A Pair of Second Chances

by obsidian dreamer

His past is still lost, but he has to move forwards. But, if you have no past, is it possible to help someone who has no future? Continuation from Friends and Lovers. ShadowJulieSu. COMPLETE.

26. Chapter 26 Worth it After All?

Chapter 26 – Worth it After All?

A/N: Wow, this was a long one; sorry I took so long but I hope you agree with me when I say the result was worth the effort. Anyhow, a couple of reviewers getting a shout:

TG – Believe me I know what you're going through having just had to buy a house of my own; keep reading all the fluffiness you can because you'll need something positive to wash away the brain-draining angst caused by the moving kafuffle!

IOS – Thanks for the beautifully written bit, but why are they going to get it all wrong? Surely they've both learnt their lessons by now…right?

ROG – Thanks for the comment, but have you read the rest of the series up to now? I'd be interested to hear what you've got to say about the works as a whole.

Shadow knew, immediately upon pushing the door open and letting a breath of the heavily perfumed air flow right inside his lungs, that this was the place he'd been after. Letting the door swing shut behind him, the bell at the top of it giving another musical tinkle as he did so and it clicked back to its previous position, the hedgehog stepped inside and looked around, eyes distracted for a moment by the sight of the different mineral stones displayed on the counter top and the very brief descriptions of what each were supposed to do; hmm, counteracts tiredness and lethargy; the sudden vision of his flatmate suddenly leaping out of bed with a spring in her step and a smile on her face made him grin as he let the piece of lime green stone he'd plucked from its companions slip back to its proper place; nah, a hydrogen bomb wouldn't get her functioning first thing in the morning so, much as I'm not going to doubt something I haven't tried out yet, I'll have to give experience the benefit of the doubt here.

"Hey, can I help you?" The voice broke into his daydream unbidden and made him jerk around wildly, heart thumping and gasping for breath as he saw the source of his panic,

"Geez, give a guy a heart attack why don't you?" He chastised the younger looking echidna he could see on the stairs, looking down at him with a little petulance now filtering into her expression,

"Sorry", the sarcasm in her voice would have stripped paint off the wall, but it quickly drained away as she jerked a thumb back up the stairs, "just in the back room working on some files; gotta balance the books before dad gets back". That comment allowed Shadow to make up the discrepancy between the age of the shop he was now stood in and the teenage look and attitude of the echidna he could see before him, the light cream of her natural colouration clashing awfully with the vibrant colours swirling across her skirt and crop top,

"Oh, he runs the place?"

"Does this look like my scene?" That Shadow had to concede as she swept her arm back to take in the rest of the place,

"No, in fact this time of day doesn't look like your kind of scene".

"Tell me about it; roll on Friday night", she tailed off wistfully for a second before Shadow's discreet cough shattered her daydream just as her interruption had his, "sorry, were you after anything in particular?"

"Yeah, you got any candles, preferably scented ones of any description? If not I'll take whatever's giving off whatever it is I can smell". The echidna laughed, curiously reminiscent of Honey as she had a little sparkle in her eye and turned away back up the stairs,

"Well hopefully you're not talking about dad's cologne; man, every time he goes down to that place stinking like a perfume fight in a brothel", Shadow had to cough into his glove, hoping against hope that she didn't look over his shoulder to see him biting hard into the resistant material as he immediately put that quote into a mental checklist, "but if it's what I think it is you'll be after a few of these".

Looking up from his hand after forcing himself not to give in to the threatening chuckles, the hedgehog found himself gazing at a windowsill; in fact, he was gazing at the two things that were currently on that windowsill, each shedding a little pearly light enhanced by the sunlight streaming in from the outside as the candle held in the belly of the small clay pot flickered and danced to the tune of tiny puffs of air toying with it. Approaching a little closer, he noticed the smell strengthening and becoming clearer at the same time; the spicy sweetness of what he assumed was vanilla essence given a little extra pep by an odour he couldn't identify. Suitably impressed even if he couldn't quite grasp what they were, Shadow felt obliged to comment,

"Okay, what are they?"

"Essence burners", the answer came back from over his shoulder, "pour some oil of whatever in the top pan and light the candle underneath, full top-up should last about two or three hours". Closer inspection proved her simple instructions to be true and, looking around, Shadow was a little more relieved to see the small racks of little phials containing plenty of the concentrated essences these little burners must have been using as fuel,

"Neat, you can replace the candle when it burns down right?"

"Yep, be a bit useless otherwise wouldn't they?"

"True, but, I have to say these are what I'm after, but are there any a little smaller; I want a couple of scents going at once, you follow?" Nodding in ascent, she wafted a and towards one of the display stands, indicating a couple of the strips hanging down from their bindings with the words,

"Yeah, some are on there, they come in packs of five; that be enough for you?"

"Perfect", Shadow replied, stalking over to the stand and rotating it slightly, leafing his way back into the display until he came to a pack that suited him and lifted it clear, "how much for this, and five of those essences to go with it?" The echidna gave a short gruff snort, looking between the product held delicately in his hand and the rack of scents, weighing it all up in he mind,

"Buy five of them and I'll throw in the pack free" she offered in the end, already heading downstairs to where Shadow presumed the till was stored; a quick check of his wallet ensured he had enough left to feed it without causing himself undue hardship for the rest of the week. A couple of minutes sampling each of the test samples available proved a neat distraction, but when he was finally satisfied with the five he wanted he headed downstairs, counting out the change he needed as he went while still keeping one eye on the stairs in front of him to avoid an embarrassing mishap.

"Got what you wanted?" He nodded at the query and she handed him a small paper bag to wrap his new charges in, passing her the cash in exchange before assuaging his curiosity,

"Any idea what time your dad's getting back?"

