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Chapter Text

Sonic doesn't remember how he got here really. 

He remembers flashes- a battle with his friends against eggman, going the same as they've always gone, his friends and him destroying robots left and right, taunting eggman, getting cocky the more they fought and won. Until eggman pulled a new card out of his sleeve- mutants. They were so much harder to fight, and none of the team could bring themselves to kill them, not when they looked so much like mobians, like innocent people. 

Sonic remembers stopping right before clawing a mutant and for a moment he saw tails in the tiny fox underneath him, in its bright blue eyes and the curve of its snout, and then it was too late.

He remembers how the little mutant dug its claws through his flesh and he remembers screaming for help when it bit him, and he remembers feeling a rush of something up, up, up, through his body to his head and he remembers everyone screaming his name as everything went black. 

Now he's here, in a cold clinical lab, surrounded by eggmans new scientist team and his robots, unable to fight back or understand what their doing to him. He can still feel the needles digging into his skin, the stitches in his chest where the scientists closed his wounds, and his chest after an 'exploratory surgery', now leaving not a scar in sight. At least they give him a blanket when he's outside of the tank they have him in day in, day out.

He doesn't know what procedures they do on him. He always thought if he was caught, he'd be studied- recordings of how fast he could go, muscle thickness, mental strength, agility- but none of that had happened. Just needles and scalpels, and needles and scalpels, and that dreaded tank, and more needles. He seen himself In the mirrors. He looks awful, thin and tired, his quills a mess, some shorter then others in his body's desperate attempt to grow back the quills that had been ripped out for experiments, his fur outgrown and matted in areas. 

He always tried to lighten the mood for himself. Tell himself that they wouldnt break his spirits. He still joked and smiled, even when the scientists would sneer.

He felt.. different somehow after all the experiments, but he never looked any different. He didn't know how long he'd been confined to the white walls of the building, or if anyone was even still looking for him, but by now he almost didn't want them to. Didn't want his friends to see him in this state, and certainly not tails. The little fox he raised always looked at him like he was invincible and now he felt small and weak and *dangerous*. 

Today was another testing day. "Hey Wendy.", Sonic cheerfully said, something a smile on his face. The scientist- Wendy as it said on her name tag- ignored him as always. Sonic liked her. She didn't hut him or yell at him like the others, though she usually ignored him. He hated the silence but he could handle it. He longed for someone here to talk to and she would only listen, never saying anything back. It didn't mean she liked him, but he convinced himself that she at least tolerated him, as she never reported his conversation to Eggman. "What's it for today? Samples, another blood test?", Sonic asked quietly. He hoped it wasn't a blood test. While he was used to it by now, he had always hated needles. Wendy's face twisted slightly, but she continued her work- taping his IV's back on.

He had become aware now during his time here that he moved a lot in his sleep, ripping out his IV's frequently. He winced as she reinserted one of the ones of his ankle. It was when she got up and dug the respirator out of the cabinet that he felt tired. Of course- it was a tank day. He hated the tank. Depriving him of everything exept his sight, only to watch as the scientists pumped him full of chemicals and wandered around the cylindrical glass container. He sat quietly as she put it on him, suprisingly careful and gently as she tightened the strap around the back of his head. Every other scientist was rough with it, tugging it as tight as it could go, but wendy was gentler. He didnt get his hopes up though. She was probably just worried about pricking herself on his quills.

Soon enough she was silently leading him down the hall by his hand. He liked the way her hand felt. Softer then the others, but he could still feel the disgust lurking under her skin. He dragged the thick blanket he had been given behind him, like a toddler who was being put to bed, looking down at the floor. When had he stopped trying to escape? A while ago now... Wendy let go of his hand when they entered the main room. He longed for the warmth but he knew no one here was his friend or would ever be.

