Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The night air was cold and brisk. Team Dark was dispatched to retrieve one of Doctor Eggman's newest inventions, which had been sending what the commander called “interesting” biological readings on G.U.N.'s remote flora and aquatic research labs. Scouting ahead to gather intel on where the base exactly was, Shadow found himself unable to see much of any strange activity, much less any strange biological readings.

“Interesting he said,” Rouge repeated over Shadow's intercom, snapping his attention from his skate down the quiet forest the organization had dropped them in. “I wonder what Commander Tower meant by that. What do you think, Omega?”

Shadow heard a familiar, robotic voice chime in through the comm line, and soon Omega responded. “EGGMAN FAILS TO CREATE MODELS AS EFFICIENT AS ME. NOTHING INTERESTING OF NOTE.”

“I’m afraid that’s not what I meant,” his female coworker says with a sigh.

“I presume the wildlife had been affected by whatever weapons the Doctor is creating,” Shadow explained. “It must either be widespread or extremely effective for the effects to be as traced as far as the lab.” Shadow skated to a stop at a clearing, willing his eyes to see anything peculiar.

G.U.N. was increasingly beginning to send them on missions with little intel to build off, leaving Rouge, Omega, and him to scour extensive areas to look for artifacts they knew even less about. Oftentimes, the three would find a base, form a stake out near said base, and end up getting caught staking out near said base (to this you can always blame Omega, who is far too eager and impatient to be sitting in cover). Then they'd resort to fighting what were usually Eggman's numerous robots to get him to behold his latest invention, or end up having their missions crashed by another group—one Shadow was growing to dislike seeing too frequently—Sonic and his little friends. Hopefully, it would be different this time, but seeing as today was not going in his favor (if the way this mission was lasting way too long had any indication), he doubted it.

Rouge’s sound of agreement took him out of his thoughts. “Not only that, but the commander stated there was little they knew of its cause. How are we supposed to know what it does?” Shadow heard shifting on the other side—Omega must be antsy. The communicator picked up more rustling, indicating his bat coworker was now covering the receiver, and, despite the efforts to block the microphone, Shadow could pick up a muffled, “Megs, I promise it's almost time.”

“They couldn't find traces of it in the plants, but all the pond fish they were tracking had been engaging in strange, risky behaviors. It's clear the Doctor is experimenting with some bioweapons.” But where he was working on this project was nowhere to be seen—no traces of a smell, liquid, or evidence of any animal infected or distressed.

Shadow looked once more at the trees, straining his ears to hear any sound of machinery, but heard nothing except the long chirps of crickets. He scowled at the treeline, noting the moon still high in the sky—it was in that position hours ago when he first arrived. This is taking forever.

He skates forward, looking for another clearing. As Shadow scans the brush for any sign of his goal, he mulls over the observation that the darkness of the night would be enough to camouflage him if he chose to use his air shoes and hover high enough to see where the next clearing was. As he opened his mouth to tell Rouge exactly that, he was interrupted by a loud boom.

The crickets went silent. Shadow looked up to triangulate the direction, the now-rising smoke making the location easier to find. Another BOOM cracked through the air, and Shadow had no time to waste. He typed in his estimated coordinates, including a cardinal direction, and then told Rouge to meet him there.

“Wait, what was that? Could that be the weapon?” Rouge asks as Shadow skates in the direction of the blast.

“Not sure, but we'll find out soon enough,” Shadow answers. As he closes in on the blast, he hears the whir of machinery and the crackle of fire. The smell of smoke is light but grows stronger as he approaches. He hoped there were no civilians nearby—not only would he have to preoccupy himself with keeping them out of the way, but he’d have a lot more paperwork.

He hears a familiar cackle ahead, and with it, he confirms that Eggman was responsible—if the sound of robots and mass destruction weren't already indicators. Shadow can see the orange light of a fire, and he leans forward as he pushes himself to get there faster. He's near the clearing when a notable figure appears through the tree line. Shadow's frown is unpreventable.

“Not you again.” Shadow accidentally says out loud before he turns off his communicator (much to the annoyance of Rouge, who was cut off from her questions of ‘Not who again?’, ‘Shadow?’ and ‘Hello?! Answer me!’).

Anyone but—

“Sonic the Hedgehog!” Eggman exclaims over the whir of his machine, yards away from where the blue hedgehog was fighting off small Egg Pawns with ease. “You've been a meddling rat for far too long! It's time I teach you the importance of minding your own business, with another lesson in how to pick your battles carefully since,” he clasps his hand in observation, “I see your friends aren't here to save you this time…”

Sonic is far too comfortable all the while—the cocky grin on his face showing that the hero was fighting off the robots without issue. However, Shadow isn't as confident, since Eggman's grin gives off the impression that he has other tricks up his sleeve. The doctor continues, “Too bad they won't be here for the class. But I'm sure they'll be glad to know that role call takes place in the obituary!” He cackles and with the click of a button, he sends more robots.

“You know, Egghead,” Sonic says indifferently, dashing away from the deadly robots to make some more room for himself. “I don't think the teacher thing works for you. You make it way too easy to fall asleep. Seriously, these robots?” He makes a gesture of closing his eyes and loudly snoring, comically tucking his hands under his cheek.

Shadow huffs in incredulity. The blue hedgehog was unbelievable. Only he would indulge the doctor’s embarrassing antics. Shadow wasn’t sure if that fact was amusing or annoying, but he settled on annoying.

Sonic quits his shameful gesture, much to the relief of an addled Shadow, and lowers his stance. He runs forward and then spins into a ball, the blur of his figure knocking over a group of badniks and sending them flying into pieces. He stops, turning his heel in a 180 and kicking two more that he stopped beside, before dashing out of another's reach.

This was too easy, even for him, Shadow thinks. Shadow should take advantage of the distraction and ambush the Doctor for his weapon, but he had to be cautious. He studies the ship Eggman was hidden in. The monumental trailer hovered thirty feet from the circle of robots Sonic was fighting through, built with a cargo door at the bottom and an open cockpit for Eggman to sit in. He scanned the Doctor once more for an indication that he would unveil what G.U.N. had sent him for—if there was any time he used his weapons, it was against Sonic—before the ship opened a cargo door.

He skated his way over to Eggman, who was grinning wickedly as 4 new robots—looking like much heavier, bigger versions of the Egg Pawns—came out from the hovering craft and ran to join the attack on the hero. Shadow furrowed his brow as the bigger robots transformed their claws into guns, aimed at an unsuspecting Sonic.

“Chaos Control!” He wills himself to appear by one robot, grabbing it and throwing it into the other three. Their shots missed, but now the attention was on him. The arms that had transformed into a gun changed back into sharp claws, snapping towards Shadow.

“Oh, hey Shadow!” Sonic beams, knocking over the remaining badniks before dashing over to help him. Shadow has to resist an eye roll. Only Sonic would stop in the middle of a fight to talk. Shadow ignores the greeting, kicking the refined robots into the forest and hearing a crack as the impact breaks off some of their pieces. Sonic is doing the same to another before focusing his gaze on the striped hedgehog. He raises an eyebrow with a playful smirk, “You know if you were looking for me, you could've just called.”

Shadow scoffs, answering the hedgehog with a scowl. If this was some sort of goading effort to get a reaction out of him, he clearly fell for it. “I'm not here for you, Faker. I'm on a mission with G.U.N.”

A glance to the left was the bigger robots they had just tossed aside, whirring back to life with a spin of their torso. They need to be hit with more power. He continues his assessment with another glance over his shoulder to reveal a couple dozen more of the larger Egg Pawns dropping down from the plane. An unfazed Eggman lets out a cackle, seemingly anticipating the turn of events despite Sonic wiping out half his army.

Sonic doesn't seem to notice (or if he does, he must not care), a finger under his nose and a smug smile on his face as he eyes the robots by the tree line. “Oh yeah? If you weren't here to give me some company, where's the rest of your team? Because otherwise it looks like you came here to try to see who can break more of Eggman’s bots and I hate to break it to you, Shadow, but—” Sonic crushes one of the Egg Pawns as if to emphasize his point. “That makes… 126? Ya got some catching up to do, Shads,” Sonic teases, a glint in his eyes challenging Shadow to bite the bait. This time, Shadow doesn’t take it, the wave of robots reminding him he has work to do, and he doesn’t want this mission to be interrupted by Sonic and his rivalry. Although I would have enjoyed the challenge…

“I don't have time for your banter, hedgehog,” Shadow says flatly. He had bigger problems to deal with. He vanishes, appearing next to the new wave of enhanced Egg Pawns and summoning Chaos Spears to impale them. The impact disables a couple, but most are whirring back up, their attention drawn to him.

“H-Hey! I wasn't done!” A resounding kick from the blue hedgehog sends one of the original robots out of commission. He backs up, then spin-dashes to do the same to the other three. Again, Sonic is beside him, and this time Shadow physically cannot hold back the eyeroll.

“You're distracted too easily,” Shadow dismisses, doing his best to dwindle the numbers before raiding Eggman’s ship to look for the new weapon’s schematics.

“As I just said, I already beat about a hundred robots,” Sonic points behind his shoulder where many of the said robots lay as pieces of rubble. The blue hedgehog continues kicking, punching, and dashing his way through the rest. “I think you'd get bored of it too after 50.”

“Ah, Shadow the Hedgehog!” Eggman exclaims from his place on his ship, seemingly finally noticing the agent's presence. “I've seen you've come to enroll in classes too! I'll make sure my robots come and give you the attention you need to catch up with the class!” Shadow rolls his eyes at the continued metaphor. Both Dr. Eggman and Sonic needed to quit with the theatrics.

