My second fic and I haven't improved one bit. :[ Oh well.

I hope someone likes it. :/

---

Around midnight was when Shadow usually woke up within Dr. Eggman's lab. His biological clock always woke him right up and he could never get back to sleep until about 7PM, possibly later. This early morning was no different as he slowly stretched and blinked the remaining sleep out of his eyes. The cot he had slept on had left an uncomfortable knot in his back, making him a bit slower than usual. Unfortunately, the silence was broken by voices down the hallway.

"Put him down there, idiot, but don't drop him. We don't want him to have brain damage!" A soft thud was heard and metal grating against metal indicated something had moved along the stainless steel floor. Shadow, being curious as to what Eggman was doing up at this time of night, carefully went down the hallway, forgetting the pain in his back and leaving his sneakers unattended in his tiny, featureless room. As he approached the light, open area where Eggman was currently yelling at one of his robot aides, he could make out a figure within an iron cage. Shocked, he stared back and forth at the figure and then at Eggman, back at the figure.

Sonic?

Eggman has caught Sonic?

The dark hedgehog observed that the blue hero looked like he had had the crap beaten out of him pretty well. His right eye was black, blue and swollen, blood dripped from his mouth, a good chunk was missing from his left ear and numerous cuts and bruises were worn like decoration as he sat slumped against the wall. With his one good eye, he stared at Eggman, who had just noticed Shadow.

"Shadow! So glad to see you awake! Look what we've found," the fat man said, gesturing towards his captive. Shadow peered into the cage to get a better look at his rival. Sonic gave him a smirk.

"'Sup, Shadow? Long time no see," he tried to hold the smile but gave up and put an arm around his middle and let his head rest against the concrete wall closing his good eye. Shadow's attention was back on Eggman.

"You see, he was snooping around, so I decided to give him a fight, like it seemed like he wanted," Eggman smirked to himself, forming his hand into a fist and the other on his hip. "Well, I'm tired. I'm off to bed, but it seems you've just awoken, so watch him for me. Make sure he doesn't try anything funny, though I doubt he will in this state," he added the last part under his breath. Yawning, he walked off to his cozy room, robot aide in tow and leaving Shadow alone with the supposed faker. His attention focused back on the prisoner, who seemed to be resting. Sitting down, Shadow kept watch over his companion for about an hour.

"So how come you're helping ol' Eggy again?" Sonic piped up, regaining a bit of his composure as he sat up straight. Shadow gave him a glare out of the corner of his eye.

"None of your business, faker."

"I'm serious! You keep switching sides, what's up with that?" the blue blur asked, edging a bit towards the bars of his prison on his knees. "Dude, we helped you get some of your memory back," he glared at the one sitting opposite of him, getting more infuriated by the minute at what Shadow was doing. "You know, the least you could fucking do is make up your mind on who's side you're on, nevermind thanking us," he sat back down as close to the bars as he could get, glaring at Shadow. His glare softened and he looked down when Shadow didn't respond.

"Sonic, I don't think you understand what I'm doing here," Sonic immediately snapped his head up as soon as Shadow said his name. That was one of the few times Shadow had actually used his name instead of an insult or "faker". Shadow was still staring at a spot on the floor, but soon raise his head up as well. "I'm here for times like these." With a geniune smile, not a smirk, and the first smile Sonic had ever seen on Shadow's face, the black hedgehog stood up. Sonic, with an expression of awe on his face, watched as the other calmly walked to the control panel on the wall and pressed one of the buttons and grabbing a medi-kit off the concrete. The cage slowly raised and Sonic, still dumbfound, found himself staring up at the boy in front of him.

"I didn't... wait a minute... what..."

"Let me see your eye, that looks pretty bad," Sonic leaned forward as Shadow dabbed liquid into it and wrapped a medical eyepatch around his head, covering the injured eye. As Shadow bandaged up Sonic, wrapping gauze around his body so he resembled something from a crypt, Sonic felt a lump in his throat. So this was what Shadow had been doing the entire time he was supposedly helping Eggman.

"Shad, I'm sorry about what I said, dude, I had no idea that this was what you were doing here... I really didn't," Sonic sat back down as Shadow finished.

"That's ok, but you've gotta go, before someone notices. You should be fine, his defense bots usually aren't paying attention around this time of night, but you've gotta be fast. Good luck, faker," he smirked as Sonic got up with a nod and ran out the hallway where Shadow had come from, giving his partner one last nod before speeding out.

---Later That Morning---

"Where's Sonic?"

"I don't know, I guess he escaped."

Many robots were destroyed that day during Eggman's target practice.