen area. It was in the doorway between the kitchen and the main room that Shadow had to stop and hold his arm out to stop Silver as well. He could see the great staircase leading up into the higher rooms in the castle, and there was Lazarus pulling the poor rabbit up it at an unforgiving pace. 

“Doctor, wait,” Clover pleaded. “I can’t keep up. I--”

She let out a whimper as she slipped on a step and lost her footing. Rather than stopping to let her regain it, the wolf simply continued to drag her up the tattered carpet without a word. It was downright painful to watch. Silver had to look away, and even Shadow felt uncomfortable witnessing the abuse. Once they were out of sight, the two were able to leave their hiding place and head down to the lab. Shadow let out a curse when he realized the torch had been extinguished. The two were left completely in the dark save for the soft glow of Silver’s powers. It took them far longer than either of them were comfortable to stumble upon the book. Each second felt like hours, and by the time they were finally heading back up the stairs, Silver felt more and more worry growing in the pit of his stomach. 

A loud cry of pain found its way to their ears just before they re-entered the kitchen. Whatever the doctor was doing to the rabbit, it sure as hell sounded like it hurt . Both of them hesitated before Shadow outright pushed Silver through the doorway. More sounds echoed through the halls, sounding so chilling and haunting that the paler hedgehog could barely stand it. Shadow came to a grinding halt at the stable door. He couldn’t do it .

“Shadow, what are you doing?” Silver hissed out quietly. 

“Silver, look at me,” Shadow commanded, grasping the other’s shoulders. “Follow this path down the cliff. There’s a town down there. I’m not sure where Sonic or Tails are, but they’re down there somewhere. Find them, give them the book. Tails will know what to do with it.”

“What about you?” 

“ I can’t leave her here .”

There was the Shadow that Silver looked up to. He nodded, holding onto the book tightly as he gazed up at Shadow in determination. The darker hedgehog turned back into the castle while Silver turned away to head down the cliff as fast as possible.

He only hoped that Shadow wouldn’t be too late.

Chapter Text

Shadow wasn’t sure what concerned him more: Clover’s screams or the fact that she’d gone silent. He stayed completely on guard as he made his way through the darkened halls. A small tower on one side of the area seemed to be where the sounds had been coming from while she’d been making them. There was no sign of movement other than the hedgehog himself. Shadow’s muscles tensed up as he readied himself for a fight. However when he opened the door, the only one he saw was Clover herself on the bed. Her jean vest had been pulled half off of one of her shoulders and she was incredibly weak. It was only when Shadow got closer that he discovered the bite marks ranging from her neck down onto shoulder and collar bone. 

Her breathing was shallow and as Shadow slid his hands under her to pull her into his grasp, he found that her body was ice cold. She stiffened up and tried to pull away from him with a desperate whimper. He tried his best to shush her, unsure if the Doctor was still in the area or not. 

“Clover, quiet,” he whispered. “It’s me. It’s Shadow.”

The rabbit’s ear closest to the hedgehog gave a little twitch before she settled. It was hard to even bring herself to speak. Opening her eyes took far more energy than it should have. The darker one was glad that she’d stopped struggling and managed to pull her all the way up. There was no way she’d be able to walk like this; he was going to have to carry her. Shadow’s ears perked up as a creak caught his attention. The door he’d come through closed, revealing the vampiric wolf on the other side. Dr. Lazarus had been going through the things on the rabbit’s vanity when the hedgehog had entered the room. What looked like a journal was open and on the floor, trinkets were all over the vanity, and articles of clothing were strewn around from the dresser beside it while the drawers hung open. 

“Breaking and entering, are we?” the doctor snarled. “ You have something that belongs to me… ”

Shadow shifted Clover’s weight as he took a step backward. His eyes darted around in search of a new escape route. The door was blocked by Lazarus who slowly made his way towards the two. There was another door that looked like it led into a bathroom. The only other area was an archway with a fancier door that led onto a balcony. Said door was already open, and if there was even the slightest possibility that Shadow could jump down from there to get to the entryway of the castle, it was worth a shot. 

The hedgehog darted out of the room, immediately followed by the vampire. Dr. Lazarus lashed out at him with his claws, missing and taking a good chunk out of the door as he passed it. Had he not had the smaller creature in his arms, Shadow knew he wouldn’t have had trouble actually fighting Lazarus. The doctor’s rage made his attacks sloppy. 

The balcony was bigger than the hedgehog had assumed it to be, and due to the fact that it was overlooking the actual cliff rather than the entryway he had to try and plan his escape route more carefully. He couldn’t afford to be as reckless as he usually was with a weakened rabbit in his arms. 

“Stop dodging and fight me like a man!,” the doctor all but screamed.

“I don’t have time for this,” Shadow growled. 

He crouched and quickly side-swiped the wolf’s legs to knock him over. Now was his moment! With a leap, Shadow threw himself off of the balcony with the intention of landing on another part of the castle’s roof. What he hadn’t accounted for was the vampire grabbing one of his ankles. His jump was thrown off and though Lazarus couldn’t seem to actually keep a grip on him, it had affected his aim enough to send him tumbling straight down the side of the cliff. The tug was enough of a surprise that he almost lost his grip on the rabbit entirely. He reached out as they fell and barely managed to get a grasp on one of her wrists. 

The falling sensation sent a jolt of shock through Clover’s system. The rabbit’s eyes flew open as the panic gripped at her senses. In a literal fight-or-flight response, her half-formed vampire powers kicked into gear. Soft pink wings made of what looked to be a type of energy sprouted from her back to try and stop their fall. Her frantic flapping slowed things down, but overall wasn’t enough to keep them from continuing their descent. Clover grasped Shadow’s hand with both of her own as she fought to try and keep them afloat. Her energy was failing her and fast thanks to how Lazarus had drained her.

The rabbit’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat as she struggled. Everything hurt and her vision was going blurry. Shadow said something to her, but her senses were failing her completely. Try as she might, her body gave out on her. Clover’s vision went black, the wings disappeared, and down they went towards the trees and rocky terrain below. 

“Damnit!” Shadow swore. 

The hedgehog managed to pull the rabbit back down into his arms. He had to prepare himself for the impact. Shadow had taken higher falls before, but never with someone else in his grasp. He had to make sure the impact did as little damage as possible to her body. Before they reached the sea of trees below, something swooped in and grasped him under the arms tightly. The impact was enough to startle the dark hedgehog and the smell of the trees hit his senses as they whizzed past one, just barely missing it. 

“ Honestly , what would you do without me?” Rouge asked with a smirk.

“Rouge?!”

“Ughh… Gain a little weight there, Shadow?” she teased as she glanced down at the two of them. 

“Stop joking around,” Shadow scolded. 

“Yeah, yeah. I gotcha.”

Taking a dive down into the trees, the trio disappeared from view. Still on the balcony, Dr. Lazarus watched the entire thing go down in disgust. He’d lost his toy. The wolf’s pride was wounded and his heart ached with a strange agony he wasn’t used to feeling. With a loud and dramatic cry, Lazarus all but threw himself back into Clover’s room. He clawed at the pretty silken bed sheets he’d given her, threw her clothes around the room, broke her vanity, and overall threw an incredible temper tantrum.

“ How dare she? HOW DARE SHE?! ” The doctor screamed out. “I’ve given her everything ! She’s mine !”

In his mind, the wolf owned Clover. She was his to do with what he wished, for better or worse. Her feelings didn’t matter. Only his selfish, overblown yet frail ego mattered to him. Panting heavily, the wolf finally stopped his rampage. He reached to slick back his messy hair as he gazed around the room. He could fix this. He could find her. Giving a demented laugh, Dr. Lazarus sat himself down on the broken bed. 

“I’ll find you,” he muttered. “You’re weak . So very weak .”

Laying back on the bed, he pulled one of the ripped sheets to his cheek to nuzzle against it. It smelled like incense, herbs and coffee. It smelled like Clover . The doctor breathed in deeply and let the fragrances fill his senses. He could even still smell the soft scent of blood from when he’d drained her. 

“I’ll wait until tomorrow night when you’re feeling better… I’ll find you, and I’ll take you. But not before I make you watch as I destroy your insolent little friends .”

Lazarus was sure that seeing her friends suffering in front of her due to “her actions” would make her think twice about ever running away from him again. 

“Just you wait, my pet.”

---

“She doesn’t look so good, Shadow,” Rouge admitted as he looked over the rabbit. “She’s weak, she’s cold, and we aren’t exactly doctors.”

“I know that, Rouge,” the hedgehog replied. 

Their voices echoed in the cave. This wasn’t exactly the best place to be at the moment. Omega found them a good hiding place, but with Clover this ill Shadow actually found himself worrying for her safety. He was sure Sonic and Tails were probably staying in town. Getting her to them would probably be the best option for her when it came to getting warm and dry. Everything in this cave felt damp and humid, and t didn’t help that there seemed to be a storm coming. He could hear the thunder slowly rolling in overhead. As much as he absolutely hated to admit it, Shadow needed help.

“Your little friend here needs to replace what she’s lost,” the bat pointed out. “If he’s drained her like you said, she needs iron and protein.”

Even getting her into town held no guarantee of food this late at night. Most of the local businesses were probably closed save for the main tavern. Places like that didn’t tend to have food. Not to mention…

“I don’t know how good his tracking capabilities are,” Shadow admitted. “I have to have my hands free to hold him off if he shows up. You’d have to carry her, and the town’s pretty far.”

Though he had no doubt in Rouge’s skills, a body that was dead weight could become overly heavy quite fast. Rouge could probably do it, but he didn’t want her exhausting herself in the process. Especially not if they were going to need her for a future fight. If only Omega were still with them. He’d gone to their main base to plug himself into the computer and download as much information on Vampires as he could possibly find. He would have come in handy to help carry the rabbit, but Shadow supposed he couldn’t dwell on that now. Rouge sat down on the ground beside the rabbit. With a sigh she reached to brush Clover’s soft pink bangs out of her face. 

“This is a weird situation we’re in,” she said. “You don’t usually tend to hang on to those you’ve helped.”

Shadow crossed his arms and let out a little huff. He didn’t tend to like admitting to the fact that he’d willingly helped out others. For the most part the hedgehog liked to at least pretend he only cared about himself. This situation was indeed a strange one. He glanced down at his own arms, running a finger over one of the red streaks peeking out from under his gloves. With just that motion and idea struck him. 

“Rouge… do you still have that dagger I gave you?” 

The bat looked up at him in surprise. Of course she still had it. It was one of Shadow’s very first birthday gifts to her when he’d realized that birthdays were a thing. It was his way of trying to offer his friend protection. 

“Yes,” Rouge said, reaching to pull the small dagger out of her boot. “Why?”

“Give it to me.”

The bat gingerly held out the knife to her friend. Her eyes widened as he reached to make a small cut on his outer forearm. 

“What are you doing?!” She shouted. 

“You said she needs to replace what she’s lost,” Shadow said, crouching down beside the two of them. “Hold her head back and open her mouth.”

He set the dagger down beside Rouge and waited for the bat to do as he asked. Clover had mentioned that Dr. Lazarus had tried to turn her. Perhaps giving her blood would wake her up enough to make it easier for them to travel back into the village. Ruby droplets fell down into the rabbit’s mouth. At this angle, the hedgehog could see the tiny fangs she’d grown. It was no wonder they couldn’t cut through Silver’s fur. They were shaped like fangs, but the points were so very dull. 

At first there seemed to be no reaction. The liquid pooled in her mouth for a moment, and finally she swallowed. That was all it took. Clover’s eyes opened quickly and with a jolt she sat up and her mouth latched onto Shadow’s arm. 

“Shadow!”

“It’s okay,” Shadow said, holding up his free arm to stop Rouge from trying to pull Clover off of him. “I’m fine. It’s fine . J-just... Slow down a bit. Take your time .”