The doctor clicks a button, and the robots they're fighting begin to drone a high-pitched warbling throughout the yard. Shadow flinches at the vibration but steels his composure. He's less susceptible to these tactics than most, having been subjected to lots of stimuli on the ARK. Sonic, however—

“Gah!” The blue hedgehog exclaims, doubling over in pain. His hands flew instinctively to his ears, eyes shutting despite the chaos surrounding him and the imminent danger clawing to reach out and kill him. Shadow lunged towards Sonic, grabbing his wrist before teleporting them both to the other side of the clearing.

The drone is still loud from there, so Shadow doesn't urge Sonic to focus (even though he very much wishes the other would). The other doesn’t seem to register that he had been moved away, but Shadow supposes it couldn’t be helped. There were just many things Sonic hadn’t been able to beat him at, and it seems that withstanding high-frequency auditory torture was one of them. He releases his arm and instead wishes that Omega had been there to give the two hedgehogs some cover while Sonic gained a clear head.

“You see, Sonic, there's a special class I'm teaching today! It's about a remarkable little creature. This one might sound familiar to you, but I’ll give you a couple of hints. One: they’re disgusting pests—just like another nuisance I’m sure you’re aware of. Two: they love to cling to disgusting rodents. Any guesses to what it is, class? Anyone? No one?” Eggman says through a speakerphone, and Shadow rolls his eyes. It’s almost comedic that he would go to such lengths to monologue.

The doctor clicks another button and the whir of the cargo door briefly overtakes the drone of the robots. His eyes scan the other side of the clearing, where the robots are turning towards the pair, Eggman was monologuing, and a cloud of… something was flying out of the cargo doors. Wait. Were those—?

“Oh alright, one more hint! These little things love to fly, swarm, and, through my genius, they’ve grown a liking to biting annoying blue hedgehogs.” A strange buzzing noise overpowers the drone of robots, and Shadow prepares himself to fight.

That's when it happens. Well, more like three things at once.

One. Omega surprisingly does arrive, guns blazing, to give cover to Shadow. His other mission partner is nowhere to be found, but he suspects that the destruction-loving robot ran ahead of Rouge in his excitement. The robot shoots at the bugs forming a cloud over the clearing, and the ship Eggman is in, and the enhanced Egg Pawns that are still on their way toward the pair. Having three machine guns must have been new.

Two. Not only does Omega join the fight, but so does a young, two-tailed fox along with a certain hammer-wielding hedgehog and red echidna. They were close behind Omega, ears peculiarly covered by what seemed like earplugs and muffs, probably to drown out the terrible droning. They must have seen Shadow and Sonic despite the accessories because they called out Sonic’s name before splitting up: Knuckles and Amy crushing robots nearing them while Tails flew over, looking concerned. Rouge can be seen shortly after, her sensitive ears covered by her hand—almost certainly not enough for her heightened hearing—to fly over to Sonic and Shadow with an expression mirroring Tails's.

Three. One of the many bugs released makes its way down to the two hedgehogs, fluttering past the pair without notice. Shortly after, the droning from the other machines stops. Unbeknownst to the two, the droning had only ceased because a certain little bug-like machine had found its target during the commotion.

“Haha, finally!” Sonic sighs in relief, turning to look at the scene. Shadow, however, tenses.

Anticipation twists in Shadow’s gut as he hurriedly scans for the reason the noise ceased, seeing nothing but the fighting trio, the two flying Mobians, and… an escaping Eggman. But if he was escaping, then that must mean—

His blood runs cold as he quickly realizes what has happened. He turns to warn Sonic that something is very wrong, that this is a trap, and to run, but a curse escapes him at the sight.

A small beetle from the swarm had landed right on the other's arm. Eyes widening, Shadow warns Sonic, lunging forward to swat it, but it’s too late. As soon as the blue hedgehog's gaze drops down to the bug on his arm and registers the issue, the bug twitches its wings, then suddenly crackles and sparks into a small poof!

Purple smoke releases, almost like a party trick, but Sonic recoils like the tiny pop blew his arm off. The blue hedgehog falls to his knees, and Shadow closes the gap to catch him before he collapses completely. In his arms, Sonic writhes in pain, clutching at his arm the explosion occurred on like it was injured. Shadow frantically looked over his arm and then at the entire hedgehog's body, but soon found there were no injuries—in fact, the powder clinging onto both their furs was the only evidence the bug had even landed on him. Shadow is careful not to jostle him, frowning at the state of the other’s pain. Suddenly, Sonic stills, chest heaving.

“Sonic!” Shadow is vaguely aware of the young fox’s voice closing in behind them. He could hear the young fox’s tails flapping above the two hedgehogs. “What happened?!”

“I don't know what exactly, but don't let those bugs on you,” he declares, loud enough for the other to hopefully hear. He cautiously sets Sonic down on the grass for further assessment.

Unexpectedly, the blue hedgehog’s eyelids fluttered open at the movement, eyes hazy and untrained before settling on Shadow's face. Shadow was relieved—at least he was awake. The blue hedgehog’s eyes droop again in a daze, but not once do they leave Shadow's face. There’s a glossy look forming in the other’s eyes that was really beginning to draw concern from him. Shadow voices his unease to Tails, tilting his head to warn over his shoulder, “With the way he’s looking, they seem to seriously stun you."

A cocky grin forms on Sonic’s face and relief washes over Shadow once again. This was normal—he’d say something about easily bouncing back, then return to playful banter and hopefully recover from his disorientation. Or so he hoped. But as always… this day ceases to amuse him.

“Actually the only stunning thing around here is you.”

Chapter Text

Shadow goes still, eyes furrowing in bewilderment. Did he hear that correctly? Did Sonic really just imply that he’s stunning? Or was he just going insane? The silence feels like it lasts far too long, the shock of just what he heard leaving Shadow's jaw slack and eyes wide. When Sonic doesn’t seem to read his visible confusion, he speaks, eyebrows furrowed. “Hedgehog, are you feeling well? Because—”

Sonic slurs out the next few words, smiling wide but sleepily. “I am feeling just fine, now that you're here.”

This day seems to only be getting worse and worse.

“Shadow, what happened?!” Tails lands beside him (after what feels like a week of him making his way over), looking over Sonic’s condition. Sonic giggles to himself, his hand reaching out to touch Shadow's. Shadow freezes at the touch before standing up abruptly. Nope, there is no way in—

“Shads…” a whine escapes his rival’s lips, his voice slurred and impatient. The other’s eyes close, seemingly too much effort to keep open. “Come baaack, I need you.”

“Uh, Sonic,” Tails laughs nervously, the tension of his concern still visible on his shoulders. His eyes dart back and forth between Shadow and his brother. “Are you feeling okay? Did you hit your head?”

Shadow's initial shock faded, and given that Sonic was much more content with mumbling Shadow's name than answering, the agent took it upon himself to explain, “One of those little bugs exploded on him. The explosion was small, but he looked like he was in pain before he started…” he let himself trail off, gesturing toward the blue hedgehog on the ground.

“Flirting with you?” Tails finished his sentence for him, much to Shadow's annoyance. He huffed in response. Whatever happened to tact?

“Blue is flirting with Shadow?” Rouge's voice interrupts from behind. What perfect timing. She lands beside Shadow, tucking her wings behind her back. “I guess I owe Omega those twenty dollars.”

“What—”

“Shadooooowwww,” Sonic interrupts, eyes still closed but hands blindly reaching out in search of his rival. He looked a bit silly, brows furrowed and pout almost comical as he tried to feel for a presence. The agent was almost glad the other couldn’t sit up to feel him another foot away. Sonic continues his fruitless effort to find the agent, whining, “Pleeaseee come back.”

“And he's clingy?” Rouge asked in bewilderment. “What crazy world did I just step into?” Shadow repeats what he told Tails, to which Rouge raises an eyebrow. “All that just because of a little bug? Chaos, what is in those little things?”

Sonic curls up into himself, mumbling softly like it was becoming far too difficult to stay awake. Tails places a hand on his forehead, and feeling the short tremors Sonic was beginning to have, he frowns in concern.

“We need to get him back home. Now.”

Shadow couldn’t agree more. After they took Sonic away, he could just leave. Maybe offer his condolences and just hope for the best for them. But one thing was for certain, he could not stick around much longer if he wanted his sanity intact by the time he got home. After all, his team needed to recover a weapon—or rather, as indicated by the wreckage of robotic creations behind him, parts of weapons—and he couldn’t afford any distractions. He grunted his approval and made his way to leave before a low groan erupted from Sonic, drawing his attention again. His breathing had significantly decreased into shallow pants.

“Sonic? Can you hear me?” Tails looked over his condition. When he fails to coax Sonic out of his fetal position, he turns frantically up to where Rouge and Shadow are standing over them. The fear was palpable in the young boy’s eyes. “He’s becoming unresponsive, and his temperature is way too low.”

“Rouge, go get the others,” Shadow glanced behind him, where Omega, Amy, and Knuckles were finishing the last of the Egg Pawns. The bug swarm had surprisingly dispersed, and it would be more than concerning if Shadow didn’t already have his hands full. Eggman had also made a successful escape, it seemed, because, among the wreckage of all the badniks, there was no indication of his ship in sight. “And keep an eye out for a useful piece of those new bug robots. Maybe they’ll help despite us returning to G.U.N. empty-handed.”