He hardly paid any attention as he was put on the loading platform of the tank and lowered into the thick liquid inside. He didnt jump at the shock of it, he was quite used to it by now, and besides, it was never really cold anyways. He floated around in his tank as the scientists pumped him full of whatever it was again and Sonic was ready for the usual feeling- dizziness, nauseous, achy. But it was different this time. He jolted as his veins suddenly burned and everything was hot and cold and hot and cold and hot and cold and hot and cold- he could see the scientists gathered around, their faces and bodies warped by the glass and the liquid whatever he was suspended in, their faces demonic and blurred. He could see the familiar outline of Wendy, but this time she looked scared, eyes wide amongst the clinical smiles of the others. He felt himself tense and shake, gasping for air even while he was hooked up to a respirator. Everything was green,

Green

Green

Green

Green

Green

Green

Red

There was a terrifyingly loud crash and suddenly his entire tank was covered in red, what he could only assume was the blood of the scientists against the glass. He could have vomited into the respirator and probably died choking on it if he wasn't too weak. Once the red ran down the sides of his tank enough, he saw a familiar figure, and two red eyes staring right at back at him. Then the tank shattered and he was ripped from all the IV's, leaving a horrible stinging in his body and a ringing in his head, while the liquid keeping him suspended now gushed onto the floor as he was held close against someone warm. He felt the fur in his face and the claws digging into his back as he was hoisted up and held tightly. The alarms were blaring and all he could hear was the world around him went dark where those two words that almost made him cry in relief and fear that the same time if he was able to.

"Chaos control.", a gruff voice rumbled, and then everything was gone.

Chapter Text

Shadow had been distraught since that day. Never realizing what an emotional attachment he had made to that blue freak until he had been swept away in the heat of a battle and lost for months- the entire time he had run around the entire island, into the ocean, around the world with gun trying in vain to find Sonic, pushing away everyone- Team sonic, GUN, Rouge.. who had all told him to stop, that his blue rival was dead, lost forever.

Shadow grieved, he did, but his mind was set on closure- a file, a body, a faculty- anything to sooth the ache and the itch in the back of his mind he couldn't scratch. Until he got a ping. A energy burst in the middle of the Philippines, one he identified as chaos energy. For the first time in months he felt hope as he stared at the screen, cold heart suddenly rapid as the little red light blinked over and over and over, as if taunting him. He hesitated to tell anyone- what if they just brushed him off again? Talked to him like a broken toy? It made him angry, how they'd been talking to him, like this was just another form of mourning. After stewing in silence for a few hours, he finally picked up the phone, speed dialing Rouge, a pang of panic running through him before he crushed it down again like a soda can. He hated doubting himself, it made him feel weak. The phone rang, once, twice, three times. Rouge picked up on the forth ring, silent for a moment as if waiting for another one of his theories to come spewing out but when shadow stayed quiet as well, she spoke.

"Hunny, what's happened now?", she said slowly, with an hidden edge of carefulness that made shadows ear twitch and made him not even want to tell her. But he sighed and eventually answered gruffly. "I have a hit. I caught a signal in the Philippines, chaos energy. It has to be him, Rouge. the signature is almost an exact match.", he said, waiting for excitment or at least hope, but all he heard was a sigh. Another spike of rage ran through him. He'd heard far too many sighs the last few months. "Really darling? Well that's... something.", she said tiredly. The tone made him want to punch something. "It's true, Rouge! It could be him, please just- just humour me, one last time, okay?", he pleaded, cringing at his own voice. He hated pleading and begging for things, and he hated the finality of it. One last time. More silence came from Rouge's side.

"Look, please. Even if I'm wrong, we could use a trip, right? We haven't been on a trip since the accident.", he tried, the new approach feeling weird, but he hoped that would make her come around. She sighed again. "Oh darling, I can't. I'm still helping around knuckles house with tails. The poor kids just started coming out of his room again. I don't want him to hide away again..", she said gently, sounding both sad and happy at the same time. It made shadows stomach twist. The kit had suffered worse then anyone, mourning his friend, leader, and brother, and had fallen into a deep depression. "You don't get it. God dammit.. I'll call you when I'm back.", he spat with a bite, hanging up. He hated being so cruel, but no one took him seriously anymore.

Shadow stared at him black phone screen before putting it down and looking back at the locator device he'd swiped from GUN a few months back to help with his search, the red dot still blinking slowly. He picked it up looking at his own reflection in the screen, and felt another burst if anger and determination as he whispered, "Chaos control", and teleported to the location.

