Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Woah…” Sonic hummed as he skipped along the dark hall, his footsteps light and echoing against the cold, concrete floor. “So this is how you grew up, Shads?” he asked, catching up to a very much annoyed Shadow, who marched ahead with his arms crossed.

“Do you ever shut up? What part of ‘stealth mission’ do you not understand?” the ebony hedgehog hissed.

Sonic grinned, unfazed. “Jeez, I’m just trying to lighten the mood. Not like there’s anyone here…”

“Hmph.” Shadow turned, pinching between his brow. “I can’t believe Rouge talked me into this,” he mumbled, remembering the conversation from earlier that day…

—

“No.”

“Darling, it wasn’t really a request,” Rouge smirked, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

“And what makes you think I’d take orders from you? Especially for something as foolish as helping that blue idiot and his team on some goose chase?” he sighed, arms crossed in irritation.

“Goose chase or not, you and I both know that once they get a goal in their heads, they’ll see it through… no matter how blindly they go into it.” She crossed her arms.

“Which begs the question—why must we get involved?” he drawled lazily.

“Because they’re our friends,” Rouge said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

“Fine. My friends,” she huffed, rolling her eyes.

“Then you go. Problem solved. Now, if you’ll excuse me—” Shadow turned, as if ready to leave, but was stopped by a now slightly aggravated Rouge.

“Would if I could, darling,” she started. “But unfortunately, I have a G.U.N mission in an hour.” Shadow froze, knowing exactly where this was going. “You know, the one you asked me to cover for you?” she smirked.

‘Serves me right for thinking I could have a break.’

“You know what that means? You. owe. Me.” Her smirk grew as she tapped his chest with each word.

“So let me ask you again—how do you feel about accompanying Team Sonic on an investigation today?”

Shadow screwed his eyes shut in frustration.

“Damnit.”

—

“Damnit.”

Sighing, Shadow trudged along behind Sonic, who was practically bouncing. Of course he would get dragged into this—now he was stuck on a ‘stealth mission’ with the least stealthy being he’d ever met. Apparently the red one and Rose had other objectives for the mission, objectives that he’d rather be doing then giving the blue moron a guided tour of a run down G.U.N facility.

“Huh?” Sonic turned, snapping out of whatever trance he was in. “What was that?”

Shadow sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. “For an investigation, you sure have a hard time focusing.”

Sonic grinned, raising his hands in defense. “Hey! In my defense, I don’t even know what we’re looking for. All I know is that Tails’ radar went off the rails around here and BAM! Secret underground G.U.N. bunker.” He shrugged. “Apparently, it was shut down like five years ago or something, but we couldn’t find out why. Hopefully Knucks and Amy can find that out on their end, must’ve been doing some pretty shady stuff. I didn’t really see the need for this ‘investigation,’ but Tails was over here freaking out about his readings, something about a powerful energy source coming from here, so…”

“So now we’re stuck looking for something that probably doesn’t exist?” Shadow muttered dryly.

“Bingo!” Sonic confirmed with an exaggerated snap of his fingers.

This did not improve Shadow’s mood at all.

“Just try not to touch anything that might blow us up while we’re in here.” Shadow remarked as Sonic quickly withdrew from tapping a random button.

Shadow just gave him an exasperated look, while Sonic grinned.

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound captured both of their attention. They both turned toward the source of the noise, and Shadow glared at Sonic.

“Oh, c’mon, man! Obviously, I had nothing to do with that! I’m standing right here!”

Shadow looked at him skeptically. “Knowing you, you’d find a way.”

Sonic’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Whatever, dude. Let’s just go check out whatever actually made the noise.” He turned and walked toward the direction of the sound.

Shadow begrudgingly followed behind. The sooner they found nothing, the sooner he could leave and be rid of the blue menace.

It took about five minutes before they saw what had made the noise. The duo stared at a large panel that had collapsed from the wall, shattering nearby objects as it fell. The panel’s fall wasn’t too surprising—this place looked on the brink of collapse. It might’ve only been five years since it was shut down, but it seemed incredibly run down. How under the radar was this place?

What was surprising, though, was the entrance to a hallway hidden behind the panel.

A hallway with a faint glow.

Both hedgehogs stopped and stared, surprised. There was no electricity in the building—only the occasional window light or the flashlights they carried.

“Well, that’s not ominous,” Sonic muttered.

Shadow hummed in agreement.

“So… I’m assuming we go check out the glowing place?” Sonic asked, his voice light with curiosity.

“Guessing that’s the reason we’re here,” Shadow sighed. ‘ So much for finding nothing and leaving.’

Sonic grinned. “Race ya!”

“Wait! Don’t just run ahead, you—” Too late. Sonic was already gone. “Idiot.”

Shadow, despite himself, also sped toward the glow. Maybe, if he was lucky, he’d find the blue hedgehog stuck in a trap and have a good minute to berate him for running down strange hallways.

Shadow sadly was not met with the sight of a trapped hedgehog. Instead, he saw Sonic standing perfectly still in a room.

Strange.

Slowing down, Shadow approached, noticing the dark room around them was littered with desks, old computers, and papers thrown around haphazardly. Whatever was glowing was hidden behind Sonic’s frozen figure.

Cautiously, Shadow stepped closer.

“What—?” His voice faltered as Sonic turned to him with a shocked look. Whatever the blue hedgehog was about to say fell on deaf ears as Shadow finally caught a glimpse of what had stopped Sonic in his tracks.

A stasis tube.

Suddenly, Shadow’s vision tunneled. His breath quickened.

Sonic, shocked, could only look back at the tube… and the small hoglet inside it.

“What…” was all he could manage. He wanted to move forward, but his feet stayed planted.

He could make out the blue and tan fur, the Violet streaks flowing with its quills, and a small puff of white chest fur.

The hoglet stirred.

It was ALIVE.

“Shadow—” Sonic began, alarmed, but Shadow’s face twisted in anguish and anger. Without warning, he zoomed past Sonic, jumping with all his force.

“WAIT—” Sonic shouted, but it was too late. Shadow’s fist hit the tube with a loud crack, splintering it.

Inside, the small hoglet was still sleeping, the sounds of the cracks and thuds making it stir. Slowly, it forced one of its eyes open. For the first time, it wasn’t met with solitude. There was someone there… someone banging on the barrier.

Despite the scary look on their face… the hoglet felt… safe. Slowly, it closed its eyes again as a final crack rang out.

The tube shattered, the stasis liquid rushing out. Shadow immediately grabbed the soaked hoglet and pulled it to his chest before it could be flung onto the shards of glass.

Snapping out of his frozen state, Sonic rushed over to where Shadow was crouching, now holding the small, shivering bundle in his arms. As Sonic got closer, he noticed the hoglet was wide awake, burying itself into Shadow’s chest for warmth, gasping while clinging to Shadow for dear life.

“Shadow…” Sonic said softly, his voice full of concern as he crouched beside them.

“Never again,” Shadow muttered, his voice thick with grief and anger. “That’s what they promised. It was never supposed to happen again…” He growled, staring into the distance, unaware that he was squeezing the hoglet.

The moment Sonic heard a small squeak, he grasped Shadow’s arm, pulling on it to give the hoglet space to breathe. “Listen, Shadow… I know you’re going through a lot, but right now, I need you to calm down,” Sonic said desperately, holding Shadow’s arm still.

“Calm down?!” Shadow hissed, glaring at Sonic.

Mustering all the confidence he could, Sonic nodded firmly. “I-”

“They did it again. They… and then they hid it… like nothing!” Shadow fumed.

“I know,” Sonic said quietly.

“NO YOU DON’T—”Shadow spat, the rage deafening in his ears… how could he know? How could he even begin to understand what this means-

“I DO!” Sonic yelled firmly, taking Shadow by surprise.

Sonic had never sounded so stern… so desperate.

“I’m right here. I can see what’s happening! I know, Shadow. I know.”

Shadow’s breathing quickened again.

‘Shit, not again’ he thought, feeling Sonic’s grip on his arm tighten. ‘ Since when has that been there?’

“Shadow, I need you to look at me.”

Breath in.
Breath out.

“Shadow, please, look at me.”

Begrudgingly, Shadow complied, his eyes meeting Sonic’s, slightly grounding him. 

Has Sonic’s eyes always been this green?

“Good. Now I need you to copy me,” Sonic said gently but firmly, slowly lifting his free hand and holding out five fingers. “Breathe in… hold.”

Shadow glared at him, who does he think he is?

“C’mon, just try, please,” sonic begged.

Despite himself, Shadow copied the best he could.

“Now, slowly out…” Sonic breathed out, lowering his fingers one at a time.

They repeated the breathing exercise until Shadow could feel his breath stabilize, and the grip on his arm loosen.

What had he just been doing?

They didn’t have time for this, he scowled at himself. They needed to get the hoglet out! Oh Chaos, the hoglet! Had he crushed it?

Quickly, Shadow looked down to see the hoglet still shivering against his chest, no longer gasping for air.

“I’m…” he whispered to the hoglet. Choking on the apology. If Sonic noticed, he didn’t mention it.

“Sonic, I need you to grab them… I can’t—” He growled in shame. ‘I can’t trust that I won’t hurt it.’

The anger and shock of the situation were too much.

“Yeah,Shads. No problem. Let me just—” Slowly, Sonic reached for the small bundle, gently prying it off Shadow and holding it firmly against his chest. He felt the hoglet give a big shiver before it calmed down and leaned into the warmth of his touch.

Sonic could feel his heart break.

How long has it been here, all alone?...

He realized he’d rather not know the answer.

“Let’s move.”

The blue hedgehog looked up, finding Shadow already standing, as if the past ten minutes had never happened.

How did he do that?

“Y-yeah…”

Slowly, the pair made their way out of the abandoned bunker.
The silence stretched between them. It was… heavy, filled with the weight of what they’d just discovered. Both had a million questions on their minds, yet for the first time, both simply walked in silence.

—

Throughout his life, Tails had seen some pretty strange things—especially since he started hanging out with Sonic and eventually moved in with him. But none of those oddities compared to the scene in front of him now.

"Um..." he hesitated, unsure what to say as he stared at the duo standing in front of his door. Sonic and Shadow had returned from their part of the mission, both wearing solemn expressions. Sonic,uncharacteristically quiet, which made sense…

Tails' gaze dropped to the small hoglet snuggled into Sonic's chest. At some point, the two had snagged a jacket drying on a line and wrapped it around the small being, hoping to warm it up and stop it from shivering.

"O...kay..." Tails started, breaking the silence. "So, I see you guys found something..."

"Try 'someone,' bud," Sonic said with a small, sad chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

"Let’s just get inside already," Shadow stated firmly, pushing past Tails and into the room. Tails quickly stepped aside to let him through.

Sonic shook his head. Normally, he would’ve made a snarky comment in Tails' defense, but he knew Shadow was doing his best to hold it together.

Tails raised an eyebrow at Sonic’s distant stare, snapping him out of it. "Sorry, Tails," Sonic muttered, his voice quiet. "It's been a long day."

All Tails could do was nod as Sonic stepped inside, the weight of the moment hanging heavy in the air.

—

As much as he regretted it, Sonic eventually had to remove the hoglet from his hold, he knew the moment he pried it off himself and onto the examination table Tails quickly put together, that it would wake up and probably start to panic.

Just as he feared, the instant he pulled it away, bright green eyes snapped open, locking onto him with shock. Tiny paws reached out desperately, trying to return to the warmth and safety of Sonic’s arms. Without hesitation, Sonic gently coaxed it to sit up, taking its small hands in one his and carefully smoothing down its quills with the other.

"Hey, hey, it’s okay," he murmured, his voice soft and steady. "We’re right here. You’re safe now." He nodded reassuringly, hoping the hoglet could understand.

Wide eyes darted around the unfamiliar room, lingering on the figures of Tails and Shadow. Tails, trying his best to appear calm and approachable, was standing nearby. Shadow, on the other hand, was leaning against the wall, his posture rigid, his gaze anywhere but at them.

 Sonic kept his focus on the hoglet, watching as its body slowly relaxed.

“There you go,” Sonic whispered, his voice warm and comforting. “You’re safe here.”

Slowly, Tails took a cautious step forward. "This is my buddy, Tails," Sonic said gently, squeezing the little one’s hand. "He’s just going to check on you to make sure you're okay. It won’t take long, I promise."

The hoglet’s confusion was clear as it looked between Sonic and Tails, before nodding cautiously.

Sonic took a small step back, watching as Tails began to speak softly to the hoglet, asking permission for every little action he took.

He moved toward the corner of the room where Shadow was, lingering close enough to intervene if anything went wrong. His heart ached for the little blue hog, knowing how overwhelming this must be for them.

Sighing, he glanced sideways at Shadow. The other hedgehog seemed lost in thought, his gaze distant. Sonic figured he wouldn’t get much out of him tonight. He looked away, but to his surprise, Shadow spoke up.

“Where did you learn that?” Shadow muttered, his voice low but curious.

Sonic blinked, caught off guard. “Huh?”

“Tch-The breathing thing,” Shadow clarified, his eyes still avoiding Sonic’s.

“Oh!” Sonic realized what Shadow meant—the breathing exercise. He chuckled lightly, a bit self-conscious. “Honestly, I didn’t think it’d work. I figured you’d either punch me or yell at me for being ridiculous... I mean, I’d rather have that than watch you—” Sonic’s words trailed off as he realized he was treading into uncomfortable territory. His gaze flicked to Shadow.

Shadow didn’t respond directly, his posture stiff. “That’s not the question, hedgehog. Where did you learn that?It doesn't seem like something you’d come up with on your own.”

Sonic shrugged, trying to play off the small offense he felt. “Well, when you’ve been on enough missions with Amy, you pick up a thing or two.”

“Hm,” Shadow replied, his expression unreadable. “Figures. It was that pink hedgehog’s idea.”

Sonic stared at him, the tension in the air thicker than he expected. He swallowed, unsure why he suddenly felt so... nervous.

Sure, he knew bits and pieces about Shadow’s past. Everyone could see that the gruff, stoic exterior was just that—an exterior. But to see Shadow, the “ultimate lifeform”, the guy who always seemed in control, have a full-blown panic attack? That was... something Sonic wasn’t prepared for. It was jarring, to say the least.

Sonic had always thought of Shadow as this unshakable force. But what he’d witnessed... that cracked the image. Shadow wasn’t invincible, and Sonic couldn’t help but feel a pang of something unfamiliar.

Sonic didn’t realize he’d been staring until Shadow stiffened, his expression hardening further. “Oops,” Sonic muttered under his breath, quickly looking away, his face flushed.

Why was he so uneasy?

‘Wait, why do I care so much?’ Sonic mentally scolded himself. Shadow could take care of himself, right? He didn’t need Sonic worrying about him. Hell, Shadow would probably rip him a new one if he knew Sonic was feeling sorry for him.

‘Yeah, forget earlier. Focus on the hoglet,’ Sonic reminded himself.

Just as he tried to push the thoughts away, Tails’ voice cut through his train of thought, grabbing both their attention.

“Hey, you guys might want to come check this out.”

As the two turned to approach the young fox, they noticed he was staring at a tablet screen, eyes shocked.

“Hey bud, what’s up? Everything all right with it?” Sonic questions.

Tails took a nervous breath. “Well to start, her.” he cleared his throat and decided to just focus on the check up portion first… before… yeah.

He looked at Shadow nervously, who gave him a raised eyebrow that screamed ‘what’?

Oh boy, this was probably going to be rough.

“Y-yeah, so our little hoglet friend here is a girl, from the data I’ve collected she’s relatively healthy, that being said she’s been malnourished which apparently stunted her growth… looking at her now, how old do you think she looks?” the fox asked

Sonic scratched his head. “I dunno, man, like... 2?”

“Three,” Shadow replied, his eyes scanning the hoglet.

Both shadow and sonic answered glancinging at the small, confused creature. She was reaching toward them, clearly seeking comfort. Sonic carefully picked her up, holding her close, while Shadow looked away.

“Welp, turns out she’s four,” Tails said softly, a small frown pulling at his lips.

“FOUR?” Sonic looked down at the hoglet, now snuggling into him. His heart twisted. “But she looks so small.”

“Yeah, though with a healthy diet and proper care, she should catch up… or at least get on a better weight level for her age,” Tails sighed. “There’s also the matter of her speech…”

Both hedgehogs looked up, sensing the gravity in Tails’ tone.

“She can’t talk?” Sonic asked, worry creeping into his voice.

“It’s... complicated,” Tails began, glancing at the hoglet. “Her vocal cords are fine. So technically she should be able to talk- but with the trauma she’s gone through, combined with not using her voice for a while if ever, has left her unable or unwilling to speak. The most I’ve gotten out of her is a quiet squeak.”

Sonic’s heart tightened. “But she’ll get better right? Just like the growing stuff, if someone teaches her some words she’ll figure it out?”

Tails grimaced. “It’s not that simple. We don’t know how long she’s been in that tube, or what kind of trauma she experienced. It could take weeks, months... maybe even years before she starts talking. We just don’t know.”

Sonic glanced down at the hoglet, his expression softening. He couldn’t imagine the kind of pain she must have gone through

“Anything else?” Shadow asked, his tone tired and strained. The day had been beyond exhausting, and he was nearing the point where he either needed to head home and sleep off the weight of it all—or punch something. Either way, he couldn’t stay around people much longer. He'd only stuck around this long because of the circumstances.

Tails hesitated, but finally spoke, “From what I can tell, everything else seems pretty normal—”

“Good,” Shadow interrupted, clearly itching to leave. “Then I’ll be taking my leave. I’m sure Rose can help you find someone to care for her, or at least a place to take her in.”  he started “let me know if they find anything on that base.” He started toward the door, leaving both Sonic and Tails staring at him, shocked that he would just leave in the middle of all this.

Even the hoglet looked up at him, a look of confusion on her tiny face.

“W-wait!” Tails stammered, extending a hand toward Shadow. He quickly pulled it back when Shadow shot him a sharp glare.

“What is it?” Shadow’s voice was low, edged with irritation.

Tails swallowed hard. “Well... there’s something else…”

Shadow’s brow furrowed. “You just said she was fine.”

“Yeah, but—” Tails hesitated again, and Sonic could see the tension in his friend’s expression.

Shadow crossed his arms, clearly done with the back and forth. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t concern me. Let me know when you find her a home... and when you find more information on that base. I’ll handle it from there.”

“Oh jeez,” Tails muttered, nervously rubbing his neck. “It does concern you... actually…”

When Tails saw that Shadow finally paused, he took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “So yeah, there’s more... and it concerns you—both of you. It’s just…” He hesitated.

Sonic and Shadow both leaned in, their attention piqued.

“You might wanna sit down for this…” tails added.

“Dude just spit it out already you’re starting to scare me” sonic laughed nervously.

‘Alright, guess I'll just rip the bandaid off’ he thought, clenching his fists and squeezing his eyes shut. “Soturnsoutherdnaisacompletematchtobothofyoursinthedatabasetchnicallymakingherbothyourduaghter!” The fox rambled out fast.

Both Sonic and Shadow stared blankly at him.

“Uhhh… okay, bud,” Sonic started, scratching his head. “I know speed’s my whole thing, but honestly? Didn’t catch a single word of that.”

Shadow’s eyes narrowed in frustration. “For Chaos’ sake, just spit it out, fox.”

Tails took a deep breath and shouted,“HER DNA PERFECTLY MATCHES BOTH OF YOUR DNA IN THE DATABASE! She’s—she’s technically both your daughter!”

The room went silent. Sonic and Shadow stood still, both processing the words they had just heard.

Sonic let out a chuckle, shaking his head. “Good one, Tails. That’s funny. Me and Shadow— have a daughter ? Ha!” He laughed, staring at Tails, waiting for the fox to crack a smile, expecting him to admit it was just a joke.

But Tails just stood there, staring back, completely serious.

Oh.

Oh. 

Sonic’s smile faltered, the reality of the situation sinking in.

“Wait… you’re not joking?” Sonic asked, his voice losing its playful edge.

Tails shook his head.

Sonic blinked, the words still not fully registering. Then, with a sharp intake of breath, he snapped, “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ?!”

The sudden outburst made the little hoglet yelp in surprise. Sonic immediately held her up, her small arms stretching out, confused. He held her at eye level, staring at her for a long moment.

