Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ha! How do you like that, Eggman!” Sonic gleefully calls after the doctor as the mad scientist retreats in his Egg Mobile, clamoring about how much he ‘hates that hedgehog’. He leaves behind the burning and smoking chassis of his latest bot.

“I can't believe we actually managed to stop him before he could begin implementing his plan for once,” Tails points out wonderingly as he lands beside Sonic from where he previously hovered in the air, eyes locked on the ever smaller growing silhouette of Dr. Eggman.

“Well, I guess the extra hand did help a little,” Sonic points out cheekily, glancing over to where a certain black hedgehog is currently dusting off his shoulder. “Thanks for the aid, faker,” he drawls playfully in the direction of the hybrid.

Shadow sniffs contemptibly, surveying the beaten machine to their feet. Even with the robot fallen over, it still towers above them. “The Doctor is getting sloppy. This was hardly a challenge.” 

Sonic rolls his eyes, amused by the predictable reaction. He looks around the spot Eggman attacked - a chao garden seated in the middle of a dense forest - and puts a hand to his mouth. “Alright! You guys can come out now!”

An orange face with long ears pops up behind one of the fallen tree trunks, closely followed by a chao with a red bow tie. With two flaps of her ears, Cream flies onto the trunk, joined by Cheese, and turns around to look back at their shelter where the chao that live in this garden currently hide. “It’s okay everyone! Mr. Sonic said it’s safe now.”

That opens the floodgates. Multiple chao stream from their hiding places, with Cream and Cheese helping the little creatures to their feet or lift them out of the ditch behind the log if they can’t fly or climb out themselves. 

“Cha-O!” Sonic’s ear twitches at the incredulous voice and he glances over to where two of the garden’s residents - a Sonic and a Shadow Chao - stand by the destroyed remains of the robot. Instead of hiding away with the others, these two little guys helped fight off the robot, too.

Now, though, the Sonic Chao nudges their darker counterpart, who is currently still busy kicking and punching the lifeless metal. When the Sonic Chao finally gets the Shadow Chao’s attention after another frustrated whine, they point and gesture at Cream and Cheese still helping the other chao out of their hiding place by the log.

The Shadow Chao brabbles something, then goes back to their assault on the robot. Sonic snorts but leaves them to settle their disagreement on their own, walking up to Cream instead while Shadow and Tails inspect the robot, discussing what Eggman might have planned to do with it exactly.

“How’s everyone?” he asks Cream when he’s right in front of her. With her still standing on the log, he’s the one who has to look up at her for a change.

“Some of the younger chao got really really scared, but Cheese and I protected them just like you asked us too,” the little rabbit tells him, her voice full of sympathy for the creatures. Sonic shoots her a proud smile, holding out his fist. “Good job, Cream. Couldn’t have done it better myself.”

Eyes sparkling proudly, Cream fistbumps him, giggling. While she and Cheese continue to coax the remaining chao out of their hiding, Sonic walks over to Tails, who flew up to the top of the bot now that the fires are out, and started dismantling it. ‘To salvage the material and get better insight into EggTech,’ as he always says. Sonic’s pretty sure a tiny part of his little brother admires Eggman’s inventions and is just afraid to admit it. Either way, though, in the end it works to their advantage - whatever Eggman builds, Tails ends up improving tenfold.

“Found anything useful?” he calls up to where Tails is perched, pulling out all different sorts of cables, circuit boards and other pieces. Tails barely spares him a glance, looking over his shoulder and down, before going back to scavenging.

“That remains to be seen,” he replies. “I can’t make out anything out of the ordinary yet, but these components will be useful for the new plane I’m working on!” He goes on a tangent about all the planned features for the machine and how each of the things he found so far will help him. Sonic listens, but he only understands half of the technical mumbo-jumbo. He knows Tails will give him an easier-to-understand version when the fox is doing his finishing tests for the machine.

While this is going on, Sonic’s gaze is drawn to Shadow on the ground next to the robot. The dark hedgehog finished his inspection of the bot and is now crouching on one knee in front of the Sonic and Shadow Chao.

Shadow is speaking to them in a low voice that Sonic can’t make out the words from, but seeing the ghost of a smile on the hybrid’s face and the little orbs floating above the two run-type chao’s heads turn into hearts a moment later tells him everything he needs to know.

Smiling, Sonic watches as Shadow produces several food items fit for chao consumption from his quills - high quality and nutritious by the looks of it - and presents them to the two critters in front of him.

Shadow seems to feel Sonic’s gaze on him because he suddenly looks up, rising to his feet as the chao gather the food in their arms. Even without saying anything, Shadow is wearing an expression that clearly states ‘alright, what do you want?’ which Sonic takes as the invitation that it is. Waiting for Tails to finish rambling about his project, he calls a “That sounds great buddy, let me know if you need a hand,” up to him, before walking towards Shadow.

He pauses when the Sonic and the Shadow Chao scamper away in his direction, each carrying a giant stack of premium fruit in their arms to share with the others. “Great job protecting your home, little buddies,” Sonic tells them, softening his voice as he crouches down and pets over their heads in turn. The Sonic Chao leans into his hand, making happy trilling noises as their little orb turns into a heart again. 

Though the Shadow Chao turns up their nose when they’re being pet, Sonic doesn’t miss the pleased expression on their face at his praise once he rises to his feet again.

He also doesn’t miss how, despite still wearing the same ‘better-than-thou’ expression, the Shadow Chao’s head orb briefly turns into a heart as soon as they think Sonic isn’t watching anymore, and then again when the Sonic Chao nuzzles against him before they both hurry away to their fellow chao.

“You’re spoiling them at this point,” Sonic teases Shadow with a lazy smile and half-lidded eyes, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at the two chao.

Shadow crosses his arms, looking stern. “At least I’m not feeding them slop on a regular basis.”

Sonic’s smile turns into a grin upon hearing his bait taken. “Excuse you, chili dogs are so much more than junk food. They’re something everyone on this planet should experience at least once. And besides, they love it.”

“All the more reason to counterbalance it.”

Sonic chuckles and after a heartbeat of giving Sonic a severe stare, the rigor fades from Shadow’s facial features. Sonic lets his laugh fade out before casually stemming a hand against the robot’s remains, crossing one leg over the other. “Anyway, you free later?”

“Depends,” Shadow says, sounding disinterested, but he and Sonic played this game for long enough for Sonic to know the dark hedgehog's aloofness is just for show. 

“Well, there's this great vendor selling-”

“We're not getting Don Fachio’s again,” Shadow interrupts Sonic flatly.

“What?!” he exclaims indignantly. “But their chili dogs are the best!” he whines.

Shadow crossed his arms. “We went there last time.” Oh, he could be so unrelenting, Sonic laments.

“Fine, alright. Then how about that new place in Station Square?”

Shadow tilts his head, thinking for a moment, before inclining his head. His arms fall to his sides and an all too familiar tightness entering his muscles tells Sonic he's getting ready to race. “Loser pays?”

Sonic smirks, slightly ducking down in anticipation to blast off. “Oh, you're on.” His counterpart doesn't smile exactly but there's a twinkle in his eye that tells Sonic he's enjoying this more than he wants to let on.

“Urgh, why does everything always have to be a competition between you two?” a voice complains from above.

Sonic doesn't need to look up; he can hear the exasperated eyeroll in Tails’ voice.

“Well, I was gonna get you takeout from your favourite restaurant, but if you wanna be like that …,” Sonic says, purposefully letting his voice drift off.

His calculation is correct because with a speed to rival Sonic, the fox's head suddenly peeks over the robot's edge.

“Consider my previous statement null and void,” Tails quickly informs him, causing the Blue Blur to chortle. Sometimes his little bro could be so predictable. 

He gives the fox a thumbs up, but right as he turns to Shadow, a sudden wave of nausea crashes over him, so intense that the world around him tilts. His legs feel weak and unsteady and he takes a staggering step to the side, trying to keep himself from falling over by stemming a hand against the chassis of the robot. A sharp pain pierces through his skull and his vision swims further.

“Mr. Sonic! Are you alright?” Cream gasps, quickly followed by Tails’ anxious voice checking on him, but Sonic can barely make out the words by the way they waver and dull out like they are far away or underwater.

Sonic wants to reply, reassure the kids that he just has a moment of feeling funky, but when he opens his mouth, he can feel more salvia gathering, and he quickly shuts his trap to avoid upheaving the contents of his stomach then and there.

His headache only seems to throb more intensely at this, and he brings up a hand to his head, face twisting in pain.

Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of using the hand he already put against the robot to support himself, so with nothing keeping him upright, his legs wobble and give way underneath him. The already blurry world around him distorts further as he falls.

His body never connects with the ground, however, as strong arms catch him and bolster him upright. Head hanging, Sonic clings to the arms - Shadow’s, he faintly realizes - with a weak grip and squints against the throbbing headache. 

“- hurt somewhere?” Sonic starts to make out Tails’ voice, fading in like someone turned up the volume of a radio. His vision clears a little and he manages to look up and find Tails’ worried blue eyes hovering in front of him, with an equally worried looking Cream clasping her hands in front of her mouth in the background. Multiple Chao turned to watch what’s going on as well, pausing in whatever they were doing before.

With so many eyes on him, Sonic summons a reassuring smile from the depths of his core, forcing down the nausea and standing back upright. “I’m okay,” he says calmly and to no one in particular, trying to sound unbothered. “Just feeling a bit woozy there.” He tries taking a step away from Shadow to show he doesn’t need any more help, and while standing worked so far, the second he tries to actually lift a foot, the weakness in his arms and legs only seems to grow worse and he almost falls a second time had Shadow not snaked an arm around and underneath his shoulders to keep him standing.

To his own chagrin, Sonic has to lean heavily against the hybrid, his arms loosely hanging to his sides.

Brows furrowed in concern, Tails gives Sonic a close inspection. “I can’t see any superficial wounds. Maybe it’s something internal?” He glances at Shadow as if to ask for his opinion, but the hybrid is as perplexed by Sonic’s condition as the young fox is, though he hides most of it underneath a stone-faced expression. Not that it can fool Sonic.

He can’t ruminate about it for long, though. “I don’t remember Egghead getting a hit on me,” Sonic points out, face contorting against his headache but thankful that at least his queasiness seems to subside.

Tails rushes to Sonic’s other side, helping Shadow keep him upright. “Let's get you to my lab, I can run some tests and scans there. Just in case,” he suggests urgently before turning to Cream, who’s currently holding Cheese tightly to her chest, watching them with every increasing distress. “Cream, can you get home by yourself?”

The little rabbit startles out of her frozen state. “O-of course! But… will Mr. Sonic be okay?” Her concern is almost tangible from the way tears gather in her eyes and how her lower lip trembles.

Sonic shoots her the most lively smile he can muster, fighting down his headache for long enough to make it convincing. “Don’t worry, Cream. Tails’ll figure out what’s going on and get me fixed faster than you can finish your homework, isn’t that right, buddy?” He glances expectantly at his brother, softly jabbing a weak elbow into Tails’ ribs. 

Though he looks unsure at first, the fox quickly nods, letting his anxiety fuel his determination. “Right!” he says before directing his attention towards Shadow. “Can you Chaos Control us to my lab in Emerald Town?”

Shadow gives a nod, pulling a Chaos Emerald out of his quills with his free hand.

“Get better soon, Mr. Sonic!” Cream fervently calls out to Sonic, just before Shadow raises the Emerald and speaks the words that send the three of them to their destination in a bright green flash.

Once in front of the gray building that Tails calls his lab, Sonic lurches to the side from the sudden displacement of his body in space-time and almost knocks Tails off his feet as a result. A groan slips past his lips; his head is swimming from the sudden change of sensory impressions.

“Just a little bit more then you can lie down, Sonic,” Tails tells him, his namesakes twitching nervously at seeing his brother like this. Although Shadow stays quiet, he helps the fox maneuver the blue hedgehog inside, putting him in a hammock specifically placed in the workspace area for Sonic whenever he stops by.

The Blue Blur only half registers being moved around but is jolted from his dazed state when Tails doesn’t waste any time and hooks Sonic up to different machines and sensors, drawing his blood and shining a bright light into his eyes.

He asks questions about where and how Sonic is hurting and taking notes as Sonic manages to describe his symptoms in a few concise words. Talking seems to send little needles stabbing his skull right now, so he nods yes or no instead whenever he can. 

Satisfied with the gathered data for now, Tails sits down in front of his computer, typing away and comparing numbers as he analyzes the information his machines provided him with.

With not much else to do and in the hopes of finding a little relief from his hammering headache. The nausea passed, luckily, but as Sonic closes his eyes in an attempt to doze, he becomes aware of the fabric of the hammock enclosing him, the material brushing against his fur and quills in a way that seems to irritate his skin.

Sonic shuffles uncomfortably, trying to focus on the soft beeping and clicking from Tails’ machines and letting it lull him to sleep.

He drifts in and out of this semi-conscious state. Whenever his wooziness subsides a little, his eyes lazily drift from Tails, still sitting in front of his monitors, to Shadow leaning against a wall near the door and watching the fox closely. The weakness in Sonic’s limbs and pounding headache quickly force Sonic back to seek refuge in the slight relief that sleep brings, however.

At some point - he can’t have been out for more than a couple of minutes - Sonic wakes to Amy entering the lab. The pink hedgehog immediately rushes over to Sonic. “Sonic! Oh my gosh, are you okay? I ran into Cream earlier and she told me you were hurt, so I immediately came over-”

She stops herself when Sonic’s ears flatten to his head, a pained expression on his face from the assault of words. He presses his eyelids together, weakly lifting a hand to gesture for Amy to stop. “Too many… words,” Sonic rasps, laughing weakly to take the barbs out of his words. Though the initial aggressive pounding on his brain subsided a little by now, his head still feels a little mushy, and certainly not in a state where it can deal with a cascade of word vomit like this.

The pink hedgehog bites her lip apologetically, prompting Sonic to add: “Hey Amy. I feel fine, mostly. Just… dealing with a bit of a headache.”

Sonic sits up in his hammock a little, trying to avoid brushing his arms against the rim. He looks over at Tails, still hunched over the flashing screens of his desk. “Speaking of, how’s it going, Tails?”

“This is definitely more than just a normal migraine or exertion, but I can’t make sense of it,” the little fox says, not looking up from where he’s typing something into his computer, cross-referencing it with something else on the screen. He pauses to glance over his shoulder at Sonic. “I contacted a physician and sent him the data I gathered. Hopefully he’ll know more.”

