Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rouge was fed up.
Completely.
Totally.
Fed up.
With an annoyed sight, she smashed the face of the closest badnik, sending it toppling in a wall. She was running low on energy and wanted nothing more than to sleep. Yet, there were more and more badniks coming their way. They had been at it for a while and the Doctor had yet to show himself. Another dead end. This base was just another decoy.
For two months now, Team Dark had been searching for traces of Dr Yvo Robotnik. The man had unleashed yet another one of his creations on Mobius and it had backfired. Again. So Team Dark had been tasked by G.U.N. to either find him, of find a way to reverse the damaged that had been done by his latest creation. The Resistance was also counting on them to find something.
So here they were, searching the twelfth Eggman base in eight weeks. So far, they had managed to find badniks, more badniks, broken down equipment, computer with empty data base and, you guessed it, more badniks.
Smashing two more robots with a kick, Rouge took a second to take a look to her left and make sure her teammates were doing fine. Shadow had his pistol in hand, shooting targets and smashing those that came too close with punches and kicks. If the Hedgehog was down to using weapons, that meant he was running low on energy as well, which could become a problem if they were not careful. Omega was shooting everything that moved and wasn’t organic. He was the only one on the team who seemed to have an ounce of energy left.
She focused her attention back on her side of the Playground, as Omega had named every badnik infested bases so far. Deciding enough was enough, she tossed a couple explosives in the heap and turned toward the boys.

“I’m done here boys! Let’s get out of here!”
“IN A MOMENT. I MUST EXTERMINATE ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS”
“Do as you please Omega, but I’m getting out of here. I need some fresh air. You coming Shadow?”

The dark Hedgehog shot down a couple more badniks with a huff and nodded his assent. The two mobians made their way out of the base leisurely, knowing their Walking Arsenal of a friend would be just fine. Shadow put his weapon away, not even taking the time to reload it. Rouge threw him a look, and he grunted in annoyance.
“What?”
“Won’t you at least take the time to clean it?”
“Yeah. Later.”

Rouge chuckled. She knew him well enough to know he always took proper care of his weapons. This was just one more proof that Shadow was just as tired as she felt. They wandered outside and found a spot where they could sit down and take a breath while they waited for Omega to be done inside.
Both mobians sat under a large oak tree, sharing a comfortable silence. After a while, they stopped hearing explosions and gunfire, signaling Omega would be on his way. Shadow stood up wearily and offered a hand to the ivory Bat, helping her up. As much as they wanted to rest, they first needed to check the base, then find a safe spot to hide. Just then, they could get some much needed rest.

“You’re just as tired as I am, aren’t you?”

A tired grunt was her only answer. Just then, Omega showed up. He took a look at his two friends and stopped moving, observing them silently.

“What is it Omega?” grunted Shadow.
“YOU TWO NEED REST.”
“No shit.” Grumbled the dark male, turning toward the other side of the base, where they suspected the computers to access the data base would be.
“Shadow…” Sighted Rouge. “Indeed Big Guy, we need rest, but we need to finish here before we can move out and get… Whoa! Omega!?”

She shrieked in surprise as Omega grabbed her by the waist and deposited her on his left shoulder. Shadow jumped in surprise, but wasn’t fast enough to avoid being grabbed as well.

“Put me down Omega!”
“ULTIMATE LIFE FORM IS TIRED. SCANS REVEALED A LOW LEVEL OF ENERGY. CARRYING YOU WILL BE MORE EFFICIENT. AND QUICKER.”
“Are you calling me slow?!” growled Shadow.
“YES. NOW STOP SQUIRMING.”

Rouge could see the moment Shadow decided it wasn’t worth it to fight the robot and let Omega drop him on his right shoulder. After all, he was right, not that Shadow would ever admit it. Rouge watched them with fondness.

Omega went back inside the base and quickly found a computer they could use. Rouge got down and started searching for anything that could be of use. Five minutes later, she found something.

“Ha shit.”
“What is it?” inquired Shadow, who was now leaning against Omega’s head.
“Found another base, it’s quite close to this one. And here I was hoping we could call it a day and head back to HQ tomorrow.”
“Anything about this base?”
“No, only its location… Huh. Wait a minute. There’s something. It’s encoded, give me a moment… There! It used to be a lab!
“THEN WE KNOW WHERE TO HEAD NEXT. ANY PLACE BETWEEN HERE AND THIS PLACE WHERE YOU TWO CAN SLEEP?”
“Not really. It’s only a few kilometers away. We could get there before dawn if we leave now.”
“Then let’s go. I’ll head ahead to scout. Meet you there.”

With that, the Hedgehog hopped off Omega’s shoulder and took off into the night. Rouge let out a frustrated sight and turned back to the computer. After making sure there wasn’t anything of worth left, she entered a few lines of code. She tapped her communicator to send a message to tails, back in the resistance HQ. The kit would know what to do to destroy the data base permanently.

“Alright. Let’s go Omega.”

The former badnik offered his arm to the Ivory Bat and she went back on his shoulder. They went into the forest toward the next base. Hopefully this one would have something worth the two months they’d been searching.

Shadow was exhausted. He was currently perched in a tree, surveilling the base situated down the hill, just over a couple hundred meters away from his position. The sun would be up in a few minutes, but he couldn’t care less about the sunrise. His watch beeped twice, signaling Rouge and Omega were close to him. Without lowering down his binoculars, he answered her call.
“Shadow In. What’s your position?”
“About a kilometer south-west of the base landmark I sent you. Anything interesting?”
“Thermal googles haven’t shown anything unusual so far. I’m currently North of the base, on the cliff, approximately two hundred meters from the back of the base. There’s a tower that seems promising. Single window at the top, I can see computers and several lab equipment.”
“This could be a good entry point. What about security?”
“The usual.”
“Alright. Let’s get in formation boys.”
“Roger. Shadow out.”

Putting his binoculars away, Shadow dropped to the forest floor and headed toward his team. A short moment was all he needed to get to Omega. They came up with an infiltration plan, as well as a backup plan, in case they were detected before they wanted. If everything went according to plan, Rouge would infiltrate the tower using the venting system while Shadow would do the same in the warehouse situated on the West side of the base. They would get to the data base, retrieve all relevant information, contact Tails, then be out before anyone, or anything, realized they’d even been there at all. Then, it would be Omega’s turn. The party could begin and they would blow up the place.
Shadow made quick work of entering the warehouse. However, he made sure to check for anything either suspicious or useful before continuing farther into the building. He came across multiple storage rooms, but found nothing so far. He was getting tired and wanted nothing more than to get the fuck out of here and sleep. His temper was getting horrible and it took all he got not to snap at his teammates. It had been a long while since he’d felt so tired. Granted, he hadn’t slept in over a week, but that was the norm while on missions. He felt like shit, and he didn’t understand why he felt like that.
At some point, his watched beeped, a sequence of two rapid beeps, and one slow.
“What did you find?”
“Something Tails will want. Blueprints. Loads of them. Some for old prototypes we’ve seen in the past, but many of them are unknown to me.”
“Good, finally something useful. Anything else?”
“Let me check. What did you get on your side?”
“Nothing so far.”
“Well, at least we got some… holy shit!”
“Rouge? What did you find?”
“A prototype for a mech powered by chaos energy.”
“The Doctor has many of those.”
“No… Not like this. This one doesn’t need a Chaos Emerald to function.”
“What?”
“This mech can leech the ambient...”

Shadow shook his head suddenly, then pressed a hand to his face and rubbed his forehead. He could sense a migraine forming. Sighting, he opened a new door to peek inside and found himself in the entrance of an observation deck. On the floor below was a lone robot. At about three meters high, the robot looked to be slender in shape, compared to all the bulky robots Eggman was so found of.
The Hedgehog took a moment to observe the robot, painted in bright red and yellow, similarly to Omega. Then Rouge almost yelled in his ear piece.