Rouge does just that, calling over Amy and Knuckles before talking to Omega with instructions to look through the mangled pieces of machinery.

When Tails audibly frets over his brother's temperature and heart rate (both of which he jotted down on a tablet Shadow is sure the fox pulled out of thin air), Shadow grimaces at the image of the hero of Mobius shivering on the floor. He had seen Sonic get hurt in battles before, but the unexpectedness of his rival’s sudden behavior was bringing him a new level of unease.

It wasn’t foreign to him that Sonic was much friendlier than before as they had outgrown their initial hostilities (well, more like Shadow outgrew his initial hostility). More often than not, their random encounters ended with friendly sparring or races, with the few rarer instances where Sonic sought him out for a challenge. Over the years, Shadow had grown accustomed to it, albeit he purposefully did not spare him the same amiability of actively looking for the blue hedgehog. Even their banter grew less aggressive as Shadow learned that Sonic mostly did it to get on his nerves (something he could not encourage with a reaction).

Would he ever admit that the hero wasn’t as intolerable as the agent used to claim, or that he very much enjoyed the challenge his near-equal brought? Probably not. Sonic had a big enough ego already, and Shadow couldn't be caught dead feeding into it.

But now? Would he rather feed the guy’s ego when he catches wind that Shadow was actually feeling flustered at the comments drugged Sonic keeps saying? Fuck no.

However, as Sonic lets out a pained groan that causes Shadow to wince in self-condemnation, Shadow isn’t sure the choice will feel that easy. Maybe he really should put his feelings aside. After all, he wasn’t the same hedgehog he was years ago.

Rouge returns, unintentionally breaking him from his thoughts when she lands next to Shadow. The bat says nothing as she watches attentively at Sonic’s worsening figure. Shadow, however, couldn’t keep his gaze on the scene for too long without the unease taking over, and he had all the more reason to look away now that Amy and Knuckles were bounding up to them, the former gasping loudly at the state.

“What happened to him?” Knuckles asked, kneeling next to Tails and peering over his shoulder to Sonic. Amy has one hand over her mouth as she kneels to touch Sonic’s arm, flinching when the other twitches away. The blue hero still hadn’t spoken despite now having his friends looking over him. The only indications he was awake were the long groans he let out every few seconds and the tremors that kept racking his body.

“I’m not sure exactly,” Tails says, and the worry fails to leave his voice. He puts his tablet away and stands up, before turning to Knuckles. “Listen, I’m going to bring the plane over here, but I need you guys to watch over Sonic. He’s not really listening to anyone and he seems to be really, uh, interested in Shadow.” The fox worriedly glances once more at his brother before flying off into the forest.

The silence was heavy with the question lingering in the air.

“Interested in Shadow? What are you even doing here?” Knuckles asks, looking towards the striped hedgehog. The lack of faith in the glare he sends Shadow is grating—this was not his fault.

Shadow growls, “We were on a mission with G.U.N. Your friend here was fighting alone when I bothered to help.” He doesn't miss—or like—the softening in Knuckles's glare when he says that last part, but Shadow's expression hardens in response. “Where were you all anyways?”

“We didn't even know he was here, Rouge had to tell us,” Knuckles scoffs, then, as if to match Shadow's intensity, he points a contentious finger at the dark hedgehog. “If you were the first one here, then why didn't you let us know he was in trouble?”

“Aw lay off him, Knuckie, it's not his fault,” Rouge explains, putting a hand on Shadow's shoulder. Shadow feels his arms relax at the defense. It was a nice reminder that Rouge had his back, and he couldn’t help but feel grateful for her input.

“Sonic is going to be fine. He’s awake and was even talking to Shadow earlier,” she continues with a coy smirk. “The only bad thing is that Blue here seems to get really upset when they’re not cuddling, is all.”

Never mind, now he wants to strangle her. All the anger he felt towards the echidna transferred to his annoyance towards Rouge, and his head snapped towards her. Scowling, he wills her image to combust into flames, but she doesn't bat an eye. Really, what happened to tact?

“Cuddling Shadow?” Amy repeats, her jaw slack with shock. “B-but why?” Both she and Knuckles turn to him—the latter of which has now stopped sending him accusing glares and instead opted for a prompting eyebrow raise—and he feels the discomfort of indignity creep up his spine. He hopes he looks angry instead.

Shadow shrugs, looking away from the prying eyes and toward Sonic's unconscious figure. How was he to know? For all he knew, he actually suffered some weird brain injury that made him even more insane than before. “All I know is that one of the Doctor's bugs landed on his arm before it self-destructed. Then he started saying some strange things and started feeling cold.”

“Well, whatever it was, he's clearly getting worse,” Knuckles declares. Amy feels Sonic's forehead, eyes glossy. “And we won't know how long it’ll last. This must have been a plot to decommission him. There must be something else he's planning.”

Shadow nods. If this was just a plan to incapacitate Sonic, it was almost lucky that Shadow was here in time. If it weren't for him continuing his search down this part of the forest and Rouge asking for backup, who knows? Eggman may have actually captured the blue hedgehog, or worse, killed him. Although, he did succeed in drugging him…

Shadow wasn't sure that making Sonic flirty—Chaos, that was hard to phrase without feeling mortified—was all this attack was meant to do. It did succeed in making Sonic feel sick if the state the blue hedgehog was in was undeniably a reaction to the bug’s explosion. But if it was to make Sonic too sick to fight, then why did he seem fine, minus the strange flirting, when he spoke to Shadow? What was the bug's true purpose? Was Eggman’s plan simply executed poorly, or is this really what he intended?

His thoughts turn back to Eggman. Shadow was doubtful the mechanical bug they had encountered was salvageable, given it was now in a powdery mess on Sonic's and Shadow's bodies (he still had some lingering on his glove from when he reached out to help). But the few bug scraps behind them remained useful, and having some parts to turn into G.U.N. as info was better than coming up empty-handed. It was unfortunate that the rest of the bugs had seemed to fly away, but it raised another question. Were they being controlled? Or were they operating under some autonomous reaction to flee when trouble arose?

“I am not sure this will help,” Amy says quietly, pulling Shadow out of his ever-complicated thoughts. “But I think Sonic is asking about you again.” Amy has her worried gaze focused on Sonic, but it’s clear she’s talking to Shadow. She leans forward, hovering closer to where her friend’s face was. Her brows furrowed as she presumably strained herself to listen to the hero’s muttering before she sat back up and looked at Shadow expectantly.

Shadow had to resist the urge to scoff and look away. There was something about how bad this was making him feel that was starting to annoy him. The others have been expecting him to help much more than he was used to, and it was safe to say that Shadow strongly opposed. Unlike his blue rival, he was not accustomed to blindly assisting others, much less a group he had so far been distant from, sans Sonic.

Regardless, this long day seemed to be getting to him, because despite trying his best to ignore the request to comfort the blue hero, he can’t help but feel guilt weighing him down. Amy’s anticipatory gaze wasn’t helping. His previous thoughts of Sonic’s distressing state swirled in his mind, and his resistance was slowly slipping. After a beat, he finds himself surrendering. Letting out a deep and tired sigh, Shadow uncrossed his arms, kneeling to listen.

It was faint. A breathy call for the dark hedgehog, barely heard over the sound of his breathing, but it was there—painful and needy. The sound just put him at unease. He'd never expected to hear his rival talk like that, and Shadow couldn’t help but wonder if it was wrong for him to hear this side, one Sonic wouldn’t have existed if it weren’t for the bug. He swallows thickly and lightly places a hand on Sonic's shoulder, leaning forward to make sure he was close enough to hear. “Can you hear me?”

Sonic stirred, eyes fluttering awake at his presence. Shadow wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or annoyed. Why him? Why only him? When Amy or Tails ask for his attention, he's unresponsive, but as soon as Shadow does…

“Shads!” Sonic tries to exclaim, but it sounds weak and wobbly. His breath is still slow and shaky, but he catches his breath between sentences. His emerald eyes, unlike his other sleepy expressions, are wide with a pleasant surprise. “You're back!”

“I was never gone,” he corrects, taking his hand away from the blue hedgehog's shoulder. Sonic glances at it, then quickly moves to sit himself up beside the other. Shadow can’t protest before Sonic slumps back down, arms unable to hold up his own weight.

“Woah, sorry…” the hero tries again, and Shadow wraps his arm around the other's shoulder to help this time. Shadow tries to ignore the way the Sonic’s head leans into the touch. “But uh, then… where were you? I was looking for you.”

“Actually, Sonic, you were lying down. You’re pretty out of it right now,” Amy chimes in, and both Shadow and Sonic turn to look at her. She looked much more relieved at his consciousness, but the concern lingered in her eyes. Her brows were furrowed as she forced an encouraging smile. “But, I know you were looking for Shadow, and he's here now! No need to worry anymore.”

“Amy? What are you doing here?” Sonic asks, the confusion on his face deepens as he looks around and sees the others. “What—where am I?”

“It’s alright, Sonic, we’re going back to the lab. Eggman got away, but there’s at least no more of those little bugs flying around,” Knuckles reassures, going to the other side of Sonic to help stand him up. Shadow didn’t really need the assistance, but hopefully, it’ll be enough to convince Sonic he doesn’t need to cling to the least viable babysitter around.

