Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“So what’s with the Mickey Mouse gloves?”

Maria had asked him, only a sort while after they’d met.

She liked to “hang out” - as she put it - with him constantly. Whether he’s in his healing tank or not. Maria Robotnik is always….lingering. Talking to him. About what - well that ranged from the mundane to things that truly puzzled him. If only because he’s never heard of about most of the things she liked to talk about.

Shadow had a very limited knowledge of most things at the time. Pop culture being one of them. And most days it was a welcome change from the constant interrogation and hypothesizing of the scientists. But today, as they shuffled out of the mess hall (another thing he never did until Maria showed up, wander to the more…human places of the base) her words made him a bit self-conscious.

“Mouse…gloves?”

She giggled, a noise that Shadow was coming to associate with her and her alone. Whenever Maria was around. She giggled. And when she giggled. That meant she was about to include him in something. Because she wanted to. Because she was…happy. To do so.

“These -“ she reached for his hands.

Shadow pulled back.

It was something she did often. Reach out to - touch him. None of the scientists ever did. They always broadcasted their intent and Shadow either had to sit still or obey their wordless command.

But Maria Robotnik was a strange creature. She blinked at his hesitance and only smiled back at him, slowly - ever so slowly - took his hand into her palms and pulled it up so he could see.

“These,” she said, playfully rubbing her thumbs along the seams of his gloves, “They’re like - totally cute, don’t get me wrong, but i don’t see how they help grandfather’s inhibitor rings? It doesn’t look like they’re attached.”

Her brows pinched in scientific fascination as she looked at his gloved hand. But instead of feeling studied, as he so often did with the other scientists, Shadow feels his face heat up unbidden.

“You know about my inhibitor rings?” He asked, instead.

“Uh-huh,” she intoned, as if the question was obvious, “Grandfather showed me all the schematics before he was allowed to bring me over to live here with him. I even helped him design the killer shoes you have on right now.”

She poked said shoes with the tips of her socked toes, causing Shadow to stumble back.

Maria tilted her head to peer at them the same way she’d done his gloves, which she was still holding, “He said he needed footwear for a new kind of soldier - but you’re not a soldier.”

The assumption made Shadow bristle, “How do you know I’m not?”

“Cuz you’re a dork,” she laughed, poking him idly in the forehead.

At this. Shadow felt the heat drain from his face to an uncomfortable pain to his chest. He pulled his hand from her grip (he felt foolish for letting it stay in the air like that, in any case), and turned away from her.

“Hey,” she said, voice small, “I’m sorry, i didn’t mean it that way -“

“Then why’d you say it?”

A pause. And Shadow was beginning to feel bad for pointing out his anger. The only alternative to spending time with Maria (again, hanging out, is the exact wording she used) was to let the scientists experiment on him endlessly. And he wasn’t very found of tests. Not that he felt any better about apparently only wanting to stick by her to get out of them.

That wasn’t really the case. He liked -

How vivacious Maria was. She was always up to something, and the fact that she included him meant more to him than he was probably aware of. It caused him to second guess his little outburst. Wanting to take it back and pretend it never happened. He didn’t want her to leave.

“That was mean, what i said,”  her voice cut through his thoughts before he could act on them, Shadow turned back to look at her and found her smiling gently, “I promise i won’t call you a dork out of the blue unless you’re actually acting like one.”

Shadow felt both annoyed yet relieved - a contradicting emotion that forced a small snicker out of his chest and pouring out of his mouth to his own surprise.

“You’re laughing!” Maria cooed, “I got you to laugh! And it’s a super cute one too, Shadow!”

It felt a little unbecoming to laugh in front of her, but Shadow allowed himself the moment, and pushed back against her teasing.

“You’re a dork,” he mumbled fruitlessly.

“Takes one to know one,” she stuck out her tongue playfully. She then pointed at his hands again, “So…the gloves.”

Bested, Shadow looked at his own hands, his mood damped by the memory, “…My claws…are dangerous.”

“Really?” Maria stepped toward him again, “Are they like? Gross or something too?”

“No,” he frowned, more of a pout really, by the way she smiled at it.

“Well, then, can i see them and decide for myself?”

The ends of his quills stood out at her words. Was she trying to run an experiment? Prove a hypothesis? Shadow wasn’t sure of letting her, but found himself offering his hand again.

Maria took it was another gentle smile, running her ever lithe fingers over the military grade fabric that made up his gloves. She was mindful of his inhibitor rings, but slowly began pulling at the band around his wrist. Revealing a patchwork of fur that rarely saw the light of day.

“…Is this okay?” She looked at him patiently.

Shadow wasn’t even aware that his throat had gone dry. He swallowed then, curious as to why he was nervous about such a simple process. The gesture of asking was also throwing him for a loop. The scientist simply did things to him. They rarely asked. They never asked.

He nodded to her.

Satisfied, Maria pulled the glove all the way, finding resistance only as his fingers dislodged from the tight grip of its usual shield.

His bare hand flexed in the air.

“Oh…” Maria squeaked.

Shadow felt his chest ache. Suddenly feeling more exposed than he wanted to be. Did she find his real hand unsettling? Alarming? Why did it matter so much to him what her opinion was anyway -

“They’re so cute!” Maria squealed, taking his hand again into her own as she examined his sensitive pads, “It’s like a kitten paw! And you even have little toe beans!”

Shadow felt static in his quills as Maria applied pressure on his pads, causing his claws to flex. He was also made very much aware of just how soft her fingers were, compared to his own. She was like silk against his sensitive nerves.

“…these aren’t my toes,” was all he could think to say, petulant.

She laughed at his correction, “Hand-beans, then! And look, your nails aren’t even that sharp -”

He pulled back, afraid she might nick herself on the tips, but only achieved for her to actually yelp as his claw graved her finger.

Shadow felt himself spiral.

