The Greatest Thing I Ever Stole (Your Heart)

by Aurora2Sunset

Summary:

Team Dark are the world's most infamous criminals, consisting of a kleptomanic bat, a robot, and a hedgehog with a mission to bring someone back from the dead, their heists lead them around the world in search of the Chaos Emeralds, jewels that are said to have unparalleled power when all seven of them are brought together. They only need one more, which is in the hands of Hero Sonic the Hedgehog.

When their original plan to get it from him goes south, Shadow must pretend to date said hero until he can get into his house and steal the last Emerald they need.

What he doesn't account for is actually falling in love with him.

Chapter 1: The Purple Chaos Emerald

Notes:

strap in folks this one might be a long one

so i've always loved heist movies it's a genre that i think is an underutilized trope in fanfiction so i'm bringing my own spin on it to the table in sonadow form because that's what i'm currently obsessed with lol i hope you guys enjoy B)

i'm also a huge fan of team dark shenanigans so that's like half of the fic because i love them, actually 90% of the fic is just my own headcanons and stuff that appeals to me specifically because what is fanfic for if not self-indulgent slop of the author lol

au they live on earth in a society where mobians and humans basically live together in relative harmony don't look into it to much haha

more tags will be added as the fic goes on and more things happen just fyi

Just as the sun set under the horizon, the city of Bangkok was alight. People were buzzing around still even under the presence of the night. And one of the most brightly lit places was the Theerapanyakun Hotel, comparable to that of the Gatsby mansion. Limos were passing in front of the building, letting out several high-profile people with equally high figure numbers. They were all here for the same event.

“We’re approaching the location, is everyone ready?” Shadow asked, looking over at Rouge who was busy reapplying a baby pink lipstick to her lips.

“Of course I’m ready.” Rouge replied, snapping her handmirror shut and winking at him. 

Shadow nodded, then patted the briefcase next to him. “How about you, Omega?”

The briefcase beeped and vibrated against Shadow’s thigh in affirmative. Shadow adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves and took a deep breath.

“Excellent. We can begin then.”

They’d rented a limo out for this exact night, dressed up in the most expensive outfits they owned, and were basically doing their best to look like they belonged here.

The limo slowed to a stop in front of the hotel and one of the security guards stepped out to open the door. Shadow got out first, letting Rouge grab his arm to step out as well, the bat woman grabbing their third member disguised as a briefcase.

“Thank you, darling.” Rouge winked. “And relax, would you? We haven’t flubbed a heist yet, and tonight will be no different.”

“I know it won’t.” Shadow replied as the cameras started flashing at them. The limo drove away and the two of them began to walk down the red carpet, Rouge waving to the paparazzi while Shadow just stared straight ahead.

The news reporters were here. Shadow swiveled his ears to listen to the reporter talk to the camera.

“Everyone’s excited for the auction tonight! Several high-value items are up for sale, including one of the infamous Chaos Emeralds! There’s only seven of them in the world and said to possess great power! However, five of them have been stolen by the criminals known only by their name, Team Dark! Hopefully they won’t show up tonight, but security has been extra tight from what I can see, yeesh. They’re even cracking down on the innocent journalists! What did we ever do?!”

Shadow let out a little snort at the words.

“What’s funny, doll?” Rouge asked, grinning, having heard the exact same words he did.

“Just eavesdropping on nonsense.” Shadow replied.

Rouge giggled. She was in all black, wearing a strapless pantsuit that was tailored to her proportions and exposed her back and arms, with a string of diamonds around her neck and heavy jewels adorning her fingers and ears. She spread her wings as she walked down the aisle of carpet, earning a few gasps and swoons from the crowd. The bat was dripping with confidence, knowing that she looked good and gracing the public with her beauty.

Shadow was also in black, but with delicately embroidered red designs, swirls and flames turning into wings on his back. A faux imitation of Rouge’s own but still a beautiful suit nonetheless. Shadow was cold and to the point, that was evident in the way he walked and the way he refused even a glance at those he deemed below him, which was most people. Untouchable, expensive, and just enough of an asshole to be perceived as those they were trying to impersonate.

The plan was simple. Get in without drawing attention. Grab the chaos emerald. Get out without being caught.

Shadow, Rouge, and Omega were indeed the aforementioned Team Dark, the criminals who were traveling around the world robbing museums, jewelry stores, and even residences. They always only took one thing from any place they went, the Chaos Emeralds. No one knew who they were. No one knew why they were after them.

They made it to the entrance with forged invitations courtesy of Omega finding copies of this year’s through hacking into some celebrities' emails and recreating them. The security guard pushed up his glasses to read them, squinting.

“Is something wrong, dearie?” Rouge purred, laying it on thick.

“Sorry, my eyesight ain’t what it used to be. Can I get your names?”

“Of course, doll! I’m Magenta the Bat and this is my husband, Scarlet the Hedgehog.” Rouge grabbed his arm. “But he doesn’t mind sharing me if you’re interested.” she winked.

“ My wife would mind.” the guard stiffened. “Are you two looking to bid on anything specific?”

“I’m a huge fan of anything diamond so I absolutely had to attend this lovely auction and try my hand at getting some of these precious jewels! I’m practically frothing at the mouth just thinking about them!”

She really was all but drooling. Even if she was using their codenames and lying about their relationship status, she was indeed obsessed with jewels to an unhealthy degree. Shadow cleared his throat and she dropped it almost immediately.

“Are there any more questions or are you so bored you’re making small talk with the clientel?” Shadow snapped, disliking how long this was dragging out.

“No more questions. You two may head inside. Sorry for the trouble.”

“You should be.” Shadow scoffed as he headed inside with Rouge next to him. She waved with her fingers to the guard before puffing her cheek out at Shadow.

“You didn’t have to be so mean to him.” she complained.

“Doesn’t matter. We aren’t going to be here for very long anyways if I can help it.” he replied. “He was too nosey.”

Briefcase-Omega beeped in agreement.

They entered the main entrance where the pre-party was taking place. Rich people milled about in droves, along with waiters holding plates of food and drinks. Rouge, of course, nabbed a champagne flute as soon as one was presented to her. Up the stairs led to a set of guarded doors that was the theater where the auction would be held.

If they were lucky, they could get the Emerald before the auction even began.

They were rarely that lucky. 

“We split here. Do you have a plan for a distraction?” Shadow asked.

“Of course, handsome.” Rouge winked, tossing the now-empty glass over her shoulder. “I always do.”

“And how subtle do you intend to make it?” Shadow said tentatively, knowing how his partner in crime had a love for the dramatic.

Rouge laughed out loud. “As subtle as I can be when I look this good.” she trilled, dragging her hands down her body to prove her point.

“Then I’ll leave you to it.” Shadow replied, breaking off from her.

As he headed towards the security room, up the stairs and to the left at the balcony wrapping around the room to look down on it, he watched Rouge flit through the crowd, and in true Rouge fashion, she proceeded to swipe four wallets, two necklaces, six rings and a rolex in the time it took for her to get to the door that led to the small stage directly adjacent to the front desk.

“She just can’t keep her hands to herself.” he sighed to himself, watching over the railing and tapping his foot impatiently.

Suddenly music picked up and Shadow raised an eyebrow. The small stage’s curtains opened and Rouge appeared, holding a microphone on a stand.

“Oh no.” Shadow groaned as all eyes turned to look at her. This is not what he meant by subtle at all.

Rouge grinned, knowing exactly what she was doing. She started singing. He didn’t recognize the language, but Shadow assumed it was Thai given where they were. When and where she learned this song he didn’t know. But it didn’t matter. It had people’s attention.

He looked over at the security room, seeing the guard stationed in front of it fixed onto her and bopping his head to the beat.

Perfect.

Shadow blipped out of existence around the corner from the security room.

“ Psst, over here .” he whispered.

It caught the guards attention and he looked around the corner, seeing nothing.

Because Shadow teleported behind him at that exact moment and hit him over the head with Briefcase-Omega, teleporting them both around the corner before anyone saw. He grabbed the keycard around his belt as the guard slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Shadow cracked his neck before coming back to the door, swiping the card and entering, closing the door before setting Briefcase-Omega on the ground.

“Omega, Primary Form.” he ordered.

In front of his eyes he watched as the briefcase transformed into a sizable hunk of black and red metal, beady eyes shining alight as they stared down at Shadow.

“I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE OF USING ME TO KNOCK THE GUARD OUT. YOU COULD HAVE SIMPLY HIT OR KICKED HIM.” Omega said, his words almost suggesting that he was pouting.

“I wanted you to feel included, big guy.” Shadow patted him on the side as he walked towards the security cameras.

“EVEN IF IT DID NOT DAMAGE MY EXTERIOR, THAT BLOW DID HARM MY PRIDE.” Omega said.

“We can talk about this later, for now I need you to disable the cameras.” Shadow gestured towards the master computer 

Omega nodded and stepped in front of the computer, changing his hand from the deadly knife-weapons they were into a single flashdrive. He inserted it into the port and his eyes went dark. A chibi Omega appeared on the screen, waving to Shadow cutely before running across the cameras, disabling each one as he did and wiping their memory files completely.

“Nice.” Shadow nodded, reaching up to touch the earpiece decorating his scarred ear. “Rouge, it’s done. Make your way up here as soon as you can.”

“ Copy that. ” the bat replied.

She entered the room in less than a minute, dabbing at her forehead with a napkin and fanning herself with her hand, wings folded.

“Shadow, you should have seen it, the crowd absolutely adored me.” she squealed. “They practically handed their wallets to me, I still stole them though HAHAHA!”

“How much did you grab?” Shadow asked.

Rouge smirked, unfolding her wings and out spilled quite the haul of stolen wallets, jewelry, watches, and even phones.

“Isn’t this a little excessive?” Shadow asked.

“Whaaaaat noooooo.” Rouge brushed it off. “I mean I won’t take all of it home, I do it more for the thrill, of course. But some of the people here got a pretty hefty amount of cash in their wallets.” she picked one off the ground, pulling several hundreds out of it before stuffing the green into her cleavage to hide it.

Shadow smacked himself on the head.

“I FOUND THE ROOM WITH THE AUCTION ITEMS.” Omega announced on the computer.

Their little buddy had a personal virus that all he needed was to be close to a device in order to implement it, but it worked the best if he was plugged into it. It allowed his AI to physically enter the device and deactivate it or control it however he pleased, or however Team Dark needed. He could also transform into pretty much any electronic device, all Shadow or Rouge needed to do was say the word.

“Perfect! The auction starts in a few minutes, plenty of time!” Rouge clasped her hands together.

“Not so fast, we need to figure out what the security looks like.” Shadow walked up to the monitors, leaning against the desk. “Omega?”

Chibi Omega turned on one of the cameras to showcase where the Emerald was being held. “IT APPEARS THAT EVERYTHING IS BEING KEPT BEHIND THE MAIN STAGE IN THE THEATER, SIX SECURITY GUARDS ARE STATIONED THERE AND THERE ARE LASERS AROUND THE EMERALD THAT WILL TRIP AN ALARM IF BROKEN, CALLING THE POLICE. ALL OF THE GUARDS ARE ARMED.”

“Well, so am I.” Shadow lifted up his pant leg, showing the handgun strapped to his right calf. “Is the room locked?”

“AFFIRMATIVE. AND GUARDED.”

“No problem for me.” Shadow let his pant leg fall back down in order to crack his knuckles. “Omega. What I want you to do is the second that I unlock that door leading behind the stage I need you to turn the power off for sixty seconds, including the lasers. Me and Rouge will take care of the guards and we’ll get the Emerald.”

“Only one minute?” Rouge whined.

“It’s the shortest amount of time we can get away with without raising suspicion.” Shadow replied. “Can you find out what kind of lock is guarding the door, Omega?”

“THERE ARE THREE DOORS. ONE BEHIND THE CURTAIN WITH A KEYPAD, AND TWO ACTORS ENTRANCES WITH KEYLOCKS.”

“Let’s go for the keylocked ones.” Shadow nodded. “Rouge, let’s go.”

“Aye aye, captain.” she saluted with a wink.

They left Omega in the security room as they started to walk downstairs. The auction was about to begin by this point and people were starting to funnel into the main theater area. Rouge took him by the arm again while Shadow led the way, hands in his pockets.

“Stage left or stage right?” Rouge asked quietly.

“Left.” he commanded. “The natural flow of the crowd will allow us to slip in without anyone noticing.”

“Perfect.” Rouge flashed a dazzling smile. 

However they didn’t get a chance to enter flawlessly because suddenly someone approached them.

“Hello there! You must be the dame who transfixed the crowd with your voice.”

Shadow scowled deeply at the interruption. Rouge laughed nervously at the man who approached him.

“I am, darling. Thank you for the compliments.” Rouge held out her hand for the feline to kiss and he did so.

“If I may, I’m connected to an agency that works with rising stars such as yourself. If you’re interested I’m sure they would love to have you on board.” he looked her up and down. “Or at least, I would like to have such a wonderful lady like you in our roster.”

Shadow’s scowl deepened the more this guy was talking. He seemed snooty and was also just staring at Rouge’s cleavage the whole time.

Rouge laughed again and slipped out of Shadow’s arm in order to step closer. “I appreciate the offer, darling, but I’m otherwise engaged.” she purred, putting her hand on his chest. “There’s nothing your agency can offer me that I haven’t already obtained myself.”

The guy was frozen in place as she slipped by, Shadow following along beside her and shoving the guy beside.

“I dislike annoyances that cause us to be late.” Shadow said to his partner.

“Oh don’t get your panties in the twist, handsome.” she lifted her hand up, producing a watch in her hand. “I snagged something just for you and everything.”

“I really don’t need-” Shadow started saying but Rouge just tutted him, stopping them so she could attach the item to his wrist behind the golden rings already adorning him. It was sleek, black with gold accents and the numbers were in roman numerals. Shadow just sighed, knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to refuse her. “Thank you, Rouge.”

“Not a problem at all, love.” she patted his cheek.

However, their delay meant that everyone had made it to their seats, and the auctioneer was up on the stage.

“Good evening esteemed ladies and gentlemen! It’s so wonderful to see so many generous faces in the crowd.” he chuckled. “Are we ready to bid on some expensive items tonight?”

There were some cheers and clapping and the auctioneer winked. “I’m glad to hear it! Let’s begin with our first item…”

“Shit! They started the auction!” Shadow grabbed Rouge’s hand and teleported both of them to around the corner of where the door was located, the bat having to hold against the wall to avoid getting dizzy.

“I would appreciate a warning next time, handsome.” she shook her head hard to snap herself out of it.

Shadow shushed her, peeking around the corner, only seeing two guards. “Can you fly up there and knock them out?”

“Give me a second.” Rouge put her hands on her knees, taking a deep breath.

“We don’t have a second! We need to do this now!”

“Alright, alright, I’m going!” Rouge stood up and flipped her hair. “So bossy today.”

She bent her knees and took off to the high ceilings, walking upside down onto them as she approached the guards, who were none the wiser. Shadow watched her, staying as hidden as he could. Rouge stopped right above them, narrowing her eyes as picked the best way to do this.

Then she pounced, hitting one of them with her foot and the other with her arm, both collapsing on the floor as she stayed flying in the air.

“Ugh, these shoes were new and now I’ve scuffed them!” she complained about the state of her heels. “Shadow if I break a nail I swear to god you’re paying for my next manicure.”

“I’ll pay for an entire spa day for you if we can get out of here with the Chaos Emerald and no trace.” Shadow approached the door, inspecting the lock. He then tugged out a black quill from behind his head, inserting it into the keyhole as he pressed his ear against it.

“Will you be able to pick it?” Rouge asked. “You look like you’re having a bit of-”

The lock snapped open and Rouge’s eyebrows shot up.

“...trouble.” she finished her sentence. “Remind me to never doubt you again.”

Shadow smirked, then pressed his earpiece again.

“Omega. Lights out.” he commanded.

And just like that the place went dark completely. Rouge and Shadow slipped into the room, closing the door behind them as they did so.

They heard people shrieking from the outside at the outage and security trying to keep people from panicking. With keen eyesight made for the night, Shadow found the exact location of all of the guards. He looked over at Rouge, knowing she could see them just as well as he could.

“I take the three on the right, you take the ones on the left?” he asked quietly.

“I was just about to say the same thing.” she replied.

He held out his hand, palm-up, and she slapped it before both of them shot forward.

“Who goes there- AUGH!” one of the guards that had heard them was knocked down just as quickly as he said it.

It was like pinball the way that Shadow and Rouge darted around, knocking over the guards twice if they had to. Shadow grabbed one of them by the arms and flung them into the wall, making it crack. Rouge wrapped her legs around another’s neck and cracked it in an instant. 

A shot was fired and Shadow narrowly avoided it, knocking the gun out of the guy’s hand before knocking him down as well, putting his shoe on his neck.

Shadow looked up, seeing Rouge fly down and snag the Emerald off of its post, gleaming purple even in the minimal light. She then flung it over to Shadow who snagged it, feeling the sheer power of the thing even though his gloves. His inhibitors almost glowing from the nearby chaos energy.

He stuffed the gem into his jacket before putting his hands up.

Rouge grabbed them and flew them both up into the rafters a second before the lights came back on.

“You got it?” she whispered, breathing heavily.

Shadow nodded, tugging aside his suit jacket just enough so Rouge could see it sparkle.

“Ehehehehe we are so GOOD baby!” she squealed and punched him in the arm.

“Hell yeah we are.” Shadow adjusted his cuffs. “Let’s get back to Omega.”

They hit the ground just as the Auctioneer was trying to get things back to normal, trying to begin the bidding again.

“It’s alright, it’s alright! We can keep going, just a minor glitch, nothing to worry about! Now, you all know this very rare and very powerful gem, only seven of them exist in the world! May I present… The Purple Chaos Emerald!”

However nothing was wheeled out. Someone in the audience let out a cough. All of a sudden someone appeared and ran towards the auctioneer, whispering something to them.

“WHAT?!” he shouted. “THE CHAOS EMERALD WAS STOLEN?!” 

Immediately people in the audience screamed and started freaking out again.

“It’s Team Dark! They’re here!”

“Security! Do something!”

“Holy shit they actually came and stole it mid-auction, what are they, crazy?!”

“They’re criminal masterminds! Who knows what their intentions are!”

The criminal masterminds in question had just left the building, having disabled the security system entirely by this point and ready to end the mission.

“Omega. Motorbike.” Shadow spoke to his briefcase and threw it forward.

In a matter of seconds before it even hit the ground Omega had transformed into a sleek motorcycle fit to Shadow’s preferences and making the perfect getaway vehicle for them. Shadow threw his legs over it and revved the engine as Rouge perched on the back of it.

“Let’s get out of here, Omega.”

“SETTING A COURSE FOR BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, PURCHASING PLANE TICKETS WITH TSA PRE CHECK. PLEASE STANDBY.”

“Get it done before we get there.” Shadow said, already kicking up speed.

“AFFIRMATIVE.”

Shadow immediately started weaving through traffic. It was absolutely killer in this city but they needed to get to the airport before it hit the news that the Emerald had been stolen. They had at absolute most an hour.

“YOU WILL ARRIVE AT YOUR DESTINATION IN 32 MINUTES.”

“What the fuck, Omega?” Shadow scowled as he had to stop, cars being stuck to a stop on the freaking highway.

“THERE WAS A CAR ACCIDENT UP AHEAD, PRETTY NASTY ONE AS WELL.”

“Goddamnit, we don’t have time for this!” Shadow revved the engine.

“Uh, doll? What are you planning?” Rouge asked.

“Hang on tight.” he said, feeling arms wrap around his waist immediately as he backed up just enough to where he could reach the sidewalk, hitting the gas and pushing forward.

Luckily Shadow was an excellent driver, because he began to drive around pedestrians and restaurant patios, eventually coming to an alleyway and turning down it to get to the other side.

“NEW ARRIVAL ESTIMATION, TEN MINUTES.”

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Shadow grinned.

“I hear sirens!” Rouge shouted.

“Shit!” Shadow turned around, seeing the oh-so-familiar red and blue indicating that police were hot on their tail. He turned back around, seeing a piece of wood leaning against a few boxes that, at the right speed, would be the perfect ramp to get them on the rooftops.

He sped up.

“Shadow!” Rouge shut her eyes and clung onto him.

“Trust me!” Shadow replied, heading right for the makeshift ramp and clearing it, Motorbike-Omega’s tires bouncing as they hit the roofs, close enough to where Shadow could ride on them easily. Rouge screamed through every little bump and small opening. Eventually the airport was in sight, all they had to do was make this jump and…

Shadow sped up again and they flung off the roof.

“Omega! Briefcase!” he yelled. “Rouge!”

“I got you!” she grabbed onto Shadow’s hand just as Omega transformed back into his bite-sized version. Shadow snagged him just as Rouge set all of them safely down at the airport entrance.

“Perfect timing.” Shadow dusted himself off. “Did you get the tickets, Omega?”

Briefcase-Omega printed off two tickets headed back into the United States, before opening up to reveal their passports and a change of clothes for them both.

“Ugh, perfect. I need to get out of this thing yesterday.” Rouge grabbed her stuff.

They quickly headed inside in order to get to the bathrooms to change. Shadow put their fancy clothes and the Chaos Emerald into Briefcase-Omega as he threw on his black hoodie and a mask, covering half of his face. Rouge was in a pink onesie that also had a hood. A little loud but it covered her wings and ears which was enough.

“Put this on.” Shadow handed her a mask as well. “We can’t risk being spotted.”

“Aw, boo. You know how much I hate covering up this pretty face.” she pouted, but took it anyway.

“Our flight leaves in twenty minutes, we need to get to the gate now. Time to head back to New York.” he already started walking there. “And I promised you a spa day, didn’t I? That includes a full facial.”

Rouge cheered and put the mask on without another complaint.

---

“ Yet another Chaos Emerald has been stolen, all theories point to the infamous team dark, who once again left no evidence behind. Where could they be now, and who are these criminals after this world’s most powerful gems? ”

“Oh turn that off, you’re going to stress yourself out.” Rouge spoke in a sing-song voice from her chair, the masseuse working on the root of her wings.

Shadow turned his phone off and stuffed it in his quills, sinking into the bubbling jacuzzi stationed next to the massage chair Rouge was on.

“You’re right.”

“I often am.”

“But we still have work to do when we get back home, so enjoy your spa day while you can.”

Rouge groaned and not out of pleasure of getting the knots in her back prodded. “Why is it always ‘work, work, work’ with you? You seriously have no idea how to have fun.”

Shadow didn’t warrant that a response, leaning back against the edge of the tub and closing his eyes.

Even though he didn’t show it, he was antsy to get his hands on the last Chaos Emerald. All seven of them in one place held unparalleled power, able to accomplish things that were previously impossible. Every time they were used they were then scattered back across the world, stationing in random places to eventually found and used again, as was their purpose.

Why did Shadow want them?

For one, his body was already extremely compatible with the Chaos energy. His teleportation came from keeping the green emerald tucked in the bunches of his quills, able to harness its power whenever he needed it to. The extra energy was stored in his inhibitors around his wrists and ankles. If he were to ever take them off the power overload could very easily kill him. He was the best person to utilize the emeralds power for one thing. One wish. One impossible thing.

After all, if they were as powerful as people say, perhaps they could bring someone back from the dead.

Rouge’s massage was soon over and she sat up, stretching her arms over her head before grabbing a robe and wrapping it around her naked body. Shadow kept his eyes closed during that part. He only opened them when Rouge offered a hand to him, a towel thrown over her arm.

“Need help getting out, handsome?” she asked.

Shadow took her hand and allowed her to help him up, pulling him off of the tub and onto a nearby stool. Shadow took the towel and started patting himself dry.

“Do you want your shoes or can I help you walk to the next part of our well-earned spa day?” she asked as he put on his gloves again.

“Mm. I doubt they want me to wear my shoes. They don’t understand that I literally fucking need them. Help me walk please.” he requested.

“Aye aye, captain.” she replied, helping the now-dry hedgehog up onto his feet, wrapping a wing over his back as she helped him weakly limp into the next room.

Rouge was the only one who Shadow allowed to help him with this. Nerve damage in his feet from his past left him unable to walk without his modified rocket shoes. Even though he could reach mach speeds with them, taken away from him he was powerless.

She helped him into the salon chair before sitting down in the one next to him. Two stylists came up behind them and leaned the chairs back. Shadow flinched from the touch at first but eventually loosened his quills enough for the gentle scalp massage.

Rouge’s phone beeped and she pulled it out, pressing it against her ear.

“Yes, Omega?” she asked.

Shadow couldn’t hear the conversation but he saw Rouge nodding and her eyes widened, grinning.

“That’s fantastic news! We’ll head right back over once we’re done here.” she hung up and giggled to herself.

“What is it?” Shadow asked.

“Our friend discovered that a new season of our favorite show just came out. We should go watch it right away when we get home.” she winked at him.

Ah, so Omega had some information about the last Chaos Emerald. Of course, they didn’t want to be found out as Team Dark, so Rouge was making something up.

She was an excellent liar after all. That’s part of why she was such a great asset to the team.

“We should go now.” Shadow tried to get up.

“Ah ah ah.” Rouge gestured for him to get down. “We’re not moving until you and I are pampered as fuck.”

“But-”

“No buts but yours in that chair.” Rouge made a face at him.

Shadow groaned but agreed.

He had to sit though face masks, quill grooming, a manicure (not a pedicure because he’d never let anyone touch his feet in a million years) and even a quick fur trim. He came out of the spa feeling fresher than he had in a while. Maybe he should come here with Rouge more often.

When he was back in his rocket shoes Shadow offered his hand out to Rouge.

“Here. I can teleport us back.”

“Such a gentleman.” Rouge teased as she took it.

The warning allowed Rouge to prepare better and she wasn’t as queasy when Shadow transported them to their hideout.

Team Dark Headquarters was actually a house a ways away from the city, looking regular and unassuming on the outside, but decked out exactly as they needed it on the inside. Not only did they each have their own bedrooms, but they also had a basement with a triple security locked safe verified by Shadow to be nearly impenetrable where they kept the Chaos Emeralds safe. Nobody knew they were here and they were untraceable inside the safe.

In the living room was a super computer with multiple monitors and with Omega plugged into it, pulling up maps and Chaos Energy calculators, the works.

“Did you find it?” Shadow asked, running up to the monitor.

“AFFIRMATIVE. BUT NOT BECAUSE I WAS ABLE TO FIND ITS SIGNATURE.” Omega replied.

“What do you mean?” Rouge asked, sitting down at the couch in front of their TV.

“I CANNOT LOCATE THE LAST EMERALD THAT WAY. IT SEEMS TO BE KEPT IN A SAFE SIMILAR TO OURS.”

“Which means it blocks Chaos Energy.” Shadow groaned. “Fuck.”

“NOT TO WORRY. I KNOW WHO HAS IT.” Omega pulled up a newspaper article on the computer.

Hero of New York City, Sonic the Hedgehog, given a Chaos Emerald in thanks for stopping evil former military scientist Ivo Robotnik from destroying the Museum of Natural History, looking for said Emerald.

“They gave it to THAT GUY?!” Shadow snorted in disgust as that blue grinning mug appeared on the screen, taking the Emerald graciously from the mayor of the city.

“You have a problem with Big Blue?” Rouge asked. “He’s the city’s hero. Although I think we were in London when that whole thing happened, it’s crazy that something like that happened in our hometown.”

“CORRECT. WE WERE STEALING THE WHITE EMERALD THAT WAS IN THE ROYAL VAULT.” Omega chirped.

“My problem with him is that they just gave him the Emerald for, what, making a citizen’s arrest? That guy doesn’t deserve something as powerful as a Chaos Emerald.” Shadow scoffed.

“I dunno, apparently he’s close with the protector of the Master Emerald, the father of the Chaos Emeralds.” Rouge inspected her nails. “And supposedly he used the Emerald to defeat Robotnik.”

“Did you read this fucking article already or something?” Shadow barked.

“I’m on social media, darling. That’s better than any news outlet.” she flew upwards before settling down next to him. “Omega, do they have his address public?”

“NEGATIVE.”

Shadow’s frown deepened. Rouge just patted him on the shoulder. “No worries, doll. We find out where he’s going to be next and I’ll get him to take me home no problem.” she blew Shadow a kiss. “No man can resist my charms. Once I’m in, you two can sneak in and find the Emerald while I’m giving Big Blue the time of his life.”

A classic honeypot scheme. It worked to get the Blue Emerald, it’ll work just as good now.

“Alright. But I don’t want to be near him. I despise cocky hero-types.” Shadow rolled his eyes loudly.

“Whatever you say, handsome.” Rouge chuckled.

Notes:

ayeeee i hope everything made sense and it was a fun read so far more to come!

rating may change i'm not sure if i wanna keep it at M or change it to E bc there will be some smut and other suggestive happening but it's not like a main component of the fic so idk lmk what ur opinions are for that

Chapter 2: Operation Honeypot

Notes:

Enter: Sonic!

A lot of stuff happens in the chapter but it's one of the ones that I had the clearest ideas about what I wanted to happen. That's probably why it came out so fast after the first chapter lol no promises that I'll be able to keep that up

ALSO I'm not from New York (shocker I know) I am from one of the places mentioned in this fic but as a non new yorker I ask for grace when I talk about shit I know fuck all about, there's places and things mentioned in the fic that totally do not exist in the actual real life new york and it's probably not like this irl lol

The plan wasn’t anything they haven’t done before. If everything went well they would have the Emerald by the end of the night.

Sonic was hosting a charity gala, apparently raising money for environmental rebuilding, planting trees and making conservations and such. 

“I didn’t peg him as the type to be hosting a fancy-schmancy event like this.” Rouge commented as they walked up the stairs to the convention center where the Gala was being held. An invitation was not needed to attend. All you needed to do was donate to one of the charities listed recently and to show the confirmation at the door. There were also other opportunities to donate at the actual Gala itself, including donation boxes scattered around. A lot of them looked stuffed with cash already that Rouge was oogling.

“Do not steal from the donation boxes.” Shadow hissed as they entered the room.

“Oh, relax, I have standards. I only steal from those who can afford it.” Rouge giggled.

She had really gone all out tonight, wearing a red dress reminding Shadow of Jessica Rabbit, evening sporting white opera gloves to match. Her hair was curled and her ears were adorned with diamonds, of course. She was the stunning picture of a femme fatale.

Meanwhile Shadow was only wearing a leather jacket. There wasn’t a dress code for the Gala, regular people seemed to be milling about with rich folks. Mingling around, watching the band play or eating from the buffet table. Shadow spotted a bar and tilted his head over there.

“I’ll be on standby if anything happens. You know what to do.” he said.

Rouge nodded and they parted. Shadow wove through the crowd expertly before hopping up on one of the barstools. The bartender leaned over with a smile to talk to him.

“Anything I can get for you?”

“What do you have?” he asked, knowing fancy places like this rarely had a full bar set up.

“Ask and I’ll let you know if I have it. We’ve got a pretty nice spread here.”

“Can I just get coffee please?” he asked, not wanting to be even slightly intoxicated for tonight’s heist.

“Sure thing.”

Shadow turned his attention back over to Rouge, who was approaching a long line of people waiting to meet the famous Hero of the City. Shadow cast his gaze over to the hedgehog in question.

And the first thing he saw was that dazzling smile that made him unreasonably mad. Cobalt fur that was sticking up in several places, quills unkept, not even in fancy clothes for the event, instead sporting a white and red racing jacket and running shoes. He was shaking the hand of someone, talking to them actively while tapping his foot rapidly, unable to keep still even for a second.

Despite looking like he just jumped off of a plane, Shadow had to admit he was running this event like a proper host, actually interacting with the crowd rather than standing above them like a king.

Rouge got closer, skipping parts of the line with some smooth talk until she was right up in front of him. Her earpiece was turned on so Shadow could hear everything just in case.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet the Hero of the City, and at such an honorable event hosted by the man himself.” Rouge purred, popping her hip out.

Sonic responded by laughing, a bright sound that filled Shadow’s ears and made him bristle. It should have been awkward, should have a hint of something that he could nitpick, like being too hoity-toity, but it was perfect. Endearing almost.

“Nice to meet you too, uh-?” Sonic prompted her for her name.

“Rouge the Bat.” she reached out her hand. Forgoing codenames, she claimed it was because she wanted the people she slept with to be screaming her real name rather than a pseudonym. Sonic took it and shook it delicately. “I wanted to get the chance to speak with you personally. I wasn’t here when you saved the city, but I heard all about it.”

“Yeah, it was all people could talk about for a long time. Even still I’m feeling the social aftershocks.” Sonic shrugged, putting his hands in his pocket. “You’d think people would have found something better to do then talk about my one heroic deed.”

“Why would they talk about anything else?” Rouge reached for his arm, pressing her chest against him. “Although hearing all of these different stories and opinions has my head spinning. I’d prefer to hear the whole thing from the source.”

She batted her eyelashes at him, turning her lips up in a soft grin. “Maybe you could tell it to me from your perspective sometime?”

