Chapter Text

Sprained Wrist

Two hedgehogs were fighting in a clearing, exchanging blows like there would be no tomorrow. A triumphant grin met a competitive snarl as no hedgehog wanted to back down first.

This was not the first time Sonic and Shadow had met up to fight and surely it would not be the last time either. Most days it seemed to be their own way of communication to grunt and scream and kick and punch.

So when Sonic did not anticipate the fist coming his way as he had been distracted for one second - one brief second! - the blue hedgehog had been knocked forcefully to the ground, sliding a short distance until he came to a stop.

He was barely fazed.

Shadow’s reaction to his injury had been a surprise though. In the matter of seconds, the black hedgehog had pulled him back to his feet, brushing away the dirt from his shoulders before peering closely at the other’s body.

Sonic pushed him away, barely causing him to stumble. Still, the force had seemed to much for his left had as it painfully throbbed at the strain.

Despite the groan that left his lips, Sonic still tried to insist, “I’m fine.”

The black hedgehog frowned, his eyes darting between the green eyes and the clearly hurt arm the other was now carefully cradling close to his body.

“You’re not fine.” Shadow did not seem impressed with Sonic’s acting skills, instead just blankly staring at him, waiting.

Sonic stayed silent. He was still thinking off the best way to escape this conversation and go home when Shadow continued.

“Let me see.”

“No!” The blue hedgehog instantly argued, stumbling a few steps back to distance himself from Shadow. In the moment he gripped his arm even tighter and making himself hiss in pain. Embarrassment flooded his system, the heat soon rising to his cheeks and he turned away to hide his state.

After a moment of attempting to compose himself, Sonic’s voice sounded strong and clear as he retorted, “I don’t need your pity.”

He turned back to face Shadow but the black hedgehog only continued to stare blankly at him.

“It’s not pity.” Shadow eventually replied when it was clear that was all the blue hedgehog was going to say. He even rolled his eyes like the idea had been ridiculous. “As If I would actually do that out of pity.”

Right.

Sonic had not thought either that Shadow was offering this out of pity but what else could it be? To be condescending? To make fun of him?

They had not insulted each other for ages. Which felt strange, for sure but they had kind of outgrown the enemies bit where they kept throwing petty insults at each other.

Well, mostly at least.

“So you’re just doing this out of the goodness of your heart?” Sonic asked with a skeptical look on his face before crossing his arms, careful now not to strain his injured arm too much.

A scoff was his only answer.

And then. “Of course not.”

Huh?

“I’m just taking responsibility for my actions.” The black hedgehog continued, nonplussed.

How would that even-

“Right.” Sonic replied, still sounding like he did not believe the other. “Because that’s what we do?”

Shadow shrugged, looking entirely too casual for the disagreement they were having. In fact, he seemed fine with patiently waiting for the blue hedgehog to think his offer over.

Which Sonic did, tapping his foot with vigor as the thoughts kept racing inside his head. Eventually he came to his conclusion to at least attempt to hear Shadow out.

“…What would you even do?” And because he was ever not a smart ass, he added as a joke, “Kiss it better?”

“No.” The black hedgehog replied curtly, a bit of incredulity in his tone. “But I can heal you.”

Sonic blinked at the other, frowning in confusion. Did Shadow just make a joke?

He narrowed his eyes at him, suspicious.

“…You can actually do that?”

Brown eyes stared back at him, silently telling him he was insane for asking that. Or was it Shadow’s ‘You’re an idiot’-look? He always confused those two.

“I was created to be The Ultimate Lifeform.” Shadow stated as If he was talking about his own fur colour. A simple fact. “I can do anything.”

Sonic rolled his eyes.

Of course, Shadow would use the moment to brag.

“Even heal.” The black hedgehog told him smugly, finally concluding his declaration of superiority.

Was a potentially healed wrist really worth of giving Shadow more material to gloat forever?

“…Fine.”

Shadow chuckled, crossing the distance between them in the matter of seconds before staring expectantly at his hand.

Reluctantly Sonic uncurled his wrist, offering it up like he was reaching into a pit of venomous snakes.

He had expected Shadow to grasp his arm tightly and pull it forcefully towards himself but the first touch was surprisingly gentle. So unlike how he and Sonic normally handled each other.

