The Curse of a Creative

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Table of Contents

Sonic Fanfics:

Free & Safe (multi-chapter)

They move a little in the 1st movie

But I think that would be such a cute detail to add!!

Everyone is sitting in the living room for movie night. Sonic and Shadow curled together in a recliner off to the side of the room, still in view of the tv. Shadow is gently tracing over Sonic’s scars, not really paying any attention to the movie.

Everyone was calm and relaxed. The whole family was back together under one roof. They could deal with GUN later.

When they came downstairs for lunch Knuckles apologized for startling Sonic and proved he was ok by bench-pressing the dining room table, much to Maddie’s displeasure.

Sonic’s twitching is more manageable now, his nerves healing more now that he is able to eat like he is supposed to. And his power doesn't flare up as much anymore between Shadow basically eating his energy and the inhibitors Tails made for him.

All in all Sonic felt like he would be ok, eventually. With his family by his side nothing could keep him down.

~Fin~

🦔‧₊˚☼彡

Sonic wakes up in the same position he fell asleep in; on top of Shadow’s chest. There was a slight clicking in Shadow’s chest with every breath he took. Mirrored by Sonic’s own, what is this?

“Keep your purring to yourself Sonic.”

“What do you mean?! You’re doing it too!”

Shadow’s chest stops vibrating. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Wha?!”

“Get up. You need a bath.”

“What? No I don’t”

“Yes, you do. The rain only did so much, and we have to clean your wounds.”

“They all healed!”

“I thought you didn’t have a healing factor?”

“The humans kept giving me injections of something, I think it was to speed up my healing, but the effects are still active. The first time I remember them giving it to me, I was throwing up and I passed out right after.”

“I didn’t think GUN had medicine that advanced.” Sonic hummed an ‘I don’t know’.

“Either way, you still need a bath, if not for any other reason than you are covered in my spit.”

“I don't mind.” Sonic looked away from Shadow at his admission. Sonic wouldn’t admit it, but Shadow’s licks to his forehead were comforting in a way he couldn’t explain; like Longclaw and Maddie but more, deeper. He knows they both love him but with Shadow it feels different and he doesn’t know why.

“Well I do.” Shadow carries him into the bathroom and sets him on the sink counter. He plugs the tub and starts fiddling with the water temperature knobs. Once he’s satisfied, he takes off his gloves and socks. Sonic just stares, face heating up under his fur. Shadow’s hands were black like the rest of him, but the red stripe that ran along his arms encompassed his middle and ring finger as well. His claws were sharp too, sharper than Sonic ever allowed his to be. “What?”

Sonic snaps his head away, “Nothing.”

Shadow looks down, “Oh,” he realizes what Sonic was looking at, “Do you want to see?” Sonic’s eyes widen and his mouth goes all wobbly in his shock, not forming proper words, just squeaks.

Shadow helps Sonic remove his gloves and socks. Shadow slips his hands under his thighs and carries him over to the tub. Sonic’s grip on Shadow tightens as they get closer to the water. Shadow slowly lowers him but he doesn’t let go.

“No. Please.”

“It will be okay Sonic, it’s shallow, and warm. It should help ease some of your aches and pains too; I added salts and oil and bubbles.”

“I don’t like water.” Sonic whispers, hiding his face in Shadow’s neck. He feels Shadow growl, but stays glued to him. He feels Shadow move and then they are both sitting in the water. “What are you doing?!”

“You need a bath and would not let me go.”

“So you got in with me?!”

“I do not see the issue. Maria and the Professor would give me baths when I was dirty.”

“Did they get in with you?!”

“No but that is irrelevant. You have not panicked since we’ve been sitting here. I think this was the right choice.”

“Ugh, nevermind.” Sonic drags his hands down his face, pulling at his scars accidentally. “Tss.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just pulled at my scar a bit too hard.”

“Well don’t do that again.”

“Ha ha, like I did it on purpose." He cuts his eyes at Shadow.

Shadow pours some oatmeal shampoo in his hands and starts working it through Sonic’s quills. He relaxes against him, loving the feeling of fingers in his quills. The clicking starts in his chest again, Shadow just huffs a laugh at him.