Sonic nods, giving him a reassuring smile even though a cold pit seems to open up in his stomach. More than just a migraine, huh? He pushes his uneasiness far away to the recesses of his mind. They’d know more soon. No use fretting over it now. He probably just hit a nerve or whatever.

With Shadow giving his best impression of his namesake by the way he’s stands brooding next to the door and Tails busy researching and monitoring Sonic, the blue hedgehog strikes up conversation with Amy which is easier now that she she’s more mindful of his current state, making an effort to talk more quietly and slowly.

The door beside Shadow opens and the hybrid looks up from where he’s focused on watching Tails. When a bat struts through the opening, followed by a red echidna, he merely acknowledges their presence with a quick, uninterested glance before returning to watch the fox.

“Hey everyone,” Rouge greets the entire room, giving a small wave and a weak smile. “A little birdy told me Sonic’s feeling a little under the weather,” she adds, glancing at Shadow. “And Knuckles simply had to stop by.”

The echidna in question whirls around to face her, temper flaring. “Wait a minute- you dragged me here, even after I told you Sonic would probably be fine.”

Rouge idly inspects her gloves. “Details, details. Anyway,” she turns to Sonic, still lying in his hammock and watching in amusement. “I hope you can forgive me for not getting you a ‘get well soon’ card, Blue,” she smirks.

Sonic grins, but Shadow can see how much energy it costs him. “Knowing you, you’d probably put knock-out gas in it to test some new stealth gadgets of yours,” he quips back. The bat gasps in faux offense, pressing her fingers against her chest. “Moi? What do you take me for?” They smirk at each other before Rouge leaves Knuckles to talk to Sonic and the rest.

Leaning against the wall next to Shadow, the bat lets her gaze drift across the lab, taking in all the machines and Tails’ fingers flying over the keyboard, too concentrated on whatever simulations are currently running across his screens to pay much attention to the newest guests.

Shadow feels more than sees Rouge turn toward him with knowing eyes. “Figured you’d still be around,” she mumbles just loud enough for Shadow to hear. He sent her a notification earlier that he had to help Tails get Sonic to his lab because the blue hedgehog isn’t feeling well, but he didn’t expect her to come looking for him as a result.

Shadow grips his arms tighter. “What do you want?” he asks bluntly, which teases a weak smile out of Rouge. “Abe ordered me to drag you to HQ after you didn’t respond to his calls.” She gives the hybrid a side eye. “Aren’t you a bad boy, ignoring your boss like that,” she teases in her sultry voice.

“He’s not my boss,” Shadow snorts absentmindedly, keeping his eyes on the numbers and letters flying across the screens. “I occasionally do contract work, nothing more.”

Rouge smiles mildly at him. “Whatever. I decided that it can wait anyway, seeing how you’re busy fretting,” she says, pointedly looking over at Sonic who slumped back into his hammock but currently has a shit-eating grin on as he riles up Knuckles.

Shadow doesn’t respond, too unsettled by the memory of Sonic collapsing and displaying such sudden and unexpected weakness to argue with Rouge. He’s seen the hedgehog get hurt plenty of times before and walk it off like it’s nothing, but something about this instance specifically feels off, though he can’t put his finger on why exactly, and now he’s just as tensely awaiting the results of Tails’ examination as the fox himself.

Rouge decides to refrain from teasing him further when she reads the subtle worry in the hybrid’s posture. He may have perfected coming off as aloof, but Rouge knows her teammate well enough to notice the small signs: the way Shadow's ears are perked in the direction of the screens and Tails, only flicking away briefly to catch whatever sounds come from Sonic, and the way his muscles are tensed up tight as a bow string underneath his seemingly relaxed lean against the wall.

“So, what’d you do this time?” Knuckles comes up to Sonic after Rouge joins Shadow next to the door, striking up a conversation with the dark hedgehog in a low voice.

Thankfully, Knuckles sounds almost indulgent, if not bored. Sonic had enough of his friends look at him with concern today so seeing how Knuckles clearly isn’t worried about whatever’s going on with him is a relief.

Sonic closes his eyes, then pries one open, grinning. “Dunno, but I’m hoping I didn’t catch your thick-headedness,”  he jokes, earning himself an offended growl from the echidna.

“What did you just call me?!” Knuckles raises a threatening fist, clearly not above throwing hands with Sonic despite his condition.

“Oh no!” Sonic mockingly gasps. “I think you might need some hearing aids, too.” His fake shocked expression turns into another grin.

“I’ll show you-” Knuckles starts forward but gets intercepted by Amy pushing down his fist. “Boys! Seriously?!” she snaps at them both, before glaring at Knuckles.

“Can’t you see Sonic is sick, Knuckles? Shame on you for even thinking about tussling with him!” she reprimands him.

The echidna splutters in disbelief. “Wh- but- He started it!” he retorts heatedly, gesturing indignantly at Sonic which the blue hedgehog returns with a smug chuckle.

Just then, one of the dark screens at Tails’ desk flares to life, showing a yellow duck with bushy eyebrows and an eyepatch. “Alright, I have you on live feed now, Dr. Quack,” Tails explains, turning on his chair and typing a few things into the keyboard before turning his full attention to the physician. “Everyone should be able to hear you now. Can you hear us?”

The duck nods. “Loud and clear, Mr. Prower,” he reaffirms.

“So did you find out what’s wrong with Sonic?” the young fox asks, going straight to the point while his swishing twin tails betray the tense anticipation he feels. 

Their previous banter is immediately forgotten as everyone stares at the duck expectantly and with bated breaths. Sonic glances at his friends, noting the various degrees of unease painted on their faces, especially when the physician’s expression stays grave. An icy clump of foreboding seems to settle in Sonic’s stomach.

“We have,” Dr. Quack begins calmly. “And unfortunately I don’t bring good news.” Tails’ face falls and for a second Sonic has the overwhelming urge to jump out of the hammock and disrupt the connection, just so they could all be spared whatever news this doctor bestows on them. He probably would’ve done just that if not for the weakness in his limbs keeping him stuck in his hammock.

The old duck seems to gather his bearings, inhaling deeply before continuing: “The data you presented to us, along with the described symptoms are unambiguously signs of an immunodeficiency disorder, or, to be exact the Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome, more commonly known as N.I.D.S.”

For just a fraction of a moment time in the room seems to stop. Nobody says or does anything. The moment seems to stretch out for so long that Sonic begins to think he somehow accidentally activated Chaos Control by how frozen everything and everyone is.

Yet still, he can barely process the words properly before the door to the outside is suddenly ripped open and a red-and-black figure rushes through in a blur. 

The door slams shut behind Shadow with enough force to rattle the shelves, the sound reverberating in everyone’s marrow.

Chapter Text

Everyone collectively stares at the shuddering door in silence. Most of Sonic’s friends look on in shocked confusion or even slight irritation by the loud disruption. Sonic thinks he can hear Knuckles mumble a petulant “What’s his problem?” but the words feel so far away and removed from everything. 

He feels far away and removed from everything. The physician’s words simply refuse to properly register.

Rouge is still standing by the door, a rare stunned look on her face, though Sonic can’t tell if it’s because of his diagnosis or Shadow’s thunderous exit or both. Seemingly snapping out of it, Sonic catches her eye, sure that her concern for the dark hedgehog is mirrored on his own face, and they share a look of understanding. Only they know the extent of just how familiar Shadow is with this particular sickness and why his reaction to these news is so visceral.

Sonic doesn't know how exactly Rouge came to know about it; whether it was due to G.U.N. reports, her own private snooping or even Shadow himself confiding in her at some point. Either way, Sonic still remembers clearly how he learned of it, despite some time having passed by now:

“Aaand that’s another point for the Blue Blur! Which means I win!” Sonic gloats between gasps for air as he reaches the grassy meadow, speckled with a few closed flowers and lit by the moon’s soft light. He spins around to watch Shadow skid to halt behind him, the boosters in his shoes briefly providing an extra light source before turning off. 

Sonic takes a few sashaying steps backwards. The hybrid really doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to testing the Blue Blur’s prowess.

Spreading out his arms, Sonic lets himself fall backwards into the soft grass, a content smile spreading on his muzzle. He deeply inhales the invigorating scents of nature around him: the crisp night air, the fresh scent of dew slowly forming on the grass blades, the musky scent of the mulch and sharp aroma of tree sap in the forest behind them. He closes his eyes, putting his arms behind his head and craning his muzzle into the soft night breeze as it carries even more of the enticing smells Earth has to offer towards him.

Sometimes he likes to imagine he can even scent the frosty glitter of the stars above, which is silly, of course, and Shadow would be quick to point out that stars couldn’t be further away from being the glowing ice clumps floating in space that Sonic describes them as. Sonic would then rag on him about the topic further, just to get a rise out of him.

Not tonight though.

The dark hedgehog is distracted today - not enough to slack on their races, but enough to wordlessly tolerate his losses without even so much as a contemptible huff.

Sonic picked up on Shadow's mood almost immediately that day, the dark hedgehog being much more prickly and cold than usual, with a heavy air of melancholy surrounding him. He has these days sometimes, though if there is a specific reason or trigger for them, Sonic doesn’t know it.

He hoped some good ol’ series of races would help raise the hybrid’s spirits, and although Shadow readily went along with the runs, they clearly didn’t pull him out of this rut.

Now, the hybrid stands around in somber contemplation as the wind tussles his quills. Sonic tilts his head slightly to watch him curiously and Shadow seems to take it as a prompt to lie down next to him with about an arm’s length between.

The distance between them right now is notable, since over time, Shadow became more and more comfortable with the unspoken closeness that gradually built between him and Sonic, both in physical and mental nature. They’ve gone through a lot together, and eventually Sonic reached his heart. Or perhaps Shadow always held open a place for Sonic there and merely kept it under wraps for the longest time, just like everything else concerning his most personal inner thoughts and feelings.

Point is - usually, they’d lie much closer together, but on days like these, the days Shadow turns most of his being inward, Sonic knows Shadow prefers to keep his distance.

He doesn't ask him why, knowing the dark hedgehog more often than not refuses to share what's on his mind anyway. Sonic is mindful to not demand answers from him, but always makes it a point to be clear that his ear is open if Shadow ever does decide he wants to talk to him. Until he's ready, Sonic will give the other hedgehog space - literally and figuratively.

That day, however, Shadow seems to have had enough of keeping to himself.

Shadow rolls to his side, facing Sonic and halving the distance between them, a silent admission that today he’s seeking the opposite - closeness. “How much do you know about Ma- … about my past?” One of his hands between them restlessly plucks at the grass stems. He clearly meant to say something else but Sonic doesn’t press him for it. Instead, he rolls onto his side as well to face Shadow, their noses almost brushing against each other, the hand of one of his arms coming to rest closely beside the hybrid's. And perhaps the tips of his fingers end up resting between Shadow’s fingertips somehow - purely accidentally of course.

“You mean outside of the Ultimate Lifeform schtick?” Sonic quips, teeth flashing in a cheeky smile. 

His joke doesn’t land, for Shadow’s frown deepens and so Sonic quickly banishes the teasing undertone from his voice, having accidentally driven the other away in the past enough times to be able to course correct now. “Only bits and pieces, why?” 

Shadow hesitates, returning to lie on his back as he watches the stars with a faraway look in his eyes. Sonic studies his profile as the dark hedgehog gathers his thoughts to figure out how much he's comfortable with sharing.

“When my creator, Gerald Robotnik, first awoke me, he had his granddaughter Maria with him. Her blue eyes were the first thing I ever saw.” He keeps his voice neutral, more like he's debriefing a mission than pulling up fragile memories. With how unwavering and steady it is, someone might confuse it for Shadow feeling apathy for what he's telling Sonic, like it didn’t involve him.

But Sonic isn't someone. 

The Blue Blur keeps perfectly still, invested in what the other is telling him and not daring to risk breaking this fragile moment of reminiscing and vulnerability for Shadow. 

“They held so much kindness.” The hybrid’s gaze turns wistful as he continues. His voice is now slightly halting but still calm as he continues and tells Sonic how much Maria meant to him, and how much she struggled under her illness, known as N.I.D.S. He tells him about the pain she was often in, how much of a challenge and struggle it was to treat her symptoms, as well as how frustrated she was of not being able to do a lot of the things girls her age could.

With a much more subdued and husky cadence, he explains how part of the purpose of his creation was to find a cure for her and that any chance of doing so was abruptly and harshly ripped from them when G.U.N. raided the ARK and took Maria’s life as well as the lives of the researchers involved.

Sonic was already aware Shadow had to watch his sick friend die in front of him prior to this, but until now he didn’t know the full extent of the purpose of Shadow’s creation or of Maria’s illness, let alone the tragedy that ensued. It certainly explains these recurring phases of increased aloofness the dark hedgehog displays. Sometimes, what memories Shadow still has of his past just become too overwhelming and no amount of leaving it behind him can steel him against emotions surging up, reminding him of the pain and losses he endured and the “failure” that Project Shadow - that he - is. His words, not Sonic’s.

“I apologize if I come off as standoffish at times,” Shadow finishes, hiding his exposed heart behind rigid politeness and resting a hand over his chest as if physically covering up his heart might add an additional barrier. He closes his eyes, shutting the world, and Sonic, out. An air of heaviness surrounds him that Sonic recognizes from previous instances of Shadow keeping to himself. Usually Sonic isn’t allowed this close to it, though.

Sonic shuffles nearer, propping himself up and leaning over the hybrid, supporting himself with an arm placed in the grass beside Shadow’s head, opposite of where he’s lying. “You’re not a failure,” he tells him sternly, his tone warning the other not to object. “And you’re more than some multi-purpose project,” he reminds him, dead serious for once. Hollow eyes slowly open half-way, too burdened with self-loathing and grief to manage more. Red eyes search green ones, though for what Sonic doesn’t know, so all he can do is put as much of his conviction over what he just said in his gaze.

Something shifts in Shadow’s demeanor, his features growing softer as he draws solace from the blue hedgehog’s words and presence, his body relaxing into the soft grass and flowers.

Like with so many things, Sonic doesn't leave himself room to think about why he suddenly has the urge to do what he's doing next. He just does it, simply because it feels right. Sonic’s eyes briefly drop to Shadow's lips before returning to his eyes. He slowly lowers his head, figuring Shadow would push him away if he wanted to. 

The dark hedgehog doesn't, however, and instead closely follows Sonic’s movement with his eyes. For one nerve-wracking but exhilarating moment, Sonic feels himself being scrutinized by sharp, piercing red eyes as the hybrid analyzes his action, before realization dawns on Shadow’s expression and it marginally shifts into something different: faint surprise … and an almost hopeful anticipation.