Shadow’s fingers were firm and unyielding, mostly making it Sonic’s decision to move his wrist closer to the other’s gaze. The warmth seeped into his bones, making his skin itch uncomfortably. He shuffled his feet to distract himself, looking away from the black hedgehog who stood way too close to him.

Had they ever been so close before? Sonic could not remember. In fact, the blue hedgehog had trouble concentrating with Shadow this close- his thoughts feeling even more like a jumbled mess than normal.

He had never been so aware of the other’s presence before. With Shadow leaning down to inspect his injury, Sonic could even take in how he smelled. A mix of cinnamon and coffee- and was that… lavender?

“It’s not broken.” Shadow observed drily, sounding oddly relieved and reminding the blue hedgehog of his existence. “Good. This will only take a moment.”

“…What?”

“Hold still.”

Then without allowing him even a moment of protest, Shadow channeled his Chaos Energy into his own hands. An orange glow appeared, making his hands really visible in the dark forest- even through the thick white gloves that the black hedgehog was wearing.

And when the unfamiliar energy finally arrived on his side, Sonic gasped.

The blue hedgehog knew how Chaos Energy felt like: His own and Shadow’s too. Normally their energies clash, not quite hostile towards each other but definitely not trusting either. Just like the energies’ owners.

But this energy felt… different. It was hard to describe, it felt more like getting a comforting hug consisting entirely out of Chaos Energy.

He had to admit, Sonic liked this feeling. He liked this form of Chaos Energy and he might even like feeling Shadow’s hands on-

“I’m done.” The black hedgehog dropped Sonic’s wrist like it had personally offended him before stepping away. Instantly his hand felt way too cold- completely unrelated to the temperature of the forest clearing.

Right. This had been temporary, a short moment of Shadow helping him that Sonic definitely did not already miss.

Get a grip! He told himself quietly.

Sonic closed and opened his hands, inspecting his limb closer while he turned and prodded at it before finally deeming it healed.

He cleared his throat, now feeling very awkward with how he had reacted to this whole situation.

The blue hedgehog forced a weak smile on his face, telling Shadow, “…Thanks.”

If the other noticed how strange Sonic was acting, he did not show it. Instead the black hedgehog turned away from him, adjusting his gloves that had slightly wrinkled during the healing process.

“You’re welcome, Faker.” A satisfied smirk on his face.

Shadow then dashed off, leaving a very confused and bewildered Sonic behind.

Tonight the blue hedgehog had a lot to think about.

Chapter Text

Concussion

“Team Dark is here.” Amy Rose appeared at his side, smashing one Badniks that was just short of hitting him to bits.

Sonic kicked another robot in its face before leaping into the air, spinning and landing rough on another one, crushing the machine.

“Really?” The blue hedgehog looked around for the trio, only to stop when he needed to dodge a new attack. “Where?”

Tails entered the fight, shooting his way free to Sonic's side.

“They’ve taken the other entrance.” The kit briefly explained, squashing his brother’s hopes of catching a glimpse of a certain black hedgehog.

Sonic visibly deflated, deciding to focus back on the fight.

A few weeks had passed since Shadow had healed his wrist and he had not been able to stop thinking about it.

The feeling of the other hedgehog’s hands on him while his energy spread through his body, faster than a forest fire and leaving an equally burning wreckage behind.

Chaos, he was a mess.

Sonic would have blushed If his blood was not busy racing through his body to allow him to fight off the horde of Badniks coming his way.

He had never been the guy to get his thoughts stuck on another person. Normally they moved fast, jumping from one topic to another with such useless energy.

It was no surprise that Tails kept calling him the poster child of ADHD.

Something about Shadow’s healing had just permanently changed his brain chemistry.

“Rouge told me they have a mission here.” Knuckles smashed two robots’ heads together before dropping them to the floor where they continued to lie there uselessly. “Apparently GUN wants some kind of prototype.”

Amy jerked around to stare at the echidna, gasping, “Rouge told you what?!”

The echidna crushed another Badnik before returning the pink hedgehog’s gaze. He blushed, his face becoming even redder than his normal fur colour as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

“We’ve been talking a bit-” He admitted, only for Amy to cut him off with a shriek.

“Talking?! Since when?”

Knuckles shrugged. “Not for long-”

“Why didn't you tell us?!”

The echidna was beginning to look extremely irritated at being interrupted again and again.