"Nah, could be any time between now and when we all go underwater", Shadow raised his eyebrow at the euphemism, commonly used by the echidnas to indicate the end of the world when Angel Island was supposed to plunge back into the sea; probably better they never know it's already happened once or twice before; "I offered to pay for a taxi but the stubborn old bugger's determined to knacker his joints faster than nature was planning to; oh, he's starting to develop arthritis in his knees, they caught it early but he keeps having to go in to get the pills the docs keep saying he has to pop to slow it down" she explained, catching the tail end of Shadow's questioning glance and giving a concise explanation he hadn't intended to ask for. Raising his eyebrows and delivering a surprised sigh at the unexpected information, the ebon hedgehog commiserated with her father's unfortunate situation,

"Damn, that's nasty", he paused for a second as she rung his money into the till and emerged with a touch of cash for him, "any idea how long he's got before it starts, you know?" Her front of acceptance wasn't quite complete as a trace of regret and unadmitted anger at her father's diagnosis still lingered in her features even if her voice didn't betray so much as a hint of such emotions,

"That tough old git; at least half a dozen years or so – typical, by the time I'll be able to outrun him as I'm sneaking out for the night I'll be old enough to go out legit; sucks doesn't it?"

"That's life I'm afraid", Shadow dispensed a little sage advice before scooping his purchases up and hiding them deep inside his bag so the paper rustling wouldn't give the game away when he got back to his flat; despite having a considerable amount of hair between them and the outside world, Julie's ears could be uncannily acute at times, "anyway, see you again".

"Only if you get really bored", the echidna came back with as Shadow headed towards the door, pulling it back just as he heard the first footstep being taken back up the stairs; once more unto the books; a sudden vision of a familiar blue hedgehog hunched over a desk, scribbling frantically at the same time as bash buttons on a calculator made him smile at the same time as give him an impromptu reminder; speaking of which, better check up on how Sonic's coursework's going – maths isn't his strongest subject, but at least it's better than his physics. And mine for that matter!

XXX

He took one last look at the rehearsal sheet in his mind and spoke his words mentally for the last time, remembering to give a couple of pauses to make the speech sound a little more authentic before swallowing his apprehension, putting on what felt like him to be a thin veneer of normality and wrenching the door open, storming inside as though he'd been delayed by circumstances beyond his control and wanted nothing more than his usual cup of coffee and a good, long soak in the bath. Strange, that's quiet; for a second the stillness threatened to knock him off his rhythm but he just about persevered, heading into the kitchen and throwing his bag into one of the seats, careful to keep one end of it supported even if the action looked completely random; no, still no-one about. What's going on?;

"Julie?" Perturbed by the absence, especially as the augmented echidna as a rule didn't do very much after she got in from work, Shadow turned out of the kitchen and hunted through the apartment, calling the name of his flatmate softly, continually as the worm of worry in his mind began to gnaw at an accelerating pace – it wasn't like Julie to not be around, especially not without ringing him first. Ring, that's, ah, that's a good idea; more to occupy his mind than anything else, the hedgehog trundled back to the kitchen and made to grab for his bag when he saw it, propped up and waiting for him on the table. How'd I miss that one?; relieved as he now had the explanation he'd been after, Shadow flicked the kettle switch to on and flipped the piece of paper up into his hand, scanning it quickly:

Shads – Just getting some more milk – want anything else while I'm out? Call me. Jules.

It was just as he was actually putting this scrap of paper down with mind completely worked up around a decent comeback that the door banged; not wanting to let a good quote go unmentioned, the former ultimate life-form gave a slight chuckle before calling into the hallway,

"You going by a different name these days? What's up, the EST getting too nosey again?" His response was delayed a little as Julie appeared in the kitchen doorway, face a little flustered and flushed as she clomped inside and dumped the carrier bag and its contents unceremoniously on the table with a thud,

"As usual I have absolutely no idea what you're raving about", shaking her head as she set her burden down she pulled out a chair and flumped down into it looking grateful for the rest, "and where have you been anyway; I was waiting for you to get back so you could do the shopping".

"Charming; sometimes I reckon I should have been born a mule", Shadow retorted, sounding a little miffed even as he pulled a second mug off their rack and added a heap spoon of coffee to it, "you said in that note you left call me – any preference as to what? I can think…"

"That's news to me"; damn; he'd been piped at the post and he knew it, "but you can start with the words your eminence and work your way up from there".

"I'll call you Jules without sarcasm and that's your lot"; she leaned back in her seat to regard him from the top down; Shadow had to resist the urge to grab both the chair handles and give a good yank backwards as she grinned mockingly,

"Sure thing Shady, you got a done deal", turning his head away in disgust Shadow heard rather than saw the chair legs thunk back into the kitchen floor before his flatmate continued, "but on the subject of notes…Friday?"

Bingo; she'd just made his life a lot easier by actually reading the brief message he'd scribbled down in the morning before work – taking a split-second to let his face light up to the proper tone of inspiration, Shadow span around and snapped his fingers,

"Yes, right, Friday", Julie was curious, he knew that much, but there was a fine line between curiosity and suspicion so he had to play this carefully to avoid too much attention being drawn to his motives, "er, this isn't straightforward to explain; I know – you remember that sort-of ceremony earlier in the year, the Eve of, umm…?"

"Reaffirmation", the echidna finished forwards, interest definitely piqued as she leant forwards, wanting to know more about why he'd dredged that ceremony up at this time and how it related to his note from earlier; luckily Shadow seemed eager to oblige,

"Yeah, that's the one; just out of interest are there any other events in the Legion's calendar any time soon?" Thinking for a second, Julie tried to recollect her memories back and figure out if there was anything she aught to be aware of; man, was it really only five months ago that I left?

"Well there used to be the celebration of Dimitri, the former grandmaster's birthday; that fell a couple of days before the Christmas you have; that was just pretty much a day long party", despite herself she smiled, memories of happier times resurfacing to make her smile even now, "man some of the games we got up to; ever tried bobbing for apples in a barrel before?"

"Of course – Halloween a year ago with Cream, she wouldn't let us go without trying it, though we didn't have a barrel, had to make do with a deep bucket instead".