Sonic gently presses his lips against Shadow’s for the first time, putting all his feelings into it to communicate just how loved the hybrid is and how little it matters that he’s strayed far from his original purpose - despite how much he sometimes insists he doesn’t need or deserve it. And Shadow, to his astonishment, cranes his muzzle slightly up to meet him at the last second. 

“Thanks for telling me,” Sonic whispers fervently upon breaking away, aware of how much effort it must have taken the hybrid to talk about his late friend and past, especially in so much detail. His own heart is hammering in his chest, hardly believing what he just did - or rather got granted permission to do. He'd never done something like this before.

Shadow only reluctantly parts from his lips. “You deserved to know,” he murmurs into the tiny space between them. The hybrid hesitates before adding: “I don’t want her to be forgotten. Although sometimes …” He breaks off, trying to find the right words. “I think that worry is unfounded. You and her share a lot of similarities.”

Sonic’s heart swells and he can’t help the smirk tugging at his mouth. “Hah, knew you had a soft spot for me,” he teases softly.

Instead of replying, Sonic can suddenly feel Shadow’s hand snaking into his head quills, and Shadow pulls him down for another, longer kiss. Sonic’s arm gives way as he half falls, half sinks onto Shadow’s chest, melting into the downy fluff there, lost to the tender touches of their lips.

The physician clears his throat before continuing, jostling Sonic from the warm memory. “Where was I?” He glances away at something off-screen for a brief moment, checking his notes, before addressing Sonic: “Right, are you familiar with N.I.D.S.?”

Sonic has to almost physically rip himself out of his rumination to look at the yellow duck on the other side of the screen. “Heard of it before,” he says with half a mind.

Dr. Quack frowns at the vague answer, but doesn't let it deter him from continuing professionally: “Have you experienced unusual shortness of breath recently? Or loss of consciousness?”

“I guess I felt a bit more winded over the last couple of weeks or so. Thought I was coming down with a cold or somethin’,” Sonic tells him, his eyes slowly drifting towards the door again where he just catches the tips of Rouge's wings as she quietly slips out the lab. 

The physician on the other side of the screen nods soberly. “Going forward, you may experience symptoms like these more frequently, especially if you strain your body too much. Other things to look out for are the body refusing nourishments, increased susceptibility towards pathogenes, inflammations, temporary or permanent loss of senses, …” 

Amy gasps in horror while Dr. Quack lists the different symptoms. Contrarily, Sonic watches his friends, vaguely noting the different variations of distress slowly growing on their faces as they're confronted with the full extent of what this diagnosis means going forward.

Sonic continues to feel numb and detached, as if it happened to someone else far, far away, or rather, it’s as if he’s simply having a cold and somehow everyone decided to blow it out of proportion. Logically, he knows it’s not as simple as needing a couple of days of rest to get better, and yet it feels like that anyway.

What’s the big deal? the question repeats in his head nonsensically.

As Dr. Quack goes into the details of how to handle the different symptoms, his voice becomes a faint white noise for Sonic, his thoughts drifting. He’s uninterested in the cautions, the warnings, the “don’t”s he should now abide by.

With weak limbs, Sonic pushes himself up in the hammock, sluggishly turning so his legs dangle over the rim, where the fabric uncomfortably cuts into and scrapes against his easily irritated skin. His eyes stay focussed on the door, wanting nothing more than to defy the diagnosis and to follow Shadow, to prove to the both of them that the doc is wrong and a simple mistake was made.

Summoning strength to his limbs, Sonic jumps out of the hammock, ignoring his friends’ surprised and worried exclamations.

His legs immediately crumple beneath him and he painfully collides face-first with the cold, hard floor of the lab. “Sonic! Are you alright?” Amy gasps, immediately kneeling down by his side to partially lift his upper body off the floor.

“Peachy,” he informs her chipper despite his throbbing muzzle, and forces himself to look up at her with an awkward, apologetic smile, as if he was just being clumsy. On the inside, his usual optimism feels dimmed, like a cloud covering the sun, and, much stronger than that, a growing unease for Shadow.

But first, he has to take care of his friends.

Amy frowns, clearly not convinced but not knowing what else to say to that. Tails beyond her jumped out of his seat in response to the commotion, now standing beside his desk and looking equally concerned. 

Even Knuckles crooks an uneasy brow as he helps Amy lift him up and the two of them sit him back down into the hammock like he weighs nothing.

“Really guys, don’t worry. Just got a little overenthusiastic, heh,” he downplays his stunt.

“Are you sure you're okay? Nothing broken?” Amy fusses, inspecting Sonic’s face closely. Her hands on his cheeks turn his muzzle from one side to the other, a deep frown darkening her green eyes as she looks for injuries.

Sonic awkwardly leans away from the prickly sensation of her touch, which turns out to be quite tricky when you can’t rely on your hands supporting your full weight. “I’m fine Amy, I’ve fallen from greater heights before,” he reassures her, a note of impatience sneaking into his voice.

Knuckles meanwhile shakes his head in exasperation over Sonic’s stunt, before turning to the physician. “So what were you saying about a cure?” Everyone turns towards him.

Dr. Quack startles upon suddenly being the center of attention again. Then his expression changes, becoming more sympathetic in a way that strangely ignites the urge to get as far away from this room as possible in Sonic. “About that…”

“There isn’t one,” Sonic answers the questions for him, ripping the metaphorical band-aid off, rather preferring to get this part over with. “Right?” he prompts the physician calmly.

The duck’s shoulders slump after taking a deep breath. “That is correct. The severity of the symptoms can be managed to some extent, but no cure for the illness itself has been found and it is generally considered a terminal disease. I’m sorry.”

Amy’s hands fly up to cover her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. Knuckles’ shoulders go slack in shock, his face draining of any color. Worst of all for Sonic to watch is Tails’ reaction: the kid’s eyes stay fixed on Dr. Quack, but tears glitter in the corners of his eyes and his fists begin to tremble at his sides.

The sight of his friends is enough to fully distract Sonic from his thoughts of Shadow and give him the kick he needs. “Hey,” he throws brightly into the room, breaking through Amy’s muffled sobs and Tails’ singular snuffle as he fights the tears from spilling. “No cure just means one hasn’t been found yet.”

Before anyone can answer, the door to the lab is opened again. “And your best chance of finding one just made himself scarce,” Rouge’s voice interrupts as she strolls back into the lab, looking a little exhausted and windswept.

“What do you mean?” Tails asks her, quickly wiping at his eyes to hide the unshed tears while he composes himself.

“You aware of Shadow’s backstory, sugar?”

The fox frowns, raking his brain. “Oh! Wasn’t Shadow created to resist all illnesses?” Rouge nods. “That and to find a cure for the very thing Blue over there caught,” she adds, inclining her head towards Sonic.

This information seems to give Tails new energy, causing his namesakes to start twitching in circular motions and his ears to perk up excitedly. “He might be able to help us, then!”

“Tough luck,” Rouge snorts but there is no real amusement in her voice. “By now, handsome is far and away. Who knows when he’ll be back.”

“Can’t you track him down?” Amy interposes, bewilderment clear in her voice.

The bat shrugs, wings fluttering restlessly. “I tried. But he’s fast and doesn’t exactly like people telling him what to do. Blue might have a chance catching up to him if it wasn’t for,” she glances at Sonic, waving her hand vaguely. “Y’know.”

“I’m not sure tracking him down would be the best idea anyway,” Sonic points out with a lopsided smile. Rouge gives a hum of agreement but Amy turns to him in confusion.

“Why wouldn’t it be? Shadow can be grim and aloof, but he isn’t heartless! He’ll help if we ask him, I’m sure,” she objects, prompting Sonic and Rouge to exchange another glance. Amy isn't wrong, but Shadow refusing help out of cruelty isn't the concern. How much should he tell the others?

Luckily, Rouge takes the decision from him. “I think it’s best we leave him to brood for now.”

“Why’d he leave, anyway?” Knuckles demands, before pointing between Sonic and Rouge with the tip of his mitten. “What aren’t you two telling us?”

Rouge moves to his side, hooking one arm under Knuckles’ hanging one and lowering his pointing hand with the tips of her fingers. “That’s for Shadow himself to share, sugar,” she tells the echidna, soothingly patting his arm. Knuckles still looks skeptical, so she elaborates a little more: “Let’s just say he has his own experiences with this.”

Behind the screen, Dr. Quack clears his throat. “Excuse my interruption, but we have some last details to discuss, if that’s alright with you, Mr. er… Sonic.”

“Sonic’s fine,” the blue hedgehog says, simultaneously giving his okay for him to continue speaking.

The duck gives an acknowledging nod. “Patients with N.I.D.S. are usually permanently staying in hospitals or similar facilities to receive the best possible care. Given your, er,… fame, am I right to presume you would rather be treated at home for privacy reasons?”

Sonic feels his quills bristle at that, blue spikes poking holes into the hammock’s fabric. Him, stuck in a hospital with no space to run? He feels his nausea return with a vengeance, only this time he’s pretty sure it’s not the illness that causes it.

Still, he pulls himself together, ignoring the icy shivers that run down his spine and pushing his dread far away until his smile isn’t just a mask anymore but something he truly feels. He lets out a chuckle that only slightly echoes in the strange atmosphere among the group. “Ya got that right, doc. Although, about that ‘home’ part, …” he says, though before he can explain that he doesn’t really have anything that could be considered a home by regular standards, Tails interjects.

“We can do everything here in the lab or at my house,” the fox says, talking to both Sonic and the physician. Then he looks up at the duck. “This isn’t my field of expertise, but I’m sure if you can connect me with other people who research N.I.D.S, I’ll be able to aid them in finding a cure.” He sounds so confident and Sonic’s chest swells a little with pride. “That’s what I’m talking about, buddy!” he tells Tails, giving him a thumbs up. “We’ll have this thing beat in no time.”

That actually gets the fox to smile determinedly. “Like we always do!” he agrees.

With that, the group begins to disperse. Dr. Quack promises to get everything underway and give Tails what information there is about N.I.D.S., meanwhile Rouge waves a simple goodbye, wishing them luck and hinting she will keep an ear open for anything helpful.

Knuckles leaves to return to Angel Island with a resolute look on his face after fist bumping Sonic, a grim smile decorating his muzzle like he’s about to face an opponent he’s determined to beat at all costs. He promises to look into what few records his clan left him with, in the hopes one of them holds some forgotten ancient knowledge that might be of help.

Amy gives Sonic a tight, almost suffocating hug when she leaves, explaining that she’ll be staying close by in her flat in Central City, promising to come over regularly in order to help Tails and Sonic where she can. After loads of fretting and encouraging words from the pink hedgehog, as well as Sonic repeatedly assuring her he’ll be fine and that they’ll figure this out, she, too, leaves with a final:  “I’ll do some card readings for hopefully good fortunes!”

For a while after this, nothing notable happens and things stay relatively the same, making it easy for Sonic to continue feeling like he merely has some minor sickness not worth worrying about. 

The day after the diagnosis, Sonic is already able to walk and run around again, with no hint of vertigo or weakness in his limbs. Sure, he has a couple of pills to swallow now and his runs become a bit shorter in length due to exhausting quicker, and while that’s annoying, Sonic can deal with it for the time being. Or so he tries telling himself.

Admittedly, being stuck in one place makes this a bit harder to cope with, but his poor stamina simply prevents him from wandering further than he wants to regardless, not to mention that Tails regularly needs blood or tissue samples from Sonic or to conduct tests.

At night Sonic opts to sleep on the couch at Tails’ place like usually does when he's over. It's only temporary, and so far his patience hasn't dried up yet, if you ignore his more frequent restless foot tapping.

Meanwhile, Tails spends a lot of his time cooped up in his lab, muzzle practically glued to the monitors as he either reads up on something or analyzes one of the samples he takes from Sonic.

Thankfully, the kid is responsible enough to think of taking breaks and giving himself time to eat, sleep or just chill with Sonic on the couch playing video games for a while, even if Sonic has to be the instigator sometimes and Tails cuts their gaming sessions shorter than usual.

Occasionally, Sonic would think of Shadow and wonder where his counterpart went, wishing he could show him that he’s doing okay and that they’re already working on a solution. But the hybrid doesn't show. Sonic isn’t surprised, figuring he needs the time to stomach it.

It still leaves him with a hard to describe feeling, though. Like a paper cut, it sends a sharp sting through him whenever he brushes against it. Not enough to cause serious damage but a constant, slightly painful reminder regardless.

Whenever the Blue Blur goes out for some fresh air, his eyes always look for a flash of black and red, on the off-chance he might run into the broody hedgehog after all.

He never does and about a week later, Sonic instead gets another taste of what his newly discovered condition truly means.

Out on a run in the lightly wooded hills near Emerald Town, the Blue Blur suddenly feels his feet growing sluggish. He presses on anyway, since a persistent sense of feeling off today is accompanying him the entire day ever since waking earlier. Now, though, his joints grow warm, unpleasantly so, and despite his best efforts, he stumbles and crashes to the ground, rolling over the meadow a couple of times and spraying earth and plants everywhere. He finds himself unable to curl up into a protective ball, his joints too inflamed and swollen to allow the needed nimbleness.

When he comes to a stop, he lays on his back, legs splayed out. For a moment, Sonic simply stays lying on that grassy plane, breathing past his clenched teeth in pain and trying to understand what just happened. He lifts an arm in front of his face, attempting to move his muscles, but the swellings make it hard - and agonizing - so he soon stops.

This shouldn’t be happening. Why was it happening now? Come on, he urges himself. You’ve been through worse. Get up. He could rest back at Tails’. Just until these swellings go back down.

Mind made up, Sonic rolls on his belly, hissing when each jostle to his limbs sends a new wave of agony through him.

The throbbing sets his body aflame but he still manages to prop himself up on his hands and knees. As soon as he tries to pull his feet underneath him to stand up, new searing pain rips through him and he crashes back onto the ground.

With a frustrated huff, Sonic rolls around on his back again. Okay, change of plans. He’ll just take a quick nap here and hope he’ll be better by the time he wakes up. Nature always makes for the best sleeping spot anyway. Closing his eyes, Sonic tries his best to ignore his aching, throbbing limbs and deeply breathes in the scents of nature to calm himself down.

Instead of being able to enjoy the rich smell of the vegetation around him, however, his airway seems to close up once met with it. The hedgehog clutches his swelling throat, upper body shooting up as he gasps for air like a drowning hedgehog. His inflamed joints send fresh waves of painful heat through him from the movement.

