I had planned on returning to the fanfiction website this week. It just occurred to me yesterday that today is Sonic's b-day! How awesome is that, perfect time to finally update this story.

-EVERYONE WHO READS MY FANFICTION HAS MY SINCERE APOLOGY. Aside from needing a break, as many authors do now and then, I actually did have a legitimate personal reason for being gone for so long. Several of you PMed me asking about this story, and I told a few of you about that reason. I don't want to broadcast it for everyone who ever looks at this to see, but if you want to know, feel free to PM me. I offer you that option so that you know I am not making up an excuse.

Having said that, I could have easily updated the story with an author's note saying that I would be back and that I was sorry this was taking so long. It was rude of me not to do so. I have many readers who have stuck with this series for years, and it is unfair to them as well as the rest of you.

I am and always have been completely determined to finish this story. I am a writer at heart and I love doing it. I am so glad to be back, and I really do wish I hadn't been gone so long. This kind of sucks for me, too, because I know that quite a few people probably will not come back just because it's been so long. I hope to see a lot of you return to finish this story with me, though.

-TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY… here's what happened in recent chapters: Sonic saved Shadow from being trapped under the debris of a fallen building, on the condition that Shadow take him to the past so he can save Tails. Of course, one needs a Chaos Emerald to teleport to the past. Sonic has one, fortunately, in case you don't remember. He fought Rouge for it earlier in the story. Five other Chaos Emeralds are anchoring a barrier created by Eggman to contain his empire. The last Emerald, however, is in an unknown location… but Sonic's not worried about that right now, he just wants to go back in time to prevent Tails's death. I'm sure you all remember that tragedy at the end of Faster Than You Think; it's been a while, but not THAT long.

In this chapter, Sonic and Shadow will go back in time… but not to where they planned. Something goes awry with Chaos Control, and they wind up appearing in the Dome Base… right around the time the past Sonic and Tails fought Zorro for the last time. You know, that epic scene where Sonic got stabbed. Most of you were around for that, but if not, you'll get a taste of it in this chapter.

To all of you who are reading this right now…

Enjoy! :)

CHAPTER 10: The Gap Between Memories

"You can cause Chaos Control…" Shadow whispered under his breath, acknowledging the fact with a perfect blend of calm and surprise. The empty atmosphere thickened as it had last time, seeming to squeeze both hedgehogs tightly in its fiery embrace. "I've… never known anybody aside from myself with that ability."

Sonic closed his eyes to shield himself from the overwhelming intensity of the light around them, hearing Shadow but not really listening. "Why is it so much brighter than before?"

He didn't need to open his eyes to be aware of the typical annoyed glare on the darker hedgehog's face; he could feel it rippling through the hot air. "You're the one who caused this, Faker. You tell me."

"Are we… did I do this right? What do I do from here?"

"Were you picturing the place we need to go when you said the words?"

The dreadful silence of hesitation might as well have answered the question, but Sonic did anyway. "I was… irritated at you when I said the words," he said honestly, "and I'm not sure if I was all that focused, but I…"

"Do you feel how badly it burns right now?" Shadow interrupted.

"More than enough without the reminder, thanks," the blue blur answered dryly.

"That's your frustration with me. That's the despair lingering from seeing Tails; from having your cake and not being able to eat it, too. Negative emotions that you should have known to control better," Shadow explained impatiently. "Allow me to fix your thoughtless mistake."

"Tell me what's happening," Sonic said levelly, raising a hand in front of his still closed eyes to block out the brightness that managed to sneak in through the lids. "Will we still be taken to the right place?"

"Be quiet, Sonic," the Ultimate Lifeform commanded, and the blue hedgehog heard the seriousness in his tone. Shadow had even used his real name instead of an insult.

This was bad.

Workshop… he made the thought pass through his distracted mind, over and over. Workshop, workshop, workshop. If he could only picture it, remember all those details… If he could only direct that imagery towards the Chaos Emerald and get it to listen to him…

"Stop it. I said leave this to me."

