Work Text:
The morning after Sonic had been rescued, the mess hall was abuzz with noise and chatter. The overall mood had been yanked high into the sky, and everyone who went in for a serving of breakfast also apparently needed to stop by the table Sonic was sitting at so they could get a glimpse of him.
Sonic presented his usual breezy self to the attention. He returned greetings, shook hands, smiled and grinned as if he’d just returned from a week-long trip on holiday, and not six months of isolation and torture upon a space station. It probably helped that he had Amy and Tails at his side to either gently or violently ward off anyone who got too close, or lingered a little too long. They’d glued themselves to Sonic’s side as soon as Shadow had carried him into the base, and they’d only removed themselves to allow Sonic medical treatment, then some shut-eye.
Except that, in their absence, Sonic had asked Shadow to stay by his side for the night. Shadow was still a little unsure what to make of that, but he tried not to dwell on it. He knew better than most people that trauma led to altered decision-making. It was none of his business, besides.
Still, as he ate mechanically on the other side of the mess hall, he found his gaze drifting over to the crowded table. He watched Sonic eat serving after serving of food, all while chatting energetically. He seemed to be fooling most of the crowd, in spite of his scars and the visible outline of his ribs, but Shadow knew better.
Sonic caught him staring and shot him a cheeky wink. Shadow snapped his focus back to his food, teeth grit.
“My, and here I thought this might be the one time you decided to drop the brooding loner act.” Rouge sat down opposite him, her own tray of food in hand.
“There’s no reason for me to join in,” Shadow said. “And he has more than enough people clamoring for his attention right now.”
Rouge smiled at him. It was one she made when she didn’t necessarily disbelieve him, but wasn’t taking what he said seriously, either way. “Ah, but I heard that you managed to sneak in a little one-on-one time. You really missed him, didn’t you?”
Shadow groaned. He should’ve known he couldn’t trust Amy to keep her mouth shut, after she’d walked in to find him in Sonic’s bed, with Sonic more-or-less on top of him, sleeping peacefully. It would’ve looked far from innocent to any outsider.
“Don’t worry,” Rouge went on. “I’ve bribed my source into silence by telling her that if she told anyone else, she might not get to glimpse any more special moments between you two.”
Shadow was neither relieved nor thankful. Knowing Rouge, she would’ve found out eventually, but she’d keep her mouth shut as long as her own curiosity was satisfied. Still, he was sore about a private moment of his—and Sonic’s—becoming the subject of gossip.
“I’m sure you’ll be the talk of the town for the next few weeks, either way. It’s not every day when you swoop in to save somebody, never mind your famous number-one rival.”
“Rescuing him was a pragmatic decision for the war effort,” Shadow said. “It has boosted morale on our side and delivered a hefty blow to the Doctor’s.”
Rouge nodded along. “You’ll need some practice, but that’s not a bad start.”
“Hmph.”
Shadow returned to his breakfast. As thinly stretched as the resistance’s supplies were, it was impractical for him to turn food down. He technically didn’t need the sustenance, but eating markedly improved his energy and rate of healing, never mind his mood. He did indulge in the taste of certain foods as a pastime, though the rations they made do with here were certainly not up to his standards. They didn’t even bring the same guilty pleasure that shoveling pizza or tortilla chips down his gullet did.
Rouge dug into her own meal. She ate with more enthusiasm—genuine or feigned, it was hard to tell—and speed than he did. Though she often complained about the rations to Shadow, they both knew she wouldn’t waste food of any quality. Just an old habit I’ve never been able to drop, she’d muttered to him, once. He hadn’t asked her to elaborate.
That wasn’t the only point of contrast between them. Rouge also made no effort to hide that her own attention was drawn to Sonic’s table. Most likely, she was collecting whatever nuggets of information she could use to her advantage later.
Shadow still felt a little…guilty, he supposed. He kept thinking about the way Sonic had panicked when Shadow had shown up in his cell. How Rouge had needed to defuse the situation in his place while he’d hung back, useless. It was a splinter in his skin that he couldn’t quite dig out. He’d agreed to keep Sonic company later that night in part to try assuaging that feeling, yet it still remained.
Had Sonic been trying to reassure him, then? Shadow didn’t know. He was terrible at reading into other peoples’ intentions, but he couldn’t completely discard the idea, either. Sonic was frustratingly perceptive, sometimes.
“So,” Rouge piped up. “What’s our next move, handsome?”
“What else? We find Infinite and neutralize him. That hasn’t changed.” Shadow gripped his spoon a little too hard. “I still have to repay him for what he did to Omega.”
That was an image he wouldn’t be able to scrub from his mind anytime soon. Breaking out of the maze of illusions Infinite had thrown him into, only to find Omega in pieces. Shadow barely remembered much else; Rouge had told him later that she’d had to frantically talk him down over the comms. Even six months later, with Omega on the mend thanks to Tails’ efforts, Shadow still found himself jolting awake at the memory, struggling to breathe, his chest tight with rage and helplessness.
Now, he had another image to accompany it. Sonic huddled in the corner of a cell, malnourished and scarred, baring teeth and blunted claws at Shadow when he’d approached. As if Shadow needed any more reason to despise Infinite than he already did.
“Oh, of course,” Rouge said with practiced smoothness, like they were discussing the weather. “You know, I’m sure the commander wouldn’t mind us hanging around. He’s very happy we brought back his favorite hedgehog, after all.”
Shadow shook his head. “I’m not wasting time and resources staying here when I could be out in the field, hunting that mutt down.” And it would be more practical for him to return to lying low, while Infinite was still terrorizing citizens with his visage. His friends weren’t fooled in the slightest, but many of the other members, especially the refugees, were wary—if not outright scared—of him. Case in point: the deserted table he and Rouge were currently sitting at.
Rouge’s smile took on a familiar lilt, somewhere between exasperation and sympathy. “At least check up on Omega before we leave. He’s been cooped up here without being able to destroy anything for months. I’m sure he’d love to hear your stories about how you tore your way through the Death Egg, spearing badniks like you were preparing for a barbecue.”
Shadow sighed. “I’ll consider it.”
He would visit Omega regardless. Tails frequently reported his progress to him or Rouge, but he also had to request their help just as often, because Omega’s inner mechanisms were on a level beyond his familiarity. Omega was smug about that, even as it hindered his own recovery. Well, he needed to cling to something to keep himself sane, Shadow thought.
What had Sonic clung onto to stay sane during his imprisonment? At least Shadow had been unconscious when he was locked away by GUN, and then by the Doctor. Sonic hadn’t been afforded that same luxury.
Under the table, Rouge nudged him with the toe of one boot. “You know it’s not your fault, don’t you?” she asked quietly.
Shadow stared at his near-empty tray for a moment. “It may not be my fault, but it’s still my responsibility.” Whether she was referring to Infinite, Omega, or Sonic, it didn’t matter. The weight that sat heavy on his shoulders was no different between them.
“Our responsibility,” Rouge corrected him.
Another memory came to him, then—shaky and blurred at the edges, as if he shouldn’t remember it, yet it remained regardless. The three of them, gathered on a sunlit beach in a distant land. Shadow drifting away, on the verge of breaking off. Rouge turned away from him as she spoke, baring to him words that held more value than any jewel in the universe. Omega witnessing it all, silent, but his presence nonetheless an anchor. Reassuring like a hand against his back, or a loaded gun in his grip.
“Ours,” Shadow affirmed, smiling back.