Darkness encroaches the edges of his vision as he fights for every ounce of precious air. 

His legs kick out helplessly in a futile attempt to find purchase, the pain in them now secondary to the need for oxygen as he gasps and struggles. Need to… get… air… Tails… His mind becomes a broken whirlpool of thoughts, barely comprehensible.

By the time he falls over, he’s already lost consciousness.

Sonic slowly wakes to the dim, warm light of Tails’ living room. As his eyes peel open, all he sees in his immediate vision is the pale ceiling and two blurry dots of color, one pink, the other tangerine.

The blue hedgehog squints to make them out, only for a headache to slowly crawl up on him and increase in intensity.

A low groan escapes him as he reaches up a hand to rub his eyes, the pain in his joints having subsided to a dull, more bearable ache.

Low humming reaches his ears at that and the two splotches of color move a little. Confused, Sonic tries to make anything out but everything just seems to blur more and the headache makes him feel like someone stabs needles into the backs of his eyes.

There's more of the low buzzing noises coming from the splotches that Sonic can't make out, but it doesn't matter anyway, for sleep claims him again soon after.

When Sonic wakes again it’s with a start this time. He dreamt that his legs had been torn off. Instead of having to crawl, however, he was strangely weightless, floating around like a breeze. He noticed his friends crowding around a spot but when he tried to get their attention, they didn’t react, neither seeing nor hearing him.

Their expressions were grave, too, ranging from stoic contemplation to heartwrenching sobs, and Sonic realized that they were all mourning. He peered through the crowd to find the source of their anguish, and quickly located a blue lump of quills at the center of the group.

His stomach twisted but despite the sinking feeling of knowing what, or rather who, he’s looking at, he flinched back as soon as his eyes met the lifeless, dull stare of himself, ripping him straight out of his nightmare.

“Sonic! You’re awake!” Amy comes rushing to his side, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. “Tails!” she calls over her shoulder as she hunkers down beside him.

As Sonic comes to, he shakes the unsettling dream away, and instead studies his surroundings as his vision clears.

He's back in Tails’ home, lying on the sofa. His joints no longer feel like they're on fire and he can breathe normally again.

“What-” he begins but his voice is muffled, with plastic scraping against his muzzle. Confused, he reaches his hand for it, colliding with the oxygen mask put there.

Just as he pulls it off and sits up, the telling sound of Tails’ footsteps arrives in the living room. “Is he okay?” the fox asks but then his eyes land on Sonic and he rushes forward, tails twirling for more speed. “Sonic!” he exclaims, practically throwing himself around the blue hedgehog's neck.

“Woah! Hey! What's going on?” Sonic splutters as Tails pulls back. His voice is raspy, the words scratching his throat.

“You didn't come back,” Amy says somberly, handing Sonic a glass of water which he accepts with a quick thanks before downing the contents. “So I went out to look for you because I noticed you forgot to take your meds. You were close to asphyxiating when I found you, and you had so many swellings all over you” Amy says, sounding distressed as she recalls it.

“You seemed to have had some kind of allergic reaction,” Tails provides in a steadier voice, but the fear for Sonic shows clear in his eyes. “I'm not entirely sure if it's because you forgot to take the antipyretic or because your system temporarily thought it was being attacked on its own. Dr. Quack said this can happen sometimes, but it shouldn’t be permanent.”

Sonic doesn't respond right away. All that trouble… just because he forgot to take a couple of pills? He frowns. This disease really starts to get on his nerves.

“We were so scared that-” Amy's voice breaks and so Tails finishes for her in a weak voice: “-you weren't gonna make it.”

Hating the anguish on their faces, Sonic wraps his arms around one shoulder of each of them, pulling them closer. Amy blushes despite the dire situation and Tails rests his arm on Sonic's shoulder in turn. “Oh, ye of little faith if you think that'd take me down,” he jokes to lighten the mood, but their expressions stay tense.

“Come on, guys, this ain't too much different from other close calls,” Sonic adds.

“But this time-” Tails begins to object.

“This time I could count on my two best friends to have my back,” Sonic interjects, before adding. “Because they're just awesome like that.” 

That tickles small smiles out of them. Good. Sonic claps their shoulders before leaning back slightly, noting that Amy and Tails look a little more at ease. “Sorry for worrying you. I'm feeling much better, though.” His belly suddenly rumbles loudly as if in protest. “Guess my stomach disagrees,” he admits, his laugh joined by more exasperated ones from his friends. 

Sonic glances between them with a smirk. “Who wants a chili dog?”

About half an hour later the three of them sit around the coffee table in the living room, a plate of freshly made and still-steaming chili dogs in front of them.

While they were preparing the chili and buns together, Sonic only barely managed to stop himself from chowing them down then and there; he was salivating like a dog.

But as the aroma of the grease and chili hits Sonic's olfactory buds now, a faint queasiness makes itself known. He pays it no mind, it's probably just a side effect of the overexposure to the stuff while cooking.

Everyone grabs a chili dog with Sonic chewing his first bite enthusiastically and just long enough to not choke on it when swallowing. Almost suffocating once is more than enough for a day.

His stomach gives a protesting gurgle the second the chili dog hits it, followed by a painful pinch. Sonic's face twists against his will, trying not to clench his abdomen. He eyes the rest of the chili dog in his hand uncertainly.

Tails beside him notices his hesitation as well as the look on his face, his expression immediately warping into concern again after Sonic worked so hard to ease it out of him.

“What's wrong?” the kid asks, carefully sniffing and peering at his own chili dog. “Has the chili gone bad?” Amy looks up from her own plate, frowning.

“Nah, I just seem to have a bit of an upset stomach. Prolly cuz I didn’t have anything for a while,” Sonic laughs it off and Tails visibly calms down. Amy isn't as easily swayed, but she stays silent.

By now the noises of his stomach have calmed down, though the same can’t be said about his queasiness.

“You look a little green, Sonic,” Amy puts in, frowning. “Don’t force it,” she cautions.

“And waste a perfectly good plate of chili dogs?” Sonic gasps in faux offense. 

“You can eat them later. I’ll make sure we’ll save enough for you,” the pink hedgehog objects. Sonic waves her off.

“You want me to skip out on these beauties? After I resisted stuffing myself on them while we were in the kitchen? No way! Besides,” he twirls the chili dog in his hand, shooting Amy a grin and a wink. “They taste better freshly prepared.”

“Alright… but don’t overdo it, please,” Amy relents, looking quite unhappy. But there’s no way Sonic could just let an entire plate of his favourite food go cold. Not to mention, he definitely felt peckish earlier. So what’s the deal now?

Without giving himself time to ponder, Sonic stuffs the rest of his chili dog in his mouth, chewing quickly and already reaching for the next one before he swallows the last bite of his first. He’s not gonna let a little belly ache stop him from indulging.

… exactly three chili dogs later Sonic finds himself in the bathroom of Tails’ house, kneeling over the toilet and gasping for breath after having just emptied the already meager contents of his stomach into the bowl. Tails crouches beside him, slowly rubbing circles into his back between the quills with a sympathetic expression.

Spitting out the last of the bitter bile that keeps gathering in his mouth, Sonic laughs weakly, accepting the wet washcloth Tails hands him to clean and cool down his face. His throat feels on fire from the acid and the repeated stings to his stomach like it’s being stabbed are starting to grate on his nerves.

“Forget being stuck on the Death Egg. This is actual torture,” he jokes lightly to cover up that in reality, he feels close to wanting to cry. As if his constitution isn’t already down in the dumps enough by preventing him from going on proper runs. Now he can’t even enjoy a simple chili dog anymore. “Those poor chili dogs,” he laments dramatically to distract himself from his thoughts.

Tails smiles grimly, unable to find much humor in the situation. “I read that N.I.D.S can sometimes cause the body to reject food. You’ll probably have to take some light foods for a while, along with supplements.”

The little fox sounds apologetic, knowing exactly how much Sonic loves to stuff himself on all sorts of dishes. Tails frowns at the tiled floor. “Urgh, if I could just figure out the cure already...”

The prospect of having to eat mushy pulp for the foreseeable future makes Sonic’s blood boil. But…

He looks at Tails’ distressed blue eyes. 

Sonic can’t let it out on his little bro. The kid already sounds like he blames himself for not having fixed Sonic’s situation by now. He can’t add to that.

The blue hedgehog leisurely lifts a fist, prompting Tails for a fist bump. “Don’t stress out over this, alright? You’re doing great and going fast is my thing,” he grins. A furrow appears between Tails’ eyes but then it softens out and he puffs out air before completing Sonic’s fistbump. “Right,” he agrees, but hesitates one more time when he helps Sonic up and they make their way back to the living room. “I really should go back to the lab, though. Will you be okay for now?”

“You mean outside of my damaged pride?” Sonic quips, eliciting another weak snort from the fox. “Yeah, go ahead and do your thing,” he says encouragingly. 

Following this incident, Tails loses himself in his work, tirelessly experimenting in his lab or approaching Sonic with gadgets or substances that, at best, alleviate Sonic from the more unpleasant side-effects of his illness for a brief time and at worst, actively amplify them, though the latter is rare.

Even without watching the bags underneath the fox’s eyes grow, Sonic knows his little brother is stressing himself out with the knowledge that he’s on a time limit to find a cure for Sonic, and losing sleep both over that fact and because he “doesn’t have any time to waste with eating or oversleeping”.

With this newfound urgency the fox approaches his work now, it’s much harder to drag him away out of his lab and there are even one or two instances in which Tails sneaks out of the house to go back to work in the middle of the night, no matter how much Sonic tells him to stop and Amy physically drags him away to get him away whenever she’s over.

Sonic is grateful that Amy supports him in making sure Tails is getting at least some of his needed amount of rest and nourishment, even though he’s sure she also hopes that Tails and the researchers he works with find a cure sooner rather than later, judging by how her nerves shorten her temper, causing her to snap at them more often.

Since the incident, Amy makes it a habit to come by at least once a day, often staying for several hours. It’s not just to care for Tails and help him out where she can (though most work falls back on him anyway - there’s only so much she can do with her lack of medicinal knowledge), but also to keep Sonic company and make sure he doesn’t forget to take his meds again.

It’s a few days after Sonic is able to eat solid foods again when two delicate but firm knocks on the door startle him awake. The open book draped over his face like a tent tumbles to the ground as he turns his head towards the noise. Shaking the grogginess away, he gets up, finding that his limbs still feel weak, like they’re barely able to support his weight. The nap did little to improve his situation. Darn. He wouldn’t even mind getting transported into some storybook again at this point, just so he could escape this major inconvenience, at least for a while.

He makes his way over to the door, slower than he’d like and having to use the walls and furniture to support himself. One of his hands clutches the board of a shelf, almost accidentally catching on the amulet lying there and knocking it down.

Tails discovered the artifact only recently by total accident and after a quick scan figured out its origins. Some ancient civilization or another. The little fox couldn’t wait to show it to Professor Victoria and Sonic has to smile upon remembering how eager Tails is to get some recognition from the historian. Tails assured him he could wait until they figure out a solution to Sonic's illness, but that doesn't stop Sonic from feeling bad for keeping his brother from impressing the prof.

Finally reaching the door in a less than graceful manner, Sonic opens the door, and is greeted by Rouge idly studying her gloved fingertips.

Sonic raises a brow, managing a faint smile. “Rouge? What’re you doing here?” he asks his unexpected visitor, though in his mind, the answer to his question is already forming. Rouge looks up, opening her mouth, but her composed, almost bored expression slips for the fraction of a second when she truly looks at Sonic. The blue hedgehog is suddenly self-conscious about how he must appear to her: slightly haggard, with ruffled, unkempt quills and eyes dulled from exhaustion.

Either way, it only takes a blink for Rouge to mask her dismay and her voice is the same as usual when she asks: “Have you no manners, Blue? What happened to inviting a lady in first?” she scolds in mock outrage.

Sonic simply grins at her lazily. “Most ladies don't run the risk of helping themselves to your valuables,” he quips, standing aside to let Rouge in anyway.

“Sharing is caring,” the bat reprimands as she passes him with a haughty huff, sitting down on one of the two armchairs. Sonic follows her, brushing his fingers through his head in a weak motion to get at least some semblance of order back to his messy quills.

“Want a drink?” he offers, resting one hand on the backrest of the sofa for support, though he tries to be casual about it. Of course, Rouge’s inquisitive, aquamarine eyes didn’t miss how the blue hedgehog moved by leaning or brushing against something at all times, just as they don’t fail to register the way he leans against the couch now.

“No, thank you. I’m good,” she declines, still sounding unaffected as she casually crosses her legs. “Besides, I know you probably want me to cut straight to the chase, hm?” she points out with a knowing smirk teasing at her lips.

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Sonic lifts his palms in defeat, walking around to flop down on the sofa instead. “So,” he says. “What’s the sitch?”

The bat sighs, her wings sagging and her carefully composed appearance cracking as worry and frustration wear at her edges.

“I can’t find him anywhere. He ignores any messages or calls sent to his communicator and he disabled the tracking function. Shadow could be anywhere.”

Sonic frowns. The news is unsurprising given that he hasn't seen nor heard from Shadow since the day they discovered his condition, but that doesn’t make it any easier to digest.

The Blue Blur exhales deeply, falling against the backrest and tilting his head up at the ceiling, fighting down the hurt from the persistent suspicion that Shadow cut ties with him and the rest of the group - including even his own team apparently.

But even if he could track Shadow down, should he? Would Sonic want to if the result will be Shadow clearly rejecting any further association with him? … once Sonic’s got the stamina for it, he’ll go out there to find Shadow and get answers (or closure…), unfavorable outcomes be damned.

“I just hope he’s doing okay,” he partially admits the concern for Shadow that grew over the last couple of days.

Just then, Amy enters the living room, carrying a small tray with water and his prescribed medicine with her. She'd been in Tails’ backyard up until now, tending to the few flowers that grow there. Sonic must’ve missed her coming back in.

“Sonic, you have a truly awful illness breathing down your neck, and your biggest concern is where Shadow went off to?!” she scolds him in disbelief. She puts down the tray on the coffee table in front of Sonic with more force than necessary. “If he really cared, he’d be helping instead of wandering around who knows where!” she talks herself into a rage, only to stop short when she realizes what she just said.

