Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This is the chapter where you may comment me your requests! In the notes above you see what you cannot request and what you can request, please read those if you have not already!

Please give me these infos' to your requests:

What Universe does this take place in (Example: Sonic Boom, Sonic Prime, Modern etc.)?

Is the dynamic between Sonic and Shadow romantic or platonic?

What other ships could be important to the story? (Only appropriate Ships are allowed).

And lastly, give me a prompt or a short explanation of what you'd like to see!

Note: For the last question, you may also just write doesn't matter or simply ignore it.

Chapter Text

It SHOULD have been a normal day. It SHOULD have been just another evening, but then his phone suddenly rang. He thought he put it on “do not disturb”.

Shadow groaned in annoyance as he sat up on his cream-colored coach. The hybrid had been SO close to get some shut eye. Getting sleep was hard for Shadow- he had a constant headache lingering in the back of his head and his not-so-uncommon nightmares didn’t make it any better.

Why the headache? Well, it turns out falling from space down onto the planet does actually give you more than amnesia.

‘The fox?’, Shadow raised an eyebrow as he read the contact that was calling him “Miles Prower”, stood written on the screen of his phone. The hedgehog rubbed his eyes, before he picked up. “Yes, what is it?”, the hybrid asked, intentionally leaving in a tinge of annoyance within his voice.

“Shadow! We need your help!”, Tails’ voice could be heard out of the device. The hedgehog grunted. “Ask Sonic.”, the hybrid grumbled, however, as he was about to end the call, the fox on the other end said something that caught his attention.

“That’s the thing! We don’t know where Sonic IS!”, Shadow narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean you don’t know where he is?”, he asked, the annoyance leaving his tune as he now listened closer to what the young boy would tell him.

“He went to check out an abandoned Eggman base- and we haven’t heard or seen him since!”, Tails spoke quickly- Shadow could hear the faint hint of panic within the fox’s voice. The boy must be worried sick for his brother- which was understandable.

“Have you searched the base yet?”, Shadow asked as he walked into the hallway of his apartment, putting on his air shoes. “Of course! But we didn’t find him- if he ran off to whoever knows, you’re the only one that can keep up with him by now!”, Shadow clicked his tongue. “Fair enough.”, he huffed. “I’ll contact you if I find him.”, and with that, the hedgehog was out the door, skating down the stairs of the apartment, before booming out of Central City. Looked as if he’d be hunting after a hedgehog now. How lovely.

Shadow walked through the forest; he was sure that he could pick up Sonics’ scent here. No other creature smelled like 20 chili dogs, whilst also somehow smelling like a fresh breeze. He really wondered how Sonic managed to even combine such pair of smells. He shook his head. He was getting off-track.

The hedgehog stopped. His ears peeked high as he looked around with sharp eyes that seemed to glow in the night. “Sonic?”, Shadow called out, his fingers twitching subconsciously, if he needed to attack, his claws would be ready to swipe at whatever would come.

“…Shadow?”

Shadows’ ears perked even higher, before he quickly stepped past some bushes, he stopped as he stared down at the thing that sat curled up beneath an old oak tree. The hedgehog blinked.

He was staring down at a blue, fluffy creature that looked like a mix between a puppy like the ones found on Earth, and a hedgehog like the ones here on Mobius. It stared up to him with big, emerald, green eyes, its ears pinned back onto its head. Shadow blinked again, before his eyes widened.

“SONIC?!”

The puppy squeaked- Sonic squeaked in surprise at the sudden shout of Shadow, burying his face underneath his paws. The hybrid kneeled down in front of the fluffy, curled up Sonic. “What… happened to you?”, Shadow slowly asked with curious and wary eyes. The ball of blue fur didn’t answer him- either he was scared, embarrassed or something else Shadow couldn’t quite pin down.

The hybrid looked up to the sky as he heard thunder in the distance, rain started to slowly fall from the dark sky onto the one and a half hedgehogs.

He heard Sonic wince uncomfortably as the cool water hit his nose. Shadow snorted, holding back a chuckle- a sigh. A sigh he meant. “Sonic? Can you still… talk to me?”, the hedgehog asked after a moment of silence. The blue blur didn’t answer. For the first time, Shadow accepted such an answer. “Alright… let’s get you out of here.”, the hybrid said to mostly himself as he carefully picked up his rival, cradling him into his arms.

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Careful with those claws. I still need both my fur and skin.”, Shadow huffed, before skating off with quick movements. The GUN agent looked down onto his rival, seeing him cling onto his chest fur as if his life depended on it- it was quite a sight so say the least. His ears twitched, before he turned his gaze back forward. He had the feeling that this would be a long night.

Shadow sighed as he put Sonic onto his sofa. He hummed out loud. “I better call Tails now- he should know how to turn you ba- HEY!“, Shadow scowled as Sonic stood up onto his hindlegs, his paws now sitting on top of his legs.

The blue hedgehog puppy stared up to him with big, begging eyes. Shadow tilted his head. “You… don’t WANT me to call Tails?”, he questioned, tilting his head with a mixed expression on his face. Sonic nodded quickly. “…does this… ‘effect’ wear off soon on its own?”, Shadow questioned. The blue puppy nodded once more.

