Sonic panted as he ran through the G.U.N base, his white gloved hand holding tightly onto Tails' forearm. He grit his teeth as he ran through the maze of halls.

Sirens blared throughout the building, letting everyone know there were unwelcome intruders in the building.

The yellow chaos emerald in his other hand glowed in the dim halls where Sonic and Tails ran, desperately trying to outrun the G.U.N Agents. Sonic's ears swiveled behind him as the sound of heavy footsteps filled and echoed off the empty metal halls.

Sonic cursed under his breath, making a sharp turn. He hid behind a corner emerald eyes watching soldiers run past him. He smirked, quickly dragging Tails with him as he weaved his way throughout the facility.

He tightened his grip on Tails' forearm, angry that G.U.N had spotted them trying to steal the chaos emerald. He tried to explain to the commander that it was for a good cause, but knowing G.U.N, as soon as the commander opened his mouth to send out an order, he quickly grabbed Tails' forearm and sped away.

He forgot to say that the good cause was trying to save the hedgehog they had almost killed.

But that was not important now.

What was important now was getting the hell out of G.U.N headquarters and getting their prized possession back to where it belonged.

"Sonic, halt your actions or else you will be exterminated!"

Sonic abruptly stopped as the commander of G.U.N appeared from a hall in front of them, slowly walking around the corner. He growled silently as the G.U.N soldiers who were chasing them surrounded them from behind. They aimed their weapons at them, and Sonic in response, held Tails close to him, ears flat against his skull while he glared.

His eyes narrowed as the Commander took a step forward, and he quickly put his arm in front of Tails, daring the commander to make a move on his little brother. The commander only grinned, which made Sonic even more irritated.

"Sonic, I thought you knew better than to steal from G.U.N, nevertheless a chaos emerald…" The commander kept his grin while speaking.

"Yeah, first of all, that chaos emerald belongs to Shadow. And I also know that you guys are so stuck up and stubborn, that no matter what I said, you would still be total nutcases and not give us the emerald." Sonic smirked as he took a step forward, making the commander raise an eyebrow.

Sonic shrugged.

"And from what I learned from my own experience and from Shadow, you're also complete idiot's." Sonic then closed his eyes and shook his head with a sad and mocking matter.

"And we thought you were the 'good guys.'" Sonic spoke the last two words with obvious sarcasm. He whipped his head around, glaring at each soldier.

"You're all a disgrace." Sonic spat out, quills bristling in hostility.

The commander held a stoic, cold expression from this, but he was boiling with rage. Tails held an expression of pure terror, his eyes trailing from Sonic, to the commander, to the guns each soldier was currently holding. Tails wasn't stupid. He knew Sonic was trying to improvise, which was the reason for his small talk, more like small mock, with the commander.

"So, you are saying Shadow is a bad guy then?" The commander questioned.

"He's more of a hero than you could ever be, that's for sure." Sonic retorted confidently.

"Didn't he try to kill us all twice?"

Sonic nodded in a mock manner, as if pondering. "Didn't you guys kill his only family, leaving him alone and lost, filled with so much grief he was willing to explode the planet for revenge?"

The commander huffed in anger, hand pointing forward.

"Nice talking to ya, but I gotta go. Places to be, y'know!" Sonic saluted the commander, a smirk on his face, knowing he won the argument.

Sonic tightened his hold on Tails, eyes closed in concentration.

"Chaos control!"

"Fire!"

Both males yelled in unison.

A soft glow enveloped both mobian's, a few soldiers shielding their eyes from the brightness.

Sonic yelled when he felt something sharp stick itself into his leg, but the pain disappeared as they teleported.

Sonic sighed in relief when the familiar furniture filled his eyesight. Shadow's signature symbol decorated the wall, letting anyone know that he lived here.

"Rouge! I got it!" Sonic yelled.

Sonic's ears swivels towards the sound of heels clicking against polished wood. The sassy bat soon appeared, her appearance disheveled and weary. Sonic held up his prize, a small smile gracing his features.

"So, now that I fulfilled your mission...request, whatever you agents call it, do you mind telling me why Shadow is...sick?" Sonic questioned, tilting his head slightly.

Rouge tilted her head, eyes full of confusion. Sonic, instead of standing in his confident pose, was kneeling, rather awkwardly. She dismissed it, heading to Sonic's question.

"They sabotaged us. Shadow and I came back from a mission, and they trapped him in that machine. They took his chaos emerald away to ensure he couldn't were trying to extract his chaos energy…" Rouge explained, eyelids heavy in exhaustion.