Those jade eyes opened wide to look at the irritated hedgehog next to him as the owner of said eyes became somewhat irritated himself. He instantly regretted it and squeezed them shut again, hoping he hadn't damaged his vision. It actually hurt.

"Shadow… you don't even know where I wanted to go, and you've never even been inside," he began to argue, and his own voice was hardly audible amidst the chaotic emptiness around him. He struggled on with his words, determined to fix the problem he had created. "Let me try to fix this; at least I have the picture in my mind."

"Because that helped loads last time," the other one shot back lividly.

"I'm as fast of a learner as I am a runner. I can figure this out."

"I'm not convinced."

A frustrated growl came from Sonic's throat, so quiet that one would have to wonder if they'd heard it at all. "Then you're about to be!" He said determinedly. "I'm trying this, whether you like it or not."

Following the hedgehog's resolute words, something in the atmosphere loosened… though it was so subtle that neither hedgehog noticed it at first. And then, as Sonic and Shadow concentrated on the objective, the universe gradually darkened to its normal tone until all that was left were the dots behind both pairs of eyelids.

Sonic dared to open his first. "Shadow…" he breathed in relief, gazing at the sight before him. Miraculously, they had regained control of the Emerald midway through the teleportation… and made it to somewhere familiar. It wasn't the destination he had wanted, but at least he knew where and when he was. Before them, of all places, was the Dome Base, just as enormous and intimidating as he remembered it. But that wasn't the only reason for the astounded and significantly shocked expression on the blue blur's face. His voice quieted when he spoke next, but the emotion it contained was loud.

"So much has happened here."

"Shall we go?" His voice was impatient but seemed to be trying for some small amount of sensitivity. Sonic had handled the subject of Maria with respect and cautiousness… and even though Shadow's dislike of the other hedgehog bordered on hate, he decided not to torment him any more than he already had. For the time being, anyway.

"Yeah…"

Neither of them moved, despite their agreement to do so. "I must guess that this is where you lost him."

Sonic blinked and looked up. "No. But just because Tails's death was the worst thing that ever happened to me… doesn't mean that nasty things never happened before that."

Appearing to understand the gist of his rival's words, if nothing else, Shadow nodded. "I see. Does this place bother you?"

Sonic smiled a natural, genuine smile. "Not at all. You'll find I don't waste a lot of time focusing on things that have happened in the past." He paused, watching the black hedgehog's eyebrows raise. "No, seriously. Tails was the exception to that rule. You change when someone close to you is taken away. Someone like you would understand that…?"

"I would," Shadow allowed.

"I meant it when I said you didn't know me… even if using that wording was kind of beating a dead horse," Sonic added as an afterthought.

Shadow had no argument. Instead, he nodded in agreement. "Everybody changes when they're grieving," he conceded. "However… that doesn't mean I'll like you any more now than I did before."

"I don't care," was the blue blur's nonchalant response. He winked. Shadow rolled his eyes.

There was silence as Sonic continued to take in the surroundings and Shadow folded his arms. Then, the latter of the two asked the question that had been itching in his mind throughout their entire conversation.

"What happened here?"

Sonic turned back to him, an eye ridge raising in mild surprise. It wasn't often that Shadow asked questions out of mere curiosity. "You want to know?"

Not bothering to voice the obvious answer, Shadow just shrugged and let his arms drop to his sides. The two hedgehogs held each other's gaze for a moment.

"It started probably two years ago. It's kind of a long story – and I'm not just saying that, some things really are long stories – but I wound up trapped here."

"Do you know how to get in?"

"It's only locked from the inside. The metal doors not too far ahead should be open." The blue blur motioned for Shadow to follow, covering the distance between himself and the building in long strides. No doubt was intermingled with the confidence in his expression, and if he hadn't begun to answer Shadow's question as he walked, the black hedgehog would have had no reason to think that Sonic had gone through some of the worst experiences of his life inside that giant sphere.