Shadow sighed out. “Alright… I won’t call him.”, the hedgehog grumbled. Sonic smiled, before looking down, setting his front paws down onto the couch again, curling up in the nearest corner of it. The hybrid watched Sonic intently. How weird- he would’ve thought that his blue rival would start running around, trying to annoy Shadow as best as he could, but here he was curling up like a sad dog.

“Are you alright, hedgehog?”, the ebony hedgehog hummed as he settled down beside him. Sonic hesitantly looked up to him. “…yeah…”, Shadow narrowed his eyes. “I thought you couldn’t speak.”, Sonic wrapped his tail closer to himself. “…never said I couldn’t…”, Shadow wanted to make a snappy comment but decided that an annoyed groan would do it.

“Then, shall I ask you what the hell happened to make you look like this?”, the hybrid asked with a stern voice. Sonic snuggled closer into the pillows. “No.”, Shadow wanted to throw him out the window.

“You sure are a whole lot of help.”, he grunted, looking down onto the ball of fur and quills that stuck out here and there. Sonic didn’t respond in any way. Shadow looked at him slightly puzzled. His eyes shined up as an idea came to mind. “Oh. You’re embarrassed.”

“WHAT?- NO I’M NOT!”

“Shy then?”, Sonic puffed his cheeks up, before looking away, his moment of bravery quickly passing once again, his eyes now locked onto the city lights shining from below the apartment the GUN agent beside him lived in. Shadow let out an amused chuckle, causing Sonic to bury himself under the blanket that he always kept on his coach.

“Well then…”, Shadow stood up from the sofa, causing Sonic to peek out from underneath the white, fluffy blanket. “Are you hungry?”, the black and red hedgehog asked, looking down onto the two emerald eyes staring up to him. A brief silence ruled between them, before a quiet “mhm” could be heard. Shadow nod, leaving the living room to go into the kitchen.

Around ten minutes later, Shadow returned to Sonic, putting a neatly made sandwich in front of the puppy wrapped in blankets. He sat down on the opposite side of the coach, turning the TV on, putting on the news as he stretched his legs out on the large sofa.

His eyes shot to the opposing corner of the coach, where he saw Sonic awkwardly holding the sandwich between his paws, whilst trying to properly eat it without causing too much of a mess. “Do you need help?”, the puppy whipped his head over to Shadow, who looked back at him with an unimpressed look on his face.

Sonic stared at him for around a minute, before sheepishly nodding. “Then come here.”, the hybrid spoke, watching as Sonic carefully shoved the sandwich with his paws as he followed, the blanket still wrapped over his body.

“Come on, you’re not THAT shy, are you?”, Shadow huffed as he picked up a squeaking Sonic, putting him onto his lap, before picking up the sandwich with the other hand. “Here you go.”, Sonics’ face brightened up as he began to hungrily eat the food whilst his rival was holding it for him. “Be careful not to bite my hand off.”, Shadow sarcastically remarked, watching the puppy eat.

Shadow yawned quietly as he watched Sonic watch the movie he had put on an hour ago with great interest. Who would’ve known that Sonic would be into fantasy? The hybrid tried watching along as well, but gods, he was tired, and before he knew it, he dozed off into sleep.

It was a rather peaceful rest, no night terrors or other strange dreams.

He slowly opened his eyes, being woken up by the sun shining through the large window. Shadow groaned, rubbing his eyes. He tried sitting up, before noticing that a weight rested on top of him. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance, when his face went blank. Oh. Right. Yesterday happened.

Yesterday happened, and now Sonic- back to his old self peacefully slept on top of him, his face cuddled into his white chest fluff. Shadow took a deep breath, then exhaled, trying to calm his racing heart. He stared down onto the carpet that was placed in front of the coach.

This was… interesting.

Chapter Text

It had been around a week already. The Shatterspace had been restored, and everyone was back home. Shadow hummed as he sipped on his tea, looking out into his small garden that was filled with lavenders and a few blue flowers here and there. The sun was slowly leaving the sky of Green Hills, spreading a warm, orange light into the region.

The hedgehog loved the magenta color the sky always took on at this time of the day, the gentle summer breeze always was a nice bonus, too. He wished she could’ve seen this as well. The hybrid paused, shaking his head. No reason to think over such things now. It only reminded him of Sonic- the way the blue hedgehog had slowly faded away in his arms. His grip tightened on his cup. What if he hadn’t been fast enough? What if he hadn’t made it on time?

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his front door. Shadow paused. Another knock- faster and at the same time weaker now. The hybrid furrowed his eyebrows. He rarely got any visits- sure, Rouge flew by every few weeks, but that was it; and she had just visited him before the whole Prism event took place.

The hedgehog put down his mug onto his kitchen table, before he made his way to his front door, opening it. He was greeted by emerald, shining green eyes looking at him. Well, not exactly shining, they seemed… duller than in Shadows’ memory. “Sonic what are you doing here?”, the hybrid asked, looking at his blue rival.

