Chapter Text
The day had been largely uneventful for the Hero of Mobius. On any other day, you’d see him -well, traces of him; a dazzling blue streak and a harsh draft of wind, the only indicators to the average mobian’s eye that he’d just passed- out and about. But as it turned out, today was not your average day.
Green Hill was a perfect area for Sonic to live in; laying in the heart of the land, surrounded by a vast stretch of land on every side. It made travel convenient, and gave him room to run to his heart's content. But perhaps one of its best attributes was the fact that it was, more often than not, sunny. Storms had a tendency to pass around the area, whether it be dumb luck or some meteorological explanation, Sonic couldn’t tell you, all he knew was that he liked it this way. Without having to worry about rain, he could easily find a place to rest amongst nature, where he often felt most at peace.
But as was mentioned before, today was not your typical day. Tails had forewarned the hero of the prospect of heavy storms passing through; And thank Gaia he had, because Sonic awoke in the middle of the night to a crash of thunder so harsh it shook the house. Sure enough, it was pouring outside. Not even moments later, his brother burst into his room and jumped straight into his bed, terrified and only half-awake, acting on the purest instinct he knew, which was to run to safety. Sonic tucked the kit in next to him, and pressed his ears down to muffle the noise as best as he could. It only took mere seconds for Tails to fall out once again, which brought a half-amused smile to the blue hedgehog’s face before following suit.
It was well into the late afternoon now, and the rain hadn’t let up even a little bit. Despite this, Sonic didn’t find himself discouraged. Opting to stay inside meant he could finally get his hands on two new books he’d bought last week, which he hadn’t found time to actually sit down and read until now. The book he was working on was actually the first in a sequence that he’d heard about from Rouge of all people, who insisted he at least give it a try. The hero found himself snickering at the name of the series, The Gentleman Bastards, unsure of how much this series would actually tailor to his interests, but promised the bat he’d give the first book a chance.
The rain made for a nice white noise source. Every time a particularly loud clap of thunder echoed throughout the sky, Sonic instinctively looked around for his younger brother. But Tails, ever the genius, had fashioned himself some highly noise-cancelling headphones just for this occasion, and had been held up in his workshop to keep himself busy. Albeit slightly bittersweet that the young fox’s presence was no longer filling the house on days like these, confiding in his older brother whilst they indulged in all sorts of fun activities to keep him distracted, Sonic had to admit that he had no complaints about the relaxing ambience in its place.
Deciding that his eyes needed a rest from paper, Sonic carefully nestled a bookmark between the pages and set it down on the side table next to the couch. He traded it out for the remote, flicking on the TV to see that it was on the news channel. There was a flash flood warning written in big bold letters on the red bar below, which was to be in effect until 10:00pm the next day. Well, that's annoying. He had plans for the next day for Amy to come over and catch up, but he didn't want to make her wade through potentially high water.
Sonic was about to change the channel before an image of what was clearly an Eggman base going up in flames appeared on the screen. This caught Sonic's eye, not just because he learned that he missed out on some serious action, but also due to the fact that the doctor has been inactive for the past few weeks. The reporter droned on about how they were unsure of who could've caused such intense damage, showing a few more angles G.U.N helicopters had managed to get pictures of. The blue hedgehog couldn't help but feel a little on edge. Whether it was a fight or just an Egghead experiment gone sorely wrong, it didn't spell good news either way. Two surrounding cities felt the tremor from the explosion, according to the news. Reluctantly though, Sonic sighed; There was nothing that he could do about it now, but he'd definitely be asking around later.
The hero changed the channel as another reporter came on to talk about the weather forecast. A topic so boring that Sonic would've rather sat in the cold, pouring rain than endure. He flicked through the various other channels before finally switching to the streaming services Tails owned and settling on Equilibrium, a movie he's already seen multiple times. He turned the volume of the TV low, and settled under a blanket, resting his head on the couch arm. The weather was already making him sluggish, and the warmth inside the house, along with the harsh tapping of the rain on the roof was certainly not doing him any favors.
Only 20 minutes into the movie, Sonic found himself drifting off. He made no attempt to resist, knowing it’d be a futile effort. Besides, nothing sounded better right now than a few hours of a good nap before dinner. His eyes fluttered closed…
……
BANG BANG BANG!!!