Shadow finally got his coffee and he took it, thanking the bartender and turning back towards the scene, taking a sip. This was always Rouge’s strategy. Men usually like to talk about themselves, and especially their achievements, no matter how small or how long ago they happened. She would get them talking, and then eventually make it so that they would take her home, thinking it was their idea.

When they were looking for the Blue Emerald they discovered it was in possession of a very wealthy Prince in Egypt. He was technically engaged but that didn’t stop Rouge from flirting with him. She barely got two words in before she was being whisked away. Shadow followed her and was able to easily bypass all of his security while she was doing her thing. They made it out of there with the Emerald and she was never suspected as the one who took it, after all she had a rock solid alibi.

However, Sonic didn’t end up taking her up on that. He quickly slid his arm out of her grasp, throwing her a smile as he stepped back.

“I’m sure my version of the story won’t be anything you’ve already heard before. But I appreciate your interest.” he replied. “Have you had the chance to talk to any of the leaders in the organizations I’ve brought here? A lot of them would really love to have your support if you’re willing to give it.”

What? Why is he changing the subject? Shadow furrowed his brows. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

“A-Ah no, not yet. I was more interested in seeing you.” Rouge folded her hands in front of her, trying her best to push up her cleavage. Sonic’s eyes remained on hers. Shadow wanted to scream. Look at her boobs you dolt! Stop making this difficult!

“Yeah, a lot of people are bargaining for my attention tonight. I don’t mind, of course, I love people.” Sonic looked over, waving to a crowd who immediately all waved back enthusiastically, some even snapping pictures or videos of him. “But I didn’t throw this event as a service to myself. My goal has always been to serve our community and our environment the best I can.”

Rouge’s ear flicked backwards once. She dropped her hands to her side, looking dumbfounded.

“Dammit, you really are perfect.” she laughed, putting a hand on her hip. “Never thought I’d meet a guy like you.”

“I appreciate you coming up to the event, Ms Rouge the Bat.” Sonic put his hand on his chest and bowed partially to her. 

Shadow gnawed on his lip. Fuck! They needed to come up with a new plan if this wasn’t going to work. He hated inconveniences like this.

Someone else approached Sonic and put their hand on his shoulder. It was a taller, buff Echidna, his quills down and reminiscent of locs, wrapped with golden rings.

“Sonic. I was instructed to inform you that we’ve already gained a collective one million dollars just tonight. Everyone from each of the programs wanted me to tell you and thank you.” the Echidna said, crossing his arms.

“Ah! That’s awesome!” Sonic clasped his hands together. “And we’re only just getting started! More people are coming in hopefully ready to make a difference.”

He then turned to Rouge and pushed his friend forward towards her. “Rouge, this is Knuckles. He’s my buddy and one of the organizers of my own personal charity for Indigenous Culture preservation. He’d be more than happy to talk to you about our journey and our goals if you’re interested.”

Rouge looked the red Echidna up and down, face flushing red and ears going back. Shadow facepalmed. Goddammit and this guy was Rouge’s exact type, of course she was going to be raptured by him.

“I would love nothing more.” she smiled, ears going forward again and leaning in close to him. 

“Shit!” Shadow cursed to himself, pressing his earpiece. “Rouge what are you doing?! Get back on target!”

He received no response though, which made him groan and slam his head on the bar, the guy next to him getting weirded out and leaving his seat. 

This was turning out to be a lot more complicated than he thought. 

Suddenly someone else sat down next to him. Shadow raised his head as the bartender greeted him, seeing a flash of azure fur and nearly choking on air.

“Can I just get a Dr Pepper from you please?”

“Not drinking tonight?” the bartender asked.

“Nah, I need to be at my best if I’m going to run this event. Just need some energy.”

“I’ll get that right out for you.”

Shit shit shit SHIT! Shadow grabbed his mug with both hands, eyes glancing to the side as Sonic was now lounging in the chair next to him, drumming his fingers on the wood. The target was literally right there .

Shadow swallowed hard and tried to gulp down his coffee in an attempt to stay calm. He wasn’t supposed to be near Sonic at all. He was here just to observe, not to be put into action just yet. What the hell was he supposed to do now?!

Sonic was handed a cup and he thanked the bartender, sliding them a fifty with a smile. The second they left Sonic raised the cup to his mouth and smirked.

“I can feel you glancing over at me. You’re not being very smooth.”

Shadow jolted and turned his head towards the fellow hedgehog, heart beating a million miles a minute.

“F-Forgive me.” he finally stammered out. “I wasn’t expecting you to come over here.”

Sonic chuckled, turning his body towards Shadow. “Yeah? I like to keep people guessing.”

Shadow darted his eyes around Sonic’s form, his relaxed posture, one leg bouncing up and down, did this guy die if he stopped moving or something?

“I’m sure you do.” Shadow turned away, hoping to end the conversation before he said something he regretted. Usually that happened whenever he tried to talk to someone new. Too mean or cold or blunt. He wasn’t very good at navigating social situations, sue him.

Sonic titled his head. “You got something on your mind?” he asked.

“Hm?”

“You seem like you’re about to burst at the seams.”

Shadow scowled. Sonic noticed it and raised his eyebrows. 

“So I’m right?”

Shadow fixed his face and cleared his throat. “I dislike cocky people like you.” he spoke honestly.

“Cocky?” Sonic laughed. “Is that what you think?”

“I do.” Shadow turned towards him. “All this charity work is honorable and everything, saving the town, of course you’re loved by the country. But it's preformative. For all your charisma and arrogance you aren’t perfect, nobody is. And I don’t believe that you aren’t actually selfish deep down.”

Sonic was quiet for a moment and Shadow thought he completely blew it. Sonic was going to yell at him or hit him and would completely blow their cover.

But instead the other hedgehog just snorted, letting out a laugh. That shocked Shadow more than anything, ears shooting up and eyes widening.

“I think you’re the first person to insult me to my face like that ever since I became such a celebrity.” Sonic held out his hand. “I commend you for being so honest.”

Shadow stared at his hand, then up at his face. “You… you aren’t mad?”

“Nah. If I got mad at every mean thing someone said about me I would spend more time being mad then actually living life.” he shrugged.

Shadow’s ears went down, and in defeat he took Sonic’s hand and shook it. The guy had a strong grip on him.

“Besides.” Sonic retracted his hand and moved his hands behind his head. “You don’t know anything about me, so you can’t possibly know if that’s true or not.”

Shadow snorted, not the laughing kind.

“You’re not exactly a guarded guy. Just from looking at your mannerisms I can tell that you have boundless energy that doesn’t know how else to escape, so you bounce your leg or tap your foot to keep yourself from bouncing off the walls.”

Sonic grinned. “Well you’re spot on with that one.” he winked. “You good at reading people then?”

“No just…” Shadow swallowed hard at memories threatening to surface of watching people carefully, trying to figure out what they were planning to do to him next. Of watching a frail body breathe shallowly and try to see if she was in pain or not. “Good at body language I guess.”

“That’s a good skill to have.” Sonic replied. “I don’t think I got your name.”

“It’s…” he considered using his codename for a minute, but then again this was his own city, and all of his IDs said Shadow. If Sonic caught even a glimpse of it he would know he’s lying and be suspicious. “Shadow. The Hedgehog.”

“Shadow. That’s pretty.” Sonic dropped his arms and leaned in closer. “Well, you don’t look like any other hedgehog I’ve ever seen.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shadow immediately was on guard.

“Relax, it’s a compliment.” Sonic reached up towards Shadow’s right ear, not touching it but looking at the missing piece of it. “I mean that you’re gorgeous.”

Oh.

Oh. OH!

Shadow burned red in the face as Sonic chuckled at him. “Not used to hearing that I take it?”

“I- um- no?” Shadow immediately lost all composure at the realization that Sonic was flirting with him.

Sonic retracted his hand, running his hands through his own blue quills. “Hey, if you’re okay with it, I’d like to give you the chance to get to know me better.” he pulled his phone out, opening the contacts and giving it to Shadow. The dark hedgehog took it and saw the new contact screen prompting him to put his number in.

“I-I don’t-” he started before he flinched from a loud voice in his ear.

“ SHADOW!! You better give him your number right now! This is our chance! ” Rouge shouted at him through the earpiece. “ Operation Honeypot can still work!! ”

Shadow sighed, but imputed his number into the phone before handing it back. Sonic smiled as he took it.

“I’ll text you to see when you’re free.” he put his phone away. “For now I’ve got to get back to the event. My goal is to get at least another million before the night is over.”

“A million is a lot of money.” Shadow said.

Sonic hopped off of the barstool. “Yeah, well, I’m pretty confident in myself.” He stretched his arms like he was preparing for a run instead of interacting with hundreds of people. “Especially after I just got the number of the prettiest guy here.”

He ran off before Shadow could say another word. He just sat there, dumbfounded.

“Do you want another coffee, sir?”

---

“Shadow this is great!” Rouge squealed when they got back home, bouncing up and down on her toes.

“No, no this is terrible .” Shadow was sitting on the couch, grabbing the sides of his head, about to rip his quills out. “I don’t play this role! I’m not seductive or smooth! I’m mean and awkward!”

“Well of course you are with that attitude.” Rouge crossed her arms. “Come on, Shadow. Sonic wasn’t into me, so he’s clearly into guys! Even though the original plan was a bust, you can still get into his house and we can still get the Emerald!”

“I can’t do this.” Shadow stood up and walked over to Omega. “Is there nothing else that we can do to find it?!”

Omega did his best impression of a shrug, given that his shoulders weren’t articulated to do that. “SONIC HAS YOUR NUMBER. IF YOU GO AND SEE HIM THERE IS A LIKELYHOOD HE’LL TAKE YOU TO HIS HOUSE AND WE CAN FIND YOU, AS WELL AS THE CHAOS EMERLAD, THERE.”

Shadow groaned. Rouge wrapped her arm around him.

“Don’t worry, handsome. I’ve been doing this for years. I can teach you everything you need to know. Of course it’ll be a little different because you don’t have boobs… or a butt really, BUT I promise I will do my best! It will be the most challenging feat I have attempted yet, but so long as I believe in myself, we are sure to prevail!” Rouge’s eyes started to sparkle.

Shadow wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

He was whisked away into Rouge’s room and sat on her bed. Rouge’s room was the most decorated out of all of them, the walls dyed a baby pink color with several pieces of stolen artwork on the walls or pictures of gems that were on her to-steal list. The bed contained several pillows and stuffed animals, purely decorative since she didn’t sleep on it. Instead a velvet-covered bar hung from the ceiling in which Rouge perched on to sleep whenever she did. 

Rouge also had the room with the biggest closet. She had outfits for everything, and she kept all of Shadow’s fancier numbers there.

“Alright, lesson one, no awkward silences!” she pointed her finger in his face. “You have to keep him talking, keep him interested. Be interesting! But also be mysterious! Don’t reveal your hand right away to him, but reveal just enough so that he thinks he’s special and you can be vulnerable around him.”

Already this was making Shadow’s head hurt. “I don’t think-”

“LESSON TWO! Wardrobe!”

The bat flew over to her closet, throwing it open. She pulled something down and held it up, grinning goofily as she showed off a lacy set of lingerie, a bralette and panties, the same crimson as the hues in Shadow’s fur.

Immediately his ears went down.

“I’m not wearing that.” he commanded.

“Oh come on, Shadow!” Rouge’s entire body dropped. “You gotta be sexy! Even just flashing a glimpse of this baby will have him going feral!”

She threw the garment at him and Shadow caught it on instinct, running his thumb over the soft lace.

“And of course there’s the actual act itself.” Rouge started rambling. “You have to be loud in bed, guys like that stuff. And be confident but also submissive so that he thinks he is taming a wild beast! They eat that shit right up!”

“Rouge.” Shadow spoke up, suddenly drawing in on himself.

“Of course I’ll provide condoms and lube for you to use. All we need is for you to hold his attention for long enough for us to get the Emerald. Even if he finishes fast in my experience most men are pooped after one round so it should be easy to get him to pass out after.”

“ Rouge. ”

“Where did I put my book on all the different sex positions?” she started rummaging around her drawers. “I’m partial to cowgirl, I like being in control of this kind of stuff, but-”

“Rouge I can’t do this! ” Shadow interrupted her, letting the lingerie drop to the ground. “I’ve never had sex before, I don’t know what to do. I’m…” he swallowed hard.

Rouge stopped immediately, head turning to see Shadow slightly trembling. She rushed to him immediately to take his paw into hers.

“Hey hey, Shadow, it’s okay to be scared.” she spoke softly. “I’m sorry, all that stuff is super overwhelming. I shouldn't have run my mouth like that.”

“I’m not scared , I just… I’m not built for this.” Shadow admitted, screwing his eyes shut. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do this.”

Rouge gently put a hand on his back, knocking her head against the side of his.

“Hey, it’s okay. How about this, you take him home and knock him out before he can even touch you.”

“...would that be okay?”

“Of course it would!” Rouge grinned. “Works the best if he’s sloshed. Then you can convince him the next morning that all that stuff happened and you still have your alibi.”

“That seems like it has a lot of room for error.” Shadow admitted. 

“A bit, but it’s better than having sex with someone you’re not comfortable with.”

Shadow looked down at his feet. Rouge patted him on the back.

“At least let me dress you up for your date. Has Sonic texted you yet?” she asked.

“I haven’t checked yet.” Shadow fished his phone out, opening it up.

In fact Sonic had texted him about twenty minutes ago. Great.

He opened the text app. He really only had three contacts in it. Rouge, Omega, and now Sonic. The most recent message was from the latter.

-Hey there :) you still up for a date night?

Shadow looked at Rouge and she gestured for him to reply.

“What do I even say?” he asked.

“Say yes, say you’re free tonight, and tomorrow, and the rest of the goddamn week. It’s not like you had any other plans.”

“Well-”

“Just text him back.” Rouge shoved him gently.

Shadow wrinkled his nose but typed in a response.

I am available whenever.

Sonic texted back right away.

-Tonight? 6pm?

I can make that work.

-Okay awesome :)
-Do you want me to pick you up orrrr?

I can take myself, what’s the place?

-Oh okay that works :)
-Here’s the address, wear something nice, okay?

He didn’t say what exactly the place was, but Shadow automatically assumed it was something fancy given the instructions for his clothing. Rouge shook his arm and started bouncing excitedly.

“I’m gonna make you look so good Sonic’s pants fall off just seeing you!” she told him.

“God I hope that doesn’t happen.”

---

When Shadow skidded to a halt in front of the building, he didn’t immediately see Sonic outside of it. Dusting himself off, Shadow quickly made sure he didn’t rumple the outfit Rouge had chosen for him. The top was mesh with black lace flowers sewn into it. He wore a blazer over it and high-waisted black pants. Rouge had also convinced him to wear a little bit of makeup, only enough to accentuate his eyes and such.

He figured that Sonic would already be inside, but was quickly proven wrong by the cobalt hero zooming in right next to him.

“Hey there.” he swooped in close, nearly making Shadow punch him. He just barely controlled himself in time. “Sorry to make you wait.”

Shadow rolled his eyes. “I just got here. Were you waiting around the corner for me to show up so you could try to be smooth like that on me?”

Sonic blinked, dumbfounded that he had been caught.

“I just… um… I wanted to walk in together.” he replied, shrugging. “You’ve never been here before, I wasn’t sure if you would know where to go.”

“Chivalrous, but I could have figured it out.” Shadow sighed. “But since you’re here now, I suppose we can go in together.”

Sonic smiled triumphantly and reached for the door, opening it for Shadow.

A gentleman. Shadow still wasn’t buying the whole act.

Regardless he stepped inside the building, Sonic following right after. The room they entered appeared to be like the lobby of a restaurant, except with no restaurant in sight behind, only an elevator.

“Table for two, under the name Sonic.” Sonic approached the podium that appeared to be the hostess stand.

The girl behind it lit up and she grinned. “Yes of course, Mr Sonic! We’ve been waiting eagerly for you!”

“What kind of place is this, exactly?” Shadow asked as the girl started leading them towards the elevator.

“It’s one of the nicest restaurants here. The Skyline.” Sonic told him as the door to the elevator opened and they stepped inside. “It’s one of the tallest buildings in New York, and it overlooks the city in a sight that’s absolutely beautiful. And I booked up the best seats in the house.”

The elevator went up so quickly that Shadow felt his ears pop as they rose to the highest floor. The elevator dinged and the doors opened, revealing the actual restaurant part.

It really was a stunning place. The walls were all made of glass, projecting down at the brightly lit city, an impeccable view from everywhere you looked. The tables were all decorated in white linens and the lights were dim, the place mostly lit up by the city’s nightlife.

“Pretty cool huh?” Sonic bragged as they started towards their table.

“It’s very nice.” Shadow admitted as Sonic pulled out his chair for him to sit down on. “Do you always take your first dates here?”

“Oh come on, don’t pull that on me this early on.” Sonic sat across from him. “But, to answer your question, no. This is… actually my first date in a while.”

“Really? I’m surprised.” Shadow replied.

“Yeah, well, the more of a celebrity you are the harder to find someone that isn’t just in it for the money or fame of being your partner.” Sonic threw an arm over the back of his chair. “That’s why I’m so interested in you.”

“Because I don’t think you’re all that?”

“Exactly!” Sonic leaned forward. “It makes for a much better relationship if I can get the person to fall in love with who I am rather than the preconceived idolized image they have of me in their heads already.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow. “I find it bold that you think you’ll be able to get me to fall in love with you.”

Sonic clicked his mouth shut at his own words and flushed. He was, luckily, saved by the bell as their waitress came up to them.

“Hey there, you two. Sonic, it’s great to see you again.” she beamed at him. “What can I get you two started with to drink?”

Sonic cleared his throat, correcting himself before speaking. “Well, since I’m on a date I’ll let him choose.” he gestured to Shadow. “Do you have any specific tastes?”

Shadow sat rigid in his chair, ears folding back.

“I… I don’t even know what they have here.” he spoke, clenching his jaw.

“We have a wonderful selection of white and red wines, as well as some of the finest whiskey in this part of New York.” the waitress prompted. “Although if you aren’t an alcohol person we also have a selection of other things.”

Shadow just shrunk in on himself more and looked over to Sonic for him to say something, anything.

Sonic somehow read his mind.

“I think we might need another minute.” Sonic assured her.

“Okay, no problem. Just call me over when you’re ready.” she left with a wave.

Shadow’s ears perked up again and he sighed.

“I’m sorry I’m just… I’m not used to stuff like this.” he admitted.

He knew he wasn’t going to be good on this mission. He was a terrible flirt, couldn’t be smooth to save his life, and without a plan he was a mess. When plans changed suddenly he couldn’t adapt to them. This plan required nothing but adapting. Rouge would have sailed through this date no problem, why did it have to be Shadow stuck on the other side of the table?

“Hey, it’s okay.” Sonic assured him, leaning on his elbows on the table. He considered something for a moment before lighting up. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“... you may.” Shadow replied, curious as to what Sonic was going to tell him.

“I’m not actually into all this fancy stuff.” he turned to look out the window down at the city. “I don’t even really like most of the food here. Sure, the atmosphere is cool and all, but everything else has always just been kinda meh for me.”

What? Then why bring him here at all? Shadow didn’t understand. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked.

Sonic’s gaze turned back to him. Shadow felt like Sonic was looking directly at his soul with those viridescent eyes of his.

Then he smiled, a curt little thing. “Well, I took you here because I wanted to impress you, but it seems I just made you even more uncomfortable. Sorry ‘bout that.” his smile turned more awkward and apologetic.

Shadow’s shoulders finally dropped from being so tense the entire time at the words, face softening.

What a dork.

“Impress me? Here I was thinking that you wanted to flaunt your money and fame at me.”

“Of course not! Oh, man but that’s totally how it came off, didn’t it? Fuck!” Sonic cringed and hit his head with his fist.

Shadow snorted at the little display, trying his best not to let a smile betray him.

“Why don’t we get out of here?” Shadow offered. “Take me somewhere with food you actually like.”

“Wait… for real?” Sonic asked, tilting his head.

“Of course. I thought you wanted me to get to know the real you.” Shadow stood up and walked around, offering a hand up to Sonic to help him out of his chair. “Then take me to your actual favorite spot.”

The grin on Sonic’s face was brighter than the entire city of New York. He jumped up in excitement.

“Deal! I promise you’re going to absolutely love this place!”

---

“...a hot dog stand in Central Park?”

Shadow stood there in disbelief as Sonic thanked the vendor and now held two chillidogs absolutely dripping with grease and steaming from fresh chilli right out of the pot, covered in cheese and onions and jalapenos and looked like a heart attack waiting to happen.

“Hell yeah! I loved coming to this place even before I saved the city!” Sonic replied, handing Shadow one of the chilli dogs. “I’m pretty sure I’m the whole reason they stay in business haha!”

Shadow gingerly took the dog and grimaced as his fancier gloves were already getting covered in chilli essence. Sonic took a big bite of his, groaning in what almost sounded like orgasmic bliss. Shadow had never been more disgusted in his life.

“Hey, let’s take a walk around the park.” Sonic spoke after he swallowed. “We can walk and talk.”

“Alright.” Shadow agreed, following Sonic as he started walking along the path surrounding the park. 

It was quieter by this time of night, luckily for them. Sonic basically inhaled his chilli dog and was licking his lips by the time they got ten paces in.

“Okay!” he rubbed his hands together. “Now for the fun first date stuff, ice breakers!”

“Oh god.” Shadow groaned.

“Aw come on, I’ll go first.” Sonic winked at him. “My name’s Sonic the Hedgehog, I’m 24 years old, I have two siblings, a triplet sister and brother, I was born in Puerto Rico, my favorite color is red, my favorite food is chilli dogs, my favorite bad is One OK Rock, my hobbies include running, reading, playing guitar, and travelling, and my goal in life is to help as many people as I can.”

He then looked at Shadow expectantly, probably wanting him to word vomit at him like he had just done.

Except Shadow was nearly as keen on giving up all of that information. Most of the things about himself, like where he came from and who he was, he kept guarded and close to his chest. Even Rouge didn’t know everything about him.

Shadow’s ear flicked and he looked down at the chilli dog getting cold in his hands.

“I like travelling too.” is what he ended up saying.

“Really? What’s your favorite place you’ve been to?” Sonic asked.

“South Korea.” Shadow answered that truthfully, remembering the place where he found the first Chaos Emerald, the green one he kept in his quills. This was before he met Rouge, before he became part of Team Dark. That’s when he first discovered their power. 

“Aye, I’ve been meaning to go there. It looks so gorgeous in all of the pictures and videos I’ve seen of it.” Sonic commented. “My favorite so far is probably Alaska. Although I’m probably biased because I met my best friend up there. But then again the nature was so beautiful. It’s so green over there, and the air was so much fresher than here.”

He took a deep breath and sighed dreamily. “I never actually intended to stay here as long as I have. This was supposed to be a one week trip, and all of a sudden I’m the local hero.”

“Really?” Shadow asked, surprised that Sonic would let something like fame stop him from his ambitions.

“Trust me, I would have left the second I could. But then I realized that I could use the celebrity status to actually do some good around here. God knows New York needs it.” Sonic stopped walking for a moment, smiling at the ground and shoving his hands into his pockets. “But I miss home sometimes. I keep meaning to make a trip back there I just… get caught up trying to take care of everyone else.”

Shadow stopped with him, staring at the other hedgehog's face.

Despite all of the things Sonic had told him, that might have been the most vulnerable thing he said all night.

Shadow offered him the chilli dog in the only consultation he could think of. Sonic laughed airily and took it. “You not gonna eat it?” he asked.

“You’ll enjoy it more than me. I’m not that hungry anyways.” Shadow replied as he watched Sonic eat the dog nearly as fast as the other one. “I do think a lot of stuff you’re doing here is good, and I respect it. I’m just suspicious of people’s intentions. It’s hard for me to believe that someone could just be a good person without an ulterior motive.”

After all, he’s only ever known one person like that, and she’s gone now.

“Heh, I get that. Most people aren’t like me. I’m one in a billion.” Sonic leaned in close to him. “And there isn’t anyone like you on this planet at all.”

Shadow made a face and jerked away, dodging the flirting. “Your breath is absolutely rancid.” he waved his hand in front of his face.

“WHAT?!” Sonic stepped away, huffing into his hand and cringing. “Aw man. I knew I shouldn’t have added the onions.” he pouted, ears drooping. “Now you aren’t gonna want to kiss me.”

Shadow froze, eyes wide.

“Was… was that what you were leaning in to do?”

“Well… yeah?” Sonic replied, scratching at his neck and avoiding eye contact, embarrassed. “N-Not anything super crazy, I’m not the kind of guy to try and get into your pants on the first date. Just a little smooch or something. I was gonna ask first!”

This guy was so much more of a dork than Shadow was ever expecting. He couldn’t help but cover his mouth to hide, body shaking as he tried to conceal a chortle.

“Oh no are you crying? Fuck I’m sorry I’m so shit at all of this I haven’t-”

Shadow couldn’t hold it in anymore, letting out a loud laugh that had him clutching his stomach and Sonic staring at him, dumbfounded and blushed all the way to his ears.

“You’re so dense it’s almost adorable.” Shadow finally composed himself, fixing his quills with one hand.

“I… thank you?” Sonic replied, wearing a goofy grin.

Shadow walked up to him and tugged him by the lapels of his jacket, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek.

“Thank you for taking me out. I had a lovely time.” he whispered.

“I-I… that’s good. I had fun too.” Sonic grinned.

“Will you-”

Shadow was about to ask Sonic to take him home, so they can continue the date somewhere more private. People were still walking around even this late, and Shadow desperately wanted out of here.

However, he didn’t even get the chance before Sonic’s phone rang. He reached for it, frowning at the screen. Shadow barely had time to read the name before Sonic pulled away.

“Sorry to end this early, but this is important. Tails wouldn’t call me unless he needed my help with something.”

“Tails?” Shadow asked.

“My best friend I met in Alaska.” Sonic explained. “I’ll call you later. Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe?”

“Sure…” Shadow’s brows furrowed together.

“Awesome, cool, kay bye!” Sonic waved before zipping out and disappearing into the night.

Fuck. Well that was a bust.

Shadow grabbed his chest to try and calm his rushing heart, the realization of what he had done while caught up in the moment hitting him.

He had kissed Sonic on the cheek.

Shadow slapped his cheeks to try and cool them off. What are you doing?

Notes:

Sonic says: Practice Environmental Activism!

Chapter 3: Be Still My Foolish Heart

Notes:

This chapter is mostly just a bunch of fluff and cute stuff plus setting up for some plot later on but mostly fluff

I actually had to cut myself off with this chapter I had more planned but if I kept going it would have been like 10k words ngjslengsjk

YES THE CHAPTER TITLE IS FROM A HOZIER SONG SYBAU

Out of all of the heists and gambits they’ve pulled off over the years, this one was taking the absolute longest .

It had been two whole weeks and Shadow hadn’t gotten into Sonic’s house. He hadn’t even seen him since their first date and it was driving him nuts .

Sonic was just the busiest hedgehog on the planet apparently. He’d barely been able to make time for their first date, and now he was absolutely swamped. Interviews, sponsorships, and not to mention endless hours of volunteering and charity work trying to be a good example for the rest of the city. Which would be super noble or whatever if Shadow didn’t need to be in his house forever ago.

It wasn’t like Sonic was completely ignoring him though. Every night Sonic would call him and Shadow would lay in his bed with his phone next to his head as they chatted. Sonic always talked more than Shadow, telling him about his day or about silly things that happened to his friends or about stuff that happened before moving to New York. Shadow always listened to him intently and kept his phone on charge so that the phone call would never stop midway. Those calls usually lasted hours and more often than not Sonic would fall asleep to them. He could probably talk for hours but Shadow could always tell when he started getting sleepy and would trail off until he was snoring softly. Shadow only ever hung up when that happened.

Tonight they had been talking for about an hour when Sonic had finally brought up the idea of another date.

“I’m trying to clear a time when we can do something, you don’t have much going on, right?” he asked.

“Well, I do in fact have a life outside of you, but I can always make time.” he replied, earning a chuckle from the other.

“That’s good. What would you want to do? I like more active dates so something like that would be really good for me.” Sonic must have moved on the bed because Shadow heard the rustling of sheets. “How do you feel about ice skating?”

Shadow’s shoes basically allowed for the motion anyways when he was running. In theory he would probably be really good at it for that reason. Something like that sounded fun but…

It would require him to take off his shoes.

“I don’t know how.” he lied. “I don’t think that would be very good, what else you got?”

“Hmmm, bowling? Ooh! Or rock climbing!”

Both which required a change of shoes. Shadow cringed. “Nay to both.”

“Jeez, picky.” Sonic teased him. “You choose then.”

Take me to your house so I can rob you blind.

Shadow took a deep breath, trying not to voice that thought out loud.

“Just so long as it’s not swimming because I never learned how and water scares the shit out of-” Sonic started rambling before Shadow could even get a word in edgewise.

“Sonic I don’t want to do anything that I have to take my shoes off for!” Shadow snapped, the words coming out a lot meaner than he intended.

The line went quiet for a moment, Sonic shutting up for the first time ever. Shadow sat up, staring at his phone.

Shit, he hadn’t meant to yell at Sonic. He also hadn’t meant to reveal that about himself, FUCK! He thought he was doing sort of okay too! Now Sonic’s never going to want to take him home! Shadow had completely screwed up the mission with his stupid mouth and his stupid defensiveness.

“Shadow… can I ask…?” Sonic finally spoke tentatively before Shadow could spiral into hell and back. “I know you wore the same shoes to the gala and out to dinner with me. I figured they were expensive, I mean they look cool as hell, but are they like…?”

Shadow grimaced, hesitating before answering.

“My shoes are a mobility aid. I can’t walk without them.” he admitted. “I… I have nerve damage from some stuff that happened a long time ago.”

Sonic was quiet for a few more moments, maybe wanting Shadow to continue talking, but already Shadow was worried that he’d said too much, and refused to elaborate any further.

He refused to tell Sonic that the damage there was done to him on purpose. So that he wouldn’t run away when they needed him to sit still for things. They didn’t even give him the choice to say no, taking away his autonomy forcibly.

Shadow could only pray that Sonic wouldn’t ditch him immediately for his disability.

“I see. Well, first of all, thank you for sharing with me.” Sonic finally spoke again. “And secondly, do you still want to choose the thing we do for our date?”

Shadow hugged his knees to his chest, looking at his phone, feeling like he could finally breathe again. Was all not lost after all?

“I’ve never dated before this so I don’t know what couples typically do…”

“Wait, really?!” Sonic asked. “I’m your first?!”

Shadow immediately felt embarrassed about it. He didn’t date for a good reason, he was only doing this out of necessity.

“Yeah you’re the first one.” Shadow replied flatly.

“Oh. OH! Oh that’s- ahem that’s cool.” Sonic tried to compose himself, seeming far too excited about that prospect then was typical and was trying to be normal about it. “Well, just some ideas off the top of my head, we could go on a ferry ride, mini golf, bike tour, aquarium-”

“We have an aquarium here?” Shadow asked.

“Yeah!” Sonic spoke excitedly. “Oh my gosh it’s such a cool place. Freaks me out sometimes but also really makes me appreciate our planet. I’ve worked with some of the marine biologists there to make sure they’re treating the animals there correctly. We don’t need some Sea World shit going on here. God that whole situation made me so mad-”

Shadow stopped him before he could go on a whole rant. “I would love to go to the aquarium with you.” he said. 

“Okay! Great! Let’s make it a date then! I’ll clear my schedule and text you the details.” Sonic told him. “I can’t wait to see you again.”

Shadow felt heat rise to his cheeks, covering his face even though no one was here.

“I’m excited as well.” he said softly.

Sonic chuckled lightly. “So back to my grudges against Seaworld-”

The routine was unbroken. They stayed on the phone until Sonic fell asleep, and even after that Shadow was reluctant to hang up. For who knows how long he just laid there and listened to Sonic’s breathing and occasional snore. His own eyes felt heavy as he curled up on himself.

Shadow didn’t need very much sleep. On top of the copious amounts of coffee he consumed, he was designed to not need very much rest, so he could keep going as long as he needed to. It took a lot to tire him out completely, and he usually only slept for a few hours, if even that. But listening to the white noise of a sleeping Sonic was calling him like a siren into the depths below, and he was following it blindly, slipping into unconsciousness.

When he woke up it was because the sun was peeking through his curtains and drawing a golden stripe across his face. He groggily sat up, reaching for his phone to check the time.

9:23 am.

The call had ended a little over an hour ago.

---

A few days later and Sonic had finally made enough time to take him out. They met at the aquarium, Sonic waiting outside for him. Both of them had forgone the fancy clothing this time since it was a more casual date.

Ugh, the fact that Shadow was on a second date with the hero was laughable. He should have been in his house by now.

“Hey there!” Sonic ran up to him. “I got tickets already so we can head right in.”