Rouge sat down in her white and pink recliner, exhaustion clear on her visage.

"It was horrible. They told him they needed to speak with him in private. He agreed, of course. I went to follow, but they told me I couldn't...if I hadn't ignored them...Shadow would have been immensely damaged. They put him in a capsule. They were using him as if he were nothing, Sonic. It was horrible."

Sonic narrowed his eyes. Why Shadow agreed to work with G.U.N despite all they did was beyond him. Perhaps it was a form of closure, for himself as well as Maria.

He was pretty sure they did these types of experiments to him on the ARK as well.

Simply thinking of the concept made Sonic boil with anger.

"Sonic, you are aware there is a dart stuck on your upper leg, right?"

Sonic glanced down, once again remembering his predicament. He attempted to move his leg, but it stayed put.

Huh. So that's why Rouge looked so tall.

"Sonic, we should take that out before the paralyzation liquid spreads throughout your body." Tails suggested while struggling to help Sonic up.

"Here, let me help you hun." Rouge smiled, sauntering over towards the two. She hoisted Sonic up in one go, her arms under his armpits as she heaved.

Tails disappeared into the bathroom, only to emerge once again with first aid supplies.

Sonic dismissed her, waving his hand once he was up.

"Thanks, Rouge. I can take it from here." Sonic stated, hopping forward on one leg. He neared a wall, using it to help sustain his body.

Tails lead him to Shadow's black couch, Sonic flopping down into the comfortable seat. He winced in pain as Tails yanked out the yellow dart, wiping Sonic's small wound clean with disinfectant. He wrapped Sonic's upper leg in white bandage, making sure it would heal.

Sonic grinned, giving a thumbs up, ruffling Tails' head fur.

"Thanks bro!" Sonic exclaimed, nodding towards the kitsune. Tails smiled back, walking towards the bathroom to put the supplies back.

"Where's Shadow?" Sonic questioned, a hint of worry in his eyes and voice.

"I'll show you." Rouge moved forward, glancing back to make sure Sonic was following her. Tails followed close behind, making sure his brother was stable while hopping forward.

Sonic looked back, looking at his brother. Tails gave an encouraging smile, blue eyes soft.

"I'm sure he's fine, bro."

They neared a door at the end of the hall, the black door menacing against the beige wall.

Rouge opened the door slowly, allowing Sonic to peek inside.

Sonic's demeanor drastically changed when he caught sight of Shadow.

The ebony hedgehog was incredibly skinny, eyes sunken in, the black bags under his eyes clearly visible. His quills were a mess, looking as if he were attempting to wrestle a bear. His usually bright red stripes were dull, along with his black coat. It seemed more grey than black. His limiter rings hung loosely around his wrists, along with his gloves.

His pose didn't help. He looked as if he were in a coffin, hands entangled together on his chest, body rigid and straight.

Tails gasped at the sickly sight, baby blue eyes widened in surprise.

"They...they sucked the chaos energy...his life force, right out of him." Tails muttered, posture rigid.

"Oh Chaos." Sonic whispered, limping into the room, paralyzation poison slowly fading away. The room was neat as always. Shadow despised messy rooms.

Sonic stood beside Shadow, hand tenderly ghosting over his tan muzzle.

"I'm leaving, Sonic. I'll see if I can do research and check if there is a solution to this." Tails announced, twin tails disappearing down the hall.

Sonic gave a barely audible 'okay' in reply, emerald eyes trained on the ebony hedgehog in front of him.

Honestly, seeing Shadow so frail and dead freaked him out. The anger filled hedgehog was so messed up. He couldn't let Shadow, or his brother, suffer.

Rouge and Sonic stayed in silence for a while, Rouge quietly observing Sonic.

"He hasn't moved or done anything for over four days. I'm worried, Sonic."

"He is the ultimate life form for a reason, Rouge. He'll pull through." Sonic reached down, hands grasping Shadow's limiters.

He gently unclasped them and placed them on Shadow's desk.

"What are you doing?!" Rouge hissed, ears flattening in irritation. Sonic glanced back, arms crossed against his chest.

Shadow didn't like anyone touching his things. Especially if they were on him.

Sonic was crossing very dangerous boundaries.

"His limiter rings control and limit his chaos energy, right? But, the least we need right now is for Shadow to limit his chaos energy. If anything, he needs much more of it." Sonic turned his head back toward the bat.

