Disclaimer: Although it should be obvious, I don't own Sonic, Shadow or the series in which they came. I am merely borrowing them to fuel my terrible and perverse fascinations. If they did, oh man, the comics would have been different .

!WARNING! This is yaoi/shonen-ai. If you don't like guy-guy relationships then

DON"T READ. And no flames please. If you ignored the warning and read it anyway then it's you're fault, not mine.

Firstly, the rating is high 1) because I would rather have it too high then get introuble for it being too low and 2) I don't want little close-mindedpeople with fragile minds to read this and have a breakdown. :)

Secondly, it seems to me that the story is going in a PWP like plot. I honestly didn't intend it to, but shrugs you can't stop a good thing, ne? I know that has rules about lemons, so if there is one then I'll probably post it off-site instead of risking the chance of getting kicked off. Thanks in advance for reading and hopefully liking it. Don't forget to review.

Notes: Italics denotes inner thought (mind to mind).bold denotes the mind responding. Don't worry, you'll understand it when you get there.

'...' thoughts to self. ((Also used to show emphasis on words in sentences but I'm sure you get that.))

"..." spoken word

XxXxX denotes a change in scene or a swap of main character point-of-view. ((It'll make sense, don't worry.))

Thanks to all that read and review. This story is for all of us out there that love this pairing but can never find it. :)Yay for us! And as always, to Sandriver, who starts most of these terrible terrible :P ideas and makes me write them for her amusement. :) Enjoy!

Hindrance

Rain pounded into the clearing as two blurs flashed at seemingly random moments. One a bright blue, the other a deep red mixed with darkness, they collided sending sparks to the ground. The blurs met once, twice, and again before the blue one, after a particularly hard hit, flew to the ground and skidded. Mud splashed as the figure engulfed in blue light dug a deep scar into the terrain. A peal of thunder sounded moments before the area was blinded with lightening.

Sonic the hedgehog lifted himself from the ground he had skidded on and flung the mud from his eyes. His bright green eyes flickered and closed as the after-image of the area clouded his vision. He blinked rapidly to clear it. He didn't need to have any disadvantage in this fight. He was on even ground at the movement with his foe, but that wouldn't last. The battle returned full force to his mind and he quickly started sprinting across the clearing. Better to be a moving target then a still one. And still no sign of HIM. The blue hedgehog scoffed under his breath as his mind turned to his adversary. The bane of his peace-loving life; the one that constantly challenged everything he did; the one that considered himself the better of the two of them; the one who called him the 'faker'. Shadow the hedgehog.

As if the thought of his name had summoned him, the dark hedgehog loomed into his vision and Sonic was forced to turn on a dime to miss colliding. He slid to a stop and glared, panting at the other. Shadow too had stopped and now stood mirror image; panting lightly and meeting those bright green eyes with his own deep crimson. Sonic's glare only deepened as he watched that smug smirk grow on Shadow's equally smug face. How he wanted to punch it off.

He really had no idea what had started this fight, or the seemingly growing need to grind that black hedgehog's face into the ground but at this point, Sonic really didn't care. Shadow was a pain in his side that needed to be removed. And he had thought Knuckles was trouble. He turned his sidetracked thoughts back and narrowed his eyes at his still grinning adversary. The rain poured off his black fur, matting his upturned quills and making then look even more dangerous. The lightening reflected in those blood-red eyes, highlighting their depth and color. How Sonic hated him.

Holding the contest for a moment more, Sonic scoffed out loud and waved Shadow away. "Is that the best you can do, faker? I haven't even worked up a sweat yet." His usual cockiness hid the hitch in his breath well. Shadow crossed his arms and turned his head, giving the Blue Blur the 'raised eyebrow' look but didn't move. The sky warned again as a bright flash of lightening blazed above.

It was Sonic's turn to smirk as he shrugged arms wide and yelled over the noise. "Well, are you gonna attack or are you gonna stand there and stare at me? I know I'm good-looking but geeze..." He shook his head and grinned amusingly as Shadow's face fell for a moment. 'All right!' he thought. 'I got a reaction. Let's see how Mr. 'I'm the best' handles THAT.' The sky rumbled darkly again and Sonic thought he saw the black hedgehog's eyes narrow but the area was lit up again by a sudden lightening strike. Blinking, Sonic had no defense as Shadow sprinted the distance and punched him. Sonic coughed hard as the air was driven out of his lungs from the punch to his stomach and then found himself flying as Shadow spin-kicked him into the air. He landed hard on his face and gasping. He struggled to get to his knees, pushing himself up but a heavy foot on his back dropping him back down.