“You should have let me pay for mine at least.” Shadow told him, following him towards the entrance. 

“Now why would I do that?” Sonic joked, offering his hand for the other to take.

Shadow hesitated for a moment. All of the casual romantic stuff still felt so foreign to him. Holding hands in public was probably the most regular thing to a guy like Sonic but to Shadow it felt sacred, blasphemous. 

However, he needed to sell this. He ignored the quickening of his heart as he slipped his gloved hand into Sonic’s, fitting their fingers together and squeezing. Sonic squeezed back.

Shadow had never been in a real aquarium before. He remembered watching the pages turn of textbooks displaying marine animals of the deep, of hearing endless facts about a planet he’d never visited before. It was so fascinating how earthlings seemed to know so much about the stars above but not nearly as much about the darkest parts of their own earth.

They walked into the main area of the aquarium, a large circle surrounded by the water tanks full of ocean life. There were a few people around admiring the fish, but not enough to be overwhelming. The whole area was doused in blue light from the water, the light inside of the tanks bouncing off the glass keeping it inside and creating patterns on the ground constantly morphing and changing just like the endless galaxy.

Shadow supposed that the oceans below and the stars above weren’t all that different.

“Lost in thought much?” Sonic asked.

“Hm?” Shadow replied, turning his head. Sonic smiled and pulled him forward. “Come on, there’s a bunch of cool exhibits here I want to show you.”

Shadow mostly followed Sonic along as he showed him the touch pool, the research area, and eventually back towards a large tank. They were mostly alone now, and Shadow was staring at an octopus that was crawling along the bottom of the tank, tossing up sand into the water as it did so.

“Are you having fun yet?” Sonic asked, coming up beside Shadow. 

“Surprisingly, I am.” Shadow turned to look at him. “I don’t know the last time I got to do something fun like this.”

“Really? You don’t go out just to see what the wonderful city you live in has to offer?” Sonic asked, leaning against the glass. The light blue light coming from the water complimented his fur so wonderfully.

“Not really.” Shadow said, pressing his hand against the glass. “Never had a reason to before now.”

“Aw, am I the reason you’ve been coming out more often?” Sonic cooed, meant to be a joke but it was plainly the truth.

“You are.” Shadow agreed, succeeding in making Sonic blush.

“Aw, shucks.” Sonic laughed awkwardly, rubbing at his neck. “That’s sweet, Shads.”

Shadow hummed, turning back to the glass. Sonic inched a little bit closer to him, tapping his foot on the ground as he tried and failed not to look bored at staying still in one place.

“Sooooo can I ask you something?”

“If you must.” Shadow replied.

“Do you remember how you mentioned how you like motorbikes? I think it was during our first phone call.”

Shadow jerked his head to the side to look at Sonic, narrowing his eyes.

“Yes…?”

“I’m just curious, like, what kind exactly? L-Like do you have one or if not then do you have like a dream bike or something?”

He was starting to use the word ‘like’ far too many times.

“I don’t have my own bike.” Shadow answered truthfully. Omega didn’t count. Even though his robot friend could turn into one, Omega didn’t belong to Shadow, and he only turned into a motorcycle when necessary. “If I were to get one that was to my exact standards, I’d probably want a hyperbike hybrid of some kind. Hyperbikes are built for speed but they aren’t ideal for distance. I’d want something that’s fast but also practical.”

“Hyperbike. Cool.” Sonic nodded like he knew what Shadow was talking about.

“Why are you asking me this?” Shadow asked, tilting his head.

“N-No reason! Just curious!” Sonic replied, looking nervous. He was terrible at hiding things. Shadow had picked up early on that Sonic was extremely honest, and also horrible at surprises if he was really excited about it.

“Fine then, keep your secrets.” Shadow replied, chuckling and crossing his arms.

Sonic sighed but then offered a smile. He then started walking forward to continue their tour of the aquarium.

“Come on, we should keep moving. They have a cafe here that has some really good- woah!”

He was cut off by two kids suddenly barreling through the aquarium, playing tag or something, their guardians nowhere in sight. Of course they weren’t watching where they were going and nearly ran right into Sonic, who had to basically trip over his own two feet to try and avoid them.

“Watch out!” Shadow reached forward before he could fall.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion after that. Shadow grabbed Sonic’s sleeve and yanked a little too hard on him, causing him to stumble back as well and Sonic to lurch forward.

Shadow’s back hit the glass, quills splaying out under his head. Another thump alerted his attention to Sonic’s arms now bracketing his head, holding him up after stopping himself from colliding with Shadow’s body. 

Somehow this was so much worse than if they had both fallen.

The dark hedgehog pinned himself against the blue glass, looking up at Sonic who was staring down at him. Sonic didn’t have a lot of height on him, he was only maybe a couple centimeters taller than Shadow at best, but, fuck , if it wasn’t showing now. Sonic’s ears were forward, lips parted and eyes wide as he realized their position. Shadow’s ears pinned back, feeling like a million pairs of eyes were on him despite the fact that it was only Sonic’s emerald green ones, staring right at him, right at his mouth.

Sonic’s mouth closed but only for his tongue to dart out and lick his lips, a motion that Shadow watched with rapt attention before his eyes flicked up again.

“Are you okay?” Sonic asked, voice soft and quiet so only Shadow could hear it.

Shadow nodded once, somehow unable to move, pinned down by some invisible force.

Sonic’s eyes darted down and then up again. Then he leaned in closer and Shadow’s breath hitched.

“Sh-Shadow. Can I-?”

His question was cut off suddenly as a feminine voice suddenly hit both of their ears.

“Sonic?! Is that you?!”

Sonic spun around to see where that voice was coming from, freeing Shadow from the confines of his gaze. But the effect still lingered and Shadow had to pray his blush would go down before it raised suspicion.

“Amy? Holy shit!”

Shadow finally looked up to see who had so rudely interrupted them only to see a pink hedgehog with quills that were flattened down into a bob. She grinned and waved to Sonic.

“The one and only.” she laughed.

“Ames! It’s so good to see you!” Sonic ran up and hugged her tightly. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m checking the place out before the network stops by. The aquarium is supposed to get a new orca whale exhibit that’s opening tomorrow and CHAO is covering it. I came to interview some of the marine biologists so they can tell me about their research and the rehabilitation of the sea life they keep here.”

“That is so awesome, Ames.” Sonic laughed, putting his hands on his hips.

Shadow slowly approached the two colorful hedgehogs and Amy’s eyes finally landed on him. “Oh! I didn’t realize you were here with someone.”

“Ah! Right!” Sonic took Shadow’s hand and led him closer to his friend. “Shadow, this is Amy Rose. She and I go way back, we’ve known each other since we were kids, and now she’s a journalist for the news channel CHAO.”

“I’ve heard of that.” Shadow replied. “They’re the biggest news network in the country.”

Amy giggled. “That’s right. I’m one of the big shots for them.”

“That’s cool.” Shadow nodded. “I’m Shadow.”

“He’s my date.” Sonic winked, holding up his and Shadow’s intertwined hands, not paying any mind to the crimson color that overtook Shadow’s face.

“Oh really?” Amy got a mischievous grin on her face. “Now, Sonic, you know how much the news loves a new celebrity couple.”

“Yeah, but you’re not going to tell anyone about this because you love me?” Sonic asked, remembering for a second that he was someone important.

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.” Amy made a motion of zipping her mouth shut and then locking and throwing away the key. “Besides, I’m too busy working on the Team Dark case for fluff pieces like that.”

Shadow’s ears perked up and he tried his best not to look awkward or out of place at the name.

“You’re… working on a piece about Team Dark?” he asked tentatively.

“Well, I’m trying to unmask them. With minimal luck, unfortunately.” Amy’s ears drooped. “I just got back from Thailand tracing a lead, but I didn’t find anything worthwhile. All I got was that it wasn’t just the Chaos Emerald that went missing that weekend, a lot of people reported that their jewelry and wallets were stolen as well. The police don’t think it’s connected, but something doesn’t sit right about it with me.”

Shadow stopped breathing for a second. He had also forgotten that he was a wanted criminal. Damn Rouge and her need to steal anything with value. Her antics were going to get them caught.

“That’s fascinating.” Shadow pretended to act interested to keep face.

“Speaking of which, Sonic, I've been meaning to ask you if we can set up an interview.” she gestured to him and then herself. “As the owner of the last remaining Emerald that Team Dark hasn’t gotten their hands on, I want to know how you’re keeping it safe and if you think that you’re at risk for anything.”

Sonic let out a laugh and Shadow raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I don’t think the interview will be very long. Team Dark isn’t getting my Emerald. I’m not threatened by them in the least.”

Maybe you should be.

Shadow narrowed his eyes as Sonic waved his hand back and forth. “But so long as you’re the one asking the questions I don’t mind. I trust you not to go off topic and start talking about my love life or try to trip me up and reveal something embarrassing.”

“What would you even have to reveal? The fact that you can’t swim but love bubble baths?” Amy teased, leaning forward and putting her hands on her hips.

“SHUSH! There’s people around!” Sonic pressed a finger to his lips and glanced around dramatically.

Amy just laughed at him. “It was nice catching up with you, I’ll text you, okay?”

“Sounds good!” Sonic gave her a thumbs up as she started walking away.

Shadow gave a side eye to Sonic as he turned to look at him. Sonic’s face changed into confusion and he tilted his head.

“What?”

“Nothing. She seemed nice. You two are awfully friendly with each other.” Shadow commented, wrenching his hand out of Sonic’s and walking in the other direction.

“Huh? Wha- oh OH MY GOD!” Sonic groaned. “Come on, Shads! You can’t be jealous of Amy!”

“I’m not jealous.” Shadow denied, despite the heat of the situation clearly clinging to his fur.

“Look, okay, that ship has way sailed, she has a girlfriend and I wouldn’t be pursuing you if I had feelings for someone else.” he sped in front of Shadow to get him to look him in the eyes.

Shadow furrowed his eyebrows. Sonic sighed, scratching behind his ear.

“Okay, yes I had a crush on her back when we were kids. But it didn’t go anywhere and I don’t like her like that anymore. I’m being honest.”

He was pouting, honest to god pouting.

And unfortunately Shadow believed him wholeheartedly.

“I believe you,” he said. “I didn’t mean to imply anything. We aren’t even dating officially.”

Sonic started fidgeting with his hands a bit, biting his lip.

“Well I mean… there’s no reason why we couldn’t be.”

Shadow stared at him and Sonic only started nervously rambling more.

“I-I just mean that I really like you and would like for you to be my boyfriend but you obviously don’t have to if you don’t want to I mean I know it’s a huge thing and we’ve only been on two dates but like if you like me to then it would be cool if we were boyfriends-”

“Sonic.” Shadow stopped his ranting.

“Y-Yes?” Sonic’s ears fell down to the side, bracing himself.

Shadow took a deep breath. Then he reached forward to take Sonic’s hands in his own, looking down at them.

“You are absolutely awful at being smooth.”

That made Sonic laugh and it seemed to break the tension a little bit. Shadow looked him in the eyes.

“Alright.” is what he said next.

“Alright? A-Alright to being boyfriends?!” Sonic asked, bright-eyed and bouncing on the balls of his feet in an instant.

“Yes. We can be boyfriends.” Shadow replied. “Now what were you saying about a cafe at the end?”

---

Shadow agreeing to be Sonic’s boyfriend was a mistake.

At first, he figured Sonic would be more inclined to take him to his home if they were ‘officially dating’, but it was testing Shadow’s patience in ways he didn’t know were possible.

It’s been a month since they started this operation.

Even Rouge was starting to make fun of him. Asking everyday how it was going with his little boyfriend and every time Shadow would correct her that they weren’t actually dating, he was just playing Sonic to get the Emerald, Rouge would roll her eyes and say “Sureeee.” all sarcastically and Shadow was extremely offended by the implications of that.

Regardless he continued to keep up the act. After all, he needed to get the Chaos Emerald one way or another. Although he was this close to just following Sonic home one of these days.

But if he got caught then he’d be charged with stalking or breaking and entering and then the whole mission would be a bust. It was smarter to just keep going with the current plan.

Eventually, Sonic pinged him with a text in the middle of the day. Shadow was confused, thinking that the other hedgehog would have been busy by now.

-Shads!!! I have a surprise for you!!!
-*Sonic started sharing his location with you*
-How soon can you be here?

That did not help Shadow’s confusion. However, he wasn’t exactly going to turn down meeting up with Sonic. It had been a long time since they’d seen each other in person, and maybe this location was his home.

Give me two minutes

The place that Shadow ended up at wasn’t even close to a house, but instead a mechanic’s garage.

Damn.

He stepped towards the door only to be startled by the loud sound of the big garage door opening, watching at it slowly went up to reveal the inside.

“Shadow!” Sonic sped out and immediately wrapped his arms around the other, pressing a smacking kiss against his cheek.

Well he was far more comfortable with their label then Shadow had been. He still tried not to blush at the action.

“Hello, Sonic.” Shadow awkwardly put an arm around him as well. “You said you had a surprise for me?”

“I do! But first I want you to meet someone!” Sonic casually put his hand on Shadow’s waist and led him into the garage. There was a tarp covering something and a ball of yellow fur behind it. “Tails!”

Immediately that ball of fur peeked over the edge and Shadow could see fox ears, goggles placed on his head with sooth making a rim around his eyes.

“Shadow, this is Tails, my best friend in the whole wide world.” Sonic introduced him as Tails moved around the tarp, wiping his gloved hands on the overalls he was wearing. The first thing Shadow noticed about him was dual tails moving behind him, twice as fluffy as the typical fox. “He’s the one I met in Alaska.”

“Nice to meet you.” Tails reached out his hand for Shadow to take. “Sonic’s told me a lot about you.”

Shadow gingerly reached out to shake his hand. “Likewise… but he didn’t tell me you were a mechanic.”

“Haha, I’m actually an engineer.” Tails adjusted his goggles. “Sonic commissioned me to work on a special project for him and I just finished it. Had to get some help from some local people I know, but she’s finally done.”

“What’s finally done?” Shadow looked over at Sonic, who was doing his best to avoid eye contact. “Sonic, what did you do?”

“Sonic tends to go overboard when it comes to people he likes.” Tails laughed, reaching behind him at the tarp. “I wasn’t at all surprised by him coming to me asking to do this.”

Tails, with some difficulty, pulled off the tarp, revealing the sleek black and red metal beneath.

Shadow’s eyes shot wide open and he slapped both of his hands over his mouth.

Before him stood a hyperbike, designed for speed but also clearly modded out to hell and back. Shadow wasn’t even sure if some of this stuff was legal, but fuck if he cared about that. The bike was mostly black and red, with little hints of gold, notably on the spokes of the wheels. It was basically something out of Shadow's wildest fantasies.

“Pretty cool, right?” Sonic gently shook him with his arm around his shoulder. “Okay, Tails! Give us the grand tour!”

“Of course!” Tail winked. “This baby is, of course, ridiculously jacked out. It can reach up to 250 miles per hour but is also fitted to go long distance if you need to. Not to mention she’s completely green. That’s the part that took the longest, actually. Sonic told me you work with Chaos Energy?”

“Y-Yes?” Shadow replied.

“Well, one of the coolest parts is that the bike can connect to that!” Tails pointed towards the area where his feet were meant to go. “This connects to your shoes and you can funnel energy through it as well.”

“I’m… that’s… oh my fucking god.”

Shadow was at a loss for words. Sonic had got him a motorcycle. A really nice custom one too that was not only fast but also literally made for him. He didn’t know what to say to any of this.

“You like it, right? Please tell me you like it.” Sonic asked.

Shadow turned to him, eyes big and sparkling.

“Sonic I love it.” Shadow grabbed his hand. “This is so unbelievably thoughtful and sweet and probably expensive and…”

Shadow suddenly got hit with a massive wave of guilt. Sonic was doing this huge gesture for him and Shadow was just using him.

“Hey, don’t worry about the cost, okay?” Sonic pushed him towards the bike. “Like Tails said, I like doing this kind of stuff for the people I like. And you’re really special to me, Shads.”

That in fact, only made Shadow feel worse about this whole thing.

He tried to shake it off, saying that once he was done with this mission he’d have all the Chaos Emeralds and a new bike and that he didn’t need to worry about Sonic’s feelings about the whole thing, he was going to steal from him anyways, but he just couldn’t stop the twisting in the pit of his stomach.

“Is she ready to ride now?” Shadow asked, trying to change the subject.

“Yessir!” Tails saluted. “She’s more than ready to start her maiden voyage!”

“Okay don’t make titanic references, that's bad luck.” Sonic joked as Shadow ran forward, fitting himself against the faux leather seat and letting his fingers wrap around the handles. He fit his shoes into the inserts and felt a clicking as they connected. Shadow activated his rocket shoes and the engine revved to life. He felt his whole body tingle as Chaos Energy ran through his veins and through the bike, like he was connected to it on a spiritual level.

Shadow had always found motorcycles to be cool. They were dangerous but somehow that made them appealing to him. They were small enough to be fast and weave through traffic easily, but they also were a powerful machine. He never thought that he would actually get one of his own, he had other goals first, but just the feeling of having such a vehicle between his thighs was making him almost drunk on how happy it was.

“Look good!” Sonic clapped, bringing his attention back down to earth.

Shadow held his hand out for him. “What are you waiting for? Hop on!”

Sonic looked dumbfounded as Shadow said that. He looked at Tails and the fox just shrugged.

“Just be careful and hold on tight to Shadow, okay?” he said.

Sonic’s flabbergasted look was replaced by that of excitement. He immediately sped around the whole garage, having the zoomies before jumping on behind Shadow, seated right behind him.

“Alright! Let’s go-OOAH!” Sonic didn’t even finish his sentence before Shadow was speeding out of the garage and straight onto the road. Sonic yelped before he held on tightly to Shadow’s middle, head over his shoulder so he wasn’t getting a face full of quills. Shadow chuckled at his fear, but that almost only made him want to go faster.

New York traffic was, of course, infamous for being awful. But Shadow was able to slip through openings he never would have tried with Omega. Once they finally got away from the city Shadow even reared back, the front wheel going up into the air as they sped forward just on the back one.

“WOAH OKAY!” Sonic shouted, holding on so tight it was bordering on painful, trying not to fall off.

Shadow laughed again and hit both of the wheels on the ground again, zooming left and right as he pleased, scattering the leaves on the ground up in the air as they went.

“What’s wrong? I thought you liked it fast?” Shadow teased, voice loud so Sonic could hear him over the roaring engine.

“I like it fast on my own terms! I’ve never been in the back seat before!” Sonic replied. “But this is really fun! Scary but fun!”

Shadow smiled brightly at him and Sonic buried his face into the crook of his neck, mumbling something along the lines of “You’re so cute.” that Shadow was going to pretend he didn’t hear.

That, however, was the first time Shadow actually took note of their positions. His ass was pressed up against Sonic’s crotch, back to chest, Sonic’s arms wrapped around him and holding him for dear life. Sonic’s powerful thighs were also squeezing against his own, this was far more contact than Shadow has had with anyone , Rouge included and she was extremely touchy.

Shadow’s face glowed hot at the realization, but also at the fact that he didn’t mind it so much.

What the hell was happening to him?

Notes:

Keep telling me your guy's theories about what's going to happen next I'm having a blast reading all of them *shovels popcorn into mouth*

Also I think I'm getting sick I think the ao3 author's curse is about to hit me wuh oh

Chapter 4: Secret's Out

Notes:

SORRY FOR THE SHORT LENGTH THIS CHAPTER REALLY GOT AWAY FROM ME AGAIN AND THE NEXT THING I KNOW I'M ASTRAY FROM MY OUTLINE AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING ANYMORE GNLESNGJKESNJK

Also small disclaimer: I try not to use my fanfics to character bash, especially fem characters, if I can absolutely help it, this chapter features Sally Acorn and I use her to move the plot forward but it paints her in a not so great light. I don't actually know all that much about her other than she was Sonic's girlfriend in the archie comics but I needed a character to perform the necessary actions here. This is probably the only time she's going to be mentioned for the rest of the fic but this is here as just a content warning of sorts for that :-)

With that out of the way let's get into this!!

Shadow eventually zipped back around to Tails’ garage but by that time the sun was already setting, everything in an orange and pink haze as everyone’s lights started to turn on in preparation for the dark blanket of evening. Sonic got off of the bike the second it stopped and stretched his legs.

“Man, that was a rush!” he laughed. “You sure you didn’t break any speed laws? Some of those numbers looked dangerously close to being over the limits.”

Shadow scoffed with a smile, getting off the bike as well. Of course he broke the speed limit, that sort of thing was nothing to a criminal mastermind like him. “We didn’t get pulled over so I’m sure it’s fine.” he replied.

Sonic laughed again. “You’re right about that. You sure you don’t want me to drop you off?” he asked.

Shadow shook his head. “I have roommates. And they wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if my boyfriend came over even for a little bit.”

Part of that was true. But the real reason Shadow didn’t want Sonic coming over was because all of their heist gear was just sitting there in the living room. So it wasn’t in his best interest to let Sonic take him back home. Especially since he was the one who wanted to get into Sonic’s house.

“Ah, okay.” Sonic said, sounding a little disappointed. “BUT! I’ll see you next week, right?”

“What’s happening next week?” Shadow asked.

“I’m taking you out again!” Sonic took Shadow’s hands into his. “I have something special planned.”

“I didn’t even agree to it yet.”

“Yeah but you were going to.” Sonic smirked.

This bastard… Shadow just sighed. Maybe this would finally be the time to complete his mission. He just had to make it through.

“Alright.” he said. “What day and time?”

“Friday. Nine pm.”

“Kind of late.”

“It’s the earliest I can get done with all my stuff.” Sonic pouted at him.

“Okay. That’s fine.” Shadow replied. “Goodnight, Sonic.”

“No goodbye kiss?” Sonic asked, his tone joking but his smile hopeful, tail swishing back and forth a little.

Shadow frowned a little. Kissing is what boyfriends did, and even though Shadow wasn’t really his boyfriend, this was an act he needed to keep up. Plus Sonic had just gifted him an amazing gift, it was probably time to repay him for that.

So, all of a sudden he leaned in close, holding onto Sonic’s shoulders and pressing their mouths together, closing his eyes on impact.

It felt exactly as he imagined, just like pressing his lips against another's. But his stomach immediately was alight with butterflies, turning and twisting as his heart raced. When he pulled away Sonic’s eyes had widened and he was standing there, not even breathing not moving an inch.

Somehow Shadow’s body was giving more weight to the action than he believed it to actually be, because his skin was tingling and the urge to do it again hit him strongly.

“I’ll see you next week.” was what he said instead, pulling away so he wouldn’t be tempted.

“Y-Yeah. See ya.” Sonic just waved as Shadow hopped back on his bike, throwing a smile his way before speeding off into the night.

It didn’t take long for Rouge and Omega to notice the change. The new vehicle did not help.

When he arrived home both of his teammates were sitting on the couch wearing fluffy robes. Rouge had her hair in curlers and was holding a mug that most definitely had something alcoholic in it and Omega was holding a mug in his palm that probably had oil in it.

“You’re home late.” Rouge remarked. “And I see you have a new toy.”

“Sonic got it for me.” Shadow explained, hanging up his jacket. “Just another thing I’ll be taking from him once this job is over.”

“Really? And when will that be?” Rouge asked, batting her lashes.

Shadow groaned. “Don’t patronize me. It’s not my fault he wants to take our relationship slow unlike everything else he does. Fuck, I don’t even know if I’ll get into his house by the time we’re married at this rate!”

Shadow almost cringed at the thought. Him. Married. What a thought. Especially to Sonic of all people.

“SHADOW WE ARE NOT ON A TIME LIMIT FOR THIS HEIST. BUT IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE ME AND ROUGE ARE HERE FOR WHATEVER YOU MAY NEED US FOR.” Omega spoke up “HOWEVER I WILL ADMIT I AM SLIGHTLY HURT THAT YOU HAVE NOW REPLACED ME AS YOUR PRIMARY VEHICLE.”

“There there, Omega.” Rouge patted him. “Our baby boy is growing up, of course he’s going to start acting out and disappointing us.”

“I’m older than both of you technically!” Shadow shouted, scowling. “We are not having this conversation! I’m going to bed!”

“You mean you’re going to get on call and masturbate while Sonic whispers sweet nothings into your ear, telling you when it’s okay to cum into your jeans?” Rouge crossed her legs, a smug look on her face as Shadow turned red.

“NO!” Shadow stomped away. “God, you two are insufferable sometimes!”

Sometimes Shadow had no clue why he kept them around. Then the second he was alone he remembered why…

When he first met Rouge in Honduras on the look for another Chaos Emerald after he found the green one. He had ended up in a district of the city that was clearly shady, with neon signs and the smell of hard liquor making Shadow scrunch his face. No one dared approach him, some even scurried away when he walked by. It had started raining a while ago, and Shadow was carrying a black umbrella next to him as he tried to follow his instincts to find the Emerald.

It was close, he could practically taste it.

Shadow was about to go across what looked like a nearly broken-down casino when someone got thrown out of it, literally.

A ball of white fur and black wings hit the ground in front of Shadow. The bouncer shouted something in Spanish and slammed the door shut. The white-furred bat didn’t even say anything back, just got up and wiped at her face, smudging her makeup. She was sporting a black eye and was trying to cover herself with her wings, her hair a frizzy mess and her dress crumpled.

Shadow held his umbrella over her. She didn’t even seem to notice at first, then she looked up once she realized she wasn’t getting wet anymore.

Her turquoise eyes met his and her eyes widened. Shadow offered his hand and she looked at his for a moment before scoffing.

“I’m not some cheap whore, hun. Whatever you think you’re going to get out of this, I’m not giving it up.” she spoke in a voice that sounded like it had been run ragged.

“I’m not asking you for anything.” Shadow replied. “You’re hurt, I’m offering to help you.”

“Yeah right. No one does anything nice without expecting something in return.” the bat struggled to stand up on her own, but she got there eventually, wobbling on pinprick heels. “So what is it?”

Shadow retracted his hand, but still kept the umbrella over both of them.

“I’m looking for something. An emerald.” he explained.

The bat’s eyes sparkled at the idea of a gem, but her face didn’t give anything else away. “What kind?”

Shadow reached into his quills and retracted the green Chaos Emerald nestled in there. “They’re called the Chaos Emeralds. There’s seven of them, each in different colors. They have a power unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I need to find all of them.”

“Chaos Emeralds, huh?” the bat had reached out to touch the jewel in Shadow’s hand but he retracted. The bat rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard of them. They’re actually something I have an interest in as well.”

“You do?” Shadow asked, putting his Emerald away.

“I do, in fact I even know where to find one of them.” Rouge leaned in close, putting her hand on Shadow’s shoulder and expanding her wings. “If you’re interested, the guy who has one of them is in there.”

She tilted her head to the shady casino. Shadow raised an eyebrow. “You just got kicked out of there.”

“Apparently flirting with the owner was a bad call on my part. All I needed was to get into his room and I was home free, but I was yanked off by his wife and kicked out before I could even get that far.” she sighed.

Shadow looked up, seeing a lone window lit up on the top floor.

“Is that his room?” he asked.

“Yeah but-” she tried to say before Shadow had teleported both of them up there. The bat nearly screamed but Shadow slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Sh! We don’t want them to know we’re up here.” he hissed.

The bat gave him a thumbs up and he removed his hand from her muzzle, closing his umbrella and shaking it off.

“Now, do you know where to find the Emerald?” he asked.

The bat looked around the suite apartment. It was spacious with a canopy bed and a hearth as well as a walk-in closet. The bat pointed to that.

“I’ll bet money there’s a safe in there with the Emerald.”

Shadow moved towards it and opened the closet, looking around and finding a small, triple-locked safe there. The bat cursed.

“Dammit! The bastard downstairs definitely has a key in his pocket! If I could have just nabbed it-!”

“No need.” Shadow stopped her, kneeling in front of the safe. He started with the combination dial lock, leaning in close and closing his eyes to hear the motions he was making. Each correct number double-clicked quickly and he spun it the other direction. In a minute he had that one unlocked.

The second lock was a four-digit password. Ten thousand combination possibilities. But no penalty for wrong answers. That was their first mistake.

Shadow cracked his knuckles and started inputting random codes, fingers flying at the speed of sound as he did so. One of the abilities that the scientists on the ARK had given him was super speed, and that code was also cracked within a minute.

The bat sat down next to him, her lips parted in awe.

“That’s incredible.” she breathed.

The last lock was a keyhole. Shadow simply plucked a quill from behind him and jiggled it around the lock. Within a second the door of the safe popped open.

A single gem rested inside of it. A red emerald that shone brighter than any other of its kind. Shadow felt the Emerald resting in his quills begin to vibrate from being close to another one of its sisters.

He gently took it out of the safe and held it up to the bat woman, who bit her lip at the sight.

“That might be the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.” she spoke breathlessly.

Shadow didn’t even get the chance to agree before the door of the apartment slammed open. A very drunk man stumbled in, looking at the sight before him. He had to process for a few seconds before shouting. “HEY!”

“It’s the owner!” the bat jumped up. “Shit!”

Shadow furrowed his brows, anxiety spiking at the man pulled a pistol out of his pocket.

“STAY RIGHT THERE! PUT THE JEWEL DOWN OR I’LL SHOOT!”

Shadow didn’t waste any time.

He tossed the Emerald towards the bat, who barely had enough time to catch it in her mits before Shadow scooped her up right as the pistol fired, the bullet in slow motion to Shadow as he uttered those fateful words.

“CHAOS CONTROL!”

And just like that the bullet shattered the glass of the window. But Shadow didn’t even see it because he had deposited himself and the bat onto the steps of the hotel Shadow was staying at. 

The bat woman immediately threw up into the bushes.

Shadow sat down on the steps and groaned. That was way too close of a call.

“You’re insane!” the bat shot her head up. “And brilliant!”

She held the gem close to her chest as she laughed, spreading herself out on the stairs as she cackled wildly.

“Say, what do you call yourself?” she finally asked when she had come down from a fit of laughter.

“...Shadow.” the black hedgehog replied.

“Nice to meetcha. I’m Rouge.” the woman held out her paw for Shadow to shake. “Why, if I may ask, does a handsome man such as yourself want the Chaos Emeralds for?”

Shadow took her hand and shook it.

“I want to bring my sister back to life with them.”

Rouge stared at him, her expression still unreadable to Shadow. She regarded him carefully.

“Well now, I wasn’t sure that was something they were capable of.” she whistled softly. “And here I was just wanting to see if they could get me out of poverty.”

“You’re destitute?” Shadow asked.

“Don’t make it sound all fancy like that. I’m homeless.” Rouge sighed. “But I’ve always had a fascination for jewels like this, the rare and priceless kind I mean. In fact I know where half of them are being kept.”

“You do?” Shadow perked up.

Rouge smiled at him. “How about this, an alliance. We team up and find the Chaos Emeralds together. Then we can do whatever we want with them once we have all seven.”

Shadow was hesitant. He’s never been a part of a team before. However, he didn’t know where to start to find the others. He’s been travelling from country to country for a year trying to find one. He had no leads whatsoever, but this bat woman did.

He nodded to her, the rain finally beginning to let up.

“I accept.”

It wasn’t long after that they found Omega, a broken-down robot in the wilderness of Ethiopia. He was originally part of a deforestation project led by Robotnik Industries. The robot had found the Turquoise Emerald and proceeded to wipe out the whole squadron before shutting down completely. Removing the Emerald allowed him to reboot, and Rouge thought he was cute, like a little pet, so they fixed him up. Shadow quickly realized his potential to help them with the technology in their heists and added them to their team.

That’s how they became the notorious Team Dark. Their ragtag group of traumatized kids turned criminals was now the only family Shadow had.

Family, huh. Somehow that idea wasn’t so bad. 

Team Dark was his family.

---

The next day when Shadow finally crawled out of his bedroom he saw that the TV was on and Rouge was sort of watching it while she had her jewelry collection spread out on the coffee table, trying to organize it by whatever category she decided they needed to be sorted by.

“Ah, good morning Mr Rebellious Teen.” Rouge teased him as he hopped onto the couch.

“I’m not a teenager, Rouge, I’m 25 by mental standards and over 70 chronologically speaking.” Shadow replied. “Omega, coffee maker.”

“NOOOOOO.” Omega didn’t have much choice as he morphed into a machine that looked similar to a Keurig, already with a mug at the bottom. Shadow pressed the button and dark liquid spittled out of it. Shadow took the mug once it was full and took a gentle sip.

“Omega, Primary Form.” Shadow spoke and Omega transformed again before his eyes.

“I HATE COFFEE MAKER OMEGA FORM.” Omega sulked.

The TV suddenly changed from commercials channel CHAO, and a familiar head of pink quills popped up on screen. The woman was wearing a red suit with a white undershirt, something fitted and looked nice on her.

Shadow scowled. He shouldn’t be jealous of Sonic’s old flames, or technically not even old flame because they didn’t date, Sonic just had an embarrassing crush on her back when they were teens. There was no reason why he should feel the prickly feeling that he does right now.

