Archive of Our Own ^beta

The halls seemed to twist and turn in countless dizzying directions, but that wouldn't deter Shadow from his calculated search. Sonic was here, locked away in the prison wing on the East quadrant, fourth sector, very much alive. Rouge had tipped him off about her discoveries a week prior, but everything she had to say after the word torture was in one ear and out the other. She refused to elaborate further, even after Shadow pressed. "That's not my story to tell," she'd drawled, waving a flippant hand, but Shadow knew better than to buy into her reasoning. Rouge didn't care about privacy in that regard, always eager to talk his ear off about whatever rumor had graced her radar that week. This time around, Shadow had seen something unsettled in her eyes, and with that, he drew his own conclusions.

Rouge didn't want to talk about it.

The detail spurred Shadow to move a little faster, pushing more energy into his skates as he doubled down on his search. Two sharp eyes flicked towards a dimly lit sign above the arching frame of the next hall; he'd made it to the East wing. Shadow's gaze hardened. 

Something like trepidation began to settle in the agent's gut the closer he got to Sonic's sector. Shadow couldn't recall a time where the hyperactive hero had stood still for more than six minutes, so the idea of six months? It was..unsettling, unnerving, to consider the ramifications of such a prolonged restriction. 

Shadow didn't care much for the brewing uncertainty, so he swallowed it, racing past countless blurry doors as his heart thundered with anticipation. He refused to acknowledge the whispers of concern. Sonic was stubborn, and as obnoxious as the trait typically was, it lended itself well to situations such as this one. The hedgehog would be fine. 

A flash of blue caught Shadow's eye from his peripheral vision, and if his heart lurched at the familiar shade, no one needed to know. The agent didn't bother trying to stop upon the sighting, instead slowing his momentum as he pulled a u-turn in the hall before eventually falling into a walking pace. His footsteps echoed against steel walls, loud enough to make even him feel uncomfortable. It was much too quiet here. Nonetheless, he continued his approach, eyes scanning for the correct cell. 

It was almost anticlimactic. After everything, the fight for their freedom, the gruesome realities of war, the losses.. there Sonic was. Alive.

And with the sight, a rising bile. 

His rival was facing away from him, back turned from where he hunched in the furthest corner of the cell. His quills, although unkempt, were flared wildly in every direction. Sharp and bristling. Even the smallest ones stuck straight out in an attempt at defense, and Shadow couldn't remember a time when he'd ever seen the hero so visibly on edge. He was waiting for something. Expecting it, coiled like a spring. Rage began to bubble up Shadow's throat when he noticed that Sonic's spine was visible through his dull and matted fur, standing out amongst countless cuts, bruises and scars, both old and new. 

Disbelief didn't even begin to cover it. Sonic looked downright pathetic.

Shadow didn't waste another second, pulling a single Chaos Emerald from his quills and muttering a barely there "Chaos control", appearing again on the other side of the barrier. If at all possible, Sonic hunched even further into himself at the abrupt presence. The agent tucked the emerald away again. 

"Sonic," Shadow said, and the way the hedgehog's shoulders twitched upwards wasn't something he could ignore. It was subtle, but the movement screamed volumes. Shadow twitched in return. "We have to get out of here." 

Sonic didn't respond, but one of his ears flicked back at the sound of his voice. He'd certainly heard Shadow's demand. Ignoring him, then. Being difficult. 

"We have to go, now," Shadow urged, stepping forward to pull the worn hedgehog to his feet. He didn't think the action through, because the second his hand so much as brushed Sonic's shoulder, the coil of tension in his frame suddenly snapped.

Shadow barely dodged Sonic's razor sharp quills when he abruptly pushed away from the wall, aiming to spear whatever had dared to touch him with a grunt of effort. Sidestepping the movement was easy enough. Sonic was alarmingly slow in his movements as he was now.