Meanwhile, the sound of a plane had grown closer behind the group, and very shortly after they helped Sonic up, it landed nearby. Tails calls out from it, urging Knuckles and Amy to quickly get back to Emerald Town, presumably where his lab was. At the notice his name wasn’t called, Shadow swiftly releases his rival. Ignoring the whine Sonic does, the striped hedgehog walks over to Rouge, who shakes her head. He ignores that too, biting out a tired, “Let’s go.”

Rouge placed a hand on his shoulder, passing a thoughtful glance to the others—the youngest of which had started to use his communicator tablet to notate something while the others helped carry an incapable Sonic to the plane—before looking back at him with a frown. “Before we head out,” she emphasizes, eyes narrowing. He already knew where this was going, and unfortunately for his winged partner, the exhaustion he had been feeling all night was beginning to turn into exasperation. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

He huffed, following Rouge as she offered Tails a polite smile and a request to ‘excuse us for one second’, walking out of the others’ earshot. As soon as her eyes landed on Shadow, however, her expression turned cold. “We are not leaving them like this.”

Shadow scoffs, he figured it wouldn’t be that easy. “What more can we do for them? Besides, G.U.N. is expecting a weapon, and we have a lot of wreckage to look through.”

Rouge rolls her eyes, arms crossing and a disappointed frown forming on her face. Shadow was frequently on the receiving end of this look regarding his apathy, but it didn’t make it any easier to stomach. “Me and Omega can help look through the wreckage, and you,” she brings her pointer finger to his chest, and now it was his turn to cross his arms with a frown, “can stay here and keep Sonic from passing out.”

“What—me?” he asks incredulously. “What can you possibly expect me to do? I can’t heal or cure something I don’t know anything about.”

“You’re the only one he’s interested in, and if it helps him focus on staying awake, then it’s what you can do until they can fix him,” she justifies, and Shadow scowls.

He knows she’s making sense, but he hates wasting his time, especially over other people. And this was beyond him—he couldn’t traditionally mitigate the process of his infection (if it even was that) as if it was some fever or illness. Besides acting as a nurse to a sober Sonic was probably on his list of things he’d never want to do, much less acting as a nurse to a bug-bitten Sonic.

And so, despite her fair points, he argues stubbornly, “Well it’s still not my problem. He’s just going to have to get the attention he craves from one of his friends. You’re out of your mind if you think I’d want to get involved in one of his little—”

“What, his little times of need?” Rouge spat, impatient. Shadow’s glare instinctively drops to the ground. “You know he’d stick around for you if you were the one clinging to his side. Besides, if he’s injured and drugged, you can’t really expect him to know better. Anyone in his shoes would be unfortunate enough to have to act the same. And it's not the first time we've encountered someone acting differently because of some crazy plot by an evil psycho.”

The guilt that was gradually increasing during her speech had finally hit him in full force. His lips twitched downward. Damn it. Why did Rouge have to pull the whole “we would do the same for you, in fact we probably have before” card?

He scowled at the thought of the blue hedgehog clinging to him like a tick. The apprehension he felt made him run through all the possible scenarios he’d have to endure—Sonic's clinginess, the awkwardness, the things he’d undoubtedly say. And with the imagined scenarios there was an uncomfortable warmness in his stomach. It didn’t help that along with the dread rising in his stomach, he felt another complicated emotion clawing his way to the forefront—one he couldn’t quite put his finger on. All the things Sonic has said, what he will say, were equal parts off-putting and alluring, and he didn’t really know why. Shadow felt his heart stutter, and it was infuriating that he couldn't control it.

He calms his mind and reminds himself of the problem at hand. Sonic might be insufferable at times, but for once, it wasn't really his choice. And although his need for affection is a pain, it wasn't like there was that much different to how Shadow had to act. All he had to do was stick around, ignore all those conflicting comments, and wait till Sonic eventually felt better.

He let out a sigh, a groan escaping with it due to the guilt that kept eating at his heart, and unfortunately for him, the guilt was making it easier to make up his mind. Shadow was definitely going to regret this, nonetheless, it had to be done.

But if it had to be done, it had to be done his way. No feeding into any delusions, no settling for absurd requests, and absolutely no coddling Sonic. Compromising some of his comforts in favor of some of drugged Sonic’s was the only way he’d come to terms with doing this.

“Fine. I'll stay until they can help him,” he says after what was probably several minutes of Shadow’s internal conflict. He raises his pointer finger in defiance, “But you’re taking the blame with G.U.N. for all of this.” If he was going to suffer for what would probably be days, Rouge was going to have to suffer through a different type of hell. The bat scoffs, but Shadow knows the deal is already sealed. With that, he made his way over to the group.

Near the plane, Sonic is making a fuss. When Shadow approaches them, the (surprisingly awake) hero is preoccupied with getting Knuckles to release him, the echidna warrior’s eye twitching with irritation every time Sonic twisted and wiggled in the other’s grasp. It’s almost comedic—the way he weakly struggles against an immovable Knuckles.

Well, that is until Sonic notices Shadow’s presence, which is when it stopped being funny and started being absolutely fucking terrifying.

The mirth that had previously snuck onto Shadow’s face drained the instant he accidentally locked eyes with Sonic, who took the eye contact as the perfect moment to smile pleadingly. For the first time, Shadow felt intimidated by the blue hero, but not for the reasons he’s sure the other would have preferred.

“Hey, Shads! Hey, please tell these guys that they can let me go now. I told them I wanted to race back to town with you, but they keep—” Sonic struggles in Knuckles’s grip as if to punctuate his point, pausing to catch his breath, then laughs nervously. His smile looks desperate. “Just tell them, you know, we’re gonna race back and that there’s no problem. Please?”

“I’m sorry, Shadow,” Amy cuts her friend off. She must have tasked herself with opening the door for Knuckles and Sonic because the prolonged struggle Sonic had caused reduced her to standing there with an awkward grin. Meanwhile, Knuckles is attempting to all but drag his friend onto the plane, an irritated glower on his features as Sonic has now resorted to biting his captor. “I know this isn’t the most favorable outcome, especially since Sonic always tended to push your buttons… But hopefully, it’ll be over soon!” Shadow purses his lips pensively. Amy always tended to be positive, empathetic, and reassuring, but right now it only served as a reminder of the outlandishness of the situation—he would never have imagined Amy Rose offering him consolidation over Sonic’s bizarro behavior.

“It’s fine,” he mutters, more to convince himself as much as her. There was very little truth to that statement since, as they spoke, Sonic was beginning to weakly slap Knuckles, all the while sneaking needy glances over to Shadow. This was very much far from fine. He forces his gaze toward Amy, hoping his expression doesn’t reveal how out of place he truly feels. “I’m coming with. It seems that’s what he prefers and it’ll help keep him awake.”

“That’s—”

“Ow!” Knuckles cries out, hissing as a string of curses escapes his lips. Both Shadow and Amy snap their attention toward Sonic, who now stood released and triumphant next to a wincing Knuckles. Shadow looks at Knuckles, who was covering a wounded eye, then toward Sonic in appall, who responds by sending a mischievous grin. Shadow keeps himself from jumping as the blue hedgehog takes his newfound freedom as an opportunity to lunge forward (with strength Shadow was surprised the other even had) and lock arms, the other hand wrapped around Shadow’s right forearm possessively.

Knuckles recovers if only to curse out his friend with a fist raised. He grimaces, glancing over to where Sonic was now holding onto Shadow as if he remembered to hold restraint. He looks toward Shadow with a much softer gratitude. “Thank Gaia you’re coming. He’s impossible to deal with when he’s normal. Much less when he’s like this and determined to see you. I think I would’ve preferred if he was passed out.”

Great idea, Shadow muses, looking to where Sonic was engrossed with nuzzling his cheek into Shadow’s shoulder. The newfound motivation must have been visible, however, because Tails lets out a hasty retort, “But I need him awake to run tests on his vitals!” The agent couldn’t help but frown in disappointment.

Shadow sighs, walking toward the seats of the plane with a now-placated Sonic in tow. He crams into the furthest back row with a grimace, given the now small space allowed Sonic to lean flush against the agent with a satisfied hum. He trains his eyes on the windshield of the plane, ignoring the presence of his rival flush against his side.

Amy cautiously sends him a look of concern, closing the door behind the two rivals and filing into the row in front of them next to Knuckles, who has his arms crossed and had been angrily muttering to himself about ‘The nerve of Sonic, to go desperate and needy and poke my eye just to cuddle up to his rival’. Shadow scowls, only because again, this is not fun for either of them and if anyone deserves to be muttering in annoyance, it was him.

Tails, taking his place in the pilot seat, is the most cheerful out of the five after Sonic (who obviously did not count because he was currently purring into Shadow’s arm). The fox had been switching on the plane, fidgeting with sensors, giving his mirrors an adjustment, and humming a tune so jolly that when he turned to take a glance at his brother, the scathing glare Shadow offered him left the fox fumbling nervously to take off.

Shadow glares at the sky as they fly back to Sonic and Tails’s home, only if to distract him from the soft purring emanating from his rival’s body beside him and the faint (but very much present) sensation of Sonic’s fingers tracing circles on his arm—Chaos, this is insane. After all this was over, Shadow would love nothing more than to pretend this never happened. But, given his luck, he knows a certain blue hedgehog would never let him live this down.

Chapter Text

Shadow was nothing if not resilient. Being the Ultimate Lifeform, he was born immune to most things—poisons, alcohol, injuries, illness. But whatever this was? This constant clinging, pawing, whining, and flirting, from his rival of all people—he could never become immune to it. He would rather give up his immortality than have to hear Sonic gripe when he couldn't be glued to his side.