"…I was here for quite a few months. Eggman kept me trapped in a cell most of the time. I had a few chances to explore the place, but there was some trap or other waiting around every corner, so it wasn't quite as fun as your average sightseeing trip. Later on, I ended up with two broken legs. And Eggman shot me with something that paralyzed me from the neck down for a while. I only got out because of – guess who? – Tails."

They entered the base. Shadow drew in a breath to speak, then paused, realizing Sonic wasn't even done yet.

"After that, he and I ended up back here again to take down Zorro. It was… crazy. That was when I got stabbed through the chest."

Coming to a halt, Shadow folded his arms. A few steps later, Sonic stopped too, realizing that his black lookalike was no longer right next to him. He turned around to a very skeptical stare.

"And lived," Shadow said, a 'yeah sure' expression on his face. "Where's the mark? I cannot say I believe you without the scar to prove it."

One corner of Sonic's mouth twitched in the slightest; what that split-second expression meant, Shadow couldn't tell. "We're going to have front row seats for it very soon," Sonic said, not appearing thrilled about the idea but not appearing particularly bothered, either. "So you don't really have to believe me right now."

"Fair enough," the darker hedgehog said, and his tone of voice made it perfectly clear that he would hold Sonic to that. "This place is very… silver."

"Sorta blinding, isn't it?" The hedgehog asked, content with the change of subject. "Eggman sure likes metal."

The pair walked right through a wall of sensory lasers and past several sleeping robots, going completely unnoticed, of course. Sonic knew, though, that his former self wasn't having such an easy time up ahead…

"Hah, poor guy."

"What?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Never mind, Shadow."

Both hedgehogs walked in relative silence for some minutes, moving at a steady clip but not rushing. They were 'early' anyway – by several hours, Sonic realized. Until his past self and Tails finished fighting Zorro and went back to the workshop, he could do nothing.

As if reading Sonic's mind, the Ultimate Lifeform suddenly asked, "What is your plan, anyhow?"

When the hedgehog didn't answer in what Shadow figured to be a normal response time, he looked over to see why. To his annoyance, it didn't appear that Sonic had even heard him – or if he had, he was doing a damn good job of pretending otherwise. His eyes were set forward, incredibly focused, and his arms swung mechanically as he continued to walk. Maybe it was his imagination, but Shadow swore he was slowing down.

Just as the dark hedgehog drew in a breath to repeat his question, glaring as was typical of him, Sonic apparently registered that he'd been spoken to and met his eyes. "Uh, I'll tell you about that in a few," he said simply, and there was something off about his voice. Not necessarily something wrong, but something off. "We're almost there. Tails and I should be in the next area right about now…"

"Hold up," Shadow demanded, realization striking him. He grasped Sonic's shoulder and turning him around. "Didn't you mention something about the fox's workshop before we teleported? What brought us here in the first place? This doesn't look like any mere workshop."

Something faltered in those cool, jade eyes.

"…That's what I thought, too," Sonic said quietly. "I guess the Chaos Emeralds figured there was something else I wanted to do before going there. As soon as I realized we appeared outside this place, it hit me what it was."

"What's that?"

The blue blur turned away, quills swinging with the motion, and began to run toward his destination. Both of them knew that running wouldn't help him get away from Shadow if the hedgehog really wanted to stop him… but both of them also knew that there was something particularly important about this little detour. Shadow, though silently frustrated, pursued his rival without threat or complaint.

Something about the situation had struck a chord – that much was clear. But if Sonic wanted to elaborate, then Sonic would elaborate. Until then, Shadow would simply observe with his arms crossed, as always.

Their jog lasted no more than ten seconds. The blue blur came to a sudden halt mere yards from the large doorframe that was his destination. Standing there were the two individuals he had known would be there: Tails and himself.