Maria stuck her finger into her mouth. Not outwardly phased by the look of it, but even so, the image of her reacting to being hurt by him sent his chest to tighten and his breathing to stutter.

No, no, no, he hadn’t meant to hurt her. And now she was probably bleeding. Now she won’t reach out to him anymore. Fearing more pain. And it was his fault. She won’t come around again. She won’t -

“Shadow?” Maria pulled her finger out of her mouth, looking at him curiously.

But already Shadow’s mind was reeling. Too caught up in his own fears to realize she had barely been scratched.

“Hey - it’s okay, see, look it’s not even bleeding -“

His eyes shut. Hands moving of their own accord to guard over his face. Something about disobeying her made it all the worse that he wouldn’t look, but he didn’t want to actually see her harmed by him, even in its smallest way.

“Shadow -“ he felt a tug at his bare wrist. Maria pulled and pulled, until he felt his muscles conform to her will.

He felt his bare hand lay against something soft.

“Feel that?” Her voice said, “it’s okay. Just breathe slowly and count to ten, alright?”

Her voice did more to soothe them than whatever he was pressed against, though it was nice, whatever it was:

What was it, anyway? It felt soft. Comfortable. Shadow flexed his fingers and made out a faint movement underneath his pulse.

A …beat, of some kind.

A heartbeat.

His eyes snapped open, zeroed in to where Maria placed her hand over his own.

His bare hand was on her chest.

Over her heart.

“Better?”

He wasn’t sure.

Maria Robotnik was a strange creature. She didn’t fear reaching out to touch him. Did not fear his paws touching her. What could be made out from someone who acted like she did?

“Your hands aren’t dangerous, Shadow,” she said, slowly moving his hand from her chest to the wide of her face.

She pressed her cheek against his palm, a soft, pillowy sensation causing a ripple from his palm through his entire being.

To go further, Maria cuddled into his hand, “See? Perfectly safe.”

Shadow stood perfectly still. Unable to articulate let alone comprehend what he was feeling. The only memory he had of his bare hands on anyone were violent. Defensive.

Protective.

But here Maria Robotnik was, happily letting him cup her face as if he were anything but a monster.

Shadow shifted, pulling his hand down but allowing her to keep it clasped between her own. He didn’t know what to say, so he opted to nod at her instead.

“What you really need is a manicure!” Maria laughed, her voice once again laced with a playful tilt.

“A…what?”

She grinned.

=

Maria pulled Shadow from his newly bare wrist around the corners of her grandfathers labs.

She didn’t want any of her grandfathers underlings to stop them or ask question as to why their precious Ultimate Lifeform was without a glove, of all things.

“In here!” She whisper-yelled, tugging him into her room.

It was smaller than the house she and her grandfather used to live in. She mostly spent her time alone when they did, as he was out in all matters of the day a night working on his secret government projects.

She didn’t see him any more often since she moved here, but at least she had Shadow now.

There was a stove somewhere off the side of the door. As well as a washer and dryer. Things most of the other employees might’ve needed in their spare time or to further work on their experiments on their off hours.

On the other side was a bedroom, but Maria rarely used it. It was for her grandfather, whenever he actually decided to rest.

Instead; she had set up a tent in the middle of the greeting room and spent her leisure time watching TV.

Shadow temporarily forgot his unease at being one glove short a hedgehog, enough to look at her handiwork as if to judge it.

“What…is all this?”

“It’s my fort!” She exclaimed proudly, gesturing to the beauty of it, “it’s way better than sleeping in a boring old bed and look - all my stuff is here!”

She pulled him further inside into her bedding.

Amongst her clutter was a bit of nail polish and regular nail care items. Things she used when she was bored and would now gleefully share with her hedgehog companion.

“I don’t think my usual kit would work on you, but that’s okay, i have a metal file we can use instead.”

Shadow allowed himself to settle into her pillows, despite how uncomfortable he looked. She kind of admired that about him - how despite his own misgivings he seemed to be down for anything she threw at him. Maybe that was him being brave?

Or maybe he only acted that way around her.

The idea tickled the back of her head for some reason. But she pushed past it, focusing instead on the task at hand and gesturing for Shadow to once again relent his exposed paws into her care.

He hesitated only a moment, gingerly lifting his hand back towards her.

Maria smiled.

She took it happily, turning his wrist back and forth to figure out what she was working with.

Shadow’s hands were…so…darn…cute!

“I love how your red fur extends all the way to your fingers here,” she breathed, fascinated by the beautiful red shade that enveloped part of his hands.

His thumb, pinky, and pointer finger were black, but his middle and ring finger weren’t. They were as red as the strip on his elbow that flowed all the way to the tips of his fingers and even painted the base of his nails reddish.

“It’s so cool!’ She said, looking back up at him.

She found him frowning, looking more unsure of himself than she intended him to be.

“…do you…really think so?” He said, as if he truly didn’t find it in himself to believe her.

“Of course i do!’ She said, immediately, not wanting him to feel ashamed of something as silly as the pattern of his fur.

Shadow curled into himself. A thing that tugged at Maria’s chest. For someone who was tutted to be this amazing alien super being, he didn’t look like he had any confidence. And that was…unfair. Sad, she supposed, but mostly she liked to focus on the why of things. If he was afraid of himself, then that only meant that the other scientists did a terrible job of not being afraid of him.

“Look, Shadow,” she said, once again pulling his hands to rest on her chest, “I would never tell you something i didn’t mean, okay? And i mean it.”

She paused, waiting for Shadow to meet her eyes. There was something…warm. About his eyes. They were nice.

He looked at her like everything she said was monumentally important to him.

And she’d never felt that before. Her grandfather didn’t mean to ignore her, but unless he wanted her opinion on something that stumped him, he rarely involved himself in her hobbies and schemes. Captain Walters was nice enough but it felt like he was humoring her more often or not. Like she was just some tagalong kid instead of a proper Robotnik. And the rest of the staff were so concerned with harassing Shadow that they didn’t even bother to see what Maria was up to.