"Well, well, where's your confidence now?" Shadow asked as his foot ground into Sonic's back spines. His smile darkened as he heard Sonic's gasps and pained moan. He pressed harder, taking pleasure in the blue one's pain. "Well?" he asked again.

"It's...It's still there." Sonic spat around his clenched teeth. "Give me a second and I'll show you...you FAKER!" he roared as he pushed up with all the strength he had left, throwing off the foot and making Shadow step back. He jumped to his feet and blinked the dirt from his eyes just in time to see a foot aimed at head. Pushing his already tired body, he dodged the blow; it instead hitting his shoulder and he turned with it to avoid being thrown down again. Sonic barely recovered as the dark one started his assault.

And they danced again. Shadow's punches and kicks hitting more often then not but Sonic stayed on his feet. 'Man, he looks upset.' Sonic thought as he moved out of the way of kick that well could have taken off his head. 'Why is he so mad?' He parried another head shot and jumped out of the way, Shadow flying past him.

They both turned, Shadow growling and clenching his fists while Sonic's right arm held his left, most likely out of joint if not broken, shoulder. The Blue Blur's breaths came in labored gasps and his head swum. 'I'm...not gonna make it if he attacks again. I have to get out of here...He'll kill me if he gets the opportunity.' With that thought Sonic glanced about the area and located the exit; a small path that lead out of the clearing and into the dark forest. His eyes flashed between his escape route and the one blocking it.

For a second Sonic felt despair wash over him before his carefree attitude counter-acted it. He wasn't the type to just give up. Trying and failing was better then not trying at all. He lifted his good hand and saluted Shadow. "Good fight Shads, maybe next time you might even win." Sonic grinned and took off full speed towards the exit. 'Alright super speed,' he thought as the path came closer, 'don't know what I'd do without yo...'

His thoughts stopped as a bright flash came up in front of him and in a sonic-second, he found himself landing hard. Before he could make enough sense of what had happened a mud covered Air Shoe planted itself on his chest heavily. He looked up to see Shadow silhouetted against the lightening-brightened sky, red eyes blazing eerily. His head swum as the foot pressed, stealing his air.

The last image he seen was the black hedgehog's triumphant smirk and his cool voice echoing, "Looking like I won THIS time blue hedgehog."

XxXxX

Slowly his senses returned. The first thing he noticed was his throbbing head. He groaned as he moved to sit up and rub it. Green eyes opened in surprise as he found his inability to do so.

Sonic blinked as he found his hands bound behind his back rather tightly, crossed at the wrists and held by thick rope. He flexed against the binds and hissed as they bit into his wrists. He turned his head to confirm his theory. Yep, not only were they tied with REALLY thick and rough rope but his gloves had been removed allowing for it to bite into his exposed wrists. He cursed silently and shifted on the cold metal floor but found he also lacked the ability to move much. His ankles had been bound similarly and his sneakers had been removed as well. He pulled against the bind and found that not only was it as tight, if not tighter, then his wrists, it was also looped and knotted to a metal ring fused into the floor. 'Wonderful,' he chided himself 'nice mess you got yourself into hedgehog.' He was now sprawled on his side; knees bent and legs curled close to him and his less wounded arm pinned to the floor underneath him. He sighed and dropped his head to the floor as he turned his attention to his surroundings.

The room was moderately lit, the florescent lights built into the ceiling and spaced well-enough apart. The entire place seemed made from solid steel; the floor, ceiling, walls, everything. Cold, hard and very uncomfortable steel.

The room was 30 feet wide and double that in length. Across from him at the far end was a single metal door with no visible handle. 'With my luck it's probably on a sensor on the other side. Or maybe key-coded. Yeah, that would be my luck.' He paused for a moment "Where am I?" he asked quietly, his voice echoing in the empty chamber. 'I don't remember coming here...I don't remember anything at all...except...'

"Shadow." he growled and his head flew up at the door slid open. Sonic's eyes narrowed as said hedgehog strode into the room, looking as smug as always.