When he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by dense forest, the sound of bugs and small animals ever present. At first he though he got the location wrong and teleported again, only to end up in the same place. He shoved the locator in his quills and wandered around, looking at his surroundings with dark expression. Where was he? He used his chaos sensed to try and feel where the chaos energy he had picked up could possibly be coming from.

He found a manhole cover on the forest floor. It made him scoff. How stupid. How obvious could eggman be? He didn't hesitate to throw off the lid and climb down the dark ladder. It seemed to stretch for at least ten minutes, which began to piss him off and make him more anxious the more he decended, until he finally reached the bottom. The walls were white and sterile. It made his skin crawl. Even Eggman wasnt usually this clean. He almost would've thought he stumbled onto the wrong lab if a small patrol of metals didn't suddenly walk past, forcing him to have to duck back into the shadows of the manhole enterace. He was tempted to fight them, but didn't want to alert anyone of his presence too soon.

He snuck back into the hall and began to walk. To his luck, or maybe dismay, nobody seemed to be in the halls at all, other then the small patrol of Metal's, which had gone down a separate hallway. Around one corner, he found a layout map of the lab, like one you'd find in a mall. It made Shadow scoff. 'For the smartest man in the world, Eggman is certainly not the brightest. Giving me and anyone else who would sneak in a map of the place.', he thought with a sneer, quickly memorizing the map and a few rooms- main lab, cells, sleeping quarters, shipping bay. So he know where to avoid now, he hurried down the halls, first to the cells.

When he walked in he almost doubled over at the smell. It smelt like a bunch of dead animals and like someone had tried to sterilize the area but gave up. And when he looked in the first few cells, the smell made sense at least. He was used to the sight of bodies in all states, and all smells, but the idea that this might've been the blue hero's fate made him want to vomit out his own stomach. Once forcing himself to check all the cells, he came to the last one and nearly choked when he saw the blue quills litering the floor. He quickly grabbed one with a shaky hand and nearly cried in relief if his biology allowed him to when he realized it was still fresh and obviously from a stress shed, not a fight. But then it made him feel worse that sonic hadn't fought. He took a moment to regain him breath and while he did, could still smell the lingering scent of his rival in the cell, which calmed his nerves. 'he's alive. Sonics alive. I was right.', he thought, proud of himself and angry at the others for not looking harder, then determined. 'I'll find him', Shadow promised as he got up and slipped back into the hall.

He wandered some more, once ducking into a storage room when a patrol of metal's and mutants, only to nearly jump out of his skin at the jars of mobian body parts in the room before he continued on again. 'The main lab..', he thought, pushing forwards, finding the double doors soon enough. He looked at the High tech locked doors trying to find a way in before looking through the glass of the doors windows and all the breath left his lungs. In the middle of the crowded room full of scientists was a tank, so much like the one he was been subjected to for years. And in the tank was sonic himself, alive, but clearly not for long, with how he was jerking and struggling to breath.

He saw the panic on Sonics face, how sickly he looked, the smiles of the scientists like Sonics struggles were some enjoyable experiment- it all rushed to him. The ARK, GUN, Robotnik, the scientists he grew up with, the needles, the torture, Maria. The doors were blown forwards, the thick metal crushing half of the scientists, spattering the room with blood and bodily matter as the rest fled, screams filling the room. Shadow didn't even realize what he was doing until he was standing infront of the tank, covered in the red of the scientists who tried to escaped, staring forwards before slamming his fist into the glass, shattering it and effectively grabbing sonic as he fell out with the gush of the liquid of the tank, catching him as all the IV's were ripped from his thin arms.

The blank mind hadn't lifted as Shadow gather the smaller shaking hedgehog in his arms and looked up to a group of Metal's and Mutants, who all froze at the carnage of the room before landing on him. The mutants screeched and leapt at him, followed by the metal's, but he was one step ahead, looking down at the now unconscious form in his arms.

"Chaos control."

