I'll Protect You (by RAWN and Shaunatheboss)
Chapter 6: Alone
The three Mobians soon reached the familiar apartment complex. The sun was beginning to set, so Shadow decided to catch a few z's, before Rouge left.
The treasure hunter worked a lot better at night, so they still had some time before the bat set off.
After the dark hedgehog excused himself, and Rouge sympathized with him, he left, but not before mentioning something else.
"Attempt that 'little' stunt you guys pulled this morning, and you'll regret it." He groaned, still feeling the slight bruise from when Sonic had pinched and then pulled, even if it was by accident.
"We won't." Rouge replied for them both, by lifting one of Sonic's smaller paws into the air, although she was struggling to keep a straight face at the moment.
Rouge readied a new bottle for the hoglet to be sure he was fed before she left. The little one eagerly started to feed when offered the milk. While he was busy, the bat sat down on the couch and placed the baby on her lap to free one of her hands. She took up the paper she had tucked away in her jeans and unfolded it so she could read it. As she was reading, her expressions changed from calm to horrified.
According to what looked like a news article printed on to the document, 'Abandoned blue hedgehoglett discovered in Chao Garden Park. Search for parents continues.'
Below the headline was a grainy black and white picture of Sonic and a short text that explained that a Chao had gotten the attention of a mobian rabbit and brought her to the park where she had found the baby. The hedgehoglett had been brought to the hospital a little undernourished but otherwise fine. No one had claimed the little blue hedgehog as theirs and the article ended with a plea for people to inform the police if they had any information regarding the baby.
Rouge had never thought about why she had never heard of or seen Sonic's parents before, because honestly, they weren't that close, she had suspected as much as that the young hero might be an orphan but had no idea how early in life he had become one.
He lost them too early to even remember them...
With sadness, she looked down on Sonic who had stopped feeding and fallen asleep without her noticing. She removed the bottle and lifted the sleeping hoglet up into a gentle hug.
"I'm sorry." She whispered.
As if in response, Sonic clung onto her shoulder.
"I promise I'll find Eggman soon so me and Shadow can drag him back to the future so he won't bother you until you're old enough to handle him yourself," she said in a soft voice.
She then wondered what she and Shadow should do with Sonic, even after they had stopped Eggman's plan. Bringing him back to their time would be impossible, so their only other option was to either to bring him back to the hospital, or take him to an orphanage. She didn't know why, but she started to become really anxious about Sonic's future.
Rouge wasn't even sure if the events before they came had even happened properly and could only hope that they hadn't affected anything in their dimension.
"What am I supposed to do with you?" she asked herself.
Thinking about it now wasn't going to solve anything. She decided to put Sonic down into the playpen to sleep for a while, before heading back to the couch to read the child's documents once again.
She'd wake the blue one in about an hour, so that he'd hopefully sleep later, and not tick off the Ultimate Lifeform again.
The documents didn't provide much more information so instead she fixed herself some lunch and thought about what parts of the town she hadn't yet searched through. There were some warehouses down by the docks she hadn't looked at yet. Seemed like a good place to start.
As she was making tea and a sandwich, the bat fished out the old map that she and Shadow had found right after they had exited the portal.
After noting everywhere she had previously looked, the warehouses were indeed located on the other half of the map that she didn't explore. The rest of the map was mostly the urban parts and housing estates, so she doubted that the doctor had also arranged the same strategy to rent out a house.
No, he would definitely hide someplace where he wouldn't draw any attention. Just when she had finished her lunch her ears picked up the sound of crying.
Rouge went into the living room, where the playpen was located and picked the crying hoglet up.
"What's the matter?" She mused. "Bad dream or something?" She then asked.
The hoglet's crying quieted down when he saw the bat. Rouge realized that the little one might just be lonely. She picked him up.
His softer cries became whimpers as she picked him up and hugged him gently.
"There there, I'm here for you, Little Blue," she spoke in a soft voice while petting his head. It stung a little to know she would be leaving him soon, especially after learning he would be completely on his own when she and Shadow returned to their own time.
She was worried in case they had messed up the timeline already or if something would happen after they were gone. Would Sonic be ok? Would he get picked on for being an orphan, or for just being different?
She shook her head. Maybe she was overthinking things. The teenage Sonic she knew seemed perfectly fine. Nothing suggested he had had a rough childhood.
But then again, Tails probably knew Sonic better than anyone else. Maybe she'd ask if she ever got the chance.
Sonic started to look around as if he was looking for something or rather someone.
"What? You wonder where Shadow went," she asked. The hoglet looked at her at the mention of the name so she repeated it. The blue triangle ears were listening intently. Sonic opened his mouth as if trying to say something but didn't know how to and ended up saying just 'ah'.
Rouge had to smile at this. "Nice try, kid. But just a little more." She replied, and then repeated the Ultimate Lifeform's name once again slowly.
The baby tried again. "Ado?"
The bat's smile dropped in surprise.
"What?!"
Sonic stared at her, confused by her sudden change of expression.