It was interesting seeing a rabbit of all things clutching his arms so tightly and drinking so deeply as Clover was. His blood was like nothing she’d ever had before. She could feel the raw power coursing through his veins and flowing into her. Clover let out a strange little growl, sending an even stranger shiver up Shadow’s spine. Was it weird to admit that he kind of liked this? Probably. Yeah, yeah it was weird. The hedgehog chewed on his bottom lip and tried to wait it out. For now he felt fine. There was no need to push her off unless she went too far. 

Clover herself seemed to recognize when to stop. The rabbit forced herself to slowly release the other’s arm; running her tongue over the wound to collect the last little droplets remaining on the surface. Again, Shadow felt himself shiver. 

“T-take it away,” Clover muttered, pushing his arm from her mouth. “Take it before I drink too much.”

“Well that was… unexpected ,” Rouge admitted, glancing between the two of them. She grasped her blade and re-sheathed it. “How’s your arm?”

“ It’s fine ,” Shadow said, perhaps a bit too quickly. He stood again and completely averted his gaze from the two. 

Clover reached up to rub at her own cheeks, giving an odd full-body tremble before she let out a noise of satisfaction. She already felt so much better than she had before. Hell, she felt like she could have run a marathon right then and there!

“What even are you?” the rabbit asked. “That was--I mean I… haven’t really had that much blood but that was sooo … You taste amazing !”

Oh geeze, was he blushing ? It was such a weird compliment and it had the hedgehog feeling unsure of how to handle the situation. He turned to completely face the opposite direction and once more folded his arms; ignoring the sting from the cut.

“Well I am the ultimate life form,” he grumbled out. 

His voice was so low that had it not been for the bat and rabbit both having such sensitive ears, neither one of them would have heard him. While his statement had Clover confused, his overall reaction had Rouge giving out a loud laugh. She’d never seen her team mate so flustered before. 

“Alright, you two,” Rouge started as she stood. “Let’s head back into town. You can flirt with each other later.”

Clover almost didn’t seem to hear her. She was still savoring the taste lingering on her tongue. 

“ I’m not--! ” Shadow tried to protest, only to stop as Rouge booped him right on the snoot. 

His anger bubbled up and as she headed out of the cave, the hedgehog followed her.

“H-hey!” Clover called, snapping out of her daze. “Wait for me, guys!”

Chapter Text

“This book is exactly what we needed!” Tails exclaimed. 

Silver beamed with pride as he watched the fox flipping through the pages. Inside were sketches and detailed descriptions of each machine the Vampire had built and what they did, as well as how they were put together and the experimentation done with each and every one of them. Tails mumbled to himself as he turned each and every page until he finally found the right one.

“Aha! Here it is. It’s called the Lazinator , just like Clover said.”

Silver glanced over his friend’s shoulder as Tails read the scribbly looking writing. Admittedly the hedgehog was quite impressed; he could hardly tell what it said. Cursive wasn’t exactly something that existed in the timeline he’d come from.

“It says here that we can kill the germs by freezing them,” Tails read, running his finger just under the words. “If frozen and immediately thawed, the virus will stay active. However if frozen for a minimum of seventy-two hours, all of it will become inactive and will stay permanently dead.”

It seemed easy enough. The inventor would simply make a small device that would help them with freezing the other machine and keeping it frozen. Already he was starting to sketch up plans and a list of materials he would need to make the device and make it quickly. He knew he was running on limited resources and time. 

“The only problem is the Doctor in general,” Tails mentioned. “Clover mentioned he was a vampire. We’re gonna have to figure out how to deal with him and keep him away from his lab long enough to keep it frozen.”

Machines were his forte. Legendary beings were very much not . Tails supposed he just should have learned not to be surprised at this point. The group had gone up against lots of strange characters and weird experiences before. Even still, the news of a vampire managed to shock him. 

“Vampire, huh?” Silver muttered. “I wonder if that’s why that bunny girl bit me.”

The fox’s hand stopped it’s motions and Tails looked up at Silver in confusion.

“Wait… you mean Clover? She bit you?”

“I-I mean, she tried to,” Silver said as he rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness. “Her teeth weren’t very sharp though. Then she mentioned her fangs being useless and she got mad.”

“So then… she’s a vampire too?” Tails asked. “Then how was she out during the day? The sun was still up when she met us.”

None of this made any sense to him. The fox supposed he was going to have to ask her more about it whenever they saw her next. From the original story Silver had told him, it sounded much like the rabbit was going to have to rest before she did anything else.

“No idea,” Silver admitted with a shrug. 

Tails was about to speak when Sonic peeked his head into the room. The blue hedgehog looked more confused than anything else. Before Tails could ask him what was wrong, Sonic spoke.

“Clover’s here. And uh… she’s with Shadow and Rouge… And she’s flying .”

The fox could already feel a headache coming on. The three headed downstairs to the lobby of the abandoned inn. It was one of the only two in town, and because of the lack of business it had gone under years ago. While there was still furniture strewn about the lobby, the fancy looking couches, chairs and tables were covered in a layer of dust and cobwebs. The rabbit before them looked cheerful as ever as she clumsily made her way around the room. 

“There you go,” Rouge cooed out. “You got it. Just focus and you’ll get the hang of flying in no time.”

Shadow glanced away from Clover’s strange energy-formed wings and to the others as they entered. More than anything, he was relieved to see that Tails had in fact been given the book. Tails on the other hand was staring at their “new friend” in shock. Apparently he’d never stop seeing strange things in his lifetime. 

“How the heck are you even doing that?” the fox asked.

“I have no idea!” Clover chimed with a grin. 

“She’s apparently part Vampire,” Shadow grumbled. 

Somehow this whole situation just kept getting more and more complicated. Rather than waiting for the subject of Dr. Lazarus to be brought up, the darker hedgehog explained to the group that Omega had in fact called them back with information on vampiric legends of the past. It was easier to bring it up now than to beat around the bush with it.

“Apparently there are multiple ways to get rid of vampires,” he explained. “They’re weak to silver and sunlight, but the absolute best way to rid ourselves of this doctor is a stake through the heart.”

Sonic shifted in discomfort. He never really enjoyed the thought of killing someone whether it was necessary or not. Clover rubbed one of her arms, clearly nervous. Sure he was a pretty horrible guy and she didn’t want to be around him anymore, but there was no way the rabbit could bring herself to stab him through the heart. Also…

“There’s only one problem with that,” Clover added.

“Yes,” Shadow sighed. “The problem is that, whether the Doctor was fully successful or not in turning Clover herself into a vampire, all vampires created by the one that is killed will also die.”

“But before you all panic,” Rouge started, holding up her hands as she could see the others about to protest. “There is a secondary option. There’s a possibility of sealing him away .”

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Sonic asked as he crossed his arms. 

“There’s a legendary gemstone somewhere in these mountains,” Rouge continued. “Apparently this is the area where a lot of the vampiric legends started up. Overall, there are only three places in the world known as the birthplace of vampires, and each of the three has its own stone. Apparently it’s a form of rhodochrosite, but the legends all simply call it a ‘ Blood Stone ’ due to its red color.”

“ Classy ,” Sonic muttered. 

“I mean, it sounds kinda pretty,” Silver beamed. “Like a ruby, but deadlier.”

“ Please don’t remind me of the Phantom Ruby ,” Tails all but groaned out.

“It’s apparently not too far from here,” Clover noted. “It seems a little too convenient to be true, but it’s supposed to be in a temple and I wouldn’t doubt that it’s booby-trapped.”

“She’s right. That’s why I’ll be the one to go get it,” Rouge volunteered. “Apparently we need the stone, some sort of holding device, a magic-user, and some of the vampire’s blood.”

“Well, we’ve at least got the ‘Magic-User’ part down,” Tails said, motioning to Silver. “Telekinesis has to count as magic. I can probably make the holding device. The only hard part is going to be the blood.”

“And the time-frame,” Shadow added. “The sun hasn’t risen yet. There’s still time for the Doctor to make his move.”

“I’ll go with Rouge,” Clover volunteered. “I can act as a distraction and pull him away from her so that she can get the stone, and keep him away from Tails so that he can work on the holding device.”

“Maybe,” Sonic said reluctantly. “If anything, you’d only have to hold him off till the sun is up. Tails, how much time do we have till then?”

“Roughly three hours,” the fox replied. “Give or take a few minutes of added shade due to the mountain range.”

“Knowing Dr. Lazarus, he wouldn’t cut it this close,” Clover pointed out. “Once the sun is up, he’s out cold. It’s not really a thing he can control. It’s just… sun’s up, he’s dead to the world. That would also give us the extra time all day to make sure we get everything all set up.”

“We should probably focus on sealing him up first, then,” Tails admitted. “I’ve still got to make a machine capable of freezing the concoction he has downstairs. It’s gotta stay cold for three days in order to kill the virus inside. I’m good and all, but I’m not fast enough to make both .”

“But we’re all forgetting something,” Silver piped up. “What about the blood ?”

Everyone fell silent for a moment. Not knowing what kinds of powers the wolf had made it hard to figure out just how to get close enough to more or less get him to bleed on a gemstone. It was much easier to deal with villains when they knew what to expect through previous battles. Dr. Lazarus was a new one for all of them and it had admittedly been a while since a new face popped up.

“Clover, what kinds of powers do you have?” Shadow asked.

The rabbit froze up and found a sheepish smile taking over her features. Finally she floated down to stand before all of them; her strange, bat-like energy wings still sticking in place.

“Honestly… I’m not sure?” she admitted. “This is the first time I’ve been able to actually use these wings. That’s why Rouge had to show me what to do with them. But uh… things really only pop up when I actually drink blood. That’s only happened…”

She paused, trying to think back and actually counting out on her fingers how many times it had actually happened. 

“Three times. Three times in four years,” Clover notes. “The first time was when he was trying to teach me how to hunt, and before he realized things hadn’t really gone the way he’d planned. Dr. Lazarus mentioned shape-shifting as a power he had. I tried it and managed to shift into a duck-version of myself but…”

A few of the others leaned in with interest. As far as they could remember, the only “shape-shifter” they’d had contact with was Neo Metal Sonic.

“... Then I was stuck that way for a week,” Clover said with a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of her head. “I couldn’t seem to figure out how to turn back into my normal self. The second time I drank blood was when I somehow managed to change back. Both times were from older people, so the blood wasn’t very strong or very fresh. I’m pretty sure he gave up on me after that. Especially once he saw that I could still walk around in the sun. It just showed that somehow my body hadn’t taken the vampire transformation fully. As for the third time, it was back at the cave just now with Shadow.”

“You did what ?” Sonic asked, turning to Shadow quickly.

The blue hedgehog wasn’t the slightest bit worried. If anything, he found the situation highly amusing. Silver reached to give his friend a light swat. The telepath had no idea what had gone on in that castle, but none of it sounded good and Clover probably needed the blood in order to heal from it. Shadow on the other hand glared at Sonic as if daring him to say another word. The grumpier hedgehog was not in the mood for the blue blur’s games.

“Oh, you should have seen it,” Rouge started, earning Shadow’s glare as well. “She sprung right up from a dead sleep and clung to his arm like there was no tomorrow. It woulda been cute had she not been drinking blood .”

It was Clover’s turn to swat someone, namely the bat. 

“Oh come on ,” the rabbit said. “Like I said, the blood I was given the last two times were from old people. Easy targets for the Doctor. Shadow’s is…. Different .”

“Shadow, aren’t you like, part alien or something?” Sonic teased. “And you know, the Ultimate Life Form .”

As he spoke Shadow’s title, the blue hedgehog tried to deepen his voice to sound more like Shadow himself. Tails had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. Sonic let out a loud yelp as a pillow came seemingly out of nowhere and whacked him right in the face. Shadow had thrown one of the dusty pillows from a couch at him, leaving the blue hedgehog coughing and choking on the resulting cloud. 

“Come on, guys, be serious,” Silver pointed out. “We’re not gonna get anywhere if we’re just picking on each other.”

“From a logical standpoint,” Tails started. “It sounds like your vampire powers are activated by blood. Are the Doctor’s the same?”