“Urgh! Sorry! I’m sorry,” she apologizes, genuinely looking like she regrets her words, though the tension doesn’t seem to have left her. “I’ll …” She looks between Sonic and Rouge. “I’ll go check on Tails and make sure he takes a break.” Without waiting for a reply, she leaves the room. Before either Rouge or Sonic can react, Amy already stormed out of the house.

Silence settles over the living room, in which Sonic glowers at the medicine in front of him, hating that some selfish part in him whispers agreement with Amy’s notion. The least Shadow could do is check in with him via text. Still, the hybrid has all the reason to stay away, he knows this.

“She’s just worried about you, you know,” Rouge’s voice jostles Sonic from his thoughts. He briefly glances up at her through his eyelashes, before sighing. “I know,” he says, reluctantly picking up some of the pills. “She’s been a great help.” Even if she could be too impulsive sometimes, Sonic doesn’t want to bad-mouth her. Not when she just means well and is looking out for Tails.

Still, Rouge seems to sense the words he doesn’t say “She wears her heart on her sleeve,” the bat adds for him. Sonic gives a nod of admission, popping the pills in his mouth.

Rouge watches him in silence, and though Sonic doesn’t directly glance at her, he can see her eyebrows rise higher and higher at the sheer number of medications he has to take. His weak hand clutching the water glass trembles so much trying to keep a hold of it that he’s close to spilling some of it.

“You sure know how to keep things interesting,” she comments but her voice lacks the usual teasing edge as she continues to study him closely guarded. Sonic grimaces as he puts the empty glass down but quickly shrugs her statement off, smiling thinly. “Eh, what can I say? I don't ‘do’ boring.”

Rouge's only response is a hum before getting to her feet. “Well, I gotta go back to work now,” she says, turning to the door, before quickly adding. “I can find my way out. No need to walk me to the door, Blue.”

“Alright,” Sonic tells her nonchalantly, though secretly he's glad it allows him to stay on the couch.

He closes his eyes but just as Rouge reaches for the door, however, he pries open an eye, fixing her with a sharp look. “I hope Tails won’t forget about his meeting with Tori. He’s been going on about showing her that amulet he found for months now,” he adds casually.

There's a pause, then a little huff, followed by a rattling noise of metal coming to rest on wood. “You are too perceptive for your own good, Blue.”

In response, Sonic merely closes his eye again, smiling serenely. With a soft click, the door falls into its lock, leaving him alone in the living room.

As soon as he’s alone, the smile slowly drops from his face and he lets his head fall against the backrest again, restless gaze turned toward the ceiling.

Chapter Text

Waves crash against the shore of Emerald Beach, situated only a couple of streets away from Tails’ home. The sky above is bright with only a few splotches of clouds. It's a perfect beach day, warm and breezy; the salty, slightly tangy but ultimately clean air aids Sonic in being able to breathe deeply and without the risk of his body mistaking it for something harmful like back in the forest.

He and Amy settle down with their lunch on a picnic blanket just short of the wet sand. It would be a fantastic day to laze about and chill all things considered - if today wasn’t one where the nerve ends of his skin feel like they are ablaze. Every grain of sand, every rough seashell and slick, washed up algae grates against where he comes into contact with it, repeatedly sending pinpricks through his system until he feels like he's on fire. The sand in his shoes may as well be hot coals at this point, the blanket he’s sitting on a board of nails.

Silence drags between the two hedgehogs - there’s only so many times Sonic finds he can tell his friends that he’s fine and that it’ll all work out before the words wear thin. So instead, the space between them is filled by the soft rush of the waves and the swishing of the palm fronds behind them that separate the town from the beach. At least the loaded silence also means less of Amy fretting about his condition, the Blue Blur supposes as he lies on his back, enviously watching the seagulls above as they ride the wind wherever it tosses them.

Then Amy sighs, looking over her shoulder where Emerald Town sprawls out. “We should have insisted for Tails to join us,” she says, frowning unhappily. “He’s too young to stay cooped up in that lab all day, it’s not healthy.”

“You know how he is,” Sonic shrugs his shoulders helplessly, not taking his eyes off the seagulls. “Better he’s working at it now than in the middle of the night.”

Another sigh escapes the pink hedgehog. “I guess my cards did tell me the solution lies in following your head over your heart, but he’s still a kid! Why should most of the work fall on him?” She buries a hand in the sand, lifting it again to listlessly watch the grains fall between her fingers in sad contemplation.

“Why did it have to be terminal?” Amy suddenly bursts out. “Why did it have to be you?” she works herself up, blinking past hot angry tears building in her eyes.

Concerned for her, Sonic sits up slowly and opens his mouth which earns him a glare from green eyes and an accusatory finger pointing at him.

“And don’t you dare tell me it’s fine!” she snaps. “Because it’s not! You’re not! And I-” A sob escapes her, so harsh that her whole body shakes. “-I’m so scared that we won’t be able to find a cure for you in time. I-I don’t want to lose you!”

“Amy…” Before he can do anything she throws herself at him and the sensation of her arms wrapping around him might as well be the same as if he threw himself into a fire, helped little by how tight Amy’s hold on him is. Over time, the pink hedgehog begrudgingly accepted that he didn’t return her feelings for him, despite Amy initially struggling to move on. But she eventually did, and they managed to stay close friends. But there are still moments - like now - where it’s very clear the pink hedgehog’s attraction towards him never truly left, not entirely at least.

Sonic squirms uncomfortably, biting the inside of his cheek against the pain. “Amy,... let go,” he tries to tell her calmly, but his voice comes out more pressed than he wants, alerting the other hedgehog to his distress.

Thankfully, the pink hedgehog does let him go at least. “Huh? Oh my gosh, I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Amy frets, hovering her hands over him like she’d like nothing more than to touch Sonic again to search for injuries.

“‘s all good,” Sonic manages to sound casual after a deep breath, past the lingering ache of the touch. “Just, don’t use me as a stressball, okay?” he quips, winking.

Another sob escapes Amy, but she nods frantically, apologizing once more as tears stream down her face. When she sniffs and wipes at her eyes, Sonic, feeling awkward, hands her one of the napkins they brought with them for their planned lunch. She gratefully accepts it, blowing her nose and dabbing her eyes.

“Feeling any better?” he checks. Amy calms her breath, then nods again. “Y-yeah. I’m sorry, it’s just… hard not to think about it,” she trails off, disheartened.

Sonic doesn’t want any more reminders of death breathing down his neck, and neither does he want his friend to agonize over his illness. So, unable to bear her despair much longer, Sonic changes the topic:

“How are those ‘self-defense lessons for young girls’ going?” he asks with a gentle smile, remembering that Amy regularly teaches a small group of girls how to take care of themselves.

Rummaging in the basket, he pulls out their sandwiches, handing her one and unwrapping the other. The pink hedgehog accepts, looking grateful for the offered distraction.

Amy keeps her sandwich wrapped, holding it in her hand as she pulls her knees closer to her body, hugging her knees. A fragile but nonetheless fond smile tugs at her lips while her gaze wanders across the horizon beyond the ocean. “The girls learn quickly and Cream’s been a great help encouraging them. I really hope they don’t forget what I taught them so long as the lessons stay cancelled.”

… because of me, Sonic realizes, huffing in annoyance. Why does every conversation inadvertently come back to the damn illness? It seems inescapable and apparently it’s not just robbing him of living his own life to the fullest.

“You shouldn’t do that. Sitting around playing guardian while you neglect everything else.”

“I’m not neglecting anything. I’m setting priorities!” Amy argues, leaving no room for objection. “I’m not going to leave you to face this alone! You’re my friend and you always care for our well-being. Why shouldn’t I get to do the same for you?” she adds passionately but with no less amount of indignance, like the very thought of it offends her.

Sonic gives her a smile that’s only mildly exasperated. He understands it's from a place of well-meaning concern… but he never wanted to be in this position in the first place. Besides, seeing others - seeing his friends - fear for him in such a way deeply unsettles him.

“Okay, but that still doesn’t mean you gotta stop doing what you like. What about baking? I’m sure Tails won’t mind you using his kitchen.”

A thoughtful expression crosses Amy’s face. “There are some recipes I wanted to give a shot…,” she admits slowly. 

“...and you’d have all the room to experiment,” Sonic continues trying to convince her. 

Suddenly, she gives him a sharp look. “Hang on… are you trying to skim on my pastries?” she demands, though there’s a good-humored sparkle in her eyes.

Sonic taps his nose innocently, his sly grin betraying him. “Mayb-”

A suddon loud explosion coming from the town behind them drowns out what he wants to say and shakes the ground below them. The two hedgehogs flinch but are instantly on their feet, watching as a wreath of smoke rises somewhere between the distant rooftops of some houses.

Sonic is already up and speeding towards it, barely registering how Amy calls after him or how Tails rushes out of his lab in confusion as he passes the building. He may not be at his best currently, but even his current speed is still too fast for most people.

It’s no wonder, then, that he’s the first to arrive at the scene - a fenced off area with a warehouse complex near the outskirts of the town. It was a short sprint, usually not much more than a jog for Sonic, but still his breath comes in short pants, his lungs feeling like they have a tight rope wound around them. Is it just him or is he getting worse? Only a couple of days ago he was still able to run laps around here and Central City combined! He shakes his head, shying away from the thought. Probably just a bad day. Focus on the present.

Egg Pawns swarm the place, some of which are marching in and out of the building, carrying crates towards an Eggman-branded airship parked on the open space.

Workers are fleeing from the complex as well, stumbling past Sonic in blind panic as he approaches the door still smoking from when it was blasted open. A few of the people are collected enough to pause briefly when they see him, asking or pleading for him to free the ones still stuck in the building, as they got cornered by some of the robots.

Reassuring them that he's gonna deal with Eggman's flunkies “no prob”, Sonic dashes into the building in a gust of wind, spindashing past the line of Egg Pawns carrying crates (though not without making the bots drop their cargo) and right into a group that corners some of the workers against the wall inside.

The bots go down easily, exploding as they're slammed away and Sonic skids to halt in front of the workers. “You guys alright?” he asks them and some of them nod while others lean heavily against their co-workers.

“So my calculations were correct. The explosion he foolishly caused did attract you,” an aloof, digital voice sounds from behind. Sonic whirls around to it and is met with a little girl dressed in white hovering a couple of feet above the ground.

“Hi, Sage, long time no see,” Sonic smirks with an airy tone to his voice that doesn't reflect in his grimly set brow. “Sorry to be a buzzkill, but you really shouldn't be here - I can show you the nearest playground, though. Where's your dad?”

“That’s none of your business. Father gave me this task and that is all you need to know. Leave or I will remove you by force,” the digital girl threatens coldly, lifting a hand which promptly causes cyan squares to start rising from it.

“Aw, back to being standoffish? C’mon, I thought we're buddies now, you can trust me with your secrets,” Sonic whines in faux disappointment, the smirk never leaving his face.

Behind his back, he discreetly gestures for the workers to leave which they thankfully realize and oblige with. Meanwhile, Sage's hand gesture apparently summoned more Egg Pawns which now advance on him on every side. Beads of sweat trickle down Sonic's temple. Dealing with the ones upon coming in had further diminished his stamina, making it even harder to catch his breath and causing the Egg Pawns to be more of a hazard than they realistically should be.

Instead of answering, Sage makes a hand gesture and the orange bots charge forward. Sonic ducks under the first couple, kicks another into the three behind it and punches a hole into the chassis of a fourth. It would be fun if it wasn't for the fact that just like with the spindash prior, each impact seems to light up the roots of his fur anew.

More and more robots swarm him, suffocating him in the way they close in. For each one he destroys, two more take its place and to Sonic's horror he keeps having moments in which his vision blacks out. It’s only ever for a fraction of a second but even that is precious time that causes him to receive hits he normally avoids with ease.

As the fight goes on, his limbs grow heavier and more sluggish with each kick or punch and his vision starts swimming. In a last desperate effort, he curls up, spindashing through several of the pawns and feeling every busted piece of metal strike his body like he's been hit with a hot iron, before coming to halt just outside of the throng of opponents. He whirls around to face them, but it’s then that his body betrays him.

Blacking out, Sonic slumps to the ground, the image of Sage's eyebrows raised in surprise over her quick win and dozens of bots approaching him the last thing he sees. 

Sonic wakes to the sound of metal crashing against concrete and robots exploding. His eyes snap open and he sits up so quickly that vertigo momentarily grips him with iron claws. “Urgh… wha-?” he groans, bringing a hand to his head.

That's when a tangerine fox pushes into his field of view. “Sonic!” Tails calls, breathing a sigh of relief. “Are you okay?”

As more and more of the place around him filters into Sonic's consciousness, he sees that the robots surrounding him are currently being taken care of by Amy and her hammer. He can't have passed out for long judging by the amount of robots still there.

Sonic shakes out his quills, struggling to his feet. “I am now, buddy,” he tells Tails, playfully knocking his fist against the foxes shoulder. “Let's take care of the rest, before Amy takes all the credit,” he jokes, forcing himself past his wooziness and his muscles screaming in protest.

Alerted by her name, the pink hedgehog looks over her shoulder after letting her hammer slam down onto one of the bots, crushing it underneath. “Oh no, you don't!” she snaps at him, obviously too worked up and busy keeping the robots at bay to pay much attention to her tone.

“Sonic, please sit this one out,” Tails begs urgently. He speaks in a low voice and with a glance at Sage still hovering commandingly over her army, whose focus is momentarily drawn to Amy, Sonic realizes it's so he doesn't alert Sage to his plight.

“We can handle these guys. It’s just some Egg Pawns after all. Please,” Tails begs again, his tired eyes huge and pleading. “If you push yourself too far…” A shudder runs through him as he trails off.

“C’mon buddy,” Sonic reaches up to ruffle his bangs, smiling reassuringly. “Like you said, they're just some Egg Pawns. I’m gonna help ya get rid of them in a-”

“HELP!” the scream cuts through the warehouse, coming from somewhere further inside. Sonic's and Tails’ heads snap in the direction of its origin.

Further into the warehouse, up above in the catwalks, a worker who hasn’t made it out dangles over the edge with nothing but his own two hands keeping him up.

In the same moment, the worker’s fingers slip, the strength having left him, and he falls with a panicked screech. Once more Sonic rushes forward without a second thought, catching the worker inches before he hits the ground. Turning on his heel, Sonic runs outside with him, dodging more of the Egg Pawns trying to snatch or shoot them.

“You good?” he asks in a clipped voice as he carefully sets him down, his fingers throbbing uncomfortably from the constant chafing against his gloves and his chest feeling tight again. The worker is clearly shaken but nods, thanking him profusely. Sonic gives him a reassuring thumbs up - the most he can manage right now, considering the pressure building in his head from the sudden exertion - and the worker hurries away.

