Chapter Text
Sonic was confused.
Tails had told him how Shadow had sacrificed himself to save the world, but there were some…weird things happening. News reports about a mysterious creature that kept stealing food in random places. Every picture of this ‘creature’ was distorted or blurred out.
One night, another of those reports popped up on Tom’s phone. He looked up just as Sonic entered the living room.
“Sonic?” Tom asked.
“What’s up Tom-cizle?” Sonic chirped.
“There’s another report of a break-in by that creature. You aren’t going out and trying to score some free chili dogs, are you?” Tom smirked.
Sonic rolled his eyes. “No. Why’d I do that when I can just mooch off you guys?”
“Eh, good point. Any ideas what this could be?”
Sonic shook his head. “No. I thought maybe another alien followed Amy here, but she swears she came to Earth by herself.”
“Okay, so it’s not Amy.” Tom stated.
It wasn’t Sonic.
Who else could it be?
“Hey, Tom?”
Sonic hesitated when he caught Tom’s eye.
“Do you think it could be…”
Tom looked at the blue hedgehog, skeptical. “You don’t mean that crazy hedgehog that nearly killed me, do you?”
“I mean, it would make sense.” Sonic reasoned. “If he survived, he’d need food, and with him being a master speedster—much like myself—it’d explain the break-ins.”
Tom shook his head. “That ‘if’ is doing a lot of work for you, bud.”
Sonic shrugged, “He is fast. He could have teleported away at the last second. Maybe the power of the master emerald protected him from the blast.”
“It is also possible—” Sonic jumped, Tail’s voice suddenly coming from behind him. “—that since Shadow provided the energy for the canon, that his own energy can’t harm him.”
Sonic clutched his chest. “Don’t scare me like that man!”
Tails snickered. “Sorry, Sonic.”
From his bed in the corner of the room, Ozie barked suddenly, causing Sonic to jump again.
“Jeez, you too Ozie?” Sonic said, clutching his chest.
“Hey, it’s okay, bud.” Tom calls. Sonic smiled as the dog quick calmed down.
“If anyone could survive that explosion—” Sonic jumped again at Knuckles’ equally sudden appearance from the dining room. “—that impressive Hedgehog warrior could.”
“Seriously,” Sonic snapped, feigning anger. “You guys are gonna give me a heart attack.”
Maddie was quick to follow behind Knuckles. “And you are giving me a headache.” She shifted, nodding towards the echidna. “Where are they Knuckles?”
“Where is what, Lady of the Pretzels?” Knuckles asked.
Maddie crossed her arms. “The grapes from the bowl I just put out. Those were supposed to be for everyone.”
Knuckles also crossed his arms, matching Maddie’s stance. “I know not of what you speak. It is true that I have been guilty of stealing the purple and green fruit before, but it was my doing, this time.”
Maddie eyed Knuckles suspiciously. She knew he wasn’t one to lie, so she looked at Tails, expectantly.
“I swear, Maddie, I was tinkering in my room. I just came up here.” Tails explained.
Her gaze went to Sonic.
“Out of everything in the kitchen, do you really think I’d steal fruit?” Sonic asked, incredulously.
Maddie nodded. “Fair point.”
“And before you ask, it wasn’t me.” Tom preemptively defended.
Sonic then gasped. “Maddie, did you leave the kitchen window open?”
“Yeah, but—” Before Maddie could finish, Sonic was already out the door, running outside.
Sonic looked around the yard, closed his eyes, and took a deep sniff.
“I know you’re up there, Shadow.” Sonic said.
Sonic turned, peering up at the roof.
Two glowing orange eyes glared back at him.
Sonic’s gaze did not leave the other hedgehog. Carefully, he held his hand up, signaling for the rest of the Wachowski’s to back away from their approach to the back door. They paused in step, and backed away, Knuckles a bit reluctantly.
“Are you alright?” Sonic asked.
Shadow remained silent, staring at the blue hedgehog.
Sonic held his gaze. “You can come down if you want, I promise I won’t hurt you.”
Shadow looked down, away from the blue hedgehog. “I didn’t know this is where you lived.”
Sonic started at the sound of his voice. It was rough and weak.
“Do you need anything? Water? More food?” Sonic asked.
“I’ll return the grapes. They were all I could grab before I noticed your scent.” Shadow explained.
Sonic smiled. “It’s okay. You can have them. We can always get more.”
Shadow moved, sliding down a drainpipe to stand before Sonic.