"Just as well, I wouldn't have wanted Cream anywhere near the barrel we used", she waited until Shadow's eyebrow was just about to rise, when she could see the question just about formulated before finishing, "for a start it was full of grape wine, and we were bobbing for cider apples to boot". Shadow winced on her behalf even if he couldn't stop a peep of laughter escaping him,

"Ouch, let me guess; a couple of zigzag platoon lines next day?"

"Something similar", the pleasant memories retreated slightly before a sudden dull blue glare in her vision; she shied away, locking that skeleton back into its closet before give a wry smile, "some of us forgot that the day after wasn't a holiday".

"Like I said, ouch", the hedgehog grimaced for a second before seeming to get back on track, "but anyway, reason I mention it is that, this Friday, there's something similar happening up here; it's a tradition on the world below", he added quickly to stifle any potential unpleasant questions she might have been considering, "it's really quick and easy and, I might add, there's no forced ingestion of potentially lethal substances to boot".

"That was not forced", Julie challenged his assertion of the events leading up to the culmination of her former home's ceremony, "and it's certainly not lethal either".

"Tell my stomach that, but like it was with you, I'll get everything ready; you just, have a shower or even better a bath, that'd be perfect in fact – I'll just call before I get in and set everything up while you catch a soak, it won't take long". Julie fingered her chin, totting up what she'd been told so far and, thus far, seeing a pretty sweet deal emerging,

"I like what I'm hearing so far", she admitted before moving to uncover any lose ends they might have missed up to now in the proceedings, "but anything I should know before this happens? I have to know any lines or anything like that?"

"Nah, nothing like that, but there is a dress code of sorts; don't panic", he tacked on hastily as Julie looked around a little perturbed at this latest proviso, "it's perfectly modest"; for a while anyway; fighting hard not to let that thought sneak across his face he forced himself to concentrate on Julie's reaction to his words; it was all he could do not to sigh in relief as after summing things up in her mind she seemed to accept his terms and sign up to his well-prepared plan,

"Sounds fine by me, just hang whatever togs you need me in on the back of the door when you get in and we'll go from there".

"Umm, sure"; okay, that was easier than expected; he'd spent ages coming up with all sorts of convoluted plans aimed at overcoming that sticking point of his overall plot and Julie, in her typically blunt fashion, had simply steam-rollered right over it regardless of the potential for embarrassment for both parties; mind you, she probably still thinks I've seen her undressed since the first night we met – damn, still haven't straightened that one out either. Oh well, at least this once it's proven to be useful rather than annoying; though he had no proof, Shadow as relatively sure of the reason Julie appeared to be letting this intrusion slide; though she's probably curious as to what this ceremony is, and I went along with hers so she owes me that one. Whatever the overall reason behind it, as the echidna turned back to the table and he made to pick up the steaming kettle, safely out of Julie's vision her housemate clenched both his fists in sweet victory – finally, after all the planning, conniving and running about, this was all going to happen. On Friday night, Julie was finally going to get what she really deserved and, once he had his hands on her then, there was going to be nothing she could do to stop him.

XXX

Though she had never intended it to impede upon her thinking in any way, shape or form and despite the fact she had implicitly disciplined herself to drive all thoughts and ideas about the following day from her mind, Julie somehow couldn't stop herself wondering about what awaited her on the eve of the next night. Glancing up at the clock as she had countless times before, she snarled at the way time seemed to spiting her by dragging its feet, refusing to slake her thirst for knowledge until it became a vehement, all-consuming need to experience the hedgehog's mysterious, unexplained ceremony. I've gotta find out, maybe I could ask him if…no, no I can't do that, he never did for me and he must have been as curious as I am, if not more so, me being new out the Legion and all and him not knowing anything about us; hitting the print key impatiently, Julie stood up and stalked backwards towards where the office printer sat like a squat, grinning gremlin, chewing up the sheets of paper fed to it without pause or satisfaction. The walk helped infinitesimally, burning off the slimmest iota of her frustration with the physical exercise; I wish I still had a couple of my old sessions on tape – damn you for making me tape over them for you Bridget Jones!

But there was nothing that could be done other than to bear up stoically the knowledge that Thursday was passing – evilly slowly and leaving behind ever-thicker residues of impotent frustration in its wake, but still the individual seconds, minutes and even eventually hours were being reaped by the impassive scythe of time itself, allowing her to progress a little further along the path that would eventually lead to her date with whatever destiny Shadow was inviting her to partake in. Slotting the few sheets of paper she'd created into the appropriate pigeonhole, Julie slumped back into her seat with a contentious sigh; waiting had never been her strongest point, if there was anything to be done she'd want to be the one at the sharp end getting it done rather than standing around waiting for it to come to her. Grumpily flicking out at the mouse at the side of the keyboard to stop her screen blanking out, Julie tried to concentrate on the ever-growing list of tasks before her but at every turn, every time she made began to snap down on the question in front of her a random thought would chase across her vision and distract her fingers for a crucial second, leading to a muffled curse, a couple of back spaces and another couple of extra drips into her reservoir of frustration, stored there with no hope of release or relief; at least; grabbing hold of one of the persistent ideas to nibble at the fringe of her rationality the echidna mentally squeezed at it, seeing more sense wrung from its inners the more she pondered it; not until tonight – he sounded so genuine, but after everything else he's done recently – does that mean anything really?

Thus it was that, when Shadow came home that night he found his flatmate sitting at the table in the kitchen, a meal prepared and laid out for the two of them and with a definite air of tension hovering around like an oversized balloon, merely awaiting a single pin to prick it completely. Shadow, however, did nothing; his plan was in its final stages but he was in way about to take it as wrote that it was going to go ahead just as he was planning it to; he knew for a fact he was going to have to exert every ounce of all his skills to stop this idea going off the rails at the eleventh hour and a very good start was by not giving Julie anything that might count as firepower to fuel her already naturally-suspicious mind. Though he much preferred to be on the front foot most of the time, this was an exception where being reactionary would give him the flexibility needed to absorb any last-minute blows to his precious project. And as Julie, replacing her now-drained juice glass onto the table and he caught the hardness in her eye, he set his guard down and crossed his fingers that he could absorb these blows without wrecking it all at this late stage,

"Shads", her tone was brisk and business-like, a probe to try and worm through his resistances, "I just want to make one thing clear here; I'm not judging you in any way, shape or form in this but I just want a little reassurance in this, you follow?"