A younger version of him would have probably left hours ago. Actually, past Shadow would have undoubtedly beat Sonic up the moment the idiot tried holding his hand—Sonic’s condition be damned. But Shadow supposes he's changed quite a lot, and maybe it was just having accepted that he couldn't escape the chaos that revolved around Sonic, or maybe it was that a part of him liked the challenge the chaos brought. Regardless, it had completely altered how tolerant he was of these absurd situations—ones he was always finding himself in when Sonic crashed back into his life. Whether it was one world-ending event that drove him to have to help Sonic and his team, or just those random spur-of-the-moment fights Sonic drove him into with his incessant bickering, Sonic was like a magnet. No matter how much Shadow tries to pull away and hope for a break from the insanity, Sonic always reeled him back in.

Maybe the constant pull of Sonic’s life was wearing him down. There was no logical way he couldn’t have found a better method to stay out of situations like these. Shadow was starting to think that some deep, annoying, aggravating part of himself liked it.

The realization brings a sense of surrealness. The idea that maybe he actually enjoyed the magnetism of Sonic’s life was something Shadow just couldn't come to terms with. But there he was, sat in Tails's garage, begrudgingly nuzzled by his rival, and suppressing numerous urges to fall back to his old habits and just teleport away. Though, being honest, it was mostly his guilt of the situation rooting him in place—that and Rouge had commanded Knuckles to make sure he held up his end of the deal, so other than the pair of green eyes boring loving holes into his head, there were now purple ones drilling pure disdain.

The plane ride had felt like it lasted forever, but other than Sonic’s corny attachment to Shadow’s right arm and occasional loud purring, not much happened. By the end of the ride, Sonic seemed equally as glad to touch down outside his house as Shadow was, albeit his reasonings were that he could finally go for a run with Shadow, eat a chili dog with Shadow, relax in the hills with Shadow, and take a nice, warm shower with—you’ll never guess—Shadow.

That last one had earned some awkward coughs from Amy and an obnoxious fit of laughter from Knuckles, as well as a horrified cry from Tails (who immediately ran to his lab). After he recovered from his initial mortification, Shadow had declined, fervently, and asked instead if Sonic could do him the favor of going to help Tails in his workshop. Sonic had eagerly agreed, saying, quote, “Won’t let you down, babe!” (Which had once again earned a boisterous laughing fit from Knuckles, who seemed to be enjoying this a lot more after recovering from getting his eye poked by a drugged, Shadow-starved Sonic.)

So there they were, Amy and Knuckles decidedly abandoning Sonic in his time of need and chatting about the bugs that had escaped them. Tails was hooking up a vitals monitor to his computer and Sonic, well…

“Have I ever told you how nice your eyes look when you’re focused?” Sonic gushes into his ear, ripping him from his internal monologue.

Shadow decidedly ignores the urge to say ‘No, you haven’t told me that, and it’s strange that you don’t realize you never would have.’ Instead, he resorts to actually missing the silent plane ride, and replies flatly, “And have I ever told you that my missions never go well when you're around?”

Sonic laughs, knees knocking into Shadow's and bringing a frown onto the agent’s face. He holds back from just teleporting away. Why was this Sonic so insistent on touch? If only the other could settle with rival-appropriate distance and the canon-typical two-word reply from Shadow.

“I like tagging along your missions,” he hums, yawning as he leans his head on the other's shoulder. “But that's only because I like seeing your cute face acting all serious.”

Shadow rolls his eyes. He’d never imagined Sonic being so forward to someone he found interest in, much less indulging in this amount of flattery, but Shadow suspected it was due to whatever Eggman’s machine had done to him, not so much actually Sonic’s usual behaviors. He’d have to ask Rouge if he’s normally like this. Only out of curiosity.

“Not to mention the look you get in your eyes when we’re fighting.” At the unexpected continuation, Shadow raises an eyebrow, turning to look at Sonic, who was staring off into the distance with a concerningly fond look in his half-lidded eyes, “The way your eyes get a fire in them, Shads,” he sighs absently, and Shadow’s heart races at the tone his rival unintentionally exudes, “it makes me imagine what it would look like when I—”

Okaayy, that was enough, he decides. Shadow stands from the bed Tails had asked him to stay beside with a committed huff, Sonic letting out a whine in protest. Shadow ignores it, all but sprinting away from the blue hedgehog and towards Tails. He ignores the stares he gets from Amy and Knuckles in favor of spitting out his question with a lot more impatience than he intended to express, his muzzle still embarrassingly flush with heat. “How long will this take?”

“Not too long. As for his…” Tails looked over at where his brother pouted on the garage’s bed. “Condition…” he says carefully, “I don't know yet. I need to collect a sample of the thing that caused this. So far the powder I found on him is the most likely culprit, but I have reason to believe the bug might have actually injected some kind of poison instead. If it was through the powder, then it must have been a really effective potency, but, uh…”

Shadow follows the inventor’s gaze as he trails off, looking back to Sonic who is now not just pouting, but hugging his knees to his chest. Shadow would tease him for being so dramatic if it weren't for the fact that one, it was a drug-induced tantrum, and two, he could not be around the other long enough to taunt him (not unless he wanted to listen to Sonic finish his last sentence). He shook his head, raising an eyebrow as he turned back to Tails, expecting him to finish.

“But I think you would have been affected too if that were the case. It did get on your body,” the kit finishes quickly, frowning in deep thought. Shadow glances at his right hand, where the purple powder remained as a harsh stain on his white gloves and, now that he noticed, parts of his wrist.

“I’m immune to most poisons, if you’re wondering why I wasn’t affected by the blast,” Shadow clarifies. “If it was the powder, it wouldn’t have hurt me the same way it hurt him.”

He looked back to Tails with a frown, but the fox was distracted in his thoughts. Tails apparently had a very obvious thinking face, and Shadow could literally see the gears turning into place.

Suddenly, as if he’s realized something, the young inventor turned to his computer, and without glancing over, Tails asked, “Do you think you could help me test something?” He pauses his typing to turn, explaining, “I know it might make you a bit uncomfortable, but it's only to test a theory.” At Shadow’s continued silence, the fox hastily added, “It’s only for a couple of minutes, I swear!”

Shadow scowled at the suggestion, and, unfortunately for his now far too common guilt, his hesitance caused Tails to wilt from shame. Shadow's frown only deepened further, this time in remorse. Rouge’s guilt-tripping seemed to be having more of an effect on him than he would have hoped. He sighs in resignation, “Fine.” Tails's expression brightened, and the pang of guilt that he had felt earlier dissipated. “What do you need me to do?”

Sonic picked at the loose threads of frayed sheets on Tails’s makeshift bed with a petulant pout. Tails had slept in his workshop far too often, despite Sonic’s insistence that he shouldn’t sleep where he works—something he once read somewhere was bad for your work-life balance. (Sonic probably only had himself to blame for the kid’s growing carelessness—it seemed his traits were starting to rub off on his impressionable younger brother). Tails had reassured him that the lab’s bed was “hardly slept in!”, but the worn fabric Sonic was currently fidgeting with on the bed’s sheets said otherwise. Plus, an alarm clock? Sonic thought as he glanced absently at the object placed far too conveniently beside the bed. Maybe Tails actually slept here every night without me even noticing.

The blue hero sighed as he read the time, mulling over how long Shadow had been gone. Far too long, it seemed to a now brooding Sonic, but the clock contradicted his less-than-impressive perception of time. It had only been ten damn minutes.

It wasn’t often he felt so disappointed at his rival’s flighty behavior (Amy once suggested feeling it as often as he did already was too much), but very recently, it was all he could feel. He didn’t really question why, and though his previous intrapersonal skills weren’t good enough to understand his usual internal conflicts, Sonic's newfound confusion made it easy to dismiss the question. But still, a part of his brain stayed puzzled. Why did Sonic miss Shadow so much more than usual? And, more importantly, why was it so fucking cold in here?

His pout turned more into a contemplative frown as he racked his head for a coherent thought. Sonic’s brain felt fogged, dizzy, and just short of a complete wreck as he struggled to think clearly. There was little more thought he could form besides his short observations of his surroundings, but all he could find himself thinking about was Shadow, and how cold, tired, and resoundingly confused he was without the dark hedgehog there.

Sonic shivered. He was starting to think that not only was it bad for Tails to sleep near his workspace, but it was probably too cold for Tails in here. However, Sonic had to note that he felt unreasonably cold. Despite sitting indoors in his and Tails’s garage (inarguably a much warmer place than the outside chill of early twilight) and normally never having problems with temperature regulation, his body kept shivering. In fact, Sonic, for once in his life, felt slow—lethargic even—something he was rarely used to feeling and even less comfortable with. Exhaustion burdened him every other moment, and if it weren’t for the intense tremors his body just seemingly loved to plague him with, he probably would’ve slept for hours already. It also didn’t help that the only warmth he was able to feel since he was bit by that bug (or was it a machine? He didn’t really get a good look at it) had stood up and walked away from him, again. He really wishes Shadow would stop leaving him.

The memory of Shadow’s abrupt departure replays in his head, and the pout that had formed when Sonic was forced to watch him leave forms on his lips once more. He would easily have followed Shadow if the dark hedgehog hadn't been the one to insist Sonic needed to help Tails run some sort of check-up, and who was he to disappoint his beloved like that?