And then it hit him.

Looking at her now, everything clicked. It made sense.

His quills stood on end, eyes widening in realization.

How did they miss it before?

Both hedgehogs scanned the hoglet’s features in disbelief.

Sonic’s eyes and fur color. Shadow’s markings and upward-curving quills. The tan on her arms, the white fluff on her chest.

She was a perfect blend of the two of them.

How had they not seen it sooner?

Shadow, who had been silent up to that point, suddenly felt a sharp pain flare in his head. His hand went to his forehead, rubbing at the growing tension. “Dammit all!” he growled, his voice low and filled with frustration.

He was processing the shock, too, but not as loudly as Sonic.

Tails watched them both carefully, waiting for their reactions to settle. He’d never imagined dropping a bombshell like this on them, but it was the truth. And now they had to face it.

“I’m sorry, but like…. How?!” Sonic asked desperately.

“Well,” started the young fox “while disturbing, I don’t doubt G.U.N still has some of Shadows DNA, and let's be honest sonic you sort of leave your quills laying around so…”

“But like, why would that matter! I never thought this would be the outcome of not noticing a few quills missing after a battle! What the hell!”

“When you're a super powered hedgehog, DNA samples, like missing quills, tend to be pretty valuable…

“Especially to G.U.N,” Shadow tsked.

Tails watched as Sonic lowered the confused hoglet, staring at her with wide eyes, her eyes also staring at him with curiosity.

A daughter.
He had a daughter.
Was this real? Obviously. He could feel the heat radiating off her little body, see her little face look so much like his own (with a respectable dash of Shadow) looking up at him.

This little thing was his daughter.
This very little, underweight hoglet was his.

“She’s too small…” he whispered.

Beside him, Shadow sighed. “I’m leaving,” he muttered, turning from the shocked blue hedgehog and fox.

“Wait, you're just going to leave?! Dude, this changes everything!” Sonic started but was cut off.

“This changes nothing. Obviously, some G.U.N. agents, being the gems they are, decided to do messed-up shit again—and from the looks of that bunker, I wouldn’t say it was an official branch. This needs looking into, and the people responsible rooted out and dealt with. Staying here serves no purpose for me.”

Sonic couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was he being for real? Sure, having a kid sprung onto you randomly one night is a lot… but she was more than just a case.
He was treating her like a case.

“I’ll contact Rouge, let her know it’s urgent. We’ll get some digging done to see how much G.U.N. had to do with this or that branch,” he said, walking towards the front door. “Let me know when you get anything worthwhile from the others when they're back.” He reached for the knob. “Also keep me updated when you find someone to take the hoglet in,” he finished, refusing to look behind.

What?

Before Sonic could ask Shadow what he meant by that, the door was closed—leaving him, Tails, and a fussy hoglet behind.
Did Shadow want to get rid of her?
Just like that?

Tails watched as the small hoglet started to squirm a bit in his brother's arms.
That's funny. Shadow was the one who was so set on making sure she was okay not even an hour ago… now what? He didn’t even look at her.

“Um, Sonic?” Tails started.
Yeah, maybe it was hard with his past and all, but to just get rid of her? Pass her off like she didn’t share the same markings and upturned quills?

“Sonic!” Tails yelped, snapping Sonic out of his spiral. Finally, he noticed the upset hoglet in his arms.
He could feel her stomach rumble and her little body shake.

That’s right… she's too small. She needs to eat. The poor thing is probably starving and he’s here worried about whatever the hell Shadow was doing.
Shadow wasn’t here.
She was, and quite frankly, a whole lot more important than whatever drama Shadow decided to write up for himself.

“Tails,” Sonic started, “you said she was four, right? So she obviously doesn't need milk or something, right?”

“Uh…” Tails started, the whole situation starting to settle down a bit after Shadow’s exit—that honestly went better than he expected. Though Sonic had a pretty pissed look on his face a minute ago. “Yeah, she doesn't need formula or anything, if that’s what you're asking. But we should probably stick to soft, bland food. We have no idea what her stomach can handle at the moment. It looked fine, but better safe than sorry.”

“Got it,” Sonic nodded, swiftly making his way towards the kitchen, trying to comfort the fussy girl as he did. “It’s alright, we’re going to get ya food now—don’t you worry.”

The pair decided to try a smashed banana, some plain crackers, and a cup of milk. Sonic couldn’t help but smile when he saw her expression while tasting the smushed banana. He could practically see the stars light up in her eyes. Sonic was spoon-feeding her. At the moment, she was desperately trying to get all of the mushed goodness into her mouth at once, but the blue hedgehog wouldn’t let her, trying to make sure she ate at a slower pace.

“Easy, kid. You don’t want to eat it so fast. Take it from the fastest thing alive… you gotta savor your food.”

He could hear Tails chuckle beside him. “Like the time you almost choked trying to inhale that chili dog whole?” the fox raised his eyebrow.

“Yeeaah, not my proudest moment…” the hero laughed out. “Trust me, kid, you do NOT wanna do that.”

The small hoglet ended up eating another smashed banana and a couple crackers, slowing down to a pace where Sonic didn’t feel the need to spoon-feed her as much anymore. Instead, he watched as she tried to spoon-feed herself, holding back a laugh every time she accidentally turned the spoon upside down, spilling its contents with a plop.

She was sipping on her milk when Tails’s communicator rang.

Quickly, the fox answered it. Amy’s voice came through.
“Hey Tails, have Sonic and Shadow made it back yet?”

Tails heard Sonic suck in a breath.
Right. He’s probably still upset with Shadow.

“Um, y-yeah, but only Sonic is here now,” he answered, trying to avoid mentioning Shadow’s name. “They, um, they found something—something BIG. But you probably should be here to see it yourself…” He trailed off, watching as the now content hoglet sipped her milk, swinging her legs back and forth from where she now sat on the counter.

“Really?” Amy’s voice snapped them back to the communicator. “We didn’t really find much ourselves, and trust me—we looked.” She sounded annoyed. “All we could find was that the base was raided a few years back, but nothing on why or who was there…”

“All that reading for what?” they heard Knuckles’s voice cut in, sounding frustrated.

“Don’t mind him,” Amy chuckled. “He’s upset that a librarian got on him after he yelled while we were searching for some old news articles.”

“It’s not my fault there’s way too many articles to go through!”

“Anyways,” she continued, “you said Sonic found something?”

“Yeah, but really, you should be here to see it… otherwise, you probably won’t believe it,” Tails answered.

“It’s getting pretty late. Is it dangerous?” Amy asked.

Sonic and Tails looked over to the hoglet, who paused her (now) chugging to let out a small burp, looking into the empty cup and holding it out with an innocent face to ask for more.
Small feet still swinging.

“No…” the fox answered.

“Well, do you think we could do a check-in tomorrow morning? Honestly, I think I’m ready to crash. Knuckles doesn’t seem much better—”

“I’M FINE!”

They could almost hear the eye-roll.

“Honestly, yeah. After today, this might want to wait till tomorrow… we all need a second to rest.”

“Roger that!” the pink hedgehog chirped, signing off after wishing them a good night.

Now that it was quiet again, Sonic looked over to the small girl. She had just finished her second glass of milk. He noticed that her eyes seemed to be droopy, her feet more at a sluggish sway.

She was still wearing the jacket they found that swallowed her, and she was probably still covered in whatever that stuff was in the tube. He leaned in to get a better look, to find that yes, it was dried now, but there were splotches of little quills stuck together from the fluid.

Without hesitation, Sonic leaned down and started to nip at the spots.

He could feel the hoglet tense and look up at him.
‘Wait, what the hell am I doing?’ he thought to himself, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop. He felt the hoglet relax, even leaning into it, a soft rumble coming from her.

She was purring.
Sonic was grooming the hoglet—and her response was to lean in and purr.

Sonic could feel something warm bloom in his chest, the same warmth that he felt when he and Tails used to groom each other when they were younger.

Tails was older now, a certified teenager, and swore that he didn’t need it anymore (though he’d never push away when Sonic groomed him when he needed comforting). Sonic almost forgot how warm it felt to just groom someone he cared about.

Wait. Cared about?
He just met this hoglet today…

Both lost in the moment, neither Sonic nor the purring hoglet noticed when Tails awkwardly came closer, looking up from his communicator to witness the scene in front of him.

It was strange… Sonic only ever groomed him.
Pushing away a pang of something, he cleared his throat.

“Um, Sonic?...”

The blue hedgehog snapped out of his grooming instinct, looking down to watch as the hoglet opened her closed eyes to look at him with a curious face, as if to ask why he stopped.

“It’s getting kind of late. We should probably get some rest… something tells me tomorrow is going to be a bit hectic…” The fox trailed off.

“Oh, um-” Sonic fixed himself “yeah, we’re definitely going to need the rest, I can only imagine how Amy is going to react tomorrow” he laughed off. Tails also chuckled a bit, tomorrow was going to be a DAY.

“Alright then,” Sonic said “Bath time!” he sang picking up the small girl. “Erm, I’m guessing ya don’t know how to bathe yourself?”

The hoglet titled her head in confusion.

Right.

“Hey, Tails buddy do you think maybe you could help?-”

The fox quickly jumped back, looking left and right before feigning a yawn “actually, I think *yawn* I should probably head to bed,” he stretched “anyways, goodnight!” 

His brother was down the hall before Sonic could say anything.

“Alright then. Just you and me…” he gulped “I can do this, give a kid a bath? No problem! I give myself a bath all the time, how hard can it be?” he laughed off, from down the hall he could hear Tails shout.

“Try not to boil her!”’

‘Wait, that can happen?’

“Or drown her!”

“Thanks Tails!” He yelled back with a hint of annoyance. Sonic swore he could hear the fox chuckle.

Sonic looked back down at the hoglet, who, for her part, gave him a shrug.

“Great…”

—

Well, bath time was… an event.

Sonic was towel-drying the hoglet’s quills, her tiny body now drowned in a graphic t-shirt he’d won from a chili dog eating contest. The shirt had a big bold “I GOT THAT DOG IN ME” across the front, with a goofy chili dog mascot drawing underneath it.

He had a towel around his shoulders too, trying to dry himself off as best as he could. Who would’ve guessed a hoglet, who’d probably never even had a bath before, would be so… splashy? After the initial shock of the water, the hoglet decided she loved the bath. Most of all, she loved the bubbles.

And oh, there were bubbles.

Probably a bit too much looking back on it now, but Sonic sure hadn’t expected to be splashing around in a frenzy, panicking when he lost sight of her, thinking she’d slipped under. To his relief, he found her — giggling like crazy, soft squeaks leaving her lips, with a comical pile of bubbles on her head. She ducked down just enough to stay hidden, still able to breathe and peek out from the foam.

Not that that ever happened, if anyone asked him.

Obviously, he had everything under control. No panic at any point in time. Nope!

But if it did, Sonic would have to admit she was a little bit mischievous.

It caught him off guard with how comfortable she’d gotten with him so quickly, considering everything she’d been through. He could only hope her past wasn’t worse than they thought, but still, the trust she had in him was more than he expected.

And if he was being honest, he felt comfortable too. A little too comfortable. It was... kind of scary. But in a good way?

The blue hero sighed. He really couldn't wait for today to be over, glancing over to the clock on the wall. His wish had technically come true; it was currently 2am. The hoglet’s eyes were fully closed, and he had to keep her propped up so she didn’t fall over. If it wasn't for the occasional blink (he guessed she was fighting sleep), Sonic would have thought she was already asleep.

Finally, satisfied with how dry they both were, Sonic scooped her up and carried her toward the room. Laying her down on the bed, he wondered if this was alright...

Would she fall? She’s 4, so she doesn’t need a crib, right?

Sonic hesitated, unsure. Small kids do have those beds with support on the sides, right? He remembered he and Knuckles helping Vanilla set up Cream's “big girl” bed a couple of years back. Her old bed had side railings covered in flowers.

Sonic decided to place two pillows on each side of the bed, boxing her in in case she rolled around in the night.

Nodding to himself, Sonic lay the girl down, covering her with the plush blanket. He smiled as she snuggled in.

He turned around to go sleep on the couch in the living room. ‘ There goes my back for tomorrow,’ he thought as he walked toward the door.

Thump!

“Huh?” He could hear soft patters run up to him, he felt her before he saw her.

The hoglet, who’d just passed out, was now hugging onto his leg for dear life.

How—

Oh right, she’s actually 4. For some reason, he assumed she couldn’t walk yet. She was so insistent on him carrying her everywhere.

Another sign of the rapid trust she showed him.

Sonic felt as her grip tightened even more, and he couldn’t help it.

He smiled. That warm feeling bubbled up again.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly. Damn, when has he ever been this soft? Maybe when Tails or Amy was super upset… but it was rare.

The little hoglet shook her head ‘no,’ her face pressed into his fur.

“No, as in you don’t want me to leave?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

She nodded rapidly, her tiny paws clutching tighter onto him.

Sonic thought about it for a moment. He wasn’t the type to roll around in his sleep—hell, he’d slept in trees and never fallen off! So there was no real fear of crushing her. Plus, he didn’t mind sharing a bed. He and Tails used to share when the fox was younger. So, really, there was no reason not to stay.

And... he really did want to stay. It surprised him just how much he wanted to. He hadn’t realized it until she clung to him so desperately.

“Alright then, I’ll stay…” he smiled down at her, and as if on cue, her little grip relaxed.

He began to walk back toward the bed, but when the hoglet realized he wasn’t lying—and that he was staying—she stopped walking. Sonic turned around to find her standing there, holding her tiny paws up in the air.

“Pft~” Sonic laughed. "Of course," he muttered, crouching down to pick her up. “How could I forget?” he chuckled softly as she buried her face into his neck. “Man, kid, you really are a hugger, huh? Must’ve gotten that from me… definitely didn’t get it from—” Sonic cleared his throat. “Anyways, it’s way past bedtime.”

He finished by laying down on the bed, still holding her in his arms.

He’d meant to lay her beside him, but the hoglet had other plans. She wiggled her way comfortably onto his chest.

Oh well, it wasn’t like she was heavy.

Relief at finally laying down washed over him, the weight of the day dawning on him again as he pulled up the blanket to cover the two of them.

Right — the two of them…

Now, in the quiet darkness of the room, moonlight giving just enough light to see the little face in front of him, the gravity of the situation hit him.

He had a daughter.

He was… well, he was a father, in a way… no, not in a way — looking at her, it was clear as day she shared his DNA. That made him a dad, right?

Sonic would have never believed in a million years he’d be here — not that he hated kids! He loved Tails and Cream, even that little rascal Charmy. No, he’d always found kids fun to be around (even when they did get a little too in your space, asking a million questions and that godforsaken word… “why?” ). It’s just that Sonic could never imagine himself having a kid. He was a free spirit — one day here, next day over there — that wasn’t really a “kid-friendly” environment. Not to mention, he’d never imagined being in a relationship! So yeah, having his own kid was never in the cards.

Till today.

Sonic looked down at her. She was snuggling into him, lashes resting softly on her cheeks, a slight bit of drool slipping from her open lips.

Ew.

He smiled.

Raising a hand, he began to pet down her quills, feeling her shift closer, letting out a soft purr.

Sonic couldn’t help it — he began to purr as well, a deep rumble coming from within him, the hoglet responding with a nuzzle.

Damn it.

What had he gotten himself into?

Find her a new home … He hated it when Shadow mentioned it. It made sense, though.

Sonic was not made to be a dad, right?

But she was his. His daughter. She was supposed to be with him.

It scared him how much he felt the need to keep her close. He’d heard that Mobians have strong instincts, especially when it comes to family — he’d never denied them before with Tails and the others, so why should he now?

And what about her? She seemed to trust him so much.

Did she know? Were her instincts telling her he was her father? That he was safe? That she belonged with him?

Would it absolutely crush her when he gave her up?

Sonic felt something twist in his gut, just imagining the look of betrayal her tiny face would give him the moment he said goodbye…

He — he couldn’t do that.

Yes, he was not prime father material — hell, he’d woken up at 1 p.m. today, ate a bag of Skittles for breakfast, gave the neighboring town a couple laps before settling down to play video games and nap before the mission — but he had to try, right?

He probably should give her up…

But he couldn’t.

Sonic hugged her tighter to himself.

He wouldn’t.

Chapter Text

I wanted to draw this scene because it was stuck in my head (had to draw the shirt). I'm working on Chapter 2 but for now I wanted to share this!

Chapter Text

It was warm. All her life, she felt cold, but this place… it was warm. She liked warm.
Warm was comfortable.
Warm was safe.
And the warmest of all was him…
The Blue man.

He was there with the red and black one… so much happened… It felt like forever since she had last seen someone else — anyone else. Not that she had good memories of the people before.
The people who looked different from her.
But those two… they looked just like her. Not just that, but something about them felt familiar.
Safe.
Everything told her she could trust them, and the Blue one — he did everything to prove that feeling right.
The beings from long ago didn’t feel safe. They never did what he did…
Talk to her softly, pat her, hold her… even that thing he did last night, when he was licking at her head.
She should feel scared — this man was new… he shouldn’t feel safe.
But he did.

The black and red one did too, but he was gone now. Where did he go? Why did he leave? Was he coming back? He should come back. He made the Blue one sad. She thinks… that’s not nice… he should come back and make him happy.
Until then, it’s her job to make the Blue man happy, right?
Right!

Opening her eyes, the hoglet took in the golden hue of the room…
The bright light made her eyes feel fuzzy. She blinked, rubbing them with a tiny fist, reaching her other hand out and felt… empty.
Snapping her eyes open, she saw that she was the only one in bed, crumpled sheets around her.
Where was he?
She turned her head, looking around. Big bed, soft blankets, a few pillows, but no Blue man.
He was gone.
He was warm. He was safe. And now he was gone?
Just like the red and black one…

Her small chest felt tight. Her eyes started to sting. No, no, no. He wasn’t supposed to leave! He said he would stay! He—
She sniffed. That’s weird.
Sniff sniff.
Something smelled different. It was unfamiliar, but made her tummy growl. Was it… food? Her nose twitched. She turned her head again, ears flicking.

“C’mon, flip already… stupid pancake…”

There! A sound! A voice!
It was him.
She sat up, tiny quills poking up in every direction. She wasn’t alone. He was still here. He was talking to someone — pancake?
She let out a tiny squeak, hugging the blanket close. The Blue man was still here.
She slid off the bed, tiny feet padding toward the kitchen. She needed to see him. She needed his warmth.
She tiptoed to the doorway, peeking around the corner, big green eyes blinking. She remembered being here last night, but it looked a bit different now. There was bright golden light in here too — from the window and a funny square on the wall that hummed warm air.

And there he was.
The Blue man. Her Blue man.
He was standing in front of the thing he told her got hot last night, holding something flat in his hand. He poked at a round yellow circle that sizzled and smoked, not noticing her yet. She saw his ears wiggle as he muttered.

“How does Amy make this look so easy? Flip, flip— whoa!”

He flipped the yellow circle up — “wait!” It landed halfway on the flat thing, the other half falling down onto the floor with a splat. She giggled softly while he made a funny sound.
That he heard.

He turned around, eyes wide.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” he said, voice scratchy but nice. “You’re up, huh? Smell that? Making us some pancakes kid.”

Pancakes?
She didn’t know that word, but the smell was nice.
She squeaked again, feet bouncing a little. He was still here. Her Blue man was still here!
She wanted to go to him. She wanted up. Running to him, she held her paws up, just like the night before.
He laughed, putting the flat thing down and wiping his hands.

“Alright, alright — I got you, little hug monster.”

And his warmth was back.
She took a moment to savor it, feeling him chuckle. She liked the rumbling feeling he made when he laughed.
Her Blue man eventually shifted her, placing her so she sat on his hip, holding onto her with one hand, the other going back to the flat thing.
What was it? She wanted to touch it too…
The hoglet reached down but quickly her Blue man moved her away.

“Nu-uh, nope. Sorry, kid, but that’s hot.”

She felt herself frown. Why was he saying that? He’d done everything else she wanted so far. Why was this any different?
Deciding to ignore his warning, the hoglet leaned forward fast. She wanted to touch it too — but instantly felt the sting of the steam coming off the flat thing, yelping and pulling her hand back fast.
Scratch that. Listen when her Blue man says no.
Quickly he moved to check her paw, rubbing it when he saw she wasn’t hurt, just startled.

