Chapter Text
Sonic laid in bed, a soft ray of sunshine coming from above hitting his face. It was early and he knew that. He wanted to go back to bed, but he just... couldn't. Not after everything that happened. His mind raced, thinking about what happened in space, then in London with G.U.N.'s headquarters, then with Shadow and Eggman. The hedgehog rolled around in bed, trying to find a more comfortable position to settle in. When he couldn't, he groaned into his pillow, sat in bed and sighed, hugging his knees and resting on them.
"Still thinking about what happened, huh?", Tails said quietly from the bunk below his.
"...yeah. Just upset to see Shadow gone, even if he did try to kill us like 90% of the time we interacted. Wish he hadn't sacrificed himself to save Earth. I mean, not that I didn't want the planet to be saved, dying doesn't sound exactly fun, but what I wanted to say is that I wish he could've seen more of Earth. Have a family, actually enjoy life and not just be a lab rat, y'know?"
"..."
"Sorry, I'll stop rambling and just let you sl-"
"Do you think... Shadow would've enjoyed living with us?"
"I... actually don't know. I hope so. Would've loved a new roomie. Can't say the same for mom and dad though, given they can barely handle us."
Tails snickered. "You wanna go downstairs for breakfast? I'm getting kinda hungry."
"Sure. I hope they make pancakes. Do you think Knuckles' woken up yet?"
When the two arrived at the kitchen, the echidna was sitting at the counter while Tom and Maddie prepared breakfast. Tom made eggs and Maddie, to Sonic's joy, made pancakes.
"Good morning, Tails- oh, Sonic, why are you up already? You should sleep more, these last few days were really tough." It had been three days since they saved the world and one since they returned home. Maddie knelt down to meet the boy's eyes and brought a hand up to his face. He leaned into the touch.
"Couldn't go back to sleep. My mind's thinkin' about what happened."
"Oh, honey..." She frowned. Knuckles looked over thoughtfully.
"At least there's no imposter hedgehog trying to kill us now."
"Even if he did try to kill us multiple times, there's no denying he had a change of heart and sacrificed himself to save the planet, Knuckles. He realized his mistake and that's what matters. He died with honor."
The room fell silent and Sonic looked at his feet to hide his sadness but his droopy ears gave it away. Tom inhaled sharply and tried to lighten the mood.
"...oookay, who wants pancakes? If nobody wants them, I guess I'll have no choice but to eat them all myself." Tails looked at him awkwardly and shook his head. The adult rubbed the back of his neck and mouthed "sorry" in response.
"Sonic," Maddie started, cupping his cheeks with both of her hands. "I know you're upset but please remember that you did what you could. He knew the risk of sacrificing himself and was okay with it. It wasn't your fault."
Sonic's eyes were quickly filled with tears and Maddie picked up on it, pulling him into a tight hug. He hugged her back weakly. Everyone started coming in closer and Tails fidgeted with his hands uncomfortably, his concern showing.
The moment was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise outside. It sounded like the trash can falling over.
"Are you kidding me? The raccoons must be back again. I'll go take care of it."
Sonic knew it wasn't him. It couldn't be, it was impossible . But, deep down, he wished for it.
Tom secretly did so too. Even though Shadow sent him to the hospital, seeing Sonic like that broke his heart in so many ways he couldn't even explain. He left through the front door and went around the corner with his eyes closed, standing there for a moment. When he opened them, he was more than disappointed to actually see raccoons, and not the space hedgehog his child hoped was alive. Sighing, he shooed them away.
The man went back inside and everyone was gathering around the dinner table with plates and cutlery. Maddie raised her eyebrows and gave him a hopeful look as if asking "was it him?", only for him to shake his head sadly. She pretended like it didn't happen and kept setting up breakfast.
"Are you kids excited to go back to school?", Maddie started.
"Yeah! I hope we have a Science fair soon."
"Tails, don't you ever get tired of Science and stuff? Doesn't that, like, melt your brain or something?" Sonic sounded less sad than before, which made the adults happier.
"This is why I am a warrior. Warriors only fight, they don't need to have their brains melted."
"He doesn't mean it literally, Knuckles, he's just teasing me."
"I will not let him tease you anymore. When breakfast is over, I will show him."
"Kids, no fighting, and teasing is okay if it's playful and the other person is fine with it.", the boys' mother interrupted.
"Yeah, relaaax, or is fighting melting your brain, Knucks?"
"My brain is not being melted!"
Tails and Sonic laughed, which made the adults' hearts lighter. It was nice seeing them laughing after everything that happened, how they always found a way to be happy again, even if their whole worlds turned upside down. It was... a relief. Maddie grabbed onto Tom's hand and he squeezed hers in response...
...only for the moment to be ruined once again by the sound of the trash can falling outside.
The man looked at his wife annoyed, who looked back with a smile.
"Yeah, the raccoons are definitely back."
"I'm on it again."
Tom walked out the front door once again and over to the corner of the house slowly, as if thinking of how he would scare them off for good.
He put the hand that wasn't in a cast on his hips. "Alright you little trash pandas, I'm gonna need you to..."
His words were cut off when he realized what was standing in front of him. Or rather who.
Shadow was sitting on the pavement next to the trash cans with one knocked down and trash all over the floor, right hand behind him supporting his back and the other curled up around his chest. His right leg was stretched out in front of him and his left was bent. His left ankle was very swollen, as if it was broken. As for his fur, patches of it were missing, exposing burn scars. Some looked not too bad, while others looked like they ran deep. The hedgehog looked terrified upon seeing Tom, given how his head snapped from the trash on the floor to the man as soon as he started speaking and how his ears pinned back.
They both stared at each other for a moment before Shadow began panicking and looking around for something to help him stand up to run away.
"Hey hey hey, it's okay. I won't hurt you." Tom spoke softly and walked over to the boy slowly, trying to not spook him out even more. Safe to say that didn't work since he began hyperventilating seeing the adult approach. He wanted to teleport away but he didn't have enough chaos energy. If he did teleport, he wouldn't be able to move for a few hours, which wouldn't be good. It would be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.
"You look pretty hurt, why don't you come inside? We'll take care of you, li'l guy. Everything will be okay."
The more Tom got closer, the more Shadow got scared. He didn't know what the man could, or rather, would do to him after he sent him to the hospital. It did seem like he was being honest but he couldn't trust him.
"Stay back!", the teen yelled out as he tried to push himself backwards to create distance between them.
"Caaalm down, it's oookay." He slowly reached out his hand towards the other, making him yelp.
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared, the only trace left of him was a trail of red light.
"...well shit."
"What took you so long? Were you wrestling those raccoons or something?"
"Maddie, now's not the time for jokes." He was serious serious, and that's when she realized something was wrong.
"Did you get bitten, Thomas?" Her brow furrowed worriedly.
Tom swallowed and worked up the courage to say it.
"...he's alive."