Before squeaking out the name out again. To say Rouge was surprised was an understatement. She knew she'd have to show said hedgehog about this once he woke up.
"This is so precious. Is this your first word?" She asked the hoglet and tickled his tummy which made him giggle.
After another hour of playing with each other, the two decided to wake up the sleepy-hog next door.
They entered the bedroom. Shadow's ears flicked towards their direction signaling that he was awake despite having his face deeply buried in a pillow.
"Don't even think about it." The Ultimate Lifeform grumbled.
"Hello to you, too. Did you get any sleep?"
"Yes. Is it dark already?" Shadow asked in a voice muffled by the pillow.
"Yeah. I thought I'd better start my search, before we have to extend it to a few more days." Rouge replied.
"Alright, I'll watch the mini Faker," Shadow sighed and got up.
"I've tried to tire Sonic out, so I think that he'll sleep more this time."
"...thanks," he replied and picked up the sleepy looking hedgehog from the bat's arms.
Once Rouge got her backpack on, she walked to the window and waved at the two hedgehogs.
"Good luck, boys." She announced and then flew off the balcony to begin her patrol.
The blue one snuggled into the black one's white chest fur. Shadow didn't dare to put him down in the playpen before he was sure the hoglet was in deep sleep out of fear of waking up the little monster. He went into the living room. He noticed that Rouge had left the document on the coffee table.
Shadow sighed, knowing that he'd only have one free arm for a while. He decided to sit down on the couch beside the table and picked up the file.
He wasn't really that curious as he figured Rouge would have told him if there was anything wrong with the baby, but there really wasn't much else to do so he started to read it.
There wasn't anything amusing to read on this page, since Shadow already knew what Sonic looked like, but if there had been a 'Personality Section', they could've added loud, annoying, and hyperactive.
The next page looked like it was part of a news article.
Shadow frowned as he read the large headline. He then leaned forward in order to read the smaller print beneath it.
His eyes widened as he read. Sonic was newly orphaned? He had not seen that one coming.
He then glanced down at the little one and pondered to himself, asking himself several questions, which were identical to Rouge's when she found out. 'So this is what happened to Sonic...' He thought to himself.
'Didn't expect someone like you to have such a rough start in life.'
As if in response, Sonic opened his eyes and looked up at him. He couldn't believe that this child would be the bane of his life, although he sometimes did enjoy his presence.
He noticed that the last page felt a little thicker than the first one. He took a closer look and discovered it was a third page that had almost glued itself onto what he thought had been the last one.
Ability Speculation
Possible / Considered Foster Families Available
He looked at Ability Speculation. Most mobians didn't have any abilities, but there were still approximately 10% of the population who did.
He had heard that before Sonic was famous all over the planet, these 'special' Mobians were considered freaks by their own kind, and feared or frowned upon depending on the ability. This would've definitely made fostering or adoption much more difficult.
Most of these special abilities were either incredible strength or the ability to fly or glide without it being normal for the species. Rouge could fly because she had wings so in her case it wouldn't really be thought of as something out of the ordinary, but Tails and Cream were a different story.
Sonic's file didn't specify any power, but it did state that he had the genes for it. Of course, Shadow knew all about Sonic's powers as they were similar to his own.
Since he knew all about Sonic's future abilities, he decided to glance down into the foster family section, in order to see if anyone was considered for the blue hedgehog.
There wasn't much information about the foster parent candidates other than them being Armadillos and that they had a son about Sonic's age. They were only to take care of Sonic for a short while according to the document. Shadow couldn't recall having seen any Armadillos hanging out with the blue blur, so he suspected that it really would be just a temporary thing.
He was about to put the papers away when a small detail on the photo of Sonic caught his eye. A part of one of Sonic's inner ear was shaded darker compared to the lighter tone that it was depicted as. It also appeared to be a small rectangle shape. He picked up a glass beside him on the coffee table in order to magnify the image. It looked like a tag with some writing on it. The quality of the photo was unfortunately not good enough to see what was written on the tag, but the fact that it was there at all was strange. Sonic didn't have any tag on his ear since they had rescued him so he guessed the nurses had probably removed it.
A tiny squeak caught his attention. He had almost forgotten that he was holding the little hedgehog this whole time when he was reading.
"What's wrong?" Shadow asked. "Want to be the center of attention, as usual?" He then teased.
The baby started vocalizing and flailing with his limbs while looking at the floor.
"Ok, ok, you want down? Fine," Shadow replied as he then placed Sonic into a sitting position on the rug beneath them.
Sonic made a happy sound at getting his will.
"Yeah, yeah. You're welcome." Shadow huffed.
The little one curled up and started to slowly roll around on the rug.
Shadow watched as the little one did this. He wondered if Sonic was tired yet, since he was still moving slowly.
"And where do you think you're going?" Shadow asked, in a slightly more playful manner than anything he previously had used.
It didn't really look like Sonic had any idea where he was going as he rolled in a zigzag pattern. Probably too tired and unfocused to go in a straight line, which didn't help Shadow in the slightest as he was trying to pick him up.