Chapter Text

Sonic sat up with a gasp. The lights were so bright, certainly brighter then his cell. Was he still In the tank? No, his respirator was gone, he was breathing on his own- he could feel IV's in his arm still, and hear the bustle of movement around him but couldn't for the life of him focus on anything.

After a moment of quietly heaving and trying to make sense of everything, things came billowing back, slamming into him like a freight train- the tank, struggling to breath, a new fire in his veins rushing up his body, ripping through his nerves and ravaging his organs, the distorted smiles of the scientists, blood, the smell of smoke and melting metal- he shot up, ripping the IV's he thought were there from his arm- which evidently weren't actually there, just a lingering feeling in his flesh- and pushing himself to his feet in a whirlwind of panic, and managed to push himself a good few steps on his shaky legs, only to suddenly be heaved up off his feet by strong arms and hoisted back into the bed he had been laying on, and held down. In a daze, still blinded by the light and the new sounds and surroundings, he fought, squirming and starting to hyperventilate until a rough hand grabbed his face and forced him to lay still and look up. After his ears stopped ringing, he heard a voice talking to him, and once his vision cleared, saw a familiar figure that nearly made his weak heart leap. 

Leaned over him, looking none too impressed but concerned, was Shadow. He was sayibg something but he still couldn't quite hear what, but just the sight of the ebony hedgehog made him instantly calm then break down, crying in relief as Shadow finally let go enough for him to grab onto his fur and hide away. 

"Oh my god- oh my god shadow- your here, your here, thank god-", Sonic rasped, suprised at his own weak voice, but so so glad. Shadow stood still for a moment, and Sonic felt him shift, unsure of what to do, until arms circled around him as well, and he was finally able to sink into the comfort of someone he knew. Once his vision finally cleared enough from the fuzzy haze and tears, he recognized shadows room. He blinked taken aback. 'Did he put me in his bed?', sonic thought before it finally hit him fully- he was free. He wasn't in the lab anymore, he was free, somewhere he knew, with someone he knew. And the realization made him break down in tears again, but this time joy, which seemingly made Shadow even more tense, but quiet. 

The two of them stayed like that for a while, Shadow awkwardly holding sonic as he cried on and off for about an hour. Eventually he calmed down again enough for shadow to pull away and settle him back under the covers, standing over him with a quizzical hesitant expression. After a few minutes of silence, only interrupted by shadows slight shifting and the covers of the bed rustling, shadow finally spoke. "I called the others a few hours ago. They should be here soon, if at all. I don't think they believed me when I told them I found you.", Shadow said gruffly, turning to grab his phone off the nightstand and check it before scowling. God, sonic didn't know he missed Shadows annoyingly serious voice so much, but now he hung onto the familiarity, onto every word, so much so it took him a minute to realize shadow was looking at him expectantly.

"Oh..", Sonic rasped, shifting, "How.. how long was I gone..?". Silence for a moment. Shadow looked nervous again, it made him feel uneasy. He wasn't used to Shadow looking so.. unsure of what to do. It took a few minutes and sonic could practically see the inter battle taking place behind those vermilion red eyes, before Shadow answered, bricking turning away to busy himself with some other task to avoid looking at him. "Seven months and three days. We thought you were dead, sonic.", Shadow said, voice blank, the serious demeanor returning to cover any doubt the ebony hedgehog had let slip through. 

Sonics stomach dropped and he felt himself pale, though he quickly schooled himself because the rush of blood away from his face made his vision go fuzzy again. "Seven.. Seven months?..", Sonic pressed slowly, thinking. ".. wow.. I didn't think.. it had been that long..". Shadow moved again, now busying himself on the other side of the room, folding some towels outside of his bathroom door. 

"I know the feeling.", Shadow growled. Silence fell over the pair again, this time stretching. Shadow eventually left the room, leaving sonic to his thoughts. 'Seven months.. gosh, that's a long time. I had only thought maybe three or four.. and i- oh.', sonic suddenly realized with a lurch. 'Tails. The poor kit- he was probably devastated'. It made sonic almost tear up again, but his little emotional moment was interrupted by Shadow returning. He sat on the edge of the bed with a bowl in hand and offered a spoon of some clear liquid to sonic. He stared at the spoon then at Shadow, shifting. After a standstill, Shadow looked quite offended and agitated. "It's soup, dicknips. You need to eat.", Shadow growled, offering the spoon again. When sonic reached for it, Shadow dropped the spoon in the bowl and smacked his hand away, making sonic wince and draw back.