“You’re okay, see what I mean? It’s hot right now,” he said.
She liked warm.
She did not like hot.

Sonic was struggling to flip the pancake and hold his little onlooker at the same time when Tails came yawning into the kitchen, waking up fully when he noticed his brother cooking.
His brother never cooked — unless they wanted the kitchen to burn down.

“Uh… good morning, Sonic,” he started cautiously.

“Morning, Tails. Could you do me a favor and grab this little cling bug and sit her at the table? It’s kinda hard to multitask here…” his brother chuckled, checking the other side of a pancake to make sure it wasn’t burnt.

“Uh, yeah,” the fox said, noticing the table was actually cleaned off.
Wild.

“How come you don’t just set her down?” Tails laughed, walking toward the pair — not missing the look the little hoglet gave him.
Oops.

 She didn’t quite know what she thought of the fox yet.
On one hand, he’d been nice and gentle with her. On the other, he just told her Blue man to set her down .
Watching him approach, she curled a bit more into the older hedgehog’s grasp.
Noticing this, Sonic tried to reassure her. “Hey now, you know Tails — he’s my little brother,” he smiled. “He’s not gonna bite!” He laughed, turning to Tails. “Though I can’t really say the same for her yet… she seems to be a bit more mischievous than she looks.”

Tails chuckled. “Well, she’d have to be, with her DNA code.”

The hoglet looked back and forth between the two. Her Blue said the fox was his brother? He did seem to trust him… and treated him kind of like how he treated her. So, if he could trust the fox, why shouldn’t she?

Making up her mind, the hoglet decided to reach out to the fox, taking him aback.
Summoning up his courage, Tails inched forward, doing his best to hold steady as she latched onto him.
She was surprisingly light — and warm.

The hoglet could say the same. This fox was warm — not as warm as her Blue man, but warm in his own way. He also smelled a lot like her Blue man, plus something else… something weird, and like the toothpaste stuff that was put on her teeth last night.
She decided she liked the fox’s smell.

Tails felt his cheeks heat up as he watched the girl sniff him and then lean her head on his shoulder.
He walked her over to the table, where she reluctantly let go to sit on the chair. He laughed when he saw her face barely reach the table.
Man, he did not miss those days.

“Wait here a moment,” he said. “Uh, try not to fall,” he added before running out of the kitchen, leaving behind a confused hoglet — Sonic too absorbed in his task to notice his brother sprinting out of the room.

When he came back, he was holding some pillows.
“Here, stand up a bit,” he said, helping her balance while sliding the cushions under her. “There you go!” he finished, helping her sit back down on her throne of pillows, making sure she was stable before plopping into his own seat beside her.

Sonic walked over to them and gave a low whistle. “Look at that kid! Best seat in the house!” he smiled.
She smiled back at him, swinging her feet happily as he came closer.

Sonic set down some plates, one of them full of slightly lopsided pancakes (that were miraculously golden and not charcoal) and a bottle of syrup right in the middle of the table.
He wore a proud grin, hands on his hips.

Tails leaned over the stack, sniffed, raising an eyebrow.
“Huh. These actually look… edible.” He poked at one with his fork. “They’re not burnt even a little bit. I’m kinda impressed.”

Sonic puffed up his chest. “Hey, I can cook when I wanna. Just don’t—” he paused, scratching the back of his head, “—just don’t look in the trash, ok? And, uh… we might be running a bit low on pancake flour now.”

Tails snorted. “Figures. Well, they smell good at least.”

The little hoglet didn’t really understand what they were saying — but she did know the smell in front of her was making her tummy rumble. She leaned forward on her pillow throne, nose twitching at the golden circles on her plate.
She poked one with her finger. Warm. Soft. Yummy-smelling.
She liked it already.

Sonic sat down across from her, grabbing the syrup bottle. “Alright kiddo, ready to try your first pancake?” He drizzled a big swirl over her small stack, careful not to drown it — remembering what happened the time they let Cream eat too much cake… he’s not against sugar, but he’d rather not repeat that again… ever. Small bodies have limits.

Tails added a decent swirl to his own plate, taking a bite and nodding. “These are pretty good, Sonic!”

The hoglet didn’t know what pretty good meant for pancakes. She did know she wanted to eat it now. She looked at Sonic expectantly, mouth slightly open, tiny fangs poking out.

Sonic laughed, grabbing a fork. “Okay, okay — hang on, kid. Let’s cut it up first before you go feral, alright?”

He couldn’t help but smile as he watched her reaction biting into it, that warm feeling blooming again.
The hoglet decided pancakes were good. Very good.
Warm, soft, and sweet. She made little hums and squeaks of delight every time her Blue man gave her another bite.

_

After breakfast, Tails offered to wash the dishes — it was the least he could do since Sonic had woken up way earlier than he usually does to make them breakfast.
And Chaos knows how long it took him to make it edible.

Which left Sonic where he was now: pacing around the living room. Why? No real reason. He was fine! Everything was fine! Him, nervous? Of course not!
Only… any moment now the others would arrive and find out: “Surprise! Turns out I have a kid now! What do ya think? Pretty cool, eh? What do you mean I can’t handle a kid? She’s doing just fine, thank you very much!”
Yep.
Nothing at all to be nervous about.
Especially not about how Amy or Knuckles would react. Not at all!

He was completely fine! The couch looks a little rough though, he should fix that. And maybe dust off… well — everything.
As Sonic moved around the room, fixing whatever he could just to keep his hands busy, he failed to notice his little mini-me trailing after him, copying him as best she could.

He’d fluff up a pillow and set it down — she’d come up right after and use her whole body to shake the thing before setting it back where he’d left it — granted, a bit more crooked.
This went on for a good ten minutes until Tails came back in, laughing at the sight of the two.

“Sonic, what are you doing?” he asked between chuckles.

“Oh — erm…” He searched for an answer. “Nothing much, just… admiring this picture,” he said, turning toward a framed painting Amy swore would add to the room, giving it a fake contemplative look “It’s just… very… abstract?” Honestly, he didn’t understand it all. He just bought it to please her (and to get out of that store faster).

Sonic felt his fake staring slip as he heard his brother laugh from the other side of the room. He glanced over to see Tails trying to hold in another round, motioning for him to look down.

Curious, Sonic dropped his eyes — and found the little hoglet standing right next to him, arms crossed with a finger on her chin, wearing the exact same thoughtful face Sonic had just been making. The little thing was so focused, she didn’t notice him staring until he started to laugh as well.

Startled out of her trance, she did a tiny hop and looked up to meet his eyes — a wide grin spreading across her face to match his.

“Hey, kid, what are you doing?” he asked, grinning as she just kept smiling back. “Have you been following me around copying me?”
She shrugged.
“Did ya help me clean, or…?” He turned, spotting the trail of slanted pillows and crooked items behind them.
Well, that answered that.

“Huh… Good job, kiddo,” he said, watching as the hoglet’s smile stretched wider, her little body unable to stand still as she stomped her feet happily.

The moment was interrupted by a doorbell.
Sonic wasn’t nervous. Well… maybe he was, because for a second he felt his stomach drop.
‘ Here goes nothing.’

Tails could practically feel the nerves rolling off his brother. He couldn’t blame him though — his own were going haywire too.

“Hey, Tails,” Sonic said. The fox looked over. “Could you do me a favor and take her to another room? Just keep her distracted for a bit…”

“Sonic, are you sure? I could help you,” Tails asked, walking closer.

“I know, I just gotta — just give me a moment…”

He must have been showing his frustration on his face, because Sonic quickly added, “It’s not that I don’t think you can help— hell, you’d probably do way better explaining this than me! I just… I don’t want to startle the kid. And I trust you to keep an eye on her while I try to prepare those two for the news, heh…” He let out a nervous chuckle.

The fox relaxed a little. Honestly, that was fair. Knowing Amy and Knuckles, walking in to see a tiny Sonic Jr. was definitely going to get a reaction.
And with the hoglet’s background… who knew how she’d handle it if things got loud fast.

The doorbell rang again.

“Alright. But if you need me, shout, okay?”

Sonic gave him a thumbs-up. “You got it, bud!”

Grabbing the hoglet’s paw, Tails started leading her down the hall, not missing the confused glances she shot back and forth between them.
He couldn’t help the small burst of pride when he realized that, even though she was hesitant to walk away from Sonic, she still held onto his hand and followed him without protest.

She really did trust him.
Was this how Sonic felt, back when they were younger, when Tails first started following him around everywhere — having someone smaller choose to trust you, no questions asked?

He could get used to this.

Entering his room, Tails didn’t miss the hoglet's awe as she took in the collection of things.
He tried to keep his room clean, but honestly, it was hard with all his tech, gadgets, tools, and little knick-knacks scattered around.

He debated switching to Sonic’s room instead, but before he could decide on it, the hoglet let go of his hand and darted toward his monitor.

“Hey, be careful!”

She stood there, wide-eyed, staring at the screen. Looking up at it himself, Tails noticed the paused frame from earlier that morning.

“Oh — some nights I like to watch my favorite show to fall asleep,” the fox said with a shrug.

The girl tilted her head curiously.

“Well… it’s this cartoon about a kit who wants to be a superhero. But because of something that happened when he was a baby, a lot of people don’t really like him. He also starts off pretty weak — but that’s what’s so great about it! We find out he actually has this hidden power, and despite everything, he makes friends and gets stronger, defeating a lot of bad guys and stuff.

“I’m a couple seasons in, but even from the start the story’s just amazing. I even have some of the comics and—” He paused, noticing the blank stare. “...and you have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

The hoglet just blinked at him.

“Right… you probably haven’t even seen a TV before. Much less a cartoon…” Tails trailed off, a little bashful.

Wait a minute.
She’s never seen any pop culture — no shows, no games, no books.
She was a fresh slate.

“I could make you a little mini-me…” he whispered in realization.

The hoglet scrunched her face in confusion.

Finally — someone else who would appreciate fine media.
Someone to share his favorite shows with. Someone who wouldn’t just stare blankly or try to change the subject every time he went on a ramble.

He could not let this opportunity go.

“Hey,” he said, smirking mischievously, “how about I introduce you to the wonders of cartoons?”

The hoglet mirrored his smirk — innocently — and gave him an eager nod.

“Great!” he grinned, clapping his hands. He scooped her up and sat her beside him on the bed, hitting the back button on his keyboard to scroll all the way back to episode one.

He watched as her eyes widened, completely enthralled by the moving images.
Both of them so absorbed in the show, they didn’t  hear Amy’s voice boom from the living room:

“WHAT?!”

_ 

Quite frankly, she was reacting a lot better than he thought she would.

“Sonic, what do you mean you have a daughter now?” Amy stressed.

Knuckles was sitting on the couch, deep in thought, still trying to wrap his head around everything. Amy, on the other hand, had questions.

Sonic sighed. “It’s like I said, Ames. When we went down the hidden spooky hallway and she was there — in a stasis tube. One moment we’re rescuing some random kid, and the next, Tails’ scanner tells us she’s my kid. And once you see her, you’ll wonder why it wasn’t obvious from the start, really we should have suspected something sooner...” he trailed off.

“Okay, okay, I get that, but still… what? ” Amy repeated, clearly overwhelmed. “An actual kid?”

“Yep.”

“A kid made with Shadow’s — your rival’s — and your DNA?”

“Pretty much.”

Sonic watched as the pink hedgehog let out a few exasperated squeals, clearly trying to formulate more questions but unable to find the words. Finally, she let out a dramatic sigh and flopped back onto the couch beside Knuckles.

The echidna had just one question:
“So… neither of you got pregnant?”

“No, Knuckles,” Sonic groaned, rolling his eyes. Amy pinched the bridge of her nose.

“And this isn’t some weird prank, right?” she added. “Because even for you, this is a bit much.”

“Nope. No joke, no prank. Just the hard truth of my newly discovered fatherhood.”

Amy squinted at him. “About that—”

Sonic shot her a look. “ ‘about that’? ” he asked, trying — and failing — to sound anything but defensive.

“Sonic…” she started.
“No, Amy, don’t… you can’t—” he cut in, Shadow’s words from yesterday echoing in his head.

They repeated over and over.

And it was reasonable. He knew it.

So of course Amy would probably agree… but he couldn’t—
Not from her.
Not from Knuckles.

He knew what the reasonable answer was.
But he refused.

“You can’t just— It’ll be fine! I mean, I basically took care of Tails, and he’s fine!”

“Sonic,” she said firmly, “this is not the same, and you know it!”

“How so?”

“You were both kids! That’s completely different. I know you went through a lot to take care of him. It should’ve never been your responsibility to look after each other so young, but you did, and sure it turned out fine. But this is different, Sonic. This isn’t about two kids stumbling around together figuring it out as they go. You're the adult now. And she’s the kid.”

“I know—”

“She’s your responsibility. She’s going to look up to you for everything. Not just to keep her safe and fed, but for guidance. Shelter. You have to think about her wants and needs. Doctors’ appointments? Your responsibility. School, bedtime, diet, teaching her right from wrong — that’s all you.

You’re an adult now, Sonic. You can’t just stumble your way through this and hope for the best. Not like before. She’s not your sidekick. Not your brother either. She’s your daughter. ”

Sonic knew she was right.
It didn’t make it any less frustrating.

“I—” he started, but faltered. “I know all that… but still… I can’t just leave her. ”

He hated this.

He wanted to be mad at Amy.
He wanted to be mad at her for pointing it out. At Knuckles for just sitting there.

At Shadow, for leaving.

He wanted to be mad.

But instead… he was just scared.

Sonic. Scared. Now that’s a thought.

He felt Amy’s hand on his shoulder. When he looked up, she was smiling gently.

“Who’s telling you to leave her?”

“What?” he blinked, dumbfounded.

“I’m not saying you should give her up, Sonic.”

She sat beside him.

“Listen, I know you. Sure, you’re loud, carefree, and immature at times… but you’re nothing if not caring. Especially when it comes to people you love.”

She sighed.

“Most people don’t see that side of you unless they really get to know you. But I do know you, Sonic. You took in Tails when you were just a kid yourself. You keep giving people second chances — over and over again. Just look at Knuckles. And me. Even Shadow — you still give him chances…”

At this, Knuckles muttered from the couch, “As if he’ll ever get his head outta his ass—”

“The point is,” Amy cut in, “I’m not telling you all this to scare you or say you’re not right for this. I’d never even think about telling you to get rid of her. You’re not that kind of person.”

She smiled at him, and Sonic felt a wave of relief crash over him.

She didn’t think he should give her away.
It hadn’t even crossed her mind, he’d just assumed.

“What I’m trying to say,” she continued, “is that this is going to be different. It won’t be easy. And I know you hate admitting when things get hard — but it will get hard.

I wasn’t saying ‘about that’ to tell you you can’t do it. I just wanted to make sure you knew… you’re not alone.

And when things do get hard — you have us, Sonic.”

She smiled again.

Huh.
For real?

He must’ve said that out loud, because Amy gave him a knowing smirk and Knuckles clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“Of course you have us! You think I’m gonna let my niece be trained by you ?” he scoffed. “Someone with no discipline? Nope. Not happening.”

He laughed.

“Knuckles, she’s four,” Amy reminded.

“So?”

“So, you better not try and put that child through gruesome training! ”

“Hey, starting young is the best way to raise a warrior! Builds confidence, skills—”

Sonic just watched as the two of them bickered — already arguing over a child they haven’t even met yet.

And again, he felt that warmth bloom in his chest.

“Anyways, Sonic… this isn’t your way of telling us something’s going on between you and Shadow, right?”

Warm feeling: gone.

“ WHAT?! ” Amy shouted, spinning toward the blue hedgehog with a look that was equal parts betrayal and intrigue.

“Knuckles, no ,” Sonic replied flatly.

He did not need that idea floating around the universe.

“I’m just making sure,” the echidna shrugged. “It’s a little strange they used both of your DNA out of millions of other Mobians. For all we know, you two had a secret love child, kept her hidden, and are just now deciding to come clean—”

“That’s crazy talk—r-right, Sonic?!” Amy cut in, shoving Knuckles’ face aside.

“Hey—!”

“There’s nothing going on between me and Shadow!” Sonic snapped, irritation creeping in. “If anything, I’m pissed at him right now! He’s just—he’s just— urgh! ”

Both Knuckles and Amy gave him a look.

Oh, for Pete’s sake.

“There’s nothing going on!”

They didn’t look convinced.

“Uh huh…” Knuckles said, clearly baiting him.

“You know what? I’m not talking about this anymore,” Sonic grumbled, slumping back into the couch.

“Wait,” Amy whispered to Knuckles, “they’re always fighting, though… how would that have even worked?”

To this, Knuckles whispered back, “Well, Rouge once told me something about hate se—”

“ ALRIGHT! ” Sonic jumped up. “How about you guys actually meet the kid?” he offered, desperate to change the horrifying direction this conversation was going.

At that, both perked up, Amy clapping her hands in delight.

Grateful for the distraction, Sonic called out to Tails that the two could join them in the living room.

It took a few minutes before his brother rounded the corner.
“Sorry, Sonic,” Tails started. “It was kinda hard prying her away…”

“Oh? What were you two doing?”

“Indoctrination~” the fox chimed with a proud smile.

“Wha—” Sonic started, but before he could ask, Amy let out a delighted squeal beside him.

The now pouty hoglet had also entered the room, only to quickly abandon her sulking and run behind Sonic as Amy began to gush.

“Oh my goodness, look at that sweet little thing!” she squealed. “Sonic, she looks just like you! But those patterns—ugh, they’re so cute on her! I can’t believe you guys didn’t realize it sooner—she’s like the perfect mix of you two!”

Sonic glanced down and saw the hoglet peeking out from behind his leg, eyes wide with fascination as she watched Amy.

“She’s right,” Knuckles added. “Even I can tell that tiny creature is you and Shadow’s spawn.”

“That being said,” he continued, puffing out his chest, “from the size of her, I know the perfect starting course for training! Just need to fix it up a bit... After that, Sonic, I require your spawn for at least a couple hours a week.”

He turned to the curious hoglet with a thumbs up.
“Don’t worry, kid. Uncle Knuckles will make sure you reach your full potential as a warrior!”

“And Auntie Amy will make sure he does no such thing, especially while you’re still so small!” Amy snapped back, shooting a ‘you better not’ glare to the echidna.

Knuckles met her with a squint that said ‘watch me.’

Sonic could only laugh at the scene unfolding in front of him. Amy and Knuckles were now bickering over who knows best for the kid, Tails joining in the fray after Knuckles claimed to become the favorite uncle.

The blue hero felt the hoglet inch out from behind him, still holding his leg as she stood beside him, watching the chaos with wide, curious eyes.

“Yep,” he said, smirking down at her, “they’re pretty rowdy. We all are, honestly. But don’t worry—they’re good people. Amazing, in fact. I know you’ll come to love them just as much as I do.”

He could see the little gears turning in her head.

She gave him a small nod and turned her attention back toward the group, pointing directly at Amy.

Noticing this, Amy immediately pushed the boys aside, giving the girl her full attention.
“Hi there!” she cooed. “Sorry if I startled you earlier—you were just too cute, I couldn’t help myself.” Her tone softened, becoming more warm and welcoming than overexcited.

Sonic felt the familiar tug on his leg. Looking down, he saw the hoglet still pointing at Amy, eyes flicking between him and her with a curious expression.

“Oh?”
“Hey, kid, do you want to go to Amy?”
She nodded.

“Well, Ames, what do you say?”
“Of course ! You don’t even need to ask,” Amy said with a bright smile, already kneeling down to the hoglet’s level.

They watched as the girl inched slowly toward Amy, eyes wide in wonder as she reached out and gently placed her paw on Amy’s arm.

“I think she likes your fur color,” Tails noted.

“Is that true?” Amy asked, a light blush rising on her cheeks. The hoglet nodded.
“Aww, thank you! I love your fur colors, too. You’re so pretty~”

Sonic watched her beam, then without hesitation, the hoglet latched onto Amy’s neck, snuggling into her affectionately.

Amy looked moments away from tears.