But Shadow -

Shadow didn’t look through her. He saw her in a way that left Maria a little breathless, to be honest.

“There’s nothing scary about you.”

She found herself saying.

Shadow’s eyes widened but a fraction. His irises pooling in a soft, yearning way. She knew that in people - human people, anyway - that usually meant they were fond of the person in front of them. If the same were true in alien hedgehogs, she didn’t know, but she hoped it was.

She was growing really fond of Shadow.

“Look -” she said, looking back down at his hand, “I’m going to teach you how to properly care for your nails - we’ll file them round so they aren’t as sharp, but not cut them or anything unless they’re ingrown and hurting you, okay?”

“O…kay?”

She smiled.

Maria got to work on his pinky. Carefully and gently rounding out the tip of his clawed hand. They were in pretty bad shape, admittedly, but that wasn’t Shadow’s fault, clearly. If anyone had bothered to actually teach him how to do this himself, he wouldn’t be walking around thinking they were any more dangerous than her own got when she broke one.

“This is called buffing your nails,” she said aloud, clearly explaining each and every step, so as to not overwhelm him, “It makes sure there’s no debris and that your nail beds are prepped and ready for polish.”

“What’s polish?”

The genuine naivety of his voice set her heart to squeeze with emotion. He really didn’t know much of anything, and she was starting to get used to the idea that she would be the one to teach him everything the scientists neglected.

“Well - normally you can just put a nice sheen over your nails to keep them shiny and strong,” she put her buff down, reaching into her kit for something specific, “But they have some pretty colors too! And i made some using some components grandfather had lying around.”

She felt Shadow bristle, “Is it safe?”

Maria giggled, unable to help herself, “Duh! I use it all the time on my own hands, it’s really nothing - i just figured out the base components of regular polish and added all sorts of colors - look!”

She showed Shadow her box of homemade nail polish. There was a particular pair she reached for - a very bright crimson red and a dark, dark black she never used but still wanted to create. She had manufactured a whole rainbow for herself.

She pulled them up and grinned, “You’re gonna look soooo cool if we make your nails match your fur!”

Shadow looked at the tiny bottles. Skeptical yet open to the experience.

He nodded once and Maria squealed.

“It smells terrible!” He said once she opened the black bottle. She glanced up in time to spot his little snooze twitching adorably, unused to the aroma.

“Yeah, sorry,” she said offhand, careful to keep the polish on his nails and not his fur. It would be awful to mat it, “I haven’t cracked how to make nail polish smell nice yet.”

“It’s so…thick,” Shadow continued, “And why is it wet?”

“It‘ll stay wet until it dries, so try not to touch anything and keep your fingers splayed out like this.”

He started to grumble, “There’s a lot of rules to this.”

“Beauty if pain, Shadow,” she smiled, gently blowing on the black nails before going for the red.

“It’s changing the color of my claw!” He gasped as the red smeared over his nail and made it uniform.

“Yeah, Shadow, it’s supposed to,” she giggled, “now you can flap your hands to make it dry faster but dont -”

Using his powers, his hand became a blur for all of a second before settling back over her own. Maria gently tried to check its hardening, and found it to be pretty dry, though not quiet.

“Try to keep it elevated,” she offered an open palm, “Now…you wanna do the other one?”

Shadows ears twitched. Adorable on its own but made all the more as he looked like he was far more open to the idea than before. Maybe even eager for it.

He offered up his gloved hand, no questions asked.

Maria once again marveled at his tiny little paw beans. They were so firm yet had a softness to them, given how he was always wearing protection. And now that she was properly fixing them up, they would look twice as neat and nice.

“There -” she let his hand go, placing his gloves on her lap with care, “Now if you want to keep wearing your gloves, you can - as long as it’s your choice.”

Shadow looked at his hands as if they were brand new.

The same feeling of tenderness enveloped Maria at the sight. He wasn’t at all as scary as he made himself out to be. And if something as simple as a manicure could leave him feeling better about himself, she’d happily offer to do it for him from now on.

“I-“ Shadow stopped, fangs biting into his lower lip, “I think i want…to make sure your hard work stays safe.”

Maria smiled.

“Well…I’m sure it’ll start to chip eventually anyway,” she mused, crossing her legs as she prepared to put her things away, “but I’d be happy to re-apply it whenever you want!”

He nodded, almost entirely too fast for her to notice - but she did and it made her happy.

“Can I-“ Shadow paused, eyeing the way she had begun putting away her things, “do you - want me to paint your nails?”

Maria blinked. Surprised at his offer, but not unwelcoming of the idea. If anything, it would also teach him how to do it himself, if he wanted, but mostly she’d never had anyone try to do something nice to her back.

“Okay!” She thrusted her hand towards him.

Shadow seemed to blush, tentatively holding her hand in his palm as she’d done to him. She felt a ripple go through her, the pads of his hands pleasant against her skin.

He worried at his lip, “….you’re really soft.”

“Thank you,” she laughed.

He was pretty terrible at painting her nails, but that was okay. She didn’t have to worry about ruining her fur, and this was his first time practicing. He’d get better in time. And she could teach him how to properly clean up too.

“I love it!” She groused, happily looking at her blue nails. Some of them were too thick while others streaked, but from afar they looked perfectly cute and acceptable.

“…do you really?” He asked, voice small.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, “What did I say?”

Shadows ears flattened, his face bashful, “…you mean what you say.”

“Correct!”

Maria crossed the gap between them. Holding her hands up with expectation. Shadow appeared to understand her intent, and likewise raised his own to mirror hers.

She pressed their palms together with a grin.

Chapter Text

The underground racetrack had to be one of the best spots in the whole base.

Maria and Shadow were behind a plexiglass wall, watching as a set of motorbikes ran laps around the track. They were testing out a new type of engine - one that utilized Shadow’s chaos energy.