Again Clover had to think on it and think hard. Truthfully, she’d never really questioned how his powers worked. It was as simple as: He’s a vampire, he can do the thing. However the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Tails was probably right. He either drank the blood of others, or more recently just Clover herself before doing anything relating to special abilities.

“Yeah, probably,” the rabbit said with a nod. “A lot of the tourists who come to this area are old folks, and he zoned in on them because no one really noticed when they went missing. Plus, there aren’t really a lot of locals around here. He would have run out of food too quickly that way. So after a while, he just decided to keep feeding on me .”

“I see where you’re going with this, Tails,” Rouge mused. “We just keep the good ol’ Doctor from having himself a little drink before we start the show-down.”

“Right,” Tails agreed. “Best case scenario, we can start this all before the sun sets and while he’s still sleeping. But worst comes to worst, we get him right after he wakes up.”

“But again, what about getting some of his blood?” Silver asked once more.

“If he’s sleeping, we just get it from him then,” Shadow replied. “Clover said he’s essentially dead . He won't notice.”

“And if he’s awake ?” Silver pointed out.

“Then we hold him down and take it from him,” the darker hedgehog growled. 

Surely it couldn’t be that hard with a group the size of their own. As much as he hated to admit it, they were going to have to work together. In the past Shadow might have been so stubborn as to have just tried all of this on his own. However years of working on a team had finally taught him that perhaps sometimes it was alright to rely on others to get a job done more efficiently. 

“Alright, so I’ll work on the holding device,” Tails said. “Rouge and Clover, you’re on gem-duty. Sonic, you’re on look-out.”

“Aww, man, why me ?” Sonic nearly whined. 

Tails ignored him, rubbing his temples. “Silver, can you go with Rouge and Clover? You can stand lookout outside of the cave or temple just in case Dr. Lazarus shows up, or there’s some kind of cave-in. You can use your powers to pull the rocks aside and get them out.”

“Rodger that!” Silver replied cheerfully.

“Well look at you being a little leader,” Rouge mused, reaching to ruffle the fox’s hair. 

Tails felt his cheeks heat up and he pulled away, reaching to rub the back of his neck. 

“I’m just… kinda used to all of this, is all,” he admitted. 

They’d all been at this hero business for so long that even new and scary missions felt like run-of-the-mill once they had some sort of plan in place.

“What about Shadow?” Sonic asked. “Why can’t he do lookout?”

“Because,” the fox started with a sigh. “I was going to ask Shadow to go back into the castle come sun-up to do some reconnaissance. We need to know every inch of the area so that the Doctor doesn’t have as much high-ground as he thinks he does.”

“I can do that,” Shadow replied in a nonchalant manner. 

“Great. Everyone’s got their tasks, we should get Dr. Lazarus sealed by tomorrow night, and then we can work on decommissioning his lab,” Tails said in relief.

It was strange to Clover how quickly her life had shifted. One day she was doing her “ master’s ” bidding and feeling miserable. The next day she was surrounded by a group, felt more or less like part of a team, and saw some sort of bright light at the end of what had seemed like never-ending darkness. It made her spirits rise and her heart feel so much better than it had in ages. Sure there was still a lot of damage there that she knew she needed to work through, but it felt like there was a newfound ability of doing that now.

“Alright kids, let’s roll-out,” Rouge called.

Chapter Text

Clover felt far more accomplished with her flying than she ever had with anything that had happened over the last four years. Rouge was a surprisingly patient teacher, perhaps because she understood that the rabbit’s wings weren’t a permanent part of her anatomy, and would frequently praise her for adhering to her lesson. Silver, on the other hand, was more of a cheerleader than anything, but still could lend a hand with getting her to focus her energy toward a specific task rather than letting it take over. 

Neither of them were perfect teachers, but they were more than Dr. Lazarus had ever been. 

As soon as Clover’s flaws in her powers appeared, he gave up and shut down the topic the few other times it had been brought up. He didn’t seem to like the fact that Clover didn’t immediately know how to masterfully use her powers. She tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’d been turned so long ago that he didn’t remember the learning process of his own abilities. That or perhaps because he was a fully turned vampire, everything did come naturally to him. Either way, it had been a point of frustration for the rabbit for quite some time now. 

“You got this,” Rouge urged her. “Just shift your weight a little bit more and you’ll get a good glide in there.”

With a nod, Clover tried her best to listen to the bat. It was almost hard to focus with how giddy she felt. She was so high up in the air, and there was such beautiful scenery around her! The way all of the trees looked in the moonlight with the fresh air blowing around her made her heart soar. The moon itself looked so huge in the sky as it peeked around one of the mountaintops as it slowly began its descent. The rabbit was all grins as her wings gave a few flaps. 

“I can’t believe I’m actually doing this!” she said, her tone of voice giving away just how giddy she was. 

Clover had been about to say that she felt like she could do anything when a strong gust of wind blew her off balance. Rouge tried to talk her through it, but it all came on far too fast. With a loud yelp, the rabbit felt herself rolling backwards at an alarming pace. A soft green energy surrounded and halted her, then brought Clover back to her previous position. Silver had quite literally snatched her out of the air with his telekinetic powers and did his best to position her the way she had been just moments ago. 

“You alright?” he asked with a small laugh. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Clover replied.

She was dizzy, but fine. Rouge smiled, holding back her own laugh. Clover was strange but she wasn’t half bad. The rabbit simply needed someone to give her a nudge in the right direction. She’d been stuck for so long in the same loop of toxicity that she was lost and didn’t know where to go or what to do. Lord knew, Rouge had been in many bad relationships in her younger days. Had she not learned to be as strong-willed and independent as she was, she was sure they would have crushed her for far longer and far worse than they had. 

The bat closed her eyes and brought her focus back to the moment at hand. Her large ears flicked this way and that to listen to the way the soft sounds of the wind whipped around the mountainous land. Motioning to the others, she shifted directions and swooped down lower. The cave entrance was lower than Tails made it out to be, and was much closer than she had anticipated. Legends were never fully correct, she supposed. 

“Down here!” she called.

Clover was impressed. Her own ears were quite sensitive, but they were nothing compared to Rouge’s. Perhaps this was a talent that all bats possessed. If anything, she was sure it helped with jobs like this. Rouge and Silver landed before the mouth of the strange looking cave with ease. Clover moved to step down as the two of them had, only to topple over and go for a bit of a roll. Thankfully the edge of the cave was there to stop her.

“Whoops. Forgot to teach you how to land,” Rouge said with a sheepish smile. “My bad.”

She’d been so focused on the entryway itself that she’d completely forgotten about the poor rabbit. Clover sat up and waved it off. 

“No biggie.”

As the rabbit stood, she glanced back at her wings. Funny, she could see completely through them; looking at the world with the pink tint being more disorienting than she thought it would be. It would probably be easier to maneuver without them out, but she didn’t know exactly how to put them away. Not to mention the fact that if she did, she wasn’t so sure she could get them back out again. For now she supposed they would just stay with her. She’d figure it out later. 

“You two sure you don’t want me to go in with you?” Silver asked in concern. 

“We’re big girls, Silver,” Rouge replied, waving off his worry. “We can handle ourselves, right Clover?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure we can!”

It was almost strange to have someone confident in Clover’s ability to do much of anything. Getting used to kindness again was going to take some time. She’d missed the feeling it gave her for sure. The rabbit felt like she could actually do something right for once. 

“Alright,” the pale hedgehog said with a nod. “You two go ahead. Just give a shout if you need me.”

Rouge shot Silver a wink before she reached to link arms with the other girl. Clover’s body tensed for only a moment as they entered the darkness. The more she grew used to it and allowed her sense of hearing to kick in, the more comfortable she felt. Her wings gave off the faintest glow, but the pink light hardly did anything to cut through the shadows lining every inch of the temple.

“Just hang onto me,” the bat cooed out. “I can see surprisingly well in here, and what I can’t see I can hear . I’ve got a light on me, but I want to conserve it till we need it.”

“I’m alright,” Clover said. “I can’t see all that well, but I can hear pretty much everything around us. That’s what tends to happen when you grow up in a warren.”

“A warren?”

“Yeah. You ever wonder why you don’t see very many bunnies in the cities?” Clover asked with a soft laugh. “It’s because most of them live underground. It’s still a type of city, and there’s a ton of them. They’re all built in underground tunnels. So long as we’re born in a warren, we learn pretty quickly how to hear out shifts in the ground, possible sounds of cave-ins in the tunnels, and things moving in the earth.”

“Huh, I had no idea,” Rouge admitted. 

“Yeah,” Clover continued, reaching out to feel the wall of the cave for a moment. “The easy way to tell a city rabbit from a warren rabbit is how sensitive their hearing is. If they’ve grown up in a city, they’re used to all of the hustle and bustle around them, so their hearing isn’t actually as good. Warrens are much quieter and any sound that isn’t considered normal is very seriously taken into account.”

“I suppose that explains why you’re living in such a quiet little town,” Rouge mused. 

“Yeah. I lived in a city before this. It took a lot of getting used to and adjusting. But after the whole thing with Infinite…” Clover paused, mulling over her words. “Well I needed to take a break. So I packed everything I had into a storage unit and decided to go exploring.”

The rabbit honestly wasn’t sure if she was looking for a new place to live, or just legitimately needed a break from her old life. Without a job or a proper home, it felt much like there was no way to pick up where she’d left off. Her entire life had come to a grinding halt and left her reeling in place to figure out how to pick the pieces up and put them back together. Exploration seemed like a good way to find herself again, however the encounter with Dr. Lazarus felt more like a patch of quicksand on her journey. It was a slow, torturous slip downward and made figuring out who she was even harder in the long run. 

“So…” 

Clover perked up as she heard the bat speak. Rouge hesitated. This was going to be a bit of a touchy subject especially considering the fact that the rabbit hardly knew her, but if Rouge wasn’t going to have this conversation with her then who would? It didn’t seem like Clover had any family around. 

“What are you going to do once this is all over?”

Clover’s step faltered and she nearly slipped. That wasn’t a question she’d been expecting, though she didn’t know why. It was a logical thing to question.

“I don’t really know,” the rabbit admitted. “I guess I spent so long assuming that I’d never break free that I never really made a plan for if I ever got out.”

She’d had a journal once. Lazarus had gone through it the instant he’d found it. From that point on, Clover could only journal about positive things or nothing at all. It became more of an inspirational book than anything. Something telling her to keep going on and pushing forward even though everything sucked. 

“Alright. Well… If you could do anything at all, what would it be?” Rouge asked.

“I guess I’d really like to start exploring again,”  Clover admitted. “I wanted to see the world, experience different cultures and cuisines, you know… see the sights. Having a home base would be nice though. I had a tiny nest-egg of money squared away for whenever I came home in hopes that it would be enough to put a down payment on an apartment or something. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do job-wise.” She paused, ears twitching back for a second before she muttered, “... Having a lover that doesn’t want me dead sounds pretty nice too .”

Rouge opened her mouth to speak, only to stop as Clover suddenly yanked both of their bodies backwards. The rabbit’s ears perked up all the way as the sound of rumbling sounded off around them. While she couldn’t see, she felt around the floor with her shoe. One of the textures was different, and as she stepped on it she could feel something whiz in front of them and hit the wall on the other side. Rouge’s eyes went wide in surprise. The shape she saw looked an awful lot like an arrow. 

“Boobytraps,” Clover noted. 

“I suppose it’s time for that light I mentioned,” the bat mused. 

After taking a moment to dig around in her hip-pack, she pulled out a small but surprisingly strong flash-light. The walls were covered in strange little faces, all of which had holes where the eyes and mouths were--probably the origin of the arrow. Sure enough, as she shone the light down on the floor beside her, a feather-fletched shaft was embedded nearby. The floor was encrusted with moss and mud, as well as a bit of an indent where certain designs were. Up above, strangely loose looking stalactites hung from the ceiling. They looked as though any movement at all would send them crashing down to the ground.

“Where did you step a minute ago?” Rouge asked. “You know, when you pulled me back?”

To help Clover find it, she pulled the flashlight down to look at the ground. The rabbit was quick to locate the area, as she’d scraped some of the moss back while feeling around in the dark. 