“Good morning, New York! I’m journalist Amy Rose and I’m here to deliver with a very special guest, Sonic the Hedgehog, here to talk about his Chaos Emerald!” Amy gestured to the seat across from her. 

Sonic was sitting casually and waved at the camera with a smile. Shadow’s heart skipped a beat and Rouge cast him a knowing side-eye.

“Thank you so much for joining me, Sonic.” Amy smiled.

“The pleasure is all mine, Ms Rose.” Sonic crossed his legs with one arm thrown over the back of the couch. He looked so hot like that.

Shadow internally chided himself for thinking that.

“As you know I’m working on being the first journalist to unmask the criminals known as Team Dark. I’m sure you’ve heard of them.” Amy prompted first.

“Who hasn’t?” Sonic chuckled.

“OOH are they talking about us?!” Rouge immediately stopped what she was doing, loving when the news gave them attention.

“They’re the ones that have been travelling around the world on the hunt for Chaos Emeralds, and reports say that they have six of them. But you have the very last one in your possession.”

“Indeed I do.” Sonic nodded. “It was a gift from the lovely people at the museum after I saved the city. To be honest I wasn’t really sure what to do with it at first. I mostly just keep it in my house because it’s pretty. My friend says that it has unparalleled powers but it just looks like any other rock haha.”

“How dare he?!” Rouge gasped, sitting down on the couch next to Shadow, her jewelry collection sorting forgotten. “That imbecile wouldn’t know the difference between diamonds and moissanite.”

“Most people wouldn’t know the difference between those two until its pointed out to them.” Shadow immediately spoke up.

Rouge raised an eyebrow at him, smirking. “Ooh, defensive of your boyfriend, I see how it is.”

Shadow scowled, turning his attention back to his mug.

“Do you feel threatened at all by Team Dark? I mean, they might come to steal the Emerald from you, and then who knows what they would do with all seven.” Amy asked next.

“Eh, I’m not too worried. In all of their infamous heists, not a single person has been killed. They’re skilled, of course, to be able to pull all of that off without leaving even a trace behind, but something tells me that they still have a shred of humanity in them if they aren’t taking hostages or killing people.”

“INCORRECT. HUMANITY IS NOT CODED INTO MY SYSTEM.”

“I thought it was included in that new upgrade you got?” Rouge joked.

Shadow shushed both of them, leaning in closer to the TV as Sonic continued speaking.

“I’d actually love to talk to them. Or their leader if they have one. I’m curious as to what they want the Emeralds for anyways. Maybe they have a good reason for wanting to collect all of them.”

Amy chuckled softly. “You always try to see the best in people, Sonic. That’s something a lot of people really admire about you.”

Sonic laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I try. I think it’s better to assume that people are truly kind, deep down. Sometimes I’m disappointed, but I find that if I just give people a chance, then they can really surprise me.”

Shadow felt those words hit him to the core and his shoulders tensed.

For the first time during this heist, he imagined Sonic’s face when he finally nabbed the Emerald from him. If he would feel betrayed, heartbroken, or if he would be angry. Shadow couldn’t imagine that Sonic would lash out at him… right?

All of a sudden a door slammed open to the side and the camera shot over to another woman, one who Shadow had never seen before.

“What’s going on?” Shadow asked, suddenly worried.

“Sonic the Hedgehog! I’m sorry to interrupt your interview but I absolutely had to get your attention!” the new woman, a squirrel girl dressed in blue, was holding a folder in her hand.

“Sally, what are you doing here?! This is a private set!” Amy stood up as Sonic’s posture turned tense.

The new woman, Sally apparently, walked onto the interview area right in front of Sonic, ignoring Amy completely.

“This is far more important than anything to do with the Chaos Emeralds! Can you explain these photos to me?!”

Sally slammed the folder down on the table between the two couches Sonic and Amy were seated at. The folder opened and the camera zoomed in on them.

Shadow shot up from the couch. He recognized those photos. He was in them.

The photos showed him and Sonic outside of Tails’ garage last night. Shadow pulling Sonic in close and kissing him. His face was mostly hidden but Sonic was unrecognizable with those cobalt quills.

Sonic froze completely. Bad sign.

He slowly looked up at Sally, brows furrowed.

“Where did you get these?” he asked.

“Can you explain them to me?” Sally repeated her questions.

Sonic stood up and faced her, looking pissed.

Now that’s hot.

Shadow swallowed his own saliva and tried to resist the urge to press his thighs together. God that had no reason appealing to him as much as it did, especially in this situation.

“It’s none of yours or anyone else’s business. The fact that you had someone stalking me to take a picture of me during a personal time is grounds for me to sue you.”

“You can’t prove that this wasn’t from a random civilian and submitted anonymously.”

“SALLY!” Amy grabbed her and yanked her backwards. “You are not welcome on my set to try and promote your scandals! I won’t ask you again, get out or I'll call security!”

Sally scoffed, snatching up her folder and heading out, giving a wave to Sonic. “My work here is done, good luck getting eaten alive by the public.”

She slammed the door shut and Shadow fell back down on the couch. The silence rang through his ears. Rouge looked over at him but Shadow couldn’t look anywhere but the TV.

Sonic still looked mad, bunching his hands into fists and looking down. He was shaking. Amy came up to him, putting her hands on his arms. Sonic shook her off and hugged himself, assuring her that he was fine.

“I think we should stop the interview here.” Amy made a motion to cut the cameras and it suddenly turned to a ‘We’ll Be Right Back!’ screen.

Shadow didn’t even wait a beat before he was dialing up Sonic. No response, straight to voicemail.

“I have to find him.”

---

The first place Shadow thought to go was Tails’ garage. It was the only place with a person that Sonic knew where he could start. He was there in less than a minute, pounding on the door.

Tails answered, looking like he already knew what Shadow was going to ask.

“Where is he?” Shadow immediately demanded.

“Shadow, he’s-” Tails started but Shadow instantly started talking over him.

“He isn’t answering his phone and none of my texts are going through. I don't know where he lives and I’m worried about him and I just need to talk to him please. ” Shadow asked, talking a mile a minute.

Tails took a deep breath.

“I know where he is.”

A minute later Shadow had teleported to the top of the Empire State Building, the very rooftop. How Sonic got up here he didn’t know, but nonetheless he saw the blue hedgehog sitting on the edge, looking down at the city below him, one of his legs pulled up against his chest with his chin resting on it.

Shadow didn’t approach him at first, didn’t say anything. What was he supposed to say anyways? This was such a unique situation, he didn’t know how to handle it.

“I know you’re behind me, Tails.” Sonic sighed, turning around, only for his eyes to meet Shadow’s, whose arms were awkwardly hanging by his sides.

“Hi.” Shadow spoke.

Sonic stared at him, eyes widening, clearly not expecting him.

“...hi.” he replied.

“Is that spot taken?” Shadow asked.

Sonic looked down at the seat next to him, back to Shadow, then shook his head. Shadow slowly approached him before sitting down on the ledge next to him, only a few inches away. Sonic sighed.

“So, you saw the interview then?” he asked.

“I did.” Shadow replied. “Who was that woman?”

Sonic pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes, groaning. “That was Sally Acorn. She used to be a friend of mine, and signed on with Amy at CHAO at the same time. The thing is she prefers to report the gossip-y stuff while Amy covers the actual truth about things. They used to butt heads a lot, especially since I liked Amy at the time and I think Sally liked me. Or maybe she still does like me. I don’t know. We’re adults, this kind of drama should be beneath her. This is like high school shit, man.”

He took a deep breath, continuing. “I became famous and I think she became a little obsessed with trying to bring me down. I wasn’t expecting her to do something like that though.” he then leaned against Shadow, an act that made the other hedgehog stiffen as Sonic’s head hit his shoulder. “It’s so disrespectful to Amy to interrupt her interview like that, and disrespectful to me to be showing that kind of stuff to the whole city. I think she just wanted a big moment? I don’t know.”

Sonic looked up at Shadow, giving the biggest puppy eyes that Shadow has ever seen. He didn’t even look like he was doing it intentionally, he just looked sad and apologetic, not even like he wanted something from Shadow.

“I’m sorry you got dragged into all of this. When I started becoming a celebrity I never thought about how my personal relationships might be scrutinized at every turn. I don’t know how people do it, it’s exhausting.”

Shadow hummed, looking out on the horizon. Much like in the picture plastered all over the TV, it was evening, the sun kissing the ground just barely, ready for sleep as much of the city was.

“You don’t need to apologize. It’s not your fault.” Shadow replied. “I can here to make sure you’re alright. You seemed pretty shaken up.”

Sonic didn’t reply to that, just snuggled closer to Shadow.

“You’re so sweet. Even though you don’t show it a lot, you’re really a very thoughtful person.” Sonic mumbled.

“I’m… not all that.” Shadow looked away, feeling guilty.

“Deny it all you want, you still came all the way up here just to check on me.” Sonic grinned up at him.

“... I suppose I did.” Shadow replied. “For the record… I don’t mind so much that people know about us.”

“Really?” Sonic sat up. “I would’ve thought that you would hate the attention it brought.”

“Well, yes, I would. But I also don’t think it’s quite possible to keep it a secret anymore.” Shadow reached up, gently caressing Sonic’s face, letting the other lean into it and close his eyes. “Regardless of the opinions of others, we should not be ashamed of who we are. Living our lives the way we want even when the world opposes us is a form of activism, is it not?”

Sonic laughed at that, bumping his forehead against Shadow’s.

“It is! You’ve been listening to me then?”

“You talk quite a lot.” Shadow replied. “Often about things like that.”

“You’re right on all accounts. Gold star.” Sonic tilted Shadow’s face up. “Thank you for cheering me up. I needed it.”

Shadow didn’t get a warning before Sonic turned his face and pressed their lips together in a soft kiss.

It was less exciting than the first one, but it still left Shadow feeling warm inside. For his own sake, he pushed those feelings down as far as they could go.

---

The next day Shadow told Rouge that he didn’t want to know what people on social media were saying. He didn’t get a flying shit what people’s opinions on his and Sonic’s relationship was.

“Alright, I won’t tell you about anything like that.” Rouge agreed. “But can I at least tell you that that squirrel girl got fired last night for interrupting a private set for the third time?”

“This wasn’t the first time she’s done this?”

“Nope, and apparently it was the second time she’s done it to Ms Rose. The internet is tearing her apart. Anyone with a brain can tell that what she did was way out of line. She hasn’t posted anything on her socials since last night.” Rouge put her hands up in the air, looking innocent. “But that’s none of my business.”

Shadow couldn’t help but crack a smile at that.

“Thank you, Rouge. That’s some good news despite this whole situation.”

“What else am I here for if not to put a smile on this grumpy face.” Rouge pinched his cheek, grinning. “And let me know if you want me to go steal a bunch of really inconvenient stuff from her house.”

“Rouge.”

“I’m thinking every left sock, most of her bobby pins and empty out her hairspray so she only has a little bit left. All of her bowls.”

“I appreciate the gesture but it’s not necessary.” Shadow replied.

“MAY I GO SET HER HOUSE ON FIRE?” Omega chirped up.

Rouge snorted and Shadow sighed. “Please don’t do that either, Omega.”

Omega made a gesture like he was sighing woefully. “AS YOU WISH.”

Notes:

Ao3 author's curse got my ass I got another throat infection dawg i'm dying

I hope the Team Dark backstory made sense, that's what I meant when I said that this chapter got away from me, I hadn't planned to reveal that this early or even at all but I just started writing it for context and the words just flowed out so nicely for it haha

Chapter 5: I Sleep So I Can See You

Notes:

Done apologizing for if the chapters are short or long or whatever what matters is that I get them out!!!

Small Trigger Warning for Shadow's past which contains descriptions of animal testing, Maria's death, and medical sexual assault (i think that's what it would be classified as it's kind of a weird situation but it's something like that) Shadow has a small moment where something that Sonic does reminds him of that SA but it's a relatively short sequence, just wanted to give a heads up so people know what they're getting into ^^

For the most part Shadow didn’t have to deal with any unforeseen fallout. He never really left the house but the few times he did for groceries or whatever he didn’t get recognized, save for a few weird looks. He definitely caught some people looking down at their phone and then up at him again, trying to determine if he truly was someone or not.

Although Shadow’s face wasn’t in any of the leaked photos his red highlights were pretty iconic, but if anyone did know him from Sonic’s latest scandal, they didn’t say anything, much to Shadow’s relief.

Friday rolled around and Shadow met Sonic outside of Tails’ garage again, an easy halfway point for each of them. Shadow waited there with a duffle bag under his arm. Sonic had instructed him to pack a change of clothes as well as a few other items, which gave the impression that he might be staying the night. Goosebumps pricked his skin at the thought that this might be it . He might get the heist done tonight and never see Sonic again afterwards.

A pit in his stomach formed at the thought, almost as if that idea was unbearable to him, despite being the most likely outcome.

Shadow was shaken out of his thoughts by a horn. He looked over to see a camper pull up and stop in front of him, Sonic at the wheel, grinning.

Scratch that. The heist would not be getting done tonight.

Sonic rolled down the window and pushed his sunglasses up to the top of his head, why he was wearing them at 9pm Shadow couldn’t tell you.

“Hey, baby. You’re looking mighty fine, wanna hop in the back with me and come on a journey?” Sonic joked around, a terrible attempt at being smooth.

“What is this?” Shadow asked, unimpressed.

“It’s a camper! A super cool and fancy one!” Sonic hung out the side of the window. “I’m taking you far away from here, babe. And we’re gonna go see nature in its most beautiful form, untouched by humanity.”

Ah, they were going camping.

Shadow resisted the instant recoil threatening to seep through. This was absolutely not going to be his cup of tea.

Unfortunately, he figured something like this was coming. He can’t expect to be dating an environmentalist without him wanting to be in the environment . Shadow had simply no desire to be doing activities like hiking, sleeping on the ground, or scavenging around like lower animals. He liked his air conditioning and his coffee maker. And his proper toilet and shower. He almost shuddered at the idea of relieving himself in the woods.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Sonic assured him. “The only reason I got the camper was so we could sleep in a real bed since I figured you’d prefer that. It’s Tails’ own model which runs on a pretty hefty battery, so it’s got zero carbon emissions like your bike. But I can also power it with my energy if we absolutely need it.”

The dark hedgehog nodded. “I figured it would be something like that. Otherwise you wouldn’t set foot in the vehicle.” Shadow remarked, finally opening the door of the camper to step inside.

The things we do for Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic tapped on the steering wheel excitedly as Shadow sat down in the passenger seat. “Don’t worry, the place I’m taking you isn’t too terribly far away, we should get there in an hour or so.”

“Riveting.” Shadow put his seatbelt on as Sonic started driving.

The drive there felt a lot like their phone calls. Sonic did a lot of talking, he had the radio on for as long as the signal could get out there, playing various pop songs that Shadow recognized the tune of but didn’t know the name of, but when it started to become more static than music Sonic turned it off and just kept on yapping. Shadow didn’t actually mind, he just sat there and listened to him the entire time, occasionally throwing in a comment or two.

Like he said, similar to their phone calls. 

Including Shadow beginning to nod off slowly. When he realized he fell asleep he was already being gently shook awake.

“Shadowww.” Sonic teased, letting the other hedgehog stretch and rub his eyes.

“Mmyes?” Shadow asked, yawning. He was almost surprised at himself for actually managing to sleep in the presence of someone he deemed a target. He normally found it very difficult to sleep in front of company, his unconsciousness betraying him too many times and waking up strapped to a table attached to several different machines didn’t exactly make for an easy sleeper.

Maybe he just didn’t think Sonic was dangerous enough to him to warrant alarm.

“We’re here. I have everything already set up outside.”

“You do?” Shadow unclicked and got up. Sonic seemed excited to show him, taking his hand and leading him out of the camper.

Set up before him was a fire pit with crackling flames making the whole area smell like smoke. It was set up around wooden benches, on one of them was piled graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows, and ingredients for hot dogs.

The whole thing overlooked a cliff, and they got an excellent view of the moon hanging over the ocean from here, the crickets gently singing in the night.

“Pretty cool ey?” Sonic wiggled his eyebrows at Shadow.

“It’s wonderful.” Shadow turned to him. “How long did it take you to set this up?”

“About ten seconds.” Sonic winked. “Come on! The smores are gonna get cold!”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.” Shadow replied, but followed Sonic anyway to sit next to him on the bench as the other opened up a pack of hotdogs.

“Regardless, we’re wasting moonlight! I’m going to cook one of these for you first, then three for me and then we can get into the marshmallows.” Sonic attached the dog to a metal stick made for this very activity.

“What a gentleman.” Shadow rolled his eyes. “I’m perfectly capable of making my own hot dog.”

“Okay, Mr Perfect. How about you make one for me and then we swap?” Sonic hovered his stick over the fire, the orange hues reflecting against his blue fur and bathing him in a light that was uniquely beautiful.

“I accept your challenge.” Shadow snagged the hot dog pack.

“Best hot dog wins!”

“Wins what?” Shadow asked.

“Well, when I win, I expect a kiss.” Sonic winked at him.

“Of course.” Shadow sighed, but not offering anything up as his prize for winning.

Cooking over an open flame like this was a lot harder than Shadow anticipated. He’d never done this before, although he used to pretend but that was a long… long time ago. Still, he always imagined that this would be the most normal and domestic thing to do with someone else, something that was usually accompanied by laughter and song and secrets being revealed in the dark of the night.

Shadow accidentally burned the hot dog he was cooking. Sonic laughed at him but promised it was alright. He still ate the whole thing and Shadow felt bad enough that he actually ate the hot dog that Sonic had made for him.

It wasn’t the worst thing he’s ever eaten.

“I think someone owes me a kiss now.” Sonic pursed his lips, ready to claim his prize.

Shadow scoffed but supposed that it was only fair. He leaned in close to press a gentle kiss to Sonic’s mouth. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for the blue hedgehog because a hand was on Shadow’s lower back instantly, pulling him back as soon as Shadow had drawn back, kissing him again energetically.

He was finding himself more and more alright with these kisses the more that they did them.

When Sonic finally decided that he’d had enough Shadow’s lips were stinging from Sonic’s vicious attack on him.

“God, I love how doe-eyed you get after I kiss you.” Sonic hummed, nuzzling his nose against Shadow’s.

“Doe… I do not get doe-eyed!” Shadow gasped, offended, pushing back against Sonic’s chest.

“You totally do!” Sonic laughed. “You absolutely melt into it and you get so cute!”

“I am not cute!” Shadow argued. He was a criminal mastermind for fucks sake! He’d stolen priceless artifacts like it was a regular day out! He was wanted dead or alive in almost every country!

“You’re right. You’re not cute. You’re adorable.” Sonic continued to tease, pressing his lips against Shadow’s cheek and blowing a raspberry against it.

“Eugh!” Shadow tried to act disgusted but he was laughing at the irony of it all. “You’re terrible.”

“You like me anyways.” Sonic pulled him close and leaned his head on his shoulder, just like he’d done on the Empire State Building not too long ago. It seemed like it was his favorite place to rest his head.

“Unfortunately.” Shadow replied.

He wasn’t sure anymore how much of a lie that was.

Sonic chuckled. “Wanna get into the smores now?”

Shadow nodded and Sonic sat up to reach for the pack of fluffy marshmallows.

This time Shadow was a little bit better at roasting them. Sonic taught him a few techniques, and what to look out for if it starts getting too toasty. By the end Shadow had a beautiful golden-brown marshmallow with only a few charred edges. It all tasted the same when he put it between chocolate and graham cracker. Shadow had to admit, the gooey treat wasn’t all that bad. He even started making another one while Sonic was still licking his fingers from his first one.

All of the sudden the hero perked up, remembering something.

“Oh oh! I brought something else for this!” he reached behind him, pulling a large black case from underneath the bench. Shadow raised a curious brow as Sonic set it in his lap and opened it up.

Inside was an acoustic guitar. It looked well-loved with some of the edges being worn down, likely having been used many times before now.

Sonic was about to take it out before he stopped, looking down at his hands, which still had remnants of marshmallow on his gloves. Sonic then shrugged and removed them entirely, tossing them to the side.

This was reason for alarm, Shadow’s ears perked up at the action.

Although Shadow was raised by humans, Rouge had taught him that their kind usually cover hands and feet with gloves and shoes, and they are rarely removed in front of those who are not loved ones. It had something to do with how their hands and feet were seen as being intimate, since most of the time mobian species didn’t need to wear clothes.

He never understood the tradition, but he knew that Sonic probably took merit in it.

“What’s wrong?” Sonic asked, taking the guitar out and setting it in his lap, wrapping the strap around his neck.

“...gloves.” Shadow mumbled, staring at his hands.

Sonic looked at him, then held up one of his hands. On each finger was a rough pad, as well as a bigger one in his palm, each a darker pink tone. His fur didn’t cover these areas, and they looked calloused and scarred.

“Do you mind?” Sonic asked genuinely, closing his fist. “I figured it would be alright, a-and I didn’t want to get goop on my guitar. It’s my mom’s so…”

“I don’t mind.” Shadow told him. “I just… I wasn’t expecting it.”

Sonic let out a breathy laugh, carefully tuning the guitar. “It’s okay. Sorry for doing that without warning.”

Shadow stared at him while Sonic struck some chords on the guitar, then turned to him with a smile.

“Any requests?” he asked jokingly.

“What?” Shadow asked. “Are you going to sing?”

Sonic shrugged. “Why not? Singing is a fireside activity, and I’m pretty handy on the guitar so I figured I’d be able to show off for you.”

Oh, right. Sonic did mention that playing it was a hobby of his.

Shadow huffed, retracting his new marshmallow from the flames.

“Play whatever you want. I don’t care what song it is.”

Sonic smiled softly. “Alright then.”

He strummed his fingers against the strings in a stronger succession than Shadow was expecting, making him sit up and look at him again as Sonic started tapping his foot to keep time.

And that’s when he started singing.

Shadow felt every nerve on his body alight when he heard his voice for the first time. It was rough, much like when he spoke, but somehow that added a charm to it that Rouge’s silky smooth voice couldn’t capture. It felt raw and real , something that was just for Shadow to hear.

“ Oh, won't you kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor?

And when you get a taste, can you tell me what's my flavor?

I don't believe in God, but I believe that you're my savior.

My mom says that she's worried, but I'm covered in His favor.

And when we're getting dirty, I forget all that is wrong.

I sleep so I can see you, 'cause I hate to wait so long. ”

Shadow had never heard this song before. He briefly wondered if Sonic wrote it himself. Halfway through was when he realized that his marshmallow had burnt and fallen off the stick, but it didn’t matter because his attention was held entirely by the hedgehog next to him.

By the light of the fire, under the blanket of stars, next to the great expanse of the ocean, Sonic was the spitting image of what Shadow always imagined the love of his life to look like.

Except he never imagined that at all until right this very second.

The song stopped after a while and Sonic breathed heavily. The silence stretched on until Shadow was finally the one to break it.

“You’re beautiful.” was all that he said.

Sonic looked at him like he was surprised to hear that, then he laughed, hugging his guitar as he did so.

“Thank you.” he replied. “But I think you’re even more gorgeous, Shadow.”

Shadow looked down at the guitar, reaching out and running his fingers over the light-colored wood. His expression was soft as he did so, memories coming to the surface.

“Was that your song?” he asked.

“Hm? Ah, no. It’s a song I really like though haha.” Sonic laughed. “I haven’t written music in a long time, I’m not sure if I would be able to remember how. But Sailor Song kinda reminds me of us, y’know?”

Shadow didn’t remark at that, still staring at the guitar. Eventually he spoke again.

“You’re the second person to ever play something for me like this.” he stated.

“Really? I thought I was your first relationship?” Sonic asked, confused.

“You are. This person wasn’t my partner.” Shadow retraced his hand. “She was my sister.”

“...was?” Sonic asked tentatively, almost like he was afraid to ask in fear that Shadow might shut him down again. It wouldn’t be the first time Shadow had done that when Sonic asked him personal questions.

Shadow just sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“Well… we have all night.” Sonic prompted him, clearly hoping that Shadow would spill all of his secrets.

Shadow paused. Would telling Sonic really be okay? He wouldn’t be seeing him anymore after he got the Chaos Emerald, so maybe it was. But he should leave some details out. After all, Sonic would probably be suspicious of anything related to the Robotnik name even if this happened fifty years ago.

“She wasn’t my biological sister. She was human. And she was chronically ill. I was part of an animal testing project to try and cure her illness. There still isn’t anything that would have been able to help her.”

Sonic’s expression immediately changed from curious to worried. Animal testing on mobian species has been banned for years. It was highly illegal then and even more so now. Shadow knew that Sonic was especially vocal about his dislike of any kind of inhumane animal testing.

“Is that why you have nerve damage?” Sonic asked tentatively.

“It’s part of it.” Shadow explained. “Another part of that is because they gave me super speed but didn’t want me running away. So the severing of my nerves was tactical on their part.”

He took a deep breath, getting back to the original topic.

“But I was able to interact with the patient. Her name was Maria. She was the sweetest person I have ever met. She wanted so desperately to go out and be a normal kid, but she was stuck in the lab we lived in 24/7 for monitoring. Her immune system just couldn’t handle going outside, no matter how much she wanted to. Any contact with pathogens that would just give any other person the sniffles could kill her.”

As many tests as Shadow was subjected to, Maria was also subject to just as many. It gets boring after a while, especially for a girl her age, constantly getting blood drawn or her throat and nose swabbed or her brain scanned all to make sure she wasn’t going to die. Shadow wished he could have been able to help her like he was intended to. He wished that was actually what the scientists were doing with all of the tests on him.

“I was her only friend and she was mine.” Shadow continued. “She and I would pretend to be normal kids. We would make a fake fireplace out of construction paper and roast marshmallows that never cooked. And then we just ate them as is. We watched movies and read stories together, I learned to read and write with her, she would even wear roller skates and tie a rope around me and hold onto the other end so we could zoom around the lab, despite how fragile she was. She always talked about all the stuff she wanted to do once we got out of here. I really believed that one day we would make it out.”

Shadow had to stop here for a second, shutting his eyes as the memories started to resurface.

“However, the scientists were caught for performing illegal experiments and forced to shut down. Due to the nature of the experiments, they decided that all of them had to be terminated.”

Sonic gasped and covered his mouth with his hand. Shadow hugged himself tightly.

“She died because she was protecting me. They pointed a gun at my head and she jumped in front of it for me. I don’t think I’ll ever forget how her lifeless body looked laying there.”

Sonic rested a hand on Shadow’s shoulder. It was a small bit of comfort, but that little bit was enough to keep Shadow from crying.

“I was able to escape the facility because of her and ended up in Seoul. I guess I’ve just been… trying to find a purpose now that she’s gone.” Shadow admitted. “I’m sorry, that was a lot.”

“No no, it’s okay.” Sonic pulled him in closer so now Shadow’s head was on Sonic’s shoulder. It really was a comforting place to be. “I was the one who asked. Thank you for telling me. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that, I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”

Shadow closed his eyes and hummed.

“It’s hard to talk about sometimes. But with you the words just… spill out.” he admitted.

Sonic smiled softly at him. “I think that just means you feel safe around me haha.”

Was that really it? Truly? Shadow hadn’t felt safe around someone in a long time.

“I guess so.”

What he didn’t tell Sonic was that he actually did have a purpose, and that was to find all of the Chaos Emeralds, and bring his sister back to life. He wasn’t going to let her die that easily, he wanted her back, needed her.

He didn’t know what he was supposed to do without her.

---

Shadow honestly was glad that Sonic got a camper instead of making them pitch a tent. Although the mattress wasn’t the most comfortable in the world, it was still better than sleeping on the ground. And it had started raining by the time they were getting the campfire packed up so it was definitely appreciated.

Sonic yawned loudly when they had finally gotten everything inside. By now it was well past midnight and definitely past the hero's bedtime.

“You should go to sleep.” Shadow remarked, sitting down on the one bed in the whole camper.

“ We go sleep.” Sonic immediately flopped down on his face next to Shadow, kicking off his shoes and laying there starfished on the bed.

Shadow sighed. “If that is what you wish.” he reached for his own shoes but paused for a moment, considering if he really wanted to do this or not.

Like he said before, Sonic wasn’t much of a threat to him. Plus he could be back in his shoes in less than a second. Sleeping with them on was uncomfortable, obviously, but they also were in an unknown location and he didn’t know what could happen if he did leave them unattended.

What if a bear tried to tip over the camper or something?

“Shadowww…” Sonic whined, reaching out for him. “C’mere. I wanna snuggle.”

Shadow turned to look at him, at Sonic making grabby hands for him. “Give me a second.”

He slid the inhibitor ring up over the top part of the shoes so they were around his ankles and then unlatched them, finally removing them and feeling like he was taking his feet off entirely.

Shadow couldn’t feel much of his feet at all. Everything below his ankles he didn’t have control over. It made life incredibly frustrating and difficult sometimes. Not to mention the random spikes of pain that would hit him whenever, wherever. He had learned to just endure it. Some days were harder than others. Early on there were days where it was incredibly painful to walk at all even with the shoes. It’s gotten better, but never healed completely. Nerve damage was awful like that.

Eventually Shadow scooted back until he was laying on his side with his back facing Sonic. He pulled out his phone to quickly text Rouge letting her know what was going on. He had just pressed send when he felt something press against his back and nuzzle into his shoulder.

“G’night, Shads.” Sonic purred, fitting himself against Shadow as he got comfortable, arms wrapped around him, bare hands pressing into him.

Shadow couldn’t help the flush that overtook him, ears folding back as they connected like puzzle pieces. Was Sonic going to hold him like this the whole night?

Rouge replied to his text.

- Have fun, use protection, pee afterwords <3

Shut up
<3

Sonic fell asleep fairly quickly. He was out like a light after he got comfortable. Meanwhile Shadow stayed awake in the dark, listening to the pitter patter of the rain against the camper and the sound of Sonic’s breathing. He was actively trying to fight sleep, every other base instinct in his body telling him he needed to be awake and alert in case anything were to happen.

He was also thinking a lot about this whole situation. It was so unusual, unlike any other heist they’ve ever done, all because Sonic was the perfect gentleman who wouldn’t take him back to his house to fuck right away. And now Shadow was roped into his first relationship ever.

If the scientists who made him saw him now they would probably burst out laughing.

All he really wanted was the last Chaos Emerald, that’s all he needed. But he was getting a lot more than he bargained for out of the entire situation.

He just couldn’t decide if he hated it or not.

Shadow never thought he would date. He thought that he would stay solitary forever. All he really wanted was his sister back, to show her the world she so desperately wanted to see. She would have loved it here.

She would have loved Sonic.

Shadow squeezed his eyes shut. No. They could never meet. That was one thing for certain. He could never see Sonic again after this. Not only because of the risk of being found out as Team Dark, but also because he just couldn’t take the guilt. Already it was eating away at him, gnawing at his heart and threatening to swallow it whole.

He had to betray Sonic, there was no other option. But this might be the first time ever he felt so awful about a heist.

Shadow eventually did fall asleep after a few hours, but it was restless, his dreams filled with spattering blood and needles and hands all over him.

When he woke up he was on his back with Sonic curled at his side. The rain had stopped, the sun casting a glow through the curtains to indicate that it was morning.

Shadow made a quiet noise as he woke up, something akin to a groan in the back of his throat.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” Sonic spoke, voice rougher than usual from sleep, it was deeper too, and far sexier than Shadow was willing to admit.

“How long have you been awake?” Shadow asked, rubbing his eyes as Sonic shifted more of his body on top of Shadow.

“Dunno. Was waiting for you to get up.” Sonic pressed his nose against Shadow’s cheek. “Your face isn’t so scrunched up when you sleep.”

Immediately Shadow furrowed his brows at the comment and Sonic laughed.

“Noooo not like that.” Sonic kissed him on the mouth. “It gets better when I kiss you.”

“Is that so?” Shadow replied, unamused.

“Yeah.” Sonic kissed him again to make his point, hands pressed into Shadow’s waist.

Shadow allowed for the early morning kisses. It started out soft and sweet, nothing more than the press of lips. He was relaxed and more willing than he typically would be due to having just woken up. And he was starting to admit to himself that he actually didn’t mind getting kissed by Sonic all that much. It felt kind of nice.

Sonic tilted his head and parted his lips, Shadow mirroring the movement so they were open-mouthed against each other, practically sharing breath. Shadow had to reach his hands up to tangle in blue quills that were sticking up every which way, just to keep himself grounded. Sonic started stroking his thumbs up and down Shadow’s waist, hovering over him and blanketing his body, shielding him from the sunlight. Shadow didn’t mind, sunshine incarnate was kissing him after all.

Shadow made a noise he didn’t know he could make once he felt the flick of a tongue against his own. Sonic parted but only for a second, his lips kissed red and pupils blown.

“Do that again.” he whispered, voice low and husky still.