Eventually, Sonic ran out of hallway and all the doors were closed so he stopped and uncurled.
He looked around curiously, watching as the darker hedgehog approached also.
"What's the matter? Nowhere else to 'run'? If you were older, you'd make a way through for yourself."
The little one looked up at the older one with a disappointed but also curious expression. Disappointed to have nowhere left to explore and curiously wondering what was being said.
Sonic then shuffled up to one of the doors, pressed himself against it and looked pleadingly at Shadow, probably wanting to open it.
"You want to go in there?" Shadow asked and opened the bedroom door figuring that Sonic wanted to sleep. The little hoglet immediately rolled to the middle of the room and stopped and uncurled when he found what he was looking for. The yellow fox plush.
The Ultimate Lifeform watched as Sonic curled up and snuggled against it. Even before meeting Tails, the blue blur seemed to like something that resembled him.
Sonic looked up at Shadow with his teddy in a tight grip. He wanted to get up but his hands were busy holding the fox so he couldn't signal him the usual way by reaching for him.
He instead shuffled himself around and faced the adult hedgehog, waiting to see if he would get a response. After a moment, he knew that the elder wouldn't respond, so he instead tried to do it in another way.
"Ado," he said tryingly and waited to see if this would get the adult to pick him up.
Said hedgehog's expression immediately changed from mildly unamused, to surprised, as he lowered his previously folded ebony arms.
"W-what?!" He barked in shock.
The baby cocked his head a little confused. His little word certainly got a reaction, but so far not the one he wanted.
That was when he called out that nickname again, all while squeaking happily.
"How did you learn to say my name?" Shadow mused before he realized just who might have thought him. "Did Rouge teach you?".
As he asked that question, he decided to pick the baby up, which earned him more happier squeaks and calls of his name once again.
Shadow wasn't quite sure how he felt about this.
'Was this Sonic's first word?' He mused. It was clear that this Sonic really enjoyed his company. He then wondered what would happen once he and Rouge had finished their mission and how would the blue one react to it.
On the first day in this timeline, Shadow wanted nothing else but getting rid of Sonic as quickly as possible so he could go back to his own time and mind his own life. But now? Now he felt more reluctant to leave a helpless baby to his fate. But that was what needed to happen to make sure the little hedgehog in his arms would become a hero one day.
Shadow then frowned as another thought came. It was from the couple earlier that day believing him to be the hoglet's dad. Him? A father? Not in a Black Arms' lifetime. It would never happen.
He looked down on the little one who had started to rub his eyes. A clear sign of being sleepy. "Hey, you want to get some sleep? I'll move the playpen into the living room so you won't be alone."
After a few minutes, Shadow did just that. He gently placed Sonic into the playpen, with the toy fox and then fetched a small blanket. Once he was finished, he decided to read a book for a little while. He was surprised at how well behaved the little one was today.
Maybe he simply felt safer around the time travelling duo.
Shadow had only noticed that once he had finished his first chapter, he could hear soft breathing coming from the playpen.
'Out already?' Shadow thought. He put the book away and turned off the lights. He figured he might as well get some more rest when he had the chance, surely Sonic would wake up again in an hour or two demanding food or attention or something.
After blacking out for what seemed to be only a few minutes, Shadow woke up to a bunch of small squeaks in order to get his attention.
He first decided to check his clock.
To his surprise it was already morning.
And to add to the surprise, Sonic was lying on him!
"Wha-? How did you get up there?" Shadow asked confused.
"Did Rouge put you up there?" He then stated in a deadpan tone.
Sonic merely squeaked at this statement and nuzzled into the Ultimate Lifeform's chest fur.
Shadow looked around to see if the bat was hiding somewhere in the room, but the two hedgehogs were completely alone.
"Hey, Rouge? Are you out there?" He then asked, assuming that the bat was making breakfast in the kitchen. When the kitchen proved to be empty, he then used his ears to detect if the shower was on, but the house was absolutely silent.
"Strange."
He picked up Sonic and went through the apartment to be sure that Rouge really wasn't there.
After searching through the apartment without any sign of the white bat, Shadow was then convinced that she had gone out to get more supplies and was just about to start searching if she had left a note, until he heard a weird beep - one that came from his phone.
He froze in his tracks then looked at the phone as if unsure if it actually had received an sms or if it was his imagination, like phantom vibration syndrome or something. There wasn't any signal so it shouldn't be possible but yet there on the screen it showed there was a new sms in his inbox. He clicked at it.
It took him only a few seconds to read the message, but his expression grew from surprise, to shock, to infuriated.
The message was sent from Rouge's phone but it quickly became apparent that she was not the one to send it.
It took a lot for Shadow not to crush the phone in his hand after he read the message.
To "The Ultimate Lifeform",
A thief came skulking about last night, but forgot to check her surroundings. I say let's make a trade. If you want her back in one piece, give back what you stole from me then I'll allow you two to return to your own time. Meet us down by the docks in the abandoned warehouse.
Sincerely,
Dr. Eggman