Immediately, Sonic flailed up. How long was he even out for?? A few minutes? An hour? He couldn't tell. The hero barely registered his surroundings as he made his way to the door to answer the incessant pounding. Seriously, whoever was at the door was putting an unnecessary amount of force. So much so that Sonic felt his quills raise reflexively, just in case he needed to defend himself.
“I'm coming, jeez!!” He called out towards whoever was on the other side, but whoever it was still wouldn't relent.
The hedgehog rubbed his eyes as he swung the door open with irritation. Not even a minute of being awake, and he already had a headache.
“Are you trying to break in or something?! What the hell do you-” Sonic started with a venom, but his jaw clamped tightly shut and he swallowed his words as he gazed at the figure on his porch.
It was Shadow. Battered, bruised, and beaten. His usually pristine quills stuck out in every way, clumped and matted, with a clear patch on his arm where some had been ripped off. One of his shoulders hung awkwardly limp by his side, Sonic immediately clocked it and, from personal experience, knew that it was more than likely dislocated. From head to toe, he was covered in cuts of different sizes and severity, some still profusely bleeding. His lip was split down the middle, and he was obviously struggling to keep his right leg from buckling underneath him.
It was a lot to take in within a mere couple of seconds, and rendered Sonic completely speechless and wide-eyed for a moment. The only sound between the two were Shadow’s heavy, labored breaths, which were far too shallow.
“Shadow,” Sonic finally croaked out, “You- Gaia, what happened to you?!”
The darker hedgehog inhaled a sharp breath, “He-dgehog.” His voice broke, rasped and barely above a whisper. “I.. I need-”
Shadow was cut off by the sheer force of his own coughing, causing him to lurch forward and brace himself on the door frame as he violently hacked up multiple rounds of blood onto the porch. But perhaps somehow even more concerning, faint ruby sparks were fizzing around his body. Sonic could easily detect the overwhelming amount of chaos energy exuding off the other Hedgehog. It wasn't normal, even for Shadow.
“Woah, easy!” Sonic urged, offering a supportive arm to hold the other steady. “Come inside, we'll get you-”
But the other shook him off harshly, crimson gaze finally meeting Sonic's own. One of his eyes was half-lidded, twitching and struggling to stay open. He pushed himself off the wall and stumbled to the side, and pointed out towards the yard.
“No..” The dark speedster shakily breathed, “Help him.”
Sonic cast his eyes a few feet behind Shadow, and gazed upon the shattered body of Omega. He was scratched up, dented, and missing both of his legs.
“Get the fox.” Shadow continued. “He's… fixed him befo-re.” he grunted as shining red sparks danced around his head erratically.
To say Sonic was beyond baffled was the understatement of the century. His eyes flicked between the two of them, and while Omega was definitely in a rough state, it seemed pretty clear who was doing worse for wear right now.
“Dude, what about you?!” Sonic honestly couldn't believe his ears. How did these two even manage to be left in such a state?
“I'll be fine.” Shadow brushed off, like this was some sort of regular occurrence.
“Uhm- have you seen yourself lately!? I'm not leaving you to bleed out at my front door!” The hero cried.
“I won't cooperate any further until I'm certain Omega is taken care of.” The dark hedgehog resisted. Sonic was about to open his mouth to protest again before the look in Shadow's eyes grew eerily wide, desperate almost to a crazed degree.
“Please.”
There was something so raw in the tone which Shadow begged for his friend to be tended to that struck Sonic to his very core. It was vulnerability, a trait that the dark hero ever so scarcely revealed to anyone. Yet here he was, turning to Sonic of all people for help. Entrusting him to deliver his friend to safety. Not only that, but if Shadow didn't want to be seen, the blue hedgehog, after years of experience, was certain his dark counterpart would have found a way to disappear before he'd ever reached the door.
He was asking for help, Sonic was sure of that. But he was refusing to accept it until he was certain others didn't need it. An awfully heroic action that the hero couldn't help but relate to.
After a long moment of fierce eye contact between the two, Sonic studying the other, reading and pondering his intentions, he sighed.
“I’ll be right back.” The blue hedgehog sternly stated before hoisting up the broken, metal body. “Don’t run off on me.”