“Don’t laugh! You were doing it too!”

“But you’re the one doing it now.”

“Fine! See how you like it!” He snaps his arm up and starts scratching behind Shadows ear. He starts purring too. Shadow glares down at him.

“You’ve made your point, now stop.”

“Kay~ but you can’t laugh at me anymore!”

“Alright alright.” Shadow just goes back to gently scrubbing the grime out of his fur, doing nothing to stop purring.

Sonic closes his eyes, he thinks this is the most relaxed he’s been, ever. Shadow rinses out the shampoo with a cup he got from somewhere, and starts massaging unscented mineral oil into his quills. He had it around to help with quilling, but it’s good for dry skin too. Sonic could almost fall back to sleep. Their purring syncs up and echoes around the bathroom.

Shadow unplugs the tub to drain the, now grey, water and grabs the showerhead. He uses it to rinse the oil off and make sure all the shampoo is out of his fur; when Shadow is done he turns Sonic around and licks at the water on his forehead, smirking at him. He giggles, smiling softly at Shadow.

Shadow pickles him up again, this time placing him on the toilet where he had laid out a towel to wrap Sonic in. Shadow pats his quills dry.

“What about you?”

“I’m fine, I’ll dry off after I’m done with you.”

Shadow wraps him up like a burrito. He ties a towel around his own waist and picks him up. Shadow carries him all the way back to his room and swaddles him in blankets. Shadow rubs the towel through his quill and fur before getting back in the bed and holding sonic close, bringing a comforter over them both.

Sonic is a little hot, but it’s so much better than being cold so he doesn’t say anything. Shadow rubs at his ears with the corner of the towel.

“Sh-Shadow, stop.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Sensitive, remember?” Sonic’s eyes are slightly glassy.

“Sorry.” Shadow’s breath ruffles the fur in his ear. "Now go to sleep, I'll be here when you wake up.

🦔‧₊˚☼彡

After all the excitement last night, Sonic went to sleep as soon as everyone had left after talking to him for a bit. He didn’t even have to ask Shadow to curl up with him. Shadow sensed his unease and took it upon himself to prepare a nest on the bed for them to sleep in. Sonic is grateful he has so many blankets.

Sonic wakes up in late morning. Not waking up cold is the best thing ever. Second best is probably the pancakes he can smell Maddie making downstairs.

Shadow is curled protectively around Sonic; he takes this opportunity to rub his face in Shadow’s soft chest fur. The scent of lavender filling Sonic’s nose.

“Why do you always do that, even when unconscious?” Sonic freezes. He glances up to Shadow’s eyes and sees Shadow looking at him with amusement in his eyes.

Embarrassed, Sonic replies. “I don’t know. It’s soft, and you smell…good.” Sonic folds his ears back and looks down, fiddling with his fingers.

“I smell good, huh?”

“Yeah, like lavender, and ozone, and coffee.” Shadow chuckles at that. “Anyway, let’s go get breakfast, Maddie’s pancakes are the best.”

“Even better than the ones at the diner?” Shadow asks in an amused tone. Sonic’s ears perk up and flop as he gives Shadow one definitive nod. “Okay, let’s go”

“YESS!” Sonic raises himself up on his arms, waiting for Shadow to untangle himself.

The two hedgehogs make their way to the kitchen. Maddie sees them enter and greets them warmly, handing them both a plate when they sit at the island. Sonic drowns his in syrup while Shadow eats his plain. Sonic’s hands only shake a little bit.

Sonic feels a soft touch right below his mouth. His eyes meet Shadows, a light blue ring making itself known around Sonic’s irises.

“Syrup.” A soft look passes between the two; It reminds Sonic of the diner. Shadow takes Sonic’s hand to absorb the energy building in his blue friend.

Neither hedgehog sees Knuckles coming into the kitchen behind them.

Sonic feels someone grip his shoulder, his pupils constrict and his breath halts. He hears the yelp before he even has time to register what happened. Sonic’s Chaos Energy had lashed out at the sudden touch, electrocuting whoever was behind him. The hand was jerked away from his shoulder but the damage had already been done. Sonic can’t breathe.