So far - the earliest test runs resulted in catastrophic failure. Explosions. And the occasional fire.

But they were doing human trails now - and some of Walters’ best soldiers where driving without incident so far.

Shadow watched as Maria leaned on the plexiglass railing, watching in rapt admiration how cool the new motorbikes looked out on the track. They weren’t as fast as he was, not even close, but even for what they were - they were impressive. He had to admit.

What he didn’t want to admit, was the fact that Maria’s attention seemed a little more than scientific appreciation.

He felt himself scowl as he followed Maria’s gaze to one of the drivers resting at the pit stop. A layer of sweat and exhaustion evident in his body language as Walters offered him a towel and cold water.

The driver didn’t seem all that impressive, or even what Shadow understood was…attractive. For humans. But it irked him that Maria’s eyes wandered from the racing bikes to this particular test driver. To the point where she pressed against the glass, overeager.

“Careful,” Shadow reached out to her elbow, holding her back.

Maria stepped down from her tip-toes, frowning down at him, “You can be as overbearing as grandfather, you know.”

He huffed. She said it like that was a bad thing.

One of the reasons he most admired Gerald Robotnik was because of his penchant for prioritizing his granddaughter above all else. Shadow could relate to the feeling -

Not that! He had any feelings - for Maria. In that way! Is what he meant. He cares about her, sure, and wants to protect her, and wants to make her happy, and make her look at him the way she looked at those dumb soldiers -

What were they talking about again?

“Don’t pout, Shadow,” she said, returning her attention towards the track.

Bristling, he shot back, “I’m not!”

“You’re cute when you lie.”

Shadow blushed. Wondering if being cute was better than whatever word there was to describe the way Maria was looking at that soldier. For a moment, he allowed himself to feel absolutely miserable, even though he’d been just as curious as she was a second ago.

In the next second, Maria scattered her thoughts entirely when she sighed, “You should be the one driving one of these, if you ask me.”

“What?!” He glanced at back at the track, “Why?”

“Why not!” She huffed, “They’re using your powers, Shadow, I think they ought to let you drive one if you wanted to.”

“Why would i want to?” he grimaced, “I’m probably faster than any of the units they made.”

“It’s the principle of the thing! Plus you’d look cool.”

At this, Shadow paused. Because looking cool seemed to be a primary objective to most things Maria had them do together, and he tried to refrain from fighting her when it came to things like that. The cooler he was, the more she’d like him, right?

Not that - she didn’t like him. Or that he was worried she didn’t -

“Maria.”

They jumped in unison.

Gerald Robotnik was standing aloft, with his hands behind his back, looking down at them both. Immediately, Shadow could perceive that he was unhappy to find them there. But where he felt chastened, Maria’s shoulders slumped as if they’d been caught taking an extra donut out of the dessert tray.

She rarely took her grandfather seriously. Which made Shadow feel like he ought to be twice as obedient, to compensate.

Gerald raised an eyebrow at her nonchalance, “Shouldn’t you be in the practice range, young lady?”

“Ugh,” she groaned, leaning away from the pexiglass, “It’s not like I got worse at shooting slow-moving objects, grandpa!”

Shadow’s quills stood up, “You shoot things?”

“It’s standard military protocol,” she informed him, looking a bit bored, “They give you a lame little handgun and a poster to shoot at, and sometimes they move it around for you.”

The tone of her voice made it sound as if she didn’t find the prospect exciting.

“I suppose you find self-defense to be a trite affair,” Gerald interjected, looking both amused and slightly put-upon, “In the event of an enemy raid, I’ll be at peace knowing that my only granddaughter found basic gun-safety unworthy of her time.”

Shadow frowned at his words, but Maria shrugged, unfazed by her grandfathers sarcasm, “Maybe if they let me practice using those new energy-riffles, I’d be more interested.”

“They’re dangerous, Maria - and still in the prototype phase. Did you want to explode by the second round? Because that’s what the interns are for.”

“How could they be dangerous? They took the energy from Shadow!”

Said hedgehog shrunk under their argument. He hated when they fought about most things - but when it came to the subject of his powers, they usually were at total odds.

Maria seemed to think he ought to have more say about what happened around the base, because most all of their research revolved around his powers. But the professor had explained to him from the start that Shadow owed it to humanity to help them make the world a better place. In order to prove that it was the right choice to save him from the meteor he’d crashed in, and not dissected him.

“Semantics, my dear,” Gerald tsk’ed, focusing his attention on Shadow, “Our dear little Shadow gave us his powers - no one took them. Isn’t that right, my boy?”

“Uh -“ he glanced between them, “…yes.”

Maria rolled her eyes, “So if Shadow says i can use them, can i?”

Gerald took a breath, “…No, Maria, that would be an infringement on GUN’s intellectual property rights.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he waved his hands, “The point - my dear - is that even though Shadow is helping us…develop all these fancy doodads for our dear military supervisors, his powers, once siphoned, belong to GUN, and GUN puts that energy in subpar accessories that explode because they refuse to listen to your poor grandpappy’s suggestions, NOW -” he stepped forward to take Maria by her shoulders and gently move her along, “Be the little angel i know your capable of being and go shoot at things like a good girl, hmm?”

Maria sighed, long-suffering, before turning around with renewed pep, “Can I bring Shadow?”

“What?” They both said.

“Shadow!” She giggled, extending her hands towards him, “Can i bring him? He should be getting basic self-defense training too!”

Gerald narrowed his eyes - but then immediately sighed, “I suppose! Go on then - teach him everything you know, Killer Robotnik.”

She smiled, brightly, “Thanks, grandpa! Come on Shadow - it’ll be fun!”

Maria ran ahead, her hair trailing behind her even in the airtight and pressurized floor of the base. Shadow was glad that the two weren’t fighting anymore, and was happy to follow her to wherever it was she did her gun-safety training.