Only a few seconds later, he was bursting through the door to Tails’s workshop. It was completely dark, save for the corner where the young fox was hunched over his desk in shrimp posture, tinkering with one of his gadgets. He wore thick goggles to shield his eyes from the ultraviolet light he worked under, the only source of light that indicated where anything was.
“Tails.” Sonic called out, but the kit didn't even bat an eye. His headphones were still covering his ears, blocking out any and all noise that might disturb him.
The hero groaned, carefully moving through the dark workshop, trying his damndest not to fall and drop the obscenely heavy robot that left his arms burning and numb. He’d definitely dropped quite a few pounds with missing some limbs, but even then, Omega’s weight was not to be underestimated.
Sonic almost swung his body right into a shelf, pulling back and missing it by mere inches. Luckily, the less-than elegant twirl he proceeded to perform landed him straight next to his brother's workdesk.
“Tails!” The hedgehog stuck his leg out and gave the chair leg a swift kick, shaking it enough to grab the attention of the fox.
“Sonic?” Tails finally peeled back one side of his headphones and turned his attention away from his work “What are you- AAAH!!” He nearly flipped back out of his seat, “What happened to Omega?!”
“I’d like to know that too.” The speedster sighed as he lowered the robot down on a clear space on Tails’s workbench. “Shadow is here too, and he's just in even worse shape than this big guy right here.”
“What?!”
“I know, I know! Look, he's waiting for me, but he wouldn't let me help him until I took Omega to you! I'm sorry, but I can't stay here, I have to-”
“Sonic,” Tails set a firm hand on his brother's shoulder. “I've got it covered here. You make sure Shadow is alright.”
Sonic released a bit of the tension in his shoulders he hadn't realized he'd been holding. “I knew I could count on you, little buddy. Keep me updated!”
In a flash, he was out the door and back at his front door. Even those few moments away felt too long to leave Shadow alone with. Thankfully the agent was still on the porch, now sitting down with his good arm clutching his dislocated shoulder. Before Sonic could even get a word in, he was silenced by the sickening crack of the other hedgehog attempting to pop his joint back into place. While it was now sitting in the right place, it went completely stiff. Shadow gurgled out a pained noise as those light sparks that danced around him turned into mini lightning strikes that zapped the surrounding area, and he fell limp once again.
“Shadow!” Sonic was instantly by his side, reassessing the others' injuries. Everywhere he looks, there seems to be a new cut or bruise. But a faint red glow caught his attention, and looking down, realized that the source of the sparking, and the unusually high chaos signatures were coming from Shadow's inhibitor rings. They were damaged, one had a hole pierced straight through it, while the other had a crack that went clean around the whole ring.
“Shit, stay with me man!” The hero desperately cried as he scooped the other hedgehog into his arms in a bridal-style carry. Shadow's eyes widened ever so slightly before dropping once again, resisting as they tried to twitch shut.
He held Shadow close as he sped through the house and to the upstairs bathroom, where Tails kept the medical supplies. Sonic threw a few towels on the ground in a pile, and gently sat Shadow down with his back resting against the tub.
“Uh..I've never been the best at this, but I had to pick up a thing or two along the way.” Sonic awkwardly declared as he fumbled with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. The hero quickly wet down a washcloth with warm water, and got to work. He lightly scrubbed around areas matted with dirt and blood, and sprayed any open wound he could find. This pulled a series of sharp hisses from the hybrid, and he dug his nails into the towel below him for purchase.
“I know, I know, I'm sorry.” Sonic tried to comfort. He was definitely no doctor, but even he knew that bandaging a wound surrounded by greasy matted clumps of fur covered in dirt and blood wasn't ideal for the healing process.
And on the topic of his medical knowledge, specifically pertaining to Shadow, it finally registered in his mind that the other hedgehog had self-healing capabilities. Sonic had seen the agent leave a battle with an injury that would take the average person weeks to heal from, and bump into him three days later while on a run, completely healed. Another obvious indicator that something was wrong with his chaos abilities.
Sonic continued to clean the other up, detailing and checking beneath the biggest mats of his quills to ensure there were no hidden injuries. Once he felt satisfied with the first step he began bandaging, starting with the deepest wounds that were still actively bleeding. Frankly, Sonic felt kind of bad that Shadow was still covered in traces of dirt and debris, but he could worry about that later once his..rival’s wounds were closed.
