Chapter Text
Shadow is having one of his bad days.
He doesn’t say it out loud, obviously - he never does - but Sonic doesn’t need his words to figure it out. He can see it in the faint redness around Shadow’s eyes, the tension carved into his jaw, and that practiced scowl he hides behind. A mask meant for the world - and especially for Maddie.
Since Sonic is still grounded, joyrides (and joyruns) are off the table - but he knows another trick that might help. So when the sun sets, he drags Shadow up onto the Wachowskis’ roof to watch the stars.
The fabric of the sky comes alive with billions of distant lights.
Shadow seems soothed by the stars, their light having become synonymous with Maria in his mind. He stares at them for hours on end, enraptured, wrapped in the ghost of his loss.
When Sonic looks at Shadow’s eyes, he sees his own grief reflected back at him, trembling and vulnerable.
Sometimes Sonic catches him staring at the nebula of the Eclipse Cannon’s scar instead, lip curled with bitter self-loathing. That patch of sky is a wound - a reminder of how close he came to destroying it all.
Sonic gets it. It’s his scar too.
The night air carries a chill. The roof tiles are cold beneath them, and the air feels sharp in Sonic’s lungs. He rubs his arms for warmth, lamenting the too-quick end of summer to himself. He glances over at Shadow, who hasn’t moved an inch.
“Have you thought of what you wanna do after this, yet?” he asks.
Shadow doesn’t look at him. His voice is low, quiet.
“I don’t know where to begin.”
“There’s gotta be something,” Sonic presses, scooting closer along the cool tiles. “Something you’ve always wanted.”
Shadow frowns. “Not really. I’ve only ever been a… Test subject. And Maria’s friend.”
“You can’t just define yourself by other people,” Sonic says with a small frown. “Who are you? What do you want?”
Shadow finally glances at him, sharp eyes clouded with a mix of embarrassment and confusion.
“You really have no idea, huh.” Sonic says quietly.
“I don’t even know what I am,” Shadow admits, quills bristling defensively. “Or where I came from.”
Sonic blinks. “Wait, they didn’t… Tell you anything?”
“Of course not,” Shadow growls. “I was an experiment.”
Sonic’s chest tightens. He stares down at his shoes, then back at Shadow.
“There’s gotta be something out there about you. Maybe in the base that you-”
Shadow glares at him, ears pinned flat against his head.
“...That you pulled into a miniature Black Hole and destroyed. Right,” Sonic finishes lamely, grimacing. “Wow, you really wanted us dead that time, huh.”
Shadow doesn’t bother replying, so Sonic taps his chin in thought.
“But G.U.N doesn’t keep all its information in one place,” he says, “There’s bound to be another server, or a stash of files somewhere.”
Shadow blinks at him, silently.
“Tails is good at this stuff,” Sonic adds, turning to grin at him. “We should talk to him, he can look into it for you.”
“…He would do that?” Shadow asks, voice softer than before.
“Of course. If it matters to you, it matters to us. That includes him.”
Shadow averts his eyes, his ear twitching uncertainly.
“As for what you are, Shads,” Sonic says, grin tugging wider, “I’m like… ninety-nine percent sure you’re a hedgehog.”
“I’m nothing like you–”
Shadow suddenly yanks him down by the quills.
“Ow! Shadow, what the hell?”
Shadow silences him with a sharp gesture, eyes locked on the road. Sonic follows his gaze - and freezes. Two sets of headlights creep closer to the house along the road, too slow, too deliberate.
Sonic frowns. Who would be visiting them so late?
The vehicles pull into the driveway. Black vans, armored, stamped with the G.U.N insignia. Sonic’s stomach flips; he remembers cages, cattle prods, the taste of electricity.
A uniformed man climbs out, followed by armed soldiers, and approaches the front door. The knock is loud in the quiet night. Tom’s wary voice answers.
Sonic can’t quite make out what they’re saying, their voices muffled and faint - but he can pick up on a few words, like ‘disturbance,’ and ‘project’ and ‘specimen.’
Sonic winces internally. Right. The race.
Tom's voice is casual when he answers, but even Sonic can hear the evasion in his tone.
“We gotta hide you,” Sonic whispers urgently, turning his head to look at Shadow.