He stopped a foot before Sonic and crossed his arms. "You called?" he mocked.

"Nope." Sonic met his eyes, "Just putting an ugly name to an ugly face." He smiled inwardly as a ghost of a snarl crossed the dark one's face before returning to an impassive look.

Shadow looked down at him, "I wouldn't be so cocky in your position blue hedgehog," he warned. "You're at MY mercy now...and you should know I'm not merciful."

Sonic shrugged as much as he could in his position and nodded. "That's true." He agreed. "But what I'm really curious about is WHY I'm at your mercy, faker." He smiled his trade-mark smile, "You don't seem to be the kind to take prisoners."

"I'm not." Shadow replied. "I'm merely removing a variable from my plans." Sonic's questioning look asked him to continue and Shadow shrugged noncommittally. "You are a...hindrance to me. I needed to make sure that you couldn't stop me, as you have tried to do in the past."

"A 'hindrance'? C'mon Shadow...I'm more then that." Sonic joked, "I'm supposed to be trouble for you. I'm equal to, if not better then you. Not to mention I'm the good guy. It's my calling in life to make sure your bad plans never get off the ground."

Shadow's crimson eyes looked down at him and a smile played across his lips. "As it sits now, faker, YOU won't be getting off the ground." He crouched down in front of Sonic, gesturing to the heavy rope that secured him. "Not for a very long time. I have NO intention of releasing you. And no-one will find you here." He smirked again as those green eyes flared and Sonic struggled lightly against the bonds. He stood and made towards the door.

"Coward!" Sonic called after him. "You didn't even fight fair."

The dark one stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Did you expect me to?" he asked. He waited as the noise of Sonic's struggling stopped. "Well, did you?" No answer came and Shadow snuffed and moved again towards the door. "As I said, hedgehog, I have no intention of releasing you. You will stay here, out of my way, until I find something better to do with you." He stood in the open doorway and looked to his captive. "Although, I'm not sure that anything I could think of would be any better then this. So enjoy your solitude while you can...and know that your death follows it."

XxXxX

Shadow smiled to himself as he closed the door and walking into the hallway.

A faint flash of guilt poked at him but he viciously pushed it way. What did he have to feel guilty for? He was doing as he needed to do. As long as the blue hedgehog was running around he would complicate matters. It was better that he remove him early instead of having the possibility of having his plans fail.

But, did you have to beat him so thoroughly? a small voice in his mind asked him.

Shadow growled and mentally sneered. Of course, he told it matter-of-factly. The only way to beat one's opponents is completely. He smiled darkly as he remembered looking down at him; covered in mud on the ground, beaten and unconscious. The rain that fell on his face traced down his fur like tears... tears that were full of shame and self-pity. How Shadow had wished for those green eyes to open and show in the depths the pain they reflected from the soul... How much he had wanted to laugh as those eyes wavered and turned away from him in defeat...how much he wished to see himself reflected in those deep-jade pools, so unlike his own, and see what they showed of him...to wipe away those tears and make those eyes more clear...to kiss those tears away.

Shadow stopped in disgust. What was he thinking! He shook is head to clear the train of thought away but found that is was too firmly planted to be removed so easily. Instead Shadow growled deeply and punched a nice-sized dent into the steel wall beside him. He focused on the pain snarling. "What is wrong with me?" he growled as he punched the wall again and again, feeling it bend under his power... Bending to his will...he would enjoy seeing him that way; cowering, groveling, begging...giving into his wants...their wants...their needs...

The wall split as the last punch landed and Shadow felt himself fall to the floor clutching his head. In his mind's eye he could see them, him and that blue hedgehog; entangled, their bodies mingling, their voices calling out in unison, striving to reach that still moment of ecstasy. He clutched harder and willed the images away. Yet, it only seemed to strengthen them.

Against his better judgment Shadow gave into them, letting the images fade on their own, torturing him all the while. As they finally ended, he picked himself from the curled position he had unconsciously fallen into and leaned his back on the wall. "Why?" he asked to the emptiness. "Why do I see these...things...these images? He means nothing to me."

Does he? asked the voice. You think about him all the time.

The black hedgehog scoffed at this. I think about beating him...destroying him...

Completing him? the voice offered as Shadow trailed off. You try to cover your true desires with this need to destroy. But it's not true. You don't want to kill him...you just WANT him.