“H-heya Shads!”, Sonic tried smiling at him, he succeeded, but the smile looked weird- it looked unnaturally forced, especially for kinds like Sonic. Shadow was also pretty certain that the blue hedgehog looked paler around his muzzle than he was supposed to be. He frowned, but of course, only because he was annoyed that Sonic dared show up at his house, and not because he was worried.

“What do you want, Sonic?”, the hybrid asked with a stern voice, his red eyes scanning the hedgehog in front of him. “Uh- could I maybe- s-stay at your place? J-just for tonight?”, his rival asked. He looked… tired. Shadow had never seen him with such eyebags before, the look almost seemed haunting to look at.

Shadow bit his tongue. “Absolutely not. This is not some kind of stop-n-run motel, hedgehog.”, the hybrid replied, trying to sound as impatient as he possibly could. “If you want to crash somewhere go to your little brother or Amy, not me.”, Shadow added right after. He flinched as he suddenly felt two hands clinging onto his arms.

“Shadow- p-please- I- I just-“, Sonic let his head flop against Shadows’ chest, making the Ultimate Lifeform flinch. He was NOT supposed to be this warm. “I- I don’t want them- s-seeing me like this…”, the blue blur choked out, before coughing, his entire body shaking under the ravage of the coughs.

Shadow looked away for a second, before exhaling a breath he had been holding without meaning to. “Come on. I can’t have you dying on my doorstep now, can I?”, Shadow questioned, trying to sound unaffected by the state his rival was in, though the waver could be made out if listened to closely.

Sonic nodded, he tried chuckling, but didn’t quite manage to make it sound right, causing Shadows’ frown to turn into a dark grimace of worry. If Sonic would die to something as pathetic as a fever now, after having saved the world hundreds of times- even having saved multiple universes, then Shadow would make sure to beat him up in the afterlife.

“You can make yourself comfortable on the couch, but take off your shoes before you do, yeah?”, Shadow said as he made his way into the kitchen of his small, but cozy house. He heard Sonic taking off his shoes, before hearing a flop on his couch. The hedgehog grabbed his cup of tea, before joining the blue blur in the living room.

“You look terrible.”, Shadow snickered as he looked at Sonic, who was staring at the ceiling. “H-heh… fits… because I feel just a-as bad as I look…”, the hero of Mobius mumbled, his dim eyes gazing to Shadow now. There was a moment of silence.

“H-hey… could… I have one too?”, Shadow looked up from his mug. “What?”, the hybrid asked, looking at the sick hedgehog that lay on his couch. “…tea… my- throat hurts-“, Sonic mumbled, pointing at the cup of tea Shadow was holding. He paused.

“No way in heck… do you have any idea how hard this tea is to get?”, Shadow asked with a weak scoff as he half-heartedly glared at his Azul rival. The response he got was silence. Shadow gulped, his ears twitching. This silence was unnerving to say the least- especially because this was supposed to be a conversation with Sonic. A conversation with Sonic where he did most of the talking was simply WRONG.

The ebony hedgehog sighed out, putting his mug down, before leaving the living room, sensing the lightheaded gaze of Sonic following him until he was out of his line of sight. The hybrid rubbed his forehead as he exhaled. Just how did it get to this point? How’d that blue rascal get sick in the first place?

He hummed quietly as he let another kettle of water boil. “Perhaps the fever is caused by what happened in the Shatterspace… or the stress of what happened within it with all of its inhabitants.”, Shadow thought out loud to himself. It would make sense. If he was honest to himself, he also had much more persistent headaches this past week- and he couldn’t sleep very well, lucky for him, alien-energy hybrids that looked like fluffy hedgehogs didn’t need as much sleep as your average Mobian. Sonic on the other hand…

Shadow poured in the hot water into a blue cup he had gotten out whilst being lost in thoughts.

Sonic on the other hand, whilst being admittedly a very strong Mobian, he also was JUST a Mobian. He wasn’t a being that could be compared to a living bomb filled with Chaos Energy. The hedgehog muttered under his breath. “I sincerely hope that this puts him to sleep easier… tea helps me sleep after all… he definitely hasn’t had enough sleep lately.”, and with that, the hybrid took the now tea filled mug with him back into the living room.

“Here. Careful, it’s still hot.”, Shadow said as he put the mug down on the table beside Sonic. The blue hedgehog opened his dim eyes. “O-oh… thanks, S-Shads’…”, the hero mumbled, giving the Ultimate Lifeform a brief, but genuine smile- it suited him better than the fake one from earlier.

Shadow paused, before giving him a brief nod. “Don’t mention it.”, he spoke, before sitting down next to as Sonic slowly sat up, watching as his rival took a careful sip of the tea. The blue blur let out a content purr, licking his lips as he continued drinking the tea he had been given. The ebony hedgehog beside him watched, he couldn’t help but show a little smile of amusement upon hearing the usually cocky hero now purr like a kitten. It was endearing. He halted his thoughts. No. No it wasn’t.

“Mind telling me why you’re so sleep deprived?”, Shadow said after a moment of silence. Sonic paused, now staring down into the almost empty cup. “…’s not… important…”, the hedgehog quietly replied. The hybrid squinted his eyes together. “Every time you say that there is a 95% chance that you’re lying.”, Shadow answered bluntly.

