Archive of Our Own

“Man, Egghead really called in the cavalry for one measly hedgehog.”

Sonic stomps with both feet on a gold buzz badnik, using the momentum to jump over a lance-a-bot and roundhouse kick it from behind. Its head pops off to a mess of wires underneath, and falls unceremoniously to the ground. Eggman had launched an attack on a small town in the Central City suburbs in the hopes of razing it to develop another base of operations. Tails contacted Sonic, out for a run, and he dashed to meet his friends in the center of town, run amok with badniks and one nefariously giggling Eggman. Three transporter ships fly in the air above his eggmobile, dropping badniks.

“It’s kind of excessive, though,” Amy says. She whacks a red crawla with her hammer like a croquet ball, and it spins wildly into Knuckles’ fist. “We’ve destroyed so many badniks but it feels like we’re hardly making a dent.”

“I think it’s those transporters,” Tails speculates, his gaze moving between all three. “It looks like they’ve got some kind of teleporter on board that can send in rudimentary badniks from whichever base Eggman’s got it connected to.” His tails flick behind him in thought. “If we take out those transporters, Eggman won’t be able to call in more reinforcements!”

As if on cue, two transporters split to the left and to the right, heading towards both edges of town, dropping badniks on their way. Knuckles grabs two crawlas and smashes them together into scrap metal. “Perfect, and now they’ve split up!” He rolls his eyes. Another crawla punched into the ground. “I’ll take the one on the right, Amy, you take the left!”

Amy watches Knuckles head towards the right transporter, destroying badniks along the way. “Did he forget that only one of us can fly? How are we supposed to reach those things?”

“We’ll need to protect the townsfolk from these badniks at least. Tails, I’ll give you cover and you can fly up to see what that thing’s made of.” Sonic gestures with his thumb to the remaining transporter in the center of town.

“Aye-aye!” Tails salutes, and Sonic winks back at him. Amy gives a giggle and a salute to both her friends before running in the direction of the left-side transporter, swinging her hammer into badnik waves.

Spindashing into more crawlas and buzzes, Sonic looks up to see Tails flying towards the transporter. “See anything, bud?”

Tails hovers alongside the ship, swinging his feet under him. “Hmm. There’s a hatch where the badniks are dropped that I could probably squeeze into next time it opens.” He calls out. “The ship itself seems to be made of a highly reinforced metal, so no such luck brute force destroying it.”

Twin lasers fly in Tails direction, just missing his head, and he yelps.

“Tails!”

“Not so fast, fox-boy!” Sonic whips his head around to see Eggman in his eggmobile, its turrets pointed towards Tails in the sky. “I won’t have you messing around in my transporters so easily.”

Tails retreats to Sonic’s side on the ground. “Someone’s getting serious today.” Sonic scoffs. “You must really like watching us wreck all your bots, Eggman!”

“Don’t count your blessings yet, hedgehog,” Eggman sneers, as another horde of badniks is released from the transporter hatch. “There’s plenty more where that came from!”

Suddenly, a wave of artillery strikes the transporter closest to Sonic and Tails, and it falls apart to pieces in the sky. Sonic turns to see E-123 Omega’s smoking machine guns, and one Rouge the Bat fly down next to him and Tails.

“Hi, Blue,” she says, raising her brow. “Heard through the grapevine there’s Eggman trouble. Need a hand?”

“MY ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED TO DESTROY ALL EGGMAN VESSELS,” Omega announces, flashing a flamethrower in one arm and a drill missile launcher in the other. He leans in very close to Sonic. “THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL.”

Sonic laughs. Team Dark never fails to deliver. “Actually, yeah, if you’re offering. These transporters are teleporting badniks. There’s two more Knux and Amy are taking care of. Mind helping them both out?”

Rouge puts one hand on her hip. “We ran into Amy on our way over here. She told us you might need some extra manpower.” She pats Omega’s arm with her other hand. “Shadow’s got her back. The big guy over here can help out Knuckles.”

Right. Where there’s Rouge and Omega, there’s also Shadow. “Thanks, Rouge, Omega. We really owe you one.”

“YOU OWE ME NOTHING. I MUST THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO DESTROY EGGMAN PROPERTY.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Blue.” She flashes a pretty, toothy grin. “Shall we take out the rest of these badniks?”

“With pleasure!”

At that, Omega rushes to the transporter on the right edge of town as Rouge, Sonic, and Tails destroy the remaining badniks in the town center. Rouge screw kicks into the last badnik of the horde and lands with perfect poise, a mess of broken machinery around her. Sonic and Tails whoop as Rouge half-bows, sparks bouncing from torn badniks, and she eyes Eggman in his eggmobile. He narrows his gaze at her, and flinches at the loud sound of a heavy metal vessel colliding with the ground in the distance, no doubt Sonic’s allies making quick work of one of his transporters.

“I don’t have time for this,” Eggman says. “Not with you Team Dark imbeciles poking your nose in my business.”

Rouge laughs. “You sure are good at running like a coward, Doctor.”

“It’s called a ‘tactical retreat’, you buffoons!” he yells, his eggmobile fleeing further into the sky behind the tree line.

Tails steps around precarious edges of sharp metal, the remains of scrapped badniks. “I’ll start checking on the townsfolk and cleaning up around here.” His twin tails sway behind him. “There’s probably good stuff I can recycle for my workshop!”

“You do you, little bro,” Sonic says with a thumbs up. Tails returns his gesture with a grin, and runs off.

Rouge watches him hop away. “All in a day’s work, huh?” she says.

