Chapter Text
When Shadow opened his eyes again, he was lying in his room in the depths of GUN’s headquarters. The lights were dim, and the beeps of the monitors were painfully loud. His limbs felt weak, but they were no longer burning. Omega seemingly hadn’t moved, and his lenses flashed when he registered the fact that Shadow was awake.
Shadow felt a warmth against his side, and he looked over to see Rouge curled up beside him. She was dressed in a crinkled cotton shirt and shorts. Her lipstick was a different colour, and she had deep shadows under her eyes. He turned onto his side and placed one arm around her. Her eyes flickered open, widening as she saw that he was awake.
He removed the respirator from his mouth and gave her a forced smile. ‘Did I miss anything?’
‘… Only me being more devoted than the wife you don’t have,’ Rouge retorted. ‘I haven’t left your side in over a week. If I’d known how long you were going to be in a coma for, I would have brought in another b-bed …’ Her eyes began to water, and she threw her arms around him, bursting into tears. ‘I d-didn’t know if you were ever going to wake up! Just let me get shot next time, damn it!’
Shadow closed his eyes and hugged her back, ignoring the sceptical whirring coming from Omega’s direction. ‘It was my choice. What good are my powers if I can’t use them to save the people I care about?’
Her claws pricked his back, and her wings stiffened. ‘That’s the entire reason why we’re in this mess. They used me and your powers against you.’
‘It’s not going to happen again.’
‘How do you know that?’
Shadow sat up, wincing, and Rouge followed suit. ‘Because once I deal with the person who did this, no one will be brave enough or stupid enough to try anything like this ever again.’
‘They haven’t even caught them yet.’ Rouge reached up, tapping her earpiece with one ear. ‘I have bugs and wiretaps throughout all of GUN’s offices. We normally use bullets to trace the perpetrators of gun crimes, but these bullets were unique. It’s been slow going …’ Her hand stilled, and her eyes narrowed. ‘Wait.’
Shadow’s ears pricked up. ‘What is it?’
Rouge’s eyes flickered. ‘Something’s happening. They’ve identified the shooter. It sounds like they’re deploying a strike team to bring them in.’
Shadow abruptly threw his legs over the side of the bed and pulled his IV lines out of his arms. ‘Where are they?’
‘You’re not going –‘
Shadow yanked the earpiece from her ear and held it to his own ear. Through garbled static and tinny audio, he could hear orders being given for agents to convene in one of GUN’s hangars. He held out his hand to Rouge. ‘Give me the Emerald back.’
‘Not on your life. Shadow –’
He growled and slid off the bed, stumbling over to the workbench. He cleared the surface with a sweep of his hand and yanked a drawer open. Tools and gun parts clattered on the ground, and he held up the fake emerald that he had retrieved from Space Colony Ark.’
‘Chaos –’
‘You’re not going!’ Rouge yelled, lunging at him. Her hand closed on his arm at the same time as Omega’s hand clamped down on his shoulder. His reflexes weren’t as sharp as usual, and he barely registered their sudden movements before the second word left his lips.
‘– Control!’
They were enveloped in a flash of green light and promptly spat back out into one of the labyrinthine corridors of GUN’s headquarters.
Rouge punched him in the shoulder, and he nearly fell. ‘You idiot! What the hell do you think you’re doing?’
‘I’m going after the shooter!’ Shadow snapped.
The tromping of boots filled his ears, and they turned to see Abraham walking down the corridor, accompanied by a squad of special ops soldiers. He saw Shadow and gritted his teeth. He looked like he wanted to turn on his heel and leave, but he kept walking. ‘You’re not fit for duty, agent.’
‘I’m alive, and I’m standing on my own two feet,’ Shadow countered. ‘What more do you want?’
Abraham drew to a halt. ‘I want you three to stop blocking the corridor. Move.’
Rouge arched an eyebrow. ‘Omega and I had nothing to do with this, Abe. This stubborn bastard brought us with him.’
‘It was an accident,’ Shadow said. ‘My reflexes aren’t as sharp as normal.’
Abraham narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re hardly making a convincing case for why we should let you join the strike team.’
‘I don’t need to “make a case”.’ Shadow glared at the soldiers and said, ‘I’ll be going after the shooter myself, and you can’t stop me. Dismiss your men. They’ll just get in my way.’
‘I will not.’ Abraham’s expression darkened. ‘You’ve already cheated death once. Don’t be in such a rush to sit back down at the dealer’s table.’
‘I can’t die –‘
‘Do you really want to bet on that?’ Abraham stared at him and said, ‘You might be standing on your own two feet, but you’re barely standing. You haven’t even fully recovered. If you get shot with another one of these projectiles, you might have to worry about more than being incapacitated. You’re not going after the shooter. We are.’ He turned to the soldiers and motioned sharply. ‘Continue to the hangar. I’ll join you in a moment.’
The squad leader looked up at Omega. Omega’s lenses gleamed beneath the lights, and machinery began to clank and whirr within his arms. After a moment, Shadow gave Omega’s foot a subtle kick, and the noises stopped. The soldiers left in single file, squeezing past Omega’s clawed hands with wary glances upwards.