"Don't do that. Your hands are hurt. While it's pathetic, I Don't mind feeding you if it'll get you out of my house faster.", Shadow said, looking away for a moment before offering a spoonful of soup again. This time sonic drank it, though the burn of the hot liquid was not as welcome as it used to be, his throat raw and unused to hot food, causing him to sputter for a second, but shadow fed him another spoonful, forcing sonic to keep eating until he got used to it again. When the bowl was finally empty and Shadow left again, sonic sunk into the pillows, letting the familiar smells calm him. Lavender, coffee, motor oil, cotton.. they all soothed him into a half sleep as he listened to Shadow move around the apartment. It became silent after a few hours and finally sonic lulled into the first real sleep he'd had in months, comforted by the idea of finally, finally being safe. 

He was woken several hours later by a sudden racket. The front door slamming open and a jumble of footsteps. Despite his exhaustion, alarm and something electric ran through Sonics body as he woke up. 'The scientists. They're here, they've come for me-', he thought in a panic before a quiet voice froze him in his place.

"Sonic?"

Chapter Text

He felt his throat constrict. Everything hurt again and he suddenly became so much more aware of how much he could feel his bones and how horrible he must look.

Staring into the eyes of the tiny yellow kit who stared back, just as profoundly lost and destroyed as much as instantly healed as himself he felt so much- his heartbeating faster yet calmer, an ache of fear and relief and guilt, an incessant tingle in the back of his head he didn't remember ever feeling before, the tension in his muscles. Before he could react the little fox was upon him.

"Sonic!", the kit screamed in a way that was somehow shrill yet hoarse at the same time, throwing himself into Sonics arms, which struggled with the sudden load but hugged him back just as fierce. "Tails..", Sonic rasped, nearly crying again when he felt the yellow fox burst into the tears and incoherent babbles about him being alive.

He was so focused he hardly noticed when knuckles stumbled in next, looking paler then Sonic had ever seen him. He also rambled incoherent for a few moments before just kneeling by the side of the bed and staring at him like he was looking at a dead mobian come to life again (which to be fair was a pretty close example of what he was).

Then came Amy who was already crying before she even saw him, and cream, who squealed and also threw herself onto him, both tails and her curling up tightly against him for dear life, clutching onto his fur and hiding away, tails still crying while cream looked more relieved them anything.

There was a silence that fell over them all, other then the crying, that sonic didn't like. He also didn't like how Amy and Knuckles were struggling to meet his gaze. It wasn't until Rouge stepped into the doorway, flanked by Shadow who looked somehow begrudged, pissed off, and triumphant. Sonic could've sworn he saw a flash of concern on Shadows face when his attention turned and he saw the two kits plastered to his week chest, but Sonic decided he must still be disoriented.

It was rouge who spoke first. "Oh Hunny..  wow, you look worse then Shadow when he fell from the eclipse cannon.", she tsked, which would've made Sonic almost smile if he didn't notice how pale she also looked. An uncomfortable silence fell again until shadow pushed past Rouge roughly and walked in the room. 'Since when was Shadow mean on Rouge? He's had a soft spot for her since he first met her.', Sonic wondered, but looking around he also wondered when and what had happened while he was gone.

"That's enough sobbing and griping, all of you. Give him some space, let the man breath. God knows he deserves it.", Shadow barked at them, making Rouge, Knuckles, and Amy snap out of it, and making cream pull away to give him some space, but Sonic pulled tails closer as he whimpered and clutched onto him like he never wanted to let go again. Shadow shot him a look, and Sonic, while tired, shot one back at him as his grip tightened in a silent 'No'.