He was well on his way before -

“…Shadow.”

He stopped.

Gerald’s voice had a certain tilt to it. A hardened tone that, though it did not frighten Shadow, told him that the professor was unhappy, and thus, to tread lightly.

Shadow turned on his heel, “Yes, Professor?”

He curled his lip in such a way that his mustache wiggled, “I thought we agreed to keep Maria away from dangerous sections of the base,” he said, glancing disdainfully toward where Walters was talking with his troops, “what about…this, seems -“ he took a deep breath, “safe to you, my little hedgehog friend?”

Shadow felt his throat dry up, swallowing nothing but his own nervousness, “I - I know, but Maria was having fun and -“

“Ah!” Gerald, nodded, slapping his hands together amicably, “Why didn’t you say so? I’ll be sure to put that in her tombstone!” He swept his hands across the open air, “Here lies Maria Robotnik - she was having FUN!”

Shadow flinched at his words. Unable to stop the imagine he described from manifesting in his imagination.

Gerald noticed is despair, “I’m sorry - was that mean?”

Tentatively, Shadow kept himself from immediately saying yes. After all, Gerald was just protective of Maria, and it wasn’t his fault that it came across as harsh, at times, “Well…no, I -“

“Becase I really thought you and I could count on each other, Shadow,” Gerald cut him off, slowly taking a knee, as to better talk to the hedgehog, while placing a firm hand over his shoulder, “You know that Maria’s safety is the ONLY thing that should matter between us - no one cares about her like we do. And if I can’t trust you to look out for her when I’m too busy -“

“You can!” Shadow said, heart nearly leaping out of his chest, “You can, Professor, I promise.”

Gerald looked at him severely. Until a slow, toothy grin curled under her mustache, “Now that’s a good boy.”

He stood up, putting is hands behind his back as he glanced to where Maria had run off. Shadow hoped she was far enough away not to suffer his scrutinizing gaze, and likewise felt bad that he considered the professor in any way as…unkind.

“Run along now,” he said, dismissively, “I’ve got to report to the good captain about our progress.”

Shadow nodded. Eager to catch up to Maria and put the unpleasant conversation behind him.

“And Shadow…”

He stopped again.

“Don’t disappoint me again.”

Chapter Text

“…and so then you pull this thing back - and you cock it, like this.”

Shadow jumped back a little as Maria finished showing him how to assemble a standard issue handgun.

She’d done it dozens of times over her life, and mostly just kept up with it to see if she could break her personal records.

Maria didn’t much care for guns. Because weapons that so easily took lives made her feel gross. But since her grandfather worked for one of the largest defense operations in the world, they’d basically thrown one at her and expected her to know how to use it, if she ever had to.

“…the kitchen staff is here, too,” Shadow’s voice broke her concentration. He looked genuinely surprised at the amount of people down at the gun range today. It wasn’t just soldiers, but the average personnel they’d come to know since moving to this specific location.

“Yeah,” Maria said, glancing at the night shift lunch lady, who was preparing to shoot at some ceramic plates, “We’re technically civilians, but since we also live and work around here, they make us do basic drills and maintenance and stuff. It gets kind of boring, after a while.”

She put her handgun on safety. Today it was an ugly orange version that looked garish in her hands. But it’s not as if they’d let her bedazzle one.

“But you’re so…good at it,” Shadow said, almost in awe.

Maria smiled, “I’ve just done it a lot. Here - you try it.”

He stepped back, “Shouldn’t we get an instructor?”

“Nah, Mrs. Fenton is cool - she knows i don’t need supervision.”

“Maria Robotnik!”

She jumped back. Sargent Patricia Fenton was looking at her from across the room, “Is that Project Shadow beside you?”

He hid behind her.

“No,” Maria said.

Srgt. Fenton shook her head, striving across the room in five steps until she was directly over Maria’s usual spot. She was a heavy set, dark skinned woman with a pin straight bun tied in the back of her head. She was usually very pleasant and fun to be around, but was downright exacting when it came to proper arms education.

“Is this his first time at the gun range, little lady?” She asked expectantly.

She could feel Shadow dig his gloves at her back as he hid, “…Yes.”

“You know better Ms. Robotnik,” Srgt. Fenton tsked, “Young man - step out from behind your friend, please.”

Shadow did as instructed, albeit hesitantly, and reached for Maria’s hand even though she had been the one to get him into this mess. It made her feel both guilty and happy that he sought out her support in the same way she did him. Though Maria didn’t have any time to dwell on it too much. With Srgt. Fenton staring them down.

“What do you know about firearms, Project Shadow?” She asked, patiently.

“Um…” Shadow stiffened a bit, glancing at Maria, who could only shrug, “…nothing?”

Srgt. Fenton smiled, softly, “Then let’s start from the top.”

Maria let out a sigh of relief.

Within the hour, Srgt. Fenton had both Maria and Shadow running basic safety drills. It helped Shadow feel more comfortable with the basic parts and workings of a handgun, while it appropriately punished Maria for trying to skip ahead to the shooting part of gun control.

It was actually kind of…fascinating. Watching Shadow handle himself around the standard-issue firearms. He had very dexterous hands, and his gloves just made it more impressive how easily he could disassemble and re-assemble the smallest parts of the practice handgun.

And his focus was adorable. Shadow took every Srgt. Fenton said very seriously, and seemed to commit her instruction to memory in such a way that she never had to tell him anything twice. Which was funny - because Maria remembered having to go over all of Fenton’s rules repeatedly, if only because she didn’t think Maria was paying attention.

She was. It’s not like Maria didn’t respect Srgt. Fenton - heck, they have such a strong rapport that she called her Mrs. Fenton, being the only person on base that has ever met her husband - a baker who owns a muffin shop in the city.

It’s just that, once told how things function, a Robotnik rarely has the patience to go over things twice. Her family had a penchant for inventing new ways to make things work, and as her father always said - guns lacked the creativity to hold a genius’ attention for long.