"Depends what you want reassurances in", he had to measure his response carefully; he couldn't guarantee she'd enjoy it or there was a chance she'd have an idea of what was awaiting her not twenty-four hours from now, "I can promise nothing's going to hurt, which is a damn sight better than you did". Her sardonic smile spoke volumes before she settled back into her chair and looked across the table at him, scrutinising his face for any details he might have chosen to omit from his voice,

"Maybe, but I just want to make sure that everything you've said so far isn't just a load of hot air; I mean you're not just going to turn around tomorrow and say something along the lines of April Fool are you? Put it like this", she tried a slightly different tack as Shadow's face began to resemble something akin to a storm cloud, "I'm giving you a chance to come clean now, because if anything like that happens tomorrow I'll be wiping the floor clean with you". Luckily the humour took the edge of his indignation; before he even started talking Julie was sure of his answer,

"Jules, I'm, well, I can't deny I've pulled a couple of fast ones in my time…"

"Oh, is that why the couch hasn't been creaking so much recently; and there was me thinking you'd just oiled the joints a bit", she smirked at the hedgehog's shudder before letting her face fall, moving in for the kill, "please tell me you didn't oil it with…?"

"Stop, stop right there, I'm trying to eat", the former ultimate life-form pleaded, pointing down at the half-finished meal still on his plate, "and no, no I'm not planning any sort of trick like that for tomorrow; although", his voice dropped to a purr; if he had a little pointed goatee he'd make a real pantomime villain someday; "that's a nice idea, might try that later".

"Try and die spike-ball".

"Hey, you suggested it for me".

"And I'm now suggesting you don't take up that suggestion for your own safety".

"Why, why is that?" Shadow suddenly set down his knife and fork and looked across at the echidna, an almost-mocking half-grin on his lips as he came to a point of his own devising, "why do women always threaten violence when they know you've got them licked – if they can't out-quarrel you they have to resort to fisticuffs? And you're supposed to be the gentler sex?" He smirked as Julie scrabbled for a counter-attack, quickly unclenching her bunched fist as Shadow pointed at it as if to emphasise his point; okay, that'll do – locked and loaded, over the top!

"Ah, but you forget my dear hedgehog; equal rights and all that has changed the way we think about men – we're no longer helpless maidens at the mercy of out former male oppressors, we've got as much right as men to pile into a brawl now. We don't need the supposed stronger sex to stand up for us, we can do it ourselves thank you very much".

"So why am I getting threats of bodily harm on a daily basis these days then?"

"Shock factor – it's not right for a man to be challenged to a straight fight by a girl, it just throws you off your macho stride and, after all", the ex-Legionnaire's crooked smile and batting eyelashes made a mockery of her grinningly coy pose as she finished, "you wouldn't hit a lady would you?" Won over by the perverted and humorous logic of the echidna's argument, Shadow couldn't help but nod in deference at the same time as try to unpick her theories,

"Don't tempt me, but anyway, surely that equality thing works both ways; if you've got as much right to square off with us, surely that means you've lost that old defence; you can't have it both ways?"

"But it's a lady's prerogative to change her mind", Julie slipped in neatly, tripping up his counterpunch before it could gather a clear head of steam; seeking a decent discussion to move further into safe territory as much as for the sheer thrill of matching his wits against his flatmate once more, Shadow looked forwards and grinned cruelly,

"There's that lady thing again – according to the new rules you all dreamed up there's not a scrap of difference between you and me, and since when did you, you of all echidnas start calling yourself a lady? If you're a lady I'm a, a…", eh flailed for an appropriate word, "…a snail". His eyes flashed triumphantly, Julie was reeling from that solid hit, if he could just think of something else to say before she could…

"Hey, that's not fair – cruelty to snails"; all right missy; beaten to that punch Shadow drew himself up behind his verbal shield and readied another missile; get ready for this…

Only at the end of the night as she kicked her legs downwards to find more room in the sleeping bag did it finally twig with Julie what had happened over the evening's course; grabbing her watch and pressing the button on the side of it to make it glow, the time flickered before her almost disbelieving eyes – how had so many hours passed by almost without her realising it? Must be something to do with Shadow; unable to think of a rational explanation, the echidna settled for the time-honoured fall back – anything odd going on blame the flatmate; yep, that's it, he just kept my mind focussed on other, more irritating things like if men really are as competent as women – the ultimate distraction driving me to distraction again; as she turned over and stuffed the pillow under her ear, she made no real effort to stop the sheepish grin slipping over her lips as the memories of their most recent verbal battle ran over in her mind; and just this once I can be grateful for it – this time tomorrow I'll be…er…I'll be completely in Shadow's hands. It was a thought that both enticed and terrified her, but at the end of it all was the reckoning that as he hadn't backed out of her idea, so she had no right to back out of his. It was with this determination driving her onwards that Julie laid her head onto the pillow, let her eyes drift shut and eased herself off into slumber.

Unfortunately, consumed with last-minute nerves and what-ifs, blessed relief was a lot more difficult to come by for the one who would be dictating her future path to her; even as he woke in the morning to the dawn of this final day, Shadow couldn't quite shake the weakening ghost of his restless night completely from his bones – though covered more than aptly by the adrenaline in his system as the last few preparations neared, this lingering malaise may have been one of the many factors that determined the hedgehog's future harrowing.

XXX

"So then", Shadow glanced down at the voice from just ahead of him, nodding as Honey winked at him from her desk station, "tonight's the big night hey? What have you got up your sleeves this time?"