Shadow’s pupils have shrunk to pinpricks. His lips are pulled back to bare his teeth, quills bristling like knives. He’s staring down at the armed soldiers with a look of disgust and pure loathing in his widened eyes.
“Shadow..?”
“They won’t leave me alone,” Shadow whispers, voice raw, dangerous. “I’m putting an end to this.”
He begins to rise, hands clenched to fists. Sonic shoots out a hand to grab him by the wrist, halting him mid-step.
“Ookay, let’s take a deep breath and several chill pills,” he hisses, tugging hard to keep him down. But Shadow doesn’t even seem to hear. His entire focus is locked on the men below.
“You can’t just start killing people,” Sonic insists, panic sharpening his tone. “That’ll make things, like, a billion times worse!”
Below them, Tom’s calm voice mixes with the soldier’s. Polite. Casual. They haven’t been spotted yet.
“I’ll finish it this time,” Shadow snarls. “All of them.”
“Absolutely not,” Sonic shoots back, tightening his grip. “These guys are just following orders!”
“They all need to die.”
Sonic’s breath stutters in shock. He zips in front of Shadow, blocking his path, quills raised. The air between them crackles.
“Didn’t we have this conversation already?” Sonic says quietly, an edge in his tone. “About winners and revenge?”
From below comes the muffled sound of car doors shutting, engines roaring to life. Thanks to Tom’s unbreakable poker-face, the soldiers are leaving.
“This isn’t revenge,” Shadow snarls, “It’s self-defense.”
Sonic allows himself to relax a little when he hears the vans pull out of the driveway and onto the road. He sighs, opening his mouth to answer-
Shadow’s fist slams into his face.
He’d almost forgotten how hard Shadow hits. Stars burst behind his eyes, and he crashes off the roof, slamming into the asphalt hard enough to drive the breath out of him.
He’s on his feet again in a blink, fists clenched, the sting still buzzing across his jaw. Shadow is already moving, rocketing toward the road, zeroed in on the retreating G.U.N. vans.
Sonic rockets off the asphalt just in time to block Shadow’s path. He slams into Shadow’s side, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Sonic rolls to his feet, planting himself firmly between Shadow and his target.
Shadow doesn’t even hesitate. His fist swings again, a blur of red and black, and Sonic ducks by a hair’s breadth. The shockwave rattles the air around him, quills prickling from the force.
“Get out of my way!” Shadow snarls, voice splitting the night.
“Not happening!” Sonic grits his teeth and lunges, grabbing Shadow by the arm. He digs his heels into the pavement, but it’s like trying to hold back a freight train. Shadow drags him several feet before throwing him off with contemptuous strength.
Sonic skids, flips back onto his feet, and charges again. Their quills clash like blades, sparks crackling in the dark. Sonic’s faster - he always is - but Shadow’s stronger, unrelenting. Every blow rattles his bones. Every dodge comes just a fraction too late.
“They won’t stop!” Shadow cries out, the fury in his voice having taken on a sharp, desperate note.
“Killing them won’t fix anything!” Sonic tries, weaving out of the way of another powerful punch.
Shadow fights like a storm - wild, furious, unstoppable. Yet… something is off. There’s a frantic panic to his movements. His strikes cut close, but not through. His claws scrape Sonic’s quills instead of sinking into flesh. His kicks send Sonic flying, but never shatter bone.
He’s holding back. Somewhere beneath the rage, he still hesitates to really harm Sonic.
Sonic crashes hard into the lawn, breath knocked out of him. Shadow is already on him, hand curled tight around his throat. The fire in his eyes is blinding, merciless - yet his grip falters, trembling.
“They will never leave me alone,” Shadow rages, eyes wide and wet and unseeing. “They will hunt me until they catch me, and then they will put me back in the tube, where I will ROT–”
Sonic wheezes, claws scrabbling at his wrist. Panic curls its fingers around his heart. “We won’t let them.”
Shadow chokes on a sound that sounds too much like a sob.
“--And I’ll watch her die in my dreams, over and over and over and over–”
His fingers twitch. He pulls his hand from Sonic’s throat and clutches his head like his mind is splintering under the strain, curling his fingers around his quills and pulling-
“You should have let me die, god DAMN it,” he shouts, voice breaking like glass.
Sonic stares, wide-eyed. Shadow lets out an anguished cry and flings him aside, sending him tumbling into the grass.