Paired with Maria’s general disdain for them altogether - she rather just prove she knew what she was doing and go on with her day.

“You know, your friend Maria is the best civilian shot in the base,” Srgt. Fenton informed Shadow, while she hovered over their table, “I’d almost bet that she’s as good as some of our top soldiers - but she’s too considerate to be competitive.”

Shadow looked at Maria with amazement, which caused her to blush.

“I’m not that good,” she mumbled, cleaning the barrel she’d been handed.

“Modest, too,” Fenton laughed, gesturing towards Shadow’s assigned firearm, “Tell you what - you finish up, I’ll let you practice before the day closes up.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded, seriously.

The Sargent laughed again, walking away to check on the other students out on the range. Shadow went to work immediately, which caused Maria to giggle at his intensity.

“You’re such a dork, Shadow,” she said unthinkingly, focused on her own task.

It took her a couple of seconds to realize that the sounds of his tinkering had died down completely.

“…Shadow?”

Maria looked up. Watching Shadow frown into his half-made handgun in a way that made her feel worse than she already did. It looked like he had stopped midway and was thinking of not continuing at all.

“What’s wrong -“ then, remembering her earlier words, she cringed at herself.

Shadow had stopped moving his hands at all.

“Hey -” she said, unsure of how to fix it, “ - I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Shadow looked at her painfully. Like he didn’t quite believe her, before looking back down at his practice gun, “…okay.”

“No, really, Shadow,” she insisted, aware that he was simply saying what he thought would change the subject faster, “It was like - a total tonal spasm or something! I was trying to make a joke!”

“It’s fine.”

“No! It’s not - really, I think it’s cute when you focus on stuff!”

And that only seemed to make things worse, as Shadow’s frown morphed into something of a pout, and he moved the handgun parts absently.

“Okay - stop,” Maria put down her gun parts, moving her hands over where Shadow was staring at, “You can’t handle guns when your upset - it’s like…a rule. Ask Mrs. Fenton.”

“I’m not upset,” Shadow said, sounding upset.

“You so are!”

“Well -” he paused, seeming to gather himself, “- who cares.”

Maria blinked at that, “I care!”

Again. Shadow looked at her strangely. His brows knit like he was thinking about her words, but his lip tightened as if he was holding something back.

He stared down at his handgun again, “…okay.”

“Ugh, i hate when you do that!” Maria groaned, frustration bubbling into the forefront of her mind before she could stop it.

Which, obviously. Made it worse.

Shadow buried his nose further into his task.

“Shadow -” this wasn’t good, he was flat out ignoring her now, “Shadow - could you stop for a second, I’m trying to talk to you.”

He let out a breath. Dropping the pieces in his hands.

It was genuinely something that distressed her. How easily Shadow obeyed her when she said certain things, even when she didn’t mean them. Maria always tried hard to speak in a way that allowed for Shadow to have a choice in the things they did.

Sure, she’d drag him around the base, if only for him to have fun. But that was when his only alternative was to be poked and prodded at. If he wanted to just chill out with her instead of doing a shenanigan, he had a right to say so.

He knew that, right?

Maybe he didn’t. So Maria had to be the one to make things clearer, “I shouldn’t have called you a dork, I know you don’t like it.”

Something about her wording caused his ears to twitch, and a bit of anxiety shimmered in his eyes as he looked away, “You -”

He stopped.

But whatever he was going to say was of outmost importance to her, suddenly, and Maria couldn’t let him drop it.

“I…what?” She ventured, trying to sound inviting, “Go on.”

Shadow worried at his lip, still not looking at her, “You…said that - you’d only call me a - a dork if i was acting like one. I shouldn’t get upset.”

“That was a joke too, Shadow,” Maria sighed, “Look - I apologize for speaking without thinking and hurting your feelings.”

“But you didn’t mean to,” he said, quickly as if to absolve her, which confused her a bit.

She frowned, “It doesn’t matter if i meant to or not, it still hurt your feelings.”

Again, a strange short of anxiety seemed to sweep over Shadow’s features. As if her words or her wording were particularly upsetting to him - which parts, she wasn’t sure. Either her taking accountability seemed to unnerve him or mentioning that he had feelings to hurt at all that threw him for a loop. Maybe both.

“I’m saying the wrong things,” Maria settled for the apparent.

“No!” Shadow said, with such intensity that it took Maria back for a second, before he shrunk into himself, “…you’re…you’re great. Even Sargent Fenton says so.”

“Being a great shot isn’t the same as being a good person,” she huffed, reminded that she still had a barrel in her hands. She started cleaning it, so she had something to do while she spoke, “I make mistakes the same as everyone else, and I’m always saying dumb stuff. It’s why i don’t have any friends outside of you.”

At that, Shadow all but stood up from his chair, “Everyone likes you! Even Major Kent, and he hates everyone.”

“Well, sure, here at the base, i guess,” Maria kept herself from rolling her eyes, not wanting to get into explaining the social hierarchy of everyone kissing up to her because she’s the granddaughter of the lead researcher, and not because she’s particularly charming, “But like…back when i was in school, for example.”

Shadow tilted his head, “You go to school here?”

“Real school,” she clarified, “I mean - back when i was enrolled in a traditional place, when grandfather wasn’t allowed to take me with him to places. I used to go study with a bunch of other kids. And they all thought i was…weird.”

“Why?” He asked, brows furrowed in anger.

“Cuz I knew how to do weird stuff like this,” she shrugged, gesturing to her finished revolver, “And I always had the answers to every question because i read ahead of the class and always did my homework as soon as they gave it to us. And…because I speak without thinking.”

It was the exact way the school counselor had said it to her grandfather. That Maria had a tendency to let her mouth run away from her. She didn’t mean to, as she kept saying to Shadow, but overtime she realized how it played a part in how her peers treated her.