"Nothing you need to know about", Shadow replied diplomatically, doing his best to ignore the blonde echidnas' protruding bottom lip and sulky expression as he threw the full runners bag over his shoulder, "and not a hope of that one working one me girl; I've just about gotten used to Cream's puppy-dog eyes and you've got nothing on her in the cuteness stakes".

"Are you insinuating I'm unappealing?" Honey sniffed, settling herself back into her work chair and turning her head away from him as though mortally miffed by his announcement; wise to this sort of talk, Shadow simply chuckled and started to walk past,

"Nothing of the sort Honey, like I told you earlier I'll tell you what happened next Monday morning, first thing I promise".

"But that's three whole days away", the echidna whined, trying to grate her way through his defences, "I can't wait that long, I'll burst". I was hoping you'd say that; she must just have caught the edge of his sharky smile as she cowered to defend her midsection from the hedgehog as he motored past, whispering,

"Just as well I know where your pressure valve is then isn't it?" He felt his hand slide down to his target and softly pulled, feeling it come away in his hand and hearing her shrill squeak of protest as he began to pick up speed on the way towards the delivery elevator at the back of the office, bringing his prize up before his eyes as he did so and smirking at the thin strip of elasticated fabric; hope that let off some steam; flashing a glance over his shoulder her just about made out the figure of Honey glaring at him over the back of her chair, finger spearing towards him as though a laser could fly out the tip of it and reduce him to a cinder as her freed hair began to rebel against the shape she had tied it in for the day, unleashed as Shadow had skilfully removed her bobble; then again maybe not – just better watch it at break time and maybe take a short lunch this time. But it was long overdue and she was asking for it!

As he knew she would be, Shadow saw his favourite workmate snarling at him from one of the tables, hand open and expecting the present he duly laid into her palm, the small bobble having been confined in his pocket for the remainder of the morning since he'd snaffled it from its proper place. Leaning back and reaching into her hair with her left hand as the fingers of her right pulled the bobble open with practised ease, Honey gave a sighing growl as Shadow sat down opposite her,

"That", she began, giving her bobble a sharp snap at the word as she began to assemble a rough-and-ready plait from her hair; not exactly the cutting edge of fashion but it'll get me through the rest of the day; " much like my printer is at the moment, was completely out of order". Drink bottle halfway to his lips, Shadow lowered it to raise his eyebrows and speck clearly,

"I thought Snappy had sorted that out by now?"

"Yeah right", accepting the result she had now as the best she was going to able to do in the circumstances, Honey concentrated on the food in front of her rather at the same time as converse with her college, "you know what she's like; she just looks at the thing and it jumps to attention, starts spitting out the sheets I need like it rolled off the production line yesterday; I get a withering look and a couple of sharp words about not wasting her time – the second I have a go and try and work the damn thing, forget it", she mimed casually throwing something out in front of her, "teddy was long gone from the pram". Shadow snickered in sympathy with her plight,

"Ah well, you know what they say?" Maybe, but just to be on the safe side…;

"No", thrusting aside the memory of what was waiting for her after the lunch break was over, the smaller echidna picked at her food and carefully separated the chilli before her into the elements she liked and those she wasn't so keen on, "what's the words of wisdom this week?" Shadow brought his hands together before him, the fingertips touching and the look on his face contemplative; when he spoke, there was a mystical, dreamy quality to his voice that made Honey feel a little floaty as she listened into it,

"Today's lesson echoes back to us from the time before time itself; whichever great philosopher spoke them first is lost in the mists of history"; do not smile, you heard me, do not…oh nuts; despite her best efforts his overacting broke through to her in the end and a wide grin split across her lips, only a heavily renewed interest in the food on her plate stopped his tirade of enlightened tone of voice and crossed eyes unleashing an untimely giggle as he finished, "to err is human, but to really screw something up requires the aid of a computer". Honey nodded appreciatively and raised her water glass in a toast to the message the words contained,

"And those words are as true today as they were in the way back when", as she took a sip Shadow saw her brow knit for a second before she lowered her glass and looked across at him, "assuming they had computers at the time?" Shadow shrugged,

"Ah well, I suppose it must have been annoying for them when their abacus fell on the floor right when they had the answer to the emperor's tax sums all worked out".

"Amen to that", Honey agreed before Shadow saw her lean across the table; just from the eager expression on her face he knew what was coming, "c'mon Shads, please, you know you really want to tell me really – what are you doing tonight?" Oh boy, no; his shoulders slumped and the echidna felt triumph and terror in equal measure whip up and down her spine; I can't have broken him now – I don't really want to know, well, I do a bit, but not really – it was supposed to be a joke; she would have said something, the words were forming right on the tip of her tongue but she was too late, Shadow had beaten her to the line this time,

"Okay Honey, you got me, I know I was trying to kid on that I didn't want to tell anyone about this but", his face screwed up, it must have been awful for him to talk like this but she could say nothing as her lips had locked up tight, letting no words past them, "but I need to speak to someone…if this doesn't work out…I just better let you, you know…" Now, finally now she managed to force some coherent words through her numb mouth and comfort the hedgehog's plight,

"Shadow listen, if this is s hard, just take it at your own pace; we've got time".

"I know", the hedgehog's speech was muffled by his knees as his head was down, all she could see was the crown of his brow as he finished, "I need to let this go, when I'm ready for it, so I'll tell you", suddenly his face rose sharply; Honey had only a split-second to wonder why all his teeth were on show before they parted and his tongue waggled at her with impunity, "next week!"

Only his lean back saved his cheek from the beating of a lifetime; even standing upright and stretching across the table there was no way Honey could make her reach extend far enough to give him the slap around the chops even he was willing enough to admit he fully deserved,

"Ooh you git", taking her seat quickly to avoid too much of a potential scene, Honey lanced the hedgehog with the vilest of evil glances, "I'd slap you if I had long enough arms! All that wind-up for nothing!"

"You bet it was – that'll teach you to be so nosy", the hedgehog crowed triumphantly as Honey rolled her eyes disgustedly, "but I'll let you know on Monday, I promise".