Sonic shrugs. “Pretty much. Eggman keeps us real busy.”

“Well, maybe my boys and I should join you do-gooders more often.” She kicks a stray bolt from a downed badnik. “We could use a little more excitement in our lives.”

Sonic smiles at her. “Hey, thanks for the assist. Glad to know you’ve got our backs out there.”

“NOTHING SAYS EXCITEMENT LIKE LIGHTING EGGMAN’S ROBOTS ON FIRE.”

Omega and Knuckles make their way into the town center to join Rouge and Sonic. Knuckles rolls his shoulder, stretching his neck from left to right. “That’s two transporters down,” he says. “Looks like you scared Eggman off.”

“Gotta give credit where it’s due,” Sonic says, and gestures to Rouge. She smirks and winks, then looks over Sonic’s shoulder and nods her head. He turns to see Amy and Shadow approach. Amy holds her hammer with one arm over her shoulder, and Shadow walks beside her, tightening his glove cuffs.

“All good?” Sonic asks Amy. He glances at Shadow.

Amy makes a show of dusting off her overalls. “All good! Eggman didn’t stand a chance.” She shares a high five with Sonic, then turns to Shadow. “Thank you again, Shadow.”

Shadow hums. “You’re welcome.”

Sonic meets his eyes, and waves. Shadow nods back, and turns to his teammates for a debrief. Two years had passed since Sonic met Shadow, and one year since the fall of Black Doom, since Shadow the Hedgehog woke up for the second time on Mobius after a fall from space. Shadow had resisted his father’s attempts to control him, and to control the planet. He moved on quietly, living with Rouge and Omega in Central City, assisting civilians and Sonic’s friends against threats to their safety.

But Sonic himself felt a distance grow between him and Shadow, like a chasm expanding. A far cry from the brief connection they shared in space, before the light of chaos faded from Shadow’s body and he dropped out of Sonic’s reach. If he had been faster, if he had paid close attention to Shadow’s chaos energy, they could have returned to the colony together, and back to the planet. There were countless what ifs from those last moments that Sonic turned over and over in the back of his mind.

Turns out, it isn’t very easy to broach a friendship with a guy you watched fall to his death.

Much less when you blame yourself for it.

And Sonic still remembers the first time he saw Shadow again after he fell to the planet, after death. The Black Arms invaded with no warning, and Sonic and his friends raced between cities and towns on damage control. He and Amy were assisting the evacuation of Station Square, when she received a call on her communicator.

Wait, wait, Tails, slow down. Who’s in Westopolis?

He could hear the panicked voice of Tails on the other end, and crowded around Amy as her brow furrowed in confusion. The hand holding her communicator started to tremble.

She looked up at Sonic. It’s Shadow. Her voice was shaking. Tails said he saw him in Westopolis. Sonic, he’s alive.

And Sonic may have broken the sound barrier in his sprint to Westopolis, he’s not sure. All he can remember is how the blood rushed to his ears, the fire that choked the city streets, the weight of the inhibitor ring he carried in his quills, and the silhouette of Shadow the Hedgehog at the top of a steep hill.

Alive.

(Talk about being stubborn and full of surprises. )

He glances up at Shadow, standing with Rouge and Omega as the three coordinate cleanup with Amy and Knuckles. He sees him survey the mess of badniks, yards and gardens destroyed, the injured townsfolk, and suddenly Sonic’s struck by the urge to reach out, to follow the tug that led him to the faker in the first place those two years ago. Shadow is an ally, a comrade, but also one of the only living beings on the planet who can keep up with Sonic. No time like the present to bridge a gap.

He feels a little light on his feet, and jogs over to Shadow, rounding up debris, before he can chicken out.

It’s now or never, right? And Sonic’s not usually one for never.

“Hey,” Sonic says.

Shadow looks up and raises an eyebrow. Sonic clears his throat.

How do you make friends again?

“Good work today,” he continues.

Shadow throws broken machinery into a pile. “Same to you.”

Sonic shifts on his feet a little. “Team Dark, Team Sonic, we make a pretty good crew.”

Shadow eyes him. “Sure.”

“I mean, if we ever run into badnik trouble again, I could give you guys a call?”

“You could.”

“Cool.” Sonic shoves his communicator at Shadow. “So can you give me your number.”

Shadow steps back a bit, startled, and his gaze moves from Sonic’s communicator, to Sonic, and back to his communicator. “You want… my number?”

“Yeah.” Sonic nods, a bit too quickly. “You know. For badnik trouble.”

Shadow furrows his brow, and glances at Sonic, wary. “I suppose…”

He takes Sonic’s communicator and adds his contact information, handing it back to Sonic without meeting his eyes. Sonic smothers the urge to fist pump, and instead sends Shadow a message: “- it’s me.”

“Now you’ve got mine.” Sonic smiles at him.

“Right.”

He throws on an air of nonchalance and stretches his arms. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. See you around sometime?”

Shadow nods before picking up more debris to add to the cleanup pile. “See you.”

He jogs off to catch up with Amy. She peers behind her at Shadow, and then at Sonic. “Did you just ask for his number?”

“Yeah.” Sonic says. “For badnik trouble.”

She narrows her eyes at him, looking smug. “Uh-huh.”

“What?”

“Nothing, Sonic.” She pats him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.”

Later, Sonic lays out in the dark on Tails’ sofa. He stares at Shadow’s number in his communicator. It’s a line to Shadow, a link he doesn’t want to mess up again. He looks out at the moon, torn apart by the Eclipse Cannon, and the Ark in orbit. He rolls onto his side, and soon falls asleep.