His chest is tight. Heart beating so hard he is sure everyone else in the room can hear it too. It’s pounding in his ears, drowning out all other noise around him, replacing it with static. He can't breathe. He can feel every spark of electricity in his veins even as his arms and legs are going numb. The heat from his energy doing nothing to quell the goosebumps littering his skin.

He’s shaking like a leaf, chest heaving, tremors exacerbated by whatever this was. He still can’t breathe. Tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. The pounding in his ears making his head hurt, or could it be the lack of oxygen? With every breath he takes it feels like he is that much closer to passing out or dying. He doesn’t care which, as long as this feeling stops.

He can’t tell how much time has passed. The air heavy and compressing around him. He’s gasping but the air is not getting to his lungs. How is he supposed to breathe if breathing is not working, it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense. Someone make it make sense. Through the haze he feels a familiar energy reaching out to his own. Shadow is siphoning off his Chaos Energy. The odd draining feeling bringing him back to himself.

Sonic can finally open his eyes; he doesn’t know when he closed them. The first thing he sees is black fur. He raises his face and is met with concerned red eyes. He glances around the room; his whole family is now standing around them. Shadow helps Sonic off the floor by his hand, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him into his chest.

Sonic sees Knuckles move towards him out of the corner of his eye, a remorseful expression clinging to his features. Probably to apologize for scaring Sonic, but Sonic is feeling kind of cathartic and is not really paying attention to his surroundings. He is trying to focus on his breathing, still feeling an ache in his lungs.

He lets out a breathless oh as Shadow pickles him up in a princess carry. Sonic cuddles into his fluffy chest. When he comes to again he is laying on Shadow’s chest, upstairs, Shadow petting along his quills in a soothing motion.

“Hey Azu, how’re you feeling?”

“Hmmph” Sonic squeezes his eyes shut.

“That good, huh?” Shadow remembers something Maria used to love doing and boops their noses together. Sonic smiles at that and giggles lightly.

🦊‧₊˚☆彡

Tails is sitting in the living room when he hears the doorbell. Tom said not to answer the door by himself, but the doorbell rings again. Oh right! After GUN… and Sonic’s kidnapping by them, he installed security cameras. He'll just check those to see who is at the door.

The doorbell rings a third time just as he gets the feed up. It's Sonic and Shadow! He knows it's safe to open the door for them.

Shadow it on his guard, with Sonic tucked slightly behind him. Tails launches himself at Sonic, wrapping around him in a bear hug. He misses the startled look shared between the two hedgehogs.

“Sonic! I missed you!” Tails nuzzles his face under Sonic's chin. After his initial shock, Sonic tentatively wraps his arms around Tails, patting him on the head.

Sonic's reply is a whispered Missed you too, Little Buddy.

Tails pulls back a little from the hug, “Everyone's gonna be so excited to see you!” He leads Sonic to the living room by his hand Shadow following after them.

“Tails, what did I say about answering the door?” Tom reaches the bottom step at the same time Knuckles is coming in the back door. Maddie, hearing the commotion, joins everyone in the living room too.

They all seem to realize Sonic is home at the same time and rush to greet him. Startled at the sudden movement at him from all directions, Sonic curls into a ball and drops to the floor, raising his quills, electricity arching off his fur. Shadow moves so he is between Sonic and everyone else.

“Whatever you’re thinking of asking - don’t. Sonic has been through a lot. We will be going up to his room now.” Shadow picks up the ball-o-Sonic and carries him upstairs and up into the attic, leaving the rest of the family standing in the living room mildly shocked and concerned.

🦔‧₊˚☼彡

Sonic cannot understand why he reacted that way, it makes no sense for him to be scared of his family. He knows they won't hurt him. He hates to admit it but Shadow was right, this was too much too soon.

He feels himself placed on something soft. Shadow must’ve brought him to his room, he could vaguely hear what Shadow said to his family, but he was still too panicked at that point to really pay attention. They sit together quietly until he calms down enough to uncurl.