"You'll tell me everything?"

"Yeah, sure", the hedgehog gave the throwaway comment just before he saw the probing edge in Honey's eyes and hastily averted the potential crisis before it could fully develop, "everything within reason that is".

"Spoilsport, but anyway I'll let Andy know you can't make it tonight, but I'll just say you're busy", she softened her hardened looks with a wry smile, "I'm willing to bet having one echidna poking her nose in is enough?"

"Too right, a pair of you would be complete overkill", Shadow was quick to reassure her before glancing at the clock, started and quickly motioned for her to do the same thing; you're kidding me – okay; following the hedgehog's example Honey threw herself wholeheartedly into the remains of her meal, inwardly thankful for Shadow's sharp eyes saving her stomach from having to sit through an entire afternoon without a full meal inside it; we eat now and I'll bug you just as it's time to go home for the weekend – after that one you deserve a right earful!

It was only a few hours later that two things happened one after the other; firstly, when she was being bidden farewell for the remainder of the week at an particularly early stage in the day Honey realised Shadow had unsportingly taken about an hour off to get home early and obviously prepare whatever it was he was hoping to prepare for his flatmate wherever she was at the time. The second thing that happened, right after he finished his farewell and raced past her desk, was that there was a very slight twinge of pain at the back of her scalp and only her hand prevented her entire office air supply turning blue as from over her shoulder a small piece of elasticated fabric fell softly to land on her desk. Right, that is it; as she just about fought down the urge to go rocketing after the impudent rodent and stuffed her arms back behind her head bad-temperedly, Honey swore a silent promise to herself; if he hasn't got a really, really good story to tell me first thing next week, the second thing that's going to happen to him next week will be a one-way ticket to the Echidnopolis general!

XXX

That had been tough; somehow that last day at work had dragged its feet more than any other he could remember, even the one where he'd really not been himself and proceeded to get completely hammered the second after its completion – but it was over now and that was the important thing; well, one of the important things. Thinking along these lines, Shadow reached into his phone pouch and pulled out an extremely finely folded piece of paper, the hedgehog quickly ran through the other important things he had to go through before he could really begin to exert his influence on Julie's tightly-bound tongue. As far as he could make out, ticking off the stuff he could do when he was actually in his flat and Julie was out the way in the shower, he was gladdened to see that he had only at best two other major stumbling blocks to vault over; by his diligence in ensuring all his carefully-prepared surprises had been well hidden away in hard to access locations of the bedroom for most of the week, he'd had no explaining to do and could set everything up and be ready to go in about seven or so minutes.

Right, so all I've got to do really is get the last bit of the gear I need sometime before six, then it'll be about a thirty, no, longer than that even, it's not the lightest bit of kit in the world, it could be up to an hour or so before I get home. But before any of that though; sliding the ten crest note he'd saved up over the week into the palm of his hand, Shadow threw himself into his first problem with relish; I've got a little time to kill – the hour off will have thrown Honey off the scent, but I can't afford to be lax in this – last thing I need is to get caught out by her, especially after the day she's just got off me! The mere thought of what the blonde echidna could do to make his life unpleasant if he let the cat out the bag at this late stage didn't bear thinking about, but he thrust such thoughts from his mind and forced himself to act casual, the lights of the nearby shops as good a starting point as any as he moved out to try and disperse his attention from what was to be done not a quarter of a day from now; just before he moved into full view of the first store on his side of the road, he looked ahead one last time to what was going to happen not three hours from now; and it is going to happen, no matter what the outcome is; taking a last breath, Shadow once and for all confirmed himself on this course of action; forget everything else, I promised her this; he knew not where his sudden certainty sprung from as the thought concluded forcefully in his mind, but it was the truth and he didn't think to dare question it; and I always keep my promises.

XXX

She'd known he was going to be late, he'd told her that himself, but knowing something and being able to accept it were to completely different things; every second her eyes flicked to the clock and every time the levels of worry rose within her a little – Shadow should have left work over an hour ago and he still wasn't here, despite herself her mind flicked back to the last time the hedgehog had been late home and she shuddered, not wanting to visit those sights ever again but at the same time unable to prevent her memory wandering over those mnemonic shards of broken glass, almost as painful now as they had been then. She'd hoped to burn off a couple of minutes, not to mention a substantially higher number of calories, by subjecting herself to another workout programme but, even before she'd reached over to turn the TV on she'd known that would have been a wasted effort; she was in a terrible limbo of not being able to concentrate on anything at the same time as want to do anything other than sit here and be unable to focus on anything save her attempts to divinate her future a few hours from now. I was fine at work, what with this being Nesi's first day back and all; even as jaded as she was by life in general, Julie couldn't help but smile at the stories the younger Mobian had brought back concerning her honeymoon with her now-husband Xodi – somehow all that juicy gossip had greased the wheels of the clock in the office and she'd almost been disappointed when the shift had finished; I'm sure she wasn't telling us everything, and I'm sure Kadu thought much the same thing – we'll have to put our heads together next week and come up with a way to weasel it out of her. The mnemonic diversion burnt up another couple of minutes before another guess of what was coming fluttered irritatingly through her mind and she founder herself back on the same old track; thought I suppose it makes a change – this time I'm waiting for Shadow rather than the other way around. Guess it must be as irritating for him to be sat around like this when someone who can't move at the speed of sound's trying to keep pace. That must be why he's close to Sonic like he is – if those two didn't have each other they'd go nuts not having anyone to race with!

Much as it had been earlier in Shadow's campaign to earn her forgiveness, she actually didn't recognise her phone was ringing until it had been going on for some time; quickly kicking herself our of her sitting position and noticing the sky outside was by this time in the evening now gratifyingly dark, the ex-Legionnaire fumbled around in her pocket for a second before flipping the appliance open and speaking into it, need for speed rendering her unable to get a look at the number dialling her,

"Hello?"