In the early afternoon Shadow hears the buzz of a new message on his communicator. He glances at the flash of its screen and sees Sonic’s contact name accompanied by a text:

“- wanna go for a run today?”

Two weeks ago, in the Central City suburbs, Shadow, Rouge, and Omega assisted Sonic and his friends in thwarting Eggman’s plans to terrorize a small town. Sonic had asked for his communicator contact, in what Shadow assumed was an attempt to keep one another’s teams updated on threats to the planet.

To his surprise, Sonic’s reaching out with a personal invitation.

“- Where to?” he finds himself responding. Call it piqued curiosity.

“- start at tails’ workshop in the mystic ruins end at empire city?”

Shadow taps the side of his communicator. When he woke up one year ago, after Rouge released him from Eggman’s holding chamber, and they made peace with Omega, his memories were foggy at best. He remembered the Ark, 50 years ago, and waking up in a rage on Mobius. When his mind finally cleared from thoughts of revenge, and his fall through the atmosphere. He remembered Rouge, his partner in crime. He remembered Amy, who coaxed him back to reality. And he remembered Sonic.

But the details were fuzzy.

Slowly, his mind filled in the gaps. He saw Sonic again in Westopolis, after a year asleep in a high security Eggman base. He had given him his inhibitor ring, making a pair with the one Rouge returned. They succeeded in driving off the Black Arms, and Sonic helped him recover elusive pieces of his memory. But in the year that followed, connecting with Sonic seemed just out of Shadow’s reach. Sharing a battle against Eggman as allies amounted to little more than a brief hello, or a quick goodbye. When Shadow looked closely, he could see a tension in Sonic’s smile, his gaze either avoiding Shadow, or lingering.

He had chalked it up to a clash in personality, but sometimes he wonders otherwise.

He often thinks of Sonic in their final moments up against the Prototype in space. Sonic had all but pleaded with him to return to the colony, but Shadow had a wish to fulfill. With Sonic he powered one last Chaos Control before his super form was snuffed out, like a breath on a candle flame. He fell, and Sonic moved to catch him, but he pushed him back, his inhibitor rings drifting back to the colony, and to Sonic, without him. The last thing he saw was Sonic glowing bright against the black of space, calling his name, and the tears welling in his eyes.

He woke up a year later, Rouge pulling him out of the dark, and even through the fog he could still see some light.

He looks down at his communicator, Sonic’s message waiting for his reply.

“- Sure. On my way now.”

He steps out into the hall and makes his way towards the front door. He passes Rouge in their living room, her nose in a book.

“Heading out?” she asks from her spot on the sofa.

“Yes,” Shadow responds. He pauses. “Sonic asked to go running.”

Rouge looks up, her brow quirked. “Blue did?” Shadow nods, and she hums, eyeing him thoughtfully. “Well, have fun. Tell him I said hi.”

Shadow gives her a wave goodbye, and heads out the door. He mutters a quick “Chaos Control” and bends time and space to travel to the Mystic Ruins.

The world comes to and he finds Sonic leaning against the side of Tails’ workshop. He turns as he hears Shadow approach.

“Yo,” Sonic says, stepping towards Shadow. He smiles. “Thanks for meeting me out here.”

Shadow crosses his arms. “Any reason you wanted to run today?”

Sonic shrugs, and looks at the ground. He mindlessly prods at pebbles with his foot. “You’re fast. Thought it might be fun.”

Sonic looks up, and their eyes meet. One of the brightest memories Shadow carried with him through his fall was their race to the Eclipse Cannon. Until that moment Shadow hadn’t known what it meant to draw swords with an equal, to clash with someone who had all the potential to understand you. There was admiration, and awe, in Sonic’s use of chaos control to avoid certain death in space, utilizing the power of a fake emerald. But there was also the relief and exhilaration of having another chance to stand toe to toe with a rival, to find out what it meant to be pushed to your limit, and to push back in turn. Sonic would never be one to back down without a fight.

(What can I say? I die hard.)

Shadow looks away. “If you say so.”

Sonic gives him a thumbs up. “Awesome,” he says, and sets off in a run.

Shadow blinks, and sighs. He takes a running start to catch up before his air shoes ignite, and he’s skating beside Sonic. They set an even pace, and Shadow breathes in deep. The air from the coast is clean, and he can hear waterfalls as they approach the jungle. They weave through tall trees, bending around old broken ruins, and reach the jungle’s edge. They emerge to a cliffside, and scale the side of it, up to a clearing at the top. The grass moves with Shadow as he skates through open fields, on their way to Empire City, over short hills and wildflower meadows.

If there’s one thing Shadow could not have anticipated when he began living on this planet, it was the breadth of open space to run through. Winding down city streets is its own kind of fun, but grassy plains and hills offer miles that seem to stretch on forever. In late August, the sun beats down on Shadow’s fur, but it makes him want to push his self-healing body harder. The ache that follows after a summer run, the pounding in his chest, the weightless feeling when he hits his stride. He likes to think it brings him ever closer to understanding what it means to be alive, craving whatever is beyond the limits of his engineered constitution. He wonders if Sonic feels the same.