Shadow trembles with an aimless, desperate rage. Having nowhere to direct it, he digs his claws into his forearm, gripping tight as though he could crush the fury into silence - then rakes them down and tears it open. Blood gushes forth, dripping hot onto the damp grass.
For half a heartbeat, Sonic can’t move. The metallic tang of blood sharpens in the night air - then he’s on Shadow, grabbing his arm with both hands.
Shadow fights like a cornered animal, snarling and clawing and biting - but Sonic drags him into his arms and crushes him tight against his chest, ignoring the sting of bristling quills slicing into his skin.
“We won’t let them,” he repeats desperately into Shadow’s shoulder as the other squirms in his grip, smearing blood into Sonic’s fur. “We won’t let them.”
“I can’t--” Shadow snarls, his voice cracking from the stress. “You should’ve killed me, it’s your fault, I was going to be with her--”
His words collapse into a low, pained whine, then silence, broken only by ragged, shuddering breaths. He drops his chin against his chest, a silent sob wracking his form.
Sonic doesn’t say anything. He holds onto Shadow like a vice, eyes squeezed shut as he rocks him back and forth.
Seconds stretch into minutes.
The night air grows colder, chilling sweat and blood alike.
They’re both bleeding. Shadow is silent, tears seeping into the fur on his face. A thread of spit hangs from his open mouth, and his half-lidded eyes have glazed over, dull and murky. He’s stopped moving, aside from the occasional involuntary shudder against Sonic’s grounding grip.
Sonic’s arms ache from holding him, but he doesn’t dare let go. The fight has bled out of Shadow, leaving him empty. His head lolls limply back against Sonic’s shoulder, breaths wet and ragged with half-swallowed sobs.
Sonic hears running footsteps approaching. He doesn’t open his eyes, but he senses Maddie as she crouches down next to them.
“Don’t touch him yet,” he warns hoarsely.
Maddie hesitates only for a second - and then Sonic feels Shadow being pulled carefully out of his grip. He blinks his eyes open, surprised to find his vision blurry with tears. He moves to stand up, but Tom’s arm catches him around the waist and lifts him up.
“I don’t need to be carried,” he whines petulantly, but Tom holds him firmly in his arms, turning back toward the house.
“You did your part,” Tom says, quiet but steady, “Let us help, now.”
Sonic wants to argue, he really does - but suddenly his own body feels too heavy. He sags against Tom’s shoulder, exhaling shakily into his shirt.
Tom carries him quietly back into the house, and the bright lights in the kitchen sting Sonic’s eyes. He rubs at them as Tom puts him down on the kitchen table, his feet dangling off the edge.
Tom reaches for his first aid kit. He’s no vet, but as a cop he knows enough to get by in a pinch. Sonic watches blearily as Tom dabs antiseptic into the deep cuts in his arms and shoulders, left by Shadow’s quills.
“Don’t be mad at him,” Sonic croaks.
“We’re not,” Tom replies. His tone is soft, but Sonic picks up on the edge in it. Sonic looks tearily at him, ears folded back.
“Dad?”
“...Yeah.”
“Does G.U.N know he’s here?”
Tom doesn’t reply right away. His silence is answer enough as he reaches for a bandage. Sonic stares at him, stricken, while Tom begins to wrap his arms.
“They’ll put him back to sleep, dad.”
“I know.”
Sonic’s throat tightens. For one breathless moment, he wonders if he made a mistake - if he should have let Shadow go on his rampage, if maybe everyone at G.U.N deserves it.
“You did the right thing,” Tom says, as if reading his mind.
Sonic swallows, trying really hard not to cry.
—
Knuckles and Tails are waiting for him when he climbs up into their shared attic room.
They both look him over, concern etched on their grim faces. Sonic isn’t sure how Tom and Maddie managed to keep them out of the fight with Shadow - but he’s glad they did.
“Are you okay?” Tails asks, hesitantly brushing his fingers against Sonic’s bandaged arm as he stumbles toward the bed.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Sonic replies, forcing a tired, lopsided grin.
“Is he?” Knuckles asks, his gaze lingering on the bloodstained wrappings.
“Nope.”
His brothers glance wordlessly at one another. Sonic should probably elaborate, but exhaustion tugs him stubbornly toward his bed. He collapses on it, burying his face in the pillow.