Once his rival understood that he'd missed his mark, Sonic tucked into a ball and rolled backwards, though he didn't get very far with the shackles around his wrists and ankles. The clanking of chains and panicked breathing filled the space between them, and the source of those awful sounds made Shadow's quills bristle in return. When Sonic finally stood up, gasping for breath that he couldn't seem to catch, Shadow finally met his eyes. 

Those once vibrant emerald greens were narrowed into nothing more than slits as they darted over Shadow's face, the walls, the door, fists fruitlessly raised as if he was in any position to fight. Sonic's expression looked downright venomous, teeth bared and ears pinned as far back as they could lie, but Shadow could see something else flickering behind the murderous glare.  

Hiding behind the rage and defensiveness, the urge to fight, was something dangerously close to fear. Fear of him, Shadow realized, and a tense frown followed such an idea. He used to smile at the thought. Now, though, it made him feel..

"You need to calm down," Shadow began, keeping his voice low. He raised his hands and took a step forward, trying in vain to keep his efforts placating. Sonic took a matching step back. 

"I'm not here to fight; I'm trying to take you home." 

Those racing breaths only quickened, and Sonic's eyes flashed with something wild and desperate. Shadow glared in return, irritation flaring up in his chest, because what did he do wrong? Isn't that what the hero wanted? Freedom? 

"No, you-" Sonic choked out, and Shadow couldn't help but grimace at how rough it sounded. Regardless, he was talking, and that was a step in the right direction.

"You're not gonna fool me again. It won't work." 

Again? Shadow squinted at the other, confusion muddling his previously stern expression, but the agent didn't let it fester. He quickly shook his head and schooled his eyes into something more level. He stepped forward once more, disregarding Sonic's repeated attempt to keep distance between them. 

"You need to listen to me. There's a shuttle waiting for us in the West quadrant, and we both need to be on it. Your friends have been worried sick, and Miles is a mess. Don't you want to see them again?" 

That seemed to do something. Sonic sucked a sharp breath through his teeth, eyes widening into an owlish stare that could easily pierce through a sheet of steel. Shadow couldn't recall ever seeing such an expression on the hedgehog's face. It was unreadable, through and through.

"..Faker?" Sonic whispered, and if Shadow was confused before, he was outright clueless now. It had been a long time since the agent had heard that nickname from the other, but he decided that if it settled Sonic's nerves, he'd let it slide. It was easier that way.

"You're clearly the fake around here." 

A beat passed, then two, and when the cobalt hedgehog finally reacted, the result was..unexpected. What had started with a small, scratchy chuckle laden with disbelief soon turned into a borderline hysterical laugh, the noise echoing off the walls and ringing through the corridor as Sonic stumbled back into the cell door. His voice grated on Shadow's ears. He didn't miss it one bit, especially when it became the sole reason his sharp gaze flicked to the hallway. The moron was being way too loud for a stealth rescue, but even then, it should've been at least somewhat relieving to hear. It was better than silence. It was better than panic. 

Even still, Shadow ultimately decided that no, it really wasn't. 

"We have to go, Sonic." Shadow said for the third and final time, digging into his quills for the Chaos Emerald and doing his best to ignore the way his rival's laugh dissolved into something foreign. The shine of the ancient gem looked incredibly vibrant against the cool steel of the walls, and Shadow wasn't focused on the rattling of chains; of Sonic slipping to the floor, because there were far more important things to think about. The war. How to escape without detection. Six months. 

How long had Sonic gone without seeing such a color? Without feeling the sun, or fresh air, or the freedom of a run-

No. No, that was none of his concern. The only thing that mattered now was getting the hedgehog back to his brother and out of his quills. But when Shadow refocused and moved towards the other, his breath caught in his throat. 

The sight of acidic tears cascading down the hero's face was something that was slowly, relentlessly burning itself into Shadow's memory. It shouldn't surprise him, after everything. Shadow hates that it does. No, it floors him, because not once in all the years he'd known the obnoxiously optimistic hedgehog had he ever seen the guy cry. It was disturbing. Sonic was trying in vain to hide his face, doing everything he could to wipe the trails away with violently shaking hands. They were replaced faster than he could keep up with. Sonic's breathing stuttered.