As his nerves start calming down he notices Shadow is running his fingers through Sonic’s quills. Shadow must notice he is more coherent because he pats his head once and removes his hand entirely. Sonic peeks up at him. Emerald eyes meet crimson, Shadow’s gaze pins Sonic. Sonic blinks and shakes his head to refocus, ears flopping as he does, Shadow just huffs a laugh. Sonic finally takes note of the position they are in. His head is on Shadow’s lap and he is halfway curled around the darker hedgehog.

“Do you feel better now?”

Sonic averts his eyes, his ears drooping a bit. “Yeah, sorry, I don’t know why that happened.” Sonic sighs through his nose, softly moving some of Shadow’s fur.

“They startled you. It was your instincts trying to protect you from a perceived threat.”

“But my family’s not a threat!”

“I know. And you know, but your body has been in fight, flight, or freeze for so long that your natural instincts are overriding your logical mind. You can’t beat yourself up for this. You went through something horrific. I know.”

“Yeah, you do. Sorry.”

“There is nothing to apologize for. Do you want to see them? I could tell them to come in one at a time if that would help you feel less overwhelmed.”

“Yeah, I think that would be good. Thanks.”

“Of course, I’ll be right back.” Sonic slowly lets go of Shadow as he gets up, not exactly making it easy for him.

🦔‧₊˚☾彡

By the time Shadow returned yesterday, Sonic had worked himself into a panic. Shadow could smell the anxiety rolling off him. Not to mention the electricity sparking off his fur, there were a few starburst burns on the floor and wall around where Sonic was sitting.

Sonic fell asleep almost as soon as his breathing returned to normal. Shadow hadn't moved from his side since. Being the Ultimate Lifeform means he doesn't need as much sleep as other Mobians, so he had nothing to do all night except watch Sonic sleep. Not in a creepy way. He just wanted to make sure Sonic kept breathing.

He did notice something odd though, Sonic's fur and quills were growing back at an accelerated rate. Sonic never mentioned having any kind of healing factor, he would have to ask him when he woke up. Shadow spent the night grooming Sonic's quills, a pile of broken or otherwise damaged ones sitting neatly beside him.

Sonic nuzzled into his patch of white fur as he slept. It makes a warm feeling spread through his chest. Sonic's arm jerks and he ends up hitting himself in the face, waking him up.

He groans, reaching up to rub his nose. Shadow leans down and licks a stripe on his forehead.

“Ugh Shadow, staap.” Shadow just chuckles.

“Glad your voice is back, Azu.”

“What?”

“What ‘what’?”

Sonic grumbles, “You know what. What does that word mean?”

“Azu?” Sonic hums in affirmation, “It's short for azule, it means blue in Spanish.”

“mmm”

Shadow licks another stripe on Sonic's forehead, sending him a mischievous grin. Sonic pouts up at him. It's cute.

“Do you want to go get some breakfast?” Sonic's stomach grumbling is all the answer he needs, an embarrassed laugh leaving his lips. “Do you want to go into town? Or should I find something in the forest?”

“Town is fine, I should go home too.”

“Okay, only if you're ready though, you don’t have to if you still need more time.” He’s worried that Sonic is pushing himself too much. It’s only been two days since he rescued Sonic from GUN. Sonic rummages around a box in the cave and eventually pulls out a red beanie. He pulls it down over his quills, and Shadow notices there are holes for his ears to stick through. Sonic sees his interested look.

“I don’t like things touching my ears, they're sensitive.” Shadow tilts his chin up in acknowledgement.

After Sonic finds some socks, gloves, and shoes he also had stashed here, the pair of hedgehogs make their way out of the cave and into town. There is a diner on Main street that Sonic frequents. He also knows the owner has Tom’s card saved in their system for him, so he doesn’t have to worry about getting money from somewhere.

Shadow holds the door for Sonic. The inside of the diner is filled with the smell of syrup and the constant chatter of other patrons. Sonic flattens his ears at the noise. Shadow takes his hand and leads them to a booth in a corner. A waitress leaves a menu at the table and takes their drink order. Sonic seems to have gone silent again, so Shadow orders a hot chocolate for him and a black coffee for himself.