The voice was silenced as Shadow's fist flew out and pounded into the wall. His red eyes closed and breathing became labored. "No!" He pulled is fist away and a bright pain throbbed through him. He looked to find a large chunk of the metal embedded in his hand. With calm precision he removed it, and a trail of blood spurting from the open wound. He sat quietly, holding his right hand as his power slowly healed it. After a few calm minutes he turned his attention absently to his now healed hand.

"Suppose I do...want him..." he spoke out loud as he flexed his hand. "Then what? It's impossible. We are the same, in more ways then one. It would not be possible."

Oh? asked the voice quietly. You make it so. You only fight with each other when YOU start something. If you tried to be nice to him instead of hiding your emotions in anger... it trailed off.

Shadow dropped his hand to his side and sighed uncharacteristically. And if I did? He would not accept me...he detests me as much as I detest him.

But you don't hate him...you like him...even, love him? Shadow huffed and stood, turning to continue down the hallway. The voice paused in contemplation before starting again. And if he does detest you as much as you detest him...would it not be logical to figure that he would like you as much as you like him? If you two are truly similar, would it not be so?

Shadow stopped and rested his back against the wall. So? Even if that is the case I would never know...I could never know. He growled lightly and thumped his hand against the wall in futility. It's better to hate him, fight him...and even destroy him, then to take the chance that I would be rejected. He lifted his hand and held it over his heart. I've been...hurt too many times before. I've been left before and the pain from it never healed. I lost the only person I ever loved and I don't want to hurt again.

But he could heal it. The voice reasoned. If you gave him the chance.

"No."

What have you to loose in asking...you can goad him better then any...you could find out without ever telling him you own feelings.

He shook his head and pushed off the wall, heading back down the hallway. No...it is not worth the pain.

But is it not worth the knowledge? Nothing lost, nothing gained. If he doesn't then you would have more of a reason to hate him, would you not? the voice attempted to appeal to Shadow's violent side and he again stopped. A grin graced his lips as he nodded slowly.

It would. He agreed. It would give me more of a reason. Perhaps you are right.

Then go, and find your answers. Said the voice with a tone of finality and Shadow looked to find himself before the door to his captive's room. He looked surprisingly around before grinning again and pressed the 'unlock' button.

"Yes," he smiled darkly to himself as the door slid open. "I shall do just that."

XxXxX

The cold of the floor seemed to seep into his body and he shivered for the millionth time. 'That bastard...that smug, good-for-nothing bastard.'

Sonic hissed as the roped bit into him again as he moved. Trying to get comfortable was impossible and all he was accomplishing now was making his wrists bleed. And sighed and stopped pulling against them. "Gotta hand it to him," Sonic mused out loud. "He ties a mean knot." The blue hedgehog looked around his 'cell' again and balanced all the possibilities. 'Well, there's no way I'm breaking out of these ropes at the moment. And if I was free, I doubt even a Sonic Spin would cut through those walls.' He pondered for a second before continuing. 'Shadow wouldn't be stupid like Eggman and boast about capturing me...' he wrinkled his nose in disgust. He hated the taste of that word. '...and I doubted he planned on freeing me to begin with. So, I guess my only option is to hope I can goad Shadow into untying me, knocking him out and then escaping.' The plan sounded weak even in his own mind but Sonic ignored it. He wasn't going to give up. Shadow would never hold the Blue Blur captive for long. No one could. He was alone, by choice, with nothing to hold him back.

Or hold on to. Supplied a small voice somewhere in his mind. You are always alone. Doesn't it bother you?

No, Sonic shrugged at the question. I like being alone. Being attached to something is a weakness and in my life, I can't have any weaknesses.

So, you're alone because you want to be alone or because you fear having a weakness that others could exploit? the voice asked innocently.

Choice. He grinned but it was a shallow one.

The voice was quiet and Sonic turned his hyper mind to other things until it quietly asked. What if the 'weakness' could take care of itself?

What if the sky fell while I was under it? he countered smartly. Does it really matter? A weakness is a weakness.

Except when a weakness is a strength.

The blue hedgehog sighed at this. He hated when his mind got smart with him. It's still a weakness. And besides, who do I have to be interested in? Amy? She's infatuated with me...a crush. And she's not my type anyway. I want someone strong, capable, intelligent...