But damn did he wish he could bear the consequences, not only to feel warm again but to be able to look into those gorgeous crimson-red eyes or to hear his deep, tantalizing voice. As he stares yearningly at Shadow from across the lab, Sonic is tempted to run over and wrap his arms around toned muscle and dark fur. The thought makes him antsy, his heart beating faster at the mental image of Shadow’s inevitable shock, and the gratifying relief Sonic would feel as the warmth would finally return.

He glances once more at the clock. 6:42 am. It had only been a couple more minutes. Chaos, was it normal to need someone this much?

His head feels split into two as he wills himself to remember what he was supposed to be doing. Maybe he needed to get some rest. Deciding it was a better option to sleep through his discomfort (and hopefully wake up when Shadow returned), Sonic hugs his knees to his chest and lies on his side, careful not to move the wires attached to him by Tails. He’s well aware he’s curled up too tightly to be able to fall into slumber, but the cold currently afflicting his body demanded it.

I wouldn’t feel cold if I had Shadow, he thinks solemnly. The thought just makes him feel worse.

After what felt like ages of trying and failing to fall asleep, Sonic hears the answers to his prayers.

“Do you want a blanket?” a gruff voice lacking the concern normally associated with that question asks him.

Sonic’s body, despite having just felt like it was on the verge of comatose, awakened at the sound like it was the first connection he’d had with the owner in years. He sits back up, an excited grin forming as he looks up to see Shadow, ever-the-alluring, standing before him again. Temptingly close, Sonic thinks, and his eyes glaze over as he stares into the inviting figure’s chest fur. Honestly, with the fluff on this guy, it’d be a crime not to lay in it.

“Just you,” he quips, eyes not leaving his target. He leans his head forward to where Shadow stood tense, hoping to land flush against the other’s chest out of a (concerningly amount of) need for contact. Sonic doesn’t know exactly why, but it's relieving amongst the cold flashes he continues to be plagued with, and damned would he be if he were to question it without testing it out again.

Shadow scoffs, seemingly noticing the desperation for touch and settling on sitting next to him instead. “I hope some part of you knows that you aren’t normally like this.”

Sonic, gravely disappointed at the failed attempt to lean his head into Shadow’s chest fur, leans to touch their shoulders. He can see the dark hedgehog’s throat bob up and down as he swallows his discomfort, and despite his inebriated state, Sonic acknowledges the tension in the action—it's not beyond him that the other was surprised, after all, Sonic wasn’t normally feeling this bold. Though only with the sole purpose of avoiding having Shadow run off again, Sonic eases off. Despite it unwittingly being the most reasonable judgment Sonic would probably make for a whole week, his body shivers at the loss of contact.

The other’s words finally reach his clouded brain. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he laughs, and despite trying to hold back, instinct pulls the words out of his mouth regardless, “I feel more than fine around you.”

And it's true, ever since fighting Eggman, his mind only clears when he’s around the other. Shadow was just a lot more alluring to him now. He can’t help that now he can’t take his eyes off his captivating face, and his arguably more attractive body. Even the banter feels more addicting—the first teasing comment was purely a slip of the tongue, but after seeing his reaction, Sonic couldn’t help but want to see more of the riveting emotions on his rival’s usually stoic face. And, Chaos, the way the other gets flustered? Sonic had been fishing for any expression other than indifferent for years, who knew all he had to do was tell Shadow how cute he was? Whoever said flattery won’t get you anywhere clearly hadn’t met the Ultimate Lifeform.

Sonic wants more, so when the heat radiating beside his shoulder feels too enticing to resist, he goes flush against it, completely disregarding his earlier courtesy of giving space. Shadow’s breath hitches.

After a long pause, Shadow asks with a peculiar strain in his voice—one that Sonic couldn’t possibly find anything wrong with, after all, he was way too delighted in his success at getting Shadow flustered. “And you don’t wonder why you don’t feel fine away from me?”

Sonic’s mind short-circuits. All he could think about was being near the other. Why wonder when he could just stay with him forever? Otherwise, well, it felt hollow, cold, and nauseatingly confusing. He didn't have to think as long as he was with Shadow. And when he was without him, well…

The fuzzy memory of Shadow leaving replays, and anxiety beats his heart out of his throat. “I, uh,” he swallows, trying to search his clouded thoughts for an answer. He can’t leave the guy hanging about what looked like a serious topic for him! Yet the words fail to come out clearly. He brings a hand to his forehead, smiling weakly despite his unease. “I’m trying, Shads, but all I know is how it feels, ya know? It feels pretty bad… Cold? Empty? Painful? Like something important is missing.” He looks up, finding Shadow staring at him with a concerned furrow on his brow. “Or someone,” he adds, smirking, his hand dropping to elbow Shadow with a playful wink.

Shadow rolls his eyes, completely unmoved. He scoffs before replying sternly, “Alright, if I knew you’d get flirty with me again, I wouldn’t have tried to rationalize you out of this.”

“Out of what?” he asks, his smirk dropping and eyes blinking in confusion. The striped hedgehog momentarily meets his gaze, an eyebrow raised in disbelief, but then huffs with an unimpressed frown, averting his eyes. Sonic wished the other would look at him again, and, in his disappointment, Sonic couldn’t help but remind himself that he was close to scaring the other away again. Shadow had always tended to push him away right when Sonic was getting too close, both literally and figuratively, but it twisted his gut to finally realize just how much it hurt.

“Nothing. Maybe you’ll understand later,” Shadow says with a sigh, unintentionally proving Sonic’s fears right. He was being shut off, despite his continued efforts to keep Shadow around. But another observation makes Sonic's heart ache painfully. Shadow’s voice sounds sad, almost disappointed. Was he doing something wrong?

“I—I don’t understand, Shadow… I’m sorry I can’t help,” he frowns, feeling frustrated, confused, and uncharacteristically nervous, resorting to letting out his anxieties by fidgeting with his fingers. What should he understand? If he understood, would it make Shadow stop looking so down? What if he wasn't able to make the other feel better? Did he just want him to go away? Why was he finding it so hard to remember the right thing to say?

When Shadow does look at him again, he wears a baffled expression. Sonic thinks he can't possibly feel as confused as he does, but the dumbfounded look of the dark hedgehog makes Sonic doubt his thoughts. He couldn't tell what he had said that left him like this—all he had done was apologize, after all.

“You do know this is just one of Eggman’s machines, right?” Shadow blurts, scoffing in frustration as he continues, “We don't say ‘sorry’. You don't act like an infatuated school girl, and you definitely don't get hurt over me leaving you for ten minutes.”

“That's just how I feel, Shads,” Sonic replies earnestly, a small tinge of desperation leaking out with it at Shadow’s annoyance. “I am trying to figure out what you're saying, but I just feel… confused? Ever since…” he trails off, trying to recall the overwhelming emotion he felt after their fight with Eggman when he had first seen the tiny bug twitch.

Sonic remembers the feeling was instantaneous. The pain had flared up his arm from the point of injection, coursing through his body and bringing him to his knees from the intensity. He remembers how it felt like scorching, searing flares shooting through his veins and into his chest. Immediately, his lungs failed to catch air, and he was forced into silent agony as the pain contorted his chest, leaving him unable to breathe or yell or anything. The white-hot pain brought his extremities to numbing prickles, while his head felt like an immeasurable amount of pressure was pushing into his brain, threatening to break it out of his skull.

All his senses had been consumed with nothing but scorching heat, static filling his ears and drowning out the sounds of battle he could vaguely recall he had just been in. Time absently felt like it was moving far too fast, but with the burning liquid coursing through Sonic's veins, it just felt like someone was injecting molten lava into his bloodstream, leaving him burning internally over and over and over again.

But then, the feelings vanished. He remembers this part much clearer. Suddenly, it wasn't pain, it was warmth he felt—the relieving sensation radiating from where a firm hand held him up. The warmth, unlike the scorching pain, enveloped his whole body like a blanket. How life felt like a veil was finally lifted when he opened his eyes and found Shadow hovered over him, a glint of concern in those piercing, crimson eyes. Time no longer rushed past the fastest thing alive, but stood ethereally still as he lay with numbing relief and stared in awe at the striped hedgehog's face.

And Sonic wasn’t much of a poet, but he had suddenly felt like could write an entire anthology on how the moon illuminated Shadow’s quills, casting soft, flattering light on the other’s features. He could write a whole songbook on how Sonic’s lungs caught air as Shadow's words cut through the static, his deep voice sounding like soothing music to his ears. He remembered the strange fuzziness that made his world spin on its head and how he suddenly fought the urge to just grab Shadow and never let go. He recalled the smile Shadow brought to his face and the resounding thought that damn, Shadow had never looked so gorgeous. More than gorgeous, he was…

“It's fine, hedgehog.” Sonic was jerked from his thoughts, quickly remembering the subject of his thoughts was sitting right beside him. Despite his blunder, he feels disappointed when the hero looks to meet Shadow’s eyes and finds that he was looking away, hints of dissatisfaction betraying his hardened glare. Sonic's heart beats much harder at the realization that, once again, he was unable to find the right words. He had to make it better. But how?

“Yeah…” Sonic says, more to appease Shadow than out of understanding. He smiles reassuringly, feeling the extent of his fondness unintentionally gushing out with it. His heart aches at the way Shadow looks at him doubtfully, but Sonic is determined to make it right. “Well, I promise you that whatever it is, I’ll figure it out…” But Shadow is frowning, looking disappointed yet again. Why would he look so disappointed? Does he think Sonic doesn’t want to understand? Does he think I’d just give up on him when he needs me?