Shadow glances at Sonic beside him, and Sonic glances back. He smirks, something dangerous, and suddenly Shadow feels all his fur stand on end, beginning at the top of his head, and ending with a pull at his heart. Sonic pushes ahead, and alights a fire in Shadow left behind. He charges forward on his air shoes, past Sonic, until Sonic pulls ahead in his sprint, a gust of wind left in his wake. Shadow grits his teeth, and his focus narrows down to the far away finish line in Empire City, and Sonic, trying to outpace him. He feels every part of him lock into place, his pace, his breath, his feet hitting the ground. He pushes himself again, and again, burning chaos energy through his legs and his lungs, but Sonic keeps up, neck and neck in their race. Shadow can hear him laughing.

Sonic is a current that pushes him tumbling downstream.

Suddenly, he feels Sonic shove him, pulling him out of his stride, but he stays steady on his feet. He whips his head around to throw Sonic a nasty look, and Sonic stares him down. Shadow shoves him back, and Sonic pushes against him until Shadow pulls away and Sonic nearly stumbles and loses his balance, caught unaware. They both stop.

Shadow faces him, catching his breath a little, and Sonic stands still, watching him. Slowly, Sonic assumes a fighting stance, and Shadow scoffs. He fights a smile and braces himself defensively. At once, Sonic lunges and throws a punch, and Shadow dodges, throwing a punch of his own. Sonic evades, and Shadow kicks at Sonic’s legs underneath him. Sonic leaps back and readies a spin dash, launching himself at Shadow, and Shadow meets his spin dash with one of his own. They collide, and break away, leaving chaos energy dancing in the air, and collide once more, before finally falling back. Shadow lands on his feet, and Sonic tumbles in the grass before bouncing back up. Shadow bares his fangs a bit, his ears pulled back. Sonic’s quills stand on edge.

He holds Shadow’s gaze, a fire in his eyes, but Shadow sees him start to break, the taut line of his scowl falling into a smile. He lets go and throws his head back with a loud laugh. His eyes are bright and Shadow finds his levity infectious, feeling a little light on his feet. He sighs, relaxing his own posture and his quills, and shakes his head.

Shadow wants to tease him. “You’re a bit of a sore loser, aren’t you?”

Sonic puts his paws on his hips and eyes him. “Not as much as you, faker.”

“You know you would’ve eaten my dust. That’s why you had to fight dirty.”

“In your dreams, Shadow.”

Shadow can’t fight his smile this time either. He looks at Sonic, rolling his eyes, and Sonic giggles again, a little breathless.

They idle in the grass for a few moments, Sonic rolling his shoulders. Shadow looks out at Empire City in the distance, their finish line. He breathes in deep, the thrill of being pushed beyond his limits finally settling down. He feels his muscles twitch after their sprint, the pounding in his chest ease into something slow and steady again.

He regards Sonic, the way he picks off clovers stuck in his fur. Since they first fought on Prison Island, Shadow realized no matter how fast he is, Sonic will keep up the chase, a raging storm trying to sweep him away, and Shadow will strike back each time. Sonic’s an opponent Shadow wants to beat, but he’s also an equal who will always rise to meet him. Even through the haze of his vengeance when he first woke up on this planet, and even in his struggle for recollection the second time, Shadow understood how electrifying competition was. And despite the distance he felt from Sonic since he woke up last year, this never changed.

Shadow suddenly has the urge to run across the grass again.

“I was right,” Sonic says. He stretches a bit, reaching down to touch his toes.

“Hm? About?”

Sonic looks up. “This was fun.”

Sonic flashes him a dazzling smile, the kind he shows off to the press as he sprints by or to civilians in a rescue mission. Shadow feels his face heat up, and he looks away, his breath caught in his throat. He nods, stiff, and lets the breeze move through his fur.

He hears Sonic high atop the Ark, two years ago, alive and well against all odds, his entire existence confounding.

(What you see is what you get! Just a guy who loves adventure!)

“Hey,” Sonic says, and Shadow looks over at him. “I’m hungry.” He watches Sonic play with the ends of his gloves. “Wanna get something to eat in Empire City?”

He looks at Shadow expectantly, standing on his toes a bit. Grass still clings to his quills. Shadow feels like whatever was severed between them after his fall through the atmosphere has maybe started to mend itself whole again.

“I’m not eating chili dogs, though.”

Sonic breathes a laugh, the tension easing from his shoulders. “You don’t know what you’re missing out, man!”

Sonic runs off in the direction of Empire City, and Shadow follows after him, setting pace once again.

A few months pass and Sonic finds himself in Shadow’s company more often than he imagined he ever would one year ago. They race and spar and foil Eggman’s schemes. He’s managed to convince Shadow to try chili dogs. He finds an equal in Shadow’s speed and in his competitive streak. Shadow’s quiet and polite, but he’s funny, and Sonic likes to rile him up just to see him try to hide a laugh. He wishes he had approached Shadow sooner, with how easy it’s been to fit one another into their lives, to move forward from the past.

And so when Sonic sends him a “-run to emerald coast today?” message through his communicator he expects a “-Yes” and a race to follow. Instead, Shadow replies “- Not a run. Meet me here:” accompanied by an address in Central City. Not necessarily the response he anticipated, but Sonic doesn’t mind switching it up sometimes.

And Shadow’s a nice change of pace.

He throws on a jacket and steps outside. Late afternoon cold moves through his fur and he sets off on a run towards Central City. Fall has already eased the oppressive heat of summer, and he finds his runs better for it. He takes a deep breath in through his nose and lets the long exhale carry his legs farther and faster. His heart beats steady.

Central City comes into view, and he follows the highway into the city streets and towards his destination. An ear twitches and he hears the low rumble of a motorcycle engine before he sees it. He slows as he turns the street corner to find Shadow idling on a motorcycle at the curb. His bike’s facade matches Shadow himself, all black with red embellishments, and he wears a black leather jacket and black gloves.