Shadow's silence and lack of protests are what worried the hero the most. The hybrid never allowed for any traces of vulnerability. Sonic had actually tried on various occasions, but the other would tense up, and dismiss it altogether. Even at his lowest, he was still grasping to hold together his dignity. But right now, there was nothing. No baring of his fangs, snide remarks or any indication of physical resistance. His eyes were barely open, rolling up every few seconds before Shadow would blink harshly and set them straight, a few sparks of chaos energy zapping with each attempt.
Sonic was doing his best to hold it together, but right now it really looked like Shadow could die at any moment on his bathroom floor. Which caused unpleasant memories of the past to surface, in which he had failed to save Shadow once before. His hands shook slightly as he continued wrapping the other up.
Sonic tapped Shadow’s face lightly. “Hey, stay with me, okay? Talk to me. How did this happen to you?”
Shadow hissed in pain. “It- ngh! Eggman...His fault..Omega..”
Immediately, Sonic thought back to the destruction of the villains base broadcasted on the news earlier. A catastrophic blast which had shook the very earth for miles around. And Shadow had been caught right in the middle of it all.
“-t's all my fault.” Shadow muttered through grit teeth. “I shouldn't have been- agh- foolish..!”
“What do you mean?” The hero asked as he tied off yet another bandage around the other hedgehog's midsection.
Shadow opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was a high-pitched cry of pain as he fell forward. Sonic barely caught him, and helped lean him back against the tub.
“Shads, maybe we should get you to a hospital or something-”
“No!” The hybrid’s eyes suddenly flew wide open as he grabbed Sonic's wrist tightly in a crushing grip. “They'll transfer me to G.U.N. The scientists, they.. Gaia, I don't know what they'd do to me if they saw me like this. Please, please, you can't.”
It came out all in one sharp breath, and Shadow promptly fell into a coughing fit. His expression was wild, utterly terrified. Like he was living in his own nightmarish thoughts should that horrible future come to pass. Sparks of energy grew more erratic, scorching the edge of Shadow’s bandages. Sonic knew he had to act fast.
“O-okay, we won't do that, promise. We'll figure it all out here, no hospitals, no military. You're safe here.” The blue hedgehog ran a hand on top of the other’s head, smoothing down bristled quills.
Simply so his quills didn't disturb the bandaging job he'd done on the back of his scalp. Yeah.
Whether it be his words or actions, It seemed to have somewhat of a calming effect on the hybrid. The surrounding chaos energy fizzled out, and his breathing began to steady.
“I shouldn't stay here. It would be humiliating to have to burden you, of all people.” Shadow shakily defended. He was conscious enough to try and protect that stubborn pride of his, which brought a sense of relief to Sonic. Still though, there was no way he was letting Shadow get away in such a condition, he was quite the stubborn hedgehog himself.
“First of all, rude. You don't wanna be in the care of a handsome guy like me? I think you'd be missing out.” Sonic teased, unable to help himself. He needed to bring a sense of lightness to the situation momentarily, mostly for himself, but for Shadow as well.
“I hate you.” Shadow snapped, but it lacked its typical fervor. He turned his head to the side, his tone more…bashful than it was venomous. Or maybe Sonic was just imagining things.
Either way, Sonic breathily chuckled and sighed. He was going to have to let this go before he ran an injured Shadow away.
“But actually though.” Sonic began, his expression straightening out and his tone lowering into something far more genuine. “You shouldn't be going anywhere in your condition. You're not healing properly, and your inhibitor rings are…well, Tails would know more about it than me. I know I can't force you to do anything, but I'm asking you to set aside your hatred for me, the rivalry, all of that. At least until you start healing properly, stay here at our place.”
Sonic silently pleaded for the other's compliance. After all, there had to be some reason he stayed after everything. Maybe he hated Sonic's guts, but there had to be a sort of trust that compelled him to not run away, to accept help.
Shadow looked to be on guard. “I don't know. It’d be nothing- hng!- but trouble..”
“You're not trouble to me, Shads. Please, let me help you out.” Sonic flashed the dark hedgehog a warm smile, holding out a hand for Shadow.
The hybrid seemed to study him for a few moments, as if he were searching for an ounce of hesitancy, or an argument to make. But ultimately, his eyes lidded once again in exhaustion as he took the hero's hand into his own. “Okay..”
