Shadow stood outside the headquarters, looking up at it with a frown.

She had honestly somewhat dreaded coming back, knowing that she was about to shock all of her co-workers to the core.

Did she care though?

Not too much.

Just gazing down at the child in her arms who was now fast asleep brought a smile to her face. She gave the H.Q a look then smirked slightly. Let's give them a shock then.

She walked up and opened the door with a swipe of her I.D and walked in. The voices and almost all sound died down almost instantly as the Agents all stared at the black hedgehog.

They at first had looks of fear and respect, but that soon morphed to looks of surprise, shock and downright mouth gaping.

Shadow rolled her eyes and continued to walk down and pass other agents not even giving them a glance. "Agent Shadow!" she paused and looked over at her commander who had a stern expression on his face as he walked up to her.

He gave the small bundle in her arms a look before returning his hardened glare to her. "Report to my office. Your team is already there." He said sternly.

Shadow nodded and continued on her way holding the child close and rocking him gently in her arms to keep him asleep for now.

Ragnarok, within Crona, was thinking hard.

'Why do I feel like I've seen this hedgehog before...?' He thought. 'There's just...something so familiar about her, but I can't put my finger on it...'

He remembered very little of his life before Crona. All he remembered was in the form of flashes.

Some kind of space station?

An old woman in a labcoat?

A little boy?

Some kind of three-eyed alien?

And...a black hedgehog...

The demon groaned as it held his head in pain. Damn that witch. Damn her for all she had done to him!

Crona winced and whimpered in pain as well feeling his own head hurt. Shadow noticed and frowned in worry for the little boy and brought him closer to her, thinking it might help him. She unknowingly also allowed a bit of chaos energy out to see if it will help him.

He relaxed soon with an incoherent mumble and nuzzled more into the black hedgehog. She smiled down relived and came to the door with her team was no doubt behind. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"Let's get this over with." She said softly and made sure her face was blank as she opened the door to see her two teammates sitting down in the office as well, most likely also getting back from missions.

A bat wearing a bowler hat and tuxedo sat in one chair with his arms crossed over his chest, fixing his hat to smirk at his partner. Next to him sat a large, intimidating red robot with claw-like hands and red beady eyes.

"SHADOW. WELCOME BACK." Omega greeted. "I SEE YOU HAVE BROUGHT A CHILD. WHY HAVE YOU KIDNAPPED HIM?" Shadow blinked.

"Kidnapped him? Please...The way I found him, he'd be grateful to be kidnapped." Shadow replied curtly. Rogue grinned widely.

"Ooooh. Looks like little miss ice queen over here's got a heart after all." He said with a toothy grin.

"Don't push it, bat." Shadow replied, flicking his nose.

He scrunched up his nose in annoyance but held his grin in place. "Ah not all the ice has been chipped. We don't want you losing your edge." He teased and leaned back in his seat.

"HER SPINES ARE STILL AT 99% SHARPNESS LEVEL."

The bat sighed softly. "It was a figure of speech Omega." He explained.

"…OH."

The bat rolled his eyes and gave the child a look. "So what is the kids story? If not kidnapped then what?"

Shadow sighed and sat down next to her teammate. While Rouge was an amazing spy he had a knack for being too nosy for his own good. Guess that's what makes him a good spy. Before she could explain her story the door opened and the general walked in with his assistant holding some papers in her hand.

"I want briefings from all of you! Rouge let's start with you."

Rogue grinned broadly. "Okay, chief. So, I went out to grab that emerald you wanted...amongst other things..." He muttered the last part under his breath.

"What?" The general asked.

"Nothing! Here's your emerald!" Rogue tossed a yellow Chaos Emerald to the commander, who caught it. "I found it near that lovely young echidna's emerald." He wined and clicked his tongue, causing Shadow to roll her eyes.

"...Very good." The general said, eyeing the bat suspiciously. "Omega?"

"I TOO MANAGED TO ACCOMPLISH MY MISSION. THE EMERALD WAS CONTAINED IN EGGMAN'S AIRSHIP. I DEFEATED HIM IN COMBAT AND STOLE THE EMERALD. I WILL NOW RELINQUISH IT TO MY SUPERIORS." Omege held out his clawed hand to the general.

"Excellent. And you, Shadow?"

"I got the emerald as well." She said evenly handing over the chaos emerald she obtained.

The general nodded as he took the emerald then gazed at her again. "Anything else?" he stated staring right at the resting child.

Shadow sighed. "I ran into some problems. Turns out someone got to the emerald and was using it for experiments."