“Shadow? SHADOW! You need to get out of here! Now!” shrieked the Bat.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Weren’t you listening? This mech can leech the ambient chaos energy! Get out now! The more energy it absorbs, the more powerful it gets!”
“Huh… Fuck. Too late.”

While Shadow had been busy not passing out because of Rouge shrieking in his ear, the red and yellow robot had silently moved behind him. Shadow had turned around, only to be now face to face with the barrel of what looked like an energy gun. A chaos energy gun his mind provided.
Alarmed, the Hedgehog shouted before jumping out of the way. Unfortunately, the mech was fast and adjusted his aim consequently, shooting the ebony Hedgehog in the chest. Shadow crashed hard on the lower floor and let out a string of curses. He made it quickly back on his feet and jumped out of the way. The mech made a dent in the steel flooring where Shadow had been a mere second before.

Meanwhile, Omega was on the move, having been on the communication this entire time. He was met by Rouge at a junction on the first floor, both of them following the sound of the fight. They got to the observation deck in no time and had to dock in order not to get it by one of Shadow’s Chaos Spear. Rouge took to the air and tried to kick at the robot’s head, missing by several centimeters.
The Chaos Mech turned its attention to Rouge and prepared an attack. Omega saw his opening and sent a missile directly in the back of the other robot, disturbing its aim. It missed Rouge, who dived to check on Shadow.

“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m not injured. But this thing is leeching my energy. And fast.”
“We need to get you out of here.”
“No. The faster we destroy that thing, the better. I can’t use my Chaos technics against it. It absorbed my Chaos Spear.”
“Shit.”

Rouge didn’t get to say anything else as Shadow Jumped to push her out of the way of a volley of bullets. Growling in frustration, Shadow got his pistol out and reloaded it in a blurry of movements.

“I’ll get its attention. You and Omega come with a way to destroy it. Its armor is solid, you won’t be able to dent it with normal physical attacks.”
“Then your pistol won’t do much either!”
“Distraction. Now move.”

The Bat moved away of her friend and he leaped back in the fray. Shadow shot the propulsor of the enemy bot to get its attention and went in the opposite direction.
Rouge went back to Omega, who had stopped firing bullets toward the badnik. Together they plotted a way to get the badnik down rapidly. The longer they fought, the stronger it would grow, and the weaker Shadow would get.
Both of them got in formation around the Chaos Mech, ready to take it down.

The three meters tall robot was fast. Usually this wouldn’t have been a problem for the Ultimate Life Form, but he was exhausted. Shadow had to find a way to end this fight, or he would pass out. From the corner of his eye, he saw Rouge and Omega get in position and knew he had to get out of the way. He shot one more time at the mech to keep its attention on him and, just as Rouge was making her move, he propelled himself as high as he could, out of the way of Rouge’s attack.

With a powerful High Kick, she managed to move the bot towards Omega, who had an attack powered and ready to hit. The Walking Arsenal shot a mighty plasma beam that melted the front of the enemy’s armor. Rouge kicked the plating off of it and was about to hit it a third time, but the mech backhanded her the side, sending her crashing in a wall.

“Rouge!”

The Chaos Mech was closing in on Rouge and Shadow knew he couldn’t get her in time without Chaos Controlling. He concentrated his energy and warped in front of the mech, punching it away from Rouge, who was just getting up on the floor. When his fist connected with the open front of the tall robot, Shadow felt his energy being forcefully syphoned out of him. The Hedgehog shouted in pain, then fell to his knees, vision dancing.

“Omega, finish it!”
“AFFIRMATIVE! HANIHILATION!”

Omega launched several missiles towards the now revealed weak spot and the mech exploded, damaging the structure of the building. Pieces of the ceiling started falling off and Omega went immediately over his teammates and shielded them from the falling debris. A beam came crashing down, and Omega pushed Rouge and Shadow out of the way. Unfortunately, the beam crashed on his shoulder, damaging his right side.

“Omega!”
“ORGANIC MEMBERS OF THE TEAM MUST GET AWAY.”
“Not without you!”
“NO TIME TO…”
“CHAOS CONTROL!!!...”

Knuckles had just come back a couple hours ago. He had been out with a team to recover some resources for the Resistance. They had been able to locate food and several components they would need to do the maintenance of their equipment. The mission was a success and everyone was in a good mood. He and his team were currently enjoying a well-earned breakfast when he sensed a disturbance in the ambient energy. He knew immediately that someone was Chaos Controlling inside the base.
However, Blaze was faster than him to react and directed everyone to move out and be ready to react. Then, Team Dark materialized midair in the middle of the break room. They went down crashing on a table and Knuckles distinctly heard Rouge’s cry of pain in the middle of the panic.
“SHADOW!”

Blaze took charge and went straight to the Bat, moving her away from her unconscious teammate.
“Get me medical supplies! And I need Amy here asap!”
“Someone, get Tail! Omega needs help as well.”

Between Blaze and Knuckles, Rouge and Shadow were taken off the broken table. The Cat lead the distresses Bat to a chair and started to check her for injuries, while the Echidna carefully moved the Hedgehog to the lone couch they had in the break room.

A few hours later, everyone had calmed down. Omega had been moved to Tails’ workshop where the Fox kit was already doing repairs on him. Rouge had been examined by Blaze and was given the okay to go get some rest in the barracks. However, Shadow was still unconscious. The dark Hedgehog had used his last reserves to get his team out of the base and had sustained some injuries during the fight. Amy had noticed he had a nasty bruise on his chest she could see he had broken a few ribs as well. She would have bet he had some internal injuries as well, if his pained expression was anything to go by.

Rouge couldn’t sleep, so she went for some fresh air on one of the balconies. Looking at the clear night sky, she got lost in her thoughts. She was worried about her boys, yes, but she knew they were both safe and in good hands. That wasn’t what was preventing her from finding sleep. Yet…

“Something on your mind?”
“Hey Knucks.” Rouge smiled.

They stayed in a comfortable silence for a little while. Then Rouge spoke quietly.

“Shadow loves stargazing. It was one of the few things we enjoyed during the last two months. There was never time for much. We moved from base to base, and each one ended up being deceptions. The last one was the only one promising, but everything got destroyed before we could get anything. I couldn’t contact Tails to retrieve the intel.”
“Rouge, Shadow was in danger. You did the right thing.”
“I know… I’m still pissed. We didn’t get the bloody intel and Shadow almost got killed…”
“At least you destroyed the prototype. It won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”
“Yeah…”
“Now why don’t you come and get some sleep?”
“I can’t sleep…”
“Why not? You are clearly exhausted.” Asked the Echidna, confused.
“I miss them. It’s silly… I literally spent the last two months with them. Shadow and I were even driving each other up the walls at some point. And yet, I miss them and can’t sleep.”
“Go to Omega. We can’t move Shadow, but at least you can go to Omega. Tails has a cot in the workshop.”
“Thank you Knuckles.”

Rouge kissed him lightly on the cheek and went back inside, for once not realizing how flustered she had made the red Echidna.
She went straight to Tails’ workshop and grabbed the blanket on the cot. The Bat then sat on the floor beside the robot and leaned in his side. She didn’t even acknowledge the Fox, and fell asleep to the reassuring noise of Omega’s wires.
Omega looked down at his friend for a while and back at the Fox in front of him.
“ASKING FOR PERMISSION TO MOVE.” said the bot, in as low a voice as he could.
“You can move around Omega. I’m done with the repairs on your lower body. I need supplies for your shoulder and arm though…”
“ACKNOWLEDGED. FOX KIT IS DOING A GOOD JOB. I THRUST YOUR ABILITIES.”
“Thanks!”
“I REQUIRE ASSISTANCE TO MOVE ROUGE.”
“She looks exhausted, but she’s asleep now. Do you really want to move her?”
“AFFIRMATIVE. I ONLY NEED ASSISTANCE TO GET HER IN MY ARM.”
“Okay, I’ll help you.”