Slowly, she stood up, lifting the hoglet with her, the girl happily playing with Amy’s pink quills.

“Sonic,” she said.
“Hm?”
“I’d die for her,” she stated flatly. “And now I’m also mad at Shadow, because how can you look at her and think, ‘Alright, guess I’ll just leave now’? The nerve of that guy!”

“Yeah,” Knuckles added with a huff. “Shame on him.”

“Who needs him anyway?” Tails chimed in. “All he’d do is teach her how to be an edgelord.”

The others laughed at that, Sonic included. It still stung… but less so with all of them here.

“Oh! By the way, Sonic,” Amy asked suddenly, “have you given this cutie a name yet?”

…

Oops.

He’d just been calling her “kid”… Honestly, he’d kind of forgotten she didn’t already have a name. But now that he thought about it, yeah, that was probably his job.

“Sonic?” Amy prompted again.

“Uh…” He turned to Tails for backup, but the fox just shrugged.

“Well, she’s tiny…” Sonic began.

“Sonic, you cannot name her Tiny,” Amy deadpanned.

“I agree,” Knuckles nodded. “She needs a good, strong name.”

“I know that, just give me a second…” He hummed thoughtfully. “She’s tiny… like a little bean…”

He whispered that last part, glancing down at the girl to see if anything clicked.

His eyes drifted to the logo on her shirt.

“…Chili?” he said aloud.

Everyone stared at him.

Yes, that could work, he loved chili! And also… she was basically his tiny little bean. His own little chili bean!

“Sonic, I saw that smirk—” Tails began, but it was already too late.

“I’ve decided!” Sonic grinned. “She’s my little Chili Bean! ”

Silence fell for half a second before Knuckles groaned loudly.

“Sonic, nooooo! You can’t—you can’t name your kid Chili Bean!”

“Why not?”

“Sonic, please—” Tails tried to argue.

“Let’s ask her! ” Sonic insisted, walking over to Amy and the hoglet.
“Hey kiddo, what do you think about being called Chili Bean? Do you like it?”

The hoglet looked confused, but he could tell—his smile was winning her over.
It’s not like she knew he was naming her after a food item .

She nodded eagerly.

“Welp! That settles it!” Sonic declared triumphantly, lifting the hoglet out of Amy’s reluctant arms.
“My little Chili Bean~! ” he sang, twirling her gently in the air as she squeaked with joy.

The squeaking Chili Bean.

“B-but—” Amy stammered.

“Dude…” Knuckles shook his head in disbelief.

Even Tails groaned softly, clearly wanting Sonic to reconsider .

But their pleas fell on deaf ears. Sonic was too busy spinning his newly named daughter around, proudly singing her nickname while she squealed with delight—blissfully unaware of what just transpired. 

Amy sighed, watching them with an exhausted smile.

“They’re going to need our help more than I thought…”

Chapter Text

The day was hectic, to say the least. By the time everyone finally admitted it was late and decided to head home (despite Amy’s desperate pleas to stay with Chili Bean), the clock was edging toward 10 p.m.

Sonic had to gently pry a yawning Chili Bean from Knuckles’ arms. The echidna had been carrying her around like a sack of potatoes for the past hour, the small hoglet apparently finding it hilarious and refusing to let him put her down—scrunching her feet up whenever he tried to set her down. Unsure how to say no to the child, Knuckles just left her dangling off his arm. Eventually, he seemed to forget she was even there, the hoglet giggling as she stretched her little arms out to grab random things while he wandered around.

Once Chili Bean was in Sonic’s hold, she let out a content sigh and snuggled into his chest, slowly drifting off. He carried her to the door so she could wave a tiny hand goodbye to Amy and Knuckles before her eyes slid shut for good.

After wishing Tails goodnight—knowing full well his brother wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon—Sonic headed to his room, fighting every instinct in his body not to flop straight onto the bed, remembering the hoglet still in his hold. Gently, he laid her down and watched as she snuggled in.

Looking back over the day, it hadn’t been that hard really. He woke up, made breakfast, and—after his friends reassured him they’d always be there to help—spent the rest of the day just hanging out.

See?
Not too bad.
With his friends, he had this in the bag! And Chili Bean seemed like a good kid so far—fatherhood was going to be a breeze.

At least, that’s what he thought… until he woke up to small pats on his face and chirping sounds.

Forcing his eyes open a bit, he squinted at the alarm clock.

5:20 a.m.

What the hell?! Why was this kid up so early?

“Chili Bean… go back to sleep…” he groaned, trying to shut his eyes again. She responded with a louder, more excited squeak, shaking him harder now that she knew he was awake.

Oops.
He probably shouldn’t have said anything.

Sonic tried to fake being asleep, but the hoglet kept up her smacks and shakes. Didn’t she sleep until like 9 a.m. the other day? Was that a fluke? Not to mention, they went to bed late! Well—late for her, anyway. Don’t little kids sleep a lot? Like, they’re always napping and stuff… right?

Chili Bean’s shaking grew more insistent, her face shifting from excited to downright annoyed.

“Please… Chili Bean… stoooop…” he begged. “Just… go find something to play with… I’ll be up in a minute…” His voice drifted off.

Instantly, she stopped.

Huh.
That worked?

It must have, because Sonic felt the bed shift and heard a small thump as she hopped down. Without a second thought, he rolled over, letting out a relieved sigh at the peace and quiet.

Finally—he could go back to sleep.

CRASH!

Sonic shot upright. NEVERMIND. In a panic, he bolted toward the noise.

There stood the hoglet, happily holding a banana she’d snatched from the cupboards. A cold shiver ran up his spines as he took in the rest of the scene.

Around the smiling child lay the remains of what used to be their porcelain dishes, some shattered mugs, a fallen stool, and half the contents of the snack cabinet scattered across the floor.

Sonic swooped in, lifting her out of the mess. “Holy—Chili Bean, are you okay?!”

She didn’t answer—too busy trying to chew through the banana peel, only to make a face at the bitter taste.

Sonic exhaled a long sigh of relief. She was fine. The kitchen… not so much. But at least she wasn’t hurt.

Giving up, the hoglet tapped the banana against his cheek, clearly asking him to open it for her.

Maybe… just maybe… this was going to be harder than he thought.

—

Knock Knock

The blue hedgehog heard knocking in the distance.
Must be coming from the front door… ‘ What time is it?’ he thought as he glanced at the clock on the wall.

9:35 a.m.

He had been up since, what, 5 a.m.? The early hours were mostly a blur.

Knock Knock

“Alright, I hear ya…” he huffed while sitting up, a pyramid of crumpled paper balls falling off his chest. The culprit of the pile held another paper wad in her hand, giggling as she watched the mess fall to the ground.

‘At least she’s amused,’ he thought. “How do you still have so much energy?” he asked as she latched onto him.

Carrying the hoglet to the door, he felt her begin to play with his ear, squishing it down just to giggle when it sprang back up.

At this point Sonic was too tired to care.

In fact, he was so tired he didn’t realize who was at the door until they spoke up.

“Hey, what can I do for ya?” he asked, staring off into the distance, the thumping of his ear getting pressed down becoming nothing more than background noise.

“Ahem. Good morning, Sonic,” came a polite voice.

“Vanilla? Cream?” Sonic blinked, clearly not expecting them. “Uh… what’re you two doing here?”

Okay, he wasn’t too tired to miss the look they gave him.

Vanilla took in the sight of Sonic. His quills were sticking out in several different directions, his eyes half-lidded, his smile more of a wobbly smirk. In his arms, the hoglet wriggled happily, patting at his ears, flattening them down and watching as they sprang right back up. She was still in that bright orange “Chili Dog” shirt Amy had described in horrified detail—though now it was accessorized with some fruit smears, faint streaks of marker, and maybe some crumbs. Sonic himself didn’t look much better.

“Amy called me,” Vanilla replied warmly, though her eyes flicked over him and the child with quiet amusement. “She thought you might need a few things.”

Sonic paused, then let out a short laugh. “Huh. Oh, that’s right… of course Amy thought to call you.”

“I apologize if it’s not much, most have already been donated. But I brought some of Cream’s old things and toys,” Vanilla continued, lifting the box. “And perhaps… a change of clothes for your little one.”

“Thanks, Vanilla,” Sonic said, stepping aside to let her in. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Think nothing of it,” she replied, stepping inside.

Sonic recoiled a bit, taking in his living room again… oh yeah… it was a bit of a mess.

“Yeah, um… sorry about all this,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “I promise it wasn’t like this earlier—ha ha…”

Pillows and couch cushions were everywhere. Papers littered the floor, some of them crumpled into balls while others were marked with colorful doodles. A few permanent streaks stained the table and floor where it looked like the hoglet had trouble keeping her “art” on the paper. A wet towel sat crumpled in a corner, soaking something up from the carpet, and socks were strewn around like a tornado had passed through—though strangely, only the socks had been affected.

Vanilla blinked.
This was clearly more than just a “messy hoglet” situation.

“Cream, darling, do you mind keeping an eye on the girl for a moment?” she asked gently.

Cream nodded eagerly, darting forward to meet the hoglet—who, to Sonic’s surprise after so much energy just a moment ago, suddenly seemed shy, hiding into him. After a little coaxing, Chili Bean finally climbed down from his arms, squeaking in surprise when Cream grabbed her hand and skipped off, probably to go bother Tails.

The moment they left, Sonic sank into the one cushion still on the couch.

“Sorry about the mess… for some reason she woke up at five today. Five! And I thought maybe if I tired her out, she’d go back to sleep. Nope. Didn’t work. If anything, she got more awake.”

Vanilla gave him a sympathetic look, nodding for him to continue.

“So we played ‘floor is lava,’ and when that didn’t work I tried building a fort—thought maybe she’d nap in it or something. But nope. Nothing. Then I figured, hey, maybe something calm like drawing would work. But the only stuff we had were pens and sharpies. Next thing I know, there’s marks everywhere! So I grab water and a sponge to clean it up, and she wants to ‘help’—turns out little kids can’t exactly carry bowls of water without spilling them, so yeah… And don’t even get me started on the sock situation.”

He slumped, rubbing his quills. “Sorry for ranting, but that all happened in just a few hours. Do kids normally do this?”

Vanilla’s expression softened, though her eyes still held a flicker of amusement.

“Mr. Sonic… this is perfectly normal. In fact, I’d say you’re getting off easy—she hasn’t tried to climb the fridge yet.”

Sonic groaned. “Don’t give her ideas…”

Vanilla chuckled, setting the box of Cream’s old things on the floor and calmly started gathering up scattered pillows.

Sonic blinked. “Uh—hey, you don’t have to do that.” He jumped up to follow her. “Seriously, it’s my mess, I can clean it. Or—at least let me help—”

She raised a firm but kind hand, somehow that froze him mid-step. “Sit down, dear. I’ve done this before. You look like you haven’t had a moment to breathe.”

“But—”

“No buts.” She placed the missing cushion back onto the couch, tapping on it for him to sit back down. “It isn’t easy being a single parent to a young child. Sleep becomes something of a myth. And when you do get them to sleep, you spend the whole time catching up on everything else you’ve been putting off. You don’t even realize they’re up again by the time you are ready to rest yourself, awake and waiting for the next fun thing.”

Sonic watched her, still a bit embarrassed but… also relieved. “Guess I didn’t think it’d get this rough so soon. Yesterday she was all sweet and quiet…”

“They all start that way,” Vanilla said knowingly. “At her age, they’re learning how far they can push boundaries—yours, and the world’s. Cream, when she was her age, once tried stacking chairs to reach the cookie jar. The chairs fell, the jar broke, and I had a very smug toddler telling me she almost made it.”

Sonic couldn’t help but laugh. “Chili Bean also decided to do a bit of kitchen demolition herself this morning—for a banana, though.”

“Mm, it’s all part of growing up.” Vanilla brushed crumbs into her palm. “You’ll find she’s testing you as much as she’s testing herself. It’s exhausting, yes—but it’s also when you’ll start seeing the most of who she’s becoming.”

Sonic couldn’t help but smile.
Really, this was something he needed to hear after the morning they had. He’d only had her for a little over 24 hours, and already all of this had happened—he was beginning to have doubts.

Before he could thank her though, the two were greeted by thumping down the hall, with giggling girls holding markers racing toward them.

Behind them was an exasperated Tails. Sonic couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of his brother.

The two had apparently drawn all over the poor fox’s face—Cream drawing a few flowers and hearts, and Chili Bean just scribbling at random.

“LOOK WHAT THEY DID TO ME!” he yelled, stopping when he saw the living room. “WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LIVING ROOM?!—WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU ?!” he demanded, glancing back at Sonic.

Sonic couldn’t help it. He laughed out loud.
Somehow, this woke him up.

—

Vanilla and Cream were over for about two hours, helping with the cleanup and even staying for a bit of breakfast—a breakfast where Vanilla showed Sonic the trick of adding a browning banana into pancake batter. The hoglet responded by looking at Vanilla as if she hung the moon and stars.

It had been an hour since the pair had wished them farewell, and Sonic was now looking down at his phone.

“Intro to Sign Language!”

He remembered what Vanilla recommended before heading out…

“Sonic, if I may recommend something, I see she’s having a bit of trouble with speech.”

 “Y-yeah, we’re planning on working on that once things settle. Amy thinks we should also find a specialist…”

 “That would be wise. But for now, I think you should look into sign language.”

 “Sign language?”

 “Yes. When Cream was smaller, I taught her some basic signs. It really helped me understand when she needed something—like if she was hungry, hurt, or tired. I noticed the poor thing got frustrated when she wanted more milk… It could also be why she acts out. If she can’t communicate, she’ll find a way to make you understand—even if it’s by doing something she shouldn’t.”

 “Huh…” he’d started, drifting off. “I—I didn’t think about that.”

How come he didn’t think about that?

She’d smiled at him. “It’s alright. You’re doing great, by the way. She looks happy.”

“Thanks, Vanilla. I’ll make sure to look into it as soon as I can.”

So that’s where Sonic was now—staring at a sign language book online. The same-day shipping fee looking less than appealing, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
With a sigh, he clicked purchase.

His eyes drifted over to the hoglet sitting with Tails. She was finally out of his Chili Dog T-shirt and into a yellow dress decorated with orange slice prints. Her quills were still a bit messy, but at least she was clean—every sticky smear and crusted bit wiped from her face.

Sonic leaned against the couch, watching as his brother tried his best to teach the hoglet how to play with her new doll. It was obvious Tails had no idea what he was doing, fumbling through awkward movements, but she didn’t seem to care. She giggled every time he gave the doll a silly voice, something about betrayal and revenge?
Eh. It’s probably fine. When has mixing teenage humor with an impressionable child ever gone wrong?

All Sonic cared about right now was that she was cleaned up.
Well—her and the house.
Everything was finally in order again.

Everything except him.

“Ugh, I smell like I rolled into a dumpster, then got thrown into a barn, and dragged out through manure…” Sonic groaned, fanning himself.

“Trust me,” Tails snorted, “you look like it too. When was the last time you showered?”

“Uhh…” Sonic thought, “when did we find Chili Bean again?”

“A little over a day ago.”

“So… like three days?”

“SONIC?!” Tails yelped, horrified. “That’s disgusting!”

“Hey, you try taking a shower with a hoglet glued to you! I can’t leave her alone for ten minutes without something breaking,” Sonic defended.

Tails faltered, then rubbed the back of his head. “Okay, fair point… but wait—why don’t I just watch her while you shower?”

Sonic blinked at him. “Really? You don’t have to—”

“Of course I will! I promised I’d help out. And as the uncle who literally lives here, it’s the least I can do.” Tails smirked. “Besides, you REALLY need that shower.”

Sonic gave his brother a grateful grin. “Thanks, bud.”

Once inside his room though, he heard the sound of the two racing down the hallway. Instead of stopping at his door like he expected, they ran straight into Tails’ room.

He could faintly make out, “Okay, ready for the next episode?”

Sonic frowned. “…Hey bud, did you say something?” he called from the bathroom.

“Nothing! Just take your shower!” the fox shouted back. “Oh—and go ahead and take a nap if you need to!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

Huh.
Weird.
Oh well, It should be fine.

—

Sonic woke up to the sound of the doorbell.

Glancing at the clock, he realized he’d been asleep for four hours. For the second time that day, Sonic shot out of bed in a panic—only to remember that Tails was on hoglet duty.

He sighed in relief and tiptoed down the hall. Peeking into his brother’s room, he found Chili Bean bouncing on the bed, happily watching Tails play a video game. The fox was narrating every move explaining how the mechanics worked, both totally absorbed. Neither of them noticed Sonic slip by.

Another knock at the door made him dash down the hallway, skidding to a stop. He opened it to find a mailman holding a small package. After a quick signature, Sonic was back inside and tearing it open.

“C’mon…” he groaned.
The book was way bigger than he’d hoped. And this was only volume one?!
“Well. Might as well get started…”

He had been reading for about an hour when Tails and the hoglet came tumbling out of the bedroom.

“Oh!” Tails blinked. “Didn’t realize you were awake. We were just heading to the kitchen for a snack.”

Chili Bean spotted Sonic instantly. Excited, she darted over and scrambled into his lap with his help, pressing herself against him.

“How about I order us some dinner instead?” Sonic suggested, ruffling her quills. “An apology for leaving you to handle lunch.”

“I mean, I kinda just gave her a grilled cheese and chips…” Tails admitted, scratching the back of his head. “But if you order from that pizza place, ask for the mints!”

“Sure, no problem.” Sonic was already pulling up the delivery app.

“Anyways, I should probably get back to work," the fox whined, “I still have to scrub through all the files Knuckles and Amy found, honestly it’s all useless so far, and who knows when or if we’ll get anything from Sha-” the fox quickly shut up. 

“It’s fine, Tails… but yeah, I guess we're kinda stuck until they find anything.” Sonic shrugged, giving his brother a reassuring smile.

Tails nodded and shuffled back to his room.

Once the order was placed, Sonic glanced down at Chili Bean, who was flipping curiously through the enormous book in his lap.

“Oh, this?” he started. “It’s a book I got to help us communicate better.”

The hoglet blinked up at him, tilting her head curiously.

“I mean, it’s gotta be frustrating when you want something and it takes me literally forever to figure it out. With this, I’ll understand you quicker. At least, that’s the goal.”

She looked back down at the book, tiny fingers tracing the page.

Right. He was gonna have to be the one to teach her. The book might show him what to do, but it was up to him to make it simple enough for her. Great.
Here goes nothing.

“Okay, let me show you an example,” he said, gently turning her toward him. “You know when we’re eating something you like, and you want more?”

She nodded quickly, eyes bright.

“Well, instead of tapping me and waiting like five minutes for it to sink in, you can do this instead—” Sonic held up both hands, forming flat “O” shapes by touching fingertips to thumbs, then tapped the tips of his fingers together a few times.
“This means more.”

Chili Bean just blinked at him.

“Go on, give it a try,” he encouraged, exaggerating the motion again. “Both hands, fingertips touching, tap them together like this.”

Her tiny hands fumbled with the shape, palms smacking together in a clumsy clap.

“Close!” Sonic laughed, gently adjusting her fingers into the right position. “Not a clap, Bean. Just a tap. Like this—tap-tap.”

She tried again, slower this time. Her little “O” hands were a bit crooked, but she tapped them together, watching him for approval.

Sonic’s grin spread ear to ear. “Yes! That’s it! That’s ‘more.’”

The hoglet squeaked proudly, bouncing in his lap. Then, without warning, she shoved both hands together dramatically, tapping and tapping in rapid succession until she nearly bopped him on the nose.

“Whoa-hoh! Okay, okay, I get it!” Sonic snorted. “You don’t just want ‘more,’ you want extra more, huh?”

Chili Bean giggled, repeating the motion a dozen times, clearly enjoying the motion more than the word itself.

That’s when she paused, spotted a toy on the floor, and immediately pointed.

Sonic followed her gaze, then glanced at the book. “Hmm… let’s see… is there a sign for ‘doll’ in here?” He flipped through the chunky pages, lips moving as he scanned. “Ah—nope. But hey, here’s ‘toy.’ Close enough.”

He demonstrated the sign slowly, and she mimicked it, her tiny hands clumsy but determined.