"Where dose the kid fit into this?" He asked.

Shadow sighed and lowered her gaze. "He was the experiment."

Rogue quirked a brow. "Huh? What's that mean?" He asked.

"I AM DETECTING VAST CHAOS ENERGY WITHIN THE BOY." Omega sounded. "THE RESIDUE IS STILL THERE. IT IS FRESHLY IMPLANTED." Shadow nodded.

"Yes...She was in the middle of transferring the energy into him when I arrived..." The general's eyes narrowed.

"How much energy did she give him?" He asked.

"TOO much." Shadow replied, frowning deeply. "He was in intense pain..."

"Why though?" Rough asked his face serious. "The kid looks normal, and in all honestly humans don't stand up well to chaos energy."

Shadow nodded with a sigh. "That is correct. Humans are more prone to the negatives of the emeralds; however, he is different."

"Different how?"

"Ragnarok." Shadow said evenly.

To the shock and surprise of bad robot and humans, a black mass shot out of the boys back and formed into a little back figure who crossed his arms looking bored. "Yo."

"What the HECK is that?!" Rogue exclaimed, pointing at Ragnarok, who shook his fist at him.

"HEY! DON'T JUDGE ME BY THE WAY I LOOK, BAT BOY!"

"UNIDENTIFIED ENTITY DETECTED." Omega's voice sounded out as he formed his hands into machine guns.

"Uuuuuhhhh..." Ragnarok said nervously.

"SHALL I EXTERMINATE UNIDENTIFIED LIFE FORM?"

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" the little demon shouted.

The child whimpered in his sleep at all the loud noise. Shadow narrowed her eyes. "Quiet!" she hissed making everyone pause and stare at her in surprise. The child relaxed again and nuzzled into her tummy to get closer to her warmth.

Shadow smiled gently down at the child then glared at everyone else making them flinch slightly. "Now, Ragnarok is the reason the child was able to absorb that much chaos energy."

"How-er what is he?" the commander asked stern.

"He is-"

"Hey! I can tell my own story spiky!" he said annoyed.

Shadow huffed. "Well then, go ahead and tell them what you are." She said curtly.

"I was getting around to it. Name's Ragnarok. I'm a weapon."

"WEAPON DETECTED. PROCEEDING TO NEUTRALIZE."

"Let him finish, Omega." The commander said sternly.

"STANDING DOWN."

"As I was saying." The little demon said glaring at the robot. "I am a weapon, a being that can transform into different swords, scythes, guns, almost everything." He shrugged.

"They all look as freaky as you?" Rouge asked.

"Save it bat boy!" the demon said annoyed. "But no. Not all look like me, some look like normal humans. I'm a special case." He explained.

"How special? Did the emerald do this?" the commander asked.

"If only." The demon said bitterly.

"THEN HOW DID YOU TAKE ON SUCH A STRANGE FORM?" Omega asked.

"Some psycho bitch drugged me, dragged me to her hideout and melted me into her kid's bloodstream." Ragnarok replied. He was met with silence. "...Yeah, not a pretty picture, is it?"

"Well damn." Rough said softly.

"SADNESS EMOTION NOT FOUND."

Shadow held the child closer to herself wanting to in some way help ease the pain he had gone through.

"That is an interesting story." The commander said. "You have my condolences."

"Thanks, sir." The demon said stiffly yet with hidden respect. He blinked at that and held his head with a grumble. "Yeah whatever."

"Still. How did you manage to stop the negative energy of the emeralds power?" he asked.

"No idea. I was just the buffer for the damn rock. It almost made me insane, and if went any long it would have done the same to the kid."

The commander nodded. "Very well then. I still want a full report Agent Shadow on my desk by morning." He said stern.

"Of course commander."

The man nodded. "Dismissed."

Shadow rose to her feet and began to walk out of her room, her team following close behind. They walked in silence for a few moments.

"...So what are you gonna do about the kid?" Rogue asked with a raised brow. Shadow turned to look at him.

"Well, take a guess." She said coolly.

"I WOULD ESTIMATE THAT YOU WILL PLACE HIM IN ONE OF THOSE ORPHAN FACILITIES." Omega replied.

"Ugh...I don't wanna be stuck dealing with brats..." Ragnarok grumbled.

"Absolutely not." Shadow replied with a frown. "I wouldn't put him in an orphanage...Not after he's already gotten attached to me."

Rouge looked surprised. "You're not serious are you?" he asked. Shadow glared at him slightly causing the bat's eyes to widen even more. "You are aren't you!?"