Blaze went to check on Shadow sometimes during the night. It was her turn to do the night rounds, since Amy had done it the previous days. When she entered the infirmary, she was surprised to see a bed had been moved back at the end of the room. It didn’t take long to see why.
Omega was sitting on the floor beside Shadow’s bed, like a silent vigil watching over his team. Somehow, Rouge was sleeping beside Shadow on the small bed, her face tucked in his shoulder. The Hedgehog was squeezed between the two, making him look smaller. However, he no longer wore a pained expression. Instead, he seemed as relaxed as she had even seen him. Her eyes met Omega’s, and he flashed them a pale yellow, as if acknowledging her presence, but not wanting to disrupt his the two mobians sleeping peacefully.
The Cat approached the bed and quickly checked over the bed’s occupants. Shadow grunted a bit, but otherwise didn’t make a sound. Just as she was moving back, she saw him turn his head toward the Bat and inhale deeply in her hair, relaxing even further. Smiling softly, she waved to Omega and exited the infirmary, closing the door softly with a click.

Chapter Text

Rouge woke up slowly, feeling comfortable. Then her senses went all on high alert. Where was she? She didn’t remember falling asleep in a bed. Where was Omega? And Shadow?
She inhaled sharply, only to be overloaded with the scent of Shadow. At that moment, she realized she was using him as a pillow. Slowly opening her eyes, she concluded she was in the Resistance’s HQ, in the infirmary. Since half her field of vision was taken by Shadow’s fluffy chest hair, she had to move off of him to better look around. There, she saw Omega, sitting beside the head of the bed.
“YOU ARE AWAKE.”
“Hello to you too, Big Guy.” said the Bat, sitting up.
“NOTTIFYING FOX KIT THAT YOU ARE FINALLY AWAKE.”
“How did I get here? I’m sure I went to Tails’ workshop and rudely passed out right beside you.” Asked the bat, stifling a yawn.
“I CARRIED YOU HERE. YOU WERE COMPLETELY DRAINED. IN ORDER TO BE AT OPTIMAL CAPACITY, YOU NEEDED GOOD REST. YOU MEET BAGS NEED MORE THAN JUST THE FLOOR. IT IS IMPRACTICAL”
“Thanks Omega for reminding me how tired I still am…” replied Rouge, rolling her eyes. “How long was I out?”
“…SEVENTEEN HOURS, THIRTY-TWO MINUTES, TWE...”
“What?! Omega! You should have woken me up! We still need to report to G.U.N.”

At that moment, the door opened and Blaze came in, followed closely by Tails.

“Hi Rouge, how are you feeling?” asked the young Fox.
“Better than yesterday. I shouldn’t have been allowed to sleep that much however.” Answered Rouge with a pout.
“Why not? You needed rest, it would have been wrong to disturb you guys.”
“We still need to report to G.U.N. We may work with the Resistance, but we are also doing so under orders. Not that we wouldn’t help even if we were forbidden to do so…”
“Can’t it wait for a few days?” inquired the Fox.
“I’m afraid not. We need to report our findings, they may save lives.”
“Before you go anywhere, I want you to at least get a meal and some more rest. It can wait tomorrow, it’s getting late.” Interrupted Blaze.

Rouge sighted in defeat, knowing very well the Sol Princess was just as stubborn as her brooding teammate. Speaking of him… Just now, Rouge realized something felt wrong. She bent back down on the bed and put a hand on Shadow’s chest, frowning. Tails noticed her expression and got closer to the bed.

“Something’s wrong?”
“He’s… not warm…” answered Rouge, still frowning.

Both Tails and Blaze looked at each other, confused.

“I can check him up again, I was due to do it in a couple of hours anyway.”
“No need… I mean…”
“SCANS INDICATE SHADOW’S BODY TEMPERATURE TO BE INFERIOR TO NORMAL.” Intervened the E-Series robot. “NOT IN A DANGEROUS WAY HOWEVER.” He added at the alarmed faces of the two standing occupants.
“That would explain why he’s still out then…”
“What do you mean Rouge?”
“Shadow’s usually a real space heater. We tend to stick him between us because of it. That, and because it annoys him to be squished like a plushy” said the Bat, smirking a bit.
“HIS BODY TEMPERATURE IS HIGHER THAN OTHER MOBIANS. OR HUMANS.”
“Must be because of his powers…” mused Tails.
“Probably. So, him not being as warm as usual is… “
“Worrying?”
“Potentially.”

At this, an uneasy silence fell on the room. Rouge decided to finally get off the bed and stretch a bit. She then took her vest off and asked Tails to lift Shadow’s head, so she could place it on his pillow. The teen shot her a curious look, but complied easily. Rouge smiled and placed the vest under Shadow’s head. After that, the group quietly left the infirmary, leaving the Hedgehog to rest and Omega to watch over him.
They went to the break room together and Rouge noticed the broken table that had been put aside to be repaired later. They saw Knuckles and Amy, and decided to join them. When they had taken their places at the table, Amy offered to get up and fix a light lunch for Rouge. The Bat accepted without a fuss, knowing the food would help, even if she didn’t feel hungry at the moment. Besides, she knew it would be useless to argue with Amy.

“How are you doing now Rouge?” Asked Knuckles in his gruff voice.
“I’m doing better now. Sleeping helped a lot. I no longer feel like I’m on the verge of collapsing.”
“But?”
“I’m worried about Shadow…” sighted the ivory female.
“What do you mean?” Asked Amy, while Tails and Knuckles exchanged a look.
“He was already running low on Chaos energy when we found out about this base. We should have taken the time to rest before we decided to investigate it. But…” She sighed in frustration. “It was so close and we all wanted to be done with this mission and get some sleep somewhere that wasn’t the forest floor, a cave, or an abandoned building. We’ve been reckless and made a rookie mistake.”
“Nothing wrong with wanting to be done,” grunted Knuckles.
“Yeah, besides, you couldn’t have known what kind of robot you would find there,” Tails added.
“That’s exactly why we should have stopped to rest and be more prepared. The previous bases were easy to take down and held nothing of worth. We got complacent.”
“Hey. You all got back, that’s what matters,” said Amy.
“Shadow almost killed himself with that Chaos Control! That’s not alright! Worst is, if he hadn’t done it, all three of us would have been killed!”
“You can’t know that,” softly said the Echidna.
“It’s all so frustrating. And I still got to report to G.U.N. tomorrow. Omega still need repairs, Shadow is unconscious and will be for who knows how long, and we still have nothing of worth to defeat Robotnik.”

With a growl, the Bat crossed her arms over her chest and stared fiercely at the wall, her food forgotten.