“Right there.”

Releasing her new friend’s arm, Rouge crouched down to push gently at the moss. There was a shape under it. This was a trick she’d seen before in other temples she’d made her way into. When stepped on, certain shapes in the floor would set off the boobytraps.

“What a shame,” she sighed out. “I usually love diamonds. Looks like this time we’ll have to avoid them. It also looks like we can’t fly, or else we might be crushed.”

Clover nodded, allowing Rouge to take her arm again. While this was nerve-wracking to a degree, it was also exciting. The anxiety she felt was nothing like how she’d felt at the castle. That had been hopeless, terrifying and nauseating. This rush of adrenaline was that of exhilaration. It really did feel like they were on an adventure together.

“Just follow my lead. We’ll step around them together,” Rouge instructed. “Stare down at the floor and don’t step on anything that looks like a diamond shape.”

“Right,” Clover agreed with a nod.

The two stayed silent for a long while as they made their way across the trap-laden floor. Once they seemed to get a good rhythm going together, Rouge felt confident enough to speak up again.

“You know hon, while having a lover is nice, you do realize that isn’t going to solve all of your life problems right?”

“Yeah, I know,” Clover said with a nervous laugh. “I don’t expect to immediately fall in love with someone and have their hugs and kisses fix all of the emotional damage I have. I know there’s a lot that I’ve got to work through.”

Too many people assumed that the way to heal from one bad relationship was to jump into another one. Though she wasn’t about to say it out loud, Clover had learned that first hand from watching her mother. The older rabbit simply couldn’t be without a partner. She seemed to assume that she needed one in order to be considered worth anything in anyone’s eyes. However the biggest problem with that was in the fact that she desperately jumped from relationship to relationship without really looking at who the person she was getting together with was really like. Not until it was too late, anyway. By then, more damage had been done and it was off to the next relationship. There was a lot Clover had learned from her mother. Most of it was what not to do in life.

“The idea of getting to grow together with someone sounds nice,” Clover admitted. “But if it doesn’t happen, then it doesn’t happen. I don’t see a need to force it.”

“Atta girl,” Rouge cheered on, giving Clover’s arm a squeeze. “I’m proud of you.”

As far as Rouge was concerned, there weren’t enough strong-willed women out there. It was nice to see that under all of her anxiety, Clover seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. Sure she wasn’t perfect, but she was trying and that was all that mattered. 

The texture on the ground was shifting, causing Rouge to stop the next place she found that was safe. Reaching forward with her foot, Clover found that the ground felt shockingly flimsy.

“Pitfall traps,” she noted. “They phased them out of the warrens, but some of the older areas that weren’t used anymore had these at the entryways to keep out invaders. There’s always a very specific path that’s safe. Shine the light closer?”

While she wasn’t versed in most boobytraps, this was one that Clover knew relatively well. Children at the warrens had been taught how to look for them just in case they ever got lost and wandered into older areas on accident or found entryways while exploring the meadows and forests around the area. As the bat brought the flashlight closer to the floor, Clover squinted hard to try and see the difference in the ground. Usually it was denoted by specific designs or even a shift in the color of the mud bricks. They were things that an invading force wouldn’t think to look for before rushing right in. 

“I think I found it,” Clover said, passing her foot over a few of the bricks. “Some of them have that soft red clay color, and the others have weird swirly designs on them.”

“Which ones are the safe ones?” Rouge asked.

“Whichever ones there are less of.”

Upon closer inspection, it seemed they were looking for the red clay bricks. Rouge slid behind Clover and handed the rabbit the flashlight. 

“You go first,” the bat instructed. “If the floor gives out I can grab you and try to get us across before anything happens. Your wings are great and all, but you’re not quite used to them yet.”

“Good point,” Clover said with a laugh. 

It took a bit of work to try and decipher the path, but soon enough Clover was slowly working her way across with Rouge in tow. 

“Kinda feels like I’m ten years old again,” the rabbit admitted. “Exploring abandoned warrens was kind of the country version of urban exploring. It was considered one of the best ways to ‘ be rebellious’ . Or something like that.”

“Well, you’re not half bad at it,” Rouge noted. “Honestly with a little bit of training and practice, I can see you being a grade-A adventurer.”

“You really think so?”

“No doubt. Sure sounds a lot more exciting than working a desk job or retail, doesn’t it?” the bat teased.

Clover couldn’t help but laugh again. Her new friend sure was right about that. Sure she was technically risking her life right now, but it was a heck of a lot more fun than just sitting around and waiting for someone to want to check out. It was also better than doing a food service job . She’d die before she went back to food service.

“You bet it is,” the rabbit agreed. “Maybe I could. Heck, maybe if I get enough practice I can start my own agency or something. Then I could have that home-base I wanted.”

The end of the path was in sight, and it led to the entryway of what looked like a small room. Unfortunately due to their distance and lack of light, Clover couldn’t really tell how deep it ran. 

“So,” Rouge started with a smirk. “ What’s your type ?”

“Huh?”

“You know , in partners? Is mister vampire your ideal?”

Clover actually gave a soft snort, reaching to cover her mouth as she giggled.

“Oh man, you caught me there,” she admitted. “I like goth , that’s for sure. Dark, gloomy, spooky, broody, the whole shebang. If they enjoy Halloween or spooky things, I’m there for it. Also--”

The rabbit paused to point up to her ears. 

“--I’ve gotta like the sound of their voice. A guy can be hotter than hell, but if he sounds like an annoying, whiny prick then I’m out .”

It was Rouge’s turn to give a great laugh. She hadn’t expected that out of the other girl.The bat supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised when she considered their earlier talk about sensitive ears, but it was still enough to catch her off guard. 

“So then, Shadow’s your type I take it?” Rouge teased.

Clover’s cheeks went fully red under her fur. She found herself grateful for the darkness around them. Hopefully Rouge couldn’t see the flush from behind her.

“Aw, come on! I literally just met the guy ,” the rabbit protested.

“ Yes or no ~?” Rouge half-sang out.

“I mean--” Clover paused as they reached the end of the path, glancing over her shoulder at her new friend. “I know literally nothing about the guy… but if he asked I probably wouldn’t say no. ”

The bat found herself snickering at that. Clover had a type for sure. Not that Rouge could really blame her. She seemed to like goth with a side of bad-boy. It was more common than the rabbit probably realized. 

“Now you’ve got me curious about what you think of the others,” Rouge admitted. “Based on looks and voices alone, gimme your ratings.”

“What, are we having a slumber part y now?” Clover asked in amusement. 

If anything, the light talk was making the situation at hand far less daunting. The two searched the ground for more traps before they made their way into the next room. It was far smaller than Clover thought, no more than twelve feet across on each side and seemed completely barren save for a small hole in front of them. 

“Well why not ?” the bat asked. “ Come on ~ On a one to ten scale, tell me what you think?”

“Alright, alright ,” Clover giggled out. “Uh, I guess I’ll start with Sonic since he’s the first guy I met. Uh… Six I guess? He’s not bad, he’s just not my type. Silver’s…. Uhm, more of a seven, maybe eight.”

“Oooh~ Do tell ,” Rouge urged, starting to look around the walls for some kind of clue as to where to go next. There was no way this could just be a dead end. It was the only pathway that existed. 

“I dunno, he just seems sweeter and his voice sounds a little nicer,” Clover said with a sheepish smile. “He’s not really my type, but I’d still rate him higher than Sonic. As for Tails, I’ve got this weird feeling that he’s way too young to even rate. How old is he?”

“Oh.” Rouge had to seriously think about that. It had been so long since she’d even found out their ages. Tails was more of an acquaintance than a friend, so it wasn’t really a detail she considered important enough to remember. 

“Seventeen? I think ?”

“Yeah, I’m passing on that one,” Clover said, waving it off. 

The rabbit gave a sigh of frustration. There were some bricks that looked as though they might have been traps, but otherwise there was nothing there but the hole. The two met each other’s gaze before they both nervously looked to the small opening. 

“You don’t suppose we have to go in there, do you?” Rouge asked.

She already knew the answer. It was the only place left to go. 

“It’s so tiny,” Clover said with a shiver. “Maybe I should go first. I’m uh… less well endowed than you are.”

As much as Rouge hated to admit it, Clover was right. While she loved her body and was fully comfortable in it, it didn’t always make fitting into tight spaces easy. 

“You’re gonna wanna tuck those in before you squeeze your way through, though,” the bat pointed out, motioning to Clover’s wings. 

The rabbit peeked back at them before looking to the other for guidance. Rouge turned to face away from the other and demonstrated pulling her wings in as tightly as possible. Glancing between the bat’s wings and her own a few times, Clover focused hard and slowly managed to pull them against her body. They felt oddly warm against her skin, yet light as air. Once she managed it, she took a deep breath and turned to the tiny tunnel. Climbing through this thing would be worth it if it meant she never had to deal with the Doctor’s abuse ever again. 

Getting her body inside was relatively easy. Following the upwards curve of the path was not. She could feel the rock and dirt on all sides of her, making it hard to breathe as she pushed her way through. In the back of her mind she hoped that this passageway wasn’t too long. Thankfully after a few strange dips and upward curves, it finally started to widen. The rabbit coughed a few times on the dust that stirred around her as she pulled herself out of the odd hole and finally found herself in a much more open room. There was a boulder beside her, but otherwise there seemed to be no other signs of traps or things in her immediate area. There was however, the sound of dripping water. 

“Looks like it’s all clear on this side,” Clover called through the tunnel. “It gets really tight for a hot minute, but then it opens up. You gonna be okay coming through?”

Her answer came in the form of frustrated grunts and grumbles as the bat fought her way through the close quarters of the opening. While the rabbit had been able to more or less wiggle her way through, Rouge found herself getting stuck at every turn and movement. She’d only just gotten in and already she dreaded the trip back through once they were done. Clover watched the opening anxiously, chewing on her bottom lip as she waited. The bat really seemed to be struggling, but finally there was the sight of white fur and gloved hands fighting to break through. Setting down the flashlight, Clover reached down to grasp at Rouge’s forearms, trying to help tug her out of the hole. Even the wider area was a tight squeeze and required so much pulling that once the bat was freed, the two toppled over onto the ground. 

“ Thanks ,” Rouge wheezed. “Oh boy, I’m gonna need a nice hot bath after all this is done.”

Now she remembered why she prefered stealing things from labs and museums. They were far less dirty!

“Don’t mention it.”

As the two sat up, Clover reached for the flashlight to shine it around. Before them was a large underground lake, surrounding a tiny island with a pedestal on it. A singular path of stones spaced out on the surface of the lake seemed to be the only way to get to the island. However…

“ There’s nothing there !” Rouge lamented. “You’re telling me, all that and there’s nothing there ?!”

“Maybe someone got here before we did,” Clover suggested, the disappointment evident in her voice. 

There was the possibility that someone had perhaps come to the tomb, made it through all of the traps, and had taken the jewel without realizing what it was. For all they knew, it was sitting in a museum or perhaps had been sold on the black market at this point. 

“O-Oh… looks like someone did get here before us,” Rouge squeaked out as she stepped quickly away from the boulder. 

A rotted hand was jutting out from under it, covered in squirming maggots and scraps of clothing. Clover covered her mouth quickly, taking a side-step closer to the water. It had been so very close to where she’d come out of the hole. Really, she wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed it sooner. 

“Oh, gross !”

“Hey wait, look,” Rouge said as she took the flashlight. 

There was a mark in the sand beside the hand, and as she followed it the marks seemed to lead straight to the lake. It looked much like something sharp had been rolling along the sand.

“Oh, don’t tell me ,” the bat groaned unhappily.

Shining the light into the deep waters, she caught the glimmer of something shiny and red. That was what they were looking for. The two looked at each other in exasperation. Going for a swim wasn’t exactly on the list of things they’d planned to do today. 

Chapter Text

Booby-trapped halls and claustrophobic tunnels were one thing, but pitch black, possibly leech infested lakes were where both girls drew the line.