Sonic’s eyes dart around to everyone in the room, his breath rate increasing. Shadow reaches over and grabs the hand he was chewing at, Sonic’s claws can’t take any more damage. Their eyes meet and Shadow sends a tender look at Sonic. Sonic takes a breath and his mouth quirks up into a hint of a smile.

The waitress comes back with their drinks. Shadow doesn’t need to eat and he’s unsure how much Sonic’s stomach can handle right now so he orders them a plate of waffles to split, and a side of bacon. Sonic’s stomach rumbles again. Shadow just shoots him an amused look.

Sonic’s body seems to be absorbing most of his Chaos Energy now, with an arc of electricity traveling over his fur every once in a while. Much better than before, when the sparking was constant. The shaking doesn’t seem to be getting better though. Maybe his muscles are weaker now from disuse? Shadow would have to see if he could find any information on side-effects of electrocution. It’s probably a good thing that most of his Lichtenberg scars are covered by fur so Sonic doesn’t have to constantly see them and be reminded of what happened to him. He knows it’s not that simple, but at least it’s something.

Sonic sticks his tongue out in concentration when cutting up the waffle into bite sized pieces. Shadow watches Sonic eat for a minute. Sonic is doing…alright, but the waffle keeps falling off the fork, even with his white-knuckled grip on it. Shadow takes pity on him and moves to his side of the table. He goes to grab the fork from Sonic’s hand.

“No.”

“I just want to help.”

“No.” Sonic lifts the fork again, this time the waffle falls into his lap. “Fine.”

Shadow successfully relieves Sonic of his fork this time.

“Syrup?”

“Please.” Shadow slowly feeds the waffles to Sonic, eating a couple pieces himself. The waffles are very fluffy and light, the maple syrup is messy though, its consistency making it prone to drip. Shadow wipes some off Sonic’s chin with his thumb, sticking it in his mouth to clean it. Sonic’s cheeks heat up a little at the action.

After finishing the food, the two hedgehogs sit in comfortable silence as they sip at their drinks. Their shoulders brushing every time one of them moves. And even when the drinks are gone, they sit there in the amicable atmosphere.

“Are you ready?”

“No, but I have to see them. It’s been too long. They must be worried.”

“You should just worry about yourself, make sure you feel better. Don’t force yourself because of them.”

“I know, but I still feel like I should see them anyway, even if I’m not at a hundred percent yet.”

“Fine, if that is what you wish to do.”

🦔‧₊˚☾彡

Shadow takes a winding path through the woods. Avoiding obstacles keeps him focused and in the moment. It lets him work off some of the excess energy he has been absorbing from Sonic. 

He finally makes his way to the Wachowski house. Even if Sonic is not ready to face them, they should be informed that he is alright. The adults are at work already, but Sonic's brothers are both in the backyard.

Knuckles is the first to spot him. 

“More Impressive Hedgehog, you have returned! Where is Sonic?” Tails’ ears perk up at this.

“He is unwell, but doing better than he was. When he is prepared to see you all, I will bring him back.”

“He doesn’t want to see us?” Tails holds one of his tails to his chest.

“He just needs time to adjust.”

“Sonic will return to us soon, Fox. Do not fear. Even warriors must rest after long battles.”

“He’s going to be okay, right?”

“Yes, he’ll be okay. I just came to check in, I must return.”

“Yeah, see you later Shadow.”

“Until next time Hedgehog.”

🦔‧₊˚☼彡

Sonic is starting to get restless. It feels like Shadow has been gone for a long time, even though realistically it probably has only been about thirty minutes.  He feels so stupid for worrying, he was alone for so long before he started living with Tom and Maddie but shadow being out of his sight is what is getting to him.

He didn't realize he was pulling at his quills until a few came loose in his hands. His quills are such a mess, he hates it. There is nothing he can do about it right now though. He paces a bit, thinking. Should he go after Shadow? Shadow said he would be back though. Right? Sonic can't remember. His tremors are getting more violent, he accidentally bit his lip during the last sharp jerk of his body. He goes to chew at his nails but is harshly reminded of the fact that the humans declawed him. He slumps against one of the cool walls of his cave. He's never been this down before, not even after the Eclipse Cannon explosion. His claws are gone, a lot of his quills are missing, his fur is patchy, and he feels like everything could fall apart at any second.

