#appendingfic's stuff

But, he supposed, it was something to focus on. To keep his mind from dwelling on the fact that his best friend was gone, he’d lost fifty years to that imprisonment, and everyone seemed to think he was a demon, or a freak. The looks he saw thrown his way as he made his way around the world reinforced that mindset, and he felt himself almost nostalgic for the days in the lab. The scientists at least viewed him with a more academic eye, even if they didn’t see him as a person.

Well. She had seen him as a person, at least.

He pushed that thought away. That was dangerous ground to tread.

Focus.

Stepping out of the trees, Shadow stopped to take in the house before him. It wasn’t anything fancy, a nondescript two story with a porch in front and a deck connecting to a side door. The modest landscaping told of someone less interested in showy beauty, than encouraging a healthy habitat. The flowers and bushes spaced along the side he faced were varieties meant to encourage and feed pollinators. He recognized them from some of Maria’s books.

A car passed, and he ducked back into the trees. Twilight was falling, lowering visibility, but that was fine. He preferred night. His fur color made him harder to see, and thus, made him less of a target.

G.U.N. was still out there, after all. He caught glimpses of them as he traveled in his search for these gems, and each time he spied that logo on their uniform or vehicles, his heart tripped a manic rhythm. They were searching for him, no doubt.

He would quickly teleport away, taking deep breaths until his heart slowed again.

But there were no G.U.N. vehicles here. Just a dirty Subaru, parked slightly crooked next to the house.

The gems in the bag against him thrummed, their vibrations an almost audible sound now. He took a breath, before stepping forward and climbing the steps of the deck. With every step forward, he told himself he was being a fool. All he had to do was hand over the bag, and then teleport away. That’s all. Then this mission would be done with, and he could move on.

What came next, he had no clue. Where would he go? What would he do?

He didn’t know.

The light flicked on over the door, and he startled before cursing his nerves. Must have been on a motion detector.

He lifted his hand to knock. It trembled more than he liked to admit, his heart starting to race. His knuckles rapped against the glass, and he quickly drew it back to clutch at the bag strap.

This is stupid, I should have just left it at the door, they would have found it, what am I doing—

The thought was cut off as the door opened. He blinked at the woman with glasses and red braid standing there, looking at him questioningly. She didn’t seem afraid, or surprised to find an alien at her door.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times. He was expecting to find the blue hedgehog. Not . . . whoever this was.

“Can I help you?” she asked, her voice kind, instead of edged with the fear and anger he was used to.

He blinked again, and found his voice after another moment. “I . . . I don’t know.”

A little smile curled her lip and she dipped her head a little lower, her voice adopting a slight teasing tone. “If you’re trying to ding-dong ditch me, you need more practice.”

His brow furrowed. “Ding dong . . . what?”

“I’m teasing, sorry.” She stood up again, leaning slightly against the door jamb, that little smile still there. “Let’s figure out this mystery then, shall we? What brings you to my door as night falls?”

Shadow’s hands clenched a little tighter on the bag slung across him. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. “I must have made a mistake. I’m sorry to have—“

Movement behind the woman, and the next thing Shadow knew, he was being tackled off the deck. Something big, heavy, solid, and red hit him in the middle, sending them both sprawling into the side yard.

“AN AMBUSH!” a deep voice cried, as they both found their feet and backed away from each other. Shadow recognized the attacker as the red . . . whatever he was that had been with the blue hedgehog. “Your attack on me in Tokyo was forgiven when you seemingly sacrificed yourself to save the planet. But I cannot abide you attacking my home!”

Shadow shook his head. “I’m not attacking anything—“

“Knux, knock it off!” The woman was coming out, heading straight for the red one. “He wasn’t—“

“Stay back, Me’na!” That came out as more of a snarl, which brought the woman to a stop. “I will handle him.”

“You don’t have to—“

“I’m not here to attack anyone!” Shadow growled, which probably wasn’t helping calm any tension, but he wasn’t about to stand here and be accused of something he didn’t do. “I was just—“

“I WILL NOT BE FOOLED AGAIN!”