"Hey Jules", an electric shock shot up her arms before splitting to run up and down the length of her spine, breath and pulse quickening in tandem as she realised who was speaking, "I'm just outside now; not meaning to be rude or anything", she was grateful he broke off for a slight chuckle; it gave her time to swallow down something to wet her parched throat and to think about what to say next, "but you reckon you could do a disappearing act right about now?"

"Sure", she croaked back, though to her credit she was quick to gather her composure after reasoning with herself that she'd be able to come to terms with what was going on in the shower, "just, er, just a couple of minutes and you've got a free rein of the house; one last chance…?"

"No", the hedgehog's voice came back forcefully, the echidna smiling as she realised how well he'd been able to keep his temper over her continual suspicions that he was trying to pull an elaborate prank, "though the more you ask me the more tempting it gets".

"As if I'm not tempting enough on my own?" Cheek!; the sound of a badly-disguised retch from the other end of the line only cemented her determination to give Shadow what-for if this ceremony of his wasn't up to scratch,

"Just get in the shower and no, before you ask I won't be joining you"; now it was her turn to retch and land a last parting shot,

"I should hope not – last time I checked you were all for joining my half-brother in a soap-up".

"Just make sure you're out of my sight before I get up there". As he hung up, Julie paused just long enough to shake her head before planting both hands on the armrests of her chair and heaving herself upright, a slight snicker on her lips as she fought down the urge to reach for something to wear after her washing; Shadow was in charge of that for the night and even if he was reckless enough to try and get away with anything she wasn't comfortable with she'd just refuse to budge from the bathroom until he provided something within her requirements. With such thoughts buried in her mind, the echidna hurried into the bathroom, sneakily setting herself up for a shower rather than a bath as Shadow had suggested to reduce the waiting time; just before she hit the power button to start the flow of warm water, she could have sworn she heard the front door slam and her heart lifted – soon she'd be out of the dark and on her feet in the middle of Shadow's plans, and whatever else might have been said about Julie-Su, there was no way she could ever have been described as anything other than a Mobian who preferred the here and now rather than thinking of the distant future.

XXX

Just for once she didn't have to rely on willpower to keep her in the shower longer than she had to be; there was no denying her hair could have done with a touch up and due to both the volume of hair there to start with and the intricacies involved in the correct washing of echidna dreadlocks meant she had to concentrate for at least a quarter of an hour to do a proper job. And I'm going to do a proper job; she ensured that fact at the same time as drag her fingers through one of her strands of hair to make sure all the shampoo suds were washed clear; whatever this ceremony is I'm going to put an effort in on it; it was as this thought was echoing through her mind that there was a sharp rap on the bathroom door. For a second she started before reminding herself she was expecting this – after all Shadow had mentioned the dress code and this was the easiest way he had to pass it to her. Making sure as much of her was behind the opaque shower curtain as possible, the echidna went into a slight crouch before giving the all-clear,

"Sure, come in – just hang it on the back of the bathroom door". There was a muffled sound, probably an acknowledgement, before the door creaked open a crack and something appeared around it with a flourish, a single black arm the only tangible reminder of Shadow's presence as it flailed for a second, presumably to try and locate the hook without aid from his vision. He must have succeeded as there was another slight rush of air followed by a click as the door shut; sure the coast was clear Julie peeped her head around the corner and tried to squint across to where the mysterious clothing was located; unfortunately the steam from the shower prevented her getting a good look and the fact there was still about a third of her hair left to go forestalled the obvious exploration; ducking back into the warm water stream she fingered her hair slightly more rapidly than before, curiosity, already at fever pitch since the build up of this strange ceremony, definitely stating to itch once more. Still, some things can't be hurried; the little mental reminder came as she doused the patch of hair she'd been working on with the shower head again, seeing a little more of the water polluted with the whiteness of her shampoo; at least they can't if you want to avoid looking like you've got the world's worst case of dandruff!

Eventually, when she was finally sure her hairstyle was back to its best and run another couple of minute's worth of water through it anyway, Julie killed the power and lifted herself out the tub to step on the towel she'd already laid down in preparation for this event. She looked up as she rubbed her legs down, towelling off most of the water at the same time as raise an eyebrow at what she was seeing; just looks like a dressing gown – oh this isn't going to be some kind of meditation thing is it? She groaned as that possibility finally rose up in her mind; she had nothing against meditation or the people who practised it, just as long as she didn't have to go through it herself – hours of sitting around doing nothing did absolutely nothing for her state of mind. Still as she dried herself off more thoroughly and approached, she saw that there wasn't just a dressing gown here; moving that aside delicately, her eyes widened as what looked like a pair of cotton hot pants became visible; okay, wasn't quite expecting that. And hang on; she suddenly sympathised with how microwaved meals felt; her skin was suddenly very warm at the same time her innards were turned to ice; what am I supposed to wear up top?!

Suddenly every thought she had led to the same conclusion and she had to fight hard to move her legs, the bones of which felt like they'd been turned to lead and rooted to the floor, swallowing hard as for the first time she felt unsure if she wanted to go through with this. If Shadow was planning what she now had a strong suspicion had been in his mind along, was she really ready for it, if that was really was his ultimate motive; she took a breath, then a second, trying to steady herself and force her thoughts into some sort of coherency; right, remember, you know nothing about what's going on here, this is probably normal, and even if it…if he…offers, you can say no and that's the end of it…if you want to say no. Mind more confused now than it had been for at least the last couple of weeks, Julie nevertheless reached towards the strange garments and pulled them off the hook, dressing herself carefully and taking pains to pull the top half of the dressing gown as far across as comfort would allow and then to pull the drawstring tight, minimising the risk of anything going loose at a critical moment.

"Okay", she called through the door, almost shocked by the volume of her own voice after what seemed like an eternity of silence, "ready".

And, after looking around and taking a thirteenth-hour check around to make sure all was as should be, Shadow took a couple of steps backwards, licked his lips, crossed his fingers and called back,

"Right, ready when you are".