Sonic was quiet. Too quiet. “Well?”, Shadow pressed on further, looking onto Sonic who sat beside him. The hedgehogs’ ears suddenly hung low, and so did his overall composure. Shadow slowly took the mug of Sonic, putting it onto the table in front of them.

“I’m scared.”

Silence.

“What?”

The blue hedgehog covered his face with his hands. “W-what- what i-if I… d-don’t wake up?”, Sonic choked out. Shadows’ quills bristled in unease as he heard a sob follow suit of his sentence- but the sentence alone would’ve gained the same reaction. “What… if I- w-wake up- s-somewhere f-far away? W-where no one… w-will help me- a-and no one- o-of you guys will find me?”, Sonic sobbed out, his weakened body trembling in fear.

Sonic flinched when he was suddenly pulled into a tight, but not rough, hug. He looked up, his eyes wet as tears streamed down his muzzle. “…”, Shadow looked down at him in silence. “I’ll find you anywhere, Sonic. It doesn’t matter why you’re there- I’ll wake you up, even if it means punching a tooth out of your mouth, and I’ll also find you, no matter how far you are. Depending on the situation: either to help or beat the shit out of you for getting both of us into trouble. AGAIN.”

The hybrids’ words were harsh, but they also reassured him in a strange manner. Sonic laughed weakly, his laughs being mixed with sobs and hiccups. “P-promise?”, the hedgehog whimpered.

“Promise.”

“And now get some sleep. I’ll be right here, yeah?”, Shadow said, his voice now more comforting as he looked into the emerald eyes of his rival. Sonic hesitantly nodded, now snuggling closer to the ebony hedgehog.

“If… If we wake up s-somewhere else… do I g-get to beat you up?”, Sonic asked half-heartedly as he closed his eyes, nuzzling his face into Shadows’ chest fluff. It was better than any pillow he’d ever owned or known.

“You can certainly TRY.”, Shadow snorted in response. Sonic let out an exhausted purr of amusement. Of course, what else had he expected of his brooding rival?

Sonic was safe with Shadow, and Shadow was safe with Sonic. That was just a universal law that nothing could scrape against.

He was safe. Shadow was safe. Everyone was safe; and they were home.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t like he was jealous. He was just… not used to it. Sonics’ tail twitched in annoyance; a frown edged onto his face. Alright, maybe he was a little jealous.

He and “Classic” as his younger self had been nicknamed had just defeated the two Eggheads and the Time Eater, making his birthday not only a rollercoaster of nostalgia, but also a nice adventure at the end of it. Everything should be fine now, right? Well, it was, there was just one thing that was nagging Sonic.

His brooding rival gave an unusual amount of attention to his younger self. He seemed very interested in how he used to be- which was fine by itself, but it made the ebony hedgehog basically ignore Sonic himself.

‘It doesn’t annoy me! Not at all!’, Sonic thought to himself as he watched Shadow chuckle in amusement as he reassured Classic that he didn’t weigh too much. The blue hedgehog pouted, his cheeks puffing up. Why wasn’t Shadow ever so invested in getting to know him? They had known each other for a good while by now.

“Sonic?”, the hero turned his head, his pout turning a smile as he looked down at his younger brother. “You, okay? You seem a little- weird.”, the two-tailed fox observed, looking up to the blue hedgehog with a curious look edged into his face. He blinked.

“What? Oh- yeah! Yeah! I’m doing all-righty-oh!”, Sonic said, giving a quick grin and a thumbs up. “Everything’s going great!”, the hedgehog added on unnaturally fast- even for his speeds. Tails blinked as he looked up to his brother in-law. The blue-eyed fox’s expression suddenly turned both unimpressed and amused at the same time.

“Oh, come on Sonic, you’ve been watching those two for at least ten minutes by now- I’ve never seen you stand so still for more that two minutes! It’s almost frightening!”, the young genius exclaimed. Sonic’s cheeks puffed up in embarrassment as he crossed his arms, turning his head away, pointedly avoiding his sibling’s gaze.

“I’m not watching them! Why should I? It’s just me and…”, Sonic stared at his rival once more. No matter how many times he had tried, he was never able to quite find a worthy enough description for that hedgehog.

Shadow was just… a phenomenon that was impossible to put into words. He was just something special in this world.

“You’re staring at him again.”, Sonic shrieked in surprise as he was snapped out of his trance of thoughts once more. Tails laughed in amusement beside him, causing his face to turn red. “TAAAAILS STOP THAT!”, the blue blur yelped as he quickly jumped to his best friend, trying to make him stop laughing so loud. Tails’s laughter turned even louder as he quickly started flying out of his reach.

Shadow looked over to where Classic pointed. It was… Sonic chasing after his younger brother. The Ultimate Lifeform raised an eyebrow. “What’s gotten the faker riled up now?”, he snickered, turning back to Classic.

The small blue hedgehog shrugged. Shadow turned his gaze back to Sonic who was now desperately covering the giggling fox’s mouth. A faint smile brushed over his muzzle.

“I guess not even Sonic himself can put himself into words.”, the ebony hedgehog spoke, an emotion of warmth glazing his red eyes.