Someone like...Shadow? the voice offered.

Sonic turned an interesting shade of purple and sputtered before he found his voice to deny. NO WAY! he spat. As if I would be interested in that self-centered, egotistical, 'I'm better then thou' jerk. He felt the voice roll its non-existent eyes and he growled at it. "No," he stated flatly.

Strange, it said off-handedly, You seem to see him a lot if you don't like him.

Only because he likes to pick fights with me every second day.

Really? it questioned, Then why do you seem to go out of your way to make sure that you two fight when you do see each other?

"I do not!" he denied but even he had to admit that it was truthful. I don't 'make sure' we fight but I'm not gonna back down from a challenge.

So, Shadow is a challenge to you? Someone you enjoy sparring with, improving yourself so you can best him, someone you look forward to find out how well you'll do against this time? the voice was semi-smug as it rattled the list off and after a dramatic pause it scoffed, Sounds like you like him to me.

Again, Sonic's fur tinged purple but he said nothing. The blush faded and he sighed contemplatively. So what? So what if I DO like him? It's not going to amount to anything.

Says who?

Says Shadow. He hates me. HATES me. There is no way that he would even THINK about anything like...THAT...with me. He grumbled lightly and turned his head away from the door. So all I'm doing is hurting myself with useless daydreams.

...Unless you asked him.

No way. I am NOT going to go up to Shadow and say 'Hey, you wanna go on a date sometime with me?' Sonic shook his head and dropped it back to the floor. I don't have a death wish.

So, don't ask him like that. Ask him subtly. Sonic raised his eyebrow at this and the voice reiterated. Ask him in a round-about way. What do you have to lose anyway? If he says 'yes' then great. If he doesn't, well, he was going to kill you anyway...

Sonic rolled his eyes. Thanks for the vote of confidence.

You're just scared.

I'm NOT!

Prove it. The voice challenged. Sonic never backed down from a challenge. It waited as Sonic seemed to debate.

Alright. He agreed. Nothing lost, nothing gained.

The voice nodded as a 'click' resounded in the room just before the door slid open. Sonic looked up to see Shadow in the doorway and swallowed as the voice called, Here's your chance. Good luck.

XxXxX

Sonic swallowed around the lump in his throat before he steadied himself. He fixed Shadow with a cold glare before turning away from him. "Come back to taunt me?"

Sonic listened as Shadow approached him, his shoes scuffing lightly on the cold metal. They stopped but he refused to look at his 'captor'. 'Make him come to me.' he thought. Sonic was surprised though; as Shadow's cool voice answered him.

"No, I didn't. But if you would prefer."

Sonic did look up at him after that; looked up into those deep crimson eyes and felt his cheeks begin to flush. He cursed himself mentally and turned his eyes back to the floor.

"Problem, blue hedgehog?" The dark one mocked lightly. "Can't look your better in the eyes after being beaten so completely?"

"Yeah right." He scoffed and moved away from Shadow as much as he could without attracting too much attention. "You weren't fighting fair. Everything was in your favor...you lead me to that area knowing that it would help you more then me."

"And if I did?" Shadow didn't try to deny it. He had lead Sonic to that area knowing that a closed space was better for him then for the wide-open spaces loving speedster. The Blue Blur made a non-committal noise but didn't answer. 'Look at me.' Shadow thought to himself. 'I want to see those eyes.' "Look at me."

One bright green eye flickered up but Sonic remained unmoving in general. Finding his unspoken threat not working he raised his voice a level and spoke again. "Look at me, hedgehog, or I'll make you." Sonic scoffed at that, clearing saying to Shadow 'Make me.'

Suddenly Sonic found himself off the floor and vertical. He hissed in pain as Shadow used his bound wrists to hold him up, allowing Sonic's weight to fall on his bound ankles. "I warned you." The dark one intoned as he turned Sonic to face him. And those eyes, bright green and full of pain, opened before him and Shadow instantly drowned in their depths. He drank it all in, the green darkened by the intense pain and for a moment Shadow imagined them darkened by lust and desire but cast the thought away as soon as it appeared. He needed no distractions. "Had enough?" He asked aloud, to both himself and his captive. Sonic's head barely nodded but Shadow let him drop anyway; yet to his surprise he let Sonic fall to his knees before releasing his hold.