"Shadow won't be pleased. You crossed his boundaries."

Sonic rolled his eyes, hand on his hip in annoyance.

"So what? I'm not afraid of the faker, if that's what you're implying."

Sonic grinned, showing off his tiny, sharp incisors.

"In fact, he'll be so happy when he finds out I helped save his life."

Rouge snickered in response.

"Yes, he will worship your very name."

Sonic remained silent, staring at Shadow while he scratched his chin in thought.

"Sonic, you have no beard, what are you scratching, exactly?"

Sonic raised an eye ridge.

"My chin. Sshh, I'm thinking."

Sonic circled Shadow, inspecting the other.

He hated seeing Shadow so weak.

He turned to Rouge.

"Give me the chaos emerald."

Rouge moved forward, giving Sonic the emerald. Sonic placed the emerald in Shadow's chest fur, waiting for a reaction.

For anything.

Both mobian's stood there for two hours, waiting for something to happen.

Sonic read one of Shadow's favorite books, while Rouge scrolled through her phone.

Three more hours passed. Sonic had read three books and Rouge had changed her status more times than she could count.

Damn, Shadow sure liked fantasy and the supernatural.

Sonic simply loved reading about demons.

But Shadow never reacted, the yellow glow from the chaos emerald seeming hopeless.

If anything, it made Shadow's state worse, it lit up every detail on the ebony male's face.

Three more hours passed.

With every passing hour, Shadow grew weaker. Sonic could hear Shadow's laboured breaths, chest heaving. Sonic sent a worried glance towards Shadow, which did not go unnoticed by Rouge.

Four more hours passed. Rouge had fell asleep, but Sonic stayed awake, waiting for a sign.

But nothing came.

Sonic groaned in frustration, hand slamming down on the desk. Rouge jumped, her previously closed eyes now wide open.

"Come on, Shadow, you're the ultimate life form! Show me the proof!" Sonic advanced towards Shadow, kneeling down so he was face to face with Shadow.

"Come on, faker. Don't give up on me." Sonic whispered, gloved hand tentatively reaching out towards Shadow's muzzle. He rubbed Shadow's cheek, a look of pain in his eyes as he hid his face against Shadow's side.

Sonic jumped when he heard a groan, fur brushing underneath his hand.

Rouge uncrossed her legs, both hands clutching her chair in shock.

Shadow moved his head closer to Sonic's hand, tan muzzle rubbing against Sonic's hand.

"He responded!" Rouge exclaimed, a smile on her face. Sonic only stared back in shock.

Shadow, the guy who got pissed off when someone touched or took his chaos emerald, the guy who practically couldn't live without it.

Had completely ignored his precious emerald in favor of Sonic.

Oh, Sonic was so going to hold this fact against Shadow when he woke up.

Sonic smiled, grin bright as he scratched Shadow behind his ear.

Sonic choked on his own breath as Shadow smiled, ears flicking in response to the affection.

Shadow's smile alone could be one of the seven wonders of the world.

A flash of white was seen, and Sonic whipped his head around, emerald eyes wide. Rouge was giggling, phone in hand.

"Aw, big blue, you made him smile!" Rouge exclaimed, a shit eating grin plastered on her face.

"Rouge!" Sonic yelled, attempting to grab Rouge's phone. Rouge laughed, a smug expression gracing her face as she stepped back. Sonic fell face first into the black carpeted floor. Sonic internally groaned.

Geez, Shadow needed some color in his life.

"Rouge, delete that!" Sonic's protest was muffled, due to his mouth still being full of the emo carpet.

"Wait till Shadow sees this!"

"No!"

Sonic heaved himself up, using his forearms to drag himself forward. He gripped the pink tips on top of Rouge's boots, annoyance fueling his gaze.

Rouge showed Sonic her phone screen, the recently taken picture making Sonic's eyes widen and cheeks burn with embarrassment and anger.

Sonic was kneeling beside Shadow, his eyes were soft, fingers behind Shadow's ear. Shadow's muzzle was bearing a rare genuine smile.

He should break Rouge's phone.

That was a cursed image.

"I will hurt you!"

"Says the hedgehog with a temporarily useless leg. And, side note, that's Shadow's line."

Sonic grimaced. He let go of Rouge, dragging himself back towards Shadow. He touched the other's arm, smiling when he received a response.

Shadow flicked his ear, involuntarily letting Sonic know he felt the touch.

He was just glad Shadow was going to be alright.