I cannot believe this is happening.

"So what?" He heard his past self say to the fox. "Tails, you have the Emerald right in your hands. Nothing bad's going to happen."

How wrong he was, Sonic realized in retrospect.

"I know," Tails responded. "It's just…"

"Just what?"

"Nothing. Let's go."

Still standing next to Shadow, the current Sonic barely managed to stifle a cry. This… this was really happening! An oddly irrational part of his being yearned to reach out to Tails and to the identical blue hedgehog in front of him and hold them both back, let them know what was coming first… Yet at the same time, his logical side knew better. Terrible things were about to happen, but he knew from experience that they would turn out okay.

"You feel very connected to this, don't you?" Shadow noticed. "It's not very often that one gets to watch one of the most dramatic moments of their life replayed for them as if on tape."

Sonic nodded in agreement, but didn't take his eyes off the hedgehog and fox in front of him. He couldn't. It was like a horror movie… wanting to stop the characters from stupidly moving forward, but knowing deep inside that they were going to anyway… no matter how much your heart pounded, or how close you moved to the edge of your seat, or how tense your muscles were, or how loudly you screamed…

The pair before them walked into what he distinctly remembered to be Upper Area Four, Tails leading the way and himself following closely behind. Although time didn't really slow down, it sure felt that way as he saw Zorro lunge forward out of nowhere, detaching that blade of a tail and thrusting it toward his fox friend's back.

And for a split second, it looked like it was going to make contact.

But in that split second, Sonic knew better as he watched himself lunge impulsively toward Zorro in a frantic attempt to redirect the attack… a frantic attempt that worked, but with tremendous consequences.

In an instant of unlikely clumsiness, those gloved hands failed to push that blade in a safe direction. Instead, Sonic watched as the blade plunged inevitably into his own chest, tearing out his back with a sickening rip.

Silence.

There was no word uttered, no dramatic movie-style collapse, no bloodcurdling scream of pain. He just fell forward into his own lake of blood, inadvertently forcing the blade further into himself.

"Sonic."

Gently tapping the eardrums of the living form of the blue hedgehog was Shadow's voice, solemn but calm.

At first, Sonic ignored the address in favor of watching the consequences of the scene before him. Then he realized that watching Tails's reaction was even worse than watching himself get brutally stabbed. The blank, empty stare in his eyes… then the sudden waterfall of tears… and the insane, twisted shouts at the atmosphere that sounded nothing like his best friend.

The hedgehog blinked and turned away, finding himself looking at Shadow's unreadable face. "…Yeah?"

Shadow stepped forward, a hand reaching out toward Sonic's chest for a reason that the blue hedgehog was too paralyzed to understand. He didn't know that he was holding a hand over his heart – where his past self had just gotten stabbed – until the black hedgehog touched it and gently encouraged it back to Sonic's side.

"This is what brought you here." It wasn't a question. "It appears as though the Chaos Emeralds tapped into a desire you weren't even consciously aware of during our teleportation. I know that can happen with someone inexperienced, but why? What brings you back to something like this? I don't understand."

Sonic breathed. A bead of sweat slid down the side of his head and stopped at the corner of his mouth. "I do," he said quietly, making no move to wipe it away. "I understand what the Chaos Emeralds found in me. Shadow… I never remembered what happened… until now. I knew because Tails reflected on it afterwards, and he said enough for me to put together the pieces. But I never remembered. I didn't remember being stabbed, or transforming with the Super Emeralds, or when Tails pulled that thing out of my chest. The memories just… weren't quite there. I couldn't understand why." He looked away, then added, "Nobody knows that about me. Tails never even realized it."

Understanding dawned in Shadow's eyes. "Post-traumatic stress," he said, and Sonic nodded.

"I don't get it, though. I mean, not to toot my own horn…"

"Whatever you say…"

"…but I don't usually get really freaked about things, and never to the point where my brain blocks it out. Everybody stresses sometimes, but I'm... I mean, that's kind of extreme."