Sonic’s smile falters at the strangely familiar feeling that punches him in the gut, and he breathes in deeply to collect his thoughts. He was damned if he were to fail at saying the right thing a third time. Sonic might feel more confused today than in his entire life, but he was nothing if not deeply honest. And right now, Shadow needed to know that Sonic wanted to help. To understand. To make Shadow feel happy. So with an earnest tone, he looked at his rival and said what he knew, deeply, was true. “Shadow, I like helping you. Despite how I normally act, I actually like seeing you happy.”

At this, Shadow draws in a sharp breath. The dark hedgehog’s gaze snapped to meet Sonic’s. The blue hero's smile fell as his breath caught in his lungs. Those crimson eyes, wide with unmasked emotions, entranced the blue hero, leaving him stunned, breathless, and hopelessly in love. Eyes locked in an intense stare that neither could completely understand the meaning of, Sonic found the moment too delicate to release bated breath, treading so carefully that he was worried time had stopped on its own without his notice. Sonic, however, relished in it. The way Shadow’s eyes flashed with an emotion he couldn’t quite put a finger on but loved anyway. Because it was Shadow’s eyes filled with Shadow’s emotions. And Sonic very much loved Shadow.

But then, Shadow looked away, eyes flickering to where Sonic sat leaning far too close, to where their knees were now touched, then to the floor, where they remained locked. The striped hedgehog turned his body completely away, stripping Sonic of his point of contact, much to Sonic’s deterrence.

After a long silence, Shadow was the first to speak. “Will you at least agree to one thing?” Shadow muttered through clenched teeth. Sonic, however, ignored the tone and instantly jumped at the chance to help.

“Anything.”

“Don’t talk like that.” Shadow states simply, not meeting his eyes despite the seriousness of his tone.

Sonic tilted his head in confusion. “Like what?”

“Like you’re actually—” Shadow snaps, head jerking towards the blue hedgehog in a surprising fury. Sonic jumped backward, hope deflating at the way the other’s eyes flared with annoyance. Shadow reeled himself in, jaw clenched before sighing deeply and starting again. “I know you don’t know this, but you sound really different one moment and completely normal the next.” He mutters quietly, sounding disturbed, “It’s almost like I forget you’re still… sick.”

“So, you don’t want me to talk?” Sonic says, ears flattened in dejectedness. In this state, he could by all means never talk again if it meant it would make Shadow happy.

“Normally, I’d say preferably. But right now,” Shadow sighs in surrender, a guilty look in his eyes as he considers his next words, “just don’t act like you’ve always liked me.” Sonic scrunches his face in confusion. “It makes things… weird.”

Oh. Sonic grimaces at the statement. Is it really making things weird? Why were things never weird before? What was happening to make him act so different? Did he not think Sonic liked him before? Should he just hold restraint again, for Shadow’s sake? Was it wrong that I don’t want to?

He hums in agreement despite his complicated thoughts, eager to move past the topic that kept his mind wandering and instead urged his brain to find a topic that would hopefully keep Shadow from leaving. He knew from his past efforts that Shadow liked to come and go as he pleased, but Sonic really needed Shadow around right now.

Finally, he thinks of something. “Soooo, Shads, have you eaten? Put any thought into my offer of chili dogs?”

Shadow makes a disgusted look at the mention and Sonic winces internally. Of course, he wouldn’t like that, he’s way too good for chili dogs. But damn, was anyone too good for chili dogs? They’re a classic staple.

He tries to recover, running a hand through blue quills and waving his other hand around dismissively. “I mean, I know you don’t really need to eat, but what kind of host would I be if I weren’t offering my most valued guest something to eat?”

Shadow makes a disapproving ‘tch’ at the label and this time Sonic can’t hold back his wince. Right, restraint. He coughs awkwardly, continuing. “Your choice, I’ll buy. How about pizza? Maybe some Doritos? Snickers? Some Hot Pockets? Or…” he glances at Shadow, heat rising to his muzzle when he finds Shadow staring with intense curiosity, bringing Sonic’s nerves to a staggering 100 and his filter down to zero. Still, he manages, despite the urge to gaze into that gorgeous face. “I can make you something! I don’t really know how to cook, but for you, I’ll learn!” Damn, Sonic was not good at restraint. “So, anything? Maybe some pasta, some chicken, or—ooh, I know! Steak! Maybe some roasted salmon, mushroom risotto, or beef wellington…”

(If you were to point a gun to Sonic and ask him to name any of these dishes any other day, he’d most definitely laugh, knock the gun out of your hand—because obviously, you're not faster than him—and tell you to ask Amy instead, who he most definitely learned this tangent from. But the pressure of having Shadow’s damningly gorgeous eyes scrutinizing him and the desperation to have the other not turn on his heels and walk away were definitely huge contributions to his newfound knowledge of romantic meals.)

Sonic swallows nervously at the silence, desperate for an answer. “Or maybe just some tea, if you want.”

During his inane rambling, Sonic had been nervously staring at the ceiling, forcing himself not to say something stupidly weird again. But boy, the way Shadow looked at him had made it hard, both to not look at Shadow or say anything dumb (which was against his very nature). Finally, he glances nervously at Shadow, intending to look away again, but the sight he catches makes it impossible to do so.

Shadow was still looking at him, an amused glint in his eyes and his lips failing to hide a faint smirk. Sonic’s heart leaps into his throat. His face warms pleasantly, a familiar but muddled feeling blooming in his chest that Sonic recognizes as pride. Proud to have been the one to make Shadow the Hedgehog smile. Sonic’s face forms a hesitant grin, scared that if he were to show his full delight at the situation, Shadow would quickly return to his usual mask. Internally though, he decides to ride that high as long as he can.

Shadow replies, voice no longer edged with his standard edge. Sonic can’t tear his eyes away. “Who knew you’d know the name of so many fine dining dishes? I thought you’d try to push the idea of chili dogs to me again.”

Sonic’s heart was still racing, but the sound of Shadow’s voice being so different and yet so welcome filled his chest with overwhelming emotion. One he knew was far too familiar, but yet couldn’t be bothered to distinguish. His expression melted, all the efforts put into making it less weird forgotten as he was overcome by the resounding thought that Shadow looked so perfect when he was actually smiling. A part of him wanted more.

That part of him made his next words forget all about his commitment to restraint.

“I’ve waited for years to be able to make you smile.”

Shadow’s eyes widen, eyes flickering with surprise, then confusion, before narrowing into an accusing glare, then as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. His expression flattens, and Shadow is suddenly pulling away. Like he was holding another end of the thread to his being, Sonic unravels.

At the flat look, Sonic feels his heart shatter. An apology gets caught in his throat as Sonic stares frozen at Shadow who was now, quickly, standing up and turning away, expression now obscured from Sonic’s vision. He wills his body to apologize and retract his statement, but a small, unpolluted ghost of an emotion felt that the efforts would be useless. He had done this all before. Pushed too much, been far too impatient, and faced the consequences. Still, it hurt just as much to have it happen again.

“Shadow, please,” Sonic pleads, a pathetic twinge of desperation laced in his tone, but the resolved look on Shadow’s face, one that Sonic had always been painfully accustomed to, meant that he was done with the conversation.

“I'll go get you a blanket,” the other says, and Sonic is left spiraling as, once again, Shadow stands up to leave.

Shadow frowns, standing away from both Sonic and his team’s prying eyes. That was a depressing insight into Sonic’s thoughts. Part of Shadow regrets using Tails’s test as a means of trying to talk the hero out of his delusions. But he knows that Sonic is strong—his entire personality centered around never giving up—the guy could handle a little confusion.

But could Shadow? That entire conversation felt like he was juggling two different versions of Sonic. One felt like a very flirtatious, clingy teenager, adamant on getting Shadow’s touch, while the other felt like he was just… Sonic. His talkative, carefree nature and determination to help others, including Shadow, weren’t lost to his affliction, but there was something else there. Something that had Shadow speculating if he had his memories altered or if it was just another lame attempt at flattery that Shadow was finding too off-putting to say could be easily dismissed. And although he went to Sonic to help Tails test out his attachment theory and with the full intention of trying to snap him out of it, now Shadow found the situation more daunting—Shadow couldn’t tell how much of it was real.

Shadow had to be logical. There was very little reason to believe Sonic wasn’t just quipping out some corny attempts at flirting again. But there was a certain tone to these statements Shadow couldn’t shake off. The way Sonic sounded, even with the bug’s influence, sounded so real. As if it was an honest expression of what Sonic thought was true. And the phrasing—

I’ve waited for years to be able to make you smile.

As if Sonic had actually liked Shadow for years.

Shadow’s heart raced. He scowled, hand clutching his chest in a stupid attempt to try to calm it.

Despite all he said about being logical, there was absolutely nothing sensible about his train of thought. Whatever Sonic had said was no doubt caused by the bug’s influence. If it was currently causing Sonic to somehow believe he had always been attracted to Shadow, then that was just it. An exaggeration of Sonic’s memories to increase the effect. So what did that make Shadow? The idiot that fell for it? Chaos, this was stupidly infuriating.

He had to get Sonic back to normal before this whole thing drove Shadow insane.

Shadow makes his way back toward Tails and the other two, intending to inform the inventor he was done with his little test, but the look on the other’s face makes him decide that maybe the fox should talk first.