“He’s- you’re just beyond words.”

Classic stared up to Shadow, before looking at his own Tails who stared at him, then Shadow and then to their older selves with a flabbergasted expression. His face distorted into a look of sheer confusion. Did he miss some one-liner or what?

Chapter Text

Shadow couldn’t stand one particular hedgehog, and whilst many thought that it was the case, it wasn’t because he hated him down to the core. It was the complete opposite.

Sonic the Hedgehog. The one and only blue blur saving the world over and over again- everybody knew him or heard of him at some point in their life. Shadow just so happened to be one of those “lucky” people who actually got to meet him personally.

Every time some Sonic fangirl asked him how it’d be possible to meet the blue hero, he always answered with the same words: “Become a villain and try to blow up the planet.”

It had worked for every person who had tried so far- he’d know. After all he got to know Sonic through that exact route. It was really effective.

Sonic, along with some of his friends, had changed his view of the world, they made him remember some very important words that had once been passed down to him that’d he never forget. From whom those words had come from- that was the problem he had with Sonic.

Maria Robotnik.

His best friend.

Why that was a problem?

He hadn’t realized himself until that race a few months ago.

Shadow scoffed in annoyance as Sonic laughed aloud into the forest clearing they were standing on. “Hah! Another win for the blue blur!”, the teenager grinned, sticking his tongue out to the gloomy hedgehog next to him.

“Correction: Another ridiculous presentation of your luck.”, the dark hedgehog growled in irritation, causing Sonic to giggle once more. “No luck gloomy- just talent and skill!”, the hero announced proudly. Shadow narrowed his eyes. “Luck and talent at best.”

Sonic merely rolled his eyes, his smile unwavering as always. “Sure buddy!”, he chuckled as he looked up to some Flickys that were chirping in a nearby tree. “Don’t call me that.”, Shadow merely grunted in return.

There was a moment of silence. How weird.

Another moment of silence. Shadow was considering if Sonic was preparing a speech of how he had secretly turned evil.

Silence. Shadow was certain that Sonic had been replaced by a spy badnik by Eggman.

“Y’know…”, Sonic hummed out (lucky him, he didn’t feel like beating the doctors’ ego into a pulp today). “When we first met, I got a very strange feeling of déjà vu.”, the blue hedgehog recalled, turning to his rival once more.

“Deja vus’ aren’t exactly the rarest thing in the world.”, the ultimate lifeform responded, putting one of his hands onto his hips. “True, but-“, Sonic paused. “These deja vus’ feel different.”, Shadow rose an eyebrow. “Plural? You’ve gotten more than one of them?”, he questioned with a slight interest.

“Yeah- that’s why I’m bringing ‘em up.”, Sonic nodded. “They-“, he hummed thoughtfully. “They almost feel like memories. In those ‘flashbacks’ you look younger- and so much cuter too!”, Sonic teased, winking at Shadow, who squeezed his eyes together.

“You’re blabbering as if we’ve known each other for decades.”, Shadow commented, ignoring the wink that his rival gave him. “And you’re not even two decades old.”, he added on right after. Sonic laughed. “Yeah! Unlike you, old hag!”, Sonic said teasingly. The black hedgehog rolled his eyes in annoyance.

He looked back to Sonic. He paused.

Sonic was still giggling as if he’d just told the best pun in the whole world. As the late evening sun hit the opposing hedgehogs’ quills, their tips shone a bright golden-yellow color. Shadow blinked as Sonic turned to him once more, the strange color disappearing as quickly as it had come.

 “Uh- Shads? You good? You look as if you’ve just seen a ghost.”, the blue hedgehog tilted his head, a slightly confused smile painted onto his muzzle. Shadow merely stared back in silence.

“Yes… I am fine.”, Shadow muttered a moment later, turning his head away. His ears twitched as Sonic let out a “Woah!” behind him. “Another one of those deja vus’! Man! I must be goin’ for a record or somethin’!”, Sonic spoke aloud.

That announcement only managed to send shivers down his spine. Sonic said those ‘visions’ felt like ‘memories’. And- he just looked like her- yellow and blue, yellow and blue. He turned to Sonic once more.

And that constant smile.

That smile that always saw the best in people… it made him tremble.

Chapter Text

Shadow woke up to a loud roar in the distance. He jolted awake, sitting up. The dark hedgehog looked around, before sighing as he scanned his surroundings.

The loud roar had come from the storm clouds in the horizon that were slowly rolling toward him. He stood up and dusted himself off. He should propably stop sleeping under this blossom tree every day. Oh well, not like he ever got sick anyways.

The hybrid walked down the small hill the lone blossom tree stood on as he went onto the nearby pebble path. His ears twitched as a light drizzle started to set in. Raindrops were falling down from the grey sky above him.

His legs were carrying him down the same path he took every week, by now it was muscle memory. "I didn't think there'd be rain in the middle of the spring. Who am I to complain though? It's nice.", Shadow thought to himself. He sniffled as a cold raindrop splashed on top of his nose.