Sonic all but beamed, before carefully molding his face into something more nonchalant about the situation. It was odd how overjoyed it made him to know that Shadow was actually staying. He shouldn't overwhelm him.
“We've got a guest bedroom that literally nobody uses. In fact, we've been throwing things we aren't using in there for some time now. I'll clean it up a bit and you can sleep there.” Sonic offered as he tied off the last bandage. It was shoddy work all things considered, but it'd do for now.
“‘m a risk to anything around me. I can't..promise the bed will remain intact.”
“Like I said man, nobody goes in there. You're probably the first person to use that room in like a year. Whatever gets damaged in there could've been thrown away already, as far as I'm concerned. It's okay.”
At that, Shadow didn't argue much more. He simply did his best to try and keep his eyes open. Sonic cleaned around the bandages areas with another washcloth, determined to provide as much comfort as possible. He didn't miss how red the hybrid's face was getting. Another symptom, he figured. Shadow must be susceptible to fever with all of these injuries.
“I’m gonna be right back, okay?” Sonic said as he stood up. He was hesitant to leave Shadow for even a moment, but he needed to tidy up the guest bedroom and get it ready. “I won't be far, so just like, scream or something if you need me.”
A low noise emitted from Shadow’s chest, an alien-like gurgling sound that the blue blur couldn't tell if it was a sound of pain, acknowledgement, or both. He sped out of the bathroom, and burst through the door to the guest room to assess the state of it. There were boxes scattered around the room, some empty and some containing old junk that he and his brother figured they wouldn't need anytime soon. Old clothing, long forgotten trash bags, and other miscellaneous items littered the floor, and a stale smell hung in the air.
With limited time, Sonic immediately got to work. He threw the trash bags and empty boxes down the stairs to be taken out later, vaguely hoping the bags didn't split open on the way down. He stacked the boxes that still contained items in a messy pile in the corner of the room. Similarly, he gathered up the old clothes and stuffed them into the guest wardrobe, pushing the stack down in an attempt to make all of the clothes fit and forcing the drawer shut. As for the other random items littering the room, he tossed them into the top box of the stack he piled up. It could hardly be called “cleaning”, when the most he'd done was shove everything into neater piles or hide it from sight entirely, but Sonic had to admit the room looked a lot better.
The guest bed was a plain mattress with no sheets or pillows on it. Sonic thought back to what Shadow had said earlier, about the risk of items getting damaged. And while it might suck, that didn't mean Shadow should have to be forced to use the bare minimum. Sonic retrieved two unused pillows and a spare comforter from his closet, and messily arranged them on the guest bed. Hopefully Shadow wouldn't mind how they still faintly smelled like the blue hero.
The last thing he did was quickly spray a bit of air freshener in the room, to remove the remaining musk from the severe lack of ventilation this room had received, replacing it with a faint scent of citrus. It wasn't his best work, but he was proud of it anyway, so Sonic swiftly returned back to the bathroom to retrieve the other hedgehog and show him where he'd be staying.
But what he saw when he entered the room made his blood run cold.
Shadow was now laying flat on his side, viciously trembling and curling into himself, like his body was seizing from being electrocuted. He had a tight grip on his left wrist, and one of his inhibitor rings was now discarded on the floor.
“Shadow!” Sonic cried, crouching down at the hybrid’s side within the millisecond. Shadow managed to crack an eye open, taking a desperate inhale between pained cries and whimpers that left him breathless.
“Sonic.” He wheezed. “I- agh!- I don’t- Something is.. Help me..”
What was he supposed to do about this?! For starters, he knew virtually nothing about what was going on with Shadow beyond the fact that his inhibitor rings being damaged were likely the root cause. But he hadn’t the first clue on Shadow’s biology, nor did he figure that he’d be able to help even if he did anyway; and with the dark hedgehog adamantly refusing to seek professional medical attention, it left them in a precarious circumstance. But even so, Sonic had to do something, anything.
Tenderly, he slid an arm under the hybrid’s head and used his other arm to support his body, and hoist Shadow to lean up against him, and hold him close. It was awkward at first, with the way the other hedgehog briefly tensed up, but slowly yet surely, he seemed to give into the contact; his left hand digging into the hero’s arm for purchase as his body continued to be wracked with tremors and spasms. His chest rose and fell in uneven, shallow breaths.