He was in rough shape. His white gloves were torn and stained with dirt, fur and quills equally disheveled. His shoes were extremely worn and filthy.
“Whoa, dude, don’t take this the wrong way,” Sonic quipped, “but you seriously need a bath.”
Shadow looked down at himself, examining his appearance. “It hasn’t been easy.”
Sonic nodded. “I remember when I first came to earth. I had to live off what I could steal too.”
Shadow sighed. “I don’t want to. I need to survive. For her.”
“Well, you could stay with us?” Sonic smiled.
Shadow looked at him, a flash of worry in his eyes. “I…I don’t think…”
“Trust me buddy. No one will hurt you.” Sonic took a careful step forward. “I promise.”
“They won’t…” Shadow looked towards the house, then back to Sonic. “…hate me?”
Sonic looked at him with confusion.
“I did,” Shadow began, “try to destroy the world.”
“And then you saved it.” Sonic smiled. “If we kicked out every member of this house who tried to kill us…. Well, we’d just kick out Knuckles, but we love him, so…”
Shadow stared at Sonic in confusion but then sighed. “I don’t know if I can—” He hissed then let out a groan, falling to his knees.
“Shadow? What’s wrong?!” Sonic rushed forward, bringing a hand to Shadow’s shoulder.
“When the Chaos Canon exploded, I absorbed the energy. It empowered me enough to survive the fall, but it also poisoned me.” Shadow explained.
“Poisoned? Are you dying!?” Sonic panicked.
“No. I’ll be fine, but the energy spikes sometimes. I need to keep it under control. Every day, it gets easier and easier. It should go away on its own, eventually.” Shadow explained.
Sonic nodded. “So, it’s like a battery, and we’re just waiting for it to run out of juice?”
Shadow chuckled and nodded. “You have a unique way of seeing things.”
“Hey! That was pretty smart for me.” Sonic smirked.
Shadow let out another groan of pain.
“Come on, let’s get you inside.” Sonic said.
“No. I can’t…I can’t see humans right now. After Maria, then the Professor…I just can’t.”
Sonic was puzzled but nodded anyway. “Alright, but I can’t leave you out here.”
Sonic looked up to the roof, catching sight of the skylight that led to his room.
“We’ll sneak in.” Sonic beamed, “Just like old times for me.”
Shadow looked at him confused. “Why did you sneak into your house?”
“Oh, I had a whole Batman thing going on for a little while. You know Batman, right?”
“Yes, I was frozen in the 70’s, not the 20’s.” Shadow rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, then you’d be a hundred years old.” Sonic teased as he walked toward the drainpipe Shadow used to climb down.
“I’m not fifty years old. I’m sixteen.” Shadow grumbles.
Sonic looked back at him. “Really? I’m fifteen!”
Shadow crooked his eyebrow as the two climbed. “Congratulations.”
Once on the roof, Sonic held out his hand for Shadow to take, pulling him the rest of the way up.
“Okay, right over here.” Sonic flipped the skylight open and carefully hopped down.
Sonic held up his arms to help guide Shadow down, and once on the ground, Sonic grinned. “There, that wasn’t too difficult!”
Shadow stared at Sonic’s hands, still held at his sides. “You can let go now.”
Sonic blushed and quickly released his grip. “Sorry. Oh! I’ll need a good alibi for why I was gone so long.” Sonic held his head in thought, “Oh! I got it! Scratch my face!”
Shadow gave Sonic an incredulous look, “Why?”
“Because I’ll just say that—"
0o0
“—a raccoon scratched my face and got away with your grapes! I’m sorry Maddie, I tried.” Sonic explained after Maddie perched him on the kitchen counter to clean his wound. Shadow really can scratch well Sonic thought.
“I didn’t know raccoons were too much for you.” Maddie chuckled as she held a rag to Sonic’s cheek. “Maybe stick to fighting robot copies of yourself, instead.”
Sonic hissed at the sting of the anti-bacterial ointment. Shadow better appreciate this.
Maddie smiled at him. “Thank you for trying to get my grapes back. Why did you tell all of us to back away, though? What were you talking to?”
Sonic blinked. “Um…well, the raccoon was hiding, and I didn’t want you guys to scare it away before I could find it. Once I did, I tried to reason with it. You know, animal to animal.”
Maddie looked at him with a deadpan expression, “You tried to reason…with a raccoon?”
Sonic smiled. “Yep!”
Please natural charisma and my reputation as an idiot, don’t fail me now!
Maddie rolled her eyes. “What are we gonna do with you?”