"Yo Shadow! Here again?", the hedgehog stopped and turned around. He slowly scanned the field area. There was the city in the distance... the fields surrounding him... the blossom tree... but no person in sight. He huffed. "Uhg... I'm going insane.", Shadow grumbled under his breath. He halted again after he took mere two steps. Deja vu.

He again let his feet carry him to his usual destination. Why was he even going to that place again? He couldn't remember, but hell, what did he remember anyways? He was a hedgehog, stayed out of society and generally avoided people. Why did he even have that habit? Eh, he didn't really care. Even if he did, who could possibly help him out? He knew no one, no one knew him.

Shadow turned left as he walked onto the cemetery. He looked arround and spotted a few Mobians here and there; overall it was a rather quiet area. The hedgehog walked down some isles until he finally reached the center of the small park-like cemetery. He blinked as he looked down at the gravestone.

"Sonic the Hedgehog - 1991-2078

Forever a hero to Mobius"

Shadow stared down at the few flowers that waved peacefully in the cool breeze. People still brought him flowers... he must've been a wonderful person if people still remembered him five hundred years later. Shadow frowned. Once he died people wouldn't even notice. He'd die alone- he feared such a fate- and yet he was afraid of actually bonding with anyone. Why? He didn't know. He didn't know a lot of things. He didn't know who exactly he was, why he was who he was or how he ended up where he was now.

He looked up into the sky as he heard another thunder in the distance. Shadow glanced around as he saw the other few people quietly leave the place. He himself looked up again- though this time at the stone statue that stood behind the grave.

"...why do I feel as if I should recognize you? Maybe I once saw someone who happened to look like you... it's a possibility after all...", Shadow muttered to himself. "...I'm forgetting something again...", Shadow grumbled in annoyance. It was quite frustrating to always be reminded just how bad his memory was.

"Awh~! Is my favourite brooding edgelord sulking again?", Shadows' head whipped to the voice. Nothing. A cold breeze went past him. "...truly insanity...", Shadow finally sighed as he too slowly left the cemetery.

Sonic giggled in amusement as he watched Shadow walk away. He smiled, a hint of sadness rested in his eyes. Even if it'd take a thousand more years...

"I won't leave without you Shadow. I promise."

He'd wait. Just like he had promised all those years ago.

Chapter Text

The badnik flew across the burnt field like a football on a soccer field. A loud CLANK! could be heard as it tumbled down a nearby ditch.

Shadow was slighty upset. Okay, he may have been quite furious. Not that he'd admit that- though it didn't really matter since it was quite obvious anyways. The hedgehog snarled as he stomped on a small flame to make it turn into nothing but ash and smoke. The hybrid glared around him as if he was just challeging some other badnik to come out of its hiding, though none emerged. He sighed out, rubbing his face, though the anger didn't quite leave his eyes. How dare that stupid doctor try and ambush him on the anniversary of her death? Couldn't he just have one day of peace in this wrecked existence of his? Was that so much to ask for?

The dark hedgehog let his gaze wander. Well... the field was gonna be dried out anyways... it hadn't rained in three weeks and this summer was intense. The fire merely sped up the process of "dry-ification". If that was a thing at least. He huffed. Shadow really couldn't care less and so he simply walked off. It was a shame for the sunflowers, but he just wasn't in the mood to sob over some flowers; not that he would have done it in the first place. "Stupid Eggman...", Shadow muttered to himself as he stomped off. He continued his quick pace until he reached the nearby forest. It was quiet- as if the Flickies were scared of him. Again, he couldn't care less. Not now. Shadow started to pant as he continued his mindless march. That was weird, even he noticed that in his riled up state. He was both the Ultimate Lifeform and a trained agent, he shouldn't get exhausted by a small walk! His nose twitched and he paused, stopping.

Shadow looked down at himself and growled. "Oh you've got to be kidding me.", was all that went through his head in that exact moment.

A nasty gash was to be found on his stomach, it ran all the way down onto his hip. Blood was soaked within his black fur around the wound. His eyelid twitched in irritation. Ever since Robotnik found out about that ONE weird metal that seemed to stop his regeneration process he's been using it in ALL of his badniks. EVEN THE DAMNED LADYBUG ONES.

The worst thing was that he was probably at fault for this wound when he had thrown that badnik across the field. He had felt a small tingle at that exact moment at that exact area. Shadow gritted his teeth. "THIS DAY IS ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT!", he yelled at no one but himself, gripping his head in frustration. He heard some animal in a bush nearby squeak in fear before it ran off. The hedgehog ran his hands over his face, breathing out. "Calm yourself...", he gritted through his teeth, his eyes now half-liddened in annoyance. "In and out...", he muttered. His arms dropped back to his side as he continued his walk.

"...I should probably take care of the gash.", he said to himself. Shadow blinked, his expression now just unmotivated. "I'll do it tomorrow.", he sighed out as he warped right into his living room. Though, despite the sour mood he was in, he still convinced himself to have the decency to wrap some bandages around it. Did he clean it first? No. He still had a graveyard to visit.