He opened his mouth to retort but Tails beat him to the punch, completely changing the topic.

“A prototype?!” The kit shouted over the sound of his laser pistol hitting target after target. “They're seriously here for Eggman technology?”

Knuckles scoffed in annoyance before turning away from the conversation. And If the next Badnik was handled even rougher than what they had to face before- nobody would complain.

While it made sense that Team Dark only showed up for a mission goal, Sonic could not stop himself from feeling a smidge of disappointment. Did they really not want to hang out with them?

Yes, they were busy but only joining them when GUN demanded seemed really ridiculous to him.

“Eggman tech in GUN’s hands sounds like a recipe for disaster.” Sonic loudly voiced his complaint.

Especially when they decided to ‘improve’ said technology. One mad scientist was bad enough but a full agency of them using machines to fulfil their desires?

No, thanks.

Tails shrugged, his twin-tails lifting him into the air to dodge two Badniks coming his way, making them crash into each other instead. “It’s better than leaving the technology with Robotnik though.”

“Is it?” Amy argued back.

The group continued to bicker while taking care off the remaining Badniks, defeating one machine after the next. Finally, when only a handful of them remained, the machines paused in their movements, almost like someone had paused time.

In response, the group paused too, exchanging confused looks before completely dropping their fighting stances when the Badniks did not unfreeze.

Sonic snorted, “That’s a good indication of how the prototype will work.” He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. “If even the basic models already have trouble fulfilling their tasks.”

Indignation ran through the blue hedgehog as he waited for the machines to begin moving again. Impatiently tapping his foot on the ground.

Eggman had many years chasing after him, dedicate his whole life to frustrate him during any step he took- and now he sent faulty tech to face him? Seriously? Sonic almost said it made more sense than this was part of the act of ruining his day.

Just when he thought about just destroying the frozen machines, a speaker came to life, loudly broadcasting an annoying but very familiar voice.

“You damn rodents!” Speaking of the devil, the doctor announced his presence with an old insult. “It’s been nice seeing you lose against my machines but it’s time to make my departure.”

Amy casually put her hammer behind her head as she gave Knuckles an incredulous stare, silently questioning If Eggman was actually serious about that.

Knuckles shrugged, seeming just as annoyed with this situation as Sonic was finding himself to be.

“Seriously, that early?” Sonic scoffed, grinning into a nearby camera despite how annoyed he felt with this development. “Are you that scared of us beating you?”

Tails snickered in agreement, nodding along with the blue hedgehog’s comment.

The human continued with his monologue, completely ignoring Sonic’s comment. “But I’m leaving you in capable hands, of course.”

“…Is that a pre-recorded message?” Amy asked in a whisper.

Tails shook his head, a frown on his face. “I don’t think so.”

Sonic rolled his eyes, not looking one bit impressed, “Eggface, do you actually think we’re just letting you escape?”

If Eggman actually thought, they were going to forfeit the fight just because he decided to run, he was in for a surprise.

“Who said you’ll have the time to stop me?”

As soon as the human had finished his taunt, the line finally went dead. The group was prepared for the frozen machines to begin moving again, what they were not ready for however, was the sight of an army of Badniks entering the room.

Too many to count. Not that Sonic would have felt the urge to anyway.

He dropped back into a fighting stance, eager to spend the next through minutes with beating his way through swarms of robots but a voice called out him.

“Sonic!” Tails shouted, already beginning to shoot around, hitting another target with every shot. “Eggman is getting away!”

Right. Eggman was still escaping.

The blue hedgehog cast a longing look at the attacking enemies before dashing off to catch up with whatever route the doctor was trying to escape through.

In the matter of seconds, Sonic had raced through the many hallways of the factory, soon enough managing to find Eggman in his Egg Mobile.

He spin dashed at the vehicle, announcing his presence with a loud thud.

“What?!” Eggman peeked over the edge of his seat before groaning, “You pest! Can’t you ever just leave me alone?”

“Nah, where would be the fun in that?” Sonic quipped back before attacking the vehicle once again.

The doctor barely dodged the attack, muttering curses under his breath.

“Ah, come on.” The blue hedgehog complained, “Let me hit you!”

Another swerve to the side, just out of Sonic’s reach. “I don’t have time for this.” Eggman snarled before pressing one button on his dashboard, activating a laser that hit the ceiling behind his Egg Mobile.