This is how Shadow finds Sonic, curled in a heap against a shadowy corner of the cave. 

Sonic is broken out of his spiral when he feels warm arms wrap around him. Energy he didn't realize was arching off his fur, was instantly absorbed. Between Shadows arms and the release of excess energy, Sonic felt significantly calmer. 

"Are you okay? What happened?” Shadow's deep, calming voice washes over Sonic like a cool breeze.

Sonic nods in lieu of a response. He doesn't think he could talk even if he wanted to, it feels like his throat is clogged up. Sonic shoves his face into Shadow's chest, his fur smells like lavender and ozone. They sit like that for a while, until Sonic's breathing evens out again.

🦔☼☾🦔

The first thing he noticed was that he wasn’t cold. Dare he say he felt warm? Is this real? Should he open his eyes and risk the dream ending? Because this must be a dream, another illusion his brain came up with.

Shadow noticed when Sonic started waking up. He nuzzled further into his chest fluff. It was so cute Shadow couldn’t help but chuckle.

The vibrations woke Sonic up that last little bit. He took the risk and opened his eyes. He was met with white fur, he doesn’t know anyone with white fur this long. He raises his eyes to find piercing crimson ones staring back at him.

Oh. Shadow.

Wait. Sonic pushes himself up a bit, to get a better look.

“Sha…!” Sonic collapses into a coughing fit. Shadow pats his back to soothe him. “You’re-al-ive.” Sonic’s voice cracks miserably from disuse.

“Yes, I thought you were dead as well.”

Once the coughing subsides, Sonic takes his time looking Shadow over, confirming that he was real. The most grounding thing was probably Shadow’s arms wrapped around him. His weight and warmth a comfort, and so different from what he has grown used to in the lab. The stark difference solidified that this is real in Sonic’s mind. With that realization come the tears. Not as wholly consuming as his episode last night but enough so that Shadow panics slightly. Shadow does the only thing he can think of, he licks the salty tears away; he is going to chalk it up to instincts and never mention it to anybody.

Sonic covers his face with his hands but Shadow gently lowers them and wipes the rest of his tears away. “It’s okay. You’re free now and they have no idea where we are.” Sonic nods at that.

“Yea, so uh, how did you find me?”

“I discovered a path you left. You are not very subtle, are you? It led to the humans you live with. Your brothers informed me of your undead status and filled me in on the events that have happened since the Cannon explosion.”

“Dude, saying undead makes me sound like a zombie or something.” Sonic lets out a weak laugh, his throat beginning to hurt.

“Heh, I suppose it does.”

“Did you just laugh?, cough, You definitely, cough cough, just lau-ghed.” 

“Don’t force yourself to talk so much. Whenever you are ready, I can take you back to the humans.”

Sonic feels a little apprehension about seeing anyone other than Shadow right now. Especially Tom and Maddie. He knows logically they won’t hurt him, but some piece of him, way deep inside, is terrified. 

Sonic goes quiet. Something he said must have upset him, or he is just thinking about his options. Shadow notices the tremors in Sonic’s limbs are getting more sporadic and Shadow can’t keep absorbing so much energy.

“Sonic?”

“Hm?”

“Will you be okay if I go run off some energy?”

“I… suppose so.”

🦔‧₊˚☾彡

Shadow didn’t have a concrete image of where he wanted to Chaos Control to, just somewhere safe, and away from the facility.

The smell of damp earth hit him first. Then recognition of where they were. Sonic’s old cave. Sonic roused just enough to get a death grip on Shadows fur. Sonic stayed curled in a ball against his chest, not moving aside from the tremors that would sporadically seize his body.

One of the tubes that he ripped off Sonic must have been siphoning his energy, because now Chaos was arching and sparking off his fur. Shadow was doing his best to absorb it, but he was pretty full of energy as well, what with his half of the Chaos Emeralds residing within him.