Much as Sonic hates to admit it, even to himself, he’s pretty sure he might pass out again if he isn’t more careful. …his stamina is truly getting poorer, isn’t it? Sonic huffs inwardly. Why couldn't he just get a break from this accursed illness? 

As he turns to reenter the warehouse, to check on his friends, something shiny and blue collides with him, and he’s slammed to the ground. Ice-cold metal claws dig into the collar of his fur, lifting him slightly before he gets violently dragged across the open space, his already irritated quills feeling like they're being ripped out as he gets dragged across the asphalt.

“M-metal!” Sonic chokes out as the merciless face of his robot double appears in front of his vision. He kicks out, the movement having enough force to knock Metal Sonic away so Sonic comes to a stop.

His whole body aching and throbbing, Sonic isn’t allowed any time to recover, for the same metallic claws wrap around his throat and he gets lifted a couple of feet into the air by his neck. Murderous red LED pupils look up at him unblinking as Sonic, strength rapidly declining further, meekly tries to pry Metal's claws off his throat, fighting to stay conscious.

Sonic's feet kick out helplessly, too weak now to even so much as put a scratch Metal Sonic's paint job.

Still, he wrings the cockiest smile he can muster out of himself. “So that’s what Sage meant earlier. Couldn't wait to see me, old pal, huh?” he pants, clinging to the one-sided banter so he wouldn't give in to the darkness pulling at his mind. “I'm flattered you're so desperate for my attention, but let's leave out the explosions next time.”

In response, Metal Sonic's claws press harder against his throat and he beeps something that might be a retort. A choked noise escapes Sonic at the increased pressure to his neck, but he refuses to give Metal the satisfaction of gasping for panicked little breaths.

Pressure builds in Sonic’s head and lungs to the point he thinks they might burst, but then, just as the darkness gathering around him is about to smother him entirely, there's a harsh yank pulling him back into the living world.

“Leave him alone,” a slow, but familiar dopey voice chides.

Sonic squints through a narrowed eye, and though his vision is blurry, there's no mistaking who the giant purple-and-white cat pulling down Metal Sonic by his foot is.

Metal Sonic’s head whips down to the feline and he beeps something menacingly, raising his free hand to swipe at Big. Sonic uses the distraction to summon the last vestiges of his strength and pries himself out of the robot’s hold.

The world suddenly tilting around him as he falls is quickly brought to a stop when a giant gloved hand catches him and he’s pulled close against a giant white belly. Through bleary eyes, Sonic watches as Big throws the robot to the side, frowning at him in what looks like disappointment. “You were hurting my friend,” he tells Metal Sonic indignantly. “That’s not very nice!”

There’s more commotion and voices, but Sonic’s consciousness slips and he momentarily blacks out, still cradled in Big’s arm. When he comes to again, not much more than a couple of seconds must’ve passed.

Amy and Tails storm outside, chasing after Sage as she remotely prepares the airship to take off. “Metal Sonic! We’re retreating,” she calls to the robot while he’s about to snatch the fishing rod that Big tries to keep him at bay with. Metal Sonic pauses, something close to a glare crossing his robotic face as he stares at Sage’s holographic form vanishing in a flash of light.

The airship with the remaining Egg Pawns and several stolen goods lifts off, stirring up pebbles, dirt and leaves. Tails and Amy stop in their pursuit, the debris causing the Mobians to shield their eyes and stem against the harsh winds as it pulls at and tosses their fur.

“Dang it, they got away!” Tails curses but then a tug on his arm from Amy pulls his attention to Metal Sonic still facing off against Big holding Sonic.

“Big?” the fox asks in confusion, then he gasps. “Metal Sonic!” 

Amy meanwhile lifts her hammer threateningly behind her head, ready to clobber the robot.

Metal Sonic’s glowing eyes dart between the Mobians, calculating which one to attack first undoubtedly. It doesn’t surprise Sonic in the slightest when the red LEDs home in on his own form again and he already mentally prepares for Metal to charge at him, but before anyone can move, Sage reappears right in front of Metal with an unamused expression.

“Did you not hear me? Back to the base, at once. Fighting Sonic was not part of our objective,” she berates Metal Sonic icily. A tense staring match between the two artificial creations ensues and Sonic is sure that if Metal could, he would narrow his eyes right now.

The robot’s eyes travel from Sage to Sonic behind her shoulder, air thick with tension. The moment stretches out, then, in one quick slash of his arm that speaks of pent up frustration, Metal Sonic activates the booster on his back, flying off after the airship which by now is not much more than a small dot on the horizon.

Sage sighs in a mixture of annoyance and relief. She glances over her shoulder at Sonic and the blue hedgehog feels strangely restless under the girl’s thoughtful eyes, her scrutiny seeming to strip him bare. He tries not to look too exhausted, even managing to crook an eyebrow at her with a faint smile.

Sage doesn’t say anything and vanishes again but Sonic feels himself relaxing as soon as she’s gone. Last thing he needs is Eggman finding out his nemesis is ill.

Despite feeling like he can sleep on the spot, Sonic looks up at Big, affectionately patting the belly he’s pressed against, ignoring his sensitive fingers protesting. “Thanks, big guy,” he rasps, voice hoarse and raw from his neck getting squeezed.

“No problem, Sonic,” the huge cat replies kindly. “He didn’t hurt you badly, did he?”

“Nothin’ I can’t handle. Just gimme a sec to catch my breath,” he writes off his condition. “Watcha doing here anyway?”

“I went sea fishing with Froggy,” the purple cat explains, carefully setting Sonic down and lifting up the cooler he placed down on the ground beside him so he could deal with Metal Sonic. Froggy sits guarding the top, and croaks a greeting at him.

“When Froggy and I started heading home, we saw the smoke. I thought there was a barbecue and wanted to offer some of my catch. But there were just bad guys here,” he says, sounding disappointed.

“I see,” Sonic manages to reply through clenched teeth. Now that he’s standing again, it takes everything in him to lock his legs in place so they don’t buckle underneath him. Geez, one minor scuffle and he can barely keep himself upright.

He sways as the world tilts precariously, but then an arm snakes under his shoulders, keeping him upright. “I got you, Sonic,” Tails says.

It feels about as pleasant as when Metal dragged him across the asphalt, but when Sonic meets the blue eyes looking back at him with concern, the protest dies in his throat. The bags under Tails’ eyes are as dark as ever but he looks at Sonic with determination burning in them, jaw set, and Sonic doesn’t find it in himself to point out how much the touch burns his already abused hide.

“Trust you have my back, bud,” he says instead, affectionately ruffling Tails’ bangs again, which earns him a laugh of protest as the fox tries to duck his head away. Sonic silently notes that the irritation his nerves experience seems to abate, not feeling as bad as before, though he has to remove his hand rather quickly.

Amy stood back up until now, hands clutching her figurative pearls as she ascertained Sonic’s state. She lets out a sigh of relief upon seeing him mess around with Tails, and turns to Big, the sight of him making her brighten up marginally.

“Good to see you, Big,” she greets the cat warmly, hugging him - or rather, a part of him, seeing as how her arms don’t even wrap around half of his wide frame. Big returns her greeting and she pulls back to look up at him. “We’re lucky you came by.” She frowns. “If you hadn’t stopped Metal…” She breaks off with a shudder, not wanting to finish the thought.

“Uh, hey, excuse me?” Sonic pipes up, trying to lighten the situation. “You make it sound like I haven’t trashed that old tin can a dozen times by now. That guy’s hardly a challenge,” he puts on a cocky smile, but his bravado is mitigated by his breathy voice and the way he’s slumped against Tails, the fox taking at least half his weight.

Frustration sparks in the green depths of Amy’s eyes. “‘Hardly a challenge’,” she echoes, her eyes raking over the scrapes and bruises covering Sonic. “Oh yes, I can see that,” she huffs sarcastically.

Sonic opens his mouth for a retort but the pink hedgehog isn’t having it. “Right now you can barely even go up against a s-stupid Egg Pawn.” The rage in her voice turns shaky and she presses her knuckles against her mouth to smother the sob that wants to come out. It doesn’t stop tears swelling in her eyes, however, and any further protest dies on Sonic’s tongue.

“Oooh, there, there,” Big reaches out to the pink hedgehog, soothingly stroking a hand over her head and looking afflicted at seeing his friend upset. Amy blinks away the wetness in her eyes, clearly fed up with nearly crying again. She hugs herself close, but it can’t dispel the downcast air that surrounds her as she stares ahead without really looking at anything.

Sonic and Tails exchange a glance, but the fox quickly looks away. The Blue Blur still catches a glimpse of the guilt dancing behind those blue eyes, however. Likely from blaming himself for Amy’s outburst because he still hasn’t found a cure for Sonic.

The blue hedgehog sighs heavily, fatigue dragging at his limbs and eyelids like lead. He can’t rest quite yet, though. Inside, he feels like he’s being torn apart, with one side wanting to protect his friends from further grief over his condition, which he knows he can only achieve by not throwing himself into danger. The other side refuses to stand by while let guys like Eggman wreck havoc or harm innocent people.

Pulling at what must truly be his last reserves, Sonic pushes away from Tails, ruffling his bangs one more time, before lightly placing a hand on Amy’s back and walking her out of earshot of the others, steps sluggish and dragging. Tails’ guilt is another thing he’ll have to tackle at some point… but with the energy he has left, he has to pick and choose his battles for the time being.

Amy allows herself to be steered away, and they stop behind the corner of the warehouse, out of sight of the others. Amy’s lower lip begins trembling. “When I saw you lying on the ground it was like back in that forest all over again,” she whispers in agony, furiously rubbing at her eyes to prevent more tears from gathering. “I really thought they got you for good this time.”

Sonic starts massaging his neck awkwardly and stops when the discomfort of it becomes too much. Looking helplessly at Amy breaking down in front of him, he suddenly, bizarrely, wonders why she is the one crying for him. Shouldn’t most of that fall onto him, considering it’s his life that’s at stake? How is it that he’s so calm about it?

Not that he feels much of an urge to cry for himself in the first place - the chili dog incident aside.

He takes a deep breath, steeling himself. It’s not really his style but… unusual situations call for unusual means, right? He spreads his arms before he can feel too awkward about it. “C’mere,” he prompts her softly.

Amy looks up in confusion, then her eyes widen and she gapes silently as she realizes what he’s trying to do. “B-but you’re hurting, I don’t want to-” Her objections are interrupted with a small gasp when Sonic steps forward to wrap his arms around her, the novelty of him initiating contact like this momentarily overriding any other emotion.. 

As soon as he starts rubbing slow circles into her back with a hand, though, Amy can’t hold herself together any longer, slinging her arms around him as more tears flow and a broken whimper escapes her. 

“That’s it, let it all out,” he comforts her, finding solace in the fact that the touch doesn’t feel as unpleasant anymore. Maybe he isn’t getting worse after all. “I’m still here, and guess what? I’m gonna be here for quite a bit longer,” he quips softly, gazing up at the sky as Amy cries against his shoulder. 

“After all, someone’s gotta annoy Egghead, and crash Tails’ inventions,... and steal your freshly baked cookies,” he continues cheekily. A wet giggle bursts out of Amy at this and Sonic grins, even though she can’t see it.

Sonic moves away from her, keeping up his smile which prompts Amy to mimic it, despite her bloodshot eyes and wet cheeks.

“C’mon, let’s patch ourselves up” Sonic tells her, holding her gaze. “And later, we’ll raid Tails’ fridge and get you started on those recipes.”

When Sonic wakes from his nap later that day, he opens his eyes to a darkened living room, the only light source being the moonlight and the streetlamps outside filtering through the windows. He still feels whacked from the fight against Metal Sonic, but the seemingly ever-present fatigue aside, his skin doesn’t get irritated by the smallest speck of dirt anymore, which is a relief.

Stretching, Sonic gets up, sneaking to Tails’ bedroom and peeking through the door. The fox's bed is empty and made, a tell-tale sign he hasn’t been in there at all.

Sonic narrows his eyes in disapproval and marches towards the front door. If the fox intends to pull another all-nighter he has some choice words for his little brother. Still feeling a bit wobbly on his legs, Sonic opts for a light jog as he hurries down the street to the fox’s lab. Sure enough, the building’s lights are still on, forming bright rectangles on the pavement.

Carefully pushing the door open and trying not to keep his pants to a minimum, Sonic slips through, approaching the tangerine fox still sitting in front of his screens. Tails’ jaws suddenly snap open to an all-consuming yawn and he blinks blearily before refocusing on whatever is currently happening on the screen in front of him. He looks unkempt and exhausted and Sonic frowns.

“I sure hope you were just about to wrap this up for the day, bud” Sonic greets him with a smile, coming up beside Tails and leaning against the desk with his arms crossed. The fox startles, one of the pens on the desk clattering to the ground. “S-sonic! Don’t sneak up on me like that, you’re gonna give me a heart attack!” he says reproachfully but Sonic can tell he’s overacting his offense to hide that he is, indeed, trying to pull an all-nighter.

Sonic pointedly eyes the dozens of empty coffee mugs strewn across the desk. “With your current intake of caffeine you’re gonna give yourself one regardless,” he quips wryly before chuckling. “Sorry, lil’ bro. But I’m serious, it’s time for you to hit the hay.” He pushes against the fox’s swivel chair so he’s turned towards him. Tails glances at Sonic, then longingly back at the calculations on his screen. “But I’m almost done with this analysis. If my calculations are correct, it might be the breakthrough we need to-” Something flashes in one of the corners, giving a very telling error sound.

All the air seems to leave Tails’ body, causing his shoulders to sag and his ears to droop. “Dang it! I thought that would be it.” He turns his chair back around to fully face his desk, beginning to type away anew and muttering under his breath, seemingly having forgotten that his brother is still watching him. “There must be something here that will give the antibody response I’m looking for,” he mutters under his breath. The little fox seems to grow increasingly agitated and desperate, typing away more and more frantically. “Urgh so many sequences left to go… but I need to find the right one before-” He yelps when his chair is rotated again to face Sonic and the blue hedgehog’s hands come to rest on his shoulders as he hunkers down a little to be at eye level with him.

Sonic gives him an admonitory look before it softens into something more sympathetic. “Hey,” he begins once he’s sure he has Tails’ undivided attention. “I’m not gonna keel over and die one moment to the next because you took a well-deserved rest, alright? We still got plenty of time and you’re not helping anyone if you get sick from a lack of sleep.”