This time it was Sonic’s turn to dodge, effortlessly avoiding the many tiles and rubble that was coming down.

Then he noticed a figment of black quills just in his peripheral vision. Instantly his head turned, trying to see what he had noticed but his eyes found nothing. Instead Sonic stumbled, tripping over a small stone he normally would have skipped over and fell.

The black hedgehog tried to jump back to his feet but a rock fell on his feet, actively trapping them with weight.

Cold stone cut sharp into his ankle and Sonic gasped, his hands jerking to his foot to attempt to free himself but the rock remained too heavy.

Shit.

And then more rocks came falling down, caging him in even farther until one of them struck him by his head. The last thing Sonic heard before his vision turned black was Eggman’s laughter as the doctor slowly got away.

His eyelids fluttered when the weight around his leg shifted, pulling him back into consciousness. When his eyes finally opened, the only thing he could make out in front of him was a blurry black silhouette.

“…Shadow?”

His tongue stumbled over the name like he had done just- how long had he been out? A minute? A few seconds?

Sonic could still feel his body, which told him that surely it could not have been very long. Although all he could feel was pain.

Some quiet voice in the back of his head told him that this was a good thing - another louder voice complained about the pain. He told both of them to shut up and leave him alone.

“Sonic.” Shadow’s voice cut through all the other voices in his head. He felt strangely thankful about that as his mouth moved into a loopy grin. “Do you ever think about the consequences of your actions?”

His grin dropped into a frown as he thought about the other’s comment. Did thinking always feel so hard to him? He was struggling to remember.

He slowly got up while his body kept complaining and screaming at him. His head kept drifting to one side before he forcefully pulled it to the other side. Repeating the whole motion. Sonic was beginning to feel pretty dizzy. Why was his sight so crooked? Was something off with his center of gravity?

His leg burned as he tried to shift his weight around.

“Consequences.” He repeated thoughtfully, trying his best to focus on the question before he gave up. “What consequences?”

The pain tried its best to return to his thoughts as his body pulsated and throbbed. He almost felt like a giant worm and he was sure his body would like one too, If he tried to. Heavy, tired and strangely helpless.

Sonic would not say no to dark hole either where he could hide his head in, preferably cold enough so his headache would finally go away.

“You’re bleeding.” Shadow pointed at Sonic’s forehead, just short of touching him.

The blue hedgehog held his breath, waiting for the touch to happen but the other only dropped his hand back to his side. Damn. Shadow’s gloves would probably feel very cold and comfortable against his heated skin.

Sonic touched his own forehead, poking the squishy mess before pulling back his hand and staring at the red fluid staining his white gloves.

Shadow was right. He was bleeding. Huh, how did that happen?

Images kept flashing before his eyes. Tails. Eggman. Rocks? Oh.

“Are the others-” A cough interrupted him as his throat expelled the little fluid that was still inside his mouth. He felt like a desert from which the only oasis had just gone up and left. “-safe?”

Shadow’s face, which had given him a disgusted look at his cough, softened. He nodded at him.

“They’re fine. All safe.”

The blue hedgehog nodded slowly, processing the information before he continued. He just had to ask, “Did he get away?”

Shadow pulled a small thing out of his quills, stepping closer to him. “He got away.” He confirmed before white flooded his system.

The light was too bright, shining directly into his eyes. He had already been feeling light-headed before and this was just making it worse.

Heh. Light-headed. Wouldn’t that mean that his head was technically glowing?

A hand grabbed him by the neck. “Stop fidgeting.” Sonic had frozen like a deer in headlights, completely forgetting how to even breathe. “Follow the light.”

Reluctantly Sonic did as he was told, despite the voices once more screaming inside his head. Soon their squabble turned into a high flat tone that did not make him feel any better.

Finally Shadow turned the flashlight off, stashing it once more inside his quills before stepping away. “You have slow reflexes.”

“…Thanks.” Sonic nodded despite not understanding what Shadow meant.

The black hedgehog pinched his nose for a moment, exhaling loudly. “That’s a bad thing.” Sonic had the sudden urge to tilt his head like a dog that did not understand a command and he would totally do it too, If he did not fear of his body just toppling over once his weight was not centered anymore.