“Who’s going?” Clover asked.

“Rock, paper, scissors for it?” Rouge suggested.

“Sounds fair.”

The two made their fists, shook them, and tied. They tried again and tied. On their third try, Rouge came out victorious and Clover gave a groan of defeat. Pulling off her vest, she held it out for Rouge to hold. There was no way she was leaving it on the ground by a crushed, rotting corpse. 

“Hold this for me, and keep the light shining on the gem, would ya?” the rabbit asked.

“I got you, girl,” Rouge agreed with a nod. 

Clover gave another noise of unhappiness as she looked down into the water. Letting herself hesitate, she paused again to take off her shoes as well. The last thing she needed was to be all squishy when she came out. Rather than jumping right in, she sat on the ground and let both of her legs slide into the icy depths. A visibly strong shiver ran through her and all of her fur stood on end. 

“ It’s freezing !” she wailed. 

“You’ve gotta get in and out quick,” Rouge instructed. “Get down to your shoulders slowly so you don’t go into shock, take a deep breath, and then swim like your life depended on it!”

With a loud whine, the rabbit tried to do as she was instructed. Oh boy, did she hate every second of this. Who knew what kinds of strange fish and creatures were wandering around in this cave’s water system. The darkness had a terrible way of spawning the creepiest creatures imaginable. Taking the deepest breath she could, Clover dove down to swim towards the crystal. 

Up above, Rouge kept the light shining on the gem as she’d promised. The cavern was amazingly quiet save for the odd drip somewhere in the distance. It was almost unsettling. Despite this little setback, it honestly felt as though this was still somehow too easy . They needed to be on guard once they had the stone for any last traps in this particular room. Otherwise she was sure they had nothing else to worry about.

“I think we’ll be just fine ,” she said to herself--

--Only to hear a strange sound in the water. Perhaps she’d spoken too soon . Rouge felt her body go stiff as her ears strained to listen. Whatever it was, it was swimming, and it sounded big . Cold fear gripped her chest as she looked down to the rabbit in the water. As much as she wanted to yell, the bat knew there was no way Clover was going to hear her. Not down that far.

“Come on, Clover,” Rouge muttered. “ Come on !”

The rabbit strained to get down to the shining gemstone. The further down she went, the colder it became. As her hand finally settled on their price, she felt herself shivering again. It felt like she was holding a piece of ice. Before she could manage to kick herself up to the surface, something behind her pushed her forward in the water. Clover had to put her empty hand over her mouth to keep from screaming and losing all of her air. A scaly tail brushed up against her legs and had her panicking far harder than she would have liked. Despite the flashlight still giving her light, it’s reach wasn’t wide enough to show Clover her attacker.

Another heavy blow sent her sideways, and this time she was sure she saw teeth being caught in the light. Struggling to right herself, she kicked her legs as hard as she could to try and get herself to the surface. The closer she got, the more the creature seemed to play with her, and the more she could hear Rouge screaming to her through the liquid. Her limbs felt numb from the cold and her lungs were starting to burn from holding in air for so long. Finally she realized: her wings . Unfurling them, she flapped frantically to launch herself out of the water with a loud gasp.

“ Rouge !” the rabbit shouted, outright throwing the gem towards her companion.

The bat nearly missed, but managed to catch it as the giant creature hurled itself out of the water. All Rouge could do was watch as it snapped at Clover. With a shout, she twisted enough to avoid its teeth, but not its jaw coming down on her hard enough to drag her back under the water. 

“ Clover !” 

The bat shoved the gem into her hip-pack before she took off into the air to hover above the water in search of her friend. The more she shone the light in the water, the more of the creature she could see. It was something akin to a giant crocodile, but with sharper looking scales and a much meaner attitude . It thrashed in the water and gave a great roll before Rouge finally spotted a flash of pink beneath the surface. Clover flapped hard, soaring through the water almost as she had in the sky. The rabbit barely missed another snap of the beast’s teeth before she once more burst up from the depths. The two girls collided and, with Rouge’s slight guidance, tumbled down onto the ground once more. 

Clover’s wings flickered before completely disappearing from her back. Whatever power she’d gotten from drinking Shadow’s blood seemed to have worn off. The rabbit gasped for breath as Rouge tried to help her stand. For a moment, the two of them thought it might be over. Clover managed to get one shoe back on before a massive splash reached their ears. The prehistoric-looking gator launched itself up from the water, teeth bared and ready to shred them to bits. 

“ Go! Go! ” Rouge shouted, shoving the rabbit towards their only exit.

Still clutching her other shoe, Clover squeezed down into it as fast as she could. Going down was admittedly harder than going up, but she wasn’t about to try and complain about it now. She writhed and wriggled her way through while Rouge found herself in a tough position. The bat dove down, letting out shouts of frustration as her legs flailed outside. She barely managed to get them in as the croc’s jaws snapped closed where she had once been. 

Clover let out a grunt as she fell out of the hole and onto the floor of the small room. Finally she was in familiar territory and had a moment to catch her breath. Managing to get her other shoe on, she peered around in the darkness. Rouge still had the flashlight. Speaking of Rouge, Clover could hear the bat wheezing and straining as she fought her way through. What worried her were the soft whimpers of panic that reached her ears. 

“C-Clover!” she called. “I’m stuck. I can’t-- can’t move !”

Oh no.

The rabbit was up in an instant, shoving her head back into the hole.

“Calm down, Rouge. Breathe slow,” she tried to instruct. 

“I can’t... I can’t! ” the bat panted out. 

In all her years of being a jewel thief and an agent, she’d never been in a situation like this before. Air vents? Yeah sure. Claustrophobic cave systems? Yeah kinda. A tunnel where she couldn't move? Absolutely not. 

“I’m right here, Rouge,” Clover called, reaching her arms out as far as she could. “Can you see me?”

Rouge looked around frantically; her eyes finally settling on Clover’s fingers. 

“Y-yeah… barely .”

“Good! Good just… take deep, slow breaths,” Clover continued. “Inhale.. .Exhale… Nice and easy. Suck your belly in if you can and slowly start to wiggle my way, okay?”

If there was anything living underground had taught her, it was how to try and help someone during a cave-in. Boy, did she wish she’d never had to use this information. It was far more stressful than she’d ever imagined. Thankfully Clover could hear Rouge’s breathing become slower as the bat tried to center herself. 

“That’s it,” the rabbit urged. “You got it.”

With a little more wiggling, Clover could feel Rouge’s fingertips touch her own. Carefully she gripped both of the batt’s gloved hands and tried to assist her in wriggling her way out.

“Awww, admit it Rouge, you just wanted to hold my hand,” Clover teased in an attempt to defuse the tense situation.

The joke was enough to make Rouge let out the softest of laughs. 

“Oh no, you’ve caught me!” she tried her best to tease back. “Maybe I was just asking what your type was because I thought you were adorable.”

With another heave of her body, Rouge came nose-to-nose with Clover. Taking the teasing in stride, the rabbit leaned in to let their noses nuzzle together before she would pull her body out of the hole and attempt to help pull Rouge out as well. The nuzzling was enough to make both girls laugh. While their jesting was silly, the bat was grateful for the distraction. It helped her feel more at ease as she pulled most of her body to freedom. The only problem seemed to be her hips . Putting both of her feet against the wall, Clover linked her arms around the bat’s torso and pulled as hard as she could. Rouge groaned, but didn’t want to tell the other to stop. If anything, this was going to be her only option of getting out.

“Pull harder,” she grunted.

“D-damn Rouge, your milkshake must bring all the boys to the yard,” Clover attempted to tease once more. This earned her a slight swat from the bat.

No matter how much Clover heaved, nothing seemed to work. With a frustrated huff she tried looping her arms around Rouge’s middle instead, spreading her feet out against the wall. 

“Alright, one more time,” she panted out. “One… two… three! ”

The rabbit pulled with all of her might and finally she felt Rouge’s bottom come loose from the hole. Her sneaker slipped against the wall, seeming to press inward before the two fell down to the ground. Careful not to crush her friend, Rouge rolled onto her back to try and catch her breath while Clover did the same beside her. However their victory was short-lived. The sound of sliding stone made Clover’s ears perk, and as both of them sat up they saw where the rabbit’s foot had once been, a boobytrap had been set off. 

“Oh, son of a bi-- ” 

The rabbit’s words were cut off as the doorway began to slide shut at an alarming rate. The two girls scrambled towards it, Rouge calling out Silver’s name at the top of her lungs just before it slammed shut in front of them. There was a loud rumbling around them and as Rouge fought to grasp the flashlight, she quickly realized that the walls were closing in on them. 

Outside of the cave, Silver jumped. It was hard to decipher just what had been shouted, but he recognized Rouge’s voice immediately. He didn’t hesitate to rush into the cave, using his telekinisis to hover over every single boobytrap without even realizing any of them were even there. 

“Rouge!” He called out. “Clover! Where are you two?!”

“In here!” Clover shouted against the door. She tried her best to knock on the stone doorway to try and guide him in the right direction. 

Silver couldn’t seem to hear the knocking, but he could faintly hear her voice. 

“Where?!”

“ IN HERE! ” Rouge screamed, managing to make her voice so loud that Clover had to cover her own ears. 

The walls were starting to get so tight that the two of them were trying their best to push in them as though that would help. Spoiler alert: it wouldn’t . 

The pale hedgehog set himself down in front of the door, feeling around on the wall around it. 

“H-how do I get you out?!”

“There should be a switch!” Clover yelled. “There’s always a switch of some kind! A reverse lever! Something! Anything! In the wall!”

Try as he might to feel around, Silver couldn’t seem to find anything of the sort. There was stone after stone, but no switch, lever, or push button. 

“There’s nothing here!”

“SILVER!” 

Rouge grit her teeth as she felt herself pushing up against Clover. The poor rabbit’s face fell right between the bat’s breasts, making her wonder what was going to kill her first: suffocation, or being crushed.

“ WE. ARE GOING. TO DIE HERE ,” Rouge called. 

Panic gripped Silver so intensely that he did the only thing he could think to do. With every ounce of focus he had, he urged his powers to try and open up the door. At first it wouldn’t budge. However with the screams of the two girls inside, he mustered up all of the strength he had to shove the door all the way open to let them both fall out. The walls slammed closed just behind them, showing the poor hedgehog just how dire their situation had been. With a sigh of exhaustion, he fell to his knees. 

“Rouge,” Clover gasped out. “If this relationship is going to work out… I’m gonna need you to not suffocate me with your tits.”

“You know I can’t promise that, hon,” Rouge laughed out breathlessly.

“What the heck are you two even talking about?” Silver gaped. 

Before they could reply, another rumble met their ears. Apparently this thing wasn’t going to be over until they were all the way out of this horrible place. The pitfalls began to fall through before them as the cavern shook around them. The group was up as fast as they could be, running across the pathway before them. As the cave trembled, the stalactites on the ceiling began to rain down upon them, triggering every single arrow trap as they fell. No longer having her wings, Clover let out a shriek of terror before she felt Rouge’s arms link under her own to grasp her and lift her into the air. 

“I gotcha!” 

The trio weaved and dodged the jagged, pointed rocks as they fought their way to the exit. They could see the light of day up ahead, calling out to them in the distance. The two girls shot through the entrance first and Silver barely made it through after them before the cave-in completely sealed it off. For a long moment they stayed there; Silver hovering in the air and Rouge flapping away to keep herself and Clover airborne. 

And then the two began to laugh . The hedgehog outright stared at the crazy women. 

“I don’t see how any of this is funny,” he muttered.

“Oh… Don’t worry about it,” Clover mused.

“You had to be there, I guess,” Rouge added.

“I… I was there!”

“ Yeah, yeah .” With a grunt, Rouge tried to lift Clover up a little better. “Let’s head back. I need to relax after all that.”

“I’ll say,” the rabbit agreed. 

Despite his grumpy grumbling, the hedgehog was quick to agree.