“Then I’ll come with you tomorrow for your report,” a new voice chimed in.
“Sonic! Back from your own mission already?” smiled Tails.
“Yeah, it was no big deal. We secured the cargo and got it there in no time. More food and supplies are now ready for use,” grinned the Blue Blur, before turning serious and pulling a chair, sitting beside the angry Bat. “Now, tell me what happened. Shadow is injured? What about you? And Omega?”
“I’m fine Blue… Just a few scratches, really. Exhaustion, mostly. Omega got damaged when a building collapsed on us, but he will be fine once we get the parts to repair him.”
“What about Shadow?”
“He… Shadow’s the one who got injured. Nothing life threatening.”
“So he’ll be fine? With his healing factor he’ll be back on his feet in a day or two, right?”
“If he hadn’t exhausted most of his Chaos energy reserves, he would already be brooding alone somewhere close by. But we found ourselves in a tricky situation. You see, we found a Chaos Leeching Robot prototype.”
“Whoa, wait. Chaos Leeching Robot?”
“Yeah. I was able to see a few blueprints at the base…”
“You mean, like three meters tall, red and yellow, super resistant armor, and a Chaos energy weapon on one of its arms?”
“Yes, that’s the one. You’ve encountered one of these before?”

All head turned toward Sonic. The blue Hedgehog was silent, deep in thought. He was tapping his finger on his muzzle, mulling something over.

“And Shadow fought one of these? Did you guys manage to destroy it?”
“Yes, Shadow stumbled upon it first before I could tell him to get the hell out of there. He couldn’t use any of his Chaos techniques, the blasted thing would just absorb them.”
“So that’s what those are. We crossed path with one a couple weeks ago, and we had to run away from it. We saw another one yesterday, we didn’t approach it, we had our supplies to deliver. Every time we crossed one, we would feel all weird, we were probably feeling the effects of the leeching.”

Rouge’s eyes narrowed. If Sonic and his group had come across two of those robots, then there might be even more of those around. Everyone was in danger. She thought things through, and came to a decision. Standing, she made to leave the room, but the Blue Blur caught her arm before she got more than three steps away.

“I’m coming with you.”
“You have to stay here Sonic. The Resistance…”
“Can resist Eggman without me for a few days. Right now, our priority is Shadow,” said Sonic, his expression serious.
“Let me tag along. If we go to G.U.N. HQ, then I can repair Omega faster,” chirped the teen Fox, standing up as well.
“Shadow could wake up any at any time. If neither me or Omega are present, he’s likely to freak out,” argued the Bat, crossing her arms in a stubborn manner she most likely picked from the ebony Hedgehog himself.
“Then Amy and I will stay here and deal with Shadow whenever he wakes up,” countered Knuckles, standing as well.
“Yes, Shadow knows the two of us, we’ll make sure he doesn’t wake up alone with someone he’s unfamiliar with” added the pink female of the group.

Blaze stood up as well and turned her attention to Rouge. “Anything we need to know? From what little I know of Shadow, we can’t treat him like a normal patient.”

At this, Rouge’s gaze turned sharp and she leveled Blaze with a level stare, trying to gage her. Sensing the Cat only wanted to help and wasn’t being nosy nor judgmental, Rouge relaxed her posture and signaled for the Sol Princess to follow her.
“I’ll check on Shadow and get Omega. Be ready to head to G.U.N. HQ in thirty minutes. And fair warning Blue : don’t piss off my boss, Shadow will be the one to pay for it if you do.”

*** LINE BREAK***

Rouge heaved a long-suffering sigh. She and Omega, along with Tails and Sonic had made it to G.U.N. HQ and were now entering the building. Normally, entering the building was straightforward and simple. Now, having the Hero of Mobius and his just as known brother tag along with her was proving to be a thorn in her side. They hadn’t made ten steps in the building and already they had to fill paperwork to let the brothers in. As if they were some strangers who needed to be identified. She hated bureaucracy…
Some thirty minutes, fifteen floors and a bunch of not-so-subtle grumbles later, the group were now facing the door of Commander Abraham Tower’s office. Rouge gave three sharp knocks on the wooden door and waited to be invited in. After a short moment, her and Omega’s boss voice came through, letting them know they come enter his office.
As soon as the human male saw the Hedgehod and the Fox, he lifted his right eyebrow in an unimpressed manner and looked Rouge in the eye.

“Report, Agent Rouge.”

And report she did. She reported everything from the moment Team Dark had left HQ over eight weeks ago up to the moment they set foot in the building, leaving no detail out, even in the presence of two members of Team Sonic. When prompted, Omega added his own details to the report, while the two guests remained silent.

“So the only intel of value wasn’t recovered.” It was a simple statement, but it was what triggered the Blue Blur.
“They had to get away! Shadow was in danger and…”
“I know very well the situation, as reported by my two agents,” came the sharp reply. “I am glad to know Shadow is as safe as he can be and will likely recover in a timely manner. However, I have a job to do. My job is to send Team Dark back to that base and see if they can recover anything from the wreckage,” Tower finished, staring down at the Hedgehog and a manner that brook no argument. At this, the young Fox took a step forward, getting the Human’s attention.
“I can accompany Rouge and help her recover anything. I did every repair I could on Omega, but I need some specific parts to work on his upper body. I can replace him on the team for this mission while he gets the repairs he needs.”

At this, Tower turned to Omega and pondered the teen’s comment. Coming to a decision, he nodded and turned his attention to Rouge once again.

“Alright. Rouge, you are to go back to Robotnik’s base and recover any intel you can. We can’t risk having those Chaos Leeching mechs around, they represent a too big risk.” His gaze returned to Sonic. “Help her in any way you see fit and make sure this bastard won’t be able to attack my agents any time soon.”

Without waiting for any further reaction, the Commander shooed them all out.

“Well, that went well,” grinned Sonic.
“Better than I expected. But do me a favor Blue, and next time, shut up.”
“Better get going then,” cut in Tails. “Let’s get to that base and see what we can recover.”

*** LINE BREAK***
Amy had been reading a book beside the dark Hedgehog’s bed when she jumped in surprise to the sound of a pained groan, not expecting any sound in the silent room. She immediately turned to occupant of the bed and called his name softly, but he didn’t react other than hiss in pain at the soft sound of her voice. Worried, Amy activated her communicator and called for Blaze and Knuckles. Seeing Shadow’s face contort in pain at her murmuring over the com link, she decided to wait for the other two outside the door and left it slightly open to keep an eye on him. Knuckles arrived first but didn’t say a word when she raised her hand and shushed him. She started to explain when Blaze arrived.

“I think he just woke up. I heard him groan in pain a moment ago. However, when I called his name, he hissed in pain. He seems to grimace if we make any sound.”
“Probably has a headache.”
“With his sensitive hearing, I wouldn’t be surprised if any noise at all was painful. Rouge warned us about this possibility,” reflected Blaze.
“She also said she didn’t expect him to wake up for another week,” grunted the Echidna.
“Well he’s awake now. We need to make sure he doesn’t panic and attack us.”
“Amy’s right. Be ready to restrain him Knuckles.”
“This is Shadow we are talking about. Even weakened, he’s more likely to throw me into a wall. Restraining him would only make him panic even more.”
“Then what do you suggest?” snapped Amy.
“I’ll try something. Not sure it will work and I can only do so much.” Said the male of the group.
“What do you have in mind?”
“I want to try to give him some of my own Chaos energy I couldn’t do it before he awoke, because we don’t want to send him into shock. But if he’s awake…”

Blaze looked pensive for a moment, then her eyes met Knuckles’. As the guardian of the Sol emeralds, she possessed a lot of knowledge on Chaos energy, just like the Echidna. She understood what he wanted to try, but she wasn’t sure it was safe to attempt. Sensing her unease, Knuckles smiled.

“I want to try. If he’s in pain, we have to do everything we can to help.”
“You need to promise you’ll stop if you start feeling week.”
“Okay, I promise.”