The red one launched himself forward, and Shadow met him halfway. If this was going to happen, he’d give as good as he got. The bag across him shifted him off balance, but he compensated quickly.

Fists connected, kicks landed, and energy arced over the red one’s body. Shadow felt it, felt the power in it, and the gems in the bag at his hip reacted. He wanted to teleport, wanted to just get the hell out of there, but the moment he started priming his power for it, the stones powered up, too.

He shoved his power down again. That wasn’t what he wanted. He didn’t need their power to turn him into some super charged version of himself.

In his momentary distraction, the red one landed a solid hit on Shadow’s jaw, sending him flying back and landing hard. He clutched at the bag, although whether it was to protect it or ground himself, he wasn’t sure.

“You should not have come here.” Red arcs flickered and tripped over the other alien’s body as he approached.

Shadow growled, pushing himself up to one knee. His own power flared against his will, orange energy flickering across his vision. “I go where I please.”

A snarl curled the red one’s muzzle, and he took another step forward, fists raising, when he was hit with a jet of water. He sputtered, the energy flickering out, before turning and holding his hands up to shield himself from the spray. “Wha—Me’na, stop!”

The woman stood to the side, a garden hose in her hand and an angry furrow in her brow. “Knock it off, both of you!”

“He started it!” Shadow cried before he knew he was speaking, and was rewarded with a splash of water in his own face for his trouble.

“And I’m finishing it!” She gave the red one another soak before releasing the trigger on the spray nozzle, cutting off the water. “Shake off what you can and get your tails in the house. Now.”

The red one sputtered, pointing toward Shadow as he looked at her with an angry, disbelieving scowl. “You are letting him into our home??”

The woman raised the sprayer again, making the red one flinch. “We are going to figure out why he’s here, and that’s not gonna happen if you’re out here going all over-protective guardian on him.” She turned to Shadow, hose raised like a weapon. “You’re going to behave, right?”

Shadow held back a flinch at the threat of another soaking. He grit his teeth, but gave a short nod. “I am not here to fight.”

“Okay,” the woman said with a little nod. She lowered the hose, and moved back toward the house to turn off the water. “C’mon, then. I’ll get some towels. Let’s behave like civilized people, yeah?”

Without another word, she walked back inside. Shadow regained his feet, and turned to throw a glare at the red one, who threw one right back. The two gave a quick shake to shed the excess water from their fur, before following the woman inside.

~X~X~X~

The three sat at the kitchen table, each positioned an equal distance from each other around it.

Shadow tried to resist the urge to teleport away. The gem bag sat in the middle of the table, and he thought he might be able to get away with teleporting without triggering the stones inside. Maybe. He wasn’t touching them, so it made some degree of sense.

But that would be a coward’s way out. He wasn’t a coward. And he needed to make sure these gems wound up in the right hands.

The woman, Callie MacPherson, sat to his right. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, and she wore an expression he couldn’t identify. Not angry, he didn’t think, more like contemplative? Like she was studying him. Memories of the lab resurfaced, and he pushed them away.

Knuckles the Echidna, the red one, sat to his left. Glaring at him. They each had a towel draped over their shoulders, soaking up the remaining water in their coats. Shadow pulled his tighter around him, uncomfortable with being the center of attention.

“I apologize for the way Knuckles attacked you unprovoked, Shadow,” Callie said, her voice soft, but she shot a look toward the echidna before returning her attention to him. “He’s just very protective of his home.”

“It’s fine,” Shadow said, distinctly ignoring the daggers Knuckles was currently shooting toward him. “It’s not the first time he’s done it.”

Callie raised an eyebrow, turning toward Knuckles. “Oh really?”

Knuckles wrinkled his muzzle, crossing his arms over his chest with a little huff. “G.U.N. sent us to stop him. I . . . may have been eager for the challenge.”

