He didn't really know how to respond to seeing the lifeless corpse of his arch-rival collapsed on the cold metal floor before him. He approached the form, cautiously, and kneeled down to check his pulse.

'He doesn't have one.'

That's not good. That's really not good. Sonic rolls Shadow onto his back. He sees the other's skin appearing to be chipped off, revealing a mess of metal and wires beneath it. Sonic sharply inhales, and reaches to touch Shadow's face. It was freezing to the touch. Sonic sighed and gathered the other in his arms.

"I know you're just gonna go back to trying to kill me after this, but I'm taking you to Tails for now."

"Can you do anything for him?" he spoke, watching the young fox assess the damage done to Shadow's body.

Tails hummed, pursing his lips. "I'm not sure. His body is badly damaged, but some his memory chip seems mostly intact. I'm assuming this is what gives him his charming personality."

Sonic stood arms crossed, quirking a brow. "So? What does that mean?"

Tails shook his head, and met Sonic's gaze. "I can try to run a simulation to see how badly his A.I has been affected. We can probably go from there."

"Simulation?" he asked.

"Yes! I've been testing some...Virtual reality stuff. If we can get his memory chip to work with my equipment, we can run a simulation attempting to interact with him. This will test whether or not he's a lost cause."

"So...Who's gonna 'interact' with him?"

"You. I have to man the equipment."

Sonic grunted. "He's gonna tear me apart the second I get in there."

Tails smiled. "Good thing it's called 'virtual reality'. Means it isn't real."

Sonic made a duck face with his hand, mocking Tails' response.

Tails rolled his eyes. "Here, lemme get you hooked up." He gestured to the chair next to his work table, where they'd laid Shadow. Sonic plopped down in a huff.

He glared at the figure next to him. "You're gonna owe me big time, buddy."

Sonic found himself continuing to glare at the ebony hedgehog, resisting the urge to pick off the electrical pads covering his body. They began to pull at his fur. Tails finished placing the last one on Sonic's body.

"Alright! You should be good to go."

Sonic's glare shifted, now trained on the fox kit in before him. "Is this gonna hurt?"

Tails shook his head. "It shouldn't. Don't worry! You'll be fine." Sonic swear he heard the other mutter an uncertain 'probably' at the end of that statement, but brushed it off. Tails placed a bulky helmet over Sonic's head. "Okay! Here goes nothing!"

His eyes opened to reveal a bright barren room. He could hear Tails' voice. "Okay Sonic, I'm uploading Shadow's A.I now. Good luck!"

He put his hands on his hips and pursed his lips, waiting.

He heard odd noises, what he could only describe to sound as 'electronic bubbles', and static. Before him he saw a figure phasing into reality. Slender frame, wild red-streaked quills,'Yeah that's Shadow alright.'.

The form before him flickered in and out of being, lines interrupting his body, corrupting his figure.

Sonic slowly approached the other, noticing subtle differences in his appearance. 'He's...Shorter?'

Sonic cautiously outstretched his arm toward the other. Shadow's eyes flew open, and Sonic reeled back. They stared at one another in stunned silence for a moment.

"...Sonic?" when Shadow spoke, his voice sounded filtered and distant. He spoke again, his words falling flat through silencing static.

Tails' voice cut through the noise. "Sonic! I've got to work out a few glitches, give me a second."

Shadow's form flitted in and out of view, until it finally settled to a still fuzzy, yet visible setting. He glanced around the room, eyes resting back on Sonic. "Where are we? Did you get taller?"

Sonic blinked. 'This is weird.'

"Sonic?" he cocked his head. "You're different. What's going on?"

"U-uh...I found your body. It was all jacked up and broken. I brought you back to Tails to see if he could fix you since you're all robotic and stuff."

Shadow stared. He then crossed his arms and averted his gaze. "That wasn't me. And you aren't him." Sonic pinched his brows together in confusion. Shadow continued. "Robotnik tried to replicate me artificially. He mostly succeeded, but there were a few kinks he never really cared to work out. Shadow androids are usually emotionless, violent, and void of memory."

"...Robotnik?"