Sonic whistles. “Nice ride.”

Shadow hums, dismounting and shutting the engine off. He crosses his arms and leans back against his bike. “I like it, too.”

Sonic tilts his head. “Don’t you think you’re faster than a motorcycle, though?”

Shadow meets Sonic’s gaze and scowls, like a lit match, and Sonic grins. Sometimes Shadow makes it too easy.

“I think I’m faster than a motorcycle,” he continues. He sees sparks fly from him to Shadow and he wants to chase them.

But Shadow doesn’t take the bait. He sighs and shakes his head. “Don’t knock it ‘till you try it, hedgehog.”

Sonic shrugs. So much for a race. “Where’d you get this anyway?”

“It’s something I picked up when Black Doom invaded Westopolis. A former military vehicle.” His gaze falls on the Black Arms insignia painted red on the exterior. “Refurbishing and modifying it turned out to be pretty satisfying.”

“Something you ‘picked up’, huh? Isn’t that just a nice way of saying you stole it?”

Shadow smirks, mischief catching light in his eye. “I admit to nothing.”

“Hey, I’m no snitch. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing wrong with stealing from G.U.N.”

Shadow huffs a laugh, and hops onto the bike’s seat. He looks at Sonic and pats the space behind him.

Sonic’s ears perk up and forward, and he bounces a bit on his toes. “We’re gonna take your bike to the beach?”

“You scared?” Shadow asks, a teasing edge to his voice.

Sonic rolls his eyes. “As if.”

He sits behind Shadow on the bike seat, his paws hovering above Shadow’s shoulders. He drops them to his sides, before resting them on his legs. There’s a line here he’s not sure whether he’s making up himself, one that he doesn’t know how to cross, and if he’s welcome to.

Shadow starts his bike’s engine. “You’ll have to hold on if you don’t want to fall off.”

“Right,” Sonic says. He wraps his arms around Shadow’s waist, and leans forward, moving his quills out of the way.

“Ready?” Shadow asks. His voice is very close.

Sonic is suddenly aware that his face is very warm. He hopes the early November chill will cool off any embarrassing blush. “Yup.”

“Then let’s go.”

Shadow drives away from the curb and into the street, heading out towards the city limits. They ride with the wind out of the city, and follow the long highway towards Station Square and Emerald Coast next to it. Sonic watches skyscrapers and streets change into forest and plains, and mountains break the horizon in front of him. He glances at Shadow, focused on the road. He looks at ease on his bike, and Sonic adds this to his long mental list of things he’s learned about Shadow in the time he’s gotten to know him.

Sonic thinks all of his friends are pretty cool, but he feels himself pulled into Shadow’s orbit. When Sonic looks at him, he thinks of his own failure to rescue him in space, all those what ifs. But more than that, he feels drawn to him in a way that makes him never want to repeat those same mistakes, to never lose that kind of bond again. He always seems to push Sonic to be better and grow stronger, in all these months of friendly sparring, and long before that, too.

Shadow stops at a red light. “You alright back there?” he asks.

Sonic scoffs. “Who do you think I am, faker?”

Shadow smirks over his shoulder, and the light turns green. He drives forward, focused on the road again, and Sonic smiles. He rests his head against Shadow’s shoulder, the soft leather of his jacket. Shadow feels solid against him, and he wonders despite the motorcycle’s loud engine, if he could fall asleep here. Something flutters in his chest at the thought, but it’s gone before he can place it.

It’s close to sunset when they pull up to Emerald Coast. The shore curves and Station Square sits at the very edge. Shadow parks his bike next to the boardwalk, and Sonic hops off. The nights are colder as the season changes, and the wind carries more chill on the coast. A few mobians and humans walk the shore and the boardwalk, and grass climbs out of the sand and the boardwalk’s wood planks. They creak under Sonic’s footsteps. He stuffs his paws in his jacket pockets and waits for Shadow to catch up.

Sonic looks out at a pier hanging over the water. “Wanna head to that pier?”

Shadow nods. “Lead the way.”

They walk for a bit alongside the shoreline. Sonic looks out across the beach, at the sun setting gold over the coast. He can see islands peak out of the horizon in the distance. He glances at Shadow. He walks beside him, watching the sky above the coast, a cold breeze from the water moving through his quills. The red in his fur looks bolder at sunset. He meets Sonic’s gaze with his own, and gives him an inquisitive hum.

“Nothin’,” Sonic answers. “Just wondering why you didn’t wanna race today.”

Shadow shrugs. “Maybe I feel bad beating you every time.” He smirks. “Figured I should give you a break.”

Sonic sticks out his tongue. “You’re so full of it.”

They reach the pier, and walk to the very end. Sonic looks over the railing at the water below, throwing seafoam as it hits the pillars underneath. Night starts to fill the sky along the edges as twilight sets in.

“I guess I just wanted to see a sunset,” Shadow says.

“Huh?” Sonic asks, looking his way.

“You asked why I didn’t want to race today,” Shadow clarifies. “I wanted to see the sunset.”

“Ah,” Sonic responds. With me? he thinks, and feels a little giddy. “Well, Emerald Coast’s one of the best places to see ‘em.”

Shadow grins, and leans a bit of his weight against the pier’s railing. “So it would seem.”

“You don’t come down here much?”

Shadow shakes his head. “No, not particularly.”

Sonic smiles at him. “It’s even better when the weather’s warm.”