Shadow scrutinized him for a moment. "You mean to tell me you felt perfectly fine watching that whole thing? Your body language a few seconds ago certainly told me otherwise."

The awkward expression on Sonic's face changed to a defensive glare. "Of course it wasn't pleasant, watching it or actually having it happen, but… to the point where I had an…" Sonic paused, thinking about the notion that he, of all people, had a problem with post-traumatic stress. "…An anxiety disorder?" He paused, visibly cringing as he heard himself suggesting the notion. "No. That doesn't even make sense.I never so much as lost sleep because of it!"

"Your ego doesn't like this," Shadow said obviously. The blue blur's temper flared, and it took everything he had not to charge forward and pick another fight with his darker rival. Shadow merely sighed, shaking his head. "It would have happened to anybody in your situation. That's just how the mind works. Now stop arguing with me and let's get out of here; I have better ways to waste my time."

"No, wait!"

The Ultimate Lifeform had turned around to walk away; now he faced Sonic again, only to find he had wandered all the way into area U4. "I don't think so, hedgehog. We're leaving."

"No! I want to remember what happened that day," Sonic insisted, looking over his shoulder, and he was more serious than Shadow had ever seen him. "We're already here, and it's not like the time period we need is going anywhere. Besides, I'm cool with this." He met Shadow's irritated stare with his suddenly composed expression, then whirred back around somewhat defiantly, spikes swinging with the movement. This was his only chance to understand exactly what happened that day, to have the memory of just how Tails saved his life.

For once, Shadow gave in.

Before them, the Sonic from the past was moaning in agony, and something crazy was beginning to happen to his fur. Somewhere on the other side of the area, Tails had just transformed with the Super Emeralds and hurled Zorro into a wall. Before either member of the audience could say anything else, the Sonic on the ground said a single word in a hoarse voice.

"Tails…"

Everything happened fast after that. The Chaos-charged fox was suddenly at the injured Sonic's side, mumbling a "No way" of disbelief and draining his powers so that Sonic could draw on them. The fewest of tears were shed amongst the pair, Sonic's caused by physical pain and Tails's by fear, but both were holding the floods at bay for the sake of the other.

"Are you alive?" The fox's shaky voice managed to ask.

"Thanks to them," came the raspy reply, hardly audible though the room was silent. He was referring to the Super Emeralds. "Can't move. Pull it out…"

From yards away, Sonic and Shadow watched the frantic exchange of words. Tails was more afraid than he had ever been before, and Past-Sonic was struggling to keep it together and encourage the young fox. After several more questions, assurances, and grimaces of pain, the kitsune wrapped his shaky hands around the bloody blade and gave it the slightest of tugs. Sonic gave no visible response as the blade shifted in his flesh.

"Can you maybe… open your eyes for me?" The fox child asked, looking nervous and desperate. "Sorry. You just looked… dead, for a second, there."

Sonic had to move several strides closer to the scene to see if his past self actually opened his eyes or not. After a second, one blue lid flinched open in the slightest, the watery green oval beneath looking down at his bleeding torso.

Tails suddenly spoke with solid resolve. "I'm not going to let you down Sonic, not ever again." Sonic responded that he had never let him down in the first place. Then his voice grew louder as he made the fox promise he would pull the blade free, no matter how loud he screamed or anything.

Every few seconds, the fox would try to make himself follow through on that promise. But, afraid to hurt his friend, he would stop before the blade ever moved significantly. Past-Sonic groaned in frustration at Tails' hesitance. Tails looked at his eyes, finally realizing he was causing Sonic even more unnecessarypain in his attempt to do the opposite. The fox decided that enough was enough.

They both released loud, agonized wails as Tails tore the blade out of Sonic's flesh.

Yards away, the real Sonic finally understood the intense trauma of situation, finally understood why his mind hadn't allowed him to remember it.

He remembered now.