From there, it snowballed. For the next twenty minutes, Chili Bean kept pointing to random things in the room—the lamp, the blanket, the TV remote—while Sonic frantically paged through the book trying to keep up.

“Uh—hang on, hang on,” he muttered, flipping through. “Okay, that’s ‘light.’ Got it? Light.” He tapped his fingers to his chin, then flicked them outward.

She copied him with an exaggerated flick, nearly toppling backward.

“Perfect! Nailed it!” Sonic cheered, catching her before she slipped.

She beamed, then immediately pointed at the blanket.

“Oh, c’mon, give me a second! I’m not a machine!” he laughed, scanning the index. “Blanket, blanket, blanket—aha! Got it. Watch this.”

The hoglet eagerly imitated him, collapsing into a fit of giggles when her hands got tangled in her dress ruffles.

By the time the doorbell rang, Sonic’s head was spinning with new signs, but Chili Bean’s face glowed with excitement. She couldn’t say the words out loud, but she’d found a way to share them with him—and that was more than enough.

Before long, the smell of melted cheese and garlic drifted through the air. Sonic set the boxes on the table, Tails poking his head out of his room at the scent like a magnet.

“Dinner’s here!” Sonic called, already pulling out plates.

The hoglet scrambled into her seat (now with books instead of pillows) with a wiggle of excitement, eyes wide as Sonic slid the first slice of pizza in front of her. She stared at it for a long moment—sniffing, poking at the stretchy cheese with a finger—before finally leaning down and taking a tentative bite.

Her ears perked straight up. A second bite, then a third, and before long she was gnawing down with little happy squeaks, sauce smudged across her cheek.

Sonic couldn’t help but chuckle. “Guess that’s a hit.”

When her plate was empty, Chili Bean sat for a second, little hands resting in her lap. Then, nervously, she raised them—slowly repeating the motion he’d shown her earlier. More.

She peeked up at him, almost shy, like she wasn’t sure she’d done it right.

Sonic froze, then grinned wide. “Yeah, Chili Bean. More.” He slid another slice onto her plate, giving her a playful thumbs-up. “Nice job, kiddo.”

The relief on her face was immediate, lighting up into pure joy. She squeaked loudly, signing the word again and again before diving back into her food.

Something warm swelled in Sonic’s chest, his usual cocky grin softening into something gentler. For the first time, he wasn’t just guessing—he knew what she wanted. And seeing how much that meant to her hit him harder than he expected.

“Hey,” Tails chimed in, leaning forward with a smile. “That’s actually pretty cool. Could you show me how to do that too? Then I can talk to her when you’re busy.”

“Sure thing, bro.” Sonic smirked.

Chili Bean immediately turned toward the fox, repeating the sign, eager to teach him herself.

Sonic watched as the fox did his best to copy her, a smile stuck to his face as he bit into his pizza.

—

Chili Bean yawned as she snuggled in closer.

After another fun bubble bath, her Blue man let her pick out her own pajamas. He said they were “sleeping clothes,” and she could pick some from the pile Ms. Vanilla and Cream had left.

Instantly, she grabbed the pink pair. They looked like the color of Amy’s quills! She loved the color of Amy’s quills.

So here she was, snuggled up in her pink pajamas, lying on top of her Blue man as he read from a book Cream had given her.

It was a story about a little girl who didn’t want to go to sleep, but thanks to her brother, father, and mother all telling her a grand adventure story about flying through space, she was finally able to rest.

She listened and felt the vibrations of her Blue man’s voice as he read aloud, watching his finger move alongside the words.

This was a fun story.
She decided she loved this story.

When they got to the last page, she stared at the illustration.
The family was all snuggling in bed together, sleeping.

Almost like… well, like her and her Blue man.

Chili Bean pointed at the picture, looking up to meet her Blue man’s eyes.

“Oh, yeah, that kinda looks like us, huh?” he chuckled. “Just a dad and his daughter snuggling before bed.”

Dad?

She watched as her Blue man’s eyes widened. “Wait, I never did tell you that—”

She stared at him, waiting. Why did he stop?

Shaking himself out of it, her Blue man continued. “Sorry, Bean. I never told you that you’re my daughter.” His smile softened.

His daughter?

“That makes me your dad. Or father. Or papa—whichever you’d like to call me.”

Her papa?

Like in the storybook?
A papa who told bedtime stories and snuggled her close?

She looked back down at the smiling family on the page.

“If you want,” he added quickly, “I could look up the sign for it—Papa. If you want to call me that.”

She nodded fast. Of course she wanted to know!

After a moment of searching on his phone, he shifted so she could see his hands. “Okay, so technically this one means dad and not papa, but here’s how you do it.”

He spread his fingers out, brought his hand up, and tapped his thumb to his temple twice.

“Just like that.”

Slowly, she copied him. Opening her paw as wide as she could, she tapped her head twice.

She looked up. Her blue man—no, her papa—was smiling so wide he lit up the room.

“That’s it, Chili Bean! And you’re my daughter!” He added while signing daughter, finishing with his arms closing around her in a rocking hug.

She giggled and squirmed against his chest. If he was her papa… she loved having a papa.

When they finally settled down, she took the chance to point at the woman in the picture. The little girl had both a papa and a mama. Did that mean she had a mama too?

Her papa made a funny face, then shook his head and smiled. “Actually, kiddo… you’re special. You’ve got two dads.”

Two papas?!

She squeaked in confused excitement, bouncing a little.

“Yep. Two of them.” He laughed.

Two papas! That was twice the snuggles! Like in the book! But wait… where was the other papa?

She felt her papa sigh. “He’s… not here right now. But you’ve met him. Remember the other hedgehog when we found you?”

Oh—the red and black one!

She nodded, scrunching her face the way she remembered him looking.

Her papa laughed. “Yep, that grumpy hog! He’s your other dad. He’s just… well—” he trailed off, then shook his head. “He’s not a bad guy, Bean. I can understand why he is the way he is. But at the same time, I—”

She tilted her head. Sometimes her papa made no sense.

Looking down at her again, he just smiled, pulling her into a laying position and tickling her until she kicked and squealed.

Once they calmed down, he leaned over, placing the book on the nightstand and turning off the light.

She snuggled in as he pulled her close.

“No matter what happens,” he whispered, “you’ll be okay. You have me, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. Even Cream and Vanilla love being around you.”

Her eyelids grew heavy, words fading into mumbles.

“We’ll be alright.”

The last thing she made out was a soft, “Good night.” as she felt something warm on her head.

Chapter Text

The next few weeks passed in a blur. Every day, Chili Bean was getting more and more accustomed to her new life—they all were, really.

Observing her, Sonic was starting to get a better understanding of the girl. For starters, she was the opposite of a picky eater. Anything food or snack related you put in front of her would be gone in seconds, little hands already signing for more.

The amount she ate, though, was nothing compared to her energy. Who would have guessed the spawn of the fastest thing alive would inherit his inability to sit still? Sonic had so many people to apologize to…

Also, as it turns out, the first morning was in fact a fluke. Every morning after the first, Chili Bean woke up around 5:30 a.m. without fail. At first, Sonic dreaded it—until one morning he didn’t wake up to any tapping. Instead, he woke up at the reasonable hour of 8 a.m. only to find she had started sneaking off to Tails’ room. The fox was more than happy to entertain her with cartoons, video games, and even by letting her act as a mini helper.

Sonic’s favorite moment of catching them was when he peeked through the door to see Tails had dug through his old supplies and given Chili Bean her very own goggles and work gloves. Granted, they were loose on her, but the grin she wore as she passed him a wrench said she didn’t care one bit.

He also learned she loved to draw. At first, the only things she could make were scribbles, but eventually the blobs turned into potato people, and now they looked… somewhat like Mobians? Most of the time it was a guessing game, but whenever she drew anyone from the group he could easily identify them (mostly from colors, but still, Sonic was proud to have the most artistic kid ever!)

After a few days, when the house was starting to feel cramped, Sonic decided to take her outside. Maybe a run around a trail or park would do them both some good.

The moment he stepped out, though—Chili Bean’s hand in his—he was swarmed by the media. In less than a blink, he grabbed her close and rushed back inside before anyone could snap a picture.

That evening he complained to Amy for hours.
“I mean really! Do these people have nothing better to do with their time?”
“Sonic, you’re a hero. A celebrity, really. Of course you showing up with a blue hoglet at a park would spark interest.”
“I don’t kick Eggman’s butt to be a celebrity, Ames. I do it because he deserves it . You should’ve seen them—circling around us like vultures! I just… I don’t want her to become some spectacle. She’s still adjusting to everything…”
“I understand that. But you can’t keep her a secret forever.”
Sonic sighed. “I know…”
“I do have an idea, though—”

So, the second time around, he tried a disguise. A cap, sunglasses, a white button-up, and brown shoes instead of his iconic red ones. Chili Bean also wore her own pink sunglasses and a little yellow bucket hat.

They got a few glances, but luckily it worked. No cameras shoved in their faces. Sure, some blurry photos from afar ended up online, sparking “theory posts,” but Sonic didn’t care as much. As long as no one was shoving a camera in his kid’s face, he could handle it.

He also figured out the best times to go were early morning or late evening, when the park was nearly empty. He even found a Park just out the way that many families seem to miss. That park soon became a routine spot. Sometimes Tails even tagged along to give Sonic the chance to stretch his legs and go for a run.

By week four, Sonic noticed Chili Bean was struggling to fit into some of the clothes Vanilla had given her. Thanks to her new diet of, well, eating everything , she was finally gaining weight. Her height hadn’t changed much, but she was filling out into a healthier range. Still a little under for her age, but no longer dangerously so.

The only downside was carrying her. She was getting heavy when he had to carry her for more than 20 minutes. Sonic eventually caved and bought a hiking pack to carry her on his back during longer walks and jogs. Chili Bean loved sitting up there, especially when he let her play with his phone’s camera. By the end of a walk, his album would be full of blurry shots—mostly fingers, his ear, or her forehead when she accidentally flipped it.

Everyone was happy she was healthier—well, mostly. Both Amy and Knuckles had thrown a fit about the “junk” he was feeding her. They claimed she needed more nutritious meals, which led to Amy coming over several nights to teach him how to cook, flipping through nutrition books and drilling him on kitchen dos and don’ts.

Everything was looking up. Except… again, her clothes. They were shrinking fast. It got to the point she was wearing his t-shirts to bed again. He’d heard kids grow out of stuff fast, but this was ridiculous!

Before she completely ran out of clothes, Sonic decided it was time. Time for the shopping trip Amy had been pestering him about.

“No, Sonic, you cannot just buy all her clothes online! How will you know if they fit? Plus—you’re her dad! Take her on a daddy-daughter shopping trip!”

So here he was now, loose disguise on, standing outside the busy mall with an excited hoglet in his arms.

Here goes nothing.

—

“Hey Bean, what do you think about this?” the blue hedgehog asked, pulling a blue t-shirt with a skateboarding dinosaur on the front off the rack and showing it to the small hoglet.

The hoglet beamed and nodded frantically.
Just like she did for the shirt before… and the one before that.

He couldn’t tell if she was becoming materialistic or if she was just so enthusiastic about the trip she agreed with everything.

He looked down at the cart. It was already full of “yes” clothes—basically anything with bright colors or cartoon characters. And don’t even get him started on the different shades of pink. He could’ve sworn she almost had a mini heart attack when she spotted the sparkly hot pink shoes.

His poor bank account.

Tossing the shirt in to be tried on, the two made their way to the dressing rooms.
“Alright, Chili Bean, ready for your own little fashion show?”

The little hoglet squeaked in excitement, skipping beside him to the beat of the generic mall music.

“Blue?”

The familiar voice made him pause. Chili Bean darted behind his legs, peeking out nervously at the stranger. Sonic turned—and froze when he saw the familiar smirk.

“Rouge?” he blinked.

“Well, well.” The bat tilted her head, hands on her hips. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Sonic chuckled sheepishly. “What are you doing at the mall?”

“Oh, you know. Work’s been a drag, and nothing says stress relief like a little shopping spree.” Her eyes glittered knowingly. “Though, I’ll admit I’m curious what you’re doing here. You hate places like this.”

“Hate’s a strong word,” he shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “But yeah, I usually stick to online shopping. Faster. No lines. More time to hit the trails.”

“Mmhm.” She leaned in with a sly smile. “Well, whatever the reason, I’m glad I ran into you. Been meaning to have a chat, Blue.”

“Yeah?” he asked, leaning in himself with a grin.

“Yep. About that little G.U.N bunker you boys stumbled on.” Her tone dropped, casual as she leaned back. “We dug into it. And while the answer might not be what you wanted, it’s what we’ve got.”

Sonic’s gut tightened, but kept still as she went on.

“Turns out the place was running off the books. Head scientist went rogue years ago—stealing supplies, funds, even classified research. Whole project was dirty. By the time G.U.N caught on and raided the site, most of the staff were already dead. Guess they knew the clock was ticking. The handful left alive? Locked away now. Life sentences, no chance of parole.” She crossed her arms. “What they were studying never surfaced. G.U.N claims they shut it all down before anything major happened. Shadow said you two found something, but unless you feel like breaking into a federal prison and interrogating survivors, this case is closed.”

She finished, watching him closely.

And she was right.

It was a dissatisfying answer.

On one hand, the people responsible were gone—locked up, off the streets. On the other… it meant no one left to get the truth out of.

No way to learn about Chili Bean’s past.

What were they studying?
What did they do to her?
Why did they create her?

They were really going to have to go in blind.

He could feel his little girl’s presence behind him—her tiny hands clutching his leg, shifting around like she was waiting for his approval.

“So,” Rouge purred, snapping him out of his thoughts, “what did you two find?~ Does it have something to do with why you’re shopping for a bunch of clothes that seem a tad bit childish… even for you, Blue?~”

“Wait—” Sonic blinked. “He didn’t tell you?”

Rouge tsked, shaking her head. “Been bugging him for weeks, but nothing. Never seen the guy so tight-lipped. Figured it had to be something big if it’s weighing on him that much.”

That stung. It wasn’t suprising— but still. Shadow’s last reaction made it clear he didn’t want to talk about it, not even with Rouge apparently. It hurt though to hear she’d been left out.

“Well… yeah,” Sonic admitted slowly. “It was pretty big. Only… it’s more of a they .”

Rouge’s eyes widen at that, the corners of her lips curling into a sly smile. She was finally going to know what was in that bunker.

Sonic glanced down, then gently nudged the hoglet out from behind him. “It’s okay, Bean. She’s a friend—you can say hi.”

The little girl hesitated, then stepped forward with tiny, cautious steps. She peeked up at Rouge before giving a shy little wave.

Sonic watched closely as Rouge’s grin faltered—falling just as quickly as it had appeared.

“Wait a minute, she looks like—” Rouge started, looking up at Sonic.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Rouge, I’d like you to meet my daughter… Chili Bean, this is my friend Rouge.”

“Your daughter? And with those patterns…”

“Yeah, you’re seeing them right. Technically, she’s also Shadow’s daughter too.” He answered, a bit more bitter than he intended.

He felt a small tap. Both the blue hero and the shocked bat looked down to see the little girl shyly signing—opening her hand, placing her thumb on her chin, before circling her hand in front of her face.

It was something she learned for Amy, no wonder she seemed so shy.

Sonic smiled as Rouge looked curiously. “What? What happened?”

“Nothing, she just called you pretty.” He smiled, watching as the bat took a step back before smiling herself.

“Well, little darling, you’re quite the cutie yourself,” Rouge complimented, gaining a smile from the hoglet, who looked up at him.

I go? she signed.

“Of course,” Sonic chuckled, signing as spoke.

He watched as Chili Bean ran past him and straight up to Rouge, smiling before holding her paws up.

Taking a moment to understand, Rouge bent down, scooping the small child into her arms. The little hoglet beamed, eyes wide at the size of Rouge’s ears and the wings on her back.

Sonic watched as Rouge studied the girl before turning to him with a tight smile.

“I’m going to kill him,” she said sweetly, smile never faltering.

“Pft—”

“No really! I’m going to kill him! Because what do you mean I had a niece this whole time and he kept it a secret from me?! What the hell! Does our bond mean nothing to him?!” she practically yelled, shifting her hold so the hoglet rested on her hip using one arm while the other flew around dramatically.

“you found her during that time at the bunker?”

Sonic nodded.

“That’s been what, over a month?! He’s been hiding this cutie from me for more than a month? Absolutely unforgivable!” she huffed before hugging Chili Bean tight.

The hoglet squeaked, then giggled at the bat’s antics. Rouge was currently pretending to sob like she’d just been reunited with a long-lost family member.

“All that wasted time! The poor, neglected dear~”

“Well, I wouldn’t say neglected—”

“And just look what he’s got you in!” She cut him off, holding the child out at arm’s length with a horrified gasp. “What even is this outfit?!”

Chili Bean wore a bright orange shirt with green plaid shorts, yellow socks, bright red shoes, and a lime-green frog hat perched proudly on her head.

The girl just smiled as Rouge continued to gawk in horror.

Sonic sighed. She wasn’t wrong. “Yeah, I know it’s not the best… Vanilla brought over some clothes, but Bean keeps growing so fast they’re starting not to fit anymore. This was really all we had left,” he laughed. 

Rouge on the other hand, did not.

“Oh, you poor girl, your daddy’s been dressing you in nothing but second-hand leftovers!”

“Well—”

“It’s okay, baby. Aunty Rouge has you now,” she proclaimed with flair. The hoglet tilted her head curiously.

“Oh right, I’m your Aunty! From the deadbeat’s side of the family,” she tsked. Then she peeked into the cart. “Wait… this is what you’ve been picking out?”

Sonic caught the worried look on her face.

“What? Is it that bad?” he asked, hand on his hip.

“No—well, sort of. There’s a few things with potential, but honestly? No coordination. How are you planning to make outfits out of these?”

Outfits?

“Uh, I was just grabbing whatever Chili Bean liked…” he laughed nervously. How was he supposed to know how to style an outfit?!

“While it’s sweet that you let her choose, you’ve got to actually match things, Blue—wait.” She stopped, her eyes narrowing.

“Chili Bean?”

“Um—”

“‘Chili Bean,’ Sonic. That’s a nickname, right?” she asked with a sharp smile.

“I mean… not really?” he cringed. Now that he thought about it, the name really did sound more like a nickname.

“Sonic.” Her grin stretched wider, her eyes gleamed menacingly.

“Er… sorry,” he muttered in defeat.

Honestly, she should’ve been there from day one for this exact reason, who the hell let him name her that?! Did Amy know about this?!

“I’m so killing Shadow,” she huffed.

“Anywho, one disaster at a time. For now—let’s fix this situation .” She gestured toward the cart.

“Hey, little Bean, what do you say I join you guys for shopping? We’ll make sure your daddy spends all his money dressing you like the princess you are,” Rouge said with a wink.

The young hoglet nodded. Did she understand everything? No.

But the pretty lady was going to play with her longer, so she was excited!

Sonic just shook his head.

His poor bank account indeed.

—

Shopping with both Rouge and Chili Bean was… an experience, to say the least.
On one hand, Rouge dragged them to way more stores than he ever planned on visiting (which was only supposed to be the kids’ section at Green Spree). On the other hand, Chili Bean looked like she was having the time of her life.

Thanks to the media and their persistence for the next big story, Sonic couldn’t really take the kid out in public much, mostly sticking to parks or quick grocery runs. He didn’t know how she did it, but having Rouge there was actually the most they’d been out without too many cameras snapping the latest hot gossip. It was like she knew beforehand and just managed to avoid them.

He gets that she’s a spy and all, but this was ridiculous!
Still—it worked for them. Chili Bean was absolutely thriving with Rouge in the shopping center.

If Chili Bean wasn’t becoming a little material girl before, she sure was now, all thanks to her Aunty Rouge.

It was nice, though. Honestly, Sonic didn’t realize how much fun he’d have dressing up Chili Bean and watching her clumsily copy his and Rouge’s poses as she “modeled” while trying on clothes.

By the time they decided they’d had enough, the trio headed to the food court for lunch. Rouge and Chili Bean were even wearing matching bracelets the bat bought at a jewelry store (or at least, Rouge claimed she bought).