Sonic slumped the ground breathing through clenched teeth. 'So much for the 'over-power the jerk and escape' plan. I'm too weak.' He drew in breath angrily and turned his new-found emotion toward the cause of his torment. "Is that it?" he smirked. "You're pretty confident when your opponents are weak and tied, Shadow." Sonic watched as Shadow seemed to contemplate this before smiling darkly.

"And if I prefer to have you bound, hedgehog? What then?"

"Then I'd have to say that you're kinky as well as a jerk."

"Hmmm...indeed." Shadow enjoyed the confused look that had crossed the other's face. He smiled inwardly before stepping up his 'interrogation.' He dropped down to one knee and placed a hand on his own chin. "And if I was to say that I wished to keep you like this?" he asked as he ghosted his other hand over Sonic's bound one's. "What would you say?"

'What is he doing?' The Blue Blur asked himself as he repressed the shiver caused by Shadow's hand. 'Is he trying to intimidate me...or is he...' He snapped out of the thoughts and gave the other hedgehog a very dirty look. "Don't touch me."

Shadow smiled at the defiance in his tone. He liked defiance. "You didn't answer me."

Sonic shrugged. "I really don't have much of a choice in the way that you 'keep me', now do I?" he replied coldly.

"That's true. But, if you did, would you enjoy it?"

'What is he getting at?' Sonic thought silently, raising his eyebrow but saying nothing. He repressed another shiver as Shadow's hand ghosted back up over his and then over his arm. The motion sent a shock down his spine. He glared again when he dared open his eyes but he found that Shadow was still looking at him. And still smirking. "Didn't I tell you not to touch me?"

The dark one nodded and with a widening smile cleared the bare space to Sonic's arm and ran it lightly over his fur. Sonic shuddered unconsciously and found himself biting back the moan the touch caused.

'Look what he's doing to me...' Sonic thought to himself. 'He barely touches me and it makes me melt.' He looked through his half-lidded eyes at Shadow and dread filled him. 'Please don't let him figure out that I like him...please...who knows what he'd do to me then.' He bit back another moan as Shadow's soft gloved hand moved from its path up and down his arm and glided over his wrists to his leg, following the contours as far as he could reach without moving before it trailed up again. Shadow grinned as he watched Sonic attempt to move out of the way but only ended up giving him more fur to touch.

'He's beautiful.' He thought to himself as Sonic's breath became short. 'He's trying not to get angry with me...or he'sattempting to ignore me...' He mused as his hand glided over the other's arm to the blue one's back to stroke through the quills. 'He tries to deny me, but it only makes that feeling...burn stronger.' He watched those green eyes cloud over and again felt that feeling burn higher.

'I can't let him do this to me.' Sonic's mind raced with the possibilities of what would happen if he didn't find a way to stop this. True that he was enjoying it, in some perverse way, but the bad things outweighed the good ones at the moment. He mustered all his energy and jumped away from Shadow. The jump ended up more like a fish flop but he was now half a foot from Shadow, or more importantly, Shadow's hands. "I...I told you, Shadow. Don't touch me." He watched as a strange look passed over Shadow's face before the black hedgehog dropped to sit on the floor. Sonic's breath evened out as they held each other's eyes.

'Should I apologize?' Shadow asked himself as he saw something akin to fear in that look. 'I did not mean to take it that far...but it felt good, the feel of his fur under my hand, the sounds he made...' For the first time, he allowed the feeling of guilt to flow freely. 'I scared him...and I did not want to. I guess this proves that we are not...for each other.' Sadly, there was no anger in that realization, just an ache in his heart that seemed to grow the longer he held those green eyes. Sonic gasped silently as Shadow uncharacteristically dropped his gaze. "I'm...sorry." he said lightly. "I...did not mean to...that, was not my intention. I apologize." He rose to his feet and turned away.

"Didn't mean to do what?" Sonic asked sarcastically. "Didn't mean to touch me? You sure looked like you enjoyed it." He snorted and shook his head in distaste. "Figured you'd be the kind to..."

"NO!"

Sonic looked up at the outburst. Shadow's face was hot and he clenched his fists at his sides. "I...would not 'force' anything from you. Defeating you is one thing...THAT is another." His blood-red eyes leveled as his voice turned cold. "Do NOT accuse me of that, Sonic Hedgehog."