He remembered the emotions between himself and Tails; the terror, the frustration, and the trust. He remembered the agony. He remembered looking through the window of Tails' blue eyes and seeing the fear that lie behind them.

He remembered the relief as his nearly fatal wound was healed by the power of the Super Emeralds. He remembered seeing a reflection of that relief in his friend's eyes, along with love and admiration and a hint of self-pride.

He remembered their embrace, and the magical quality that embrace had; a quality that could only be felt by people as close as brothers. But he had never forgotten that part to begin with.

For the first time in at least half an hour, Sonic pulled his gaze away from the past and looked back to the present – literally. He looked at Shadow just in time to see him turn his head away, as if he had hardly been interested at all. Sonic knew better.

"I'm ready now."

Shadow pushed off the wall, where he had been leaning casually, and tossed the Chaos Emerald up a few times in his hand, catching it each time without looking at it. "Where are we going now?"

"Tails's workshop, like we were going to do," Sonic replied. "Different time, though," he said, nodding at the Chaos Emerald, indicating they'd need it. "We need to go forward quite a few months, to a point a little while after Tails tricked me into taking the antidote. It'll be cutting it close, but if I go and find another antidote while the other me is wasting time telling Knuckles what happened, I can bring it back in time to save him."

"Weren't we just in that area of time?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, and when we Chaos Controlled last time, all I meant to do was go forward a few days so that I could do that plan I just told you about. But…" he gestured to Upper Area Four behind him, trailing off.

"But you got sidetracked," Shadow muttered.

"It wasn't my fault!" Sonic said defensively. "I can't help it if the Chaos Emeralds tap into my subconscious."

"You're right. You can't. Because you fail at Chaos Control."

The blue blur glared. "At least I can actually teleport. You're more amazed by that than you're letting on – I know you are."

"You don't know anything," Shadow snapped. "Quit pretending you do, Faker, or this journey is over. I'll leave you right here if you don't quit pissing me off."

They both knew he wouldn't, but Sonic let him get away with the threat. Shrugging off the argument, he switched the subject back to the matter at hand. "Okay, so, you do the Chaos Controlling, and I'll do the thinking that'll get us there. Want to try it that way?"

The Ultimate Life-form stopped tossing the Emerald and clutched it tightly in his hand, preparing to teleport. "I suppose it can't bring us any more disaster than the last few methods have." He smirked when Sonic's glare returned and deepened. "Check your temper this time."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chaos Control landed them about a mile away from the workshop. With the sun only at its zenith, Sonic knew they had plenty of time before Tails and his past counterpart returned to the workshop, and even longer before his fox friend would succumb to the fatal poison.

"Do you have a plan? Or do you arrogantly believe you're fast enough to search the whole world before dusk?"

"I'm working on that," Sonic mumbled, wishing he had a comeback. The black hedgehog was getting awfully good with retorts lately, and he didn't like it. But there were more important things, he figured, than fighting battles of vocabulary.

They walked for a few minutes while Sonic thought. The next time Shadow spoke, the blue blur was relieved to hear that it wasn't another annoying quip, but something of a compliment, for once.

"I admit," he began, not making eye contact, "a normal person could not have held on long enough after a stab like that to be able to draw on Chaos energy."

"I've always known I was abnormal."

For the first time in his life, Sonic heard Shadow chuckle. As the darker hedgehog realized he had just displayed happiness – heaven forbid – the humor quickly diminished and the typical frown was back on his face. "Who are you, really?"

The blue blur merely shrugged. "What you see's what you get." His lighthearted complexion grew a little more bold at the edges. "Guess I'm not as much of a 'faker' as you thought."

"I suppose you're not," Shadow conceded, acknowledging Sonic's statement with something like respect. But it's just too bad for you that I am.

I will be back in regular update time with the next chapter! With summertime upon us, I plan to have this story completed and updated as normal without interruption. Have a fantastic day and please review.