The only reason why he warped home was to grab his soft, light blue jacket to cover his bandages. He struggled for a moment to correctly put it on. Amy was lucky to be a hedgehog with no back quills- they were great for spin dashing to cause more damage, but damn it, they were annoying to have when trying to put on some clothing, even with the specialized holes in the back. Shadow soon left his house again. Unlike Rouge he preferred to live in the middle of no where. It was much more comfortable than the luxurious apartment Rouge had in the middle of the city. He hated the loud noise- even if it the apartment was on the 60th floor or so.

Shadow walked for a while, glancing at some butterflies dancing over the flowers in the grass from time to time. He sighed out. The day seemed to be getting slightly better. His eyes darkened again. For now at least. For now it was getting better. He hummed quietly as he soon arrived at the graveyard. After he had gained his memory back and defeated the Black Arms he had basically forced G.U.N to make a grave for Maria. Threats were always a valid option if blunt asking wasn't working out.

He sat in front of her grave for the entire night, nothing out of the ordinary considering that he did this every year. He owed it to her, because he knew that she would've done the exact same for him.

Waking up the next morning wasn't the worst awakening in his life. So far nobody had told him that he missed the past 50 years and no voices in his head made him want to blow up the planet. However, the irritating prickeling of his stomach and hip weren't exactly comfortable either. "I'm going to kill that egg-shaped bastard.", Shadow whispered into his mind with an annoyed expression as he entered the bathroom of his home. He quickly swapped the bandages out for new once and called it a day. Breakfast, daily morning routine and walk in the park, check. Wound healing? No checkmark so far. How bothersome.

It still was unbearably hot out, especially with the atmosphere being so tense today- at least it was supposed to rain later that night- most likely a thunderstorm if Shadow had to guess. As Shadow was watering his lavender flowers in his backyard he heard his phone ring on the porch where he had left it. He furrowed his eyebrows, before setting down the watering can and looking at the screen. "Faker".

"What the hell does that chatterbox want now?", Shadow grumbled to himself as he accepted the call. "What.", he immediately asked with a dry tone. He heard a laugh on the other side of the line. "Awe- don't be like that, Shads! I'm just calling toc heckin' in on my best buddy!", he heard Sonic announce. The hybrid rolled his eyes. "Didn't you call Miles your best buddy already?", the hedgehog questioned. Another laugh. If Sonics' laugh wasn't so damn beautiful he would have been blasted a lot more times by Shadow than he already had. "He's my lil' brother! That's a different type of best buddy!", Shadows' ears twitched. "Uh-uh.", he simply grunted.

For a moment there was silence.

"Soooo... Shads, have you gotten anything planned for today?", his rival asked over the phone. Shadow clicked his tongue. "Not really.", he responded. "Great!", Sonic chirped enthuisiastically- as he always did. "What have you planned now?", the hybrid asked with an unmotivated expression- even if Sonic couldn't see it. "A race! I've got a race planned! With you!", Sonic proudly told. Shadow could almost feel the cocky grin through his tone alone. He narrowed his eyes as he brought the watering can back into the shed. "And who said I'd be attending?", the agent asked. "I did!", Shadow audibly groaned out.

The black and red hedgehog rubbed his muzzle above his nose- humans did that with their nosebridges when they were annoyed- Mobians didn't really have nosebridges, but Shadow picked up the habit of doing it anyways since he grew up with them. Unlike most Mobians he also said "Oh God" instead of "Oh Gaia". "God" rolled better of the tongue anyway.

"Fine.", Shadow eventually said as he walked back into his house. "WOOHOO! Thanks Shadow! You're the best dude I know!", Sonic cheered over the phone. Shadow smirked slightly. "Better than you?", he asked. Sonic could be heard chuckeling. "Okay- the second best dude I know!", Shadow rolled his eyes again, though this time it felt more playful. "Right.", he scoffed. "Usual place and time?", he then questioned. "You got it!", Sonic answered right away and with that Shadow ended the call.

Shadow looked up at the clock that hung on the wall of his living room. He still had an hour until it was six in the afternoon. Enough time to get ready for someone as swift as him. He took a quick shower, dried and brushed his quills into place and did his red eyeshadow, a skill he had picked up from Rouge back when they still lived together in Rouges' apartment. Why was he even bothering putting all this effort into his looks for a race? A race with Sonic non the less. He thought for a moment. "He's the only one able to keep up with me.", a brief smile flickered across his face. Yeah. It was worth it if it was for Sonic. He shook his head to get rid of the warm feeling crawling up his cheeks. He walked into the hallway, grabbing the blue jacket and putting it on- he didn't need Sonic bombarding him with questions regarding the bandages.

"Time to beat that ego of his down again.", Shadow smirked to himself as he left the house after having exited and locked the front door.

"There ya' are slowpoke! I thought you already ditched me!", Shadow heard Sonic laugh as he went up the small hill. "I wouldn't ditch a single oppertunity to beat you, faker.", Shadow huffed as he stopped in front of the slightly shorther hedgehog. Sonic looked him up and down and whistled. "You trynna' to also upper me in terms of temperture? You're gonna overheat in that jacket!", his rival snickered, looking at him with a curious expression. Shadow simply shrugged. "Maybe I am.", he responded with a calm voice. Sonic looked a little confused. "Okay then, I'll give you that win, because I'm not really into the idea of getting a heat stroke!", the blue hero quipped. "Weakling.", Shadow said, leaning down to Sonic so that their faces were just inches apart. A smug smirk was placed on his face. Sonic blinked, before smirking himself, turning away. "Alright ya' hot hedgy", Shadow ignored the fluttering in his chest, "how about we finally begin our race?", Sonic grinned with a challenging glint sparking in his emerald eyes. Shadow scoffed smugly. "You'll regret every challenging me, hedgehog!"