And talk he does. As Shadow steps into their circle of conversation, Tails starts, “Shadow, good, we were just talking about what I analyzed. It seems like Sonic’s vitals are suffering a lot from whatever that bug did to him. His motor functions, temperature control, and self-control are all impaired since the attack. It seems his body isn’t able to properly regulate some of his organs, but I’d need to wait on a full blood panel to be sure his endocrine is being impacted. Right now, all I’ve been able to track are his blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, but it’s obvious it’s affecting his judgment as well.”

“So like alcohol poisoning?” Knuckles adds with confusion, and Shadow has to keep himself from slapping his hand to his forehead. Of course, it wouldn’t be something as simple as alcohol.

“Uh, yeah, like alcohol poisoning!” Tails says, far too brightly for the absurdity of the situation. Shadow frowns in surprise. Maybe it could be as simple as alcohol poisoning. “Except whatever it is actually far less digestible than alcohol. Normally, Sonic can quickly recover from any level of alcohol due to his metabolism. We've seen him sober up in 3 hours because of this. But this—” he gestures vaguely to where Sonic was lying shivering on the lab’s conveniently placed bed (Shadow had no idea why one would even be here). “—will take a whole week. It's more like a serum, or a poison, frankly. It’s clear its main functions were to inhibit his major bodily functions, which is why he can’t be awake for very long unless…” The fox pauses his tangent to glance nervously at Shadow, who blinks in confusion. “Uh, you know. Unless something keeps him up.” Tails looks toward Knuckles and Amy, frowning with concern. “It's making him too weak to even stay awake, and it can probably cause his whole body to shut down if he's not taken care of.”

Is there a reason he likes me, though? He wants to ask, but he remains silent to preserve his dignity. Despite spending years being acquainted with Sonic's friends, he did not feel comfortable showing them just how much this question was continuing to itch his brain.

“So… is there a reason why he's into Shadow?” Knuckles asks, pointing a thumb in the striped hedgehog’s direction without sparing a glance. Shadow tried to avoid showing eagerness in his face, but if his eyes looked a little too impatient to know an answer, then it couldn't be helped.

Tails's expression turned dejected. He looks to the floor before explaining, “I'm still not sure. All I know is how his body seems to react when Shadow is around. For example, just now, when Shadow was talking to Sonic, his vitals were a lot better. Heart rate was within his normal range, temperatures were perfect, and his blood pressure was fine. He was even responding just fine to me earlier, although I have to add, he was a bit, uh, confused.” What an understatement. “But right after, when I asked Shadow to leave him for a couple of minutes, he changed. He wasn't responsive to me, and his charts were looking bad. His temperature dropped, his blood pressure was low, and his heart rate was slow.”

Tails turns to look at him, frowning in concern. “Unfortunately, it seems Sonic only begins to show signs of improvement when he’s engaging with you, Shadow. Otherwise, he falls into this state of low energy.” Tails turns back to the other two. “He won’t respond unless Shadow is the one waking him up. And when Shadow is away for too long, Sonic only gets worse. It’s making him sick, and the only one that can really keep him from falling unconscious is Shadow.”

Great. So now I can’t walk away from the hedgehog without killing him.

“Poor Sonic,” Amy mutters, eyebrows furrowed with concern. “He really must be hurting, just from a little bug!”

“Hold on!” Knuckles waves his arms with sudden worried franticness, eyes wide, “if it’s like a sickness, does that mean it can spread?”

The silence felt deafening. Out of the corner of his eye, Amy laughs nervously, glancing at Shadow’s stained arm and scooting backward away from him. Shadow sends her a slighted look. Out of all people.

Tails shook his head, seemingly indifferent to the situation. “Unlikely, though I wouldn’t put it past Eggman to make yet another virus. The only reason I have my doubts is because we definitely would have been infected already, and luckily for us, we don’t feel like our bodies are shutting down.”

Speak for yourself. Shadow frowned at the exhaustion weighing him down. This conversation did little to reassure him of his concerns. Like why his rival’s body was affected by his distance and why it seemed like Sonic was so damn infatuated with him, of all people. Wouldn’t it make more sense for him to be attached to Amy? After all, the pink hedgehog had an unrelenting and painfully obvious crush on him for years. Or even Knuckles, given they were much closer than Shadow was to Sonic, though Rouge would have some objections.

“That’s a relief. Luckily none of us are fawning over Mr. Broody over here, am I right?” Knuckles teases, elbowing the striped hedgehog with a smirk. Shadow sends him a withering glare, and Knuckles drops his arm and clears his throat nervously. “Heh, just… just kidding.”

“Do you think it has something to do with the powder?” Amy asks, still eyeing warily at Shadow’s stained arm (much to Shadow’s indignation).

“And is that why they both reek?” Knuckles asks, and Shadow wonders when it became so easy for this group to offend him. He offers a confused frown at the indication.

“Ehhh, I seriously doubt it. It may just be Sonic acting delirious because of his affliction. But we can run a few more analyses on the powder anyway.”

Shadow nods, recalling his initial intel on the bioweapons. He grumbles, half lost in thought. “Some animal life was affected by this serum earlier this week. Those might have similar symptoms to Sonic, but all that G.U.N. said was that some pond life were engaging in unusual behavior.”

“Well, did they mention anything about mates?” Amy chimes in, and Shadow’s mind goes blank.

Knuckles, unhelpfully, breaks out in a fit of hearty laughter. Shadow scowls, not understanding what Rouge sees in him. Just two hours hanging around him makes him think that even Sonic was more tolerable. Actually, scratch that.

“Sorry, but this is just crazy,” Knuckles wheezes, trying to catch his breath as he wipes a tear from his eye. The echidna looked toward Tails, the only one of the three not sending him a searing glare. “Sonic, bit by a love-bug—” Shadow’s face flushes uncomfortably at the title, while Knuckles seems to be further pushed into a laughing fit as he continues, “—that causes him to confuse the first person he sees with a potential mate? And then it makes him too sick to be away from said mate? Why would Eggman do that? It must be something else.”

“Knuckleesss,” Amy hisses, clearly just as annoyed at the red echidna as Shadow. “I don't think you're helping. And unless you have any better ideas I suggest you stop talking.”

“Agreed,” Shadow growls, his frustration growing at the plateau in progress.

Knuckles's laughter subsides into chuckles, his gloved hand wiping a tear from his eye. “No, but seriously, could Eggman be that stupid? That he'd intentionally give Sonic some love serum? And make him fall for Shadow?”

Tails tilts his head and shrugs, nodding in answer. “Yeah, actually.”

“Well, shit.”

“No way,” Shadow cuts in, his exasperation boiling over at the anticlimactic revelation. “There’s no reason why the Doctor would pull such a foolish move. With no incentive? It would have been more logical to pit Sonic with anyone else.” He knows, objectively, that well, Shadow was a wiser target to have a physically incapable Sonic rely on. After all, he was nearly equal in power and formidability as Sonic, and if he was the only one Sonic was physically bound to, it would be safe to assume Eggman was taking two birds out with one stone. But why not people on his own team? Not only did Eggman not know Shadow and his team would be out there last night, but he also had audibly noted Sonic was alone when they had been fighting. Wouldn’t it have been more coordinated if the intention was to get Sonic to become helpless for one person?

“He’s kind of right. This isn’t even Eggman’s typical M.O.” Amy supplies, sighing softly at the impasse.

Tails places a finger to his chin, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. He nods. “You’re right, it’s really unlike Eggman to be using something non-technical. But what if he just wanted to hit Sonic with the debilitating effects of the serum, and unintentionally created one that did that and made him become attracted to the first person he saw?”

“It still doesn’t explain why he would release such an unrefined serum without working out that problem first,” Shadow argues. This still didn’t make sense to him, and it hardly helped that none of this would remotely fix the problem—just finding an explanation wasn’t going to cut it when just two hours with Sonic was already driving him insane.

The room goes silent again, clearly all feeling a similar sense of confusion. After a beat, Amy sighs. “Just because we don’t know why this happened doesn’t mean we shouldn’t find a cure!” She expands in typical-optimist fashion, “It’s best if we go scope out those fish Shadow mentioned. That way we can see if there’s anything more to this thing, or if it’s even a love-bug—” Shadow frowns at this—he did not appreciate how this title stuck, “—at all.”

“It’s as good a place as any to start,” Knuckles says seriously, but the mirth still lingered on his face. Shadow was going to have to ask Rouge if she minded Knuckles returning to her with a couple of limbs torn off. “Maybe we can even find Eggman’s base and just beat it out of him,” he adds with a fierce thump of his fists.

“While you two go scope out the location, Shadow and I will stay. I still have to run some analysis on the powder and try using Sonic’s blood to try to develop a cure if we can’t find anything from Eggman or the other victims. And well… Shadow, I guess you’re kind of stuck here.” Shadow’s eye twitches at the unspoken implication. With Sonic. Not just Sonic, but this strange flirty, fond, tick of a Sonic that is somehow managing to both piss me off and surprise me so badly that I can't even manage to be pissed off. Fuck, Shadow was beginning to have a headache. And he never gets those.

At the thought of Sonic's behavior, Shadow's mind unhelpfully supplies him with the memory of Sonic—in all his drug-induced glory—grinning proudly at being able to make Shadow smile. That pride seemed awfully familiar. It was the same one that Sonic shows when he wins a race, or as Shadow is now beginning to recall, when Shadow doesn’t completely ignore Sonic’s presence. His stomach churns at the thought. Could it really be that Sonic had always liked him? And why does that possibility make him feel so conflicted?

Shadow was starting to think Sonic’s delusions were infectious. So much for trying to preserve my sanity.