“What?” Shadow asked, feeling delirious. He didn’t even know what he did the first time.

That didn’t stop Sonic though, who immediately dove into his neck and started kissing the fur there. Shadow’s eyes rolled back as he clung to anything blue to hold himself back. He made that noise again and he could feel Sonic smirking against him.

Then, teeth on his neck and a thigh pressed between his legs.

Shadow’s mouth fell open and his eyes blew wide, yet another noise being ripped from his throat, higher and louder than the other times.

It was a moan. Shadow was moaning.

And he was also getting embarrassingly hard.

Sonic’s lips found his again and they crashed together, padded hands sliding down Shadow’s waist until they cupped his hips, lifting him up just a bit, but the friction made Shadow dizzy. He didn’t even register what was happening for a few moments, too occupied by Sonic’s tongue back in his mouth to form the proper words.

Sonic was making him hump his thigh.

Well… maybe Shadow was doing that on his own, hips rolling against his control, but Sonic had definitely started it!

“God, you’re so hot.” Sonic finally let him go, swiping a thumb over Shadow’s lips, shiny with saliva. “Your noises are so sexy, Shadow.”

Shadow whined and pinned his ears back, still holding onto Sonic’s head as the other nuzzled into the white fur of his chest. He ran his tongue over the fur there, mimicking grooming motions, bent over so Shadow could still feel the hot press of his leg against his aching bulge and his parting vulva.

“S-Sonic.” Shadow pleaded with him.

“I wanna make you feel good, baby.” Sonic trilled, moving downwards and pressing the flat of his tongue over Shadow’s navel. “Tell me where you need me most.”

One of Sonic’s hands moved backwards and a finger stroked the underside of his tail, from base to tip, and that was the motion that completely sent Shadow over the edge.

Trying to maintain a sense of decency by pressing his tail between his legs, it was forcefully lifted before they pressed something inside giving no warning and no option for Shadow to decline.

“Stopstopstop Sonic stop it please- !”

Immediately everything paused. Sonic was still hovering over him but no part of him was touching Shadow at all. Shadow was breathing heavily, trying to pull himself out of his own head.

By the time he did he only registered that Sonic was trying to get his attention and that Shadow was still, unfortunately, rock hard.

“Shadow? Are you with me?” Sonic asked, looking worried.

Shadow swallowed hard and nodded. He moved to sit up and Sonic got off of him completely, still not touching him. Shadow yanked the pillow from behind him and covered the area between his legs, red with embarrassment.

“Shads? Are you okay?” Sonic asked, leaning forward to get Shadow to look at him.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I just…” Shadow sighed loudly.

Regardless of his body’s feelings on the matter, he couldn’t have sex with Sonic. Not now. That wasn’t the plan.

“Don’t be sorry!” Sonic urged him. “I should have asked first, I was trying to be sexy and slide into it without any kind of warning, which I’m realizing now was really dumb.”

Shadow stared at him while Sonic apologized to him instead. He wasn’t expecting that at all.

“I don’t ever want to do something to make you uncomfortable, honest.” Sonic drew an X over his heart.

Shadow shook his head. “I wasn’t uncomfortable with it. I’m just… nervous.”

That was partially true. Shadow had never done anything of this nature before. Not with another person at least. Doing something like that was so vulnerable and… AND IT WASN’T EVEN PART OF THE PLAN WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING?!

“O-Okay! That’s totally normal to be nervous, I mean, I was super nervous my first time I had no clue what I was doing and I was still nervous starting this whole thing because I thought you would hate me or kick me out or something.”

“I don’t hate you.” Shadow assured him. “And how am I going to kick you out of your own camper?”

“Technically this is a rental.” Sonic replied. “But, I’m glad to hear that you don’t hate me.”

Shadow offered him a soft smile, but he was still willing his erection to go away but it just wouldn’t. What the hell? Sonic didn’t look like he was hard at all, maybe the panic after Shadow had asked him to stop made it go away. So how come Shadow was still hard?!

“How about this, whenever you’re ready, could be never, I’m cool with that, you tell me that you want to have sex, and then we go from there.” Sonic offered.

Shadow looked him up and down, unsure of this engagement.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah! I’m cool doing things on your timeline. Don’t feel pressured to go at my pace if you don’t want to.” Sonic smiled.

He was so thoughtful. So sweet. So considerate and gentlemanly.

Shadow wanted to climb him like a tree- WHO SAID THAT?

He cleared his throat to also clear the inappropriate thoughts from his head and nodded.

“Yes, that works.” he agreed. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Sonic shot him finger guns. “Can, uh, can I kiss you again? Nothing crazy or anything.”

Shadow chortled, then nodded.

“You may.” he replied, welcoming the soft lips against his cheek. “What else do you have planned for us today?”

Sonic’s grin only widened as he zipped around the camper, holding up a hiking bag and a map.

“I’m so glad you asked.”

The rest of the day was full of hiking, Sonic showing him around nature, and Shadow trying not to think about the events of the morning. He tried to focus on the crystal clear stream they were walking around, or the scent of fresh air that you couldn’t get in the big cities, or the gorgeous wildflowers they passed by. While passing by one of the patches of pink flowers Shadow reached out to gently touch them, watching as he passed his hand over them and they bounced back.

“Woah, cool, that’s fireweed!” Sonic remarked.

“Fireweed? They hardly look like weeds.” Shadow replied.

Sonic laughed. “I don’t think of them as weeds. They’re actually flowers that can grow in really acidic conditions, notably after an area has been scorched by fire, hence the name.” Sonic looked around at the other wildlife in the area they were in. It was more of an open pasture rather than woods, as they were making a loop back to the camper by this point. “This area was ravaged by a wildfire about a year ago. Man-made, they were testing out more efficient ways to clear out wildlife and tried fire first.”

Shadow remembered hearing something in the news about that. At the time it didn’t affect him so he hadn’t paid much attention to it. But Sonic regarded it as though he had been there personally.

“I really hate bastards like that. But those guys got sued out of their ass by the wildlife conservationists here. Now it’s a popular camping and hiking spot, but also a conservation.” Sonic reached out to touch the fireweed again. “These guys are everywhere in the area. It’s like a little reminder that something beautiful can grow even on scarred earth.”

Something beautiful can grow on scarred earth.

“That’s a beautiful sentiment.” Shadow responded.

“Ah, I’m rambling again, aren’t I?” Sonic chuckled, blushing. “Come on, I’ve still got some stuff to show you.”

He took Shadow’s hand and led him forward, and Shadow followed him right behind.

Notes:

Am I cringe for using Sailor Song in a Sonadow fanfic MAYBE but i don't CARE if it was a popular tiktok audio IT'S STILL A DAMN GOOD SONG

Also the last sequence was totally written because of me getting a fireweed tattoo with smiliar meaning to the stuff I mentioned here in the fic and it's still on my mind hehehe I love writing stuff that is catered to myself mwuahaha

omg guys this is officially the longest Sonic fic I've ever written and we are even done isn't that crazy hahaha

Chapter 6: Not Who You Think I Am

Notes:

For those who are reading this as it's coming out sorry for the sort of late update! I've been sick + work + packing for college + honk shoo-ing in my bed because it's so comfty

This chapter has got a whole bunch of good stuff to make up for it though! Bringing back my 'horny on the inside stoic on the outside' personality for Shadow because it's friggin HILARIOUS

Shadow absolutely had to get himself under control.

Ever since the camping trip he had been plagued with thoughts . Of the sexual nature. And it was driving him fucking insane.

He would replay the memory of the lazy morning turned into heated kisses turned into Sonic almost reaching his most sensitive parts, letting the moment play over and over in his mind at night after he’d said good night to Sonic on their phone calls. It kept him awake and when he eventually fell asleep he would just dream about it. Part of him wishes he didn’t stop Sonic then. A lot of him wonders what would have happened if he didn’t.

Sonic would have to see the unusual nature of his genitals, of course to have sex you have to see the other person’s junk, but would he be disgusted by it? Shadow hoped not, but his most intrusive thoughts featured Sonic shying away from him because it was so weird.

Most of his thoughts featured a Sonic who didn’t care, or was weirdly into it.

Shadow wanted to feel that mouth that never stopped running on him. He wanted to hear Sonic go quiet as Shadow took Sonic’s dick into his mouth, or hear that mouth stop speaking in coherent phrases as he was reduced to a moaning mess. He wanted to feel those fingers that he had seen under the cotton gloves, feel them inside of him, searching for his most pleasurable places.

And god dammit he wanted that dick.

He wanted to see it, to feel it, to taste it. He didn’t ever care about the size so much of the fact that it was attached to Sonic. All this desire was suffocating, and Shadow nearly tore his quills out realizing what an absolute horndog he was becoming.

He wasn’t any better than Rouge.

He’d never felt like this before with anyone, so why now?! Why with Sonic?! Shadow would have thought that the scientists probing him would have ruined him from having sex at all, but somehow the smiley blue hedgehog had broken down any and all reservations he had about it before and kickstarted a phase that made Shadow feel like he was in heat. Which was saying something since the scientists had once put him into chemically induced heat for testing purposes. That was a really shitty three days but also part of the reason that Shadow didn’t understand why he wanted it so much. He should be completely turned off by all sexual advances but he wasn’t and it was confounding.

“I just don’t get it at all.” Shadow said, pacing around Rouge’s room as the bat woman was carefully applying her makeup.

“I don’t see what’s so hard to grasp.” Rouge replied. “You want Sonic to bend you over a hard surface and rock your world. Simple as that.”

“No. It’s not.” Shadow didn’t even deny Rouge’s claim of what he wanted Sonic to do to him. He was that far gone. He stopped in his tracks, sitting down on the bed, head in his hands. “I shouldn’t be feeling this way.”

“Hun, it’s perfectly normal to be having sexual thoughts like this.” Rouge assured him, gently petting mascara over her eyelashes. “Typically the super horny stage happens during the teen years but better late than never!”

Shadow scowled and pulled at his ears. “You’re not helping.”

“Love, I don’t know what you want me to tell you.” Rouge swiveled around and crossed her legs. “If you want to have sex with Sonic then you should just do it. From what you told me he seems like a real sweetie in the bed. I’m actually a little jealous.” she sighed.

“Aren’t you getting ready for a date?” Shadow asked, desperately wanting to change the subject now that he was hearing answers he didn’t like.

“Oh I’m just kidding. But I do think you should do it if you really want to.” Rouge grabbed her hoop earrings off her vanity, pinning them into her ears. “After all, what’s there to lose? Your virginity? That’s a made up concept.”

“My dignity?” Shadow supplied.

“It’s not undignified to have sex when you both really want it.” Rouge stood up, brushing herself off. “How do I look?”

Rouge was wearing a pink button-up with the first few buttons undone to reveal her ample bosom, tucked into a black pencil skirt with a belt fastening it to her waist. Black heeled boots adorned her feet and, of course, white gloves on her hands.

“You look great.” Shadow answered truthfully.

“Thank you, love.” Rouge grinned and did a little spin, giggling to herself before sitting down next to Shadow. “And, for what it’s worth, I know it’s scary, but I also know that both you and Sonic are down for it, so why not take that leap?”

“Rouge.” Shadow sighed and closed his eyes. “It doesn’t matter what I want. What matters is that we get the Chaos Emerald from him. All of these… unnecessary thoughts I’m having? It’s just distracting me from my actual goal.”

Rouge took a deep breath, putting her hand on Shadow’s shoulder to pull him in and down until his head rested on her shoulder.

“Are you sure that it’s all just about the Chaos Emerald?” Rouge asked him.

Shadow looked up at her. “What? Of course it is.”

“I don’t think it is anymore. Not for you.” Rouge remarked. “Maybe it was when you started this mission. But it’s not just that anymore. You fell in love with him.”

Shadow shot up and away from Rouge, completely baffled by the words coming out of her mouth.

“What are you talking about?” he scoffed.

“Don’t give me that.” Rouge shot back.

“I’m just experiencing some unwanted sexual attraction I’m not-”

“Shadow. You told Sonic about Maria. You told him about your nerve damage. You went camping with him even though you hate the outdoors. You climbed on top of the fucking Empire State Building because you thought he might be upset. And despite the fact that I’ve never seen a shred of sexual energy from you before, you. Want. To. Fuck. Him.” she punctuated each word loudly.

“I-”

“Ugh! What is it going to take to get through to you, you quill-head!” Rouge shoved him lightly, seemingly frustrated.

“I know! I know I love him, okay?!” Shadow stood up, breathing hard. Rouge stared at him, wide-eyed. Shadow swallowed hard before he said his next words.

“I know that I love him, but that’s… I can’t…” Shadow clutched his chest. “It’s only going to make it hurt more when I have to betray him.”

Shadow suddenly felt the crushing weight of someone hugging him tightly. Shadow closed his eyes and let Rouge hug him for as long as she felt was necessary. Maybe she felt that he needed it more than he realized that he did.

Eventually she let go and forced him to look her in the eyes.

“Shadow… fuck, I don’t even know what to say to that.” she sighed.

The doorbell rang and Rouge cursed. Shadow’s ears swiveled in that direction.

“Is that your date?” he asked.

“Yeah. But I don’t want to leave you right now.” Rouge admitted.

Shadow sighed, nudging her towards the door. “You should go. Have fun on your date. Don’t forget protection and to pee afterwards.”

Rouge chuckled. “Alright, smartass. But this conversation isn’t over.”

“It is for now.” Shadow said, pushing Rouge towards the door. “Now goooo.”

“Alright, I’m going, I’m going!” Rouge laughed before flying to the door. Shadow only saw a flash of red quills before Rouge stepped out.

The bat had really hit it off with the echidna from the charity gala. They only finally set up their first date tonight. Rouge was expecting great things, Shadow was just hoping she didn’t rob the guy blind.

“IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT?” Omega asked Shadow, poking his head into view.

“I’m fine, Omega. But thank you for asking.” Shadow assured him.

“YOUR TONE INDICATES THAT YOU ARE LYING.” Omega beeped back at him.

“Hey, how can you tell when my tone is the lying one?” Shadow crossed his arms.

“I HAVE KNOWN YOU FOR A LONG TIME, SHADOW. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS MEANT TO PICK UP ON THESE THINGS AND LEARN FROM THEM.”

Shadow scoffed and turned his head, not bothering to give Omega an answer.

“IS THIS ABOUT SONIC?”

Shadow didn’t reply and Omega must have taken that as a yes, because he slowly approached him. Then he reached up with his claw-like hands and opened them as much as possible, then gently patted Shadow on the head.

“THERE THERE. IT WILL BE ALRIGHT.” Omega spoke monotonously. “ARE MY COMFORTING WORDS SOOTHING YOU?”

“Yes, thank you Omega.” Shadow stepped away from him. “I don’t suppose you would know what to do about my dilemma?”

“ABOUT YOU WANTING TO ENGAGE IN INTERCOURSE WITH SONIC, OR ABOUT RETRIEVING THE CHAOS EMERALD FROM HIM?”

“Both.”

“COMPUTING PROBLEM, LOOKING FOR POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS, PLEASE HOLD WHILE I CALCULATE.” his eyes went dark for a second, then lit up again. “IMAGINE WANTING TO ENGAGE IN MATING BEHAVIOURS. L + RATIO + INFERIOR.”

Shadow scowled. “What has Rouge been teaching you?! That’s not helpful!”

“APOLOGIES. I WILL RECALCULATE.” Omega did it again and when he rebooted his words were much kinder. “I BELIEVE THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION WOULD BE TO TELL SONIC THE TRUTH.”

Now that was an option that Shadow had not even considered.

“Are you insane? That would just result in getting us arrested!” Shadow replied. “Ugh, forget about it. I don’t know why I asked you of all people.”

And with that Shadow stormed off. Maybe he was mad because a tiny bit of him knew that Omega was right. Usually the most logical form of action was the correct one. But he couldn’t tell Sonic everything… could he?

No, absolutely not. That would break his heart. And he would probably tell the police. Or make him return all of the Chaos Emeralds because he was a good Samaritan about that stuff.

It’s not like Sonic would just give him the Yellow Chaos Emerald.

…would he?

Shadow was startled by his phone ringing and yanked it out of his quills as fast as possible, reading the name ‘Sonic’ on his phone.

Weird, usually Sonic wasn’t done with celebrity work by now. Shadow thought he was acting in a PSA video about recycling or something.

Regardless, he answered the phone, because of course he’s going to answer it when Sonic’s calling him.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Hey, babe!” Sonic replied, all chipper as usual. “Look, I’ve only got a moment to talk, I’ve snuck away from filming for a bit BUT I just got a super cool invite and I wanted to ask you really quick if this would be something you would be interested in!”

“What is it?” Shadow asked, furrowing his brows.

“Okay okay so one of the sponsors that keeps my pockets lined is the heiress to a huge gem industry and she’s throwing a little shin-dig with all of the people that she’s sponsoring and I’m her golden boy so of course she wants me there to talk to people and explain my mission and all that, but she also said that I can bring a plus one if I wanted to so of course I wanted to ask you.”

“A party?” Shadow asked, sitting down on his bed. “How fancy are we talking?”

“Like, royalty fancy.” Sonic explained, then Shadow heard the sound of someone shouting and he replied back. “Yeah yeah, I’m coming! Shads, baby, I’ll text you more of the details but I just wanted to run it by you first because I wasn’t going to take you if you didn’t wanna go. But I don’t even think I’d want to go if you didn’t want to ‘cause I don’t really like this kind of thing but if you’re there then it’ll make it a million times more tolerable.”

Shadow didn’t particularly like parties. However, he did want to support Sonic… ugh, what has love turned him into?

“Yes, I would like to go.” Shadow responded. “It sounds like it’ll be a good excuse to get dressed up.”

“Oh, fuck I can’t wait to see that.” Sonic sounded like he was practically drooling all over the phone. “I bet you’d look so hot in a suit.”

Shadow’s ears flushed and he scoffed.

“Don’t you have a commercial to get back to?” he asked.

“PSA, but yeah. Unfortunately I do.” Sonic groaned. “Kay love you bye!”

Shadow didn’t even have a chance to reply before the call hung up. He sighed and pulled the phone away from his ear.

Another date with Sonic. Not at his house. Shadow should feel frustrated but he wasn’t. Perhaps a small part of him never wanted to get into his house. So long as it remained a mystery to him then he would never have to betray Sonic by taking his Emerald.

But all good things must come to an end. Shadow knew that all too well.

---

Two days later Shadow nervously awaited outside of Tail’s garage again. He was dressed in a brand new suit that Rouge had made him go shopping for for this specific occasion. When she heard ‘royalty fancy’ she got so excited Shadow thought she was going to have a heart attack.

The new suit was, admittedly, very nice and very expensive. It was a three piece with a white shirt, red bowtie, a black vest and black pants, and the jacket itself was red with rose designs patterned all over it, the lapels still being black. Of course, he was wearing his rocket shoes, those were nonnegotiable. His quills were neatly combed and Shadow had let Rouge talk him into shimmery red eyeshadow and something that made his eyelashes even darker than normal. He looked very nice by the end of it all and just hoped that Sonic would think so too.

Speaking of the speedster, it wasn’t too much longer before a black car pulled up in front of Shadow, the back door opening up. Shadow moved to get inside until he was greeted by an absolutely huge bouquet of roses. Like, nearly half the size of him huge.

“Surprise!” Sonic grinned as he peeked out from behind the sea of red.

“What’s all this for?” Shadow asked, astounded.

“Well, I realized that I’ve never gotten you flowers in the time we’ve been dating so I wanted to make up for it.” Sonic turned his body so Shadow could get a better look at what he was wearing, a navy double-breasted suit with golden buttons. He looked really nice in fitted clothes.

Shadow wanted to rip them off of him.

He shook his head to clear the inappropriate thoughts in his head and cleared his throat.

“These are lovely, but I don’t have anywhere to put them right now.” Shadow said.

“That’s okay! When I drop you off at home afterwards you can take them then, meanwhile they can stay in the car.” Sonic moved to put the bouquet back inside.

“Are you sure that’s alright?” Shadow asked.

Sonic reached for his hand and took it in his, bringing it up to his lips and pressing a gentle kiss against his knuckles, closing his eyes as he did so.

“I’m sure.” Sonic replied. “Hmmm, except…”

Shadow tilted his head, but he was unprepared for when Sonic reached behind him, pulling a single rose out from the bouquet and tucking it behind the ear with the tear in it, from when Shadow had ripped out the tag clipped into it and never let it heal properly.

“There. Beautiful.” Sonic’s arms circled Shadow’s waist and Shadow was once again reminded of how much shorter he was than his counterpart. Even if it was just a little bit, Shadow had to tilt his chin up to look at him, palms pressed against Sonic’s chest.

“You’re so corny.” Shadow scoffed, despite the flush on his cheeks.

“You love it.” Sonic retorted, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. “Besides, it matches your outfit.”

Shadow puffed his cheeks out, furrowing his brows to try and show his disdain without voicing it. Sonic just kissed his forehead to retaliate.

It was incredibly effective.

“You look gorgeous, baby.” Sonic whispered. “Makes me want to keep you all to myself.”

His grip tightened around Shadow’s waist and the other gasped, his tail wagging and he wrapped his arms around Sonic’s neck.

“Down, boy.” Shadow hissed.

Sonic kissed his cheek then, grinning. 

“Sorry. I’m getting a little too carried away.” Sonic chuckled, pulling away despite the fact that Shadow’s pants were getting incredibly tight.

Tonight might end up being more of a test of resilience on Shadow’s end.

Shadow finally allowed Sonic to lead him into the car. Someone else was driving and Sonic had pulled Shadow so close to him that his entire side was pressed against the other’s, Sonic’s arm around his shoulder.

“You’re awfully clingy tonight.” Shadow commented with a smirk.

Sonic just scoffed, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. “Am I that obvious?”

“A little.” Shadow leaned his head into Sonic’s shoulder. “I didn’t say that I minded.”

Sonic scoffed and pressed his cheek against the top of Shadow’s head.

It was quite a drive to their location, given New York traffic and such, but they finally arrived at what looked to be a mansion far away from the city. The car literally had to pass through a tall golden gate and went through a security screening before they were allowed in. The car dropped them off at the front entrance and Sonic got out first, helping Shadow out of the car and linking their arms.

Shadow’s eyes widened at the scenery before him. He’s only seen something like this once before, and that was when he stole the Blue Chaos Emerald from the royal palace in London. But even that wasn’t as full of life as this place was.

Flowers lined the entrance in a beautiful way, leading them inside the parlor. Waiters in distinct outfits were handing out small dishes and drinks, and the people at the party were all dressed up in gorgeous outfits that looked like something out of a fantasy.

The ceilings were high and a chandelier full of dripping diamonds hung above them. The walls were lined in gold and marble, the whole house was basically something out of Rouge’s wet dreams.

“Wow, this place is decked out.” Sonic whistles, swiping an hor d'oeuvre from one of the wait staff, popping it into his mouth before cringing at the taste. Sonic never was one for fancy food like that, but he still swallowed with some effort.

“It’s incredibly prestigious.” Shadow replied, finally looking around at some of the people.

A few strange and curious looks were thrown at them, some whispers. If Shadow strained his ears he could hear things like ‘new money’ and ‘scandalous love’ thrown around. He wasn’t exactly sure what a lot of what they were talking about meant, then they passed by a couple who spoke clear enough for Shadow to hear.

“What I don’t hear most people talking about is how that Sonic kid is one of Aleena’s heirs. Even though he’s made his own name for himself, I’m sure the nepotism must reek off of him.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want people to know for exactly that reason. But then again, it’s not like Aleena’s around anymore.”

“But the entire inheritance goes to him, doesn’t it? He is the oldest after all!”

“As far as I know that’s all still up in the air. Triplets make the entire thing so confusing.”

What the hell were these people talking about? Who’s Aleena? What does she have to do with Sonic? Triplets???

“Sonic! Shadow! Hi!!!”

Shadow turned his attention away from the peanut gallery and instead to the pink hedgehog in a red dress approaching them, waving hi. Sonic waved to her with a bright smile.

“Hey! Amy, what’s up?” he asked as she came up to them.

“I’m so glad you guys could make it. Shadow, you look great. I love the rose theme.” she winked at him. “You trying to impress me or something?”

“No, why would I… oh, because your last name is Rose, I get it.” Shadow understood the joke a little later then he probably should have.

Amy just laughed. “Actually my full name is Amy Rose the Hedgehog, so Amy Rose is my first name but everyone calls me Amy for simplicity sake. It’s a common mistake. I’ve stopped correcting people on it haha.”

“We used to call her ‘Rosie’ back when we were kids.” Sonic added.

Shadow’s ear flicked back as he nodded. “I see.” he replied. He was still wary around Amy, not because he felt threatened by her, but because she was connected to Sonic in a way that he wasn’t. He felt jealous of the fact that he didn’t get to grow up with the hedgehog, only being introduced to him recently.

Ugh, he was far more greedy than he ever thought he could be when it came to Sonic.

“But enough about me.” Amy giggled. “Your hostess will be here shortly, she just had to finish getting ready.”

“Fashionably late I see. Respect.” Sonic grinned.

“You still haven’t told me who exactly is our hostess.” Shadow remarked. “Only that she’s an heiress.”

“Oh, Blaze is a pretty big deal. She’s the first of her generation to bring the company to the US, home for her is all the way back in India.” Sonic started to explain. “She does imports of valuable objects, and she’s very interested in things like the Chaos Emeralds, her company was auctioning off the Purple Chaos Emerald in Bangkok before it got stolen.”

Shadow’s mouth clicked shut at the reminder of his last heist. That was… this family? The family of which he was in the house of tonight? That family?

“Fascinating. So she’s a high class girl, I assume.” Shadow said, trying to keep a straight face.

“You would be correct.”

Shadow turned his head upwards, seeing a purple cat sitting on the upper level balcony, legs swung over the railing, perched oh-so-delicately on top of it. She was looking down at everyone, but when she spoke suddenly all eyes were on her. The feline was draped in a violet and gold saari that was not only elegant but also made her the most stunning creature in the room. 

With a gracefulness that could only be attributed to her species, she leapt off the railing and down onto the floor right next to Amy, flicking her tail as she stood to her full height and smiled.

“Good evening, it’s lovely to see everyone.” she scanned the crowd before her eyes landed on the pink hedgehog next to her. “Hello, my dear Rose.”

Amy giggled and her muzzle flushed, twirling a stray quill between her fingers. “Hi Blaze.” she replied.

Even though Shadow couldn’t identify jokes right away, it didn’t take a genius to figure out the tension in the look they shared. Blaze looked like she wanted to tear that dress right off of Amy, and Amy looked like she was about to melt into a puddle in the middle of the room.

“You sure know how to make an entrance.” Sonic remarked, interrupting whatever lesbian moment the two were sharing.

“I had to. It’s my party after all.” Blaze folded her paws in front of her as she turned her attention to Sonic. “Thank you for coming, Sonic. I wasn’t sure if you would.”

“It’s not a problem. I know you wanted me here to support your new project.”

Sonic had told Shadow a little bit about the reason they were actually here. Sonic was going to have a main role in Blaze’s campaign to become governess of New York, mostly highlighted by the fact that she will be focusing on being the people’s voice as well as environmental issues. A mobian species has never been elected for this position before, so the odds were stacked against them, but even so Blaze wanted to try.

“And I appreciate all that you’ve done so far for me.” Blaze bowed slightly. When she came up again her golden eyes locked on Shadow. “And it’s an honor to meet the special one of Sonic’s. I’ve heard many good things about you.”

I stole valuable objects from you more than once. Shadow thought but of course, didn’t say that out loud.

“It’s an honor to meet you as well.” Shadow nodded, pulling himself closer to Sonic, a little nervous now that he knew that this was one of the people he’s taken Chaos Emeralds from in the past.

Luckily he didn’t have to worry about blowing his cover for too long because Blaze was quickly called over by others wanting her attention. Amy stuck by her, the cat’s tail curling around the other’s feet as a substitute for wrapping her arm around her.

“Are they…?” Shadow asked.

“Yes, absolutely. It’s painfully obvious, isn’t it?” Sonic chuckled. “I’m surprised we were the ones that got found out before them. Amy comes by all the time with bites and hickeys all over her. Whatever she’s using to cover it up at work should use that as their marketing campaign.”

Shadow’s traitorous mind supplied thoughts of Sonic pressing his teeth into his neck or shoulders or hips, sucking marks that wouldn’t be visible under his fur but Shadow would know they were there.

He needed a drink.

Shadow snagged a champagne flute from one of the passing waiters and downed the whole thing, ignoring the sting of bubbles fighting not to go down smoothly.

This was going to be a long night.

Shadow acted more as his namesake the rest of the night, following Sonic around as he talked to various people about Blaze’s plans for environmental reconstruction in New York, and her plans to bring it to congress as well to get her ideas spread more nation-wide. A lot of people tried to steer the conversation to either him or themselves, some of them wanted Sonic to be the face of their company, others were asking him why he was so gung-ho about the whole environmentalist thing. Sonic was kind when dodging the questions, claiming that he was here on personal invite by Blaze, and was helping with her campaign rather than his own ideals.

Such a gentleman. So selfless.

Some people asked about Shadow. Sonic only gripped the dark hedgehog’s hand tighter and smiled in response.

“I know, he’s gorgeous, I have such good taste.” he laughed it off.

Shadow realized that he was probably mostly here to serve as eye candy. Even though he doubted Sonic thought of him as that, some of the people here were definitely eyeing him up like an hor d'oeuvre on the plates being passed around.

At some point though, Sonic let go of Shadow after leading him to the side, away from the majority of the crowd.

“I’m gonna sneak into the kitchen and grab something a little more to my taste. These tiny dishes are lowkey kind of nasty. You stay here, baby.” he kissed Shadow’s cheek. “Be back in a flash. You want anything?”

Shadow shook his head. “I’m alright.” he replied.

Sonic smiled at him once more before darting off. Shadow leaned against the wall, letting out a breath.

This entire time he’s been so on edge, from the setting to being around someone he’s stolen from and having to keep face, it was all exhausting. Not to mention having to listen to so many people. He really wasn’t cut out for the fancy life.

But Sonic wasn’t either. He could tell that the other was straining in his smile while answering a lot of the same questions over and over again, ignoring snide comments or backhand compliments. He was so much more in his element at the charity gala, talking to people who were on his same wavelength and not trying to get something out of him.

That’s part of what Shadow really loved about him. All this hoity-toity stuff didn’t impress Sonic.

But Shadow had impressed him.

Somehow, he ended up capturing the heart of New York’s prince.

And Shadow considered it to be his greatest heist yet. And the only one he knew he had to give back.

“Do my eyes deceive me or is that…?”

Shadow perked his ears up as he saw a jackal approaching him, tail swishing behind him as he stepped methodically towards him. Immediately Shadow’s quills stood on end and he frowned.

“What do you want?” he asked coldly.

“Relax. I’m not here to start something. You’re Sonic’s little boyfriend, aren’t you?” the jackal asked him, popping a hip out.

“...I am.” Shadow nodded once, already annoyed at being called ‘little’. “What’s it to you?”

“Well, I’ve been trying to get a hold of your boytoy for a while now, but he seems adamant at ignoring me at every turn. Despite the fact that he’s trying to ruin my livelihood.”

Suddenly it clicked for Shadow and he scowled.

“I see. You’re Infinite.” Shadow said to him. “You run Infinity Corporations, the mining company that had a significant amount of casualties last year that you brushed off.”

“Collateral damage to the greater good.” Infinite shrugged.

Sonic had a very heated rant about this guy and how he wouldn’t leave him the hell alone. Infinity and Robotnik had joined forces until Sonic had landed Robotnik in prison, now people were theorizing that Infinity is going to go bankrupt. Part of Blaze’s campaign was promises to dismantle it entirely, since the carbon emissions from the machines they used produced more CO2 in a day than three average people do in their entire lives.

“What the fuck do you want with me, then?” Shadow asked, crossing his arms. “And how did you even get in?”

“Let’s not worry about business. I’m not here for that, I’m here for personal reasons.” he stepped closer and Shadow shrunk back. “I’m curious as to why a guy like you chooses to spend your time with that dimwit. He must know that all of his advocacy and ‘noble causes’ are never going to go anywhere. People aren’t motivated by things like ‘saving the world’, they only care about money and power.”

“You’re wrong.” Shadow bit back. “I’m not with Sonic for money, I’m with him because of the person he is.”

“Are you sure?” Infinite produced a stack of hundreds from seemingly nowhere. “Your blue boy is gone, I can make it worth your while if you’d like to leave with me instead.”

That just enraged Shadow more. How dare he?! How dare he saunter up to Shadow as soon as Sonic is gone and proposition him like this?! And to think that he would assume Shadow would drop everything just for a bit of cash?!

Shadow immediately shoved Infinite hard to get him to back away, startling a few people in the process.

“You’re sick in the head if you can bribe me into an affair like that.” he snapped. “I would never betray Sonic like that.”

But just as the words came out of his mouth he froze.