Chapter Text

The sun peeked over the mountains, bringing forth a small sense of safety to the group. While Clover had been right about the Doctor not wanting to cut things too close, there was still a sense of urgency looming over them. Shadow used his speed to his advantage once the sun was high enough in the sky to completely loom over the castle. His hover shoes made it easy enough to zoom through the hallways and rooms of the building in silence. He knew he didn’t have to worry about the Doctor finding him, and as he soon discovered there really was no one else living there. It had simply been the wolf and the rabbit. 

Room after room seemed to be filled with nothing but dusty furniture from who knew how long ago. Some of it looked so old he was sure it would crumble beneath his touch. The layer of dust on each item was so thick that the hedgehog couldn’t even tell what color anything was anymore. Old wood vanities held things like mirrors and combs on them, as well as little jewelry boxes filled with pearls and even diamonds. Had he been in a more modern building, he might have assumed them to be fakes. Here however, he was sure they were real. 

Each time he looked into something, his fingers were covered in that thick layer of dust which he wiped away in disgust. Thankfully it was on his gloves and not his actual fingertips. After some time, he found himself back in the room he’d found Clover in. The bed was broken with slivers of wood littered the ground beside it. All of her clothes had been tossed around and some of them had been ripped along with the silken sheets on the bed. Not much had escaped the doctor’s wrath. 

A hint of green caught his eye from the open wardrobe. A large, empty hiking backpack slumped over against the wood. It matched literally nothing else Clover seemed to own, and as Shadow pulled it up from its hiding place, he was sure this was what the rabbit had been using in her initial travels. As much as he didn’t feel comfortable going through her things, the hedgehog recognized the fact that she probably needed them at this point. He grasped the strap of the backpack and began to fill it with everything that didn’t look completely destroyed. There were at least a couple of outfits she could get back, and a few little trinkets. Two journals were tossed in haphazardly before he stopped at her broken vanity. There was another jewelry box filled with things similar to the others. They seemed to have possibly been given as gifts from the abusive doctor, the more he thought about it.

Surely Clover wouldn’t want to see things like this again. Shadow knew he wouldn’t if he’d been through a similar situation. However the gems looked expensive and could probably help provide the rabbit with money she might need to get her life back together. After dusting some wood chips off of it, Shadow shoved the entire small jewelry box into the front pocket of the bag. Nothing else seemed to be in good enough condition to take. 

Shouldering the bag, Shadow decided he’d snooped around enough. The only room he hadn’t gone into was the Doctor’s own. He was sure Clover knew it well enough, so further exploration wasn’t necessary.

Back in town, Tails worked as hard as he could on his device. Without the gem in his hands, it was difficult to tell just how much space to give it. Thankfully their recovery team arrived just as he was trying to plan out dimensions. The door opened on the other side of the room and the fox turned his attention to the trio heading inside. While Silver looked relatively fine, Rouge and Clover were both an absolute mess. The bat's white fur looked sandy in color due to the dirt all over her body. The rabbit was caked in mud and was still relatively wet. 

“ Ew . What happened to you guys?” Sonic asked from his seat on the couch. 

Had he been closer, Rouge would have swatted at him. 

“We had an adventure ,” she said in exasperation. 

Clover couldn’t help but be amused. This friend group had such a great dynamic and even if she was only going to be around them temporarily, she was grateful for the good company. Rouge reached upward to give a stretch before she pulled the gem out of her bag.

“One Bloodstone from the deep,” the bat teased as she set it in front of Tails. “Here you go, sport. Knock yourself out.”

Normally she would have made a quip about how it was a shame that such a pretty stone was going to waste, but right now she was far too tired and dirty to care. 

“This place have running water?”

“It should,” Clover replied as she pulled her vest off. “The town runs on a well and pump system. So unless they actually took the piping out of this place, which I doubt, you should be able to pump water into the bath tubs.”

This town was old, that was for sure. Rouge slumped unhappily. 

“That means it’s going to be cold, isn’t it?” She groaned. 

“Hey, it’s better than nothing,” Sonic mused.

“Says you !”

With a frustrated huff, the bat headed upstairs to find herself a room to claim for the time being. She needed a bath and a good nap after all of their “ fun ” in the tomb. 

While Clover was amused, she felt her body starting to finally show signs of exhaustion. She hadn’t properly slept in a day and a half at least , and whatever energy she’d gotten from drinking the dark hedgehog’s blood had completely worn off by that point. Her body felt as though it was dragging as she made her way up the stairs and into whatever room was closest and unoccupied. It didn’t even matter what it looked like, how big the bed was, or even whether it looked clean enough. All she wanted was to bathe and then possibly collapse for a while. 

The rabbit kicked off her shoes as soon as the door was closed and didn’t even bother to fully remove her clothes as she climbed into the tub. Thankfully the water wasn’t anywhere near as cold as the lake she’d been in earlier. It was enough to make her shiver but still felt far warmer than the dampness still clinging to her fur. As she stood under the shower head, Clover began to pull piece by piece of clothing off and tried to scrub each article under the flow. Right now these were the only things she had and she refused to put on such disgusting clothes right after finally getting herself clean.

By then, Shadow had arrived back in the lobby of the broken down hotel. Sonic quirked a brow as he looked at the bag over the other’s shoulder. 

“Goin’ camping, bud?” He asked. 

Shadow rolled his eyes. “It’s Clover’s stuff. Are the girls back yet?”

“ I went too, you know ,” Silver protested from his place beside Tails. 

The blue hedgehog had to bite his tongue to keep from making a stupid comment, but didn’t manage to stop his laughter. 

“I’ll take that as a yes ,” the darker one grumbled. 

The gem beside the fox didn’t look all that special. Then again, Shadow had grown so accustomed to the Chaos Emeralds that he supposed other gemstones appeared downright mundane in comparison. 

“There wasn’t much else in the castle,” he noted. “Bedrooms, dust, and jewelry. The only area that seems to be of interest is the laboratory. No secret passages as far as I can tell.”

It was almost disappointing, really. Eggman had gotten them so used to all kinds of craziness over the years. He’d been sure that a mad scientist that had been around as long as Dr. Lazarus would have presented more of a challenge. Everything just seemed so old and worn out. Perhaps the Doctor had lost his touch long ago and simply couldn’t release his hold on his hobby. 

“That’s a relief,” Tails sighed out. “Maybe we can get this thing done and over with nice and easy.”

“That doesn’t sound like fun,” Sonic huffed. “If it’s not a challenge, then it’s hardly worth doing.”

His words were frustrating, but Tails could still see where the hedgehog was coming from. His friend had grown bored with sub-par adventures and things seeming to fall into place too easily. Eggman was getting older, his machines getting worse, and their foilings of his plans all too easy. Sonic missed the days where he actually had to fight for the chance to win the day back. 

As the others continued their chat, Shadow broke away from the group in search of the rabbit. The sound of running water caught his attention not too far down the hallway. The first two doors were hanging off of their hinges, but the third was mostly closed and seemed to be the source of the sound. He gave a knock before he peeked inside. Seeing no one in the room itself, he let himself in and closed the half-broken door behind himself. 

Judging from the state of the room itself, it wasn’t one Rouge would have chosen. The bat was most likely to look for the fanciest room the hotel had to offer before she would dare settle herself in. In the bathroom, Clover had finished scrubbing her clothes clean and had tossed them over the shower curtain pole to let them dry. Without a shower curtain, she’d gotten water all over the floor while she’d cleaned herself and her belongings. It wasn’t till she’d turned the water off that she came to a sudden realization: There were no towels . 

“Clover,” Shadow called. “You in there?”

The rabbit froze up, eyes going wide as she reached to cover herself as best as she could.

“D-don’t come in!”

As she spoke she quickly turned to look at the bathroom door, and Shadow turned her way without thinking about it. There was a hole the size of the rabbit’s head in the door itself, and the dark hedgehog completely turned away from her when he realized they’d made eye contact. Barging in on naked women wasn’t exactly a normal passtime of his, and whether he’d seen anything or not, he still felt his cheeks burning in embarrassment. 

“I uh… I brought your stuff,” he muttered, holding the bag up. 

Scrambling out of the tub, Clover moved to sit on the ground just beside the door to let it block her body out. Being seen nude was a bit uncomfortable, but at the very least he’d been kind enough to turn around. It made it all too obvious that he hadn’t come with the intention of getting a peek.

“Slide it through here,” she said, sticking her hand out of the crack in the door. “It’s okay to turn around now.”

Shadow hesitated before turning as he was told. The sight of her little hand reaching out amusing at least. Crouching down beside the door, he pushed the bag close enough for her to grasp the handle. Once she had a hold of it, she pulled it inside quickly to peek through the contents. 

“Oh wow, you got pretty much everything,” she mused. 

“Everything that wasn’t wrecked,” Shadow agreed. “Looks like your boyfriend did a number on your room.”

“ Ex ,” she mumbled bitterly. “I’m obviously breaking up with him after all of this shit. Uh… Hey Shadow?”

“Hm?”

“Do you… happen to see a towel anywhere in there?”

Oh. The hedgehog glanced around before shaking his head despite the fact that she couldn’t see it. “No. I wouldn’t be surprised if this place didn’t have any. I’m surprised it even still has mattresses .”

There was a mattress on the old bed frame, but no sheets anywhere to be found. 

“Of course there isn’t,” Clover said with an unhappy laugh. “Guess I’m stuck in here for a while then. In that case--”

She pulled a small purple pouch out of one of the backpack’s pockets, sliding it back out of the crack in the door. 

“Can I ask you to go down the street and do a coffee run for me? I don’t really feel like passing out on a bathroom floor,” the rabbit huffed. “You can get yourself something too. I need to thank you somehow.”

“For getting your bag?” Shadow asked as he took the purse. “I was there anyway. It doesn’t really matter.”

“No, not for that,” Clover protested. “You know, for getting me out of there and all that jazz. I just… I really appreciate it. ”

There was an awkward moment of silence between the two. Shadow wasn’t really sure how to react. He’d grown used to saving or helping others whether he wanted to or not. Their thanks never really sounded all that genuine to him. He wasn’t sure how to respond to something that felt far more heartfelt . Rather than drawing attention to the pause, Clover cleared her throat and spoke up again.

“You’ll see a cat working there. Just ask her for ‘ Clover’s usual ’ and she’ll know what to do. It’ll save you from having to actually ask for the order.”

---

The creak of the door was enough to tell Clover that Shadow had arrived with their spoils. She perked up in tired excitement from behind the door at the mere thought of that dark, bitter, caffeinated nectar of the Gods. Her money bag was tossed gently through the crack before Shadow’s hand appeared with the iced beverage. She snatched it up with a small word of thanks before the straw immediately went into her mouth so that she could suck down what she often referred to as her “life blood.”

“You really like that stuff,” Shadow mused as he sat on the ground. 

“Mhmm~” she hummed out, only pulling the straw out of her mouth for a moment to speak. “Lean against the door? That way I can lean on this side too.”

Once they’d gotten situated, Clover turned most of her attention to her drink. Being iced made it easier for her to suck it down, but the earlier events of the day made her go slower to savor the flavor. It wasn’t until she heard a soft crunching noise that she pulled the straw from her mouth once more. 

“You eating something?” she asked curiously. 

“You told me to get whatever I wanted,” Shadow pointed out. “I got coffee beans.”

Try as she might not to, Clover couldn’t help but give out a giggle. 

“You’re eating straight coffee beans ?”

“You got a problem with that?” Shadow grumbled. 

“Nah,” she said with a laugh. “I’m just used to people eating coffee beans covered in chocolate. Makes them less dry.”

That was news to Shadow. He’d had others pick on him for eating his coffee beans the way he did, but never had someone suggested that there was another way.

“I had no idea,” he admitted. 

“Tell you what, once this whole mess is over how about I take you to this neat coffee shop I used to go to all the time,” Clover suggested. “They roast their own coffee beans so they have a really nice flavor, and they coat them in chocolate in the store. You can try them out.”