And with that the two sped off, no countdown needed- they just knew when they had to start.

The two rivals rushed over hills and fields, the wind breezed past them. Every race- no matter if they took the same route or not was always a new rush of adrenaline, always the same excitement. There was no struggle for either of them, the route was basically burnt into their heads by now. They knew every obstacle and sightseeing on the way.

Well, it usually wasn't a struggle for either of them. Shadow had to push himself to keep up. That was- not supposed to be the case- and god, it felt as if he was being burned alive underneath the soft fabric of the jacket. Shadow saw Sonic glance back at him. "Yo, Shadow! You good?", Sonic called out. Why did he look so concerned? "I'm fine.", Shadow responded with no real thought behind the sentence. Sonic seemed a little unconvinced, which Shadow didn't know if he shoudl be grateful or frustrated by. "You're slowing down!", the blue blur then pointed out as he too got slower. "I'M NOT!", Shadow protested, when a sudden sharp pain shook his body. His eyes widened in shock. "Where'd that come from-?!"

The hybrids' legs gave out as he fell onto the grass below him. He held the side of his hip with grinned teeth. He was so dizzy- the world was spinning. It was too hot. It was way too hot. His wound burned beneath the jacket and bandages- he swore it was- it was way too hot for it not to be. Shadow saw a blurry blue figure kneeling down in front of him. He heard worried shouts, but despite his inner protest, his eyes shut.

Shadow slowly opened his eyes. He was met with the sight of emerald green ones. Huh. They weren't supposed to look so worried. He didn't like the fact that they looked so worried. "There ya' go. You really had me worried.", he heard Sonics' voice. It was softer than usual and for some reason it made him uncomfortable- it just wasn't supposed to be like that. He heard and saw Sonic sigh out, before smiling slightly. "I can't help ya' if you're being a stubborn prick, you know?", his azure rival said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't need your help...", Shadow muttered out, still feeling slightly dazed. Sonic looked sceptical.

"Oh sure, you would've managed yourself just fine with your body overheating and with an open gash that was bleeding.", Sonic said, smiling- though the rest of his face seemed rather annoyed- a rare sight for Shadow, unless people around Sonic were just being douchebags. "Yes.", Shadow eventually spoke. Sonic facepalmed. "You're unbelievable.", he sighed out, shaking his head slowly. "Look, I know that you don't want to show any weakness, I also often do that, but trust me- I won't tell a soul about you needing help!", the blue blur said as Shadow slowly sat up. He noticed that Sonic had wrapped new banadges around his stomach. "Thank you for your care, I guess.", the agent looked around.

They were in Shadows' bedroom, the curtains were closed and the ventilator was on. "How did you get in here?", Shadow asked, looking at Sonic who sat beside him. "I broke into your house.", Sonic smiled. "What.", Shadows' eyes sharpened. "Just kidding, I stole your key you had with you.", Shadow looked unimpressed as if to say that that wasn't much better. "Hey! It was either that or Tails would have seen you like that!", Shadow brummed. That was a fair point. Sadly.

"Shadow.", Shadow didn't look up from the bed sheets. "Shadow.", again he didn't move.

"What a shame to my title... Sonic had to carry me all the way back here due to my incompetence-"

He flinched as he felt Sonic kiss his cheek. "Inform me next time when you're hurt, okay?", the blue hedgehog asked, a slight blush spread over his muzzle. Shadow blinked as he stared with a blank expression at his rival again. "What was that?", he asked, not answering Sonics' request. The other hedgehog looked away. "What was what?", he dodged. "Why did you kiss me?", Shadow asked. "I didn't kiss you.", Sonic returned. "You did.", the brooding hedgehog insisted. "Nah, I think you're still dizzy.", Sonic quickly, yet carefully, pushed him down onto the matress again. Shadow was a little conflicted. Was he still dazed? Maybe... he was probably, he still felt lightheaded and Sonic would never kiss him anyways.

"I'll get ya' something to drink.", Sonic said as he jumped off the bed and left the room, closing the door behind him quietly. Shadow simply hummed in acknowledgement, staring up at the white ceiling. "I could've sworn that he-"

"AHGGGGGG WHY DID I DO THAT?! THAT WAS SO STUPID- HE'LL THINK I'M NUTS!"

Shadow stared at the door as he heard the cry out of the kitchen. His body did actually feel warmer. A lot warmer.

"Guess I'm not completly in shambles yet.", he muttered, looking back up at the ceiling. "What a relief.", he mumbled, feeling his heartbeat quickening drastically. He pouted slightly.

"I'll get to kiss him first next time.", he thought to himself. Sonic was still his rival after all. That was a big part in why he liked that blue bastard so much.