He would never betray Sonic like that? Why would he say such a thing when their whole relationship was leading up to betrayal? Despite the fact that Shadow loved him, he knew that he had to steal the Emerald from him and run away. He knew that and still…

“Woah there, no need to get all worked up.” Infinite chuckled. “You’re feisty, I like that.”

“Why you-!” Shadow was about to introduce his fist to this guy’s face before he felt a hand on his waist, immediately calming him as he looked to his side to see who it was.

“What the hell are you doing here, Infinite?” Sonic spoke loudly and immediately the crowd was overcome by whispers. All of the people here knew that name, and connected it to the scummy guy who let dozens of people die under his employ while just paying off the families like nothing happened.

Shadow’s eyes widened at Sonic’s tone and face. He had never seen the other so… angry . It was similar to the expression he saw on his face on the TV when their relationship was revealed, except it was much hotter in person. His glare was icy but his gaze was filled with fire, holding onto Shadow like he was the only thing keeping him from lashing out at the guy. Shadow had to press his thighs together to try and keep himself under control and not jump Sonic right there.

Infinite scoffed, brushing himself off.

“I was trying to introduce myself, I didn’t know he was yours.”

“Liar.” Shadow hissed, tone dripping with venom. “You called me Sonic’s little boyfriend, you knew exactly who you were talking to.”

“Is there a problem here?” Blaze’s voice joined the conversation.

Infinite snapped his head over to retort but his words died on his tongue when he saw that behind the heiress were two body guards twice the size of him.

“I thought I made it perfectly clear that you were not allowed here, Infinite the Jackal.” Blaze crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Now either you leave quietly or you leave with broken bones.”

That seemed to finally get through that thick skull of his because Infinite scoffed and finally moved to leave.

“This party is a jack off anyways.” he muttered as he headed towards the door.

Blaze just sighed once he was out of earshot. “Shadow, I apologize deeply for that. I don’t know how he got in.”

“It’s okay.” Shadow assured her, more focused on how Sonic still had him in a vice grip. “I think we might just need a moment to decompress.”

“Of course. I’ll take you two to a more private location.”

That might be a bad idea. Shadow didn’t trust himself not to surrender entirely once he got Sonic alone. His nerves were alight and it was clear that Sonic’s were as well.

Even still, Shadow followed Blaze as she took them upstairs and to a private bedroom. Shadow thanked her and she just gave a knowing nod and a wink before the door closed.

Immediately Sonic crowded Shadow against the door, both arms wrapped around him and nose buried in his neck. Shadow held his breath as Sonic pressed his entire body against him, probably wrinkling both of their suits but Shadow couldn’t give a flying fuck about that right now.

“Are you okay?” Sonic asked, voice muffled by Shadow’s collar. “Did that bastard do anything to you?”

Shadow shook his head, holding onto the back of Sonic’s quills. “No, he didn’t even touch me. I didn’t let him.” Shadow replied. “He was talking shit about you, saying that I’m only with you for money. But that’s not true. I’m not. I promise.”

Shadow didn’t know why he was defending himself here. Like he needed so badly for Sonic to believe that he wouldn’t cheat on him. It’s not like Sonic was distrustful of him at all, just protective sometimes.

“I know you’re not. God, he’s such a dick.” Sonic swore, finally picking his head up. “He just wants under my skin, so he went for the person who’s most important to me to try and do it.”

Then Sonic grinned at him, reaching a hand up to caress Shadow’s face.

“Jokes on him though, you’re not anything like he thought you were.”

And I’m not anything like you think I am.

Shadow silenced his own thoughts by colliding his mouth into Sonic’s. The other was extremely receptive, pinning him onto the door and making his quills fan out. Shadow gasped as Sonic squeezed his hips and a tongue was pressed inside his mouth. It was gone as soon as it was there though, Sonic pulling away, looking worried.

“I’m sorry, am I going too fast-” he tried to say.

Shadow cut him off with another kiss, tongue first. Sonic moaned into his mouth and Shadow’s knees buckled. The battle he’d started with himself was coming to an end, and he had lost.

But had he really?

Sonic slotted a knee between Shadow’s thighs to keep him upright, holding him against the hard wood door while they kissed. The way that their bodies connected in all these different ways had Shadow dizzy. His eyes were even starting to roll back. 

All of a sudden their tonguing turned into something different as Sonic sucked Shadow’s tongue into his mouth, creating an absolutely obscene noise that had Shadow whining in the back of his throat because it was so fucking hot. It was such a lewd action that Shadow immediately bit at Sonic’s lip after he was released. Sonic cursed and pulled back, revealing a bloodied lip that Shadow felt no remorse for. If anything he was even more aroused. His tongue was still tingling from Sonic’s assault.

“Fuck, you’re so hot.” Sonic growled, swiping at his mouth, only smudging the blood. “There’s no words in the English language to properly articulate what I want to do to you.”

Shadow let out a chirp and immediately clicked his mouth shut.

He didn’t even know he could make that noise.

Sonic buried his nose into Shadow’s neck again, snuffling and pressing aggressive kisses there and messing up the collar of his shirt. Shadow started to slide down the door but was stopped by Sonic’s knee against his crotch.

Wasn’t this familiar?

Shadow’s claws almost broke through his gloves as he grabbed onto Sonic’s suit jacket, rolling his hips downward onto Sonic’s thigh. The other hedgehog was instantly reciprocative, grinding against him to the same rhythm. Shadow could feel the bulge in Sonic’s pants, it was pressing against his own. His underwear felt incredibly wet by now and a few more minutes of this and he’d probably soak through his pants. Shadow hadn’t felt this wet in ages.

He tilted his head so his lips were pressed right against Sonic’s ear, making sure the blue hedgehog heard everything he was about to say.

“I want you to do all of it to me. But- aah! N-Not here.” he spoke, voice rough and breathy. Sonic’s motions slowed but didn’t still, listening intently. 

“Take me home. You can ravage me properly.” Shadow promised, gently petting the back of Sonic’s quills. “Anything you want. I’m all yours.”

Sonic finally looked up at Shadow, eyes sparkling at the promise.

“You sure? You mean it?”

His tail was wagging like an excited puppy and not at all like an adult who had just been propositioned for sex.

Shadow bit his lip and nodded.

“I mean it. Sonic the Hedgehog, I need you to take me home and fuck the ever living daylights out of me.”

That was more than enough for Sonic to forget the rest of the party and get them into his car headed for his house immediately.

Before Sonic could get his hands on him again Shadow quickly got out his phone to send the message that would start the end of his and Sonic’s relationship.

I’m being taken to Sonic’s house now, wait an hour, then head over
*Shadow started sharing his location*

Notes:

Not apologizing for the Infinite bashing (sorry ik some of you guys probably love him but i do not mind at all sacrificing him to the plot LMAO)

I had some people ask if Sonic was trans in this fic and so sorry to disappoint but not in this one :'D I do very much enjoy the headcanon though and include the top surgery scars in some of my own art but for this fic he is cismasc

Although you're about to be adequately acquainted with the genital situation next chapter ;D depending on how crazy I go the rating *may* change so watch out for that

Chapter 7: I Am Yours, And In Return, You Are Mine

Notes:

Grab your popcorn homies this chapter is a lot

Seasoned smut writer here and this might be the longest segment of smut that I've written ever and it ended up being one of the longest chapters in this whole thing so far haha

Additional Smut Tags for this fic:
Top Sonic/Bottom Shadow, Shadow has a penis and a vagina, Gratuitous Foreplay, Cunnilingus, Blow Jobs, Vagina Sex, Consensual Sex, Creampie, Breeding Kink with no actual breeding, First Time, Multiple Orgasms, Riding, Dirty Talk, Sonic is obsessed with Shadow's body, Aftercare, Brief mention of past medical SA

Shadow was honestly scared that they weren’t going to make it through the car ride, and there was another person in the front! That had to be considered public indecency or unconsensual voyeurism or something! They weren’t even wearing seatbelts!

Despite all of that he couldn’t bear to part with Sonic for even a second. There was a tinted window block between the front seats and the back, so Shadow was just hoping the driver didn’t look too closely at them.

The minute they started moving Sonic had pulled Shadow into his lap, hands circling his waist and holding tight. He kissed him then and Shadow melted into it, his ears drooping back in submission as he draped himself over Sonic, thighs locked around his hips. Shadow didn’t know a kiss could feel like this, could make his bones feel like jelly and his mind turn to static. His nose and mouth were filled with a scent that was distinctly Sonic , something like citrus and fresh grass and whatever it was that he had eaten before he had come to Shadow’s aid, something savory yet Shadow couldn’t place it despite Sonic’s tongue being directly on his own.

One of Sonic’s hands reached up to caress the back of Shadow’s neck, proving extremely effective at tilting his head at an angle that somehow pressed their mouths even better together. Shadow would have to remember this for later. It was incredible.

But then again this was likely the last time Sonic would ever kiss him like this.

He grabbed onto Sonic’s shoulders probably a little tighter than he should, holding onto him for dear life. His heart wouldn’t stop racing, pounding against his ribs like it was about to break out.

Sonic pulled away from him much to Shadow’s dismay, his mouth trailing kisses over his cheek and then down to his neck. Shadow moaned behind his teeth, grappling for Sonic’s bowtie to rip it off, leaving it on the floor of the car. He reached under his collar then, desperate to feel fur. The assault on his neck didn’t stop, Sonic rubbing his face into every crevice of Shadow’s jaw and chin.

“You smell so good.” a trill sounded in the back of Sonic’s throat as he spoke. “Like coffee and roses.”

Shadow groaned, biting his hip and grinding his hips down. His erection was back with a vengeance, pressing down onto Sonic’s own tent in his pants.

Shadow needed that inside of him yesterday. But the last shred of restraint he had was focused on not tearing Sonic’s clothes off of him completely until they made it into the house.

Just a few more minutes. You can do this.

But every grind and kiss was starting to test Shadow’s patience more and more. He was ready to snap by the time they ended up at Sonic’s house.

Sonic wasted no time scooping him up and getting them both out of the car, waving the driver off before pushing both him and Shadow towards the door. Immediately the car pulled away from the driveway, definitely not wanting to see what was about to go down.

Shadow barely had time to take in Sonic’s house. It looked to be two stories, out in the wilderness and surrounded by a blooming garden. But that’s not what he was focusing on as Sonic struggled to get his keys into the hole all while continuing to kiss Shadow.

“A-Are you going to be able to get your dick inside of me if you can’t even get the key in the hole?” Shadow teased when they parted, both breathing heavily, breaths mingling. It was meant to be light-hearted, something to break the tension they had built themselves. Instead Sonic gave him a half-lidded look, finally shoving his key in and turning.

The door opened with a bang and closed with just as much force after Sonic got them inside, and Shadow realized that his words had done the exact opposite.

Quicker than he could even blink he was deposited onto the kitchen table, legs hooked around Sonic’s waist as his back was pressed against wood. Sonic took his hands off of Shadow only to unbutton his suit jacket and shuck it off, licking his teeth as he did so.

It was much hotter than it had any right to be and Shadow just knew the crotch of his pants was so wet it was about to start dripping. 

“Shadow, before we do this I need you and I to be on the same page.” Sonic slowly leaned down, arms on either side of Shadow, balancing on his fingertips and leaning in close so their noses were touching. “I want to have sex with you. I want to rip your pretty suit off with my teeth and worship your body with my tongue. I want to make you feel so good your mind melts and your body is trembling with pleasure. I want to make you scream from how good it is. And if you let me… fuck I don’t think I can hold myself back from doing all of that.”

Shadow’s face went red. So Sonic had been thinking about all of this too.

“I don’t want you to hold back.” Shadow replied, eyes flitting down to his lips. “I want you to do all of that to me and more.”

Sonic kissed him fervently then, hands flying to tear open his suit jacket, pulling it down off of Shadow, probably tearing it at the very expensive seams but Shadow needed it gone . Sonic did the same to Shadow’s vest, then expertly undid his bowtie and threw that away as well. His hands came to Shadow’s collar and ripped every single button off in a fluid motion that made Shadow yelp. The shirt was quickly discarded, leaving Shadow with his torso completely naked.

His partner thumbed at the crotch of Shadow’s pants while bringing his other hand up to his own mouth, biting his middle finger and tugging the white glove off before spitting it out. Now this was an appropriate time to be removing gloves, although there was nothing appropriate about the situation, especially as Sonic’s hand pressed down against Shadow’s crotch, making him moan and scrunch his face up. 

Sonic unbuttoned his pants and pulled the zipper down before removing his other glove, both bare hands reaching for the waist of Shadow’s pants to begin pulling it down.

“W-Wait.” Shadow tried to stop him. “Th-There’s something you need to- aah!”

“What is it, amor?” Sonic purred as Shadow’s pants fell from his ankles.

“I-It’s not… I’m not… it won’t be what you’re used to down there…” Shadow tried to get the words out, his tongue and throat failing him in favor of soft moaning and heavy breathing. Get a grip!

Sonic just laughed, putting both of his hands on Shadow’s thighs.

“Baby, don’t worry. You aren’t the first guy I’ve had sex with.”

Shadow scowled. “Don’t talk about others while you’re about to fuck me.” he snapped.

Sonic smirked. “Jealous much? I’m just trying to reassure you, babe.”

“It’s not… I’m not like any guy or girl you’ve had sex with before.” Shadow tried to explain.

“Well, I know that for a fact.” Sonic replied, opening Shadow’s legs finally, spreading him open like a delectable meal. 

Shadow winced as Sonic finally got a proper look at what he was dealing with, the other hedgehog freezing, eyes widening.

As per being the ‘Ultimate Lifeform’ the scientists who designed him wanted to give Shadow the ability to both father and carry children, however they still raised him as male because of the ‘men strong women weak’ mentality that was prevalent fifty years ago. Shadow’s genitals were a mix of both sexes, a cock hidden under a pouch most of the time and a vagina hidden by fur. With his legs open like this and with how aroused he was, both parts were on display, his vagina drooling with slick fluid and his dick standing erect against his stomach.

Shadow closed his eyes tightly and waited for Sonic to say something, anything, but it seems he had finally rendered the other speechless.

“Oh my god… Shadow…” he spoke, breathless.

Shadow cracked an eye open and his dick twitched at the sight.

Sonic was drooling .

His pupils were dilated, lips parted, tail wagging. His crotch was bulging so much Shadow was sure he was going to burst out of his pants.

“You have a pussy and a dick?!” Sonic gasped. “Shadow that is so fucking cool and hot and just… oh my god. ”

“You aren’t weirded out by it?” Shadow asked.

“Hell no! In fact this is actually perfect.” Sonic looked up at him, eyes pleading with him. “Can I eat you out? Please?”

Shadow stared at him, his horny stupor still clouding his mind.

“You… what?”

“I was planning on just sucking you off, and I can still do that if you want, but I would really like to eat your pussy. I’ve been told I’m really good at it.” Sonic blinked at him like a begging dog. “Please? I really wanna.”

Shadow couldn’t believe what he was hearing right now. Out of all of his fantasies he never imagines that Sonic would beg to eat him out. He didn’t even think Sonic would ever do that, would it really feel good?

“I… do what you want.” Shadow said to try and hide how flushed he was getting. It was entirely too hot in here and Shadow was pretty much completely naked.

Sonic made a happy noise, his hand trailing down Shadow’s calf.

“If I’m gonna do this I’m gonna do it properly.” he said before he began to press kisses against the fur right above the Shadow’s shoes.

It hit Shadow then that the only things remaining on his body were his shoes, socks, and gloves. And inhibitors but those couldn’t quite be removed easily.

“S-Sonic.” he spoke as Sonic’s lips made it to his knee. “C-Can you take my shoes off?”

Sonic paused, looking up at him with wide eyes. “Is that okay?”

“Yes. Please I-I want you to.” Shadow asked him. “J-Just don’t remove the rings.”

It was an extremely vulnerable act that Shadow knew would leave him defenseless, and he wouldn’t ask Sonic to do it if he didn’t trust him entirely.

The other held onto one of the shoes and gently pulled it off, one hand on the ring around it keeping it looped around Shadow’s ankle. He did the same to the other, giving much more care to his shoes than to the other pieces of his clothes. Sonic then slowly rolled down Shadow’s socks, finally seeing his bare paws.

Shadow winced as Sonic took one of them into his hand. It hurt for a second but then he barely felt anything.

“Y-You might have to carry me around. I can’t walk very well without them.”

“I don’t mind.” Sonic pressed a kiss against Shadow’s ankle. “I’d carry you to the ends of the earth.”

Fuck, that was so romantic. Shadow’s vagina sobbed in response, fluid already making his fur shiny and wet.

Sonic continued his path of kissing up his leg, holding onto Shadow’s left thigh with both hands as his tongue darted out to taste him more the closer he got to his prize. It was hard to sit still, it tickled a bit, leaving Shadow squirming and grabbing onto Sonic’s head to try and get him closer, quite done with all the teasing.

“Relax, babe. I’m just working up to the main course.” Sonic licked his lips, leaning in, his breath ghosting over Shadow’s labia. It wasn’t even a touch and it had Shadow shivering.

Sonic pressed his lips against Shadow’s other set, mimicking how the two of them would kiss, starting gentle, and then Sonic tilted his head just a bit, moving his lips in sinful ways that Shadow knew all too well, because those same motions were just repeats of what Sonic had done to his mouth in the car. And based on those patterns it was pretty easy to guess what was coming next.

A tongue darted out, testing the waters, licking a slow path from the bottom up. Shadow jerked and clawed at Sonic’s quills, claws finally bursting out of the seams of the gloves. If Sonic was hurting after Shadow dug his nails into his head, he didn’t make any sign that he was. In fact the action only had the blue hedgehog gripping his thighs tighter, closing his eyes as he pressed the flat of his tongue against Shadow’s open pussy, lapping up all of the excess mess around his outer lips.

Maybe this was too much to start with, because Shadow’s breath was coming out in heavy pants, clawing for purchase as his eyes rolled back. Sonic dragged his tongue all over him, creating a feeling that Shadow had no clue how to describe. It was soft and gentle, and it was shallow enough that he didn’t feel too reminiscent of things he’d rather not remember when he was getting eaten out so delicately.

Sonic’s tongue turned searching, looking for something at the top of Shadow’s pussy but unable to find it. He opened his eyes and pulled away, reaching one hand to pull apart his lips, frowning.

“Okay, I’m usually pretty good at finding the clit but is yours in a different place or something?” Sonic asked.

Shadow blinked his eyes open, looking down.

“What?” he asked. “Why did you stop?”

“Cause part of this is sucking on your little pleasure button but it’s killing my ego over here because I can’t find it.” Sonic pouted.

“I don’t have one.” Shadow answered simply.

“What? Why not?”

Because the scientists who made him didn’t see the purpose of it.

Shadow just shrugged. “Dunno. The clitoris is just something that I was not made with.”

“Well that’s a bummer.” Sonic puffed out a cheek, then removed his hand from Shadow’s pussy lips to instead trace his finger up Shadow’s dick, equally as wet as his pussy with precum, causing the other to jolt from the disparity. “Guess I’m going to have to start paying attention to this little guy instead.”

Little?! Shadow would not describe it as such. Although he was unfamiliar with what was average, having never seen another dick apart from his own, there’s no way his was considered as little when the tip nearly touched his navel when erect.

But Shadow didn’t get a chance to argue because the head of his cock was swiftly popped into Sonic’s mouth, the other using that malicious tongue to swirl around the head, staring half-lidded into Shadow’s eyes as he did so.

The sight was so lewd, but Shadow wasn’t expecting the feeling.

He knew he was sensitive, especially from fifty years without an orgasm, but the feeling of someone else’s mouth on his cock, an acutely responsive organ, was very quickly driving him over the edge.

Shadow attempted to shove Sonic down on his cock further but his partner wasn’t having it. Bare hands held his hips still, but allowed for black furred thighs to wrap around his head. Sonic pulled off all the way and Shadow whined in protest.

“Don’t give me that. I just want to savor my food as long as I can.” Sonic purred, closing his eyes and slowly licking around Shadow’s cock before he was back at his vagina again. “Where else am I going to get such a rare and beautiful meal spread out in front of me like this? Pussy and cock? It’s not even my birthday and yet you’ve served me the perfect gift.”

“S-Sonic…” Shadow’s tone was pleading even if he didn’t dare beg.

“I promise not to tease you too much. I’m going to make you feel good, amor. I promise.” Sonic trilled, that mouth back on Shadow’s pussy in a second, pressing a wet and sloppy kiss against it.

Shadow could do nothing more than take it as Sonic meticulously ate him out. His tongue was soft and coaxing, getting him even wetter and opening him up, his opening fluttering around his tongue, expecting and craving something more. And when he decided to switch it up and start suckling on Shadow’s cock the Ultimate Lifeform swore he was going to explode any second. Sonic’s fingers only teased his entrance, tracing slow, massaging circles around the rim and just barely putting a finger in, but never past the first knuckle, and he always replaced it with his mouth not long after.

It was maddening .

Shadow squirmed and tried his best to keep up with Sonic’s movements the best he could, but as the pathetic virgin he was, this was the one area Sonic may have him beat.

“F-Fuck… Sonic… p-please I need…” Shadow spoke through gritted teeth, his resolve crumbling by the second.

“What is it, baby?” Sonic asked him teasingly, as if he didn’t know exactly what Shadow needed right now, all while licking his cock from base to tip lewdly, covering it with as much tongue as possible.

“C-Cum… I wanna cum.” Shadow squeaked, ears flushed and pressed down against his head. “Please I just- aah!”

Sonic finally pressed Shadow’s cock into his palm, the rough pads of his fingers wrapping around the dripping member.

“I got you, Shads. I got you.” Sonic assured him.

Somehow those were the words that rocked him deep to his core. The fact that Sonic was the one supporting him rather than hurting him, especially in such an intimate situation, was enough to put him over the edge completely.

Oh and Shadow has never known such ecstasy.

The entire experience felt like he was about to pass out and ascend, but was fully conscious the entire time. His entire body was tingling as fluid shot out of his cock and his pussy became impossibly wetter.

No feeling Shadow had ever experienced before could compare to this. And Sonic wasn’t even inside of him yet.

“Fuuuck that was so hot.” Sonic bit his lip, looking down at Shadow, whose fur was currently covered in his own cum. He reached out and gently gathered some in his fingers, bringing it up to his own mouth to taste.

Shadow whimpered and spurted again weakly just from watching that.

Sonic licked his fingers clean before finally looking down at Shadow again, his pupils wide, trying to take all of Shadow’s fucked-out form in.

“Thank you for the meal, baby. You were delicious.” he licked his lips as though to catch every drop of the cum and wetness that he had just willingly slurped down.

All of Shadow’s muscles were relaxed, his breathing finally evening out.

But they were not done, oh no.

Shadow watched as Sonic finally shed the rest of his clothing, shirt and pants getting all but thrown off. Shadow barely got a glimpse of his prize before Sonic reached out to him, scooping him up bridal-style and beginning to walk towards a set of stairs. Shadow clung onto him, heart rushing in his ears as he knew what was coming next.

He was both excited and was absolutely dreading the next few moments.

Eventually they reached a door and Sonic opened it with his elbow, ushering them inside. Shadow didn’t get a chance to take in the bedroom in the dim light before Sonic deposited him on a queen-sized bed covered in flannel sheets. Then his partner kissed him on the forehead and Shadow finally looked down at Sonic’s cock.

It was hard, erect from the arousal in Shadow’s scent and from eating him out. The same peachy-tan color as his muzzle, the tip was red as though it was blushing like Sonic’s cheeks and ears were, and precum was dripping down the side of it.

Like many of the firsts he was experiencing tonight, Shadow had never actually seen a male mobian’s full anatomy. He never expected to practically froth at the mouth when seeing it.

Sonic reached for something in his nightstand next to his bed, and Shadow tore his eyes away from his cock to see what.

The blue hedgehog pulled out a packet of condoms, tearing one of them off of it and flipping it over to read the expiration date on the back.

“Okay, these should still be good. It’s been a while but-”

“We are not using that.” Shadow interrupted, reaching out and snatching the condom away from him.

He would not have his one and only time having sex with the person he loved being obscured by thin latex. This was his one shot to do everything he’s been thinking about and he wasn’t going to have a condom get in the way of that.

Sonic stared at him, looking at him like he was crazy.

“Shads, wha-” he tried to grab the condom but Shadow held it away.

“I want to feel you raw.” he admitted. “Please.”

Sonic sighed, ear twitching. “Shadow, I’m trying to be safe about this.”

“I’ve never done this. I don’t have anything.” Shadow replied, tossing the condom as far away as he could for the moment, reaching out for Sonic again.

Sonic allowed him to touch him, to wrap his arms around his shoulders and try to pull him closer, but his gaze was still temperamental. “I don’t have anything either last I checked, but part of this is also cleanliness and preventing pregnancy.”

Shadow froze, eyes widening.

Pregnancy. Shadow forgot that was something he was capable of. Although he couldn’t imagine it. Him, with a kid? It was almost laughable.

But, there was a small, dark part of him that liked that idea very much, especially with the notion that Sonic would be the one to pump that baby into him.

Welcome back, erection.

He shook his head, ridding those thoughts from his mind.

“Can’t.” he spoke the truth. “Can’t get me pregnant. Not part of my junk.” Well half of the truth. He was capable of it, but not at the moment. He has to be chemically stimulated to ovulate, otherwise his womb was stagnant.

Sonic furrowed his brows, hands resting in Shadow’s waist. “Are you absolutely sure?”

Shadow was tired of dancing around the topic.

With all the strength he could in his current state he grabbed Sonic and shoved him down onto the bed so the other was laid out on it. Sonic made a little ‘oof’ sound as he hit the mattress but his eyes blew wide when Shadow straddled him, their cocks pressed against each other. Shadow stared at it, perverse images floating in his mind. He was bigger than Sonic. Not by a lot, but noticeable.

Whatever. Shadow’s dick was mostly for show anyways. Sonic’s would serve the purpose he needed it for, harping on how big or small they were in comparison was a waste of time.

So instead, Shadow shifted himself, moving up Sonic’s body a bit, trying to position his entrance over Sonic’s cock, looking back but not using his hands to help. Sonic was powerless as he watched Shadow sink down.

Except Shadow missed and instead his cock slipped backwards and Shadow has essentially just ground his slobbering pussy against it. Sonic groaned and pressed his palms into his eyes as Shadow huffed, a bit peeved at not being able to get it in on the first try. He moved back, sliding Sonic’s dick against his lips again and Sonic yipped , hips jerking. Shadow turned back to him, breathing hard as he watched his reactions.

“Does this feel good?” he asked genuinely.

Sonic nodded, parting his fingers to look at Shadow sheepishly.

“Y-Yeah. I-It feels really good, Shads.” he admitted.

Fascinating.

Shadow looked down again, then slowly began to rock his hips back and forth, covering Sonic’s cock in the fluid leaking from his pussy as it ground against the opening but never pressed it, occasionally bumping into it but with the angle it couldn’t easily slide into him. The entire time Sonic was meeting his movements with tiny grinds of his own, groaning and purring in response. He let one hand flop outwards while the back of the other rested on his forehead, bottom lip caught between his teeth watching Shadow so boldly perform such an obscene act.

“W-Wait… hold on.” Sonic put a hand on Shadow’s hip to stop him. “I-If you keep doing that I’m gonna cum before we even get to the good part.”

A bit of Shadow triumphed knowing he could so easily bring Sonic to the brink like that. The bigger part of him was ready for more.

“I suppose you do everything, even this, quickly.” Shadow chided him before lifting his hips again, watching Sonic take himself in hand to properly line himself up. Sonic let out an airy laugh at the jab.

“Typically I don’t. You’re just that hot.” he replied.

Shadow moved his hips down and the tip pressed against the rim, carefully pushing past the opening.

Yes. Yes.

Shadow grappled at Sonic’s chest as he was slowly penetrated until eventually they were finally together in the fullest and most intimate way two people could be.

Shadow threw his head back and moaned at the feeling of Sonic finally being inside of him just like he had fantasized about for so long.

Previously, all of the things that were put inside of him were medical, hard like plastic or metal, meant to penetrate his cervix and it was never something that Shadow particularly wanted. Sonic was all flesh and fur, hard but not in the same way, and Shadow’s instincts kicked into overdrive because that was exactly what was meant to go inside of him. Sonic was made to please him, to complete him, to fuck his cum into him until Shadow was stuffed with his seed and only then would he be satisfied until Shadow grew hungry for Sonic’s cock once again. He more than wanted, more than needed, Shadow craved this feeling like a man starved.

It was almost too much to have it all at once.

Shadow blinked rapidly, trying to clear the tears from his eyes. He wasn’t in pain nor was he sad, in fact he was so incredibly happy and his body did not know how to react to such pleasure.

Both of Sonic’s hands found purchase on his hips, holding him there, making sure Shadow didn’t move from his seat. If Shadow had his way he would never remove himself from this.

“You alright, amor?” Sonic asked, eyes darting around Shadow’s face for an uncomfortable reaction, a twinge of pain, anything.

Shadow nodded briefly, gritting his teeth to try and get used to the new feeling. He’d never been so full before.

Sonic moved then, not to grind into him, but instead to sit up. It shifted his cock inside of Shadow and the other gasped, feeling it press impossibly deeper but still not all the way up to where it would be painful. The walls of his vagina fluttered around Sonic’s dick and the other let out a noise in the back of his throat.

“God, it’s like your pussy’s tryna milk me.” Sonic dropped his forehead onto Shadow’s shoulder. “You’re so warm inside, Shads. Feels incredible…”

Shadow whimpered, involuntarily rocking his hips downwards, only to have them pulled back by Sonic, creating delicious friction that had Shadow’s pussy twitching.

Yes, good, fuck this was exactly what he needed. Shadow grabbed onto Sonic in preparation for the ride that was to come.

Without speaking, both of them started moving. Sonic’s hands and hips were guiding him to move his pelvis back and forth, making circles with his hips, searching for all of the most pleasurable spots inside of Shadow.

It was agonizingly slow, Sonic treating him with a tender care that was driving Shadow crazy. He wanted it hard and rough, but the gentleness felt so good.

“Shadow… baby… fuck, I’m dying over here.” Sonic groaned, lapping at Shadow’s cheek. “You’re killing me.”

Shadow made a clicking noise, unsure of what Sonic meant.

All of a sudden Sonic lifted his partner’s hips so he was pulled out halfway and then slammed Shadow back down on his cock. It punched a moan out of Shadow’s throat and his eyes blew wide.

Oh my.

Sonic sensed that Shadow was still doing okay and did it again, hunching over in order to get the strength to do so. He continued thrusting into Shadow, bouncing him up and down on his cock while Shadow felt like nothing more than a ragdoll in Sonic’s grasp, the other’s hands almost completely wrapping around his waist, fingertips touching.

It was quickly becoming too much for Shadow. But at the same time he’s never known such a feeling as this and never wanted to let it go. This was exactly what he wanted, and it was better than he could have ever imagined.

His mouth was permanently open, tongue resting on his bottom lip and hanging out just a bit as every time Sonic slammed home a moan or a mewl was punched out of his throat and right into Sonic’s ear. His claws were digging into the quills of Sonic’s back, likely making scratches under the fur.

“You’re taking me so well, amor.” Sonic spoke, nearly out of breath. “God it’s like you’re sucking me in. You’re all mine now, you know that? Gonna cum so deep inside you there won’t be any denying that.”

Yes, yes that’s exactly what Shadow wanted.

“Y-Yours.” Shadow moaned, rubbing his cheek against the side of Sonic’s head. “All yours.”

Because through all of this, what Shadow really wanted was to belong to Sonic, and to make him his as well. Purpose beyond his function, he wanted to desire and be desired. Push and pull, run and chase, light and shadow.

“Y-You’re mine too.” Shadow mumbled out, leaning back as Sonic started pounding into him harder.

“Yes fuck yes baby I’ve been yours for a long time now.” Sonic replied, teeth grazing against Shadow’s shoulder. “Always yours.”

Shadow felt his back hit the mattress and his eyes rolled, back arched and legs bent as Sonic was able to use the new angle and thrust inside of him at an even faster rate. Shadow’s cock bouncing up and down from every movement. Their joining was creating lewd slapping noises, not to mention how loud both of them were being, from Shadow’s incoherent moans to Sonic’s filthy babbling. It was music in its own form.

“Gonna cum. Gonna cum inside you and fill you right up.” Sonic ran his tongue over Shadow’s white chest fur.

Shadow nodded, finally squeezing his eyes shut.

“Do it! Fuck me! Breed me! Sonic please I- aah! I n-need it so so bad.”

Sonic stuttered in his movements and for a fearful second Shadow thought he might have said something wrong until Sonic readjusted and started rabbiting his hips into Shadow, lifting his head and pressing their foreheads together as he chased his climax. Shadow could feel the same tensing of his muscles that accompanied his previous orgasm, recognizing that he was close.

“I-I’m cumming!” Shadow gasped, tears flowing from his eyes.