Sonic chuckled. “Yeah.”
YEAH!
0o0
Shadow sat on the edge of Sonic’s racecar bed. He smiled at how much it fit Sonic’s personality. Childish, outlandish, and sweet.
It was then Sonic reappeared in a rush of air.
“I managed to sneak you a plate of dinner. Maddie’s special spaghetti and—” Sonic couldn’t finish the sentence before Shadow grabbed the plate and started devouring the contents with his hands.
Sonic blinked at him, “—meatballs. Um, I brought you a fork.”
Shadow looked back at him, pasta hanging out of his mouth. He quickly swallowed and accepted the utensil.
“Sorry.” Shadow blushed. “I just haven’t had cooked food in a long time.”
Sonic went to sit next to him.
“I only stole as much as I needed.” Shadow explained. “Just enough to survive, but not to…”
“Fill your belly?” Sonic finished.
Shadow nodded.
“Well, we should clean and repair those gloves of yours, and your shoes…” Sonic looked down at them. “The jets are very cool, but you need new ones. Maybe I can get Tails to look at them.”
“You—” Shadow looked at him with confusion. “You want to help me?”
Sonic smiled at him. “Of course! I can’t just abandon you! We’re hedgehogs! And we stick together!”
“I…” Shadow looked down, his face growing a bit red. “Thank you.”
Sonic nodded. “Now, lucky for us, it’s my laundry night, so let’s take these off.”
Shadow looked at his gloves, then at his rings. “One moment.”
Shadow snapped the rings off his arms, quick to put them back on after handing off his gloves.
Sonic raised an eyebrow at the golden rings on Shadow’s wrists and ankles. “What are those?”
“They’re my inhibitor rings. They contain my chaos energy.” Shadow paused. “Makes sure it doesn’t destroy myself or the people around me.”
Sonic nods. “Did they have to be gold, or did Robotnik have a thing for jewelry?”
“Gold has a special property that blocks my chaos energy.” Shadow smirked. “It also looks good on me, don’t you think?”
Sonic startled, slowly backing away. “Oh…um…yeah, I guess. Um, let me go find you some shoes, and I’ll—” He slips on one of his discarded socks, falling backwards, rushing to standing up again. “I’ll put these in the wash.”
After Sonic disappeared, Shadow chuckled to himself.
He didn’t know Hedgehog faces could get that red.
0o0
That night, Sonic sat at his desk with his lamp on, while Shadow read some of the Batman comic books the Blue Hedgehog had.
“There!” Sonic exclaims. “Good as new!” He raises the now repaired gloves in front of Shadow.
“Hmm…” Shadow examined them. He wasn’t expecting Sonic to be able to sew, but the stitches were wonderful! “You’re just full of surprises. Where’d you learn to sew?”
Sonic chuckles. “Maddie taught me. She got sick of always having to get me new gloves after a fight, or repair them herself, so she taught me.”
Shadow nods. “These humans, they’re important to you, aren’t they?”
Sonic throws himself into the bean bag chair across from Shadow’s spot on the floor.
“Well, yeah. They’re my family.”
Shadow looks away, closing the comic book.
“You know.” Sonic began. “We could be your fam—”
“You have a lot of road signs.” Shadow interrupted.
Sonic let out a quiet sigh, joining Shadow to stand as the other hedgehog looked at the wall.
“Yeah, I like collecting things. Road signs were easy. They just left them out on the street! Easy pickings! Do feel bad for all those pile ups though.”
Shadow looked at him with an expression of disbelief.
Sonic laughed at the look Shadow gave. “That’s a joke, Shadow.”
Shadow let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s good to hear.”
“I only stole the signs they weren’t using anymore.”
Shadow let out a simple grunt of affirmation.
The quiet stretched between them uncomfortably.
“So…” Sonic cleared his throat. “Shadow…”
“Yeah?” Shadow responded.
“Shadow. Shadow. Sha-dow…” Sonic repeated, mostly to himself as he turned to pace the room.
Shadow blinked at him. “Are you all right? Are you having a stroke?”
“No!” Sonic beamed. “I’m trying to figure out how to shorten your name so it’s easier to say!”
Shadow crossed his arms. “I like my name the way it is, thank you.”
“I got it! I’ll call you Shads! Hey Shads, what’s up? How’s it going?” Sonic asked.
Shadow grimaced, clearly annoyed, before rolling his eyes. “Whatever floats your boat.”
Sonic chuckled, then looked at the clock for the time.
10:30pm.