The softest of laughs left Shadow’s lips and he gave an even softer sound of agreement. The sound was enough to bring a smile to Clover’s lips. Even still, the anxiousness of what was about to come was enough to make her brows knit together. The rabbit could see Shadow’s hand just beyond the crack in the door, and in that moment the craving for some sort of positive reinforcement completely consumed her. She slid her hand out enough just to rub one of her fingers against his own; feeling his hand jump at the touch.

“Shadow?” 

“Yeah?”

He looked down to their connected fingers, unsure if he should pull away or stay there. It wasn’t like she’d just grabbed his hand without his permission. Her finger merely rubbed up and down against his own, as if waiting for permission.

“I’m… really scared ,” Clover admitted. “Every part of me is screaming at me to hide away and wait for this all to be over. I guess it’s just the rabbit in me, but I know I need to do this. It’s been so long. I don’t even know what the outside world is like anymore, and I don’t know how I can face him without getting freaked out at the last second. I don’t want to back out.”

Clover desperately wanted to try. She wanted to take the leap of faith that would turn her entire world upside down and let her rebuild everything from scratch. Shadow could easily see why it would scare someone to change everything they knew, even if it was for the better. After a moment of contemplation, his finger linked with her own. They weren’t holding hands, but he hoped the small contact would be enough for her. 

“If you freak out, I’ll be right there,” Shadow promised. “We all will be. If you fall back, lean on me . We’ll get through it together.”

Damn it all, those words sounded so cheesy! The hedgehog nearly felt the urge to gag. It sounded far more like something Sonic should have said, and Shadow hated to think of the fact that the other might be rubbing off on him. Even still, he meant every word. That smile tugged at Clover’s lips once more. Her heart gave a happy little jolt in her chest at his touch, and deep inside she had to tell herself to calm down. If anything she was sure this was more hero worship than a legitimate crush. He’d saved her and was being nice to her when she’d been in a horrible situation just a few days prior. Dear lord, she hoped she wasn’t just rebounding on him . 

“Thanks,” she whispered. 

Chapter Text

Clover felt her hands shaking as they approached the castle. Tails had managed the holding device as well as he could with only a short time to spare. Had it been as simple as them wandering in while the sun was still high in the sky and she wouldn’t have to see the Vampire ever again, it would have been so much easier. However as they hurried inside and made their way down the dark path to where he lay, she feared that this would be far more complicated than they’d all hoped. 

She feared that getting to his door would freeze her in her tracks, paralyzed by her anxiety. What actually happened felt so much worse. The timing was as it would be should she be waiting for him to wake up for the evening and her body slipped right into the habit it had formed over the past four years. The rabbit opened the door, stepped inside, and began to light up all of the candles in the room. The box of matches was in the same place it always was, the candle sticks were so tall that she could barely reach them. Each one brought more and more light into the room so that the group behind her could take in each and every detail. Clover on the other hand, felt downright numb. 

The stone walls held no windows, though there were still curtains here and there to make it look as though there were. Three giant wardrobes stood to the left, all lined up beside each other. A small doorway to the right led into a dark bathroom with a tub so large Rouge was sure the entire group of them could fit inside of it if they tried. There were old paintings on the wall of the vampire himself and all of them were from different times in his long, long life. However the thing that drew most of their eyes was the coffin straight ahead of them. It was made out of a dark wood that was polished so well Clover could nearly see her reflection in it. The coffin sat on top of a table with crushed red velvet flowing down to the ground and had a canopy of sheer red fabric around it. 

Dr. Lazarus had always been the dramatic type. 

“According to Omega’s translations,” Tails spoke up, making the rabbit jump. “We need to take some of his blood, smear it on the stone, and then a ‘magic user’ has to force the vampire and the stone together.”

“That would be me, right?” Silver asked. 

“Yeah,” the fox agreed. “You’re the closest thing to magic we’ve got. Apparently he’s supposed to get sucked into the stone or something like that, and then the holding device has to seal shut around it.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just buy a chest or something?” Sonic asked with a bit of a huff. He wasn’t normally one to question Tails, but this situation was a bit out of their norm.

“I think Omega said that it has to be able to intertwine itself shut,” Rouge replied, leaning her elbow on the fox’s shoulder. “Tails’ way was the only way to go.”

“That’s right,” Tails agreed. “This box took me so long because it’s got a lot of tiny robotics inside that more or less sew the opening shut with metal.”

“Let’s stop talking and do this already,” Shadow muttered, holding his hand out to Rouge expectantly.

The bat nodded in agreement, reaching once more to pull out the dagger from her boot. As much as she’d questioned the gift when he’d given it to her, it really was coming in handy. 

“Let me do it,” Clover piped up, her voice cracking as she did so. 

The group looked to her in disbelief. Was that really the best idea?

“You sure you’re gonna be okay with this?” Rouge asked, holding out the knife to the rabbit as she spoke. “This has gotta be taking a lot out of you, hon.”

With a determined nod, Clover took the dagger in her shaking hands.

“We won't judge you if you aren’t up to it,” Silver pointed out as he set a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to make yourself.”

“ Yes, I do ,” the rabbit breathed out. “If I don’t help out, I’ll never fully get over this. I have to end it myself .”

It was like the difference between breaking up with someone face to face or having your friends do it for you. While this was a hell of a way to break up, it still needed to be done. Another hand pressed against the small of her back, and as Clover turned her eyes met with Shadow’s. He was there, just as he’d promised he would be. The two shared a nod of silent agreement before she stepped forward to stand in front of the coffin. With Tails on one side of her holding the stone and Silver on the other prepared to use his telekinetic powers, Clover readied herself with a deep breath. 

And then the damn coffin shifted. 

Clover’s eyes went wide and she reached to shove both boys down and out of sight just before it slowly creaked open. She pulled the knife behind her back and put on her best smile as she looked down at the bewildered wolf inside. Shadow hated the idea of hiding, but crouched down on the other side of the coffin while both Rouge and Sonic ducked behind one of the curtains to shield themselves from sight. As much as they all wanted to get this over with, the group all seemed to silently agree that it was better to make things look as normal as possible to catch him off guard.

“Good evening, Doctor,” the rabbit said as she had so many evenings in the past. 

“Oh, my sweet Clover,” the vampire crooned. “You came back to me.”

The doctor reached up, letting his fingers caress the soft fur of his prize’s cheek. Clover’s hand tightened around the knife, hating the nausea that crept along with the gentle touch. Though she tried to smile, discomfort showed easily in her eyes. 

“Of course,” she replied. “You think I actually wanted to go with that silly hedgehog? Why would I when my entire life is here with you?”

Tails tried to ready himself, holding the stone up so that hopefully when Clover made the jab at the wolf, he could catch whatever fell. The idea of it alone made him uncomfortable, but he was prepared to do what he had to. However what none of them were expecting was a condescending laugh from Lazarus. 

“Oh, if only that were true,” he whispered as he grasped the side of her neck tightly. “ I can smell them, my love.”

Before the rabbit could react the vampire yanked her down, sat up and sank her teeth into the side of her neck. Clover let out a scream and nearly dropped the dagger in shock. He’d bitten her before, but it was a feeling she was sure she’d never get used to. The wolf was rough and merciless as he drained her, gaining extra strength with each drop of blood he consumed. 

“Hey! Let her go!” Silver shouted as he sprung up, only to be shoved back down again with surprising ease by the Doctor.

The rabbit wriggled and squirmed in his grasp, letting out another cry as she plunged the dagger into Lazarus’s side. Everything happened too quickly for her to keep track of, save for the fact that she twisted the blade where it lay to try and get out as much of his blood as possible. Tails barely managed to catch it on the stone before he scrambled out of the way, and Shadow moved to slam the lid down on the Doctor’s midsection. Being stabbed and crushed simultaneously was enough to make Lazarus release Clover with a howl of pain.

“I’ve got you, girl,” Rouge’s voice rang out above the commotion. 

It took the rabbit a moment to realize that she’d collapsed and had been dragged away from the area. Her vision was fuzzy, but she could see a set of blue and black blurs both barreling their way into the vampire over and over again as he lashed out at them. The doctor twisted and shifted; his form resembling a bat rather than a wolf as he burst forward towards the two girls on the floor. Rouge did her best to dodge out of the way, but both were grabbed and pushed out of the bedroom. The sheer speed and force of the impact against the stone wall of the hallway had Rouge gasping for breath, but she could do nothing but hold onto her friend tightly as the doctor dragged them all the way up the wall and threw them at full force into the grand entryway of the castle. 

“ HEY !” 

Ignoring the voice, the doctor stalked towards the two of them. His steps were interrupted by a faint teal glow, and before he knew what was going on he’d been lifted up into the ground.

“That’s no way to treat a lady!” Silver shouted out, using his powers to slam the vampire down over and over again against the stone floor with each and every word. 

As Silver threw the vampire from his telekinetic grasp, Sonic rolled himself forward to slam into the oncoming wolf-bat to launch him across the room. Lazarus hit the wall hard enough to knock him back into his normal form and create a dent in the stone in the process. Clover sat up groggily, trying her best to check over Rouge. The bat was definitely out of it and seemed to be fighting unconsciousness, but she was still alive and that was all that mattered to the rabbit in that moment. 

“I got her,” Sonic said softly, making Clover jump once more. 

She’d been so focused on Rouge herself that the rabbit hadn’t even heard the hedgehog come up behind her. Sonic carefully pulled Rouge up into his arms to run her into the kitchen. The bat could usually take care of herself, but for right now she needed a moment to catch her breath out of the line of fire. 

Shadow knelt down beside Clover as he looked over her. Thankfully she wasn’t as weak as the last time he’d come to her aid, but she still looked as though she could give out at any moment. As the wolf pulled himself up from the rubble, the dark hedgehog outright put his body over the rabbit’s own to shield her should Lazarus come in for an attack. 

The wolf stumbled and growled unhappily. Carefully, Shadow reached under her to his own wrist to grasp at his inhibitor ring. However his fingers stopped before he could unhook it as a thought crossed his mind.  Either he could remove his rings and end this all right now, or he could give Clover the power to do it herself . She’d said before that his blood was enough to give her energy, didn’t she? Bracing himself on the ground, he offered the arm she’d fed on the night before to her. 

“Clover, bite me,” Shadow whispered. “Bite me and finish this .”

Her eyes widened and she looked to him in bewilderment. 

“Shadow, I can’t. My teeth aren’t sharp enough to--”

“Bite where the cut is,” he pointed out. “Dull or not, they should still be able to break already broken skin.”

“Y-you’re sure?”

With a confident nod from Shadow, the rabbit conceded. Grasping his arm with both of her hands, she searched through the fur for the old wound. As weird as it felt, she had no choice but to give it a try. Down she bit into it and just as the hedgehog said, her teeth easily broke through. Shadow gave the smallest of flinches, but stayed there patiently as she drank. Again he heard that oddly animalistic growl from the small rabbit. The noise was covered up however by a screaming Dr. Lazarus. 

“No! No, no, no, no, NO !”

The wolf thrashed at the air, throwing the largest temper tantrum Clover had ever seen. It was distressing to see someone so delusional and entitled that they would be essentially throwing themselves down to flail. 

“ How dare you! ” Lazarus cried out. “How dare you choose him over me !”

Releasing Shadow’s arm from her mouth, Clover stood before the Doctor. Her tongue ran over her teeth as she laughed in his face for the first time since they’d met. 

“You’re kidding, right?” She mused. “I’m not choosing him over you. I’m choosing myself .”

Her hesitation and fears were pushed aside as she braced herself for the battle ahead. They were not gone, just buried. Just for now she could do this. Just for now she could be strong. If Clover needed to break, she could do it later. Now was the time for action .  

The rabbit hurled herself forward; wings sprouting from her back and thrusting her towards the wolf. Lazarus let out another shout as he met her attack with as much force as he could muster. While the elder vampire held much more experience and knowledge, Clover came at him with everything she had. 

The two tumbled through the air, crashing against walls with a variety of feral snarling. They narrowly missed Tails as he ran into the room with the stone. Sonic had to scoop up the small fox, speeding out of the way of the battle just as Clover and Lazarus came crashing down to the ground. The wolf’s hands squeezed around her neck as she flailed beneath him. Grasping his wrists, the rabbit called upon every ounce of strength she had to pry him off of her. 