"Sorry, I-I don't-" He tried, but a choked sound cut the apology short, and Shadow couldn't stand it. Not because he cared, but because it was gross and messy and inconvenient to their goal. Crying wasn't going to get them out of here. Sonic was just being himself, making things harder, making it impossible for Shadow to move forward like the nuisance that he was. 

And that's what he would tell himself until heat death claimed the sun. 

Without another word, Shadow stomped over and wrapped his hand around Sonic's arm, refusing to acknowledge the flinch it drew, and smothered the venom that burned holes through his veins. He hated this place. He hated the doctor, and hated that damn jackal.

But more than anything, Shadow hated that the sound of panicked breaths and choked tears would haunt him until he closed his eyes for the last time.  

"Chaos control!" 

_____________

The ride back to Mobius was turning out to be unnervingly silent. 

Shadow didn't normally mind the quiet. As a matter of fact, he preferred it to pointless chatter or small talk. But that detail was something that the hedgehog sitting stiffly beside him typically paid little mind to, always eager to run his mouth until Shadow snapped at him. 

That wasn't the case, now. 

Once the two of them made it back to the shuttle and took off towards home, Sonic seemed to shut down all together. His eyes fogged over, losing their typical edge and locking resolutely to the floor like it was going to fall out from under him if he so much as breathed the wrong way. Shadow had set the aircraft to its autopilot feature early on, so with nothing to distract him, the journey was becoming something like a living nightmare. He was The Ultimate Lifeform, a super weapon, a trained wielder of Chaos..but for all his strengths, Shadow didn't have the slightest clue about how to approach this. He compared the feeling to sitting next to a live bomb. 

"Do.." And oh, he hadn't meant to start that sentence out loud. Shadow wasn't privy to slip-ups or mistakes of that nature, so when the silence rang, prickling at his skin, Shadow hated that too. 

With a sigh, the agent turned to face his rival, fixing him with an unreadable stare. He wasn't any good at fixing this sort of..problem, but he could damn well try. Nothing had gotten the best of him yet, and as long as Shadow's heart was still beating in his chest, nothing ever would. He refused to let something as simple as a conversation start his losing streak. The dark hedgehog cleared his throat. 

"Do you..wish to talk about it?" 

Shadow's voice sounded intrusive in the small space of the cockpit, but regardless of the static in the air, he waited. Sonic's expression remained unchanged as the seconds ticked by, and when the hedgehog finally registered Shadow's question, he shook his head in a barely there 'no'. 

Shadow didn't try again, and that was the end of it. 

After another 15 minutes of silence passed, their shuttle re-entered the atmosphere in a blazing light, eventually touching down with a surprisingly gentle thud. The craft had landed a ways out from Resistance HQ, but it was no more than a minute's run for Shadow. But still, it was too quiet, much too quiet. Shadow faced Sonic again, taking note of the way he fiddled with the cuffs that still sat secured on his wrists. The movement allowed Shadow a peak at the lack of fur under them. Rubbed raw. 

"You're home." Shadow said with a strained pinch of his brow, standing to move towards the front council. He could hear Sonic shifting from where he was seated, chains rattling, but the reason why remained a mystery. Really, it didn't matter. Soon it wouldn't be his problem anymore, and Shadow could get back to the fight. He fulfilled his promise to the fox. It was over.

Glassy blue eyes stared up at him, pleading as they wavered on the edge of something desperate and broken. Dark circles lined their undersides, telling of restless nights and stress beyond measure. The fox looked so much older than Shadow knew him to be. All traces of light, of wonder, of life, were gone. 

"Please, Shadow. If anyone can bring him-" Miles stuttered, gritting his teeth and screwing his face up like the words were too much to hope for. Tears burned trails down the kits face in relentless rivers. A final sniffle, and then Shadow was looking into those shimmering blue eyes again. Too familiar. It ached. 