Shadow closes his eyes, and tilts his face towards the cold breeze. “I’ll bet.”

He’s quiet for a bit, waves slowly lapping against the pier’s underside. “It’s actually right around Station Square where the Doctor found me,” he finally says. “After I fell from the Ark. Any closer to the coast and I would have been at the bottom of the ocean.”

Sonic looks at him, his chest suddenly heavy. He’s never known the details of Shadow’s fall, and his capture by Eggman. He tries not to imagine Shadow lost to the ocean’s depths. Shadow takes a breath, and lets out a quiet sigh. “I do feel grateful to the Doctor sometimes. For finding me.”

Sonic grips the railing with his paws. “Guess Egghead is good for some things,” he says, trying to keep his voice steady.

Shadow scoffs, almost a laugh. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Sonic shifts a bit on his feet. “Do you…,” he starts. Shadow turns to him as he trails off. “Do you remember much of that day?” he finishes when he finds his voice again.

Shadow eyes him, and looks back out beyond the pier. “Not really. I remember being in space. I remember crossing the atmosphere into the planet. But I passed out at some point.” He leans down, resting his arms against the railing. “The next thing I knew, Rouge woke me up.”

“And you lost some of your memories. Right?” Sonic asks.

“Sort of. It was all very confusing.” He furrows his brow a bit in thought. “I knew who Rouge was, even if I couldn’t remember why. I knew who I was, but not how I got there. Things like that.” He stops for a moment, and his voice is quiet. “I remembered you, though.”

Sonic feels his heart thud against his chest, but he feigns bravado. “I’m hard to forget, huh?” he quips, expecting a good natured jab or an eye roll. But when he looks at Shadow, there’s no playful exasperation. Instead, Shadow just smiles at him, fond and a little shy, none of the harder edges he usually guards himself with. He looks soft in a way Sonic’s never seen on him.

“Unfortunately,” he says, almost a whisper.

Sonic feels his face heat up, and he quickly looks down at his own paws holding the pier railing. He feels the weight of that day two years ago all at once now, reaching out to Shadow in space, and watching him grow small as he fell. The inhibitor rings he left behind felt warm. He had moved in a daze back to the colony, without Shadow, carrying only the sinking feeling of loss with him.

Everything he’s ever wanted to tell Shadow finds its way to the surface. His paws start to tremble.

“I’m sorry,” he starts. He squeezes his paws together. “For everything that happened. When we stopped the Ark. When we saved the planet.” He pauses. “For not being strong enough to save you.”

Shadow glances at him, and straightens up. “But I pushed you away.”

“Well, I could’ve, I don’t know. Dove after you as you fell.”

“Then we both would have died.”

Sonic winces. He remembers deep, cold space, and Shadow’s vibrant figure next to him. The Prototype, fused to the Ark on a collision course for the planet, roared in fury as they aimed for its vulnerable hide in a race against time. Sonic had heard Shadow laughing, freely and loud. It was as if his need for vengeance, manufactured by his own father in the depths of despair and torture, left his body at once, and he came back to himself. He glanced over at him, and Shadow was looking at Sonic like he had just witnessed a star being born.

(Sonic! I think I’ve discovered what the ultimate lifeform is!)

“You shouldn’t feel responsible. I’ve never blamed you,” Shadow says, pulling him from his memories. Sonic turns to find Shadow looking at him. His gaze is grounded and sure, steadfast in the way Sonic has come to understand him.

“I wasn’t about to let you sacrifice yourself. You’re a hero,” Shadow continues. He touches the inhibitor ring on his left wrist, the ring Sonic returned when they met again in Westopolis, a year ago. It still manages to catch light even in dusk. “By some miracle, I was given a second chance. Now, I can start over. I can protect this planet with you and your friends.”

Sonic sees Shadow look out into the sky, somewhere far beyond the blue hour’s low horizon. There’s a fiery determination in his eyes, the same one he had when he approached the Prototype for the first time, alone, and when he joined Sonic at the replica of the Master Emerald shrine, and they erupted into their super forms together. And the one he’s seen in all these weeks getting to know him, when they race across Mobius. He hears Doctor Gerald Robotnik’s words from his video recording played one year ago, during their last stand with Black Doom: You were born to be a beacon of hope for us humans.

Shadow has been living for the future all this time.

Sonic smiles. “I’d say you’re doing a pretty good job of it already.”

Shadow hums quietly. “I made a promise after all.”

“You did.” Sonic shifts a little closer to him, and nudges him with an elbow. “And now you have a sick motorcycle, too.”

Shadow breathes a laugh and grins. “I do have a sick motorcycle.”

Sonic leans down and rests his elbows on the balcony railing, his chin in his hand. He peers up at Shadow, his black quills almost inky blue in the dark. His arms are crossed as he watches each wave make its way to shore. He looks down at Sonic and when their eyes meet, Sonic smiles.

“Thank you, Shadow.”

Shadow smiles back.

Sonic sees the reflection of space ebb and flow on the water’s surface. The defunct Ark curves somewhere in orbit across the night sky. After a few long moments, he straightens up and pulls his jacket closer. “Think maybe we should head back soon? It’s kinda chilly.”

Shadow side eyes him and raises his brow. “I didn’t know you were so afraid of the cold.”

Sonic rolls his eyes through a grin. He feels a little bit lighter. “Hey, maybe I just don’t wanna freeze my butt off out here!”

Shadow huffs and turns towards the boardwalk, a smile at the edge of his voice. His paw brushes against Sonic’s for a moment, warm. “Whatever you say, hedgehog.”