She continued to look at Knuckles for another moment. “A little too eager?”

Silence settled between them, but Knuckles’ muzzle pulled into a deeper wrinkle as he looked away. Callie continued to watch him for a moment, before turning back to Shadow.

“Why did you come here?” The question could have sounded accusatory, but her tone indicated honest curiosity. “And what’s in there?” She nodded toward the bag between them. “You seemed surprised to see me and didn’t expect to find Knuckles here. So what brought you to my door?”

Shadow’s hand tightened on the towel. “I . . . I felt it was important to gather those gems that held so much power and return them to the blue hedgehog.” Knuckles’ head snapped around to him. “Based on what happened at the facility I was being kept at, that kind of power could be dangerous in the wrong hands.”

“The chaos emeralds?!” Knuckles cried, reaching forward to open the bag. “Those do not belong to the hedgehog, they belong to the echidna!”

Callie spoke to Knuckles then, hissed something sharp in a language Shadow didn’t know. Knuckles snapped something back, teeth bared. Her face went tight, lips pulled into a thin line, and eyes sharp. It must have been some unspoken sign, because Knuckles broke eye contact, his muzzle darkening.

“Oh goodie, more magic rocks,” she said with a sigh as she pulled the bag toward her. Reaching in, she pulled the purple one out and held it up. The light from over the stove caught on it, and it cast her skin in a purple-ish glow. “I don’t pretend to understand how these work, but Knux is right, Sonic . . . borrowed them to go Super. He did it about a year ago to take down Robotnik before he could hurt anyone.”

Knuckles let out a sharp huff through his nose.

The implication was not lost on Shadow. “And he did it again to take me down because I hurt his dad.”

A heavy silence settled over the table then, and Callie gently placed the emerald back in the bag. When she spoke, her voice was soft, and gentle. “Based on what Sonic told me happened to you, it sounded like you were both hurting. You lost someone you cared about, and never had the chance to grieve her. He was faced with the possibility of losing another person he loved. That kind of pain doesn’t generally make for good decisions. From either of you.”

Shadow didn’t respond, his gaze falling to the canvas of the bag. From the corner of his eye, he saw Knuckles bow his head slightly, as though lost in his own thoughts.

It made sense, but everything felt like his fault. It was his energy that caused the explosion, taking Maria away from him. He was too dangerous, so they locked him away. He lashed out when he woke up, confused and hurt, and continued to lash out when he didn’t know what to do with that pain.

“Grief is a helluva thing,” Callie said, her voice still soft, but edged with something that felt like understanding. “People respond to it differently. Some pull away from the world. Some get angry. Some get self-destructive.” She flicked her eyes to Knuckles, who still sat with his head bowed, eyes lowered. “And some ignore it. Push it aside to throw all their focus onto something else.”

Knuckles looked over to her, his own voice as soft as hers. “And some run from it. Change their lives to try and move past it.”

They held eye contact for a moment, before the corner of Callie’s mouth twitched. “Touche.”

Shadow watched this silently, looking back and forth between the two. Something heavier hung over them, an understanding. Something that hadn’t been said, but didn’t need to be. Everyone at this table had lost someone they cared about. And it had affected them each in different ways.

Still. Understanding didn’t mean accepting.

“Doesn’t excuse what I did.” His voice wasn’t as strong as he would have liked. “The destruction I helped cause.”

Callie shook her head slightly. “No, it doesn’t.” She paused, glancing over at Knuckles again, before looking back. “But what you did after that spoke to what’s in your heart. You were fully prepared to sacrifice yourself to save the Earth. We all thought you had. But you’re alive, and you went to the trouble of gathering these emeralds so they wouldn’t be used to hurt anyone.”

She pushed the bag toward Knuckles, leaning closer to speak to him quietly. “Why don’t you take these upstairs? We’ll talk to Tails tomorrow about getting more of his special containment boxes made for them.”