Predictably, her grandfather had all but scoffed at the notion. Saying a few choice things to the counselor himself before pulling her out of that particular school. True Robotniks have no need to filter themselves, or so he had said, it was everyone else who had to keep up or be left behind by their own offended sensibilities.

But Maria had disagreed.

Maria had been. Lonely. At school, surrounding by children who never wanted to talk to her because she’d say the wrong thing or mean something differently than how it came out of her mouth.

If a Robotnik could figure out how to build a supercomputer from a pile of scrap, surely they could teach themselves how to be more sociable.

So, she had thrown herself into learning what normal kids did. She discovered her passion for music and art and pop culture of all kinds - a million different useless hobbies that her grandfather dismayed she spent time on but that made her happy in her solitude.

On the outside. She looked and felt like a regular person her age.

It was only when her tongue slipped, like it so often did with Shadow, that she had to remind herself that other people didn’t always know she tried really hard at it.

She didn’t know why it was so easy to forget about trying with Shadow. Maybe because he made her so comfortable, that it never felt like she had to think about her behavior until it was too late.

It made her throat scratchy to think he’d eventually pull away form her because of something she did or said.

“Maria?”

She blinked. Realizing she hadn’t said anything else for quite a while and that her eyes had been laced with emotion she hadn’t meant to show.

Shadow harbored some of his own, but unlike before, he was at least looking at her again.

“I…” he said, throat constricting, “I…forgive you. For…hurting my feelings. I know you didn’t mean it.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re not just saying you do so I can get over it?” Maria asked, a very important distinction in her mind, “You really forgive me?”

Shadows eyes shimmered brightly, “Always.”

Oh.

That’s…different. If she had more time to think about it, she would have wondered what he meant by that, exactly. But for now she understood that he was being sincere, and she had to respect his acceptance as well as he did her sincere apology.

“Okay,” she smiled, happily setting aside her firearm before moving moving to stand and lean over the work table to smooch him on the nose, “Thank you, Shadow.”

A shot of his energy sparked around his quills.

That was new. And it was cute too. Maria giggled as she considered how adorable it was, that he could do things like that, and look absolutely squishy to her instead of scary or intimidating.

“Alright, you two,” Sargent Fenton’s voice approached them faster than she did, hands behind her back, “Are you finished up here?”

Shadow glanced at her, using his powers to finish assembling the handgun she left him in record time. Before smiling up at her in proudness.

“Not bad, Project Shadow,” she said, examining his handiwork after she picked it up, “I guess it’s time to establish your skills out on the shooting range.”

Maria jumped in her seat, practically beaming as Shadow shared in her excitement. Sargent Fenton instructed them both to follow her, trusting them to keep close behind.

Maria took Shadow by the hand and walked him toward the target practice area.

“Now we don’t have any headphones specific to your ear shape,” Srgt. Fenton said, as they drew nearer to the line of students, “So try to make do with these as best you can.”

She handed them the smallest mufflers they carried, adjustable enough that Maria could help Shadow carefully slot them to the base of his pointed ears, where it mattered, while using his quills to make sure they wouldn’t slide off.

“Maria, why don’t you show him how it’s done and then he can have a try,” the Sargent said, stepping back to supervise.

Maria was aware that she mostly wanted to make sure she followed procedure, as she was notorious for just picking something up and blasting away. But since this was Shadow’s first time at the range, Maria actually did want to show off properly.

She had a reputation to uplift, after all.

Maria put on her earmuffs and goggles. Even choosing a pair of gloves that suited her outfit. She righted her shoulders and assumed the best posture that the Sargent had taught her, given her size. One day, she might be tall enough to try fancy stances, but for now she had to center herself to keep from recoiling.

BANG BANG BANG!

The practice target moved closer from where it had been placed. Demonstrating a single bullet hole dead center of the page’s head.

Shadow looked at it in confusion, “You shot three times but only hit it once?”

Maria scoffed in mock-offense while the Sargent laughed.

“She shot it three times dead center,” Fenton said, “Pretty impressive for anyone, more so for a kid her age and size.”

Maria smiled, stepping back after properly setting down her firearm, “You try next, Shadow.”

Timidly, he walked up, gently taking the gun in his hands. When he peered at his target, he frowned a bit, before turning towards the Sargent.

“Why is it shaped like a human?” He asked.

The question caught the woman off guard, “Oh -“

She looked between the target and Shadow, mouth slightly agape as she wondered. Maria had asked the same question, once, but someone else had been her instructor at the time and simply said that that’s how it was.

“Well…” Fenton said, slowly, “In the event someone were to…raid the base, it’s likely it would be other humans. So it’s important we know where to hit them, in self-defense, so that they won’t hurt you.”

“Oh,” Shadow said, looking back at the target, “So…it’s okay for me to…hurt a human if they’re attacking us?”

All at once, Fenton seemed out of her depth. But to Maria, it made perfect sense, “Yeah - you have to know how to protect yourself Shadow!”

He looked back at her, “But wouldn’t i just use my powers for that?”

“Well, duh,” Maria shrugged, “But you wanna learn how to look cool with a gun, right?”

At this, his nose twitched, and he immediately set to copying the stance Maria was in, earlier.

“Right,” he said, nodding.

“Okay,” Fenton let out a breath, visually relieved they changed the subject back to what she knew, “Feet a bit more wide. Plant them firmly on the ground. Use both hands for now, that’s best to lessen the trauma to your arms and shoulders, let alone your wrist.”

“Got it.”

“In a real emergency, you might not have the luxury of standing still and aiming, but you have to learn how to do it right before you do anything fancy, capiche?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Alright - the main points would be the head, the chest, and the abdomen - ”

“Wouldn’t that kill someone?” Shadow asked, innocently.

Fenton seemed like she was drowning, “Well…yes, but - like i said, it’s important to know how to immediately diffuse a situation first, before we go over how to slow or dissuade.”