"Yes. Or Eggman, as you know him."

"This is so weird...Who are you?"

The look Shadow gave him was unidentifiable, and certainly out of character for the ebony hedgehog. "I...It's a lot. I don't really feel the need to go into details, I'm sorry."

Sonic huffed and shook his head. "Could you at least tell me how you knew me?"

Shadow smiled. Very out of character, but Sonic decided it was a good look for him. "We were...Close. You and I...Or me and him I suppose..." Shadow trailed off in thought.

"Him?"

"You're not him. You have the same name, a similar personality, and a strikingly similar appearance, but this is a different time."

"When you say we were close...I mean I never imagined I'd be friends with you."

"We were much more than friends, Sonic." he looked directly into Sonic's eyes when he spoke, a faint red hue forming on his muzzle.

Sonic's eyes widened, and he trained his eyes on his feet.

Shadow continued. "You meant the world to me. We'd grown close over the years, friendly rivalry developing into friendship into...a more intimate relationship. I don't remember how it happened, it just did." Shadow inched closer to Sonic, reaching his hand out to cup the other's face, bringing his head up to look at him.

"S-so we...Oh...Oh." he was now blushing wildly, and reached his hand up to hold the other's.

Shadow smirked, then steeled his look to bear a more serious one. "Sonic, I know what it's like to be lost. Your Shadow is lost. And knowing myself, he's aggressive, violent, and reckless. Help him find his way, as best as you can."

Sonic nodded. "I will."

"Thank you, Sonic. I've missed you." Shadow pulled the other down closer by his scarf, noses pressed against one another, and slipped his free hand behind Sonic's back. He pressed his lips to Sonic's gently yet passionately. Sonic's eyes widened, then softened. He held Shadow's shoulders, lacing one hand through his quills. The two pull away, staring into one another's eyes.

Shadow's form gently flickered out of visibility, leaving a trail of pixels behind. Sonic soon found himself alone again. He grinned widely, blushing madly. "Huh."

Tails' voice broke his wandering thoughts, startling him harshly back into virtual reality. "Sonic! I think I can fix him. Hold on, I'll get you back!"

Sonic took one last look at the room before him, smiling gently.

Tails lifted the helmet off of the other. Sonic's eyes took a moment to re-adjust, and blinked a few times. "Uh. Um...That was..."

Tails ignored him. "I think I can repair his body. Upon closer inspection, it's just a few loose bolts and busted parts. I'm sure I have some replacements somewhere around here. And his memory is more intact than I would've expected."

Sonic shook his head. "T-that's great but...I mean you saw all that right? Is that not even a little weird?"

The other shrugged. "We've seen weirder."

Sonic subconsciously reached up to touch his lips. "Yeah, I guess."

Images of distant places and memories flooded his vision. Blurred pictures and clips played over and over in his head, cutting each other off in discordant chatter.

"Shadow, I beg of you please do it for me,for the all the people on that planet-"

"Even your memories might not be real, you know-"

Their words rang together, a never ending run-on sentence.

"Everyone here is rooting for you! Good luck-"

"-what can I say? I die hard-"

His ears were ringing.

"Even if you believe everyone is against you, know that I'll always remain by your side. Remember that-"

"Are you the original?"

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."

He heard a faint conversation, distant and muffled. "Do you really think this'll work? He's pretty messed up as is.

"Don't worry, I got this. "

A click resounded in his ears.

"And this goes here, and this should do this...And...Ah! Here we go! That should fix his optics."

A blur of blue loomed over him. His view slowly became clear, static dissipating into clear pixels, revealing the figure above him. Green eyes peered back at him. "Uh...His eyes are wide open. Is that normal?"

"He should be able to see now. He's probably pretty freaked out."

Shadow lurched forward, panting. Sonic quickly side stepped, giving the other breathing room. His eyes focused on his hands, view blurring. He saw drops of liquid come into view, decorating his palm. He blinked, feeling more liquid pushing its way out of his eyes.

He looked to the form next to him, eyes widened and dazed. He searched Sonic's emerald eyes for answers. Sonic's brows pinched together in worry. "You okay?"