The Warrior entered the infirmary first. The girls looked at each other and nodded, following him silently. When he approached the bed, Knuckles’ expression turned sober, seeing the Hedgehog’s pained grimace. Murmuring as low as he could, Knuckles said Shadow’s name. As soon as the first sound left the Echidna’s mouth, the Hedgehog hissed and screwed his eyes shut even harder. Now worried, Knuckles placed one of his hands above the stripped mobian’s head, and the other one above his chest, just shy of touching him. He wasn’t sure how he would be able to transfer his own energy to Shadow, but he decided he had to try. Usually, he would use one of the chants Tickal had taught him, but since any sound was a no go, he decided to try without it.

Closing his eyes to better focus, Knuckles visualized his own Chaos energy, imagining it travelling to his hands. After a moment, he opened his eyes and smiled softly; Shadow’s expression was still pained, but he wasn’t as tensed. Then he jumped in surprise and almost shouted in fright as Shadow’s eyes snapped open and his hand shot forward to snatch Knuckle’s wrist in a vice grip. Amy was the first to react and she pressed her hand reassuringly on the other Hedgehog’s arm, trying to get him to release hid grip.

*** LINE BREAK***
Shadow woke up feeling utterly like shit. He hurt everyfuckingwhere. As if the overall physical pain wasn’t enough, he also had a splitting headache. Everything hurt. Even his quills hurt. He was completely drained and he felt even more exhausted at the mere thought of opening his eyes. Now that he thought about it, even his eyelids hurt. He had no idea where he was and couldn’t feel anything other than the searing pain. His mind was clouded and he couldn’t stop the groan that escaped his lips. He heard some sound, but his mind couldn’t make out anything coherent through the hazy pain. Then, he felt something. It was a strange sensation. Not painful, but almost… Shadow couldn’t name the sensation. Whatever it was, the foreign sensation put all of his senses on high alert. His reaction was an instinctive one, his fight or flight response engaging. He snapped his eyes open and his gaze met that of the surprised Guardian.
A hand pressing on his arm had him hiss in pain and grit his teeth in a manner he knew meant his jaw would be even more sore later. He turned to see Amy’s worried face, and managed to force himself to relax enough to let go of Knuckles wrist. His headache was killing him and he screwed his eyes shut once again and groaned in both pain and frustration. Amy released his arm, and at that moment, without warning, he panicked, bolting up and sitting straight as a rod, his eyes wide. “Where are Rouge and Omega?!” he all but yelled.
The Echidna’s reaction was automatic, he planted his feet beside the bed grabbed Shadow’s shoulder and forced him to look in his eyes. “Rouge and Omega are reporting to Commander Tower at G.U.N. HQ. Both are fine. Rouge wasn’t injured and got some rest and Omega’s frame was the only thing damaged.”
Blaze and Amy could only watch with wide eyes, amazed at their friend’s reaction to the Hedgehog’s panic. Amy considered it was a risky move to grab Shadow this way, but strangely, it seemed to have been the right thing to do. Shadow stared at knuckles for a second, absorbing the information, then nodded in understanding, before clutching his head in both hands and, once again, groaned in pain. Amy moved forward to put a soothing and on his shoulder, but he just hissed at her warningly.

“Don’t… it hurts,” he panted, eyes still closed.
“Is there anything we can do to help you?” softly asked Amy.
“…No. “
“Then lie down and get some rest. Rouge will have my head otherwise.”

Blaze, who had been observing everything since the beginning, turned to her two friends and motioned for them to get out of the room. At their confused expressions, she smiled reassuringly and shooed them out. She went to take Amy’s chair, and sat quietly beside the bed, observing the now trembling Hedgehog sitting pitifully on the bed. After a moment, she came to a decision and softly said the male’s name.
Not expecting Blaze’s voice, Shadow jumped in surprise and turned his head towards the source of the voice. However, he turned his head too quickly and got dizzy. Blaze patiently waited for him to breathe through the dizziness and focus on her. While she waited, she got to realize the Hybrid wasn’t trembling, but shivering, as if he was cold.

“Are you feeling cold?”

Tired rubies gazed at her for a moment, before he nodded tiredly. She stood quietly and went to the blanket cabinet they had put at the other end of the infirmary. She took as many blankets as she could carry and brought to the bemused stripped Hedgehog. The lavender Cat focused some Chaos energy in her palms and used the resulting heat to warm the first blanket. She folded it in two and looked to Shadow, waiting for him to let her know it was okay to drape it across his shoulders. He nodded again once he understood her intention.

“Rouge explained about you getting overwhelmed or overstimulated.”

Again, Shadow gave a non-verbal response. Blaze’s voice was lower in pitch than Amy’s and didn’t aggravate his headache as much, so he was able to tolerate her better. Still, he felt wary in front of her. She seemed to understand and gave him space. He hadn’t realized he had zoned out, but at some point, Rouge’s vest appeared in his line of sight. Confused, he looked at the Cat beside him and she smiled. She bundled the vest around one of the blankets and gave it to him.

“Lie on your side,” suggested the Princess.

Nodding dumbly, Shadow did as told and lied back on the bed, shifting to be on his side, facing towards the door. Blaze went behind him and started pilling pillows at his back. He tensed at her proximity, but relaxed when she didn’t touch him directly. He then felt a blanket being thrown over him, then another. At the third blanket, he grunted in question. Her answer was that the weight of the blankets would help him sleep.
Too tired to question it, Shadow shrugged and buried himself in the bed as much as he could, clutching Rouge’s vest close to his nose. Even if he was more comfortable and didn’t hurt as much, he was still shivering in cold, his low energy rendering him unable to regulate his body temperature. Blaze noticed his shivering and got the chair closer to the bed. After a moment, her body started to emit a soft, warm glow as she radiated warmth. Within minutes, the Ultimate Lifeform was out like a light, breathing deeply in his sleep with his nose buried in his teammate’s vest.

Blaze had never felt Chaos energy draining the way Shadow did, no one could. But she didn’t need to and she understood. She looked at his sleeping form and smiled, content in the knowledge of having been able to help, even if just a little.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Travelling back to the base Team Dark had visited last took less time than Rouge had anticipated. She could feel the Hedgehog’s stare on her, but decided to ignore it for the time being and focused on the surroundings. Tails got close to the coordinates Rouge had given him and decided to let the Tornado not too far away, but not to close either.

“Alright boys, let’s do some planning before we go in. I have no idea what we might find once we get to the base.”

The duo of heroes turned to her and listened closely to her instructions, not wanting a repeat of Rouge’s last visit there. Once they had a plan, they got to the building. As expected, most of it had collapsed, but the tower where Rouge had found the computer with the files seemed to be in good shape. It was decided that the members with flying abilities would go first and make sure the structure was safe. Sonic would go around and make sure they had no unwanted visitors.

One hour later, all three of them were inside the lab, with Tails inspecting the computer.

“Okay guys, I think I can fix it, but it might take a while. Why don’t you two see around if we can salvage anything?”

“On it Lil Bud!”

A while later, while Tails busied himself with fixing the computer, Sonic glanced in the Bat’s direction as she was checking the room for anything relevant to bring back. Spotting a chair, Sonic grabbed it and dropped it beside Rouge.

The Bat turned back to him at the sound of the chair’s legs hitting the tiled floor. She raised a brow at him and Sonic crossed his arms, tapping his foot.

“Take a seat Rouge, get a breather while I search the place, alright?”

“You are not the only one getting angsty, you know that Blue?”

“Yeah, I know. But I can tell you are still pretty tired.” Answered the azure hero.

“You do know how to make a girl feel good.” Retorted the Bat with an eyeroll that would have made Shadow proud.

“Seriously though, are you alright? Do you guys ever take a break? You know you three are welcome at HQ whenever you need it, right?”

“We do have an apartment Blue. An we can usually get there easily, and quickly.”

“Not answering the question, Rouge.”