Shadow took Sonic’s face in his hands and moved his head to rest on his shoulder so he could get at the straps holding the muzzle to Sonic’s face. There was some sort of high-tech locking mechanism that Shadow didn’t have the time or patience to deal with. He overloaded the piece of tech with his Chaos Energy, the straps fell away with a ‘shik’, and Shadow gently pulled the fabric away from Sonic’s face. There were bloody indentions where the mask was digging into his skin. Sonic took a deep, trembling, breath through his mouth, stretching his jaw out, his mouth had obviously been clamped for a long time.

Shadow doesn’t know what came over him but with his new access to Sonic’s head, he licked at a bald patch behind Sonic’s ear. The skin was rough, the quills that should have been there had obviously been forcefully ripped out , taking some of Sonic's flesh with it. It looked painful and itchy.

That was the last straw apparently. Sonic shivered at the contact and started bawling into his chest fluff, clawless fingers buried into Shadow’s quills.

“We got you out of there, you are safe now.”

“Free…”

“Yes.”

“And safe.”

“That’s right. Just rest, I’ve got you.” And he did, for the first time since this whole ordeal started, Sonic fell right into a peaceful, restful, sleep.

🦔‧₊˚☾彡

He had to admit; their plan was solid. Tails was obviously the brains of the trio, and a wonderful tactician. They were making their move today, almost three weeks since Shadow met up with Knuckles and Tails. They had to have multiple exit plans as they didn’t know what state Sonic would be in after being held captive for upwards of six months.

Tails is posted up, a safe distance away, so he can coordinate the whole mission and not be in the line of fire. The guards were a little more than halfway through their rotation; meaning they were bored and tired. Perfect for a sneak attack.

Shadow Chaos Controls into the air ducts of the building. Knuckles is on stand-by, in case they need a distraction. Despite all the new protocols and system coding, they didn’t think to change the floor plan of their facilities very much. With agents getting moved around all the time, it made it easier to switch between bases if they already knew where the important things were in the facility. Not that Shadow is complaining, it makes his task easier, even the base he was held at was very similar to this one, and that was fifty years ago. It gave him a good idea of where Sonic was probably being kept.

Shadow crawled through the ducts soundlessly. Maria had gone through a ninja phase, and he found the skills more than helpful. It took a few minutes, the base not being exactly the same as the one he was at, but he finally found the research and development wing of the facility. He knew they would have Sonic in a room that was centrally located so they could defend it better and it would be harder to reach from the outside; also the fact that the facility is like a maze and would be hard to escape from. None of that stopped Shadow though.

Looking for the most reinforced door in the hall had been exactly the right thing to do, he would have to thank Knuckles for pointing out that GUN would fear escape and rescue and go overkill on the door, making it obvious where their most valuable asset was.

He Chaos Controlled inside. Just as he expected, no guards, the overconfident bastards.

There was a stasis pod in the center of the room, but it was submerged in the floor. Using a panel on the wall to raise the pod, Shadow got his first glimpse of Sonic.

He is curled up in a ball, floating in the stasis fluid. No gloves, no socks, and a muzzle covering half of his face. His fur is patchy and dull; he’s missing quills and quite a few of the ones he still has are broken or split. There are a multitude of tubes attached to him, one an IV for sure, but many he did not know the purpose of.

The pull from the emeralds was so strong, he was too focused on his mission to notice it earlier. They are screaming for him to get to Sonic, to touch him, make them whole again.

As Shadow got closer to the stasis pod he could hear Sonic growling. He didn’t know Sonic could growl. It seemed like it was involuntary, but Sonic could be doing it on purpose, thinking he is here to hurt him. Sonic still hasn’t uncurled or opened his eyes, his quills were puffed out too.

Sonic doesn’t know he is here to save him. The Chaos Emeralds must be using their energy to help heal him, otherwise Sonic should feel the pull too.

“Sonic.” With that one whispered word, Sonic’s eyes snapped open. Shadow put his hand on the glass. Sonic uncurled just enough to reach his hand out to meet Shadow’s. Shadow finally gets a good look at Sonic’s face. His beautiful emerald eyes are missing their sparkle, with deep purple bruising underneath, from sleep or impact he didn't know. 