Sonic had been keeping the rest of the group updated in a group chat, sharing pictures while Amy proclaimed how cute Chili Bean looked in everything and demanded that next time, she got to go shopping with them too.

Beside him, Rouge was laughing at Chili Bean’s repetitive failure with chopsticks, the poor thing grunting as the noodles slipped off the utensils she held in a death grip.

As he set down his phone, Rouge’s voice brought him back to the present.
“Hey, kid, how about some ice cream after this?”

That was a trigger word.

The hoglet bounced in her seat as she turned toward Sonic.

Desert. Please? she signed.

“Rouge, I’m not sure that’s a great idea…” Sonic started. “Last time she had ice cream, she ran circles around the living room for an hour. Literally. A nonstop circle. I was just sitting on the couch watching her do laps around me. Not sure if we should release that into the mall.”

Sonic felt bad as the little hoglet’s face dropped into a sad frown.

“Well, we don’t have to eat it here,” Rouge offered smoothly. “You’re done shopping, right? I know a park nearby that sells the best soft serve around.” She winked.

“I mean… don’t you have work though? I feel like we’ve held you up a lot today—”

“Nonsense~ I’m actually free today! So we’re all good.” She grinned.

“Well then…” Sonic started, only to be hit with Chili Bean’s big-eyed, pouty-lipped begging face (because of course she learned how to do that—he blames Amy). “In that case it should be fine—”

The blue hero was cut off by an excited squeak and a “hooray!” from Rouge, the bat turning to the girl for a high five.

If Rouge really was free, what was the harm? Plus, it gave him more chances to burn off the kid’s relentless energy before going home.

“So, Blue, where did you park?”

Park?

“Park?” he asked out loud, not missing the eye roll Rouge gave him.

“Wait, you didn’t drive here? How were you planning to get all this stuff home?”

“Uh…”
Shoot.
He didn’t think about that.

In his defense, he was not planning on buying this much.

“I guess I was just going to carry it home,” he shrugged. “That’s what I’ve been doing.”

“Really? While bringing her along?” she asked, a little taken aback.

The blue hero shrugged again. “Worked so far.”

“Sonic.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you not own a car?” she asked flatly.

“I mean, is it really necessary?”

“Get a car,” she sighed.

“Again, it hasn’t been an issue yet—” he started, glancing at the small mobian beside him, who had given up and resorted to stabbing her orange chicken and rangoons with the chopsticks.

“ Yet is the key word here, Blue. Do you really want to wait until it becomes an issue?”

“Well…”

“What about when she gets too big to carry, but it’s too far to walk? Or when you’ve got to haul stuff to a park, like a bike or a wagon or whatever parents give their kids to keep them busy?” She raised an eyebrow.

Damn.
She had him there.

“I’ll, uh… I’ll think about that.”

Rouge rolled her eyes but smiled. “Yeah, you do that. Luckily for us, though, I did borrow a car from work today.”

“I thought you didn’t have work today?”

“I don’t.”

“Then how did you…”

“Let’s not ask questions, Blue,” she smiled innocently.

Right.
Oh well, it’s not like he respected G.U.N. much anyways.

“Alright then, shall we head to the park?!” she clapped her hands with a grin.

Chili Bean nodded excitedly, cheeks full of food with orange sauce smothered all over them.

Sonic chuckled. Today was turning out better than he expected.

—

Rouge driving them to the park was both a blessing and a disaster.

Who would’ve guessed G.U.N. work vehicles don’t automatically come with car seats? Not like Sonic even knew how to use those… but it sure would’ve come in handy, because watching his poor child swing left and right with every sharp turn made his quills stand on end. The seat belt was definitely not enough! He really should’ve sat in the back with her! Was it too late to tell Rouge to pull over so he could switch seats?

Needless to say, Sonic was close to hyperventilating while Chili Bean was having the time of her life, squealing as she was tossed side to side with Rouge’s (only slightly inappropriate) playlist blasting.

And for a “work vehicle,” it looked a little too personalized—pink fluffy steering wheel cover, patterned seat covers, an air freshener hanging from the mirror, plus sunglasses, lip balms, and random junk crammed into the glove box.

Just how long had “borrowed today” really been?

One particularly sharp turn sent Chili Bean sliding halfway out of her seat, her little squeal a mix of thrill and panic.
“Rouge!” Sonic yelped.

Two minutes later, Sonic was crammed in the backseat, hoglet on his lap with a death grip on the seat belt and the girl. Chili Bean giggled, clearly enjoying the change, while Rouge drove a little more carefully, wearing a guilty expression.

By the time they made it to the park, Sonic was sure his heart rate was still somewhere near maximum speed. At least the kid was happy —more than happy, actually. Now she was tearing across the grass at full speed, banana split remnants smeared across her cheeks like war paint, sticky hands waving as she darted around the elaborate playground.
How long has this been here?

Rouge lounged back on the bench beside him, sunglasses perched on her nose as if she hadn’t been the cause of his panic ten minutes ago. Sonic shook his head, a helpless smile tugging at his face as he watched Chili Bean trip, roll, then pop back up smiling like nothing happened.

“Still think the ice cream was a bad idea?” Rouge teased, sipping her soda.
Sonic sighed, but couldn’t hide his grin. “Ask me again in an hour when she’s running circles around us instead of that tree.”

After a moment of silence, the two of them watched as Chili Bean began playing a game of pushing a swing and running away from it as it came back.

“So, how’s fatherhood treating you, Blue?” Rouge asked, leaning back on the bench with a smirk, one eyebrow raised as she took another sip of her diet coke. 

Sonic rolled his eyes playfully, shaking his head. “You’re enjoying this a little too much, aren’t you?”

Rouge let out a soft laugh, the corners of her mouth twitching as she dropped the teasing tone. “Maybe… but seriously. How are you holding up? Really.”

Sonic blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift. “Me?”

“Yeah, you,” she said, her eyes softening as she watched Chili Bean dash around the playground, looking for the next fun thing. “Parenthood hits fast and hard, and I can see you’ve been juggling a lot. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.” She tipped her bottle toward him as if pointing.

“I mean, yeah, it was a bit sudden… scratch that—very sudden. But we’ve been handling it well,” he sighed. “Really though, if it wasn’t for the support of the others, I don’t know what I would do…” He drifted off.

“Would you have given her up?”

“What?” he turned, a slightly defensive tone in his voice. Where had that come from?

“Seriously, Blue. Had everyone told you not to, that this was foolish, would you have given her up?”

“Of course not! I—how could I? She’s my kid… sure, this was never planned and it changes a lot, but do I really look like someone who’d just walk away?!” he rambled.

Rouge smirked. “No, of course not.” She leaned back, closing her eyes. “I know you, Blue. You would’ve found a way. It’s good that you’re grateful your friends are supportive, but don’t say you wouldn’t know what to do. You would figure it out eventually—exactly like you’re figuring it out now. Don’t undersell yourself.”

Sonic relaxed. He was happy Rouge bumped into them today. Even with the extra money spent and that car ride, he was grateful for her presence.

“Sorry—” he started, and Rouge tilted her head, raising an eyebrow.

“For not telling you, I mean. I… I really value our friendship, but with everything that was going on, getting her adjusted, waiting for that G.U.N report and, well… Shadow—” he choked out. “I overlooked you.”

He shook his head in shame. How did he let that grumpy ass hedgehog get in between him and a close friend so much? He thought he was past the other’s decision. Apparently not.

“So yeah, sorry.”

He felt the cold bottle of her soda smack his head. “Ow! Hey!” he turned toward where she was handing it over.

Seeing it as a peace offering, Sonic grabbed the bottle, taking a swig. Yeah, there was definitely something more than just diet coke in this bottle; he knew the taste of trunk wine well… no wonder she excused herself to the car earlier. Yeah, no, she was definitely not driving them home. Was this her way of telling him to learn to drive?! That sneaky—

He can drive just fine! Well, he can race…

“It’s not your fault, Blue,” she started, breaking him out of thought. “If anything, what’s-his-face should have told me! The nerve of that man!” She huffed. “Plus, I should have gotten back to you with the bunker update sooner. I didn’t realize how dire it actually was being a closed case and all; I thought Shadow was just being pissy with the information because that’s how he always gets when a mission doesn’t go the way he wants. So it’s partially my fault too.”

“C’mon, Rouge, it’s not like you knew—”

“But I did know you all found something. And frankly, I would’ve met her so much sooner if I had just visited when I got the information. So as much as I wanna blame Shadow—and trust me, I really want to put all the blame on him—I also share some of it. So there’s no reason for you to say sorry. You had your hands full with, well…” She motioned toward Chili Bean, who was now swinging off the lowest monkey bar, landing in a crouch before circling around and launching herself off it again.

“So yeah, I don’t blame you at all, Blue.” She smiled.

He smiled back at her.

“That being said… Chili Bean? Really, Sonic?” She asked, her voice wrung with disgust and mock disappointment.

“OK, OK, yeah, I know… but I need to call her something! I couldn’t just keep calling her ‘kid’!”

“But Chili Bean?!”

“In my defense, it’s cute,” he shrugged.

“Yeah, for a nickname!” she argued.

“Yeah… I get that. I just… most parents have so much time to think over their kid’s name…”

Oh?

The bat sat in silence, letting the blue hero continue.

“I had, what, a night or two? A name can be very important, right? I don’t really want to half-ass it, you know? But really… it’s hard. I’ve heard some parents know the perfect name the moment they see their child! But me?! Blank!” He sighed. “So I sort of… just said something, anything for now, until… until I can find her a name that really suits her. You know?”

Rouge smiled. The poor hero had really had a lot on his mind.

“I understand, but still—you said she’s like four? Summer’s coming close to an end, and I’m sure you know that school is kinda important for kids her age or something, and showing up there with a name like that” she pointed out, taking her soda—the hero had barely sipped after tasting her special ingredient— taking a large swig herself.

“There’s that too… Amy tells me I should sign her up for preschool, but I don’t know…”

“What don’t you know?”

“It’s just… I’m not exactly trying to hide her. But what if some reporter figures out what school she’s at? It would be all over the news! Those people are relentless!” he started. “And there’s the issue with her speech… I’ve been trying to look into getting her a speech therapist or whatever Amy and Vanilla told me to do… but what if she struggles with communicating at school? What if… what if the other kids aren’t kind to her about it?” he asked.

“The media part I get, also worrying for your kid is normal… but you do know there are schools for that, right? Specialized ones for kids who have speech problems?” Rouge pointed out.

“I know…”

“Not to mention, she needs to socialize—not just with you,  your teenage brother and your group of twenty-year-old friends—but with other kids her age,” Rouge added. “Isolation won’t help her with her speech, or in general.”

Sonic looked over toward Chili Bean. This was a large park with plenty of other children. But just like in other parks that did have an occasional family, she never played or interacted with them… it wouldn’t have bothered him so much if he didn’t catch her glancing longingly at them. Just like now, pausing for a moment to stare at a group of kids playing freeze tag.

The hero sighed. He hadn’t meant to isolate her. 

“Listen, I know it’s a lot, but you have all of us. Weren’t you just hyping up your friends for being your lifeline or something?” She shook her head. “Sorry to say, if you’re not asking for help, there’s not much we can do,” she stated as he looked down. “I mean, I’m sure Vanilla could help you find a good school.”

“She’s already helped so much though… I don’t want to add more—”

“Excuse me, did she not offer to help whenever you need it?”

“Well, yeah…”

“So what? You’re just going to ignore that part? If you offered to help someone and heard they did everything to avoid doing just that, how would you feel?”

Ouch.

“Noted,” he sighed.

“So don’t be afraid to reach out! Ask her about schools and if there are any good specialized ones for speech she could recommend. Don’t worry about the media—I got that covered.”

“How?”

“A girl has her ways~” she smiled. “I could also help you in the car department.”

“Erm, no thanks. No offense, but I really don’t need to be driving around a ‘borrowed’ G.U.N car.” He rolled his eyes and smirked playfully, which made Rouge laugh.

“Relax, moral high ground. I know some good dealers that can give you a solid car for a good price. Just gotta make a few calls.”

“So why not get a car yourself?”

“Because, why would I spend money when Betty works just fine?” she asked as if his question was strange. 

She named the car? Sure.

Sonic was sure that was a great sign.

“I mean… I guess it wouldn’t hurt. Are you sure you’re fine with it?” he asked.

“Already texting the dealers, you’re fine,” she responded, phone in hand.

“What—?”

“There. One of them nearby says he’s got a few good ones for families. You can come check them out whenever this week before 6 p.m.”

Sonic just stared at her before smiling.

“Rouge?”

“Yes, Blue?”

“You’re amazing, you know that, right?”

To that, she smirked and shrugged. “I know.”

—

Rouge was furious.

Not at Sonic—no, how could she be? He was over here changing his whole life around and trying his best for that little cutie. He even offered to drive when they were heading back to his house, and let her stay over to play with her favorite niece! (Though, okay, maybe that was slightly because of the trunk wine—he even offered to drive her home afterward. Really, she’d only put a sip in that coke! She was more than fine after spending a few hours at his house.)

So yeah, she wasn’t mad at Sonic.

Shadow, on the other hand?

He better hope she cooled down before he got home. Though… she wondered how Sonic would react when he found money wired into his account. The thought made her smile proudly.

After “calmly” parking and walking up to the apartment, the bat entered in the most rational way possible.

“Shadow, where’s your bitch ass at?!”

The red and black hedgehog glared at her as she kicked through the door from where he sat on the couch, book in hand.

Oh? Did she disturb his reading?

Good.

“I could ask you the same thing hours ago, Rouge,” he started, closing his book and making his way toward her. “I thought you were only leaving for a quick ‘coffee run.’ Do you know how much I had to cover for you at work today?”

“Funny,” she started, changing her demeanor to mock politeness, though there was anything but kindness in her tone. “You see, I was doing the same thing for you—been covering for you all day~” She sang bitterly.

“Excuse me?”

“You're excused.”

Shadow scoffed angrily. “I don’t get where all this attitude is coming from. Quite frankly, it’s ridiculous. Seeing as I covered for you, if anyone should be mad it’s me. Not to mention my card declined when I was at the café earlier… how did that happen when we just got paid a few days ago?”

She ruined his late-night latte?

Also good.

“Oh, just think of it as paying back your child support,” she crossed her arms.

To this, he paused.

“What?”

Oh, don’t even—

“You know what—” she started, opening her phone before flashing it at him. “This is what.”

Shadow was taken aback… he still wore that grumpy face he always wore, but Rouge knew him. She could read him like a book.

So while he took in the selfie she’d taken with the smiling hoglet—showing off their matching bracelets, Sonic off in the background —she could tell by his body language.

He was genuinely at a loss for words. Confused, even.

“He kept her?”

It was nothing more than a mutter, but it did nothing to improve her state of fury.

“Of course he kept her! She’s his daughter, and you know Blue! So imagine my reaction when I found out my best friend, my partner in crime, was keeping the fact I had a niece from me?”

Shadow looked up at her and scoffed. “I don’t see how this would have anything to do with you.” He squinted.

“Nothing to do with me?!” she asked in disbelief. “Are we skipping over the whole ‘niece’ part?! You know, the part where you’re her other father—”

“I’m not.” he cut in, his expression jerking before he schooled it again.

Oh, that was a reaction. He was really trying to hide from her. Nope, that was not happening.

“I don’t know if you know this, but being a primary DNA source in her creation indeed makes you her father. Congrats—it’s a girl.” She rolled her eyes, sarcasm practically radiating off her.

“I didn’t ask for this.”

“Neither did Sonic, but you don’t see him whining about it.”

“I—” he started, but she wasn’t going to let him make excuses. “So maybe you want to be a deadbeat or whatever, go ahead. But you could have at least had the decency to tell me about her! But no, you completely glossed over it when you were asking me to snoop into G.U.N’s database for you. For your daughter .”

He tsked, obviously frustrated.

“So how come you didn’t tell me? Listen, it’s your choice if you wanna be a shitty dad, but at least give me the choice to be in her life.”

“Well, now you met her, right? Problem solved.”

“No, not problem solved! Sonic is my friend! I could have been there to support and help him weeks ago, and you took that away from me!” she cried, a hint of desperation creeping in.

Shadow had the nerve to look away.

Rouge panted, taking a moment before collecting herself. “I could have been there sooner… but I didn’t… and the sad thing is, I can’t only blame you. If I had just reached out sooner I—”

For what it was worth, Shadow did not use this as an excuse to turn it back on her.

She was supposed to touch base with them more than a week ago.

Instead, they both just stood there, staring anywhere but at each other.

It was a few minutes before Rouge heard it.

“How… how was she?”

She took a moment before replying. “Good. Amazing, actually. She seems happy.”

“Hm.” He nodded.

So now he cared about her? Rouge wanted to be petty about it, but at this point she wasn’t even mad. Just disappointed. Exhausted even. 

He was pretty much her brother… she could never be angry at him for long. But it still hurts.

“Shadow… why? Really, tell me the truth. Why did you hide this from me… why are you denying her… when your body language screams concern?” she pressed gently, watching him fidget. He could never hide from her. She knew him too well.

“I don’t… I can’t… want—” he started, quickly snapping his mouth shut.

Oh?

“Can’t?”

Shadow took this as a cue to leave, turning from her. “I’m done with this conversation. Good night.” He half-heartedly waved.

“Shadow—” she called after him, but he was already heading up the stairs.

He was still trying to hide from her. To make her stop pressing and drop it.

Yeah.

She wasn’t going to do that.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The past month had been nothing short of torture for Shadow. Ever since Rouge discovered the hoglet’s existence, she’d made it her mission to remind him daily in any way possible. Almost every day she found an excuse if it meant visiting Sonic and the little girl, returning home with a new story to share about her favorite niece as loud as she could, her voice carrying through the halls as she gushed to Omega—or worse, directly at him. She found no reason to hold back.

To make matters worse, she’d burned through so many “sick days” at G.U.N. that the overflow paperwork landed flat on his desk. And if Rouge wasn’t enough, Omega had joined in the chaos. The machine had returned from his last mission only to interrogate Shadow about why he had not disclosed “the existence of his spawn,” finding no shortage of phrases and translations to brand him a deadbeat.

He was fairly certain he preferred Eggman’s insane rambling over any of this.

Shadow had been sitting in the home office, going through the overflow work he brought home with him, barely making a dent in the stack as he fumed over saying to hell with it and throwing the paperwork away. Maybe even setting the trash can on fire to “cleanse” the area of the “bad energy,” or however Rouge puts it. This was her work—how come he had to be the one to cover her ass?! Sure, she was mad at him… he could understand that. But still, is she not a grown woman? This whole thing of torturing him seemed pretty childish and petty.

Which also begged the question: why was he still covering for her? Hell, he should just pack up and skip town for the next few weeks… months, even.
Sure, he’d have hell to pay when he eventually popped back up, but at this point it seemed like a small price to pay for a moment to just relax with a cup of coffee, a good book, and some sweet, sweet silence.

She could cover his work.
Chaos knows she owes him that much.

As he sat there picturing his grand escape, he heard a knock at the door.
Speak of the devil.

“What do you want, Rouge?” he grumbled.

“You busy?” she asked.

“What do you think?” he started, an edge to his voice. “And you’ll never guess with what.” He finished, sending her a sharp look.

“Okay, yeah, I deserve that,” she said, shrugging off his glare. “But you know, I’m only skipping work because—”

“Because you’re busy covering for me, is that it?” he snarked, it was the same thing every time. “So what are you here for? Let me guess, another story about how she played peek-a-boo with your wings? Did Amy come over again to play dress-up or bakery for the hundredth time? Was the red buffoon over again trying to convince Sonic to let him train her? Well? I know you have a story, you always do. So just tell me so I can get back to doing YOUR paperwork.”
So much for being the bigger person, but honestly he could care less at this point, if she gets to be petty so can he.

Rouge just continued to stare at him, her expression wearing are you done? Once she decided he was in fact done with his rant, she made her way towards him.

Shadow snapped his attention back to the paperwork in front of him, sensing as she stood next to him, his side burning as she leaned over to place a piece of slightly crumpled paper on the desk.

“What is this?” he asked after a moment.