Shadow stands back to back with Amy on the deck of an Eggman airship. He throws chaos spears at incoming badniks, and Amy whacks them sky-high with her hammer. Shadow watches one fly at full speed off the deck and disappear in the clouds.

He turns a bit towards her. “Nice shot.”

Amy gives him a bright smile and giggles, and Shadow grins back.

Eggman had constructed another airship for the sole purpose of terrorizing helpless citizens. It’s not quite as huge or complicated as the Egg Carrier, but it manages to carry swarms of badniks Eggman drops onto unsuspecting towns and cities. A few cannons and laser turrets were installed on its broadside, and mounted on the deck. Shadow had gotten word from Sonic that he and his friends were off to stop yet one more of Eggman’s attempts at world domination. Along with Rouge and Omega, he boarded Eggman’s airship in the sky and took on badnik troops on the deck, along with a few larger new model badnik mechs guarding the interior of the ship, while Tails and Knuckles searched for Eggman inside.

Rouge swoops down beside them from a higher level of the airship. “I took out a few of those cannons, but he’s still got some tough firepower left on this thing.” She eyes Amy, fluttering her eyelashes and putting on her best helpless expression. “If only someone with a very strong hammer would be able to help me out.”

Amy cracks her knuckles and shows off a pose with her hammer, smirking. “All you had to do was ask, Rouge.”

Rouge grins. She turns to Shadow. “You’ll be alright here on your own?”

Shadow glances across the airship at Sonic fighting badniks. He can see the Tornado parked by the stern of the ship. Sonic leaps and twists away from badniks lunging at him, kicking them into the ground, evading their bullets at the last second. Shadow can see him laughing. He fights in a way that’s as carefree and daring as his spirit. It’s hard to take his eyes off him.

Shadow smiles to himself. “I’ll be fine. No need to worry.”

Rouge looks in Sonic’s direction, and her grin turns wicked. “Right, you’ve got a knight in shining armor.” Amy hides a laugh next to her.

Shadow sighs. “I believe you both have some cannons to take care of.”

Rouge winks at him and holds out her hand to Amy. “Shall we?”

“Ready when you are!” Amy says, and takes her hand. Rouge lifts her in the air and they fly towards the larger mounted cannons. Amy waves at Shadow as they leave.

He holds his hand up in a wave at her, before more badniks pile in on him. He takes them out easily with chaos spears and his own strength, until he hears a commotion on the other side of the deck. When he looks over, he sees Sonic on the ground, wrestling with a scrappy red buzz badnik. Shadow spots one of the larger mechs a ways away focus on Sonic, readying a large missile, but Sonic hasn’t noticed, shoving the badnik off of him and punching it into the ground. The missile deploys, and Shadow feels his heart sink. He dashes over to Sonic.

Shadow dives in front of him, feet planted firmly on the floor of the airship. He collides with the missile and grips it with both paws, stopping it in its tracks. The force of it threatens to knock him off his feet, but he holds sure and throws it back in the direction of the mech it came. It explodes on impact, reducing the mech to a pile of broken metal.

He turns to Sonic, holding out a paw. “Are you alright?”

Sonic looks up at him and smiles, his eyes soft. “My hero,” he teases, and grabs his paw.

Shadow scoffs, pulling Sonic up, giving him a small smile of his own. “Don’t get used to it.”

“Thanks, though.” Sonic winks and squeezes Shadow’s paw in his, gently. “Appreciate it.”

Shadow smiles at him again, fighting a blush, swaying a bit closer into his space. If he lets his paw linger in Sonic’s for longer than what would be considered professional, there’s no one besides a few broken badniks to share his secret.

At that moment, Tails and Knuckles run across the deck of the ship, out through one of the doors that leads into the cabin. “Eggman isn’t here anymore!” Tails says. “Looks like he abandoned ship and set it to autopilot a little while after we got here.” He brushes off some dust from his fur. “I coordinated a landing, and Amy and Rouge have taken out its cannons, but those badniks are still causing trouble.”

Sonic stretches his arms a bit, rubbing his shoulders. “Thanks, little bro. So we just need to take out the rest of Eggman’s goons, yeah?” He jogs a little in place.

Shadow turns at the sound of a loud explosion at the front of the ship. He sees Omega shatter one of the larger mechs to pieces with his laser cannon, and tear through a few smaller badniks with his claws. “WORTHLESS EGGMAN MACHINES TREMBLE BEFORE MY SUPERIOR ARTILLERY,” he hears his voice boom over the sound of screeching metal.

Knuckles gestures to Omega with his thumb. “He’s got the right idea.” He runs off to a mob of badniks, pummeling them into scraps and bolts.

“Sounds good to me,” Sonic says, watching Knuckles. He looks at Shadow with a challenging smirk, one Shadow has grown very familiar with. “Wanna see who wrecks the most badniks?”

Again, Shadow feels a fire flicker to life inside him. “It’ll hardly be a challenge, but if you insist.”

Sonic laughs, and leans a bit closer to Shadow. His eyes shine, and he looks fearless. “You’re on!” He runs off to an Egg Guard badnik operating a laser turret and spindashes it to bits.