“Sonic,” sighed the treasure hunter, “You know very well what our situation entails. We take a break whenever we can, just like you and Tails. We’ll be fine, like always. Yes, we need rest, and we will get whatever rest we can get. While Shadow recovers, Omega and I are likely to be sent on other assignments, together or not. You of all people should understand this.”

At this, the Hedgehog looked away. Yes, he understood what Rouge was saying, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.  Him being tired was one thing, his friends being overworked was another. He’d never seen any member of Team Dark so exhausted. Omega being a robot, he didn’t get tired like everyone else did. Rouge was the “normal” member of the team, he knew she got tired, but just like him, she never let it show. And Shadow… Heck, he hadn’t even seen his rival before leaving with Rouge and Tails, because he was still knocked out. So yeah, Sonic was worried.

The woman watched the younger Mobian and couldn’t stay irritated for long. She knew he meant well, even if he was being a bit of a hypocrite. She also knew how people saw her Team, and them literally crashing in the lunch room had shaken up many people. Rouge let out what felt like the thousandth sigh that day and put a reassuring hand on Sonic’s shoulder.

“We’ll be fine Blue. We were simply overworked, it’s not like we were injured. Shadow will recover in no time and he’ll be back to his usual brooding self. And besides, we do know we have a place at HQ, Shadow did transport us there after all, and I’m ready to bet it wasn’t a conscious decision.”

Emerald ayes met teal ones, and Sonic smiled, finally reassured. He nodded and they both went back to searching the room for anything worth bringing back.

*** LINE BREAK***

Back at the Restoration HQ, the last member of Team Dark groggily woke up. Knuckles had gone to get Blaze, having heard the change in the Hedgehog’s breathing just before he awoke. The cat was now sat beside the bed with a book, patiently waiting for Shadow to properly come to his senses.  

The dark furred male sat up after a moment, sleepily rubbing his eyes with his hand. He had recognized the chaos signature at his side as being the same as the one present when he had last gone to sleep.

“How long was I out?” he grunted by way of greeting.

Unfazed by his seemingly rude manners, Blaze stared at him for a moment, trying to evaluate how he felt. After a moment, she clicked her tongue and answered him.

“You’ve been at HQ for a little under tree days, but you’ve been sleeping for less than ten hours since you woke up. Do you remember anything?”

“Huh… Yeah. I vaguely remember the echidna… and Amy?”

“Indeed, they were both present. Your teammates have gone to your boss to report. Sonic and Tails decided to accompany them.” She explained quietly.

Shadow grimaced at the mention of the two brothers. He hoped Rouge wouldn’t get in trouble for bringing them with her.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah… I guess.”

“You guess?” asked the cat, frowning.

“Got a migraine…”

“Would you like something to eat?”

Shadow frowned, unsure. He technically didn’t need to eat. However, he very well knew eating actually did help recovering his energy faster. He still felt week, had a migraine, and was a bit nauseous. The thought of eating didn’t feel appealing at the moment. He looked up and met the Fire Princess’ eyes and shrugged.

“I can have someone bring you some soup, if you’d like. Perhaps it might help with the headache?” she offered patiently.

Deciding it shouldn’t hurt to try eating, he nodded. Blaze got up and went to get him something. She came back shortly after, as he was still sat in the bed, rubbing his temples in an attempt to soothe his migraine. She decided to let him be for the time being and settled back with her book while they waited for his food to be ready.

It didn’t take very long for someone to bring a steaming bowl of chicken broth with veggies, a choice Shadow appreciated. Once he started eating, the Hedgehog realized he was actually hungrier than he thought, but decided against eating any more than the portion he had been served. No need in eating too much, he would only feel more nauseous.

“I suspect I probably have a concussion...” he murmured after some time.

“What makes you think so?”

“I’ve been asleep far longer than is normal for me. Migraine and nausea are a good giveaway also… And I’m no stranger to concussions.” He said, staring tiredly at her.

“Then I would suggest you get some more sleep.” She started. “I promise to wake you up when we get news from your team.” She added when he went to argue.

Shoulders sagging in defeat, Shadow resolutely nodded and lied back down in the cocoon of blankets. He was out like a light in a matter of minutes.

*** LINE BREAK ***

Espio and Vector were quietly enjoying a late lunch when Shadow showed up in the break room. Vector stared, as he had never before seen the Ultimate Lifeform looking so worn out and disheveled.

“Oi Shadow!” he hollered, earning a hiss and a glare from the dark male.

“Vector, not so loud.” Chastised Espio in a low voice.

“Right, super hearing. Sorry.” Cringed the Croc, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Care to join us for a snack?” suggested the Chameleon in a smooth voice.

After a moment of hesitation, Shadow shrugged and joined them, seeing as they were the only other people present at the time. He knew they wouldn’t pester him, so he saw no point in refusing. Taking the seat next to Espio, Shadow grunted a greeting to the Chaotix, then put his arms on the table and lowered his head on them.

His migraine had worsened, but he was fed up of lying in bed. Besides, he had a report to write and send to Tower. The sooner he got to it, the less he would get chewed when he got back to G.U.N. HQ. Dealing with everything at work was already a pain in the ass, so he didn’t need to have to deal with his boss being in a bad mood on top of it. His relation with Abraham Tower might not be as tensed as it had been in the beginning, but he didn’t feel like testing his patience either, even if involuntarily.

Deciding he was better to get to it before he fell asleep at the table, Shadow asked the Chaotix duo if they knew where he could have access to a secured computer. At this, Espio got up and said he’d be back shortly. Vector got up as well and went elsewhere.

The clanking of a plate on the table startled him awake. Vector frowned deeply at his reaction, but didn’t comment on it.

When he and his team had come back to the restoration base, he hadn’t been made aware of Team Dark’s presence. The detective would grill Knuckles on the subject later. For now, he had an exhausted Hedgehog to keep an eye on. Said Hedgehog blearily eyed the light lunch he had brought him and cautiously sniffed the food. He seemed satisfied with what he had, and dug in. Vector nodded approvingly. He leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed and waited for the other detective.

By the time Espio showed with a laptop, Shadow was halfway done with his meal. Nodding his thanks, the Hybrid turned the device on and got to work, munching absently on the rest of his lunch.

An hour later, he was almost done with his report when Knuckles showed up and joined them at the table, food in hands.

“You still look like shit, should you be out of bed?” Bluntly stated the Echidna, which earned him an irritated grunt. “Want me to do another energy transfer?” He asked more politely.

“No thanks. At this point, it wouldn’t help.”

“What if we got you an Emerald?” Suggested Vector.

“It wouldn’t help either.” Answered tiredly the dark male, posing in his typing to rub at his temples.

Sensing the confusion of the other three, Shadow sighed and closed his eyes.

“Let me finish this section, then I’ll explain.”

And explain he did. He not so patiently explained how he doesn’t absorb the energy of the Emeralds, but taps in their power to use his technics instead of using his own energy. How he also cannot leech energy around him, and instead have to wait for his system to produce his own Chaos Energy. Having an Emerald now would allow him to use Chaos Energy based technics, such as Chaos Control, but he would be just as tired as he currently was after using the technic.

“So basically, using an Emerald allows you to save up your energy.” Mused the Chameleon.

“Exactly. I still get tired even with an Emerald, but it takes more time before I feel exhausted. My attacks are also more powerful if I tap more into the Emerald’s power, and I can teleport more often and farther away.”

“I always thought you couldn’t use Chaos Control without one.”

“It takes a lot of energy, so I refrain from doing so.”

“No wonder you passed out when you teleported your team here then.”