Anger fueled his words before he could think straight. "Accuse you of what Shadow! Not listening to me when I told you not to touch me or accusing you of possible rape!" He snarled as he spoke, hatred and self-pity mixing together into a strange emotion. He wanted him, god but Sonic wanted him. But he'd be damned if he'd let Shadow use him.

He watched as that strange emotion crossed Shadow's face again before the black hedgehog cleared the distance between them, dropping back down to pull him from the floor. They seethed in each other's face, Shadow kneeling on one knee, one hand behind Sonic supporting him while the other clasped onto one of the blue hedgehog's head quills keeping him from tossing. He squeezed the quill in his hand and Sonic hissed low. "I do not need you hedgehog." Shadow said quietly, "I do not need you, nor want you. You are a pain to me and a hindrance. You are something that needs to be dealt with, nothing more." The anger in his voice was true but it was directed more at himself then Sonic. But even after saying it, Shadow felt the pain in his heart grow stronger. His words weren't true.

"Funny," Sonic spat, voice matching Shadow's. "For saying you don't want me, you sure do enjoy picking fights with me. Why don't you go find someone else's life to mess with Shadow, instead of messing with mine?"

His hand unconsciously clenched again and Sonic moaned at the pain that ripped through his head. He blinked his eyes open and found Shadow mere inches from him. His voice was low and menacing as he found himself matching the blue one's anger fully. "I 'enjoy' fighting you, hedgehog. You are a challenge and I enjoy getting everything I can from you."

Sonic laughed bitterly. "Well, that's nice to know. But I'm through giving you anything Shads." He spat out the nickname as if it was poison. "You'll get nothing from me unless you take it. I hate you. And I always will." His eyes glared up into blood-red and he found himself wishing he had said something else. It's better this way. He told himself as the words sunk into their target. 'We never could have been together anyway. It would always have been one sided.' He watched as those dark eyes grew harder and he looked away. 'Better to have lost you forever then to been rejected.'

Shadow's thought echoed Sonic's. His mind repeated over and over again those words; those damning words and he felt the ache grow unbearable in his chest. 'It's over. It was impossible.' His eyes darkened as he accepted the growing pain. 'I should have known...but I did, didn't I? I will deal with the pain. I have before. But perhaps I shouldn't have tried.' Shadow looked questionably as Sonic turned his eyes away and his thought turned back to the blue one's words. A humorless smile played on his lips as he agreed. 'Yes. If I ever got anything from you...I would have to take it, wouldn't I? So, be it. You hate me anyway. But, I need to...to have one taste of you. Before the pain engulfs me...'

His hand slid from Sonic's quill to his neck and before the other could react, Shadow claimed his lips in a tender kiss. Un-demanding, it was sweet and sad; the parting kiss of two lover that had never known their love. Shadow's hand re-buried itself in the quills as his other hand easily snapped the rope binding Sonic's wrists.

Sonic moaned into the kiss but the sound was lost as Shadow pulled his body against his own. Sonic couldn't have broken the kiss if he had wanted to. Their lips met gently as their body's came together and he off-handedly noticed that they fit quite well together. His mind kept running over the reasons why Shadow would have done this, but at the moment he really didn't care.

Too soon for both of them, they parted; Shadow moved away as quickly as he could without dropping Sonic to the floor. He stood and moved quickly, fearing the reaction Sonic would have to his actions. He stopped a distance away and turned to look over his shoulder. His voice was surprising steady. "You may leave...whenever you wish. I will not hold you here." His hand waved and Sonic's gloves and sneakers appeared in a bright flash of chaos energy. His thoughts turned inward as the hand clenched over his heart. 'I could not hold you here now. Not with this pain. It will be the end of me... and if it is, my destruction will be mine alone to see.' He quickly moved towards the door.

Had he turned or looked back again, Shadow would have seen a single crystalline tear fall from those bright green eyes to the cold steel below.

XxXxX

Man, that was angsty...(looks up and sighs) Mebbe I should apologize...nah:)Heheheheh. I'm eeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil. .

Well, that's that. Or, is it?

Review and I might put up another chapter or two. Or, more to the point, if someone out there (besides you, Sandriver :P) liked it and reviews me then I'll put it up for them. (sighs) I am such a review whore.