If it’s a competition Sonic wants, it’s a competition he’ll get. Shadow locks onto a pair of larger mechs surrounded by a few smaller badniks, and rushes with a chaos spear at the ready. He flings it at a red crawla and it slices through its mechanical neck, its head falling to the deck with a loud thud. He swipes at two more badniks close by, chaos energy moving from his heart to his fingertips, and they crumble in front of him. He lands a well timed kick to another, and throws one more chaos spear at the last, until each badnik is down and accounted for. He turns to find Sonic watching him with a brow raised, and he feels some pride at the idea of being noticed, realizing belatedly that he’s been trying to show off. He’s not sure whether he wants to beat Sonic, impress him, or both.

Sonic makes him feel a lot of confusing things, after all.

Suddenly, he sees Sonic’s face twist into fear, his hand reaching out from across the deck, and a metal fist abruptly slams into Shadow’s side and he falls, skidding across the floor of the ship towards the edge. One of the two larger mechs looms over him, and he rolls out of the way before it bring its fist down onto him again. He jumps back up on his feet as both mechs crowd in on him, cornered against the edge of the ship and the sky behind him. He slides between the legs of one mech, ready to fire a chaos spear at its backside, but the other points an arm cannon at him point blank. He dodges easily, but he’s caught off guard and grabbed by its partner, its grip tight as it holds him aloft over the edge of the ship, the ground far below him.

“Shadow!” he hears Sonic yell from a distance.

Shadow struggles in the mech’s grasp, and manages to free one arm to ignite a blazing chaos spear. He aims it at the mech’s chest, and it pierces straight through. The mech convulses, and then stills. Its hand suddenly lets him go, and he plummets. If he fell from this height, with accelerated healing, he’d suffer no mortal damage. Some broken or dislocated bones, internal bleeding, but nothing his bioengineered body wouldn’t piece and stitch back together in a few hours at most. And yet, a freefall never failed to flutter at his nerves, his gut flipping as gravity pulled him to the ground. He liked to think he’s not afraid of much, but he can’t help the dread that swells at his boneless, weightless descent. It always hurts to fall.

He’s been here before, but this time, he hasn’t passed out. He hasn’t closed his eyes. He can see the planet’s sky, the thin layer of cloud cover, the slanted late afternoon light, the rush of a blue figure freefalling after him, the-

Wait.

The fool!

He watches Sonic dive towards him, his arms stretched out in front, eyes wide with panic. He falls faster, closer, until he collides with Shadow, wrapping his arms around him. Shadow lets out a rough breath as Sonic holds tight, and they nosedive towards the ground, a pair of shooting stars.

He wants to yell, to somehow find the strength to fling Sonic back up on the airship to safety, but he finds his voice caught in his throat. He can feel Sonic’s panicked breathing against him, but there’s a resolve in his eyes, a defiance of the impossible odds stacked against him. Sonic would jump into danger even if the ground was miles and miles beneath his feet. Shadow can’t seem to tear his gaze away from him.

“Soooooonic!”

Tails’ voice calls out from somewhere in the clouds. Sonic’s ears stand to attention, and he searches the sky frantically for his little brother. And, there, the red of the Tornado comes into view against clear sky between clouds, Tails waving with one arm at Sonic and Shadow, the other at the biplane’s steering wheel. Sonic breathes a laugh, relief easing his panic.

He looks down at Shadow. “Hold onto me!” He yells. “Trust me!”

Shadow is suddenly back to moments before he fell to the planet, in the deep of space, when gold and chaos still rippled against his fur, high above the planet’s atmosphere. The Prototype raged, and just before he was swept away he looked to Sonic, light flicking off his silhouette, like a supernova about to burst.

(Everyone is waiting for us back on Earth!)

He thinks there isn’t much he wouldn’t trust Sonic with, his life included.

Shadow holds him now, and he can see the Tornado sweep underneath them. Sonic aims their fall for one of the biplane’s wings, and as they get closer, he reaches out his paws and grabs the front edge of the wing, laying himself flat on top. Shadow hangs onto him, and once he’s in no danger of falling off moves to grab the edge of the wing himself, settling next to Sonic. His heart hasn’t stopped thrashing in his chest.

Sonic breathes heavy, holding tight onto the Tornado’s wing. He stares wide eyed and far away at the sky before him. “Holy- holy moly.”

“You’re crazy!” Shadow yells against the rush of wind. “You could’ve died!”

“Yeah,” Sonic breathes. He laughs a little, nervous and thrilled. “I think I am crazy.”

Shadow stares at him, the panic that tenses his brow, but the obvious exhilaration in his smile. And Shadow can’t help it. He can’t help the giggling that trills from his throat, and the hard belly laughter that follows. He thinks he might be seeing stars. Sonic whips his head around towards Shadow, his grin wilder.

“What’s so funny, faker?!”

“You!” Shadow says, lightheaded. “How does anyone put up with you?!”

“Yes! I know!” Tails calls out from the cockpit. “Welcome to my world!”

Sonic rolls his eyes, and Shadow laughs again. He moves a bit closer to Sonic to rest his head against his arm, exhausted, and Sonic leans his head against Shadow’s. He’s warm, and as his adrenaline and fear stabilize Shadow has the wild urge to nuzzle his shoulder, his cheek, to hold him close out of danger. Tails maneuvers the Tornado towards solid ground for a landing and Shadow closes his eyes. He steadies his breathing and his heart and feels the wind ride through him.

One year ago, Sonic was almost a stranger, someone he once fought alongside to save the planet from certain doom, but who he’d never know otherwise. Today, he’s safe atop the Tornado next to him, Sonic’s paw over his, a race somewhere in their future, and Shadow’s feelings a little less confusing.

Sonic is a fast current, and Shadow’s tumbling downstream, but he lets go. He knows there’s someone waiting to catch him.