He knows immediately that was the wrong thing to say. Distressed, desperate blue eyes blink at him. Tails opens his mouth in protest, Sonic’s reassurance having done little to ease his fears. Just then, the noise of an incoming call interrupts whatever Tails meant to say.

His little brother perks up. “That must be Dr. Quack! I asked him if he could look into finding more records of research done on N.I.D.S.,” Tails exclaims, eagerly accepting the call.

Another screen flickers to life, revealing the one-eyed yellow duck. “Ah, Mr. Prower, so you are still awake. I wasn’t sure if I'd still catch you so late at night. I see Sonic is still here as well,” the physician greets them.

Sonic puts his hands on his hips. “Yeah, well, we were just about to wrap it up for today, so if you can keep it short, doc…,” Sonic tells him, giving Tails a warning glance to not argue.

The duck nods. “That, I can surely do. Mr. Prower, I sent you whatever else I could find regarding N.I.D.S. but let me preface this by saying that it isn’t much. You see, after coming to the realization that not even the most brilliant scientists and physicians of the past had been able to come up with a cure, most researchers were simply put off from researching it, meaning not a lot of progress has been made over the last few decades.”

This is certainly a blow and Sonic keeps a supporting hand on his brother’s shoulder when the fox tightens his grip on one of the pens lying around. “Are you sure there isn’t anything else that might help us?” he asks and Sonic hates the desperation he hears in the kid’s voice.

Dr. Quack shrugs apologetically. “Well, there have always been rumors that the infamous Gerald Robotnik used to work on a cure for this particular disease. If those are true, however, his research either never produced any results or his progress was lost during that tragic accident over fifty years ago.”

Sonic really hopes Tails isn't discouraged by the news. If he is, the Blue Blur can’t tell, as the fox immediately jumps into conversation with the duck. While the two of them discuss some of the contents the physician dug up, Sonic’s thoughts wander.

So their only other hint of a clue has to do with a long dead maniac and the only person left alive who could tell them the true version not obscured by government cover-ups is M.I.A. Isn't that just great.

Not that Sonic blames Shadow - he can guess why he left and still intends to give the broody hedgehog space to come to terms with it. Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t sting not having him here at all, even if he knows that the reason isn’t that Shadow doesn’t care - it’s that he perhaps cares too much.

Shadow isn’t exactly good at handling emotions, let alone when it involves being confronted with his past in such a way. But Sonic had hoped the hybrid would’ve returned by now. He’d never admit it to anyone, but it does leave him a little dejected to know Shadow rather keeps away, even if he understands why.

Then again, perhaps Shadow just wants to make it easier on the both of them by cutting ties with Sonic completely. If that’s the case - it’s certainly not what Sonic wants.

He snaps out of his gloomy thoughts when the screen with Dr. Quack abruptly turns dark and Tails sighs heavily, turning towards Sonic. Quickly getting his expression in check, Sonic faces Tails with his usual relaxed expression, though Tails isn’t looking directly at him anyway.

“So, by the sound of it, contacting Shadow would be the best option right now,” Tails unknowingly echoes Sonic’s earlier thoughts. “But since he’s, er,” he pauses, searching for the right words as he clearly has some choice thoughts about the hybrid missing, until pivoting to: “Since he's not here, that means our best bet to get our hands on any of Gerald’s research is-” he cuts himself off, swallowing and giving Sonic an apologetic look. The blue hedgehog exhales deeply, running a hand across his face upon realizing what his brother is trying to get at and completing his sentence:

“Eggman.”

By the next day, they’re able to locate an active Eggman base deep in a range of mountains. Tails flies the Tornado around the cliffside decorated with the Doctor’s logo etched into the rock, checking that his activity readings are correct before they approach. 

“I’ll never understand how he manages to stay hidden when his bases look like this,” Sonic jokes from the seat behind Tails, only to immediately break off with a cough before gasping for oxygen from the thin air at this altitude.

Neither Tails nor Amy - who is balancing on the wing of the plane - laughs and Sonic grips one of the handles more tightly, gritting his teeth in frustration from practically feeling the worry creep into his two friends’ expressions.

Remotely hacking into Eggman’s network, Tails opens the doors to the hangar for them and they land inside the base without a hitch - suspiciously so if you ask Sonic.

Jumping out of the plane once they come to a standstill proves to be a mistake, as Sonic suddenly feels light-headed and sways precariously on his feet.

“Sonic!” Amy’s voice sounds close to him, her strong arms keeping him upright. “I knew it was a bad idea for you to come with us. You should’ve stayed home,” she scolds, though her voice quickly loses its anger to be replaced more and more with pure worry.

Sonic manages his signature grin despite his light-headedness. “And leave all the fun to you guys? Not a chance!”

Amy looks less than happy at his persistence. “I wish you’d think of your health first for once,” she tells him in a weak attempt to keep him from going.

“Maybe it would be best for you to wait here,” Tails adds hesitantly.

“Guys, I’m okay, it was just a little dizziness. Let’s go see where Eggman’s hiding,” Sonic brushes off their concern, gently pushing out of Amy’s hold, which, although he’s been spared by the hypersensitivity, feels like brushing against sandpaper due to his nerves still being irritated from all the strain he put on them the other day, before walking towards the nearest doorframe without any more gasps for air or unsteady steps.

They don’t need to know how much the flight exhausted him or how his head’s still swimming.

He keeps walking and after a brief pause during which Sonic imagines his friends sharing a glance, their footsteps follow behind him, soft thunks on the metal floor.

Passing through the door and entering a hallway, the three are confronted by a bunch of busted robots littering the floor, and having left dents and scrapes along the walls. Someone beat them to the punch it seems, and they're probably still here judging by the way sparks are flying from some of the parts strewn about.

“What happened here?” Amy voices the question they all have. “Did someone already attack Dr. Eggman?”

“Maybe G.U.N. sent some units to clear out the base?” Tails theorizes but while the two are still speculating, a loud explosion followed by crashing sounds and someone yelling sounds somewhere ahead of them. Sonic’s quills begin tingling in a familiar way at the sight of the destruction and he can feel his heart rate pick up. Steps quickening, he clears the rest of the hallway in a second, rounding the bend at the end where it opens up into a large lab and …

“I will not be repeating myself. Hand it over or face the consequences,” Shadow threatens with dangerous calm, a Chaos Spear in one hand, the other grabbing the collar of Dr. Eggman’s coat. The dark hedgehog stands perched on the rim of the Doctor’s EggMobile. The smoking remains of the mech Eggman had undoubtedly tried to defend himself with are smoldering around them.

“I d-don’t have any more information than what you and your little friends at G.U.N. already stole from me, you insolent rodent,” Eggman splutters, voice caught between annoyance and fear. He’s frantically trying to pry Shadow’s hand off but hybrid has an iron grip on his hem, and when the crackling spear of pure chaos energy is brought close enough to fry the tips of his mustache with a quiet sizzle, causing a thin string of smoke to rise from it, the mad scientist freezes up nervously.

Behind them in the beaten down lab, Sage hovers above several robots who all have their guns and cannons aimed at Shadow. One of the girl’s arms is half raised, like she was about to have them open fire on him, but now she hesitates, clearly not wanting to risk accidentally hitting her father with the army she commands.

“Shadow!” Sonic calls out, feeling the tingling in his quills flare then settle as he approaches, Amy and Tails filing out behind him. Heart soaring, a happy grin spreads across Sonic’s face, perhaps the widest he displayed since the hybrid left.

At the sound of his voice, Shadow almost imperceptibly flinches. He casts a brief, unreadable glance at Sonic, but averts his eyes just as quickly; like he touched a hot plate. 

Like he can’t bear the sight of Sonic.

“Sonic!” Eggman exclaims, then, when he sees his friends come out the hallway behind him: “Oh isn’t that wonderful. I’m having a rodent infestation ag- ACK!” Shadow threatens him with the Chaos Spear again, causing Eggman to lift his hands in a pacifying gesture and he leans as far away from the crackling energy as he can. The tip of his mustache is still trailing smoke.

“What’s going on here?” Amy asks as she comes to stand beside Sonic, taking in the scene.

“Call off your rabid dog first!” Eggman spits, glaring at Shadow as indignation briefly overtakes his fear.

“Last. Warning,” Shadow ignores the conversation, his eyes stay trained on Eggman the entire time, two dangerous red irises close to burning the Doctor alive by sheer will.

“Harm another hair on Father and you will not live long enough to regret it.” Sage’s voice, usually sounding so detached, is now grave as can be, though it trembles slightly from protectiveness as she threatens Shadow in turn.

In response, Sonic, Tails and Amy ready themselves for battle, with Amy summoning her Piko Piko Hammer.

Eggman glances between the three factions, the tension in the room almost palpable. Then his posture sags. “Fine. Fine! I don’t want to relocate because of such a triviality,” he snaps, massaging his temple with a hand. “Sage? Go give this fossil of a rat what he wants,” he tells his AI daughter, nodding contemptibly at Shadow who is still grabbing him.

Sage frowns. “But Father, what if-”

“Just do it,” he retorts before noticing the nature of his tone and softening his voice. “Be a dear and make sure he doesn’t try to get his filthy paws on more.”

Sage still looks doubtful, but obediently swings her arm in an arc, causing the robots below her to lower their weapons. Shadow sees this as the prompt to let go of Eggman and jump off the grounded EggMobile.

Eggman straightens his hem with a huff before turning to Sonic and his friends. “And what do you want?” he scoffs sourly. “Here to give me another headache? I’m a busy man, come back when I have something prepared to wipe the floor with you.” He grins sardonically at Sonic. “I heard Metal Sonic was awfully effective with that recently,” he cackles.

“Pshh, all I remember is him cowering in front of a fishing rod,” Sonic quips back.

“Actually, we’re here to ask you for Gerald’s research,” Tails corrects him, intercepting their back-and-forth.

“But trashing your base isn’t out of the question yet either,” Sonic can’t help but add as he casually shifts his weight to one foot, a hand on his hip and smugly grinning as if he currently isn’t feeling frazzled.

Eggman frowns at them and Shadow’s steps as he makes his way towards Sage falter, though he doesn’t turn around.

“You too?” the Doctor questions, glancing between them and Shadow. “I know my grandfather was a genius - a madman, admittedly, but a genius nonetheless - but where does this sudden interest come from?”

Sonic's eyes dart to Shadow's back as the hybrid stands rigid, understanding slowly dawning on him. 

“Eh, curiosity,” Sonic replies vaguely, directing his answer at Eggman with a shrug. He still feels no need to disclose his condition to the mad scientist - he’ll probably find out soon enough anyway. “Just wanna make sure there isn’t another secret death laser hidden somewhere.”

Eggman frowns down at him, clearly not buying his explanation in the slightest, but Sonic doesn’t give him time to question it as he turns his head to his little brother. “Tails? Mind disabling the welcoming party?” he asks, jerking his head towards the robot army Sage commanded just moments prior.

“Already on it,” the fox says, already typing away on his Miles Electric only for the robots under Sage’s command to shut down entirely, their limbs hanging down loosely. Tails glances up briefly. “I’ll also have his self-assembly machinery on the lower levels take itself apart, just in case.”

“Oh, come on!” Eggman complains and Sonic shoots him his best shit-eating grin before turning to Amy.

“Keep an eye on him, will ya?” he tells her, which prompts the pink hedgehog to advance on the mad doctor. “With pleasure,” she smiles darkly, pointing her hammer at Eggman. “You better not try anything!”

Eggman grumbles something under his breath but stops typing on the console of his mech. Sage floats closer, glaring at Amy. “My warning extends to you as well. If you try to harm him, be prepared to face the consequences!” she threatens.

“Well, then you better hurry up and pull up your great-grandpa’s diary, huh?” Sonic points out to merrily. The little girl looks down at him, displeased, then glances back at Eggman, expectantly waiting for his reaction.

The doctor pinches his nose, waving her away. “Go on. The sooner they get what they’re here for, the sooner we’re rid of them.”

With a snappy turn, Sage floats towards the nearest door. “Follow me,” she says curtly and Shadow, who so far stayed quiet in the background, walks after her, the soft metallic thunks from his shoes hitting the floor echoing around the room.

“Be right back.” Sonic tells his friends, receiving a “Be careful,” from Amy and a thumbs up from Tails, but the both of them are too focused on their tasks to spare him a glance.

He sprints through the hallway Sage and Shadow just disappeared in with his signature blue blur trailing him and catches up to them as they’re about to enter what must be the main control room of Eggman’s base.

Sonic immediately regrets his sprint as vices seem to grip his now burning lungs, preventing him from breathing deeply. A new wave of dizziness makes his vision swim and he has to brace a hand against the doorframe to prevent himself from falling over.

While he’s still catching his breath, doing his best not to pass out, Sage turns to him. Her blue eyes rake over his form as she analyzes him curiously. “My sensors detect abnormal activities of your system,” she observes out loud. “Combined with your performance during our last encounter, your decreased ability to intake the necessary amount of oxygen to function as well as factoring in the reason you are here, I believe you may be suffering from the immunodeficiency disorder known as N.I.D.S., correct?”

Sonic works his jaw but doesn’t let his displeasure that she found out show. “Well, cat’s out the bag now I guess,” he rasps between breaths, forcing an airy smile as he pushes himself off the doorframe to walk towards where Shadow is already standing in front of a console. “Try to contain your glee a little, alright?”

Sage doesn’t look happy at his confirmation at all, however. In fact, her frown depends as she follows behind Sonic while he crosses the room. “I don’t understand. N.I.D.S. has a case fatality rate of 100% since no cure was ever conceived. The late Professor Gerald Robotnik researched this disease extensively but could not produce a cure either. What do you hope to achieve when your survivability rate is 0%?”

“Woah woah woah, let’s dial back on the doom and gloom a little, geez,” Sonic stops her, sneaking in a worried glance at Shadow. The hybrid doesn't indicate whether he overheard them, he just stoically stands in front of the console, typing away. 

“I don’t plan on dying anytime soon, and Tails thought Gerald’s research might come in handy.” 

He leaves Sage hovering behind him, unable to stand the pity growing in her eyes. Pushing her words out of his mind, he comes up beside Shadow, and though the hybrid doesn’t acknowledge his presence, Sonic knows Shadow can see him in his peripheral vision. “Looks like someone here had a similar idea,” he says with a knowing smile, not taking his eyes off of Shadow’s face, which looks unnaturally pale thanks to the monitor’s bright light.