There was an strange atmosphere Sonic couldn't quite put his finger on as the other rambled on to him about what he missed- no more eggman attacks while he was gone, a new mobian village, a ceremony- the ceremony, they avoided the details of until Knuckled spilt that it had been a funeral for him. 'They had a funeral for me. They really thought i was dead', Sonic thought, with his heart in his throat. They all rambled on and on, while tails had since fallen asleep, too tired to keep crying, still clutching on tightly.

The next few hours were much of the same. Knuckles and Amy going on about what he missed, Cream being taken home by Rouge after the second hour, Shadow glowering in the corner, seemingly tensing when the others got close to touching him, but the other two always pulled away before any contact was made. It made Sonics heart ache with how hesitant they were to touch him. The more he looked the more he noticed how tense shadow was being, staring at him, glaring in the dark corner of the room. It made him uneasy yet made him feel safer.

The other two convinced Shadow to let then take Sonic home. "We'll put him in the spare room in tails garage. So we can monitor him.", Amy swore. "Please Shadow, let us take him home.", knuckles agreed. Sonic was hardly paying attention as he watched tails sleeping face. The kit looked tired and thin, his hair spikes messy. His tails looked thinner, like he hadn't been using them. Sonic felt useless looking at his little brothers tired form. He didn't care where he went. He just wanted to be anywhere tails was, to be with his little brother again.

Shadow took some convincing. If Sonic didn't know any better not to trust himself, he would've thought Shadow was being protective- or maybe territorial was a better word. "Fine", Shadow finally snapped after a half hour of Amy and Knuckles incessantly pleading with him. "He can go home. I don't want him in my home any longer anyways. But I'm coming with you.", he said with a bite that said he wasn't budging.

"What? Why?", Amy said, looking suprised and perhaps fearful, from what Sonic could tell. 'Why would she be scared?', Sonic thought. 'Shadow might be a brooding edge lord with an attitude problem, but he's certainly not dangerous if he saved my life'.

"Because I don't trust any of you. Don't forget how easily you all gave up looking for him. What if he gets sick as a side affect? Will you give up then too? I won't risk you all being incompetent.", he glowered, shooting Sonic a looked he didn't recognize from the ebony hedgehog. He'd never seen that emotion on Shadows face before, and he certainly couldn't tell what it ment.

Amy and Knuckles looked more guilty then anything. "Fine.", knuckles agreed in exasperation. "You can come too." Shadow looked triumphant. "Good", the black antihero chided. "You weren't gonna have a choice anyways."

Oh boy.

Chapter Text

Shadow's pov)

The fox's house was fine. Though it smelt like melted metal and old socks, he'd make do. The comforting smell it used to have was gone in Sonic's absence, grass and fresh chili long since worn away through the cracks in the wood, no matter how much they tried to make it linger. Now, standing infront of the door, watching that stupid pink hedgehog fumbling with the keys while sonic leaned his weigh against him, he felt the absence even more.

He could tell Sonic felt it more, The smaller's exhausted body seemingly getting heavier as the door opened finally and the darkness ahead stirred a nearly imperceptible exhale from the azure hedgehogs lips, one misses by the others, but easily heard by himself and his superior hearing.

He shook himself, listening to his quills chatter against themselves as the others gestured for sonic to follow, the later seemingly stuck. Shadow wondered what he was thinking.

'Who am I kidding. Why should I care?' , Shadow thought, squeezing out the flicker of 'because why wouldn't I?'  Lingering in the depths of his mind. He tried to move forwards, but felt Sonic's claws digging into his arm desperately. He looked to meet Sonic's eyes, that were half lidded with tiredness but weary.

Shadow groaned aubily in a show of annoyance before scooping his arm on the small on Sonic's back lower, and pulled up the smaller, 'too thin, too light', onto his hip with ease, 'too much ease', and instead carried him in.

Sonic clung on, burying his face in shadows neck, and weaving his hands into his chest fur, anchoring himself there with a iron grip for such a weak body. Shadow would've winced if he wasn't used to rough treatment. He sneered at Knuckles when the big brute tried to butt in and help clumsily, pushing past him towards Tails.