At Knuckles’ comment, Vector and Espio went silent and stared questioningly at him. He shook his head in a “We’ll talk later” manner and stood from his seat, going back to whatever duty he needed to attend to. Both Chaotix shrugged and Shadow went back to his report.

*** LINE BREAK ***

Sometimes in the afternoon, Shadow migrated to the couch with the laptop to use the close by electrical socket. At one point, Blaze silently joined him on the couch and she quickly noticed he was still shivering. Discreetly, she moved closer to the Hybrid and focused her energy. Slowly, her body started emitting warmth. Satisfied Shadow hadn’t said a word, she went back to her book.

Movement in her peripheral vision made her pause a few chapters later. She turned her head and noticed the tall Detective putting a blanket over the Hedgehog, while Espio was putting away the computer previously present on Shadow’s lap. She smiled in acknowledgement to them and went back to her book.

*** LINE BREAK ***

A couple of hours later, Shadow awoke to a now hammering headache and a crick in his neck. He massaged his neck and rolled his shoulders, but it didn’t do much to alleviate the overall soreness of his limbs. He frowned deeply as he got lost in thought.

“Something’s wrong.” He muttered in irritation.

“What is it?” questioned the lavender Cat, who was still seated beside him on the couch.

“I feel worse than I did earlier. With as much sleep as I’ve had, I should have regenerated a good portion of my reserves.”

Blaze frowned, thinking. Deciding it was worth mentioning, she got up and went to get Amy, Knuckles and the Chaotix. On the way to the break room, she repeated what the Hybrid had just told her. They joined Shadow and were discussing when Jewel interrupted them.

“Amy, the scouting team just came back. Those two robots Sonic reported are getting closer.”

“Fuck.” Swore the dark Hedgehog. “How close are they?”

“Whisper estimates they are both within a twenty kilometers radius of the base.” Answered the Beetle.

“And you said there are two of them?” Shadow groaned.

“Yes.” She nodded, and at this, the GUN agent let out a string of obscenities that had several people openly gap at him.

“Shadow! Language!” growled Vector, while Espio covered Charmy’s eyes. “Good thing Cream isn’t here!”

“Whatever. No wonder I couldn’t regenerate my Chaos reserves.” The Hedgehog grunted irritably, then his gaze turned deadly serious as he turned to Amy. “We need a plan to destroy those asap. Have anyone who can fight come here. We’ll have to prep in case we have to evacuate.”

The pink Hedgehog nodded her understanding and she went out the room. Fifteen minutes later, she was back with a few more people, including Tangle and Whisper. While she was gone, Shadow discussed quick strategies with Knuckles, Vector and Blaze.

“You said Rouge, Omega and yourself barely managed to destroy a single one. How are we supposed to destroy two without approaching them?” Said Vector pensively.

“Omega destroyed the protective plating of the armor using his plasma beam.”

“Shame Omega isn’t here now.” Mumbled Espio.

“I could try getting close enough to…” started the red furred male.

“No. You have high chaos energy reserves, just like Sonic.” Cut Shadow. “You too,” he added, turning to Blaze. “If any of you two touches those robots, you’ll be giving them even more energy to charge up those canons of theirs.”

“And what about you?” asked someone.

“At this point, if they get to me, they might very well kill me.” He answered flippantly. “I have no intention of getting close and pass out in the middle of what will likely be a battle field.”

“So, we can’t get close to destroy the chest plates.”

“What about explosives?” Asked Espio.

“Mmmm… This might work.” Mused Shadow. “Does Tails have a workshop in here?”

“Yeah, what do you have in mind?” grunted Knucles.

“I can rig some of Omega’s ammunition. With the right materials, I can create something with enough concussive force to maybe rip off the chest plate.”

“You guys have explosives inside the base? Are you crazy?” Yelled a yellow furred Mobian Shadow didn’t recognize.

“Those are stored in safe crates. Tails knows how to safely manipulate them and does so with cares.” Rebutted Amy, staring him down, hands on her hips in an annoyed pose.

“Like I was saying,” continued the GUN agent with a growl, “I can rig something to explode with enough force.” However, I can’t have them explode on impact.”

“Why not?” wondered someone else.

“Imagine if you drop one of those beside you.” Replied Vector with a pointed look.

“Right. So not on impact. So how do we detonate them?”

“Can we use the Wisps?” asked Tangle.

“Don’t they use Chaos energy as well?” Asked Amy in turn.

“Ho… So no Wisps”

“They might get caught in the explosion anyway.” Added the Croc.

“We detonate them with a bullet.” Shadow grunted as he fished his pistol from inside his quills. “Espio. You’re the only one likely to manage enough precision and strength to throw the explosives close enough to destroy the chest plate. Your ability to camouflage could help you, but they are likely to sense you when you use your cloaking techniques.”

“If it gets to this, I can use my flames to detonate the charges. I need Chaos Energy to create fire, but a simple flame isn’t made of it.”

“Okay, so we have a plan to expose their week points. Then what?” Added Vector, then all eyes turned to Shadow.”

“I’ll see what I can do using Tails workshop and Omega’s spare parts. I want Amy, Knuckles and Vector on standby in case we need brute force. Everyone else should be on evac duty, just in case.”

“Shouldn’t we contact Sonic and the others?”

“No. They are on a mission with Rouge. They might be facing troubles themselves. Distracting them could be dangerous.” 

“Shadow’s right.” Nodded Knuckles. “Between us all, we should manage to get rid of them. Let’s just be careful with our next moves.”

*** LINE BREAK ***

An hour later, the group of Mobians tasked with the destruction of the Chaos Leeching Mechs were outside, waiting on Shadow’s directions. He dispatched everyone to their position and they waited for his signal. Blaze went with Espio and was to follow him from a distance. Amy and Knuckles tagged along, that way the pink girl could support the Echidna if he ever needed to get in close combat. Wisper offered to stay with Shadow, in case he needed her to shoot for him. Since she had training with weapons, he readily accepted. Vector was stationed with them, offering cover in case they needed to defend themselves quickly.

Luck was on their side for once, the two robots were still both within the twenty kilometers radius, but one had moved away from the other. That meant they had a chance to take one out before the other spotted them and attacked them. Shadow’s team positioned itself near the closest one and waited for Espio’s signal. Amy and Knuckles went closer to the second one; they would try to distract it if they needed to.

The GUN agent had managed to rig enough bombes to give plenty to Espio, and a few to Amy. In the end, he had used some of the explosives Rouge used and had added other components to them to increase the concussive force. However, he hadn’t been able to find anything useful to get enough force to destroy the weak point. They would need to use the makeshift bombs to manage that as well.

From there, everything went mostly according to plan. Espio managed to get close enough to be in a respectable range for throwing the first bomb. Shadow positioned himself and gave the okay, waiting on the Chameleon’s signal. The Ninja’s throw was perfect, and the responding shot was dead on. The purple Mobian got behind cover just before the bullet impacted with the device, the resulting explosive force almost knocking him of off his feet. The Leeching Mech went immediately on high alert and the other did as well. Blaze was quick to react, throwing another explosive straight in the red and yellow monstrosity’s face and ignited it with a wave of her hand. The effect was instantaneous and the robot was thrown back a few meters. It pointed its canon to her, but Espio took the opening to throw a second bomb, straight to the Mech’s weak point, followed by a kunai. The device didn’t explode, but it got stuck in the opening. Espio moved to his left and kept the robot’s attention on himself. Smirking, he kept the robot’s attention on himself as he made it turn on itself as he waited for Shadow’s signal. As soon as he got it, the Chameleon jumped out of the way. The third explosion had the Leeching Mech stagger. Knuckles saw an opening and shoved a nearby boulder with all his might straight at its chest. A shrill sound could be heard within seconds and they all moved away.