“Me too, amor!” Sonic grabbed one of Shadow’s hands and squeezed it, closing his eyes as his pelvis jerked into Shadow.

It happened so fast that Shadow didn’t even realize when it started at first. Sonic thrust into him and stayed for a second, filling Shadow’s womb with cum and letting out a satisfied groan when he did.

Shadow felt the whole thing and it was more than gratifying.

Every part of his body was satiated, his biological purpose being served now that he was stuffed full. It was such an intense shock of pleasure that Shadow came again instantly.

His pussy tried to latch onto Sonic, taking as much as he could from him. Sonic seemed surprised by this, hips jolting when it happened.

“Woah… that’s… Shadow, baby, your pussy is like trying to eat my dick haha.”

Shadow sighed, letting the contentment of his orgasm wash over him despite the stupidity coming out of Sonic’s mouth.

Eventually the ministrations wore off and Sonic slowly pulled out, taking an absurd amount of fluids with him as cum and slick fluid gushed out of Shadow, an unpleasant feeling.

“Okay, pee time.” Sonic moved both of them, carrying Shadow again towards the bathroom. Shadow was still out of it enough to not question it until Sonic had sat him on the toilet.

“Why?” he asked simply.

“Will help get the gunk out.” Sonic explained. “Imma go grab a washcloth and wipe you up, BRB babe.”

He sped out and Shadow let his brain properly reload.

That had really just happened… he’d really just had sex with Sonic.

Shadow pressed his palms against his cheeks, feeling them still be hot to the touch. He couldn’t believe that he’d just done that!

A few minutes later Sonic came back with said washcloth as well as two bottles of gatorade.

“I pulled the sheets off the bed and they’re in the washer now. I’ll put some new ones on there in a second, but I didn’t want to keep you waiting too long.” he smiled.

Shadow nodded silently. He allowed Sonic to lift him up and gently wipe him down with warm water to get all of the bodily fluids off of him while Sonic insisted for him to drink some electrolytes. Shadow offered to clean Sonic up as well, although he had to do so sitting down and it didn’t take nearly as long since Sonic’s thighs weren’t as drenched in it. But it felt kind of nice to be taking care of his partner like this. Domestic even.

Sonic changed the sheets and then sat Shadow on the bed again, considering something for the moment before running to his closet and grabbing a t-shirt which he then handed to Shadow. Shadow took it, grateful for the pajamas, slipping it over his head. It was slightly too big for him but that was alright. Sonic remained naked as he got into bed next to him.

“Thank you for that.” Sonic told him, kissing him on the cheek. “Seriously, that was some of the best sex I’ve ever had.”

Shadow scoffed, reaching over to stroke Sonic’s jaw as he leaned into the kisses. “I feel as though I hardly did anything. A lot of the work was you.”

“I’m cool with that.” Sonic replied, kissing him on the lips. “So long as you’re having fun and feeling good, then so am I.”

Shadow hummed in response, leaning in for another kiss before snuggling up close to Sonic, allowing the other to press his face into Shadow’s chest and wrap his arms around Shadow’s waist.

“Goodnight, baby.” Sonic whispered.

Shadow hugged him back as tightly as he could, brows furrowing.

“Goodnight, Sonic.”

---

Around 3 am Shadow received a text.

The dark hedgehog hadn’t slept a wink, laying and listening to Sonic breath and tensing up any time he stirred or moved. He was waiting for this exact text message, and praying it never came.

However, when he opened his phone it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting.

-Emergency!
-We got in just fine but we cant find the emerald ;(
-If ur not still getting laid we need help!!!

They couldn’t find it? Seriously?

Shadow gently removed himself from Sonic’s hold and thankfully the other didn’t notice. Shadow was able to Chaos Control himself back to the kitchen table, sitting in one of the chairs and jump scaring Rouge and Omega.

“You can’t find it?” Shadow asked, irritated, grabbing his shoes and putting them back on.

“No! Trust me we’ve looked everywhere!” Rouge groaned. “We can’t find a single safe or anything in this place!”

Shadow stood up and crossed his arms, eyebrow raised at her. Rouge just pouted. “Don’t give me that. I’m not an amateur. If it was here then we would have found it.”

“It is here. It has to be.” Shadow insisted.

Except he wasn’t sure where it would be kept. Sonic was the type of person to leave this sort of thing on the counter or something, not lock it up super secure. But he was definitely in possession of it, and it somehow was so hidden even the world's greatest criminal thieves couldn’t find it. 

“Omega, have you looked into the schematics of the house? Any electrical openings to secret rooms.”

“NEGATIVE. AT LEAST NONE THAT ARE ELECTRICAL.” Omega replied.

Of course the blue hedgehog wouldn’t use too much electricity. Damn him and his environmentalist nature.

“Okay, even if there’s nothing electrical, I want you guys to investigate every object that looks slightly off. Anything that looks like it could be a secret switch or lever I want you to push or pull. We have to find this Emerald tonight.”

“Yes sir!” Rouge saluted and Omega copied her before all of them started rooting around the house. It wasn’t particularly big, two stories with all of the necessary elements to it, kitchen, dining room, living room, bathrooms, etc. Shadow wandered into an area next to the living room, finding himself in a library. He often forgot that Sonic liked reading, it didn’t seem like a hobby befitting the hedgehog who was always on the move. Imagining he could sit still for long enough to finish a book was mind-boggling.

Still, Shadow ran his fingers over the spines of the books, looking over the titles.

Muder on the Orient Express. The Sword in the Stone. A variety of DC comics that were turned into hardcover collections. There were also some vinyl records in here.

One of the vinyls caught his eyes. A name he recognized.

Queen Aleena’s Record Breaking First Album, Turtle Island

He took it off the shelf, seeing that it was not only signed but also specifically addressed to Sonic. He took the vinyl record out of the sleeve, seeing the black record shine under the light.

“Whatcha got there?” Rouge popped up behind him.

“A record. Did you find anything yet?” Shadow asked.

Rouge shook her head. Omega came rushing in and looked at the library of books.

“PROBABILITY OF ONE OF THESE BOOKS LEADING TO A SECRET PASSAGEWAY IS 1/16,000,000,000. I WILL TAKE THOSE ODDS.” he beeped before beginning to throw all of the books off the shelf looking for the one that would trigger a secret doorway.

“Why don’t you play it? Give us some tunes for our heist?” Rouge joked. “I’ve always thought we needed a soundtrack to our robberies. It would be so cool while we’re looking all badass to have music playing in the background.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Shadow replied.

“Come on, big blue is upstairs and if we turn down the volume then he probably won’t hear it. Plus, we’re looking for secret passages! Maybe if we play it something will happen!” Rouge reasoned.

She had a point there.

Shadow sighed but walked towards the record player to the side, moving the cartridge up to place the record down. He turned the volume down a bit before letting it play.

The plucking of a guitar followed by the strings of a violin surprised Shadow with the softness of it all.

And then he heard something click.

Omega stopped throwing books off of the shelves to turn his head and watch as the entire stand that the vinyl player was on turned around, showing the back where there was a seam, a small door. Shadow’s eyes went wide as it began to open. Rouge elbows him and grinned.

“Told you so.” she smirked.

Shadow crouched down to reach for it, to grab the gem as soon as it was open, could almost taste victory within his grasp.

Maria would be with him soon.

However, once the small door opened entirely, he saw that there was nothing inside. No Emerald, not even any valuables. Only a stand meant to keep the Emerald upright.

“What the hell?” Rouge raised her eyebrow.

“You’re not going to find it there.”

Immediately all of Team Dark jumped back at the new voice. Shadow hadn’t even sensed their presence approaching them.

He saw a flash of yellow first, then his eyes trained on blue.

Sonic was leaning in the doorway, holding the Yellow Chaos Emerald in his gloved hands, frowning.

Oh fuck .

“Sonic…” Shadow spoke, still on edge. Rouge looked horrified and Omega’s arm was out, having transformed into a machine gun and ready to fire.

“HAND OVER THE JEWEL AND I WILL SHOOT YOU.” he spoke.

“Omega, honey, don’t you mean ‘or’?” Rouge hissed in reply.

“HAND OVER THE JEWEL OR I WILL SHOOT YOU.” Omega corrected, despite that clearly not being what he meant originally.

Sonic snorted, tossing the Emerald up and into his other palm. “You’re really going to try and take a shot at the fastest thing alive? Come on. The most you’ll end up doing is shooting holes in my house.”

“Don’t shoot him.” Shadow urged Omega. “Put it away.”

“BUT-” Omega tried to speak.

“ Put it away .” Shadow said through gritted teeth.

Omega reluctantly obliged. Shadow then turned his attention back towards Sonic, his heart beating fast, anxiety rising.

He knows.

“How did you find out?” Shadow asked.

Sonic looked down at the Emerald, turning it in his grasp.

“I’m not an idiot, and you’re not as clever as you think you are.” he shifted his weight onto the other hip. “But what confirmed it was when we were having sex and your quills started to relax. You have an Emerald buried in them, don’t you?”

Shadow turned red for a second and his ears flattened. He nodded solemnly.

“I should have known. If not for money or fame, it’s for power.” Sonic’s grip on the Emerald tightened, choking up on his words. “I shouldn’t have trusted you in the first place. You’ve done nothing but lie to me the whole time.”

“No! No that’s not true!” Shadow shouted at him, stepping forward.

Sonic stepped back, not wanting him to get too close. But Shadow was panicking now. This wasn’t the plan, he didn’t know what to do, but he couldn’t let Sonic leave, not now.

“Yes, I lied to you about this. I didn’t tell you that I was a part of Team Dark. I didn’t tell you that I originally just wanted the Emerald.” it all started spilling out, the whole truth coming out as Shadow inched closer to him. “But I never planned for things to get this far. I never thought that my feelings would get in the way of my logic. That this fake relationship would cause real affection to brew.”

“You’re just saying that to save your own ass.” Sonic reasoned, tears welling up in his own eyes. “You made me fall in love with you just to take from me and leave me behind.”

“That’s not true! I fell in love with you too!” Shadow yelled at him, reaching out.

Sonic allowed Shadow to take his free hand. Shadow felt his own tears start to blur his vision, but he had to tell Sonic this. Had to tell him that what they had was real .

“You’re so kind and brave and sweet and everything that I’m not. You’re so perfect and it killed me inside from knowing that I would have to take from you. I’ve felt so so guilty this entire time because I didn’t want to leave you.”

“Then WHY?!” Sonic ripped his hand from Shadow. “Why did you try to take from me even after worming your way into my heart?! Why is this so much more important than us ?!”

“ Because I want my sister back! ”

Rouge gasped in the background but that was the only noise for a long while. Shadow could hear his heartbeat in his ears as he just realized what he’d admitted. Sonic stared at him, wide-eyed.

“You… you were going to use the Emeralds to bring Maria back to life?” Sonic asked tentatively.

Shadow crumpled to his knees, sitting down on the ground as he started sobbing, trying to wipe away his tears with his hands.

“I-I was the reason she’s hic gone in the first place.” oh god he was a blubbering mess. “A-And I owe it to her to b-bring her back hic. Her d-death can’t be in vain. I-I swore I would bring her back… I just w-want my sister back…”

He felt arms around him, Sonic having crashed onto the floor as well to hug him tightly. That only made Shadow want to cry harder. He’d never cried this much before. Not since Maria died. But in the moment he felt like he was losing everything all over again. Shadow couldn’t go through that again. He just couldn’t.

Eventually he calmed down enough to look up at Sonic. The other was crying as well, but he was choosing to wipe away Shadow’s tears first.

Then he kissed him. A soft, tender thing, but to Shadow it meant the world.

It meant forgiveness even if Sonic didn’t say it, even if Shadow never actually apologized.

When they parted Sonic put the Emerald in his own quills before looking Shadow in the eyes.

“We need to talk.”

Notes:

Dun dun DUN

And of course I had to leave you all on a cliffhanger <3

Kind of terrible about big emotional moments like this I hope it came out okay ahhhhh but he finally knows!!! The moment the whole fic was leading up to!!!

Sonic Says: Practice Safe Sex! Pee afterwards and drink lots of water! Don't forget to take care of your partner!

Chapter 8: A Selfish Wish

Notes:

This is a short but important chapter, back to ur regularly scheduled program soon dw

Small update on me: I threw my back out!! 😍😍🤪🤪🥳🥳🥳✨✨✨💫💫💃💃💃💃🎉🎉
In more positive news I've been talking to some super talented artists to get some artwork done for one of the later chapters which I am very excited about!!! :DDD

Rouge and Omega were left behind as Sonic led Shadow towards the back door, snagging his guitar case on the way out. Shadow nervously followed him out towards the bigger part of Sonic’s garden which wrapped mostly around the back. It led out into a woodsy area, and they were now following a small path, lit up by fireflies in the night, although the sun was probably due to rise soon.

They walked in silence for a little while, until Sonic finally spoke up.

“So. Team Dark, huh?” he finally asked.

Shadow’s ears fell against his head, nodding once.

“We didn’t coin the name. I don’t remember who did. Some journalist, probably.”

“Amy did, actually.” Sonic told him, finally looking at him. “She was reporting on you guys ever since the heist in Egypt.”

“Oh.” Shadow nodded. “I see.”

“She doesn’t know about any of this yet. I haven’t told her. But part of her work helped me piece it together.”

Shadow furrowed his brows, not understanding why Sonic was dancing around the subject.

“Why didn’t you stop us having sex once you realized the Emerald was in my quills?!” he asked, cutting straight to the point.

Sonic stopped there, and Shadow stopped with him, waiting for his answer.

“Well… I sort of wanted you to prove me wrong.” Sonic scratched the back of his quills. “And then you didn’t.”

Shadow’s heart sank, staring at Sonic who just tilted his head at him. His face was unreadable, disturbingly nonchalant about the whole situation. Shadow dreaded what he was about to hear from him.

“You want to revive Maria, yes?” Sonic asked him.

“I do. It’s the only thing I want to do with them. I have no use for them outside of it.” Shadow told him firmly.

“And what do you plan to do once she’s with you again?”

Shadow hesitated. Truthfully the entire time he’d been so focused on getting the Emeralds that he hadn’t thought that far.

“I would… give her the life that she deserved.”

Sonic scoffed, something Shadow wasn’t expecting, his quills raising in alert.

“Have you seriously not thought about what comes after? What might happen once you actually make this commitment?” Sonic continued his questioning, each one making Shadow more on edge.

Shadow immediately jumped to his own defense. “What are you getting at? I want my sister back, who was murdered unjustly, is that not a noble use of the Emeralds?!”

“It’s the most selfish thing I’ve ever heard.” Sonic snapped back at him.

Shadow felt like he got shot in the chest with that statement. Selfish? Him? For wanting to bring his sister back?! This hedgehog had a big blubbering mouth, who the hell was he to spout accusations at him like that?!

“How dare you-?!” Shadow started.

“What if she does come back, but she’s still as sick as she was when she died?” Sonic interrupted him. “The Chaos Emeralds can only be used for one purpose before the energy becomes too much and they scatter across the globe again. You won’t be able to revive her and heal her with them.”

Shadow was stunned. He’d never thought of that before. Where was all of this coming from?

“I was made to help her. My DNA contains-”

“If you were able to help her then why weren’t you able to before she died? Why did you and her continue to be locked up if you really could help her the whole time?” Sonic was not having it, putting Shadow on the spot and making him increasingly more panicky.

“Then I would find the Emeralds again to cure her! No matter what it took to do that!”

“And what would she do in the meantime? She couldn’t come with you if she was truly that sick. Would you just leave her all alone, lock her up so she couldn’t ever get hurt again?”

Shadow’s eye twitched. He was becoming even more angry because he knew that Sonic was right . There was no guarantee that if he brought Maria back then her illness would be gone. It had wracked her entire body when she was still alive, causing her pain and suffering which no teenager should ever have to go through.

“Let’s assume that she did come back and she was no longer ill. What if she didn’t come back the same person? The Chaos Emeralds may revive her, but maybe she won’t be the Maria you knew and loved, she may not even remember who you are.” Sonic turned away from him, readjusting the strap on his guitar.

Shadow balled his hands into fists. He didn’t like this train of thought. Not one bit. Imagining a Maria who wasn’t the same smiley, optimistic, amazing person he knew would break him. He couldn’t do that to her.

“And, even if she comes back all the same, no illness, you get to have her back in your arms, what are you going to do when she dies again?” Sonic looked back at him.

Shadow stared blankly at him. Sonic waited for an answer this time, but Shadow didn’t have one.

Shadow was, effectively, immortal. It was possible for him to die from being directly injured, but his regeneration was unmatched. He could regrow whole limbs. He’s done it before. Not because he wanted to.

Maria was not like that. She would not become immortal when he brought her back. Even if she wasn’t sick, he would have to watch her die all over again.

He couldn’t do that again. The pain, the grief. It was too much for him once. How was he supposed to go through it all again?

Sonic finally sighed, starting to walk again.

“See what I mean? It’s a selfish wish.”

Shadow stood there for a few more moments, trying to force down his tears before he caught up to Sonic again. “You… you seem to have thought a lot about this.” he remarked. 

Sonic let out a little chuckle, looking over at Shadow.

“There’s a reason I took you out here. I want to show you something.” he replied.

In time they came across a small gazebo covered in vines and flowers. Sonic ran forward and inside of it, Shadow not far behind. The blue hedgehog sat down on the white marble and took off his guitar case.

“Hey, mom. I’m here. I brought Shadow with me.”

Shadow didn’t realize who he was talking to until he finally looked down.

It was a gravestone.

Aleena the Hedgehog

The Queen of Pop of her generation

Renowned Activist and Environmentalist

Loving Mother and Daughter

May she rest in peace

In front of the gravestone was a picture frame containing a photo of four hedgehogs. One of which he recognized as a younger Sonic, two more he figured were his siblings. Then in the middle was a beautiful woman with purple fur and a smile that appeared to be genetic, that same one Shadow’s been on the receiving end of so many times.

Sonic took out the guitar and placed it into his lap, looking up at Shadow.

“She’s not actually buried here. They took her to a cemetery back in Puerto Rico. But I didn’t think it was fitting for who she was, so I built this instead.” he started idly strumming on the guitar. “My mom was a pop star, loved by so many people back home. She not only was a mega-celebrity to the point where people called her Queen of Pop, but she also had the biggest heart of anyone in the world. I learned all my empathy from her. She supported countless charities and even started her own to help marginalized communities. She was such a people’s person that she went out of her way to help people when she saw they were struggling. She was a peacemaker who was working to end the suffering of people even from across the world. My mom was seriously the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”

Sonic rocked back and forth as he continued talking. “Somehow, through all of that, she also made time for me and my siblings. She was the best mom I could have ever hoped for.”

He took a moment to compose himself and Shadow waited for him to keep going.

“But not everyone loved her. No matter how hard she tried to see the good in everyone, she was betrayed.” Sonic stopped strumming on his guitar. “I wasn’t there when it happened. I was 21 and off in Taiwan. The last thing she ever told me was to ‘be safe’, as if I was the one who needed protecting. I brushed her off then, didn’t even properly say goodbye or hug her. Then three days into my trip my sister, Sonia, called me and told me that some supremacist jackass had crashed into her car on purpose. I booked the next flight home but I didn’t make it in time.”

He leaned back, gently caressing the wood of the guitar. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her. I was in so much pain for so long. No one wants to lose their mom, but I never thought that she wouldn’t be there to watch me stumble through my adult years, wouldn’t be there at my wedding, wouldn’t be there to watch me pass on everything she’s taught me. I begged and I pleaded with Knuckles to let me use the power of the Master Emerald to try and bring her back, or to at least go back in time to say goodbye one last time, but he refused.” he chuckled. “I probably cursed him out more than I’ve ever sworn in my life. But once I was done being angry I finally thought about it.”

He looked up at Shadow again. “Death is what gives our life meaning. We all die eventually, and my mom lived every day to her fullest. She used her life to help people and to speak up for those who couldn’t. So I decided then that I wanted to carry on that legacy for her, since she couldn’t do it any longer. The pain never fully went away, and I don’t expect it ever to. But it’s a good thing. A reminder that she was important to me, and that I’m doing the duty that she no longer could.”

The sun finally started to peak out from beyond the horizon, bathing them in its gorgeous orange glow.

“Maria might be gone, Shadow, but her memory is still alive with you. And the only thing you can do now is to remember her and live the life that she wanted for you.” Sonic finished off his statement, looking back at the gravestone.

Shadow had never known that Sonic had gone through a similar grief, losing his mother had to be devastating. He was even in the same situation as Shadow, desperately wanting to see his mom one last time.

But he was right. Shadow couldn’t be selfish, couldn’t waste his life chasing after ghosts.

Shadow finally sat down next to Sonic, on his knees and placing his hands in front of him on the ground. Sonic watched as Shadow bowed down and gently touched his forehead to the ground.

“Mrs Aleena, I am sorry for causing your son grief by attempting to steal from him. I never wanted to break his heart. I promise to do better from now on, and I won’t betray him anymore.” he lifted his head. “I love Sonic very much, and I want to take care of him for the rest of his life. I should not have let my grief get in the way of my life.”

Sonic cracked a smile as Shadow sat straight-backed now. That apology was addressed to his mom, but Sonic knew that it was really for him.

“I forgive you, by the way.” Sonic leaned in to him, strumming on the guitar again. “And I still love you. I want to continue being your lover, if you want the same thing?”

Shadow nodded once. “I don’t imagine many others would be able to look past the whole ‘international criminal’ thing.”

Sonic waved it off. “Meh, some of my exes were more vicious. However, if we’re going to do this then I have a few conditions.”

“Anything.” Shadow agreed before he even knew what they were.

“Number 1, no more secrets.” Sonic told him. “That better have been the craziest thing you’ve been hiding from me. I want full honesty from you from now on, and in return I’ll also be completely honest.”

“I can do that.” Shadow promised. That was something he could do. It was easy to be vulnerable with Sonic, and if it ensured that their relationship would remain intact, he would allow himself to be completely honest with the other.

“And number 2, I want you to give the Chaos Emeralds back.”

“...come again?” Shadow asked.

“That’s the only other thing I want, Shadow. I need to make sure that you aren’t going to use the Emeralds for the purpose you desire. I’ll keep the yellow one, but you have to give the others back. Specifically the ones that you directly stole.” he told him. “You can give them to Blaze, she’ll know what to do with them.”

“I…” Shadow didn’t think he could do that. The Chaos Emeralds were something that had brought Team Dark together, he used the green one on a regular basis, and to ask to just give them back? What if Blaze ordered for their arrest even though he was returning them?

“I might need to talk to the other two about that one.” Shadow replied.

Sonic nodded. “I understand. But, trust me, it will be for the best if you do this.”

“And then… we’ll be able to be together?” Shadow asked tentatively.

Sonic smiled, leaning against Shadow lazily, pushing most of his weight onto the other’s side. “We were never broken up, baby.”

Shadow heart swelled at the confirmation. This wasn’t an ultimatum, Sonic was giving him time to think, trusting that he would be able to make the right choice.

Shadow just hoped he would be able to.

When they got back the couple walked in to see Rouge and Omega carefully putting back every book that Omega had ripped out of the case, arguing over the order they should go about it.

“No no, it would look so much better if we did it by color. The whole shelf would look so gorgeous!”

“NEGATIVE. WE SHOULD ORGANIZE THEM ALPHABETICALLY BY TITLE, THEREFOR IT WILL MAKE IT EASIER TO FIND SPECIFIC BOOKS THAT HE MAY WANT TO READ.”

“But it’s not aesthetically pleasing at all!” Rouge groaned, only then noticing that Sonic and Shadow came back. “Oh hey, boys. Sonic, how do you prefer your books organized?”

Sonic just laughed at them as though they were trying to steal one of the most valuable things in his house just an hour ago. “They weren’t organized to begin with. I put my favorite books in the easiest places to reach. It’s honestly okay, I can clean this up, you guys should go home.” he looked over at Shadow. “You guys have a lot to talk about.”

“NEGATIVE. WE TRASHED YOUR HOUSE AND THEREFOR WE WILL CLEAN IT UP.” Omega replied. “SUCH IS OUR PUNISHMENT FOR ATTEMPTING TO TAKE FROM YOU.”

Shadow sighed, pinching the area between his brows as Omega and Rouge started arguing again. “I’ll help them. Or get them to leave. One or the other.”

Sonic chuckled, gently elbowing Shadow. “It’s okay. It’s kind of funny watching them fumble around with it. And… maybe…” he snaked an arm around Shadow’s waist. “While they’re doing that we can go upstairs and go for a round two?”

He asked in a shushed voice while pulling Shadow close enough to him to whisper directly in his ear as Shadow gasped, unable to suppress a laugh.

“You insatiable horndog.” Shadow pushed him lightly, Sonic releasing him after that. 

“Come on babe, you expect me to not be addicted to you after how sexy you were last night?” Sonic teased him, reaching around to swat his ass only for Shadow to yelp and smack his shoulder.

“I-I’m going to sort them out! You go back to bed or to work or whatever the hell you do at this hour.” Shadow stomped away, willing his blush to go away as Sonic cackled at him.

But part of him was relieved that nothing had really changed between them. Their relationship had remained intact, despite the bomb that had just been dropped.

Maybe Omega was right all along. Maybe he did just need to tell Sonic the truth.

---

“Give up the Emeralds?! Shadow, we’ve been working towards this our whole careers! You can’t expect us to just give up what we’ve worked so hard to steal!”

“ROUGE IS RIGHT. ARE YOU CERTAIN THIS IS THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION?”

Shadow sighed. He was sitting on the couch of their house, telling them exactly what Sonic had told him.

“I know it’s not ideal but-”

“What about Maria?” Rouge interrupted him.

Shadow went rigid for a moment, closing his eyes.

“I have come to realize that bringing her back to life will not prove beneficial. It was her death that gave her life meaning, and although I wish that was not the case, it would not be wise to revive her now.” he said, opening his eyes again.

Rouge looked him up and down as though he’d grown an extra head. “What happened to the Shadow I used to know? Before you met Sonic you were all brooding about how you weren’t complete without her and you wouldn’t be able to function unless she was with you again.”

Shadow shrugged. “I guess I… changed?” he responded. “I don’t fully understand it myself, but after all this time I guess I’m finally starting to move on.”

Rouge and Omega looked at each other in disbelief, having not believed that Shadow could really make such a change like that. It was a pretty crazy statement. In over fifty years Shadow’s motivations had stayed the same the entire time. He thought that it would always be like that, that nothing would ever change until he got Maria back.

It was so weird how one blue hedgehog threw a wrench in all of that. 

Before him, Shadow would have never listened to anyone if they told him that reviving Maria was a bad idea. Before him, Shadow wouldn’t have cared about the consequences, wouldn’t even have thought of them just to see him one more time. Before him, Shadow wouldn’t have even considered giving the Emeralds back out of good faith. Before him, Shadow wouldn’t have ever thought he was capable of love again.

And now Shadow couldn’t even comprehend there being an ‘after’ him.

Rouge placed her hands on his shoulders, and he looked up at her to see her smiling.

“It’s good to see that you’re finally out of that depressiveness that you kept telling me and Omega that was your default state.” she remarked. “I guess Sonic really fucked some happiness back into you.”

“Excuse you.” Shadow snarled.

“I kid, I kid.” she joked. “And besides, I don’t think that reviving people is within the Chaos Emeralds power. You know the guy I went on a date with?”

“Noodles?” Shadow asked.

“ Knuckles. ” Rouge corrected him. “But he’s part of the clan that are the keepers of the Master Emerald! The father of the Chaos Emeralds and the one that gives them all their power.”

Her eyes were sparkling as she talked about it. “He promised he would take me to see it if things got serious. I didn’t get in his pants on the first date but just wait until I get the chance to rock his world! He’ll basically be handing it over to me when I’m done with him!”

“Okay, gross.” Shadow chided, crossing his arms, glad for the sudden lightening of the mood. 

“But, we got to talking about the Emeralds and their power. He’s seriously such a chatterbox about them it’s adorable. He’s so knowledgeable about the different things they can do.” she cooed. “He told me that they were able to turn thoughts into reality, thought to be limitless power, but even they have to adhere to the natural rules of Chaos. Human beings don’t have Chaos running through them, so it might be impossible for them to be revived or even healed with their ability.”

Ah. Shadow’s shoulders sank. So even if he had tried to bring her back it may not have worked. Shadow could imagine himself screaming into the void as the Emeralds around him shot around the planet only to receive a crumpled corpse in return because they just weren’t capable of that. 

Luckily he had changed his mind.

“THE QUESTION COMES BACK TO IF WE SHOULD GIVE THE EMERALDS BACK AT ALL.” Omega replied. “ALL THE POWER IN THE WORLD AT OUR FINGERTIPS, WE COULD DO SOMETHING GREAT WITH THEM.”

Shadow shook his head. “No, that wouldn’t be right. Even though we could do something good with them, we would still be the criminals who stole them in the first place.” he sighed, standing up.

“How do you know we won’t get arrested once we give them back?” Rouge asked, raising a brow.

“I have a plan.” Shadow replied. “It mostly involves breaking into Princess Blaze’s house and dropping the Emeralds off somewhere she will find them with a sticky note saying ‘We’re Sorry, from Team Dark’.”

Rouge and Omega stared at him. Shadow shrugged. “I think it’s the best way to return them without compromising our identities for the sake of giving them back.”

“You’re even going to give back the one that lets you teleport?” Rouge asked.

Shadow went quiet at that.

Out of everything he’d been thinking about since he and Sonic talked, that was not one of the things he had considered.

His signature Emerald had given him away that night, the gem that Sonic had noticed and connected the dots that he was a part of Team Dark. It allowed Shadow to do things no mobian, even a superpowered one, would be able to do. Even though Chaos energy was Shadow’s power, the Emerald was what he was able to channel it from like an endless pit of energy. He became tired much quicker and couldn’t teleport without it. 

“I… I’m not sure.” Shadow admitted.

“WE CANNOT RETURN ALL BUT ONE. THEY WILL FOREVER STILL BE HUNTING US SO LONG AS THE LAST ONE REMAINS UNDOCUMENTED.” Omega pointed out.

“I know, I know I just…” Shadow didn’t have an answer for that.

The Green Emerald is what kick started this whole thing. It was what gave Shadow his mission. That mission was no longer his reason to go on, so what was he to do with the thing he was so reliant on for so long?

“I… I may need to talk to Sonic about that.” he admitted. “Maybe… he will give me his?”

Rouge snorted. “You really think after all of this he’s going to give you his Emerald?”

“SONIC DID COMMISSION A, AS YOU MAY SAY, PRETTY SWANKED OUT MOTORBIKE FOR SHADOW.” Omega pointed out.

“It’s a hyperbike.” Shadow corrected. 

Said bike had since become Shadow’s metaphorical baby. He was overly protective of that thing and wouldn’t let Rouge or Omega touch it. He kept it in the garage and cleaned it every other day, and definitely baby-talked to it but Omega was sworn to secrecy after he caught Shadow doing that once. 

Rouge just sighed. “Alright, alright. It’s up to you, Shadow. Even though I can hardly bear the thought of parting with my precious Emeralds, it would clear our name. Especially if we don’t intend on using them for reviving Maria anymore.”

Shadow nodded. “Thank you for supporting my decision.”

“Of course!” Rouge smiled at him. “You’re the one who started us on this whole thing, we’re ride or die for you, handsome!”

“EVEN THOUGH OUR OBJECTIVE IS DIFFERENT NOW, WE WILL STILL CONTINUE TO BE A TEAM NO MATTER WHAT.” Omega added.

“You know what, I think we need a party, just the three of us. We haven’t celebrated at all the entire time we’ve been together.” Rouge snapped her fingers. “Omega, confetti.”

Immediately Omega’s hands retracted and he pointed his arms up before spouting confetti out of the holes where his hands should be. Rouge cheered and clapped and Shadow allowed himself a small smile.

Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad if they gave away the Emeralds.

Notes:

Do ya'll fw Sonic Underground?

I know this may not have been the outcome a lot of you were expecting, I know many of you thought that Sonic would give the Emerald to Shadow so he could have his cake and eat it too, but this was the direction I wanted to take the fic from the start and I still stand by my decisions for it

But tis not the end!! After all we still have some loose ends to tie up! I have so much planned and I hope you're ready for it!!!

Chapter 9: Change of Plans

Notes:

GUYS THIS CHAPTER DID NOT WANT TO COOPERATEEEEEEEE I'm dead serious it took me so long to write because I was struggling so hard and that's probably reflected in the quality ugh I'm sorry TvT

ALSO yes I did change the rating from M to E because I realized this whole thing was getting way saucier than originally intended (what can I say? I love writing sexy moments)

Smut Tags in this chapter:
A little bit of roleplay-type scenarios, First time blowjobs, Dirty talk, Sex on the Couch, Vaginal Sex, Cunnilingus, Creampie, Consensual Sex

Shadow went over to Sonic’s house the next day to see him and to talk about his plan. Also because he just wanted to see him without having to lie about everything anymore. It both felt like a weight off of his chest and like anxiety was stewing in his gut. He wasn’t sure if Sonic would treat him any different because of the big secret revealed. 