He looked tired, and not just physically. Shadow could also see Lichtenberg scars traveling over one side of his face, through his eye. Shadow wondered if Sonic was partially blind now, the eye with the scar was a lighter green than the other one. The scars also wrapped around his fingers and toes; they traveled up his limbs, over his shoulders, reaching all the way to his neck, creeping just past his jaw bone. A map of scars, new and old, covered his…, everywhere. Some were white, but there were some that were obviously newer as they still had the green and purple mottling of fresh bruises. His body was more scar tissue than fur at this point. Electric burns, new and old, regular burns, incision scars, layered over each other, the list goes on. Shadow needs to get Sonic out of here now; they didn’t expect him to be this badly injured.

Shadow infused his fist with Chaos Energy and punched through the tempered glass.

“ALERT. CONTAINMENT UNIT 3 COMPROMISED. IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED. ALERT.” Red lights started flashing and the door pressure sealed. Good thing Shadow didn’t need the door.

Knuckles must be on the move now, the alarms going off were his cue. Shadow probably has about five minutes before the agents are on top of them. Glass and stasis fluid covered the floor, he couldn’t let Sonic's sensitive paw pads get cut on the glass. The alarms cause Sonic to curl up again, against the bottom of the broken pod. Shadow scoops Sonic up, rips the tubes off, and presses his curled up form to his chest.

“₊⊹CHAOS CONTROL⊹₊”

👮🏻‍♂️‧₊˚₊‧👩🏿‍⚕️

Tom and Maddie were surprised to say the least, but they agreed that Shadow would be helpful in getting Sonic back from GUN.

The boys were plotting around the coffee table in the living room while Tom and Maddie were preparing dinner in the kitchen. Maddie bumped Tom with her hip.

“Look at them in there, they are working so hard.”

“I just wish we could be of more help to them.”

“We are helping, by giving them our trust, and making sure they eat.” Tom laughed under his breath at that.

“I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right, babe.” Maddie sends a playfully smug look at Tom, “I don’t think we will be able to take in this one though.”

“Why not?”

“Women’s intuition. I think there is more to the relationship between Sonic and Shadow than even they know.”

“You’re saying they like each other?”

“In the time that you’ve known Shadow, short as it may be, have you known him to play this nicely with others? Or been convinced to work in a team?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh, hahaha.”

“Well, him and Wade might be good for each other. I’ll ask him his opinion on adopting a kid in the morning.”

“Thanks babe, now let’s go make sure those fuzzballs get something in their stomach before they try to take down a government agency.”

🦔‧₊˚☼彡

Sonic’s not surprised to wake up in the stasis tube again. He’s tired. His face hurts. All the testing has really taken its toll on his body; it even hurts to run now. If when he gets out of here, he doesn’t know what he is going to do.

He’s been running his whole life; running is his life. He doesn’t know if he will even have to worry about it though. He doesn’t think anyone is coming to save him, and they keep him too drugged up and worn out to try to escape on his own.

In addition to seeing the girl, who must be Maria, he has also been seeing Shadow. Sometimes he’ll be sitting on the table next to him, also attached to a machine. Other times he’ll put a hand on Sonic’s knee as he goes through some painful test. He knows it’s just his mind trying to help him cope, but sometimes it’s nice to believe Shadow is still alive. Still with him.

Something that does surprise Sonic is the arrival of Rockwell. He couldn’t tell when she first walked in, his vision being fuzzy from all the electricity, but as soon as she opened her mouth, he knew it was her.

“Hello, Alien.” Sonic doesn’t even move to acknowledge her. “Look who I brought.” A blurry humanoid shape stepped out from behind Rockwell. It was Rachel. “That got your attention, huh.”

They came close enough to the glass for him to look Rachel in the eyes. He can only imagine how he must look. Shaved fur, quills missing. He grabbed his arm and looked down a bit.

“Your threat to global security is my sister’s pet furball? The briefing was a little lacking in details Commander.”

“Yes, he has been a great aid in all of our new security measures. You said it yourself; GUN has been making great strides in its new products and protocols.”

“Yes, I did say that. Are you sure this is humane though.”

“What’s there to be humane about, they’re not human in the first place.”

Sonic turns his back to them, too tired to deal with this at the moment. All he can do for now is sleep and try to preserve what strength he had left.