Knuckles cast a look to Shadow, but this time it held no anger, no glare. He nodded very slightly, as though thanking Shadow for returning the chaos emeralds. Shadow nodded back just as softly, and Knuckles slid out of his chair, pulling the bag into his arms as he headed for the stairs.

As the echidna’s footsteps faded, Shadow turned back to find Callie looking at him again.

He should leave. He’d done what he set out to do—returned those gems to where he felt they belonged. Mission accomplished. Time to go.

Yet . . . he found himself hesitating.

“Do you have somewhere to go?” Callie asked, tilting her head slightly to the side. “Somewhere warm? Safe?”

Shadow stiffened slightly, his quills bristling. Why did she want to know? Was she working for G.U.N.? Those other aliens had worked for G.U.N., sent to capture him back in Tokyo. This could just be a setup to get him back in custody. He shouldn’t trust her. Couldn’t trust her.

“That’s none of your concern.” He pushed himself away from the table, shrugging the towel off his shoulders. It landed on the floor with a damp splat, and he turned toward the door to take his leave. “I can take care of myself.”

She gave a rough groan. “Ugh, God, you sound just like him.”

That made him pause, and he turned back toward her. “Who?”

“Him,” she said, nodding her head toward the stairs. “When he first showed up, he was determined to keep to himself.” She lowered her voice to imitate Knuckles. “’A warrior doesn’t need help. A warrior can take care of himself.’” A roll of her eyes. “Stubborn and prideful and contrary. Because apparently it would kill him to admit that maybe he was lonely, and maybe he needed help, and maybe wandering around all by himself on a strange planet he didn’t understand wasn’t what he really wanted.”

Shadow nearly flinched at how spot on her words were. He didn’t understand this planet. And he was lonely. And while he didn’t think he needed help—he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself—what he really needed . . . what he really wanted, was a friend.

But, after everything, maybe that wasn’t in the cards for him.

She must have read something on his face, because she shrugged and stood from the table. “Hey, I’m not trying to push. You’re welcome to leave. Thank you for bringing those emeralds back, Knux has been a bit antsy about them since all that went down. Can’t say I’m thrilled with even more magic rocks in my house, but I trust him to know what he’s doing with them.”

Part of him wanted to keep talking. It had been a long time since he’d had an actual conversation with someone. One that didn’t start with questions he had no real answers for—“What are you? Where did you come from?”

One that showed the other person saw him as a person, and not some thing.

Instead, he nodded stiffly. “Right. I’ll just go then.”

A moment of silence passed. She didn’t say anything more, so he turned and started toward the door again.

“Although,” she said, and he pulled to a stop embarrassingly fast. “I was about to get supper started, and we usually have more than we need, so, if you wanted to stick around to fill your belly, you’re more than welcome to.”

He should refuse. He didn’t know if she was with G.U.N., if she was trustworthy. This whole thing could be a trap. Knuckles could be upstairs right now, calling G.U.N. and planning his capture.

Then again, what if it was? He could just teleport away the moment anything felt off. She couldn’t exactly drug him—he was the ‘ultimate lifeform’ as the professor had called him. He wasn’t affected by poison or drugs like others were. Even falling to Earth after the Cannon incident only left him with a bit of scorched fur.

So maybe it was a trap.

But it had been so long since he’d had real food. Something that wasn’t military cafeteria fare. Or leftovers from the trash. Or something foraged as he traveled.

At the mere thought of something hot and fresh, his stomach gave a distinct grumble. He didn’t react, although her eyes flicked down to his belly.

“At the very least,” she said, a little smile pulling at the corner of her lips, “consider it an apology for Knux’s overeager protection.”

Shadow made a show of considering the offer, before giving her a short nod. “Fine. One meal. Then I go.” Callie smiled, giving him a little bow of her head. “Of course. Feel free to make yourself comfortable. I’m gonna head up and check in with Knuckles, then get things started.”

He nodded again, and watched as she headed toward the stairs. She ascended quickly, without a glance back.