Once they had left, Abraham fixed his gaze on Shadow. ‘I know that you have grievances over Rouge being targeted, but there is a time and place –’
‘This isn’t just about her,’ Shadow snarled, and Abraham’s eyes widened. ‘ I didn’t know if I would get my sight or hearing back. I didn’t even know if I was going to survive. Whoever this person is, I went through hell because of them. I’m going to find them, I’m going to make them suffer, and then I’m going to kill them.’
‘Kill?’ Abraham asked
‘You want to talk about time and place? This isn’t the time for moral grandstanding,’ Shadow said. ‘If I don’t kill them, then GUN will execute them once they’ve wrung them for information.’ Abraham stiffened, and Shadow knew that he’d correctly guessed how this was supposed to play out. ‘That’s not good enough. I need to be the one to do it. I need people to know what will happen if they target my teammates again, which is why I have to –‘
‘Enough,’ Abraham said. There was an unusual weight to his voice. He glanced up at the security cameras. ‘Rouge, we’ve been having problems with the cameras in the detention cell block. We need you to have a look at them.’ He paused. ‘It would be unfortunate if someone exploited the flaws in the security system in order to access our high-risk prisoners.’
Rouge arched an eyebrow. ‘… Sure, Abe. We can’t have anyone undermining the infallible justice system of the United Federation.’
Abraham exhaled through his teeth and strode off, brushing against the wall in order to give Omega a wide berth. He gave Shadow a sharp look as he left. ‘You’re the only one who these bullets can affect. If you want to confront him, then let us disarm him first.’
Shadow crossed his arms tightly and said nothing, listening to Abraham’s retreating footsteps.
Rouge clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward, giving Shadow a searching look.
‘What?’
‘Are we killing him?’
Shadow braced a hand against Omega’s exterior for support. He’d maintained a facade while speaking to Abraham, but he’d only just regained consciousness, and exhaustion was rapidly setting in. Using Chaos Energy still had physical repercussions, albeit less severe than before. ‘I’m killing him.’ ‘Do you have a problem with that?’
‘I’ve never questioned your methods. If you want to send a message, then I’ll give you a megaphone.’
‘I’d prefer a gun.’ Shadow took a step forward, and he could barely lift the weight of his own shoes. ‘Or a knife. Guns are for business, and knives are for personal matters.’ He met her sea-green gaze, and he hesitated. ‘This is … personal to me. To say the least.’
‘What about Maria’s wish?’ Rouge said. Her expression was unreadable.
Shadow gave her a scathing glare. ‘The shooter had the chance to walk away without shooting at you and me, but he still pulled the trigger. He already had his damn chance. Do you actually want me to let him live?’
‘I just don’t want you to do something that you’ll regret. I know you, and I know that you’ll have to live with your regrets forever.’
Shadow took another step forward and nearly stumbled. ’I only kill when it’s necessary. Making sure that you don’t come to harm because of me is necessary.’
‘If you say so.’ Rouge shrugged. ‘Second chances are nice, but …’ Her smile faded, and her eyes were chillingly cold. ‘… Not everyone deserves them.’
He nodded curtly and took another step. But this time, his leg buckled, and Rouge grabbed him to steady him.
‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine –’ His other leg buckled, and Omega’s claws clamped shut around his torso with a metallic click, preventing him from collapsing.
‘“Standing on your own two feet”, my ass,’ Rouge muttered. ‘This is the sickest you’ve ever been, and your condition has barely stabilised. Omega?’
‘Define query.’
‘Help me get this dumbass out of here, would you?’
‘Request acknowledged.’ Without warning, Omega picked Shadow up and held him in his clawed hands, trudging off with clunking footsteps.
Shadow buried his face in one hand and hissed in embarrassment. ‘… I’m going to fry your circuits once I’ve fully recovered.’
‘You must not.’ Omega looked down, and his lenses flashed. ‘I want to assist with dispatching your assailant, and I cannot do so if I am non-functioning.’
Rouge’s wings fluttered, and she sat on Omega’s shoulder with a sigh. ‘Honestly, I don’t know why I was surprised. If you spend enough time with Omega, homicide inevitably becomes the default solution to every problem.’
Omega whirred in approval. ‘It is extremely effective.’
‘Of course it’s effective. It turns the source of the problem into a red smear. It doesn’t mean it’s always the right approach …’
Shadow closed his eyes. He hadn’t realised how much he would miss Rouge’s constant chatter until he had lost his hearing. It was a comforting source of white noise. He was also beginning to feel drowsy, and the constant movement of Omega’s walk cycle wasn’t helping matters.
‘Are you all right?’ Rouge asked.
‘I’m fine.’ He opened one eye briefly and cracked a smile. ‘I told you I’d be fine, didn’t I?’
‘… You insufferable brat.’ Rouge was trying to sound irritated, but she reached down to rest a hand on his head, and the fondness of her touch betrayed her. ‘You always have to be right about everything, don’t you?’
‘Hmph.’
‘Sleep well,’ Rouge said. Even though his consciousness was fading, he could still hear a hint of frost creep into her voice. ‘Once you’ve rested up, we’ll have work to do …’