Amy had stayed away and was now shoving bombs at the other mech. So far, Shadow had managed to detonate only one of them, but not close enough to damage the chest plate protecting the weak point of the robot. Deciding enough was enough, Amy grabbed her hammer and used it to hit her last bomb toward the front of the Mech. Shadow’s quick reflexes kicked in and he shot it just as it made contact with the steel. The concussive force resulting made the three meter tall steel monster back away a bit. 

The GUN agent signaled the other Hedgehog to move away from the robot as Vector contacted the others to know if they had any other bombs left. Not a moment too soon, the Fiery Princess showed up in a torrent of flames, just as the Leeching Mech was closing in on Shadow and Vector. She directed her fire at the mech, intent on melting the weakened metal away. 

When he heard Shadow curse over the commlink, Knuckles whirled around and sprinted to the striped Hedgehog’s location. He got there just in time to see Blaze jumping away as the massive Crocodile punched the second robot with a booming roar. 

Sparks started to run over the open weak point and Shadow yelled for them to take cover.

“IT’S GONNA BLOW UP! TAKE COVER!”

The resulting explosion shook everything around. Vector got up, and almost tripped on the Wolf when he went to grab Shadow, who looked on the verge of passing out. His ears were ringing loudly and he couldn’t hear whatever the Echidna was shouting. Securing the Hedgehog in his arms, he quickly checked him over to make sure he wasn’t injured, then looked around. So far, everyone seemed safe and in one piece.

 “Everyone alright?” He asked, once his hearing was somewhat back.

“All good here. Just tired.” Answered Blaze with a sigh.

“What about you Knux?”

“Same. Will have a bruise on my shoulder tomorrow, but I’m good. Just need a nap.” Yawned the warrior.

“Everyone else?” he asked, and all the others gave him affirmative answers. “Mission accomplished, everyone is safe and uninjured. Get some sleep, we’ll take it from here.” he murmured to Shadow.

The Hedgehog blinked owlishly and promptly went limp in Vector’s arms as he passed out. Blaze gave him a worried glance, but he shook his head reassuringly. Amy contacted Jewel to let her know of the outcome, and with that, they all began the walk back to base.

*** LINE BREAK ***

Shadow woke up in the infirmary a few hours later, feeling better than he had in days. He was still sore all over, but he wasn’t feeling as cold, nor sluggish. He sat up in bed and smiled lightly when he realized his migraine was now to a tolerable level.

He went to the lunch room and met the others there. Blaze immediately noticed he didn’t look as tired as he did in the morning. When she mentioned it, he simply grunted in acknowledgement, and let out a huge yawn. Blinking sleepily, he turned to Vector and nodded in greeting as the Croc dropped a plate of food in front of him. Knowing the leader of the Chaotix could be as stubborn as Rouge with this, the dark furred male rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat. He started eating silently, while the others around chatted quietly, mindful of his sensitive hearing.

*** LINE BREAK ***

At the same time, Rouge and her temporary team were back at GUN HQ, waiting for the Commander to let them in his office. A moment later, his voice sounded, letting them in. 

The Team of Mobians entered the office and greeted the tall man sitting behind the desk. Their report was brief, as they had managed to retrieve the intel they needed and hadn’t encountered any enemy force. 

“Good work. Thank you all, you are dismissed. Rouge, Omega is ready to leave, go get him and meet up with Shadow to the Restoration.”

“Any news from him Sir?”

“He submitted his written report, but I haven’t contacted him yet.”

“Of course Commander. Thank you.”

“Ho, and Sonic, stay back please.”

Tails threw a look at his brother, but the Hedgehog winked at him reassuringly. The Fox nodded and followed the white Bat out of the office.

*** LINE BREAK ***

They arrived at the Restoration HQ later in the evening and went directly to the lunchroom to get a well deserved warm meal. Rouge spotted Shadow immediately and went directly to him. She noticed his still tired posture and bags under his eyes, visible through his dark fur. Worried, she put a hand to his forehead, checking his temperature. 

“How long have you been up? You should be sleeping!”

“Rouge… I’m fine.” Grunted the Hedgehog, batting her hand away with a not so annoyed gesture. 

“Hey guys, you all look like you just pulled three all-nighters in a row.” Sonic said, frowning. “Did something happen?” 

“Yeah. Had to take down two of Eggman’s robots.” Yawned Knuckles. 

“What? Tell me it was not the robots Sonic mentioned before we left.” Rouge said in a cold voice.

“The very same.” grunted her teammate with a yawn of his own.

“Shadow! You were still recovering from your fight with the previous one! You could have been killed! Any of you could have…” shrieked the Bat, distressed.

“Calm down Rouge. We had a plan, thanks to Shadow. We managed to destroy both of them and no-one got hurt. Shadow himself stayed out of their reach, and I was covering him.” Soothed Vector, putting a calming hand on the agitated woman’s shoulder.

She looked at him and nodded her thanks, sighing in relief. The Croc didn’t need her to say anything, he knew what she meant, Thank you for looking over him . Shadow was off the hook. At least for now.

“Good news guys, I just checked the intel we found, and it seems only three units were ever built.” chirped the young inventor.

“Great news! Good work Tails!”

The newcomers took a seat at the surrounding tables and the chatter took over once more. At one point, Shadow’s communicator started ringing, causing the striped male groan in frustraion.

“Commander.” Shadow gruffly answered, using the speaker.

“Agent Shadow. I thrust you are doing better?”

“I’m conscious.” was the flippant answer. “Got a new assignment for me?” continued the Hedgehog, not without a hint of irritation.

“I can tell. I have a new assignment for Team Dark,” answer the commander, just as sarcastic.

At this, many groans could be heard in the room, one of them being Rouge. However, Shadow’s eyes widened when he heard Tower’s chuckle over the communicator.

“I want Team Dark stationed at the Restoration, effective immediately, and until further notice.”

“What?” grunted Shadow, incredulous.

“You heard me. I just had a chat with Miss Jewel. Team Dark expertise and versatility will be of use to the Restoration effort. Until further notice, you are to answer to her and report to her. I want a weekly written report, unless I ask for a verbal one. Further information concerning your current assignment will be sent to you through the usual means. I thrust Omega and Rouge heard as well?”

“Yes Sir.”

“AFFIRMATIVE.”

“Very well. Tower Out.”

Shadow and Rouge looked at each other, speechless. Suddenly suspicious, the Bat turned to the blue Hedgehog and Sonic gave her a cheeky wink, grinning widely.

Jewel  joined the group and welcomed Team Dark to the Restoration. Her first order was to take a couple of days off and get some actual rest, which earned a snort from Shadow and snickers from many others. 

“I will have rooms ready for you soon, so you can rest and have your space.”

“No need for separate rooms. We only need one big enough for all three of us.” Interrupted Shadow.

Jewel blinked in surprise, but Knuckles butted in, saying he and Amy would take care of it. 

*** LINE BREAK ***

A few hours later in the night, Vector and Blaze quietly knocked on the door to the room assigned to Team Dark. Hearing no response, the Croc silently opened the door to check on them. He couldn’t refrain from smirking widely at the sight. Rouge and Shadow were passed out in the same bed, the Bat on top of the Hedgehog. Both were snoring softly, clearly at ease. Even if they each got a bed, he wasn’t surprised to see them like this. Omega flashed his eyes in warning, and the Crocodile chuckled lightly. He gave a thumbs up, and let Omega to watch over them, providing background white noise. He closed the door just as silently and saw the satisfied smile on the Cat’s muzzle.They turned and continued their round. They had a feeling they wouldn’t see any of the members of Team Dark for a couple of days…

END