"If anyone can bring Sonic home, it's you. Please," 

His gaze was hopelessly lost. 

"I miss my brother.." 

Something in Shadow's chest cracked wide open. He knew. He knew what it was like to hurt like that, to scream and cry and beg the world for another chance. It wasn't something he was ever given..his sister had been dead before she even hit the floor. But here, now, he could spare someone that pain. He could save someone from becoming anything like him.

The dark hedgehog clicked the button on the side of the device, opening the line. 

"Come in, HQ." 

A beat passed. Another. There was a small chirping tone before a young voice filled the small space, frantic and strained. 

"Shadow! Oh chaos, please tell me-"

"He's home. He's alive. He's okay." 

His voice cracked, unbidden and so strange to his own ears, but the burn in Shadow's nose was quickly shoved down. He wouldn't shed tears over this. He wouldn't, even though he'll only ever hear those words in dreams. Even though he knew he'd never get his happy ending. There was an unfair jealousy burning under his skin, dancing with a muted rage and relief and hurt-

It was all too much. Shadow cleared his throat, filling in the quiet from the other line. His hands shook. 

"He'll need medical attention upon arrival. Prepare the med bay. Keep noise and prying eyes to a minimum. Over and out." 

Shadow slammed the radio down, inwardly cringing when he heard the chains behind him lurch. The agent steadied himself, needing a moment before turning around, coming face to face with Sonic's wide eyes, glimmering with hope and recognition. 

"Tails?"

It was the first thing he'd said in 40 minutes. Shadow nodded, strained.  

"The fox will help with undoing your restraints. Come on," Shadow beckoned plainly, releasing the hatch to the door.

"You shouldn't keep him waiting." 

___________

The reunion was something to remember, for better or for worse. Knuckles ended up using brute force to separate the chains for better range of movement, offering a little relief until Miles could take a crack at the locks. Amy left the second she saw the state of the hedgehog to gather medical supplies regardless of the already prepared med bay, tears of joy and concern mixing in their paths. 

But what truly had the agent's attention was how normal his rival seemed to be in their presence, like nothing had happened at all. Like he hadn't broken down an hour prior. Any trace of Sonic's disconnect in the shuttle had all but vanished, and whether that was because his freedom had finally begun to register or Sonic was just a concerningly good actor, Shadow didn't know.

A door burst open, and the room suddenly went still. Small, panting breaths filled the silence. It was the fox. Knuckles nodded at the kit with a hum and a small smile, turning on his heel and walking out the side door. Privacy. Shadow almost followed suit, but there was a selfish part of him that needed to see what he could never have come to life.

Would she be proud?

Shadow didn't know.

Miles looked a little nauseous at first, likely taking scope of Sonic's condition, but the expression faded when the hedgehog held his arms wide open, tears brimming in those emerald green eyes as he choked on a watery laugh. 

"Well, don't keep me waiting now! c'mere, squirt!" 

His voice was still rough around the edges, but the kit didn't seem to care, running as close as he dared before gently enveloping Sonic in a hug, which was returned in earnest. Tears of joy and grief alike spilled between them as the pair tried to get as close as they could without provoking any injuries. Shadow knew the fox wanted to crush him. He respected the restraint.

It was only when they started talking- 

"I-I thought you were-" 

"I'm still here bud, still kickin',"

"I didn't know what to do-" 

That Shadow decided to leave. He walked towards the same door the echidna had left through, shooting one last look at the bundle of gold and blue. Sonic was cradling Miles' head to his chest like it was everything he'll ever need, but he spared a moment to meet Shadow's steady gaze. Sonic's eyes overflowed with gratitude and warmth as he nodded Shadow's way. And then, for the first time in six months, Shadow was the victim of a beaming smile.

The agent closed his eyes for a moment, trying to overwrite every instance of panicked eyes with that stupidly hopeful grin. When he felt ready, he looked up again and nodded in return, before silently slipping out the door. 

Shadow was due for some coffee beans, a shower, and a long nap after that.