Instead of responding to him, Shadow puts a stick into one of the console’s ports, then looks over his shoulder at Sage. “Pull up every piece of data you have pertaining to Professor Gerald and his research,” he tells the AI, straight to the point and void of any emotion.

Hesitating only briefly, Sage closes her eyes as she connects more deeply with the EggNet’s database. Several windows pop up on the monitor and Shadow wastes no time copying them to the stick.

For a couple of seconds both hedgehogs stare at the loading bar in silence, with Shadow maintaining his steely composure while Sonic taps his foot. Then the Blue Blur leans his hip against the console to face Shadow's profile directly, arms loosely crossing over his chest.

Shadow stays turned towards the computer, his eyes tracking the bar’s progress on the screen. Sonic doesn’t miss how the hybrid stiffens ever so slightly, fully aware that Sonic’s attention is entirely on him now.

“Glad to see you're okay, dude” Sonic tells him, keeping his voice low. His own wheezing breaths feel unbearably loud in comparison. 

Although Sage is currently busy pulling up files, Sonic is certain she listens in on them. He doubts lowering his voice makes much of a difference, but regardless of whether she hears them or not, it feels more private.

Shadow’s reaction to his words is subtle: his frown deepens ever so slightly, his fists clench a little harder at his sides. He continues staring ahead, quietly disagreeing that he is “okay” without even saying a word.

A sudden pang of anger, born from all the suppressed worry and fear - for Shadow, for his own situation, for the lack of a sign of life from the hybrid - suddenly shoots through Sonic, hot and blinding. His voice comes out sharper and more taut than before.

“Look, I get it. You don’t wanna go through a second round of this. But I think you at least owe me a proper explanation after ditching everyone and not getting in touch since.”

Shadow continues staring ahead defiantly, still as a statue bar one ear twitching in acknowledgement of the spoken words. He looks mad, but there’s an air of agitation surrounding him, drowning out the fury, that tells Sonic it isn’t necessarily his tone or words that caused this reaction.

The Blue Blur deflates, his anger evaporating as quickly as it arose.

Sonic moves in front of Shadow, wedging himself right between the console and the hybrid. Now that he's blocking the view of the monitor and invading Shadow’s space, the dark hedgehog’s pupils drop to the ground. His head turns to the side, emotions warring behind his eyes and trying to break out.

Sonic’s shoulders sag. “Hey,” he murmurs softly, more understanding of the other's plight. “At least look at me, man.”

Something not quite fear but stronger than uneasiness sparks in Shadow’s eyes but Sonic keeps his gaze steady, patiently waiting and refusing to look away. Shadow fidgets, a barely visible motion, before he closes his eyes and quietly inhales, bracing himself. He turns his face towards the Blue Blur again.

When he opens his eyes his expression is a carefully crafted mask of neutrality, closely guarding what’s going on inside of him. The way his hard eyes briefly rove over Sonic, taking in the marks his condition left on him - his heaving chest, the tiredness in his stance, his gaunt limbs from weight loss - speak a different language. Shadow knows the effect this disease leaves on people, can read the marks it leaves on a body like an open book.

Sonic gives him a gentle smile, not fooled by his faux aloofness. “I’m still the same,” he reassures his counterpart.

For a few heartbeats there's silence, thick and heavy and only broken up by the low whirring and humming of the machines around them. Then: “But the circumstances aren’t,” Shadow mutters darkly, voice tight and strangled and so quiet that Sonic doubts he'd have picked it up if he wasn't standing right in front of the hybrid. The light in Shadow’s eyes breaks, his mask showing a tiny crack.

He doesn't cry. He doesn't falter or wail and break down. This is as much of a reaction as Shadow is likely able to display or willing to share, and yet it tells Sonic more than enough.

Sonic leans forward, pushing his arms against the edge of the console behind him. “We're gonna get me fixed up, just you see. With your help and Tails’ smarts this'll be a piece of cake.” 

He knows he's being bold by assuming Shadow would stay to help just because they ran into each other again. But he can't stand the uncertainty and the tiny nagging voice whispering to him that Shadow can't bear to be around him anymore. He knows it’s a risky move that may even push the hybrid further away, but he needs an answer and when did he ever play things safe anyway?

Luckily for him, his gamble pays off.

Shadow leans forward, the barest touch of the fur on their foreheads brushing against each other as he stays lingering like that for a few heartbeats. Sonic can practically feel the despair that he’s pushed aside up until now coming off of him in waves. 

Shadow's eyes close once more as he drinks in the confidence Sonic exudes, gathering his own strength. Infected by Sonic’s bravado, he straightens his back before staring right into Sonic's eyes, determination smoldering in their red depths and silently vowing to do everything in his power to make what Sonic said come true.

Like he doesn't do that already, right now. Sonic gives him his most sincere smile, a weight lifting off his shoulders he didn't even know was there. Shadow must truly think Sonic's situation is dire if he allows himself to cling to Sonic's optimism without so much as a snide remark or disparaging comment first.

Then Shadow extends a hand towards Sonic's-

-to pluck out the stick behind where his hand grips the edge of the console, the download now finished.

Shadow pulls away and Sonic blinks several times, nonplussed, before chuckling heartily. Shadow doesn't smile, but as he turns away, Sonic catches a glimpse of his mouth twitching in response to his reaction.

He pads after the dark hedgehog as he leads the way back to the others, feeling lighter than before. They ignore Sage giving them a close look as she tries to comprehend what she just saw passing between the hedgehogs, undoubtedly trying to find a description for it.

And what exactly is this “it”? A question Sonic's friends attempted getting answers to as well in the past, but whenever they tried prying information out of him or Shadow, they're met with the hybrid's usual silence or Sonic shrugging their curious questions off with a vague non-explanation or a mystifying smile. The two hedgehogs aren't trying to keep it secret, per se, but the both of them refuse to put a name to their bond. All Sonic knows is that it’s there and that it only became stronger since Sonic first kissed him.

Shadow and he just… are what they are. And that's fine by Sonic.

Quiet moments like this are between the two of them and the two of them only. Or, well, in this case, the two of them and the nosy AI daughter of your arch nemesis, Sonic supposes wryly.

“Somethin’ the matter?” he asks Sage innocently as he passes her on his way through the door.

Sage stays quiet, the girl even having the decency to stop staring, but Sonic sees the growing sympathy in her eyes as she puts the puzzle pieces together, and knows the words she doesn't speak: that this is a tragedy waiting to happen.

He turns away quickly to catch up to Shadow, refusing to think of the possibility of what would happen if they couldn't find a cure. Because they would. Sage knows as well as he does how good he is at defying impossible odds. Guess she just needs a reminder.

They reenter the room where they first encountered Shadow to find Tails sitting on the ground, tablet still in front of his face. Amy stands protectively by his side, leaning on her hammer, and keeping an alert eye on Eggman.

Hearing their footsteps approach, Tails looks up before jumping to his feet. “You’re back!” He sprints over, looking expectantly at Sonic as he holds out a palm. “Did you get it?”

The blue hedgehog watches as Shadow extends his arm and wordlessly drops the stick into Tails’ hand.

Flabbergasted, Tails blinks down at the stick, then up at Shadow’s stony face. “Uhhh, thanks?”

“Shadow’s back on board,” Sonic explains cheerily.

“Really?” Amy pipes up behind Tails with an excited gasp, coming closer. “That’s fantastic! We’re so glad to have you, Shadow,” Amy smiles brightly at him, catching one of his hands in both of hers and giving it a squeeze.

Tails crooks a brow. “I don’t get it,” he says, holding up the stick. “I thought you came here for this as well?”

Shadow awkwardly snakes his hand out of Amy’s hold, though he does a good job hiding how uncomfortable he is otherwise. “I didn’t get it for myself,” he states, thus indirectly confirming what Sonic already suspected earlier.

“... oh,” Tails realizes, then frowns. “Wait, why didn’t you just tell us you were going to raid Eggman’s base then? We could’ve worked together.”

“Yeah,” Sonic chimes in, not wanting to miss a chance to tease as he elbows Shadow. “Why didn’t you tell us you had a plan? We could’ve kicked down Eggy’s base together,” he says, grinning.

An indignant “Excuse you, I am not building them for your personal entertainment you impudent nuisance!” from Dr. Eggman sounds from the background, which is quickly met with a “Oh, shut up!” from Amy.

“I intended to check the research for its usefulness first,” Shadow informs them, ignoring the shouting. His dead-serious air puts a damper over the room. A heartbeat passes, then Shadow glances to the side. “I didn’t want to raise any hopes in case my search turned out empty,” he admits more quietly, sounding frustrated that his plan was thwarted.

Sonic steps closer to Shadow until their arms brush in silent companionship, passing on something between comfort, understanding and appreciation for doing this. The dark hedgehog’s fur is smooth and soft as a feather, a soothing sensation for the irritated nerve tips of his skin. He resists the urge to wrap his arms around Shadow, especially when the muscles in the hybrid’s arm tense against him before relaxing.

“Yes, yes, very cute,” Eggman sneers as he walks closer with Sage, who must’ve helped him out of his mech and is now hovering behind his shoulder. As the doctor sits down in a hover chair, he glares at the group with as much contempt as he can muster, plucking at the singed tip of his mustache. “Now that you have what you want, get the hell out of my base or I’ll summon Metal Sonic back from-” He stops dead, clearly having almost spilled his next scheme. “Nevermind. Just get out already.”

Back in Tails’ lab in Emerald Town, Sonic leans an elbow against the back of Tails’ office chair as the young inventor sifts through file after file of Gerald’s ramblings.

“Anythin’ useful?” the blue hedgehog asks his brother, having taken a quick nap prior. It’s dark outside by now, and the loud chirping of crickets accompanies the view of a clear sky scattered with countless stars beyond the open garage door of the lab.

He sees Tails making a face at the question in the reflection of one of the dark screens. “A couple of leads - I think? I’m still in the process of sighting everything, since some of these papers talk about his other inventions like the Chaos Drives and Artificial Chaos. There’s one thing, though…,” he drifts off, pulling up a folder with some extremely blurry scans of what might be book pages.

“Eggman labelled these as ‘Gerald’s journal’, which sounds like it might be useful, but as you can see, they’re intelligible - half of them are corrupted beyond recovery and the rest are in such bad quality that I can’t make out anything,” he laments.

“Heh, how much do you wanna bet it’s because he rushed Orbot and Cubot on the job?” Sonic jokes. Tails snorts weakly but is clearly too frustrated to indulge in it. “Do you think Dr. Eggman might have the original lying around somewhere?”

“The original what?” Shadow’s voice slices through their conversation as he enters the lab through the open garage door, his dark silhouette outlined in orange by the lights of the street lamps outside. The light casts a shadow over his face that only causes his dimly glowing eyes to be visible before he steps into the light of the monitors.

The black hedgehog promised to meet them at Tails’ when they parted upon leaving Eggman’s base, though he didn’t name a reason as to why - as is typical for him.

“Oh hey, bud. Didja get lost?” Sonic teases, smirking, but mostly just glad to see him. Shadow merely gives him a deadpan look before focussing on the blurry mess of writing on the screen to prompt an answer for his question.

“Gerald’s journal,” Tails explains, pulling up more of the shoddy scans. “We were wondering if Eggman is still in possession of it.”

Shadow’s eyes study the screen, recognition flashing in his eyes. “He isn’t,” he says with calm certainty.

Tails turns his head towards him, surprised because the hybrid sounds so sure of himself. “How-” He doesn’t get to finish his question, for Shadow suddenly pulls the very journal out of his quills and places it on Tails’s desk.

The leather-bound book has clearly seen better days; the edges are worn and the material is full of scuffs and scratches.

“This journal functioned both as a diary and journal to document progress on Project Shadow,” the hybrid explains, sliding his fingers softly off the cover. “But perhaps you can glean useful information from it that escaped me.”

Tails looks at it like it is a sacred treasure, and perhaps it is - and to Shadow it may as well be.

The fox carefully opens it, the used, yellowing pages soft and smooth as he slowly skims through them. The spine creaks softly as he turns the pages, some of which are missing, torn or even singed in some cases. What’s still there is filled with entries and the occasional drawing or photo.

“When did you nab that from Eggman?” Sonic asks curiously.

“I didn't. G.U.N. had it confiscated after one of the Doctor's losses.”

Sonic blinks, then an understanding grin slowly spreads on Sonic’s face as he looks at the stoic hedgehog. “And then you took it from G.U.N.?” he guesses and gets rewarded with a huff by Shadow.

“I borrowed it. Indefinitely.”

“Rouge must be so proud,” Sonic laughs while Tails reaches the end of the journal and tenses up when he sees what's stuck to the very last page of the book: an old sepia photo of three people: an old man with a striking resemblance to Eggman, an exhausted-looking young human girl with lively eyes and the black hedgehog standing beside them right now. The hedgehog’s arms in the photo are crossed just like that of his real life counterpart are right now. Unlike the hedgehog standing beside them, the version of him in the photo is faintly smiling, and the usual furrow of his brow is much less pronounced.

Sonic stares at the rare glimpse into Shadow’s past that he usually keeps quiet about in awe. Well enough that Sonic is granted a look at it, but by letting them look into the journal, Tails is inadvertently allowed the same privilege, too, it seems - out of necessity, no doubt, but that doesn’t make Shadow allowing them access to it any less meaningful.

“We'll be careful with it,” Sonic assures Shadow in a low voice, smiling gratefully at him.

The hybrid, however, doesn’t spare him a glance. “What’s the current plan?” he asks, straight to business.

Tails sighs. “Gerald mentions some procedures to treat N.I.D.S. in these files. I know some of the equipment needed for it is still used in some hospitals today, to lessen the symptoms, but the problem is gaining access to it. Transporting some of this machinery safely isn’t easy - if they’re even willing to part with it in the first place - and while I could probably replicate most of it, either of these options costs us time we-” His voice drops down a level. “-might not have.”

He combs his fingers through the fur on his forehead as he continues talking, his fingers twitching nervously, and Sonic senses that he’s close to panicking, seeing the invisible death clock hanging over Sonic like a damocles sword. Sonic rests his hand on his brother’s shoulder, rubbing gently as the fox’s tails twitch and whirl in slow, restless patterns. Before he can give words in encouragement, however, Shadow speaks up, low and steady, though he doesn’t sound very enthusiastic:

“There is… one option that might buy some time.”

Sonic and Tails look at him in united anticipation.

Instead of elaborating, Shadow turns his face to the sky outside where, faintly illuminated by the moonlight, the lonely space colony he once called his home is floating like a second moon.