"Where are we putting him, kid?", Shadow asked roughly. The kit didn't flinch or tense like he used to. "The bedroom besides my lab so I can monitor him.", Tails said slowly, and Shadow would've agreed if Sonic's hands in his fur hadn't tightened at the word 'Lab'. 'Wimp.'

"Maybe not the lab. I doubt he wants to be in one after just getting out of one.", Shadow interjected immediately, earning him looks of suprise from the others, and he had to force down his own shock.

Tails mouth gaped for just a second before he nodded vigorously. "..-Okay. His old room is upstairs.", the Kit said, Shadow already walking before the fox could finish. "Last room on the right!", Tails called after him. Shadow only answered him with a grunt. Walking down the cold hall devoid of any photos other then am old one from when tails was a kit and Sonic was young, the smaller on Sonics lap in a cheap carnival camera booth, clinging to the older, both of them grinning youthfully, full of joy and love for eachother.

Shadow didn't let his mind linger as he kicked open the door Tail's instructed him to open. The room was surprisingly clean, Shadow expected sonic to be a much messier person, but he supposed lack of clothes to scatter helped. The room was untouched, a layer of dust on every surface other then the bed that was slightly messed. Tail's must have slept there a few times.

He set sonic on the bed, the smaller blue curling up into a tight ball, almost a spin dash. He was shivering. Shadow tried to will himself to leave him, his snout scrunched, eyes shutting with focus. He didn't owe him anything. If anything, Sonic owed him for the save. He grit his teeth, grinding them, a nervous habit, so loud evidently sonics ears twitched then dropped.

Finally, the ebony anti-hero sighed. "I'm gonna go get a duster to clean this place up. I'll be back quick, okay?", Shadow snapped, a bit rougher then he intended, but he made up for it quickly by pulling the covers over sonics body, and maybe let his hand linger on his shoulder a second too long.

He stormed out, throwing the door back in his own frustration, catching it before it could slam, closing it with a quiet click. Then he had no pity to spare. He was quick down the stairs, not as fast as he could be, but fast enough that he caught the group at the bottom of the stairs by suprise. "What in the ever loving FUCK are all of you DOING!!?", He roared, quills puffing and sticking out as his frustrations and rage finally spilt out like a new wound.

The group flinched, their pitiful wallowing interrupted. "Wait, we-", Amy began, then was shut down by another yell. "NO. YOU DONT GET TO FEEL BAD. I GOT HIM BACK, NOW YOU DO YOUR PART. I SHOULDNT EVEN BE HERE, IN HIS HOUSE, IN HIS LIFE. IM THE BAD GUY. I ALWAYS AM! SO YOU BE THE FUCKING GOOD GUYS LIKE ALWAYS AND DO SOMETHING.", Shadow screamed, voice raw now, unable to hide the crack in his voice with his sheer volume.

The other fell quiet, Tails tearing up visibly. "I can't be doing this. Just- fucking fix him. I cant- I don't-", Shadow croaked, walking in a now panicked circle as the fools around him stared at their feet.

"I can't be the one who does it. I dont- I dont deserve it.", he finally said, hiding how his shoulders shook, eyes dark as the matched the others in staring at the floor, but he was quicker to recover, turning and kneeling by Tail's who was crying quietly, his red eyes softening enough to bring out the natural brown warmth they held. "Go to your brother. I don't blame you for any of this. Your a kid, for fucks sake. Go.", he said, grabbing tails shoulder to ground him. Tails looked up at him and shadow saw a flicker of some sort of emotion he didn't recognize- he'd never been looked like that before. At least- not for a long time. He stayed like that long after tails had bolted up the stairs, feeling eyes on him as he steeled himself.

The anger was back so fast he felt like it was chaos in his veins, burning his throat as he breathed, choking out his reason as he stood again. "But all of you. We need to talk.", he growled, grabbing the nearest- which happened to be Knuckles, grabbing him by the tuff of fur on his chest, and yanking him along, earning a grunt and the shouts of others as the followed him in a panic to the living room.

He tossed Knuckles roughly on the couch and pointed for the others to follow, his eyes taking on their usual red glean instead of the muddled brown they were a moment ago as they silently listened and sat.