Shadow looked away but a small tinge of red was on her cheeks. "What does it matter?"

"Uh hello! We are all agents of a military, raising a kid is going to be next to impossible!"

"How would you know?" Shadow asked back.

"Omega." Rouge stated with arms crossed.

"CALCULATED CHANCE OF SUCCESS AROUND TEN PERCENT"

Shadow glared at her teem for a long while. "And I thought you would be the supportive type." She said dryly.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Rouge with a small grin. "We are…well maybe. But we need you to see things at all angles. You may seem invincible but…we all remember the few times you were not."

Shadow flinched at those words. "Yes, but...I won't leave him." She said firmly. "I've been through more difficult odds than this and I've come out on top. I'm confident I can do this."

"DETERMINATION DETECTED. CHANCES INCREASED TO FIFTY PERCENT. FUTURE FOR CHILD LOOKING HOPEFUL." Omega said.

"Yeah, once you set your mind to something, there's nothing you won't do to make it happen." Rogue nodded. "You'll make this work."

"Hey, uh, hate to interrupt the moment, but I think the man of the hour's waking up here." Ragnarok pointed to Crona, who began to stir.

Crona yawned and blinked his eyes open. He looked up and saw Shadow gazing down at him with a small grin. He smiled lightly at her then noticed he was not in the cave anymore. He gazed around and saw a humanoid bat man dressed in a tuxedo and a very large scary robot.

He whimpered and hid in her chest fur not sure how to handle these new people.

Rouge rose an eyebrow at the child, while Omega twisted his head slightly. "FEAR DETECTED."

Shadow rolled her eyes at the robot and bobbed the child slightly. "Hey it's okay. They won't hurt you."

"You sure about that." The little demon whispered to her his eyes on the giant robot.

Shadow glared at the demon before smiling lightly as the child peaked out at them again.

"I-It's a robot..." He said softly, looking at Omega.

"THAT IS CORRECT." Omega replied. "I AM INDEED A ROBOTIC CREATURE. AND YOU ARE A YOUNG HUMAN. IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU, YOUNG HUMAN."

"A-And...Um..." Crona looked at Rogue. "Is...Is he a...a mouse with wings...?" He asked innocently. Rogue looked as though a dagger had pierced his chest.

"Uuuuuugh..." He let out a groan, slumping to his hands and knees. Shadow smiled.

"He's a bat, actually." She replied, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Oh." He said softly. "Sorry…" he mumbled.

Rouge got back to his feet without a hit of pain but had a small smile on his face. "Not a problem kid." He shrugged.

Shadow rolled her eyes.

"HAM DETECTED."

"Shut up!" The bat said with annoyance to the robot.

Shadow chuckled silently while Crona tilted his head at the strange bat and robot. "Crona, Ragnarok, allow me to introduce to you, Rouge the Bat."

"Hey." The bat said with a suave wave of his hand.

"And E-123 Omega." She said gesturing to the big robot.

"GREETINGS LITTLE HUMAN AND BLOOD DEMON"

"H-Hi..." Crona said softly, retreating into Shadow's fur.

"Omega?" Ragnarok commented. "That's a kickass name!"

"YOUR COMPLIMENT IS ACKNOWLEDGED AND APPRECIATED. SENSORS INDICATE THAT BY HUMAN STANDARDS, RAGNAROK TOO IS A KICKASS NAME." The robot replied.

"I know right!" the little demon said.

"Well…they are bonding well." Rouge said with a small sweat drop at the two terrors talked.

Shadow sighed. "As long as he does not cause any trouble I do not care."

Rouge shrugged his shoulders at that. "So, you taking him back right away?" he asked.

Shadow raised an eyebrow at the bat. "Yes, why?"

Rouge shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Just wondering. A drink for a mission well done won't kill you." He teased lightly.

Shadow rolled her eyes. "Not interested. Besides I have someone to look after now." She said with a small grin.

Rouge stared at his teammate with surprise for a moment before a genuine smile grew on his face. She had definitely come a long way from the emotionless hedgehog she once was.

He gave her a shrug. He messed with Crona's hair making him pout up at him. "Keep her in line kid." He said and waved off as he walked away.

Crona tilted his head. "What's he mean by that...?" He said softly. Shadow sighed.

"It's nothing." She replied.

"-SEARCHING FOR PROPER DESCRIPTION OF SNAKE WOMAN. SEARCH COMPLETE. PROPER DESCRIPTION IDENTIFIED AS PSYCHOTIC EVIL SMUG BITCH."

"This guy is AWESOME!" Ragnarok exclaimed.