“She wanted me to give you this… practically shoved it into my hands, actually.” Rouge’s tone softened as she tapped the paper. “You might not want to remember her… but she remembers you. In her eyes, you’re still one of the heroes that saved her that day.”

She began to walk towards the door, stopping as she grabbed the handle to close it behind her. “Keep it, toss it, whatever. Just know this—she’s reaching out. A kid, Shadow, is reaching out. What you do with that information is on you.” she finished, closing the door softly behind her. 

Leaving Shadow to sit alone again in complete silence, eyes staring at the paperwork in front of him, but his mind was no longer on the extra work.
It was on the small, slightly crumpled paper to his right.
Its presence burned, refusing to be ignored. Slowly he peeked over to see the bat had set it face down.

Great.

After a beat, Shadow reached over, grabbing the paper before slowly bringing it in front of him, turning it around to see what the child had wanted to give him.

It was a drawing.

It may have been the crudest drawing he’d ever seen. Scribbles decorated the page as if the artist struggled to keep their grip steady. What else could he expect? It was obviously her drawing.

A drawing she made for him.

It didn’t take a genius to distinguish what it was—not with the colors on the paper.

It was a drawing of herself and Shadow.
Both drawn in crayon, messy smiles on their faces as they held hands, poorly drawn hearts scattering the paper.
Beneath the two was a “thank you” written in highlighter (obviously from one of the adults) with a shaky attempt at tracing the letters in pink crayon.

Almost instantly, any burning feeling he had before was gone—replaced with a cold surge through his body, almost as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water.
Fighting it, a memory crept up on him…
A memory of her.

Her voice rang in his ear: “Someday, Shadow, I’m sure you’ll have a family of your own too! Don’t look at me like that, there have to be others like you out there!”

The ebony hedgehog stood up, but that didn’t stop the voices.

“Well, either way, you’ll always be my family, Shadow!”

He felt dizzy. Why did this drawing…
Why did it have to look like the one she gave him so long ago?

“I just… I want you to be happy.”

It looked like the one she had drawn of the two of them, holding hands, smiling, with a heart between them.

“Promise me you’ll remember that, Shadow.”

Shadow tsked.

Of course he remembered that.
How couldn’t he?

But he can’t.
He can’t want—
She shouldn’t want him to—
This should have never happened!

He wanted to crumble up the drawing, throw it away, and never look at it again.
But he didn’t.

Instead, he got up, walked out of the office, down the hallway to his room, closed the door, and sat there, staring at the drawing in his hands.

He should get rid of this.

‘But why?’

It’s the responsible thing to do.

‘Really? What makes you so sure?’

You know why.

‘But what if—’

No.

‘Just to check up on her…’

No.

‘Would that be so bad?’

Stop.

‘Just to make sure Sonic hasn’t—’

STOP. You know why you can’t have that. It’s not allowed.

Or have you forgotten how it felt?
What you are?
How it would feel again?

Shadow found himself unable to argue with that.

Instead, he just sat there, staring at the drawing—staring as the picture in front of him flickered between blue quills and blonde hair.

_

Shadow wasn’t sure how long he sat there; it’s not like he needed much sleep anyways. It must have been a while though, since he could hear a knocking at the door, his roommate’s voice traveling through the other side.

“Shadow, darling, are you in there?”

No answer.

“Listen, I know you like to shut yourself in there and brood for hours, but this is excessive even for you.”

Silence.

“C’mon, you haven’t even come out for your daily coffee…”

Oh? So it has been a day already?

“Shadow?”

“…”

“Alright, I’m coming in. Don’t blame me if I see something I shouldn’t—”

Rouge opened the door, pausing as she took in the sight of him: there, sitting in the dark, looking down at the drawing he held gently in his hands.

For the past few weeks, he had worn a scowl, angry at the fact she came to him daily to remind him of the hoglet’s existence.

He didn’t look mad now.

He looked…

Exhausted.

It was a look she hated to see on him… how she wished he would go back to being angry.

But he needed this, whether either of them liked it or not.

Shadow could feel the bat take a tentative seat next to him, both sitting in the dark.

“Why—” he started, his hoarse voice breaking the silence, “Why would you show me this?”

“She wanted me to—”

“WHY would you show me this?” he hissed again.

There was another pause before she spoke again. “Because I thought you needed to see it. Still do,” she finished as he flinched.

Pathetic.

“Shadow, please, be honest with me. Why are you so determined to ignore her? Why, when you clearly want to meet her? Why keep denying yourself—”

“I can’t…” he started, “I can’t want to. I shouldn’t want to.”

“Why? … You obviously care. No matter what you say, I can see it, Shadow. You care. You keep lying, and I want to understand.”

“I just can’t, okay!” he snapped. “You wouldn’t get it!”

“Then explain it to me!” she snapped back. “Shadow, I love you. You’re pretty much like a brother to me—”

“I shouldn’t be.”

“Excuse me?”

“I can’t want this! Having people close, relationships… a family. I shouldn’t want any of this. I don’t deserve— not after what happened to her—what could happen again. Not with WHAT I am… I should have never even gotten close to you!”

“Excuse me?!”

“You know why—”

“No, you do not get to decide that! Just because of some silly small possibility—”

“The possibility that I have to watch you grow old and die.” The ebony hedgehog cut in “can you understand that, Rouge? I will have to watch you grow old, and die. While I just stay here… the same.” he hissed out. “I can’t, I can’t go through that again… I already messed up with just you, how could I…” he drifted off.

How could he ever want for more?
Even if that was Maria’s wish… she didn’t know the burden he was damned to carry.

“You know, you’re really selfish, Shadow.”

Shadow sent her a glare, but she continued before he could speak. “Are you really going to burn every bridge, isolate yourself from everyone who has an ounce of care for you, all because you don’t want to be sad when they’re gone? Leave them before they leave you? Hell, it’s not even a guarantee that’s how your immortality works! It’s just a theory—”

“Even still!”

“No! You do not get to push away people based on a ‘what if’ and say you’re not selfish! Especially when it comes to your daughter.”

“So what? You want me to play happy family? Act like everything’s okay? And if my immortality does mean I won’t age, then what? What should I do when she grows up, older than me, and dies? Knowing there’s nothing I could do to stop it? Is that what you want me to do?” Shadow argued back.

“And what if she’s like you? Ever thought about that? What if she grows up to whatever the quote-unquote ‘prime age’ is and has to watch as all of her family and friends go on without her, never understanding why—while the one person who could help her, relate to her, left? She may be half Sonic, but don’t forget she’s also half of you. She was made the exact way you were, from the sound of it…”

Shadow looked away. He hated the idea of that. This was already his burden—this burning ‘what if’ he’d have to live with until he hopefully died of old age… or until he had to say goodbye to everyone he’d ever known.

That poor hoglet going through that too?
IF only those scientists didn’t have the safety of their cells…

“Though I can’t decide what’s worse,” she continued, “the fact that you both could never die of old age, or the fact that neither of you have that ability. That she’ll grow up, confused and wondering why her father never wanted her. And by the time you realize that gray quill finally came in and that you aren’t damned to walk the earth alone… she’ll be an adult who wants nothing to do with the father who left her. A selfish father who put protecting his own feelings over her. Is that what you want, Shadow?” she sighs “Listen, I can bug you all I want, but at the end of the day, it’s still your choice.”

Rouge rested her hand on his shoulder “I can tell you care… but would it really feel better to save yourself from a possible heartache instead of giving yourself the chance to be happy?”

He looked away.

“Even if it turns out to be just for a little while?” 

They both sat again in silence, Shadow mulling over her words.

“Even if I wanted to… it’s too late. Sonic probably hates me. He wouldn’t want me to have anything to do with her.” He started with a sad, pathetic laugh. “Why would he? After the last thing I said to him.”

“Darling, you need to stop assuming. Blue is pissed at you, that’s for damn sure, but I doubt he’ll ever truly hate you. Especially not to the point he’d keep her from you.” The bat tried to reassure him. “Not to mention, she WANTS to meet you. He loves her way too much to deny her that just to be petty towards you.”

To this, Shadow scoffed. “We’re talking about the same annoying hedgehog, right?”

“It’s been months, and whether you’ll believe it or not, he’s changed—at least a bit for the better. He’s way more responsible now than you’d think. Just yesterday he scolded ME for not getting to bed at a more reasonable hour when I mentioned hitting the club that night.” She laughed slightly, remembering the look Tails had given her, which clued the bat in Blue had been on his ass a lot lately for the same issue.

Shadow sat there, still unsure of anything.
He hated being unsure.

Should he just give in and at least meet the kid? Give her that much? Or continue the way it’s always been—staying a safe distance from anyone who could get too close.

Even if he wanted to, Shadow was sure he’d already burned that bridge. No matter what Rouge said, there was no way Sonic would let him go near her—not without an explanation—and he’d be damned before anyone else knew his fears. Rouge knowing was already too much. He didn’t need that faker giving him cheesy, half-assed speeches about how he should live his life.

Finally, the black hedgehog moved, slipping the drawing into the drawer of his nightstand.

“Shadow?”

“It’s late… I want to rest,” he stated, turning over to lie down.

He could feel her eyes on his back before she sighed.

“Okay. Good night, Shadow,” she said, closing the door softly behind her.

Finally, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to sleep. 

He wasn’t sure how many hours had passed when he woke up, completely parched.

Oh, right.
He’d shut himself in his room all day.

Getting up, Shadow groaned as he made his way to the fridge for a glass of water. As he passed the living room, he spotted Rouge still awake, on the phone with someone. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about—but why should he care enough to eavesdrop?

Glass in hand, he headed back to bed.

To his surprise, over the next few days Rouge actually relented. She went to work and even asked Omega to slack on the insults—to which the robot only agreed because he was running out of different words, phrases, and translations anyway.

It seemed she was finally showing Shadow some mercy.

Little did he know, seventy-two hours later he would regret not listening to her call… that this wasn’t mercy at all.
It was the calm before the storm.

_

Early in the morning, Shadow was ripped from his sleep by the obnoxious ring of the doorbell echoing through the apartment.
He sat up, scowling. Whoever thought it was a good idea to wake him at this hour was on thin ice.

Dragging himself down the hall, he slowed as voices reached his ears. Rouge’s laugh. Light, easy… too easy.

He stepped into view just as the door swung wider. Rouge stood there, smiling with a pink-and-purple backpack slung over one shoulder. Sonic was on the other side, passing her another bag patterned with small yellow stars.

And then Sonic noticed him.
Instantly, the blue hedgehog’s smile dropped, his eyes narrowing into that sharp glare meant only for Shadow.

Shadow froze.
Not because of the glare, no. Because it wasn’t just Sonic at the door.

Clinging to the blue hero’s neck was the little hoglet.
Fed. Groomed. Healthy.

Her bright eyes locked on him the second he appeared, wide and expectant, like she’d been waiting for this moment. For him.
Her little arms loosened around Sonic’s neck as she leaned out to peek past him, staring straight at Shadow like she couldn’t believe her eyes.

Shadow’s chest tightened. She looked… different. The messy, scrawny child he’d found months ago was gone.
Now her quills were brushed and conditioned, her cheeks full and rosy, clothes neat. He swore she seemed taller… or at least bigger since he last saw her in Sonic’s arms.

Sonic really was taking care of her?
The thought hit harder than he wanted to admit.

Rouge shifted, catching his frozen expression with a knowing glance. “Well, look who finally decided to crawl out of bed,” she teased with a mischievous smirk.
Sonic’s glare sharpened, arms wrapped protectively around the grinning hoglet who let out a squeak.

And Shadow… Shadow couldn’t tear his eyes away from the girl staring back at him, bouncing in Sonic’s arms and waving at him.

Rouge swung the bag onto the counter with a casual hum, like this was just any other morning and not the equivalent of poking a hornet’s nest. “So, I was just telling Blue here that we can’t wait for little Bean to spend the weekend with us.”

Shadow’s eyes snapped out of their trance and to her. “Excuse me?”

“I’m starting to have second thoughts here…” Sonic finally spoke. “Why does he look confused?”

“You’re imagining things, Blue. Trust me.” Rouge gave a nervous laugh.

Sonic didn’t look convinced. Not in the slightest. His grip on the hoglet tightened as his eyes bored into Shadow like daggers.

“Oh, come on,” Rouge cooed, waving a hand. “You were literally saying you needed a sitter for a few days. We’re right here — problem solved.”

“Rouge—” Sonic’s voice dropped, full of seriousness. “I agreed because it was you. Because I know you’d keep her safe. But with him…”

Rouge sighed dramatically. “Honestly, you two. I should start charging for all this tension you dump in my doorway.” She sighs, leaning in to flash the girl a quick smile, booping her on the nose before straightening again. “She’ll be fine. You know I’d never let anything happen to her, Sonic.”

Shadow’s mouth opened, ready to object — to shut this entire ridiculous scheme down — when Sonic spoke again.

“Fine.” he practically spat. “But promise me one thing, Rouge.” His eyes narrowed at her before sliding to Shadow. “Don’t leave her alone with him.”

That hit like a slap.

Shadow’s head jerked up. “I can watch her just fine,” he snapped. “I am more than capable. I am the ultimate life form — child care is nothing.”

Sonic scoffed. “Yeah? Forgive me, ‘Mr. Ultimate Edgelord,’ but I don’t exactly trust the guy who treats everyone like they’re disposable.”

“I don’t—”

“Boys!” Rouge cut in. “Not to cut this heartfelt reunion short, but are we forgetting WHO we’re doing this for? You know, the one currently present?” She motioned toward the small hoglet, who was looking back and forth, confused.

Both hedgehogs bit their lips — one looking away in frustration, the other in shame.

“Sorry,” Sonic started, grabbing the young girl’s attention with a small smile. “You’ve been super excited for this weekend, right? Sorry you had to see me get so grumpy just then.”

Shadow could hear a soft chirping sound from the hoglet — he could only guess it was her laugh.

“Listen, I only agreed to this because Tails found some readings that could be Eggman… they’re in different areas, so we have to split up, and I’m not taking her on a dangerous mission, obviously. Vanilla offered to help, but Rouge assured me it would be fine,” Sonic said, clearly speaking to Shadow without making eye contact — his eyes stayed on the girl. “Also, even though I’d much rather be here… Chili Bean really wanted to see you. So I’m trusting both of you to take care of her.”

He finished, finally giving Shadow a stern glance.

Wait. “Chili Bean?” Shadow asked in disgust.

“Hey! You don’t get to judge. If you wanted a different name, you should’ve been there to help pick one out.”

Before Shadow could retort, Rouge reached out for the small girl. “Ooo-kay, well it’s been fun, but we have a full schedule of fun things this weekend, and I’m sure the group is waiting on you, Sonic. How about we say bye-bye to daddy and get you settled in?” The small girl nodded.

Shadow watched as the hoglet made gestures with her hands, then leaned up to give Sonic a kiss on the cheek. For some unknown reason, Shadow felt the need to look away from the gesture.

“Remember what I told you to do in case anything happens, okay? If you ever feel unsafe, just push this button right here. Uncle Tails made it just for you, and it will let me know to come back and get you.” Sonic reminded her, showing where to press the tiny panic button, a rainbow flower on a pink bracelet.

The small hoglet nodded.

“Good girl,” the blue hero smiled before turning back to Shadow. The smile stayed on his face, but this one seemed… threatening. “If anything happens to her, you will regret it.”

Shadow met the threat head-on, unflinching, though his jaw was tight. The only sound between them was the soft squeak of the hoglet’s laugh as she reached one hand toward Shadow, completely oblivious to the tension sparking in the air.

Finally, with a quick “be good” to the hoglet, a “take care” to Rouge, and one last glare to Shadow, Sonic left.
The door shut behind him with a click, leaving them alone with the little excited girl.

“Rouge…” Shadow started, his voice edged with irritation.

“Yes?” She smiled sweetly, finally setting the girl down. The hoglet hit the ground running, taking this chance to run up to Shadow, circling him like a tiny whirlwind before stopping in front of him and throwing her paws up.
She froze there, waiting.

Shadow frowned, confused at the child's strange action. What was she trying to do? He glanced back at Rouge instead, completely missing the confused look that flickered across the girl’s face when he didn’t respond.

“What is the meaning of this?” he pressed, crossing his arms.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Rouge replied, all innocence. Then her lips curled into a smug grin. “Sonic needed a sitter, and you needed a reason to meet the girl—mister ‘he’ll never let me see her anyway.’” throwing up air quotes, mocking his voice in a low, gravelly impression.

Shadow scowled, still frozen where he stood, the hoglet now jumping up and reaching out in front of him.

“Relax,” Rouge said, holding up her hands in mock surrender. “It'll be fine. I’m the one technically babysitting, remember? I already put in a request for the next few days off. Shouldn’t be hard.”

Shadow’s eyes narrowed while the child was now pouting, using one paw to tap on him. “And you’re so sure of that?”

“Of course,” she replied smoothly, tilting her head. “Trust me, I’ve got this. You just… interact with her a little, maybe start with that.” She motioned to the girl, who was now standing on her tippy-toes, reaching up.

What even was that?

“What is she even doing?” he asked.

“Shadow, darling, you’ve got to be smarter than that…” she sighed, looking at him to see if anything clicked. Huffing when she realized no, he was still confused at the child’s antics. “She obviously wants something. Want to take a guess what?”

Shadow scoffed. He hated when she talked to him like this… like some clueless child.

Looking down at the kid again, he watched as her face lit up at the sight of him looking at her, jumping a little with her paws out, small squeaks escaping her.

“She wants… to be picked up?” he guessed.

“Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!” the bat mock-cheered.

Shadow sent her a snarl before leaning down to pick up the child, stopping as his hands were about to grab her waist. He quickly pulled back to the hoglet’s confused disappointment.

He was just about to pick her up!

“Ok, now what?” Rouge asked, exasperated.

“Tsk. The last time I held her… I hurt her…” he confessed, remembering the pitiful squeak she had let out, Sonic’s grip tightening on his arm in hopes of breaking Shadow’s hold on the poor thing.

Shadow watched as the hoglet seemed to give up, running around him.

She must have remembered it too.

“Well, I doubt you hurt her too bad…” the bat shrugged. “Seeing as you’re five seconds away from being jumped on.”

“What?!” Shadow snapped, turning around to find Bean now standing on the armrest of the couch behind him. He turned just in time to see the small child launch herself at him.

Instinctively, he reached out and caught her before she could slam face-first into him.

Rouge watched as her roommate held the giggling hoglet up at arm’s length, staring in disbelief that the small thing could even sneak up behind him.

 She smirked. “—and here I thought you were the ultimate lifeform. See? Already a pro at this.”

Shadow scowled, the little hoglet squealed happily in response, wriggling until he was forced to adjust his grip and hold her properly against him. She immediately snuggled into his chest fluff like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Rouge tilted her head, arms crossing. “Well what about that? You didn’t break her. You can hold her just fine, Shadow. Trust me, this weekend’s going to be a breeze.”

Just as she said it, her communicator buzzed loudly in her pocket. She rolled her eyes, pulling it out. “Ugh, give me one second—” She flicked it open. “Yeah?  Make it quick, I’m off the clock.”

A sharp, tinny voice barked loud enough for Shadow to hear from across the room. “Off the clock? Don’t make me laugh, Rouge. Your request for time off was denied.”

Rouge’s smile twitched. “Denied? Excuse me? I submitted the proper request forms.”

“And it was rejected. You’re out of sick days, out of vacation days, and we need you for a mission. That’s not optional.”

Rouge pinched the bridge of her nose. “You can’t be serious. I already made plans. Find someone else.”

“That’s not how this works, Rouge. You’re on our payroll. Either show up, or give us back for that ‘borrowed’ car from last year.”

Her eyes snapped open. “Wait, you can't do that, I’m still borrowing it for an important mission!"

“What mission? You either clock in, or you bring back the company car. Your choice.”

“Come on, I just got the interior done!” She argued.

Rouge’s jaw clenched, teeth grinding.

Rouge let out a slow exhale, her tone deceptively sweet. “You’re unbelievable.”

“That’s the deal. Be at HQ in an hour.” The line clicked off.

Rouge closed the communicator with a sharp snap, muttering under her breath before dragging a hand down her face.

“Well…” she said, turning slowly toward Shadow and the hoglet still perched against him. “So much for my nice, easy weekend with my favorite niece...”