"This is enough pity partying. I expect you all to step up now.", he snarled, crossing his arms. "I'm going back to check on him. Get your acts together. He needs help. I shouldn't be his only voice of reason.", he grunted, then turned and walked away. He felt another burst of anger as the heard them whispering behind him as he walked out and turned up the stairs, the old wood creaking under his airshoes.

He stomped his way over to the room, turning the handle aggressively and walking in, but was conscious enough to close it softly. He turned and slumped against the door, finding his calm and stared towards the bed. Sonic wasn't a curled mess anymore, laid back with his eyes closed, probably asleep, with tails curled into his side, already snoring softly.

He hesitated. Since when did Shadow the hedgehog hesitate? He grunted softly and went over to the bed, sitting down on the edge, just looking, nothing more. The curve of sonics snout, slightly crooked from a long healed broken nose, how messy his fur was, when his long blue quills would've laid, the pattern they would've had against the pillow Shadow was ashamed to have memorized.

He felt calmness again, anger leeching out of him and he spent so long just lingering. He closed his eyes with a sigh, pinching his nose. He didn't noticed the green eye peeked open lingering aswell. "I didn't know your eyes were brown.", he heard in a raspy tone. His head snapped up, and he fought down the annoyance he felt when he saw how reverent sonics expression was. "Yeah.. I suppose they are.", he mumbled, touching his cheek under his right eye.

"Hah. I like them. They're like.. really pretty.", Sonic whispered, a smile coming to his weak lips. Shadow felt his face flush, then he pressed his lips, furious for showing weakness, though it didn't help the tips of his ears and cheeks reddening. He heard sonic laugh. Not the weak on he had been using to cover how broken he really was, a real laugh. 

Silence came between them, but for the first time, it was comfortable, just their intermingling soft breaths interupting. They stared at eachother, not full of barely contained anger or a challenge for satisfaction. Shadow wasnt sure he'd ever felt so peaceful, the tight tangle of darkness wrapped inside himself slithering away to let light shine through just for a moment.. Sonics eyes were dimmer, blander, and it made him ache, but the way he was looking at him.. different as well. They both exhaled in unison, and then a particularly loud snore from Tails erupted between then, making them both jump out of their skins and bristle.

Sonic looked down, but shadow felt an odd unknown pressure in his stomach, travelling up, into his throat and before he could stop it from bursting- snorting and starting to laugh. Not loud, not even that energetic, rough and raspy, just a soft series of chuckles, but the effect was immediate, Sonics jaw dropping.

"I've never heard you laugh before! Are you sure your not the hurt one? Did you bump your head while i was gone or something?", Sonic questioned, looking genuinely concerned, which didn't help Shadows strange predicament, his laughing
Gaining volume to the point he knew the others downstairs could hear him and he risked waking tails, so he covered his mouth, wheezing into his gloved palm.

Sonic just watched him in wonder and concern. The silence came again, but again, it felt light, humorous. They looked at each other again as shadow just breathed then cleared his throat.

"I should.. I should go..", Shadow muttered, sudden shame and disappointment in himself overtaking again as he stood up, but when he turned, his hand was grabbed, and he was lead back, onto the bed and then he was laying against sonics chest next to tails, sonics hand fanning through his quills to both hold on and a silent plea to stay. "Don't. Just.. stay a while. Don't go yet..", a whispering plea came from sonic, the mood change easily picked up.

Shadow froze. Tensed. He made no attempt to pull away, but fear of messing up or ruining the moment tugged the tightly wrapped darkness even more and he laid perfectly still, even trying to breath as quietly as he could, or even hold his breath altogether. Sonic made no comment, but soon enough Shadow heard his heart start beating quieter as he fell asleep.

It was comfortable, and relieved his nerves, maybe his fears of this all being a dream, that sonic was actually dead somewhere and he'd gone mad. He laid there listening to his heart beat, eyes open but looking at nothing before he curled closer finally, hesitantly placing a hand across sonic, wrapping around Tail's little back, and closed his eyes.