He knocked on the front door and it immediately swung open to reveal Sonic with a big smile and an apron with the slogan ‘Mr Good Looking is Cooking’ on it, covered in flour.

“Hi Shadow! You know you could have texted me before you came over.”

Shadow’s ear flitted back, still staring at the apron. “Sorry I… honestly have no excuse. I just wanted to see you.” he admitted. “Are you cooking?”

“I was making pizza. Usually delivery is super weird around my address and sometimes I like going into the city for it, sometimes I don’t. I have a wood fire anyways so might as well make use of it.” Sonic explained. “Come on in.”

“Uh huh.” Shadow was only half listening to what he was saying, following Sonic into the kitchen. “Where’d you get the apron from?”

“Hm? Oh, this thing?” Sonic remarked, lifting up the strap of it. “One of my exes gave it to me I think. I don’t cook a whole bunch anyways but might as well get some use out of it sometimes.”

Shadow’s eye twitched.

He shouldn’t be bothered, this wasn’t what he came to talk about anyways. He knew that he wasn’t Sonic’s first relationship, so it was expected that he would have exes. That’s how that works.

However, he was bothered. Why did Sonic still have a gift that was given to him by an ex? It probably smelled like them! Shadow would have to fix that.

Sonic reached up into the cupboards to grab something, probably red peppers, but Shadow came up behind him and hugged him around the waist, flattening himself against him and dodging the quills threatening to poke his eyes out.

His boyfriend just chortled, didn’t even act surprised.

“Clingy, aren’t we?” he teased.

Shadow just held onto him tighter, shuffling around as Sonic tried to move around the kitchen. The whole place smelled good as the pizza was cooking. Eventually Sonic was ready to pull it out, putting on pink oven mitts and taking the pie out of the oven, hitting Shadow with a blast of warm air and the smell of freshly baked bread, melted cheese, tomato sauce, and a plethora of toppings mixed in. Sonic sat the pizza on the stove before taking the mitts off. Shadow stared at them.

“Are those from your ex too?” he asked, a little more bite in his tone than normal.

“What?” Sonic asked, turning his head. “No, those are Amy’s. She left them here after- wait, why are you asking that anyways?”

Shadow huffed, not wanting to let his true ambitions be shown to the surface.

“I came here to talk about the Emeralds.” he stated simply, dodging the subject. “And what I have decided to do.”

“Oh yeah?” Sonic asked, starting to cut the pizza into the iconic triangles. 

“I talked to Rouge and Omega, and they have agreed to return the Emeralds. The plan is to enact a reverse heist, putting the Emeralds into Blaze’s hands without her ever finding out who Team Dark is.” he took a deep breath. “However… the Green Emerald, her power has become much a part of me as I am of hers. While I am sad to be parted from it, I wanted to make a request of you.”

Sonic turned around, holding a piping hot piece of pizza in his hands.

“Here, try this.” he said, not waiting for Shadow to make his request.

Begrudgingly, Shadow took a bite of it, chewing thoughtfully.

“It’s not bad.” he replied.

Sonic beamed. “Heck yeah. I tried to make it New York style but I don’t think I quite nailed it.”

“I’ve never had New York style pizza.”

Sonic stared at him, bewildered. “How have you never had New York style pizza but you live in New York??”

Shadow just shrugged.

Sonic shoved the rest of the piece in his mouth and shook his head.

“We are fixing that on our next date.” he said, mouth still full of food.

Date. Date! Shadow’s heart swelled with that promise. Sonic was going to take him on a date!

“What did you want to ask me about?” Sonic returned to what Shadow was saying, already reaching for another pizza slice.

“I wanted to ask if I could… perhaps… if you’re amiable to it…” Shadow slid his hands up Sonic’s chest, not looking him in the eyes. “ Borrow the Yellow Chaos Emerald from you from time to time?”

Sonic stared at him, cheese pulled away from his mouth in a cartoonish manner. Shadow flattened his ears and tried to give his best impression of a cute puppy, but it probably ended up looking more like a confused snarl.

The cheese broke and Sonic finished chewing.

“You’re asking to use my Emerald after you’ve given the others back?” he repeated the question in simpler terms.

Shadow nodded, preparing himself for the rejection that was to come.

“Oh! Of course!” Sonic grinned. “At least you actually asked this time haha!”

Shadow was stunned. Honestly, he didn’t think Sonic would actually let him have it. But he supposed that there wouldn’t be a risk of Shadow running off with it to try and revive Maria if he gave the others back. Sonic had said it so casually too, despite being so protective of the Emerald just the other night.

“You’re looking at me all stunned and confused, baby.” Sonic commented, chuckling.

“I… I thought I would have to do more convincing than that.” Shadow admitted.

“What, like, seduce me into giving it to you?” Sonic joked, leaning against the counter.

“Maybe.” Shadow looped his arms around Sonic’s neck. “I would not have minded a little trade off if it was something that you were interested in.”

The sudden urge to claim and rub his scent all over Sonic after knowing he was wearing a garment given to him by an ex was overwhelming, in addition to the constant horniness that Shadow experienced when he was around Sonic which somehow did not go away when they first had sex and instead increased ten fold.

Sonic smirked, one hand coming around Shadow’s waist and pulling him close so their chests were touching.

“Oh really now? How about you show me exactly what you would have done if I hadn’t said yes at first?” Sonic goaded him on.

Shadow matched his smile, looking down at his lover’s lips. “I might have leaned in close to you…” he did just that, standing on his toes so that he could speak directly in Sonic’s ear. “And tell you I was prepared to do whatever it takes in order to get my hands on that Emerald.”

He felt Sonic shiver at that, squeezing at Shadow’s waist tighter.

“Whatever it takes, you say?” Sonic hummed. “I am not easily persuaded.”

“And I am very persistant .” Shadow spoke slowly and deliberately before he pulled away, fully immersed in whatever little scene they had conjured up. “Just say what it is that you want, and I’ll do it, no questions asked.”

Sonic reached up a hand to cup Shadow’s face in his palm, running his thumb over his bottom lip.

“Well… it would be a shame to let that pretty mouth go to waste.” his viridescent eyes flicked up to lock onto Shadow’s. “Why don’t you show me what you can do with it?”

Immediately Shadow’s lips connected with Sonic’s, crashing into a passionate kiss the moment he was allowed to. Shadow was slowly getting better at kisses, learning how to move his mouth and his tongue to make it feel good for both of them. Sonic was still better than him, being able to reduce him into a melted puddle with just a few swipes of his tongue, but Shadow was getting braver by the day.

He also tended to bite a bit more than Sonic did. After all, he did have sharper fangs, what else was he supposed to use them for?

Shadow was careful not to bite Sonic’s lip hard enough to draw blood this time, but the pain did make him hiss and back away. Shadow offered a small apology kiss on the lips before nosing along his jaw.

“Will you be satisfied if I suck you off?” he whispered, pressing soft kisses to his fur of his neck. “Will you give me what I want if I take your cum down my throat?”

Sonic chuckled, apparently amused by Shadow’s willingness to go along with this whole thing.

“We’ll see. Maybe I will, and maybe I’ll require your services further.”

Shadow hummed, giving Sonic one last sultry look before sinking to his knees in front of him. Sonic, the bastard, grabbed yet another slice of pizza as he lounged against the kitchen counter, watching Shadow with lidded eyes. 

Shoving that stupid apron to the side Shadow could see that Sonic was already aroused, just barely peeking out of his sheath, just enough so Shadow could see the tip of it, his mouth watering, understanding what he was about to do.

It should go without saying that this would be another first for him. Although Shadow was familiar with the practice (Rouge didn’t know the definition of ‘too much information’ when it came to her escapades), he didn’t know the techniques to apply here.

Well, it couldn’t be too hard. Shadow was the Ultimate Lifeform after all, he should be good at everything.

Shadow planted his hands on his thighs before leaning forward, mouthing along the pouch keeping away from the thing he so desperately wanted. Although it was messy, Shadow basically slobbering all over his crotch, it was successful in getting Sonic going, his cock slipping out almost completely and nearly right into Shadow’s mouth, the blue hedgehog making a noise of approval with a mouth full of cheese and bread.

It was then that Shadow became a little intimidated. Sonic was bigger up close like this than he’d remembered him being. There’s no way that could all fit in his mouth without going down his throat.

“Something wrong, sweet thing?” Sonic put a gloved hand on the top of Shadow’s hand, not pushing him down, just providing comfort.

Shadow shook his head, lifting up his hands to rest on Sonic’s hips, making up his mind to just fucking do it you idiot and running his tongue over the tip. Sonic winced and dug his fingers into Shadow’s quills, but still he didn’t push. Shadow concentrated on what he was doing and took the head into his mouth and gently sucked. Not bad. A little musky but he ignored the scent in favor of taking as much as he could.

Immediately he gagged and suddenly his head was ripped back as Sonic hissed in pain again.

“Woah woah woah, slow down, baby.” Sonic was cringing in pain and Shadow realized as he was coughing that his fangs had probably scraped his skin. He looked down to check for any nicks or scrapes. Luckily there was no blood but Shadow’s ears were pinned back to his head with guilt.

“Have you ever done this before?” Sonic asked.

Shadow shook his head. “No, sir.” he replied, trying to keep with the scene.

Sonic huffed affectionately, his cheeks warm.

“Here, do what I tell you, okay? We’ll work this out. Open your mouth and stick out your tongue.”

A part of Shadow wanted to resist but he also wanted to do this right. He did as he was asked and Sonic finally eased his head forward, pressing the tip of his cock against Shadow’s tongue.

“Cover your top teeth with your lip, there we go… fuck…” Sonic gently slipped himself into Shadow, the hybrid closing his mouth around his cock and looking up at Sonic the entire time, letting him slowly pull his cock out then push back in halfway. The looming threat of it touching the back of Shadow’s throat remained, tears were still stinging in his eyes from his previous attempt, but he took it like a champ, relaxing his mouth and trying to stay limp for Sonic to use him until he was given further instructions.

He paid close attention to the changes in Sonic’s face. He’d set down the half-eaten slice by now to focus on Shadow completely, his other hand gripping the counter as he purred and groaned, eyes threatening to close but determined to keep his gaze on Shadow.

His cock was getting heavy on Shadow’s tongue, not because the weight had changed at all, but because Shadow began to realize he was still not taking charge like he meant to with this whole thing.

Shadow had intended to show Sonic that he was better than any other person he had been with previously. That Shadow could be just as sexy as they could, that Sonic would never want for anyone else, but with his current position he was being used as little more than a fleshlight!

He furrowed his brows, trying to wake himself out of the lazy haze he’d been in. Instead of waiting for a command from Sonic, the next time he pressed into Shadow throat the dark hedgehog swallowed around him.

Sonic keeled forward and gasped, holding onto Shadow’s head with both hands now, breathing hard and halting his movement.

Shadow managed a chuckle.

Sonic snuck a look down, quirking an eyebrow up.

Shadow didn’t wait for Sonic to take control again, bobbing his head back and forth in similar movements, except this time he would suck and swallow whenever he deemed it necessary. Every time he did that he was rewarded with an absolutely delicious noise from his boyfriend.

“G-God… fuck, babe. Yeah, just like that, that’s so fucking good- shit… You’re a fast learner, huh?” Sonic let out a laugh which quickly turned into a moan. “Guess I’m a pretty good teacher then haha.”

Shadow furrowed his brow and reached up to wrap his fingers around the base that he couldn’t quite fit into his mouth. He couldn’t tell if Sonic was close or not, but he started to go faster anyways. His own tail was wagging and he was dripping, no pants this time to obscure the fluid running down his thighs, his own cock straining and ready to emerge. He was certain he wouldn’t be satisfied until Sonic stuffed him full again, but he also wanted the blue hedgehog to cum down his throat. He wanted to taste it so bad it made him frantic.

The tip grazed the back of his throat and Shadow didn’t gag this time. His eyes blew open as he started trying to take more. He got a little bit further but quickly realized he wouldn’t be able to deepthroat the whole thing. A damn shame. He would have to work on that.

“Fuuuuck, baby I’m gettin’ close.” Sonic warned him.

Shadow pulled back just enough so he could talk around the dick in his mouth.

“Cum in my mouth.” he demanded, getting directly to the point and suctioning his lips around his cock again.

Sonic groaned, knees bending, slowly slipping on the kitchen tile. “Damn, how can I ignore- aah! Mm…such a request?”

Shadow hummed, moaning around Sonic’s cock, almost going cross-eyed trying to look at what he was doing. He felt like he was going to slip into a weird kind of unconscious where he could still move but time had no meaning and he was just constantly sucking Sonic off for god knows how long. And he didn’t even mind it.

Unfortunately that was the moment that Sonic had finally hit his peak.

Hot semen flooded Shadow’s mouth when he wasn’t expecting it, surprising him enough that he pulled off completely, more cum splashing onto his face. Shadow reached out his hands to catch the rest of it dripping out before it hit the floor. Sonic was gasping out little moans as he finished, meanwhile Shadow swallowed down the cum he had caught in his mouth. He couldn’t describe the taste in so few words, but it wasn’t horrific. He reached his hands up and started lapping at the liquid, still dazed from the whole experience, the baser instincts in his brain telling him to consume as much of Sonic’s seed as he could.

“Oh my god, babe, that is literally, like the hottest thing ever.” Sonic groaned, finally slipped and fell down on the ground on his ass, dick starting to retreat back into his pouch.

Shadow licked his fingers clean before reaching to remove his gloves all together. They were dirty now.

“Was that satisfactory?” Shadow asked, still sitting on his knees.

Sonic huffed out a laugh. His cheeks were burning in the afterglow of orgasm, eyes lidded.

“You want the Emerald now then, don’t you?” he asked.

Shadow nodded, thrilled that they were still going along with the scene they had made theoretically.

“Mm, I dunno. All that and you haven’t even gotten a chance to take care of yourself.” Sonic looked down at the puddle that Shadow had made on the floor.

The dark hedgehog whined, realizing now just how wet he had gotten from sucking cock. It was pathetic.

“I can’t let that stand, baby.” Sonic pulled him into his lap, bumping their noses together. Shadow stared up at him with wide eyes and parted lips, then looked down at the floor. “Are you really going to fuck me on the kitchen floor?” he asked.

“Augh, you’re right. Doing it here will just make my knees sore.” Sonic suddenly pulled himself and Shadow up, then reached down to lift Shadow up so his thighs were around his waist, surprising the other hedgehog. “Let me take you somewhere more comfortable.”

Shadow was immediately flustered by the show of strength, expecting Sonic to take him upstairs but only to be plopped down on the couch, laying on his back while Sonic propped up his hips on the arm of the couch, then knelt down to remove Shadow’s shoes completely, which Shadow found unfair since Sonic had still not removed that damned apron of his.

“If you’re going to take off my clothes then you need to undress as well. I’m sick of looking at you in that thing.” Shadow said as Sonic put his shoes off to the side.

Sonic barked out a little laugh, but still reached up in order to comply with the demand.

“So bossy. Are you still jealous of a piece of clothing?”

Shadow puffed out his red cheeks and tried not to give himself away, also slightly upset that Sonic had broken the scene to say that. But he was finally satisfied when the apron got taken off and thrown to the side. Shadow mentally reminded himself to burn it later and get Sonic a new one. But he would have to roll around with it or something to get his own scent all over it.

Ugh, his horny brain was making him think weird thoughts. Focus on the task at hand!

Once all unnecessary clothing was out of the way, including Sonic’s gloves, shoes, and socks as well, the blue hedgehog wasted no time in lifting Shadow’s legs up before leaning down to lap up the wetness still sticking to Shadow’s thighs and labia.

“Ngh… stop wasting time. Just put it in me already!” Shadow grabbed onto Sonic’s head.

“I need a second before I’m hard again, baby. Just lay back and let me do this for you.”

Shadow whined in the back of his throat, getting more desperate by the second as Sonic’s tongue massaged his vulva and cleaned him up despite the fact that Shadow just kept getting wetter. He refused to let himself moan out loud the entire time Sonic was servicing him, biting back noises and shutting his eyes tightly so no tears would escape from the brutal teasing that was occurring. He didn’t even know how much time had passed.

Finally Sonic moved, his face inches away from his as the hero palmed his cock, forcing a whimper out of Shadow.

“Shads, baby, look at me.”

Shadow blinked up at him finally, gaze unfocused and eyes glazed over. 

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful.” Sonic leaned down and swiped a kiss from him. Shadow allowed it, despite the fact that Sonic’s lips tasted like his vagina. Then again his own mouth probably tasted like semen and yet Sonic was clearly powering through it. He could endure.

Shadow felt his quills relaxing the more they kissed, enough so that the Chaos Emerald lodged in there started to come loose. He could feel it slowly slipping out.

All of a sudden Sonic pulled back and looked down, removing his hand from Shadow’s dick and instead placing it on his own. He looked back at Shadow, both of them still breathing heavily.

“You sure you don’t want a condom?” he asked.

Shadow shook his head.

“N-Need you, exactly as you are, sir.” he replied. “Fuck me… I need it so bad…”

Finally he felt the head press against his entrance, and when Sonic had confirmation that it had gotten into him, he slid the rest inside easily.

Shadow arched his back as much as he could and finally let himself sigh in pleasure as he was filled in the most delightful way, a throbbing constant pressure on his most sensitive parts, it was just as good as in his fantasies if not better.

Sonic held his legs up as his hips met Shadow’s ass, rocking his hips forward and back as his breathing continued getting heavier.

“Shit, I didn’t think anything could feel better than your mouth.” Sonic moaned, bowing his head so he was encasing Shadow in his shadow (haha). “But your pussy is even better.”

Shadow was helpless as Sonic slowly ground into him, the angle putting pressure right where he needed it most, but not hitting it in the way that Shadow required in order to reach climax. He was barely registering Sonic’s words at this point, too horny to even think.

“Damn you’re really fucked out of it.” Sonic let out a little laugh. “How do you feel about whoring yourself out just for a little gem, hm?”

We really needed to take a look at Sonic’s definition of little, Chaos Emeralds were the size of Shadow’s palm at least, that’s nowhere near ‘little’ for a precious jewel.

“F-Feels good… it’s so so good, sir…” Shadow moaned out, throwing an arm over his eyes as his mouth fell open in a wanton moan, hoping that was the right answer.

Apparently it was because Sonic’s thrusts started speeding up a bit. Between raspy moans Shadow lifted his arm up to look at Sonic, but instead his gaze went down at his boyfriend’s cock disappearing inside of him, pulling out partially but never enough to see the head again only to push back in until it was sheathed completely in Shadow’s wet cavern. Sonic’s dick was absolutely coated in slick fluid, trails of it sticking to him as he thrust in and out. It was so fucking hot and incredibly mesmerizing to watch.

Sonic let out a growl from deep in his throat and Shadow squeaked in response, then Sonic closed his eyes and started huffing and snorting along with the growling, his hips speeding up which only punched more moans out of Shadow.

“Fuck, you just got so wet.” Sonic finally cracked his eyes open. “Your pussy just doesn’t wanna let me go, baby.”

His words were becoming slurred, eyes unfocused, but Shadow’s were as well, unable to do little more than just take it take it take it! 

The overwhelming feeling of being full of cum hit Shadow like a train yet again, throwing him into ecstasy that he knew he would never get bored of, thank god Sonic had forgiven him because Shadow was quickly learning he could not live without this. He didn’t even register his own orgasm until it was over, breathing hard enough so his chest was heaving up and down. He whined as Sonic pulled out of him, trying to clench around him. Sonic sighed.

“Shadow, let me go.”

“Mno.” Shadow shook his head, still a little dazed.

“Oh my god- Shadow please I need to clean us up.”

“No. Keep it inside.” Shadow tried to reach for Sonic but was denied. Shadow pouted at him but Sonic looked at him firmly.

“Shads, darling, light of my life, mi amor, my heart, I love you so much but I cannot physically go another round I will pass out and we both need to clean up.” Sonic finally let his legs down only for Shadow to wrap them around his waist.

Eventually Sonic was able to peel Shadow off of him and Shadow whined the whole time, but he knew he couldn’t stay like that forever. He slid down so his butt was now on the couch cushions instead of on the arm that he was now dangling his feet over. Sonic snagged the apron and used it to do some wiping down and absolutely ruining it in the meantime which Shadow was very happy about. 

“Okay I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere.” Sonic teased before speeding out of the room.

Shadow rolled his eyes. Like he was going to move at all after that good of a fucking.

He lolled his head to the side and immediately caught a glimpse of something shining on the floor.

The Chaos Emerald normally kept in his quills had rolled onto the ground.

Right, Sonic had mentioned that the reason he had seen it was because Shadow’s quills started to relax during sex. He didn’t think they would relax enough to where it would fall out, he didn’t even notice it slip.

Whatever, he would deal with it later. Right now he wanted to be pampered by Sonic. Maybe coax him into another round.

God Shadow needed to stop being so horny.

His ears pricked up when he heard the unlatching of a door, interrupting his train of thought. However that sound was coming from the front door, not one of the ones that Sonic had disappeared behind.

He turned his head towards the front door, right across from where he was positioned, eyes widening in horror and trying to get up, but in the worst position to do so without the use of his feet.

“Sonic?!” Shadow called out as he finally rolled himself onto the ground, crashing onto the floor and grabbing the Emerald just as the door opened and Shadow couldn’t conjure up the conscious thought to teleport.

“Jeez, Sonic, it would do you some good to answer your phone. I called you like five times and your door wasn’t even… locked…”

Fuck.

FUCK!

Red eyes met green, but not the kind he was so familiar with. These ones belonged to a pink-furred hedgehog, probably the worst person to possibly catch him at this moment. Fear gripped his entire body. Shadow couldn’t do anything except freeze as Amy’s eyes slowly widened at the scene before her.

“Okay I’m back.” Sonic called, walking into the room with a washcloth and gatorade bottle in hand, only to stop dead in his tracks at the scene before him.

Amy Rose had caught Shadow holding the Green Chaos Emerald, one of the ones she knew would be in Team Dark’s possession. It didn’t take a genius to put together what that meant.

Sonic’s eyes flicked between the two of them and Amy’s face suddenly turned angry.

“Uh, I can explain.” Sonic dropped the towel and gatorade.

Shadow teleported into Sonic’s room without another thought.

---

Shadow soon enough realized his mistake after remembering that he couldn’t walk without his shoes that were still downstairs. So he just sat in the bed and put the Emerald away. He didn’t know what he was hoping for, a miracle that would make Amy lose her memory? There was no way they were getting away with this, how could they both be this stupid?!

He heard muffled voices and some yelling but covered his ears even though he couldn’t make out anything they were saying, trying to block it all out.

Eventually he felt more than heard stomping up the stairs and the door threw open. It was Amy and she looked surprised but then upset seeing that Shadow was here.

“Sonic we are not arguing over this! How long were you going to be harboring an international criminal?!” she entered the room, Sonic basically tripping after her.

“I wasn’t- he’s not- ugh, I didn’t know he was an international criminal when I started dating him!”

“But you found out somewhere along the line and didn’t call the police like a sane person?!”

Shadow shuffled to the head of the bed, trying to make himself seem as small as possible, ears pinned back.

Amy stared at him, then reached out of hand to point at him.

“Start talking.”

Shadow shook his head, refusing to let his words incriminate him further. Amy scoffed, looking at Sonic in a ‘can you believe this guy?’ fashion. Sonic just pinched between his brows.

“Look, it’s a whole thing. Shadow started dating me to try and get to my Chaos Emerald to complete the set, he didn’t get it but we talked about it and now he’s not going to use them and he’s going to give them back!” Sonic explained as quickly as possible.

“What?! Sonic do you not realize how insane that sounds?!” Amy gestured at him, clearly flabbergasted. “He’s trying to steal from you!”

“I’m not.” Shadow finally spoke. “Not anymore.”

“And why should I believe anything that you have to say?!”

Shadow didn’t have a response for that. Once again he was in this position, having to explain himself and his motivations, which have only recently changed. But considering Amy had spent a good portion of her life dedicated to unmasking Team Dark, Shadow wasn’t so sure she would be as easily convinced as Sonic was.

And he also couldn’t pull the ‘I love you’ card on her.

“Amy!” Sonic grabbed her wrist so that she would focus on him instead. “I’m begging you not to call the police. You have to believe me that Shadow’s not that kind of person!”

“What kind of person? The kind of person to steal the Chaos Emeralds? Because I pretty blatantly saw one that he was holding!”

Shadow should really teleport away now. Maybe he could make it down back to the couch and find his shoes and get the fuck out of here.

“That’s not what I mean! I mean that I can promise you that he’s actually going to change and give the Emeralds back to Blaze, he told me himself that he and the rest of his team were going to do a reverse heist to give them back without exposing them as Team Dark!”

“And you believed him?!” Amy asked.

Shadow winced. It really didn’t sound all that convincing when said in a vacuum.

“Yes! Because I love him!” Sonic yelled.

Heavy silence fell over them as Amy took in that information, her face changing to one Shadow couldn’t read.

“You… Even though he’s a criminal, you still love him?”

Sonic nodded. “Amy, please don’t call the cops on him. Please don’t expose him to the world. I’m asking you this as one of your closest friends.”

Amy looked away, considering for a moment, then her eyes met Shadow’s again.

“I want to hear it from you. Do you actually intend to give the Emeralds back?”

Shadow nodded once. “I do.” he replied. “The original purpose I was going to use them for is no longer able to be fulfilled, I want to do the right thing and return them. Please believe me.”

Somehow, that seemed to convince her and her expression softened and so did her tone.

“If you’re serious about this then…” Amy looked up and seemed to realize that Shadow was completely naked and averted her eyes

“Right, then, ahem, I’m going to contact Blaze. There’s no reason for you to break into her house to give them back when you can just hand them to her personally. I can promise that she’ll be sworn to secrecy about the whole thing.” she said, face flushed.

Sonic let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Amy.”

Shadow frowned, opening his mouth to object, he did not like this plan, but Amy was already on her way out.

“Now will you please put some clothes on?” she asked politely before heading downstairs.

Sonic immediately ran to Shadow, crawling over the bed to hold his face in his hands, looking worried for him. “Are you okay? Shaken up? Do I need to get you anything?”

“Sonic I’m fine.” Shadow replied, voice slightly muffled from how hard Sonic was squeezing his cheeks. “It’s just… this isn’t how I wanted to go about this at all.”

Sonic sighed, leaning against Shadow. “I know, baby, I know. It’s not ideal, honestly I thought that your reverse heist idea sounded really cool.”

“What is Amy even doing here?” Shadow asked.

“Ugh, she was trying to get ahold of me because apparently I didn’t show up to a press conference that I forgot about.” Sonic flopped against Shadow, face in his chest.

“Why didn’t she just call you?”

“She did, I didn’t pick up because I was a little busy with you.” Sonic looked up at him, flushed. “Which I didn’t have time to explain to her before that whole mess happened.”

He sat back up, reaching up to gently caress Shadow’s scarred ear, brows pinched together.

“I’m sorry, Shads. This is like, legitimately the worst thing that could have happened.”

“It’s fine.” Shadow assured him, trying to assure himself as well, holding onto his lover’s arm. “So long as my name stays out of it and me and the others aren’t arrested, then we will do whatever needs to be done.”

Sonic smiled warily at him before gently kissing the corner of his mouth.

“I appreciate you being a good sport about this all.”

That was an overstatement.

Internally Shadow was freaking the hell out, trying to figure out how he was going to contact Rouge and Omega about this whole thing and explain what had happened. He was scared that Amy would still plaster his name all over the media in order to finally fulfill her goal of unmasking Team Dark, or that Blaze would bring the police with her and have them arrested on sight.

He was suddenly gathered up into Sonic’s arms and held tightly against him, not even realizing that he had begun to purr while squished against Sonic. He felt himself relax even just a little bit, all of his worries going away for a second.

Well, at least he was still going to give them back and do the right thing.

---

As expected, Rouge and Omega were not happy about their secret being revealed a second time to an award-winning journalist and to the importer of the Chaos Emeralds, Rouge more so upset because she was so ready for one last heist before they retired, but they eventually agreed to allow them into their home in order to give them back.

“And I was really looking forward to breaking into the Princess’s house and seeing all of her fancy expensive stuff.” Rouge pouted.

“You can’t steal from the person we are trying to give our stolen items back to.” Shadow replied as they headed outside to meet the hedgehogs and cat.

“I knowww but I still wanted to see it!” she gasped. “Maybe you can get her to invite us to her home and give us the grand tour!”

“DOUBTFUL.” Omega chirped and Rouge frowned.

“Well nobody asked you, Omega.” she placed her hands on her hips.

“I AM SIMPLY STATING THE MOST LIKELY OUTCOME. I AM HESITANT TO BELIEVE THAT WE WILL BE TRUSTED BY PRINCESS BLAZE AFTER OUR ALIASES ARE EXPOSED.”

“Yeah but we’re giving the Emeralds back! That should give her more than enough reason to trust us and throw us a big party!”

Shadow was barely listening at this point, playing with a stray thread on his leather jacket and staring at the road. He was nervous about this exchange for a lot of reasons, but Sonic would be there to speak up for them if anything were to happen. He was a lot better at words than he was.

Out of the corner of his eye Shadow saw something in the bushes around their house move. He turned his head towards it before glancing over, the movement gone. He narrowed his eyes, but the movement didn’t happen again.

Must have been a squirrel or something.

At the same time a car pulled up into their driveway. Rouge and Omega stopped talking and Shadow ripped the thread out of his jacket entirely out of anxiety.

The first person to pop out of the passengers seat was Sonic, grinning widely.

“Hi Shadow!” he waved.

Shadow gave a tentatively half-wave before immediately Sonic rushed over to him and hugged him tightly, kissing him on the cheek.

“I missed you.” Sonic told him.

“It’s been a day since we last saw each other.” Shadow reminded him.

“I still missed you.” Sonic said, rubbing their noses together.

“Gross.” Amy chuckled as she got out of the driver’s seat then moved to the back to open the car door and help Blaze exit the car like a gentlewoman. The Princess continued to hold onto her arm as she approached them and suddenly Shadow’s nerves were on high alert again.

However, one more person got out of the car. Shadow saw a flash of red quills and his heart immediately sunk to his ass, but his reaction was nothing compared to Rouge’s.

“KNUCKLES?!” she squawked, ears folding down and jerking backwards into Omega.

The Echidna had no change in face, he just crossed his arms and furrowed his brows.

“I asked him to be here to verify that the Emeralds were real and not fakes. As the caretaker of the Master Emerald, he knows about them better than anyone.” Blaze told them. “Don’t fret, he is sworn to secrecy about the whole thing.”

“That’s… not the issue here.” Shadow looked back at Rouge who dramatically fainted into Omega’s arms, who lifted her up. She cracked an eye open to see if everyone was still there and when they were, she fainted even more dramatically. “They’re dating. She didn’t tell him about… this whole thing.”

“Oh. I see the delima.” Blaze remarked.

Knuckles scowled. Rouge finally pretended to wake up and Omega gently set her down.

“Hi, ahem, hi honey.” Rouge waved with her fingers wearing a nervous smile.

Knuckles rolled his eyes.

“I am here for work. We will talk about this later .” he glanced around. “Preferably when we aren’t around so many people.”

Oof. Shadow felt bad for her there. He’s already had to go through the whole ‘lover finding out the truth’ thing. Hopefully she will be able to handle it better than he did. But knowing her she could probably sweet talk her way right back into that man’s heart. And pants.

“Speaking of work, you have the Emeralds, yes?” Blaze asked.

“YES. THEY ARE IN THE SAFE INSIDE OF OUR HOUSE.” Omega beeped.

“The green one is still in my quills. I’ll give it to you with the others.” Shadow added. “Please come inside.”

Sonic giggled like a dumbass as they started heading inside. “Shadowww I’ve never seen your house before I’m so excited.”

Shadow snorted. “You’re treating this like a date.”

“Isn’t it?” Sonic linked their hands together.

He was clearly very happy about Shadow bucking up and finally returning the Emeralds, and probably extra excited that he got to be here to witness it. Shadow just wanted to get it over with.

They headed downstairs, Shadow leading the way into the basement, where a door was at the end of the stairs.

“Six inches of solid titanium.” Shadow explained, taking off one of his gloves. “With a lock impossible to break because it can only be accessed with my Chaos Energy signature, a custom lock I created myself.”

He pressed his bare hand against the door and closed his eyes, channeling a bit of his energy into his hand like he would if he was riding his bike. Immediately the door lit up in a design that wasn’t there before, and it opened.

Inside there was a small room with seven different stands all with glass boxes that were made for the Emeralds, the whole room was designed to hold Chaos Energy, and normally the room would be alight with that Energy, however when they walked into the room that Energy was nonexistent.

Because the Emeralds that were supposed to be on the stands were gone.

Notes:

ah shit here we go again

Notes:

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