Tails should be in bed by now; Knuckles will be going soon; then Tom and Maddie usually go to bed at around midnight.
“Alright, Shadow, at around 12:30 we’ll go to the bathroom and get you cleaned up.” Sonic proposed.
Shadow frowned in worry at him. “Won’t your family wonder what’s going on?”
“I take late night showers all the time, no one will notice. Besides, Tails sleeps in the basement. Also Knuckles has a loft in the garage, and Tom and Maddie could sleep through a hurricane.”
Shadow looked at Sonic doubtfully.
Sonic smiled at him. “If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll go with you and keep anyone out?”
Shadow nodded. “Thank you.”
Sonic’s smile deepened. “No problem.”
0o0
After explaining the mechanics of the shower, Sonic left Shadow to it. He knew the black and red hedgehog would take a bit. Quills caked in mud aren’t exactly easy to clean. Lucky for Shadow, they have tons of oatmeal cream shampoo just for them.
“Um…so…” Sonic asked toward Shadow, who was currently washing his top quills. “What kind of movies do you like?
“Maria liked sci-fi films. I guess I prefer that.”
Sonic nodded. “Any one in particular?”
Shadow paused his scrubbing to think, smiling at a particular memory. “Well, one night, the Professor joined us for movie night, and he liked musicals. We watched The Sound of Music. That one was my favorite.”
Sonic smirked at that. “Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
Shadow chuckled. “I enjoyed it, though Maria got scared when the soldiers…”
Sonic blinked when Shadow trailed off, eyeing the other hedgehog with worry. “Shadow? Everything-”
“She must have been so scared.” Shadow whispered.
Sonic walked toward the curtain. “Shadow?”
No response.
Sonic bit the inside of his lip, trying to figure out what to do.
“I’m coming in.”
Still no response.
Sonic kicked off his shoes and socks before pulling back the curtain. He found Shadow curled up, his hands holding his knees, his face buried. Sonic steps in, sitting across from the other hedgehog.
“Shadow, please talk to me. I know what it’s like. Holding it in only makes it worse.” Sonic says gently.
Shadow raises his head, but not enough to look Sonic in the eye. “It was my fault.”
Sonic shook his head in shock. “What? No, no it wasn’t.”
“Those soldiers came there to get me. If I had just gone…” Shadow buries his face again.
Sonic shifts to sit on his knees. “Maria loved you. You know she wouldn’t have let you go without a fight.”
Shadow let out a soft sob. “I spent so much time blaming everyone else, but it was my fault. And she died so scared.”
Sonic couldn’t take it anymore. He leaned forward, enveloping Shadow in a careful hug, getting the remaining shampoo and dirt mixture on himself.
“You listen to me. The only person who’s to blame for Maria’s death are those soldiers. That’s it.” Sonic reassures. “The only people who could’ve stopped what they were doing were the soldiers. You were a victim. Even though you survived, you were still a victim.”
Shadow looked up, staring at the side of Sonic’s body pressed against his.
“Do you hear me?” Sonic asks.
Shadow grumbles a small. “Yes.”
“Okay. Do you want me to stop hugging you?” Sonic learned that when someone’s distressed, hugging them sometimes helps, especially if that person trusts you. Maddie tried it one night Sonic had a nightmare. She asked him the same question after he calmed down.
Shadow’s voice comes out tired and weary. “Not yet.”
Shadow’s arms wrap around Sonic’s middle, fur warm from the hot water. Sonic tightens the hug.
“I just need to feel…grounded.” Shadow justified.
“No problem.” Sonic says with a small smile.
Eventually Shadows hands fall away from Sonic. “Okay, I’m good now.”
Sonic pulls away from the hug. “Okay. I’m glad.”
Shadow stares pointedly at tiled wall, refusing to meet Sonic’s gaze.
“Thank you.”
Sonic chuckled. “It’s no prob—”
“No, it is.” Shadow turned his head, meeting Sonic’s eye. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me. If you need anything, please ask.”
Sonic smiles. “You may regret saying that. I don’t know what might come up.”
Shadow chuckles. “Maybe, but I mean it.”
Sonic smiles at him before staring down at his now dirty front. “Looks like we both need a shower.”
“Here,” Shadow says, grabbing a brush and soap bottle. “Let me.”
Sonic blushes. “Oh, I don’t think that’s—” Shadow is already scrubbing before Sonic can finish. “Oh, that feels nice.”
“You got some mud on your face too, let me just…” Shadow puts some shampoo on his hands, rubbing it on Sonic’s cheeks.