“Soooo… Shadow, slight change of plans-”

“Call Sonic.”

“What?! No! You know how long it took me to convince him to trust me to do this?! If he finds out I got my hours denied when I promised they were approved days ago, he’ll never trust me again!”

“I don’t see how that’s my problem. Maybe don’t lie next time to trick both of us,” Shadow snarled.

“Technically, I just didn’t tell you and may have bent the truth a little with Sonic—but it wasn’t my intention to trick you!”

“Really?” he said flatly.

“At least, not like this… I was supposed to be here. But things changed, and I really need you to not tell Sonic.”

“Was he not the one telling you not to leave her alone with me?”

“So you agree with him now? Think you can’t handle it anymore?” she teased.

Shadow tsked.

“Listen, it’s just a small hiccup. I’ll go in, get this mission done in a day or two, and be back before Sonic comes to pick her up. Easy peasy.”

“Funny. I don’t remember agreeing to this,” he hissed.

“So what, you call Sonic, admit you have no idea how to care for a child? Prove him right? Waste this chance you got to actually get to know your daughter?” She pointed down at the hoglet, who was now happily trying to braid his chest fluff—mostly knotting it instead.

Well, that’s just great.

Still… he would rather not be the one to call quits five minutes after claiming it was “no big deal” for the Ultimate Life Form.

And despite how much he wanted to refuse Rouge, she was right. He’d been given a chance to actually meet the girl. Possibly the only chance.

If the faker found out Rouge had lied, he’d probably never get another one.
And he’d have to deal with a moping Rouge.

“Fine,” he exhaled.

“What was that?” the bat asked, pretending not to hear him.

“I said fine!” he snapped, startling the hoglet, who looked up at him wide-eyed. “I won’t tell Sonic—but you better be back before he returns. Otherwise the blame falls on you.”

“Wonderful!~” Rouge clapped her hands with a bright smile. “I promise, I’ll be back before you even notice I was gone!”

“Sure.”

“Okay, quick rundown: there are some changes of clothes, toys, and books in the bag. He also threw in some snacks she likes. Don’t make the bath water too hot, and be sure to watch her—apparently she loves to dunk her head in the water and hide in the bubbles,” she said quickly, already darting around the apartment to grab her things.

“Wait—” Shadow tried, following the hurried bat.

“Also, he asked that we have her trace some of the alphabet. Vanilla’s helping him find a school, and he wants to make sure she’s a bit prepared. No sugar after six p.m., bed before eight. Make sure she potties before bed, and if she has trouble sleeping, just pet her head a bit—she should fall asleep.”

She finished her list while snatching up her car keys and opening the front door. “Got all that?”

“What?” Shadow asked, genuinely dumbfounded.

“Yeah, you got all that.” She smiled, giving the hoglet a quick forehead kiss. “If anything happens to her while I’m away, I will hurt you. Anyway—good luck! You’ve got this! Bye!~”

She waved as she shut the door behind her.

Shadow could hear her rapid footsteps fading down the hall.

“What?” he asked again, before looking down at the hoglet, who just stared back at him, confused, then gave a tiny shrug.

Shadow tsked.

This was fine. He could look after this child easily! He was pretty much created to be a caregiver, after all. He didn’t need that useless rundown or whatever.

He could take care of her just fine, and they’d both see how capable the Ultimate Life Form was.

This was nothing.

Chapter Text

Chili Bean stared up at the familiar figure… while she had instantly recognized him the moment he came from the hallway, looking up at him now she began to realize a few things. For starters, he did have marks and quills just like her! He also had fluff like her!

He was also a lot less smiley than Papa… a lot more growly too. She giggled. He’s weird.

The two stood staring at each other for a moment longer… Was this the staring game? She hated the staring game — she never wins!

With a hmph, the little hoglet ran past the grumpy figure. She knew a way better game!

Chili Bean was unaware of Shadow's raised eyebrow as she attempted to reach for her bag on the counter, grasping at the straps until eventually she grabbed onto one with a hop, the bag tumbling down with her as she fell back.

She heard the grumpy hog flinch behind her.
“Hey, what are you—!” he started, but she ignored him as she unzipped and shuffled through the bag, pulling everything out as she looked for the better game…

Almost…

There!

Chili Bean squealed in delight as she yanked out a Ziploc full of dolls and action figures. Success!

Excited, the hoglet ran up to the grumpy hog, jumping over the piles of clothes and books she had dragged out, holding up her bag for him to see.

Huh. Now he didn’t look grumpy; he looked more like Papa! Papa had the same face when she watered the green rug with her bubble potion the other day. She was trying to make it grow flowers, but it turned a different color instead! Papa was surprised too!

Was the grumpy hog surprised?

Why?

Has he never seen dolls before?

The thought made her feel sad for the grumpy man … she needed to teach him how to play with dolls like Uncle Tails taught her!

Chili Bean squeaked at him again, trying her best to sign with her hands full, sticking her thumb and pinky out—shaking her hands.

“What?” he asked.

Huh.

She was doing it right… right?

She tried again. Now he did not look grumpy or surprised—he looked confused.

“You want to play with those…?” he asked slowly.

Chili Bean smiled as she nodded.

He got it!

“I suppose you could play in the living room. I do need to go make sure nothing was left out… not to mention that report I was working on last night. I could probably get it done in an hour…” he started talking to himself.

Now it was Chili Bean’s turn to look confused.

He really was weird.

“That settles it. You can play in here while I finish up some things… it won’t take long… just find something to entertain yourself…” he said as he guided her to the living room with a hand behind her back.

What?

“Also, stay out of the kitchen. If you need anything, my office door will be the only one open.”

What?! No!
She wanted him to play too!

Where was he going!?

Bean started to sign with her hands frantically, resorting to shaking the bag when she noticed he wasn’t understanding.

“ I got it — you want to play your game… you can do that while I finish up some work things. If only Rouge told me beforehand I—” She listened to him talk to himself again as he walked right back down the hall.

Leaving her alone in the new and empty living room.

He had to work? That was no fun!

Was it like Uncle Tails? Where his work could be a bit dangerous? Uncle Tails allowed her to help sometimes though!

Well… there were times she had to play alone. Usually someone was able to play with her… but if he really had to work…

Still, it made the hoglet sad.

She really wanted to play dolls with him! She hadn’t seen him in FOREVER!

Looking down at the dolls, the girl decided they really weren’t fun to play with all alone…

Chucking them aside, she looked around for something else to play with. What could she do all alone while her grumpy man worked?

Digging through her bag she found her tracing markers. Deciding these were good enough, she looked around for paper. Papa always made sure to have paper out in the open for her—looking around, though, she didn’t see anything.

Where could she draw?

Hmphing, she looked at the blank white walls…

Huh. He did say find something, right?

Also, unlike Papa who had a bunch of pictures and her drawings on the walls, Aunty Rouge and the grumpy man didn’t have anything at all. So sad…

She could fix that.

_

Shadow was still fuming at Rouge’s setup… to think that the whole time he thought she had finally let up on her torture was just a ruse to catch him off guard! Then she just had to get them stuck in a situation where they were both lying to Sonic, sneaking behind his back, and doing exactly what the blue faker asked them not to do!

He should’ve never agreed to this. He already had to deal with a pissy Rouge—he did not need an extra pissy Sonic as well, he was already annoying enough! Though… It was nice to see him again. As much as Shadow hated to admit it… it had been a bit too quiet these past few months.
Not that he missed the blue nuisance! It’s just that Sonic hadn’t challenged him to a race in a while. Even though the faker would lose, at least he could put up a bit of a challenge! That’s all he missed—the challenge Sonic brought.

That was it.

Maybe pissing him off would entice him to challenge Shadow more often…?
Or maybe it would finally drive him away for good.

The thought made Shadow pause his purging of anything slightly dangerous within small-hand grabbing reach. He shook it off as he bent down and grabbed a few more sharp… or sharp-ish items.

Really, if Rouge was planning this, she could have at least safety-proofed the place first! Chaos knows how she leaves things lying around.

Once everything was finally put away, Shadow distracted his thoughts by finishing the last report. With Rouge letting up, he had finally been able to catch up on everything… This was the last report he had to complete before being fully caught up.

Just finish the report. 

Don’t think about Rouge or… Sonic. He was definitely not thinking about Sonic, or the sharp look Sonic gave him when he met his eyes… how Sonic spoke to him, how his voice sounded so on edge… how the thing tying the two together sat in his living room now.

The same thing that could probably bring the two together again…

Or drive them apart.

And it would be his own fault for ignoring Sonic’s wishes…

Dammit, why was he doing this again?!

Shadow dragged his focus on the paper again… he’d only written a few letters down.

Great.
Brilliant distraction this was.

Shadow groaned when he glanced at the clock. It had been 34 minutes…
34 minutes and he hadn’t even gotten a single word written.

Admitting defeat, he closed the file.

Leaning back and closing his eyes, he willed his mind to be quiet.

And it was.

Quiet.

Too quiet.

Now that he thought about it… even if the kid didn’t talk, she was pretty loud. Or at least energetic.
She was Sonic’s kid after all… she had to inherit some of that energy. There should be some noise.

But nothing.

What if…

Quickly, Shadow sat up.

His mind now raced through a million scenarios. He never kept anything dangerous in the living room, but what if Rouge or Omega left something there and she found it?! Maybe she got into something and was stuck?! Or… what if she decided this was boring and chased after Sonic to go home—was the door for sure locked?!

His mind supplied him with a few more horrifying possibilities as he raced down the hall, stopping when he found a scene he absolutely did not imagine happening.

Relief washed over him as she turned back and smiled at him.

She was safe.

The relief vanished instantly the moment he saw why she was so silent.

Shadow’s hands flew to his quills as he stared at his walls…

Colors scribbled all over them—what were once clean, blank walls were now decorated with a multitude of colors.
Looking down at the hoglet again, he saw she too had marks all over her… the hoglet did not seem to mind though, smiling up at him.

“Did—did you do that?!” he asked stupidly… of course she did it! Who else could have?!
The hoglet nodded proudly, standing up and stepping out of the way so he could see the whole picture on display.

This…?!
How could—?!

Shadow had to take a step back, sucking in a breath before he imploded.

“Why?” he hissed out.

This seemed to confuse the hoglet, tilting her head curiously.

“Why,” he hissed again, trying his best not to sound mad or threatening—he had a feeling scaring the kid would not be the best decision at the moment—“...would you draw on the walls?”

The hoglet looked as though she had to think about it a bit before trying to sign again. 

Of course.

He sighed, unable to understand her, shaking his head as he moved forward to assess the damage.

He watched as she realized he was, in fact, not happy about the colorful addition to his décor. Her little hands slowed before dropping in defeat.

He bent down to see it was marker.
“Damnit,” he growled. Of course it was marker!

He could feel the hoglet flinch beside him. Glancing at her, he saw her smile was now completely gone…

Instead she looked… afraid.

Shadow has never cared if kids were scared of him—why should he?
But the thought of fear in her eyes made something twist uncomfortably in his chest… he didn’t want her to be scared of him.

“Hey, it’s um.. fine, I’m just frustrated…” he tried. Was that the best way to go about this? “Just—does Sonic—does your papa let you draw on the walls?”

The hoglet shook her head.

“Okay, so then why draw on mine? I’m trying to understand…”

The hoglet looked down, shrugging.

“Did you not have anything like paper to draw on?”

Again, a head shake.

Ah. Okay.
Makes sense.
Not really—but maybe, in her kid mind, a white wall was the same as paper?

Shadow sighed again.

“I’m not mad at you,” he started, and the girl looked up at him, eyes hopeful.
No, he wasn’t mad at her. If anything, he was mad at himself… he had assumed that since she wasn’t a baby, she could be alone for a bit—like Maria had been whenever he had to leave for examinations.

But she was much younger than Maria had been, he reminded himself. She wasn’t a baby, but still young enough to require supervision.

That much was obvious now.

He shouldn’t have assumed. This whole thing could’ve been prevented.

He looked at the wall again, this time with less anger. Quickly, he noticed that it was, in fact, not just scribbles…

The anger faded the longer he stared.
It was like the picture hidden in his nightstand—crude, but based on the shapes and colors, it was quite obviously a picture of them, smiling and holding hands… Sonic holding her other hand, Rouge next to him… The fox as well… the red thing holding Rouge’s hand had to be Knuckles, and the pink one Amy Rose.

It wasn’t just scribbles.
It was a portrait.

Her very own family portrait with them at the center.

He looked over at her again—she was watching him expectantly.

Shadow couldn’t help it; he let out a soft chuckle.
“Hmph… it’s not… bad. Pretty good, actually. Just—next time put it on paper. Sounds agreeable?”

The hoglet squealed happily, nodding in agreement, surprising him when she jumped onto his side, rubbing her face into his arm.

He glanced at the clock…
It had been a little over an hour since Sonic left.

Just an hour?

Great.

_

He’d done it.

He cracked the code.

It only took three hours, but who cared about that? He had cracked the damn code.

After the whole wall/family-portrait incident, Shadow decided he needed to keep the hoglet close if he wanted to keep an eye on her. He still had that report to finish, so he settled on sitting her in his office. Despite the many toys, papers, crayons, and books sprawled out, each only captured her attention for about five minutes at best.

He watched as the small thing kicked her legs, shook her body, and rolled around. With years of dealing with Sonic, he originally planned to ignore all of this—until she rolled right off the couch and onto the ground with a thump.

Alarmed, he looked over, praying he wouldn’t have to console a crying child… only to find her lying face-up and grinning ear to ear.

Somehow, that unsettled him more.

He had even tried sitting her on his lap after she proceeded to now purposely roll off the couch, only for her to vibrate nonstop. Even when she wasn’t moving, the kid was moving.

One hundred percent from Sonic’s side.

Sighing, Shadow decided they needed a break. He grabbed a handful of espresso beans for himself and a snack from the bag for her—and that’s when it happened.

As the twitching hoglet slurped down the yogurt pouch… she stilled.

Shadow watched in amazement as—for the first time since she arrived—she calmly sat down, happily drinking her yogurt.

No shaking.

No tapping.

No kicking or rolling.

No getting into something.

Just peace. And quiet.

Snacks, huh?

Shadow had never found much appeal in eating for pleasure. Sure, he ate once in a while, but he didn’t need to eat as much as the average Mobian. In fact, he rarely ever felt hungry; only needing to eat every few days or if something completely drained his energy.

But he did have one indulgence: coffee beans. They calmed him down, and he found them enjoyable.

The hoglet must be the same. Was it just yogurt, or did all foods calm her?

Knowing Sonic, it was probably the latter.

That was fine. He could work with this.

For the next few hours, as he finally worked on that damn report in peace, the two sat in his office—the young hoglet snacking endlessly. Every time she finished something, she would dart over and hold out her little palm. It didn’t take her long to catch on to the deal, and was more than happy to oblige.

One by one, Shadow handed her snacks: more yogurt, cookies, crackers, gummies, bananas, a Ziploc of chocolate chips, cheese sticks, cereal… Sonic really had packed a variety.

By the time he finally finished the report, the bag was emptied of all edible items. All that remained was a box of pancake batter.
It didn’t matter; his work was done now, and he could focus on watching the hoglet. It was getting pretty late… perhaps he could get those “practicing letters” out of the way, throw her in the bath, and call it a day.

Glancing over at the hoglet, he took in the sight of her: markers smeared across her fur, sticky residue all over her face and hands.
Yeah. Definitely a bath.

“Alright, kid, I’m all done here. How about we move back to the living room and—”

He stopped.
The whole time he’d been talking, she hadn’t moved. She just stood in front of the door, staring at him.

…Huh. Why was she standing there again?

Looking into her eyes, he noticed her pupils had shrunk.

His gaze dropped—and there, by her feet, was the wrapper of a chocolate bar.

Did Sonic pack her a chocolate bar?

No. Shadow didn’t remember pulling that out of the bag.
It looked suspiciously like the one Rouge gave him a while back.

The espresso-flavored one.

…Shit.

He must have handed it to her when he was running low on bribes snacks.
Damn Rouge for giving it to him. Was it his fault for leaving it in his office drawer?
Nope. This was entirely Rouge’s fault.

Maybe she was like him and coffee calmed her down? She was staying very… very… still.

“Kid, do you feel alright?” he asked, reaching out.

Instantly, the tiny caffeinated creature spun heel and bolted out the door.

Shit.

_

“EEEEIIIIIIYYYY!”

Smash!

The past… who even knew anymore… had been nothing but pure, unadulterated chaos.
Shadow found himself whipping around corners, launching himself at and grasping for a slippery, squirmy hoglet.

She alternated between breathy manic giggles and the highest-pitched squeals he’d ever heard.

Every time Shadow grabbed her, she’d twist and turn like an eel, slipping out of his hold—giggling as she ran and jumped around, bouncing on the couch, thumping across the coffee table, and leaping onto a chair.

“EEEIIIIIYEIIY!!”

“Kid! Get back here!” He lunged as she ducked and ran.

“Damnit!”

“EIEIEIEIEIEEEEEEY!!”

“Stop—don’t—!”

Crash!

“EIIYA! EIIYA! EIIYA!”

“Kid! Damnit—Chili Bean, stop!” he barked as she scrambled under the stools, knocking one over with a clatter.

As if the universe were testing him, pounding erupted at his front door.

A neighbor, how perfect.

Now he had: one screeching hoglet; a pounding door; crashing furniture and muffled yelling from outside.

Apparently someone had a death wish.

Shadow growled loudly as he stomped to the door and ripped it open to reveal a startled older mobian.

“WHAT?!” he snarled.

“Uh—well, you’re too loud! I don’t pay this much to be hearing that at this time—”

“I’M FUCKING WORKING ON IT!” Shadow roared.

Taking the opportunity, the hoglet attempted to launch herself through the gap between Shadow and the doorframe.

Shadow reacted instantly, grabbing the back of her shirt just in time as she flailed and squealed, reaching out toward freedom. Seeing the tiny, messy creature suddenly burst out of nowhere, the older mobian fell backwards, hitting the wall behind him.

He stared in horror as the deranged hoglet clawed forward, waving her hand as fast as she could, gasping-giggling with a wild grin.
She wasn’t even looking at him—just staring past him with laser focus and trying to propel herself forward.

“DAMNIT!” Shadow snapped, breaking the bystander out of his trance. “YOU ALMOST LET HER OUT! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?”

“N-no—sorry—!”

Shadow struggled as he dragged the child back inside—she’d latched onto the doorframe like a feral animal. The older mobian scrambled away, disappearing into his apartment.

Finally, Shadow yanked the hoglet inside, slammed the door shut, and immediately locked it. She slipped from his grasp again, hit the floor with a thump, and bolted back toward the living room.

Shadow was about to resume the chase when he noticed her slowing… then stopping.

GUUURGLE—

He didn’t need super-hearing to catch that noise. A pitiful whine followed.

She turned toward him, the crazed joy gone from her face—now replaced with a pleading look. Another whine. She clutched her stomach.

“Kid… what are you—?”

Another loud gurgle.

Oh.

OH.

She whimpered again as Shadow rushed to her side, crouching down as if getting to her level would somehow help. He needed to get her to the bathroom ASAP. But how was he supposed to carry her if she was sick? Would moving her make it worse? Should he—

What happened next…
Shadow preferred not to relive anytime soon.

Chili Bean wasn’t the only one who needed a deep clean that night.

-

Finally—after a very long bath, a nose-clenching cleanup, an outfit double-bagged and tossed down the trash chute, and some medicine Sonic had packed in the bag, things were finally calm.

Shadow looked down at the small hoglet curled against him. She was now clean and dressed in snuggly pajamas, passed out on top of him, burrowed into his chest fluff. She had fallen asleep right there, and he was far too exhausted to move her.

Not to mention, after scrubbing the floor and the stench it held, the lavender scent drifting off her was a welcomed surprise.

Shadow sighed, glancing over at the clock. 3 a.m.
He couldn’t even remember when she finally knocked out—definitely way past her bedtime.

He felt her slow, soft snores, and he felt his own eyes drifting shut.
He was tired?
Well, who wouldn’t be after all that?

The child would most likely be out for hours…

‘A little shut-eye wouldn’t hurt…’ He decided, letting his eyes finally close.