Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow the Hedgehog, Amy Rose or any Sonic Team related characters.

A/N: EXTREMELY late birthday gift for Radish and ShadowFeline-Warrior. Enjoy guys. ShadAmy, There will be violence and bloodshed later.

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Escaping Insanity

Chapter One

Green eyes followed a young grey furred boy as he ran playfully through the long grass of the Mystic Ruins, laughing and stopping occasionally to investigate something hidden in the luscious green land that he didn't get to see that much at home. A small smile came to the now older pink females lips, he was such a wonderful child - he never left her side, it's like he knew she needed comforting about the disappearance of his father and always there with his hugs for her. She loved him so much.

Being brought from her admiration, her attention was then set on her long time friend as he took a seat beside her, his attention was also on the smaller male hedgehog, a small smile came to his muzzle at the sight of him having fun. As the silence settled around the two of them, the hero broke it with a sigh

"Ames, we're worried about you. I'm worried about you. You've been raising him on your own..."

"You're not his father Sonic," she interrupted, letting her gaze be pulled back to the form of her son

"I know.. But it's been four years..." the older male argued, turning his body so he could look at her, though he could only see the side of her mature features, he admired the way her longer pink quills swayed in the breeze. His eyes swept down her figure, she was like a goddess to him and her clothes fit her in all the right places. However, her eyes had lost their lustre, their passion and that was all down to one hedgehog "Amy, you know he's not going to come bac-" a sudden sharp pain caught him off guard and stopped his sentence in it's tracks, he turned his head back to look at the rose female after her slap had made his head turn. Looking to her eyes, his ears lowered to see a pair of furious, tear-filled emerald orbs staring back at him

"He WILL come back Sonic!" the pink female seethed "He said it himself. He has never let me down - I trust him"

"Your son needs a father figure..."

"He knows exactly who his father is, as much as it pains me to talk about him, it's only right he knows"

"We've all been here for you and little Cole, the least you can do for him is move on. It's not healthy for you to live your life waiting on Shadow to come back. Maybe it's because he's been away for so long that he thinks he can't, but the fact is..." seeing his words had caused a tear to trickle down her cheek, he gathered her up in his arms "We just want to see you smile again," he soothed into her quills

"I miss him so much!" she sobbed into his shoulder, holding onto him with emotion-weakened arms. Amy had missed this contact with her friends, but what Sonic was suggesting was impossible. She wouldn't do such a heart-breaking thing to her son; she couldn't. "I-I can't... I'm sorry Sonic, as long as there is hope in my heart and Cole's that Shadow will come back, I can't move on, no matter how much it pains me," with that said she fought her way out of his grasp "He doesn't need a replacement, and neither do I..." Standing up, she made her way to her son, not even bothering to look back to the cobalt hero still sat on the hill-side.

"Oh Amy..." he breathed out, watching her with sad eyes "I'm only trying to help..."

In hearing his mother approach, the small grey form looked up to her with his burning ruby orbs

"Mummy!" he called, running up to her "Are you coming to explore and play?" he asked, wrinkling his little nose as he looked up to her, raising his little un-gloved hand to block out the sun's glare

"No Sweetie," she smiled, bending down and picking him up into her arms "We're going home," she informed him, nuzzling him softly

"Oh, okay..." he answered, his small ears lowering as he felt the nuzzle from his mother. Though in feeling a slight damp feeling through his fur, he looked to her again "Did Uncle Sonic say something to upset you?"

"Oh no Cole," she smiled to him, giving a sweet kiss to his forehead "It's just getting late, that's all," the rose hedgehog smiled softly to him, her hand softly stroking his head as he waved back to his 'uncle'. Walking towards the train station, her thoughts travelled to her mate. Tears came to her eyes as she hugged her little boy closer to her as she walked. When he returned, he'd better have a damn good reason for being gone for so long!

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"Being trapped like this has had a devastating effect on his mental health..." Brown eyes looked over to the pacing hedgehog behind the observatory glass, his bare feet padded against the cold metal floor and his bare clawed hands were in fists by his sides. His fur was as black as sin with streaks of the most purest of reds, with small thin lines of missing fur here and there, from experimentation, she guessed. His golden power-rings still remained around his wrists and ankles though. The scientist then brought her attention back to the video being played. "Two scientists exposed to Project Shadow have been killed by him. He is dangerous and under no circumstances is to be released," a small glint came to the human females eye as she glanced up from the screen of her 'welcome' tape about the deadly male behind the glass "The subject has been given a powerful tranquilizer on numerous occasions for various tests, but we came to the conclusion that his sanity was slipping was during one of the tests on his brain activity..." The middle aged man on the screen lowered his voice to tell her the details, which she thought was odd "He thinks we have 'done away' with his mate and son,"

Pausing the tape, a sigh was released from the human as she pushed locks of black hair behind pierced ears, her glasses lowering on the bridge of her nose to gaze at the still pacing animal. She felt somewhat sorry for him, but all this was for a purpose. Pressing play again, she leant back in her chair

"The rage and hatred shown by Project Shadow during this 'discussion'.. The name of his mate and/or son is completely forbidden within this room or in front of him. Welcome to the research centre Miss Lucy Jones, if you have any queries about anything or any trouble, do not hesitate to call one, six, two. Someone will be with you shortly. Have a nice day..."

Chewing on her pencil, Lucy let her concentration fall on the 'test subject', he intrigued her. No one had managed to hold a conversation with him, he just refused to co-operate though he was conscious enough to respond and according to the welcome message she had just watched, he was just like a wild animal.

"So that is the only rule, huh?" she whispered to herself, placing her chin in her palm watching the hedgehog walk back and forth, a deep-set scowl on his face and his mouth in a downwards, unhappy slant. Opening one of the many folders on her new desk, she found a picture of him when he was first incarcerated in that cell - she had to immediately gaze back up to the flesh and blood version of him to believe her eyes... He had not aged a day! Shaking her head, the human scientist focused on the statistics and information located below his image. It only gave small snippets of information about him personally, which she guessed were the only things needed as part of the study. The words family caught her interest though and skim reading through, the section named 'next-of-kin' completely grabbed her attention.

"Project Shadow has been having relations with one pink hedgehog, Amy Rose..." A sudden loud noise made her drop the report she was reading aloud and she frantically looked around. Her scared gaze fell upon furious red orbs staring at her, one un-gloved fist imbedded in the glass between them. Brown eyes widened in terror at seeing a fanged smirk cross his face as the glass began to crack and splinter beneath the pressure of his powerful fist...