“How do i do that?”

“By hitting the arms or legs, but -“

“Why can’t I do that first?”

Maria let out a laugh, unfortunately aware of how stressed Sargent Fenton was becoming at his questions. She wasn’t like one of her grandfather’s underlings. Who had learned to tell Shadow not to ask any questions at all (which infuriated Maria immensely) and just ordered him around. The good Sargent lacked the wherewithal to handle his more inquisitive nature.

“Mrs. Fenton, maybe we can just change the target dummies so that Shadow does’t feel weird about it?” Maria offered, helpfully.

“Right,” the woman’s shoulder’s slumped in relief, “Thank you, Maria  - MORALES! Get me another dummy, we’re doing some drills over here with Project Shadow!”

Shadow looked far more comfortable when they human torso was removed form his line of fire, looking back at Maria with thankfulness in his eyes. She nodded back at him, happy to help in any way that made him more comfortable around the other humans in the base.

When Shadow’s new targets were carefully set up, he took up his stance again, and carefully aimed the gun in his hands.

Admittedly speaking, he looked really cool for a hedgehog learning to shoot.

Who would’ve thought.

=

“…what exactly am looking at here, Patricia?”

Walters was fixated on some security footage blown wide up on the expansive military monitor set up in the observation room. In the footage, he was watching Shadow shoot at various targets. Some of them moving targets, as at one point, the on-duty personnel had rigged the flying ceramic disks to work at alarming speeds. Just to see if he would miss one.

They’d also given him more than just the standard-issue practice handgun.

A crowd had gathered just to watch Shadow try to shoot with various weapons from their personal arsenal. Rifles, prototype blasters -

A Gatling gun.

Walters had walked into the armory with Gerald in tow to find a very ecstatic Maria cheering on her little hedgehog friend as he shot at whatever his fellow soldiers threw at him.

And then the party had very much stopped.

“I was told by Ms. Robotnik that her grandfather had approved of Project Shadow joining her on her standard firearm lessons,” Patricia said, a little defensively.

“Blame me, will you?” Gerald harrumphed looking away from the monitors outright, “My granddaughter could’ve been Swiss cheese under her supervision!”

“Gerald,” Walters said, firmly, “Why on earth did you approve of Project Shadow doing down to the range with Maria in the first place?”

“Maria asked me to!” He shrugged, as if Walters were the one being unreasonable.

Walters sighed.

“Besides,” Gerald continued, “It was supposed to be a standard lesson - unless Fenton has taken to giving my granddaughter live-fire grandees, as of late?”

At this, Patricia cleared her throat, “…I admit, and take full responsibility for how…out of hand things may have gotten.”

“May have?” Walters raised a disapproving brow.

“….he looked really cool, Walters.”

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Gerald said, sounding bored of the topic, “You have him labeled as the Ultimate Life-form under all your little military files but you get the Heebie-Jeebies when he’s actually learning how to handle weapons?”

“That name is more of a moniker than anything else, it’s for show,” Walters says, a bit tired himself of the increasingly wacky hijinks that he’s watching on screen, “It’s like when we name secret operations using pop-culture references, a bit of smokescreen to make it seem more intimidating than it is - the logistics of actually training Shadow in things like self-dense and firearm detail -”

“And why not?” Gerald huffs, sounding ever so much like his grand-daughter did when she objected to something, “Maria will likely keep asking me to let her bring him everywhere she goes -”

“And since when is Maria head of operations?” Walters says, a bit challengingly.

Gerald blinks, looking genuinely surprised, “Oh - I’m sorry!” And then his expression morphed into a self-assured grin, “I believe you were tasked specifically with…hmm, how did you phrase it that one time? Making me happy.”

Walters felt himself take a breath.

This entire base was held together by goodwill and duct tape. As a mere captain, Walters had to answer to his own higher-ups, and was largely told to keep the peace and keep Gerald from flying the coop should his interest move elsewhere. Specifically, towards any foreign military operations.

GUN had great ambitions towards being a world-wide shadow defensive organization. But for now, they were stationed in the United States and had the blank checks of their closest allies - and only some of their enemies. They couldn’t afford to let their most brilliant mind be seduced by more…accommodating countries.

Shadow had stumbled upon him saying something to that effect to one of Gerald’s assistants - all provided by the military, of course. The Professor didn’t much bother himself with amassing a personal team of his own. Something about untrustworthy employees when his daughter had still been alive - Walters didn’t so much care about the man’s past, at present, to look into properly.

He had suspected Shadow might have told Gerald about what he’d heard. The professor had this unnerving…control over the little hedgehog boy. Which made it just as suspicious that Gerald seemed so gun-ho about allowing Shadow this particular amount of freedom.

“Alright,” Walters says, at length, turning properly to look Gerald in the eye, “But I’ll be the one overseeing his military exercises going forward - if Maria wants to participate, she’s welcome to do so.”

“How generous!’ Gerald smiles, something about it making Walters feel less in control than his suggestion should make him, “I’m sure they’d appreciate your personal interest in their fleeting, teenage fixation of the week.”

“…Right.”

He turned again, subtly dismissing Patricia, who moved quickly to vacate the room. Gerald lingered a bit longer as the security footage showed small, blink-and-you-miss-it moments where Shadow’s powers seemed to aid him in his target practice.

So far. All GUN has done is siphon Shadow’s powers and lock it up in tanks and containers. They tried putting it in weapons, using it for fuel, even giving alternative energy a chance. None of these options have been very…viable.

But Shadow - he could use his powers for whatever he wanted - and it always seemed to work out.

“You’re making an excellent choice, Walters, my friend,” the professor said, his voice moving away as he finally began existing the room, “You’re going to make him into the greatest warrior this planet could ever hope to ask for!”

Ultimate Life-form.

Ultimate Warrior.

Walters wondered for all of a second if that’s what Shadow wanted at all.