“You have a concussion.” Shadow announced and this time Sonic really had the feeling he should know what the other was talking about.

No- you’re the pincushion! Was his immediate mental response which told him how hurt his head actually was. And the other definitely did not seem like he was in a joking mood right now.

He squinted, back to nodding, “…And that’s a bad thing.” The blue hedgehog mentally patted himself on the shoulder. He had totally nailed that response.

Shadow sighed. He looked back to the side of the hallway where he had probably come from, pausing.

He was not going to abandon him? …Right?

Sonic’s hand snapped forward, latching itself onto Shadow’s wrist. When the black hedgehog looked back at him, he smiled. Well, at least he tried. His mouth felt way too wide- and had he always had so many teeth?

His tongue moved over his row of teeth, suddenly jumping when it cut itself open on a particularly sharp tooth. Ouch.

Shadow’s eyes dropped to their hands before he looked back into Sonic’s eyes, he frowned. “…I’m just going to heal you.”

“Okay.” The taste of iron distracted the blue hedgehog, still too out of it to actually know what he was agreeing to.

Shadow stepped closer to him before he put his hands onto the sides of his head, cradling it gently between them.

Sonic’s mouth feel open in surprise, a trickle of blood covering his lips in red. The other’s eyes immediately zoomed onto the red substance.

“Did you accidentally bite your tongue?”

He licked the blood away before answering, “…No.”

The black hedgehog did not answer. Instead Sonic felt the other’s hands heat up and instantly nuzzled his head closer to the heat.

He had wanted cold but warm was somehow good too.

Once more energy flew into his body, directly moving into his head. Even despite the pain, Sonic felt at peace. He did not even have to hold himself up anymore - Shadow’s hands were holding him up by themselves.

During this entire season, Shadow’s eyes had stayed focused on the blue hedgehog’s forehead. Professional. Never glancing father down than that, instead keeping his entire attention on the injury.

Meanwhile Sonic’s eyes kept flickering between red eyes and the lips right in front of him. Would they feel just as soft as his hands? Would Shadow even want to kiss him?

With his head slowly being mended, his thoughts returned to him, making the hero question their situation.

“I don’t understand.”

Shadow’s eyes did not stray from his forehead but his ear flickered with interest as he let out a single “Mhm?” as a response.

Sonic’s eyes burned. “Why are you so nice to me?”

For a few beats the black hedgehog had stayed silent, appearing to think about this question. Just when Sonic was sure Shadow was not going to answer anymore, he replied, “We’ve wasted enough time clawing at each other’s throats.” His gaze dropped lower, meeting Sonic’s eyes. “Right?”

Red eyes locked him in place. Had they always been so red before? He coughed, suddenly feeling very embarrassed with how close they were standing, “…Right.” Sonic agreed.

Shadow spent another few seconds to take in the other’s face, almost like he was trying to burn it into his memory.

Then he stepped away, taking the head with him. “I’m done.” The black hedgehog announced like he had not just shifted Sonic’s entire world view to the left.

He frowned at his hands, now similar red like Sonic’s own hands. Was it strange that Sonic felt oddly proud about Shadow having something from himself on him?

…Probably.

“Rouge must have found the prototype by now.” Shadow sighed, glancing at a watch on his wrist that seemed to be showing messages. He frowned when he noticed that he had received no new messages.

Sonic sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, grasping for something to say.

“Doesn’t she have OMEGA as back-up?”

Anything but that. Shadow gave him a long look, most likely silently asking why he had even taken the time to heal him.

“…Does your head still hurt?”

“No.”

Great, now Shadow thinks he is an idiot. Which, to be fair, was not too far off to their usual shtick.

And then Sonic decided to add a little “Thank you.” because the silence between them was not already awkward enough.

Shadow nodded at him. And then he was gone.

Sonic sighed, wiping one of his gloves across his face as he sighed. If he was going to act like a fool, every time when Shadow was around- he would get into real trouble real soon.

…On the positive side, this would continue to give him the opportunity to be healed by Shadow.

Oh, well.

The blue hedgehog took one step into the other direction. He instantly stopped when a sharp pain rose in his leg.

Shit. He had completely forgotten to mention his injured leg.

Sonic tentatively tested his foot by adding and shifting more weight onto it. Broken. Great.

He shrugged, a broken leg had never stopped him before.