Shadow paused, then shook his head. He remained silent. He then turned to the fox on his other side. "What...What happened? Where am I? What was that?"

"Sonic found you all busted and brought you to me for repairs. I restored some of your memory as well, so that might've been kinda...Weird. Sorry!"

"My memory?"

"Yeah! It's a long story but, you had memories that you couldn't access because of some firewalls or something. Your A.I is incredible! Unlike anything I've ever seen anyway. And don't even get me started on your artificial organs. I don't even know what material your skin is made out of-"

"Tails! Not helping!" Sonic cut him off.

"Oh! Sorry. Yeah so...It's complicated, but you're back!"

Shadow shook his head, his brows knitted together in confusion. "Who am I? What am I?...Who..." he trailed off, eyes training back on his hands again. He felt a hand placed on his shoulder, and looked up to see Sonic gently smiling back at him.

"You're Shadow the Hedgehog. That's all you need to know!"

Shadow had been coming to Tails for maintenance for a few weeks now. The young fox became enamored with Shadow's mechanics, saying that if he could somehow replicate some of the material used in Shadow's body, he could improve drastically on his own inventions. Sonic began to regularly visit Tails' workshop because of this as well, checking on the ebony hedgehog as often as he could.

It was an odd development, but Shadow had gotten softer towards the pair. He'd assumed his memories weakened him. He felt oddly comforted by Sonic's presence, and this alone scared him.

To perform maintenance checks on Shadow's body without being overly invasive, Tails had to put him in stand-by mode. It felt as if he was sleeping. He even dreamed.

He hated it though. His dreams became more and more vivid and incriminating since the recovery of his memories.

This one had been more...Embarrassing than the last.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Ex-"A-Ah!"

He couldn't keep his breath steady. His heart beat ran rampant. His back pressed against the wall behind him, arms pinned up above him. Light kisses ran across his body, leaving tingling ghosts of themselves behind. Green irises raised to look into his own, and he took a sharp intake of breath. The other's hands released his own, now reaching up to cup his face.

"Shadow." Their foreheads pressed together, breath mingling with one another. He felt another hand trail down his chest, resting at his stomach. A thumb ran circles around his skin.

Their lips tangled together again. The other pulled away, throwing a cautious glance towards him. He nods, and the other presses his lips to his neck, tongue darting out across his fur.

His eyes glazed over, lids slowly shutting over them.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

His optics flashed back on. Sonic stood on one side, Tails on the other. His eyes trained back on Sonic.

"U-uh...You okay?"

Shadow nodded. He glanced back to his hands. 'I don't know anymore.'

Warm light flooded the room in a broken shutter pattern. It hit his eye, and he shut it, nuzzling further into the form beside him, the others arms tightening around him.

"Not a morning person, huh?" His voice rumbled in his chest, low and gentle.

He shook his head. The other laughed. Hands reached up to his chin, bringing his eyes to look at him, crimson into emerald. The two studied each other for a moment. A thumb brushed his lips, a blush forming on his muzzle.

"I love you."

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Shadow pinned Sonic's arms above him, pressing him against the wall behind them. Sonic's eyes widened with surprise.

"You're gonna start a fight right now? Are you serious? After all we've done?"

Shadow furiously shook his head, quills bouncing along with the motion. Sonic's brows pinched together.

"Then what is your deal? What are you doing?"

Shadow paused, breathing slowed. He scanned the hedgehog's eyes for a moment. "I...I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing."

Before Sonic could respond, Shadow leaned closer towards his face. His forehead pressed against Sonic's. Sonic blinked. "S-Shadow?"

"Is...Is this okay? Can I do this?" he spoke quietly, and cautiously.

Sonic couldn't help but smile. This was so out of character for the ebony hedgehog. "Yeah. This is fine, Shadow."

Shadow released his hands, his own falling limp at his sides, before he reached both up to hold Sonic's face. He brushed his lips against Sonic's. The other's smile widened, and his hands reached up to pull Shadow's lips against his. 'I'm okay. This is okay.'

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.