“Lazarus,” Clover choked out. “ I think we need to break up .”

It was half joke and half legitimate. After all, they were breaking up whether he wanted them to or not, but the timing was to try and give herself a little boost in confidence. Pressing her feet flat against the floor, Clover thrust her hips up to knock the wolf forward and throw him out of balance. The two rolled and as she scrambled to get ahold of him, Tails threw the stone at the wolf.

“Silver, go!” the fox called out. 

As the Bloodstone made contact with the Doctor’s hip, it began to glow brilliantly. Silver barely caught it with his telekinesis before a burst of light nearly blinded the group. A vortex appeared before them, starting to suck both Lazarus and Clover into it. The rabbit released her ex, trying to scramble away from him only to have the wolf grab a hold of one of her legs. 

“No you don’t!” He yelled. “If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me !”

Wind whipped through the room around them and it took all of Silver’s focus to keep the gem in place. He wanted to help his friends, but he couldn’t even open his eyes without feeling the Bloodstone shaking itself free. 

“ Let go! ” Clover shouted. 

The doctor refused. No matter how much she kicked at him or tried to flap her wings to get away, she could feel herself slipping inch by inch closer to the vortex.

“Hold on!” 

Shadow’s arms looped under her, holding onto the rabbit tightly. Sonic and Tails were quick to join the fray, grasping onto Shadow and trying to help the darker hedgehog pull her back. The game of tug-o-war felt like it was lasting far longer than it should. It was Rouge however, that delivered the final blow. The bat zoomed in seemingly out of nowhere and landed the hardest kick she’d ever given to the wolf’s face. The impact was enough to make him release his hold on the rabbit, and with that his body fell into the vortex without resistance. 

Silver struggled as he heard the other’s shout for him to close the device. His head throbbed and he could feel his energy draining. With the last bit that he had, he managed to slam the metallic device closed before he fell to his knees. 

The box rolled onto the ground and all of its intricate weavings and mechanics sewed themselves shut around the stone. The group watched it with bated breath, almost afraid that it would burst open again at any second. 

All was silent.

Clover let out a sigh of relief and slumped back against Shadow with a nervous laugh. Finally, it was over . With a loud sound of happiness, Sonic turned to high-five his best friend for a job well done. Rouge shakily walked towards the rabbit, kneeling down beside her to reach and ruffle her hair. 

“You did good, kid. Real good,” the bat cooed.

Chapter Text

The entire event had been absolutely nerve-wracking, to say the least. Now that it was all over, Clover wasn’t really sure how to feel. 

She sat on the edge of the castle’s steps with a hot cup of coffee in her hands. The way that the mug warmed her cold fingers helped to ground her in the moment. Even still, it was hard not to feel numb. While her sudden freedom was exhilarating, it also terrified her. The pain in her heart from Lazarus’s actions still existed and would take quite some time to work through. Old habits would have to be broken and she would have to keep forcing herself to step forward.

Even in the couple of days she’d had to get her bearings back and rest, it still felt like this was just some amazing dream. It felt as though any moment now she would wake up and be right back where she’d started, and that thought alone caused her fingers to tremble.

“You doing alright?” came a familiar voice behind her. 

“Hey Shadow,” the rabbit replied. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. Just... need some time, you know?”

“ Yeah .”

The hedgehog hesitated before he stepped forward to sit beside her. As Clover turned to face him, Shadow set down an incredibly heavy pillowcase beside her. It was only half full, but the contents were a mystery to her. 

“I know you probably don’t have anywhere else to go,” he started, reaching to rub the back of his neck. “So you could probably sell all of this stuff to help you out.”

“What is…”

Rather than finishing her sentence, the rabbit opened up the case to find glittering jewels, pearl necklaces, and all kinds of gold jewelry. A lot of it looked similar to the trinkets Dr. Lazarus had given her whenever he’d wanted to butter her up. Now that she thought about it, he’d probably used that tactic on many lovers in the past to keep them around when things got too terrible. 

“It’s not like he’s going to need them,” Shadow pointed out. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Clover said with a laugh. “You really are a life-saver. You know that?”

As she offered him a warm smile, Shadow waved off her praise. 

“ You saved yourself. I just gave you the means to do the job.”

Again the rabbit laughed. Setting her cup aside she attempted to lift the pillowcase into her lap, only to let out a strained noise. Damn it was heavy!

“ There you two are,” Rouge called from the doorway. 

With a smirk, the bat moved to sit on the other side of Clover. 

“Tails is freezing the machine as we speak,” she said as she leaned against the rabbit. “Sonic’s gonna stick around during the freezing process with him just to make sure Eggman doesn’t show up and wreck things at the last second. But as for us, we’re good to head out whenever you’re ready, girlie.”

“ We ?” Shadow asked with an incredulous smirk. 

“I told Clover she could bunk with me till she gets her feet back on the ground,” Rouge replied.

“Damn, even Eggman wanted this thing?” Clover asked. “Go figure.”

It had been so long since she’d heard that name, but there was no way she wouldn’t remember the evil scientist that had almost wrecked the entire world on multiple occasions. In that moment, she realized just how isolated she’d been. In all that time, she’d never once heard mention of Eggman or any of his plots. The rabbit had almost forgotten the man ever existed. Clover never wanted to feel that cut off from the world ever again.

Now she never had to be.

“Hey, whatcha got there?” Rouge asked as she reached to peek into the back. “ Wha-- ?! Where did you get all of these ?”

Shadow snorted and reached to re-close the bag before his friend could reach into it and pull anything out. While it was true Rouge wasn’t a thief anymore, she did still have quite the weakness for shiny gems.

“I found them in the castle,” he said. “They’re Clover’s now.”

“You mean you gave them to her ?” Rouge gaped. “Aww, Shadow, I thought we were friends ! You didn’t even save me one ?”

She was kidding of course. Mostly. Maybe. Okay, maybe she wasn’t actually kidding.

Clover covered her mouth to try and keep her laughter contained. It didn’t work very well. 

“How about I let you pick one or two of your favorites once we get back to your place?” the rabbit suggested. “You can consider it rent.”

“ See ?” Rouge teased, reaching around Clover to give Shadow’s arm a little shove. “ Clover cares about my feelings!”

Even the dark hedgehog had to give the tiniest snort of laughter. It was enough to make Clover’s smile widen. She appreciated both of them more than she could put into words. Grasping her cup, Clover downed the rest of the dark brew before she stood. The bag of loot was heavy, but she managed to toss it over her shoulder and hold onto the longer part of the pillowcase. It was time to re-join the rest of the world.

“Come on, guys. Let’s get out of here.”

Chapter Text

A full two weeks had flown by without the Rabbit even realizing it. Between house-hunting and shopping trips with Rouge and overall just trying to adjust to being back in a city again, life had become exhausting. That wasn’t to say she was complaining. It was worth every second!

Times came and went where she would pause to wonder how the others were doing. Silver seemed to have disappeared entirely. According to Rouge, that was normal and the lighter of the three hedgehogs would appear again in due time. Rather than going into the explanation of his time travel powers, Rouge simply said that he lived far away and would visit soon. Tails and Sonic were off doing their own thing as always, but the rabbit still caught sight of them in town. Shadow on the other hand seemed to keep more to himself. 

As Clover laid on the couch, she wondered where the darker hedgehog was. Little did she know, she would have her answer sooner rather than later. A knock sounded off on the front door, making the rabbit’s ears perk up. 

“Rouge, are you expecting anybody?” Clover called as she pulled herself up from the couch with a long stretch. 

“ Nope ,” came the reply from the other room. 

With a shrug, Clover headed for the door to see who was there. As she swung it open, her eyes met with a very awkward looking Shadow. Somehow he looked surprised to see her, however that expression soon melted into one that more-or-less looked nonchalant. 

“Hey,” he said with a nod. 

“H-hey,” Clover replied, feeling just as surprised to see the other standing there.  “It’s been a while.”

Silently Shadow was glad she hadn’t said: “Long time no see!” It was what all of Sonic’s friends seemed to say any time they came across each other. 

“Yeah, it has been,” he agreed, shifting in place. “So, uh…”

Clover watched him for a moment before realizing that she should probably invite him in. She smiled sheepishly and opened the door wider, but Shadow shook his head. Tilting her head to the side in confusion, the rabbit leaned against the door. 

“What’s up?”

“You uh… You remember when you mentioned showing me that place with the coffee beans?” Shadow asked, looking anywhere but the rabbit herself. “Did you… maybe want to do that now ?”

As his gaze finally settled on her, Clover felt a happy burst of excitement going off in her chest. She wasn’t sure what kind of expression she was making, but it was enough to make Shadow take a step backward.

“You don’t have to if you’re busy,” he said quickly, waving his suggestion off as he began to lose his confidence. 

This was much harder than it should have been and he didn’t understand why . 

“No, no!” Clover protested. “I’m totally up for it. Lemme just grab my shoes.”

---

The walk to the coffee shop had been relatively silent on Shadow’s end. Clover on the other hand pointed out things that were familiar to her, places she liked, and overall seemed to feel much more confident in herself after the time spent with Rouge. It was nice to see her so alive and active. Though he wasn’t ready to admit it to himself just yet, Shadow quite enjoyed the sight of her smile and the sound of her laughter. 

The shop itself wasn’t anything as he’d expected. After the one he’d seen in the village, he’d been thinking of this place as either something very old-fashioned looking or as possibly a shop run by hipsters. Weren’t most coffee places like that? This cafe on the other hand had a very specific theme: Horror .

While the outside looked completely normal and had cute little tables strewn about, the inside was completely different. It was black, had spooky music playing, and had all kinds of movie posters up on the walls; some of which Shadow recognized. They sold all kinds of different roasts of coffee beans all with horror-art on their labels. Had he known about this place, he would have been coming here exclusively just because of the atmosphere. 

Once she made the order, he was a little disappointed to see that Clover wanted to sit outside . Then again, he supposed he couldn’t blame her for wanting to take in some fresh air on a day that was as cool and inviting as this. 

“They call those ‘spider eggs’,” Clover said as she handed him the bag of chocolate covered espresso beans. “It’s a silly name, but they’re pretty good.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Shadow found himself teasing.

Popping open the bag, he tossed a bean or two into his mouth. The chocolate texture on the outside was surprisingly pleasant, though nothing prepared him for the burst of flavor as he chomped down on the first bean. For a moment he sat there, wide-eyed and frozen in place, and Clover honestly couldn’t tell if he liked it or not. She had her answer a moment later when he reached to shovel a handful into his mouth with a satisfying crunch . 

“Glad you like them,” she laughed out. 

Her own cup of brew was still large, but not as huge as the cup he’d seen her drink in the past. Living with Rouge meant she could actually put together some semblance of sleep schedule. Sure she was still a total coffee addict, but she didn’t need it anywhere near as badly in order to function.

“So, I was thinking,” Shadow started after a long moment of crunching and chewing. “Your powers…”

“Hm? What about them?”

“You still don’t know much about them, do you?” 

Clover paused, her lips against the edge of the cup-cover. 

“No, not really. I know there’s flight, some messed up shape-shifting, and extra strength I guess?” She said with a shrug. “But that’s about all.”

“You’re pretty strong once you get a hold of some blood,” Shadow pointed out. “But you have no idea how to control it. You need someone to help you figure it all out.”

“ Oh ?” 

Clover smirked as she took a sip of her coffee. He wasn’t suggesting what she thought he was, was he?

“You happen to know someone ultimate who can help train me?”

What she wasn’t expecting was a confident smirk in return. 

“ I might .”

The rabbit looked up at him in surprise. Shadow really was offering to train her, wasn’t he? Getting to spend more time with him was something she’d been hoping for ever since they parted ways. Whether they grew closer as friends or something else blossomed between them, Clover found herself having to hold back the excitement that was threatening to overtake her. 

“ You’re the best. ”

“I know.”