“Try to match my breathing, Shads.” Sonic took in strong, steady inhales and exhales. “It’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna be fine.” he affirmed. He wasn’t sure if it was more to convince himself or to convince the other hedgehog.
It took another minute before Shadow’s breathing patterns started to match his own. His shaking began to calm as well, and he fell limp in the hero’s hold as all of his muscles gave out from repeated stress. They sat in silence for another moment, Sonic taking his time to scan him for any more injuries. Most notably, Shadow was slightly cold and clammy, a highly unusual trait, seeing as he seemed to be a walking heater most of the time. It only served to worry Sonic even more.
“I got the room all set up for you.” The speedster whispered. “Is it okay if I move you there?”
Shadow managed a weak nod, and Sonic gently stood up with the other in his arms, making sure to handle him as carefully as possible. They made their way to the guest bedroom, and Sonic set Shadow carefully down on the pillows and pulled the comforter over him. The hybrid shifted, rolling onto one side and burying half of his face into the pillow. Suddenly though, his nose began to twitch.
“Oh, yeah.” Sonic chuckled nervously. “Those are mine. I haven’t used them in awhile though. Sorry if they smell weird.”
“..Smells nice.” Shadow muttered as he nuzzled into the pillow, seemingly trying to sink impossibly further into them.
Sonic was momentarily stunlocked. Of all the odd, out of left-field things that have happened tonight, that might have just taken the cake. Sonic’s heart rate sped up, feeling his body heat up and his stomach was filled with an odd, fluttery sensation.
Maybe he was getting sick too from all the stress.
“Uhm..W-Well, Shads, I really think you should try to get some rest. I should go see-”
“Y’r leaving…?” The hybrid slurred, his eyes twitching as he fought to keep them open. His tone was so confused, so..pleading. Maybe Sonic was just imagining things, but he couldn’t help the way his heart seemed to drop at the idea of abandoning him after that. Not after what just happened.
“I..no, no I’m not.” Sonic sighed, offering Shadow a small, reassuring smile. “I’ll just be looking through these boxes over here. I won’t go anywhere until you’re asleep, and I’ll be sure to check on you.”
Shadow simply hummed as he finally allowed his eyes to flutter shut. Sonic, with nothing else to do, took down one of the boxes and began sifting through some of the various items he and Tails had put in there. Unfinished gadgets, old magazines, etc. The blue blur found a puzzle lying at the bottom of the second box, and decided he’d give that a shot. The hybrid's breath quickly evened out as sleep finally took him, but Sonic still stayed close by, spending the better part of an hour putting together a one-hundred piece puzzle, only to find out that there were three pieces missing. So that’s why they put it in this room.
The hero studied the dark hedgehog in his sleep. He shifted often, no doubt uncomfortable as his body waged war on itself internally. Despite that, though, he looked peaceful. A scarcely witnessed expression on the striped hedgehog's features, one Sonic found himself wishing he could see more.
He’s kinda cute like this. The hero found himself thinking.
…Wait, what?
Sonic mentally kicked himself for that. Because that was weird, right? Out of nowhere, and absolutely not the time to be getting lost in new, confusing ideas..Or potential revelations.
No, he needed to get his thoughts in order, keep his head clear and be there for his suffering counterpart, who put an uncharacteristic amount of trust in him. If Sonic were to mess up because he was too busy entertaining fleeting thoughts, Shadow might not forgive him. Hell, he might end up getting even more hurt, or worse.
Thus, he buried those unfamiliar sensations and untrustworthy notions. His mind was likely just on overdrive from the high-stress events that just occurred. And when he spared another glance in the direction of the agent, he decided that he needed to put some distance between them, get some air to clear his head.
Quietly, Sonic made his way out of the room and shut the door. A part of him yearned to stay, but he also had other matters to attend to. Such as retrieving the inhibitor ring still lying on the bathroom floor. It was truly in awful condition, cracked all the way around and looking like it could fall apart at any moment.
His brother would know what to do about this, that genius mind of his always had a solution.
“Hang in there, Shads.” Sonic muttered out loud, tightening his grip on the ring.
“I won’t let you down.”