For a moment, all he can feel is the weight pressing down on him: helplessness, exhaustion, the gnawing sense that nothing is changing. Shadow’s grief keeps dragging him under, circling back to the same pit no matter how hard Sonic tries to pull him free.
He’d seemed better. He’d looked better. But then G.U.N. showed up and wrecked all his progress in less than an hour.
How’s Sonic supposed to protect Shadow from G.U.N. when he can’t even protect him from his own mind?
What if Shadow’s fears are right? What if Sonic really can’t stop them? What if Shadow’s fate is to go back to his own personal hell - maybe forever this time?
The sharp clack of Tails’s laptop keys pulls Sonic out of the spiral. A second later, a familiar sound fills the room: the opening credits of Speed.
Sonic lets out a weak snicker into the pillow. He rolls over, finding Knuckles and Tails settled on either side of the bed. Tails nudges the laptop closer so Sonic has a clear view - just like Sonic did for Shadow, those few first days.
“Really?” Sonic mumbles, an exhausted grin tugging at his lips. “You’re just gonna steal my playbook?”
“You are not the only one versed in the ancient arts of comfort and healing, Hedgehog,” Knuckles declares with a sniff. Tails just snuggles up next to Sonic, leaning his head on his brother’s shoulder.
Sonic sighs, settling back as his heavy eyelids droop. He watches his favorite movie with his favorite people, heart aching with affection for them. And when his eyes sting and tears slip free, neither of them says a single word about it.
—
Despite his bone-deep exhaustion, Sonic can’t sleep.
He can’t get comfortable, keeps tossing and turning and getting tangled up in his sheets. His muscles ache - and the cuts beneath the bandages sting and itch like an absolute bitch.
(Sonic feels a newfound sympathy for anyone who he’s ever accidentally nicked with his quills.)
Neither Tom nor Maddie came up to say goodnight. The house is quiet. No footsteps, no voices from downstairs. Just Knuckles snoring from across the room. Sonic listens, ears twitching, hoping for some sign that Tom and Maddie are okay. Nothing.
Then, the hatch to the attic room creaks open, and Sonic’s ears swivel toward the sound, perking up. He lifts his head, and in the dim light, a pair of carmine eyes meet his.
Shadow climbs up silently and eases the hatch shut behind him. Sonic can only stare as the black hedgehog pads toward his bed and gets onto it without a word.
“Shadow?” Sonic whispers.
Shadow says nothing. He gets in under the covers and curls up next to Sonic, silently watching him in the dark. His eyes are red-rimmed and a little swollen, but steady and clear. His forearm is wrapped in fresh bandages.
Something inside Sonic twists. Shadow looks different - like an infection has been drained from a wound, like some deep, desperate fear in Shadow’s soul has bled out of him with his tears, leaving a steady, determined clarity.
“...Thank you,” he breathes.
Sonic stares wordlessly at him, lips slightly parted. For once, he doesn’t know what to say. His heart squeezes painfully in his chest, and he swallows past the lump in his throat.
“Are you okay?” he manages eventually, his voice just a whisper.
Shadow doesn’t respond. His gaze shifts down to the bandages around Sonic’s arms, and he traces a finger lightly along them in silent apology.
Sonic shifts closer, hesitantly reaching out to touch Shadow’s shoulder. Shadow looks a little wary, but doesn’t resist when Sonic carefully pulls him in, pressing the other hedgehog’s face into the peach fluff of his chest.
Hugging Shadow is a bit like hugging a slab of concrete. The dark hedgehog is rigid, tense and awkward - but he doesn’t pull away, letting Sonic hold him. Sonic squeezes his eyes shut, afraid that Shadow might crumble to dust in his hold.
“G.U.N…” Sonic begins, a waver in his voice.
“I know,” Shadow mumbles.
Sonic knows what it means, but he shoves the thought down, refusing to acknowledge it. He stays in the present, savoring the feeling of Shadow’s steady breath against the crook of his neck, undeniably alive.
Drowsiness creeps in, pulling at his frayed edges. He curls his fingers deeper into Shadow’s fur, stubbornly holding onto the moment.
Then, slowly, Shadow shifts. His arm drapes around Sonic in return, resting across his side.
Sonic is asleep within seconds.