Sonic’s face was on fire. He hopes that Shadow will just assume it’s because of the heat of the shower.
“The water’s not too hot, is it?” Shadow asked.
Thank God. “No, it’s fine.”
“Your face is very red.” Shadow observes.
“I get like that. Comes with being blue.” Sonic grabs the shower wand, quickly rinsing himself off. “There! All clean, now. I’ll just let you finish up, and—”
“Sonic? You in there buddy?” From the other side of the door, Tom’s voice is unmistakable.
“Stay cool.” Sonic whispers to Shadow. “Yeah, I’m fine, Tom! Just getting clean for the…uh…”
“The police party tomorrow?” Tom asked.
Sonic forgot all about that. With the excitement of Shadow returning and running around, it must’ve slipped his mind. “Yeah! Gotta look my best!”
“Yeah, especially for Amy!” Tom teased.
Shadow’s ear’s perked up at that. “Amy?”
Shadow and Sonic both covered Shadow’s mouth.
“What was that?” Tom asked.
“Nothing! Just clearing my throat.” Sonic calls as he looks to Shadow, panicking.
Shadow nods.
“Okay, well, don’t be too much longer, you can’t sleep in super late.’ Tom warns. “If you do, I’m sending Knuckles to wake you.”
“I’ll be up!”
“Okay, wait, since when do you take showers?” Tom asked, “You always take bubble baths.”
Sonic blushed as Shadow crooked an eyebrow at him.
“I, uh, didn’t wanna waste so much water!” Sonic replied.
Tom chuckled, “Well, if you take much longer it won’t make a difference, finish up soon bud.”
“Will do!” Sonic said as he heard Tom walk away.
Sonic and Shadow’s hands then uncovered Shadow’s mouth.
“I’m sorry about that.” Sonic apologized. “I thought he was asleep.”
“Don’t be. I’m sorry for nearly blowing everything.”
Sonic nods, silence lingering awkwardly.
“Who is Amy?” Shadow suddenly asked.
Sonic stuttered, “Just…a new friend.”
“Alright.” Shadow concluded, returning to his scrubbing. He looked at Sonic when he didn’t leave. “I can do this part alone, thank you.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Sonic blushed once again as he stepped out of the shower, quickly drying himself off, Shadow following soon after.
“The quills are the worst part; my towel always gets caught on them.” Sonic complained.
Shadow nodded. “Yeah, the worst is the one’s at—”
“—the back of the head.” They both say at the same time.
“Yes!” Sonic agrees. “It’s so nice to have someone around who gets it. Maddie gets annoyed at all the holes I poke in her towels, and I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t help it’.”
Shadow chuckles. “What I do is I roll the towel up into a rope and run it through each row.”
Sonic blinked. “That’s genius!”
Shadow smirked. “One of my many talents.”
0o0
Sonic shuffles around his room, making a bed out of the beanbag chairs on the floor under the skylight.
“There. I can sleep here, and you can take the bed.” Sonic said.
Shadow shakes his head. “No, you have given up too much already. I’ll sleep there, you take your bed.”
Sonic shrugs. “Alright, if you insist.” He pulls out his cellphone, setting an alarm to wake him at the exceedingly early hour of 9AM.
Shadow looks at him, confused. “What is that?”
Sonic looked at Shadow with wide eyes. “A cell phone?”
Shadow nodded. “I saw them everywhere when I was in Tokyo.”
“That’s right, back in the 70’s you wouldn’t have had these.” Sonic mumbled to himself. “It’s a little computer you use to call people, and you can send texts…or…short messages to people.”
Shadow nodded. “Okay, and it can also set an alarm?”
“Yeah.” Sonic smiled.
Shadow nodded. “Groovy.”
“Oh dude.” Sonic bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “We gotta teach you the modern language.”
Shadow looked confused but nods. “Tomorrow.”
Sonic smiled. “Yeah, tomorrow. Good night ‘New Hedgehog’.”
Shadow chuckled. “Good night, Modern Boy.”
Sonic laughs as he turned off the light, quickly falling asleep.
Shadow looked up through the skylight, seeing the stars shine as they did when he was with her. He reached out to the side, but there was no hand there. He looked toward Sonic, laying comfortably in his bed. He looked at his hand, and thought he could hold…No. Shadow shook his head, turned to sleep on his side, trying not to look at the stars.
0o0
It was the loud bang that woke Sonic up. He shot up and saw Knuckles standing over Shadow.
Knuckles let out an angry growl. “What are you doing here?”