XXX

She pulled herself up short, caught out by the lack of light as she checked her rush, having almost thrown herself out the bathroom before her nerve gave way; bringing herself up short, Julie fumbled around in the pitch black to try and orientate her directions. Actually, part of that last statement wasn't true, it wasn't completely dark in the hallway, there was a very faint light coming from the lounge, not unlike the glow of a couple of candles lit. So, it's mostly done in the dark then; somehow this didn't reassure her too much, a fortifying breath slipping up through her nose before she cut it off, hoping to limit the damage it inflicted on her fast-crumbling confidence at the same time as try to decode the mixture of heady perfumes the air contained. None of them were unpleasant, far from it; together they made quite a heady mixture and a very pleasant change considering what she was used to – it was just the impromptu aromatherapy edged her that little bit closer to the edge of her unease, making her pause a little longer as the prickly sensations of unfamiliarity and almost nakedness rubbed her up the wrong way. But there was nothing to be done; the lounge door was obviously and invitingly open, the light from within acting as a beacon to help guide her to the altar of whatever ritual Shadow was performing was to be held and she couldn't delay any longer. Uncomfortably aware of how loud her breathing echoed in her ears, the echidna shuffled along the hallway, a tardy pilgrim appearing for confession and hoping not to draw attention to herself in any way, shape or form. She was at the door jamb, there was another second's pause and then it was overcome; a rapid pair of footsteps later and she stood flush in the doorway, in full view of whatever scheme the hedgehog had been so carefully planning for the past week, eyes open in almost disbelieving shock as she put together the scrambled fragments within her vision and tried to foresee the fate awaiting her.

Not even her breathing registered as she almost stumbled forwards, relief that all her previous guesses had been wrong combining with utter surprise at what she was seeing in a potent brew that made her feel faint. Slowly she stepped into the room itself, getting a better view at the interior from the weak candlelight thrown out by the small pots opposite her, each one mounted on a tiny tray to stop them making any sort of mark on the carpet, the light reflecting off the dull sheen of the…for want of a better word, the platform she could see between them and her; standing at about waist height, she'd never seen anything like this in her life. She had to examine it more closely, this thing that resembled a cross between a stretcher and a bed; what was it for, and what…

"Well", she looked over her shoulder, Shadow materialising from the darkness cast by the door as it had swung open, an engaging, encouraging smile on his face as he moved up slowly to stand beside but just behind her, "I guess it's time I lived up to my end of the bargain". Bargain?; she could recall no such thing and would have said so had she not seen the hand the hedgehog extended, beckoning her forwards to approach the equipment before her and stripped of its normal glove; then and only then did she, with crystal clarity, recall exactly the event the hedgehog was referring to and from that information deduce exactly what was about to happen. Reading her face must have been an open book; Shadow merely chuckled,

"Come on", he repeated the movement of his hand, guiding her to the table with slow, small movements to avoid the worst of her nerves, "trust me; I'm not going to do anything stupid now", he faced her directly, looking her dead in the face with sincerity in every line of his face and infusing every word he spoke, "not tonight, and certainly not with you".

At those words, the honesty in his vow to her then, Julie let her reservations go completely, striding towards the table before her and half-rolling, half-lowering herself onto it; when she was comfortable, she hunched upwards at the waist, swiftly undoing the knot of her dressing gown and pulling the material from underneath her. Something else gripped the gown above her back and pulled softly, insistently, letting the material slough away from her gently, leaving her more exposed than she had ever been previously in the presence of her flatmate. But as she slowly felt a single one of his fingers trace a line down the exact length of her spine from the nape of her neck to where the material of her shorts stopped his finger and she squirmed at the touch, Julie allowed herself to relax and place her face through the hole in the head end of the board, ensuring her comfort at the same time as removing the hedgehog from her sight, she knew she'd never felt so totally at ease around him either; and that; she felt his touch again, his fingers moving as they had once before up her calf muscle; can only be a good thing…little higher…ahhh!

XXX

The hardest part, as always, was getting the ball rolling; Shadow had to screw up his courage to slowly extend his fingers inch by inch towards the inviting fur beneath him, the quickness of his breath increasing alongside his pulse, making his head spin as he made his hand continue its inexorable progress. There; on the very tip of his finger, the merest brush of contact with his patient's fur; he pressed on, feeling that fur part and then, beneath it, the silky smoothness of recently showered skin. The contact was as reassuring as always; somehow that first touch earthed the tension from his body and let his mind think unfettered, unclouded by the stifling fear of making a mistake; a final breath, expelled slowly with his eyes closed, ensured the first stage of this was over and, as his left hand joined its twin at the bottom of Julie's calf Shadow let a smile creep across his features, it was time for him to enjoy himself. Furrowing both hands the position that had worked so well once before, the former ultimate life-form slid up the table and made his first stroke upon his new canvass.

XXX

She'd lost all feeling below the knee Shadow had been working on; all she was getting from half of that leg was absolute flaccidity and relaxation and how she welcomed that – normally she'd have been impatient for such a feeling to spread over the rest of her but not now – right at this moment she couldn't feel impatience, or for that matter any other sort of emotion associated with wanting something. As Julie let her face hang down through the gap in the table she let herself drift, Shadow's skilful hands liberating her as they had once before, letting her free of the binding shackles of her body one limb at a time. Or at least, his skilful hands were until a couple of wayward fingers strayed into forbidden territory and made her squirm,

"Hey", her playfully warning voice must have been muffled by the table but she was under no illusion that Shadow couldn't hear her, "leave my knees alone".

"Oh, you mean these knees"; his voice was lightly mocking as it replied and a split-second later both sets of her knees were filed with scurrying fingers, making her laugh out loud and flick her legs up, wondering at the sense of suppleness in their lower regions,

"Yes, those ones", there was no accusation in her voice, no condemnation either, just a genuine request for him to desist in his activities, "stop it".

"Sure"; at once the tormenting sensations ended; the ex-Legionnaire waited a long second, then another, before the pressure began again on her other leg and she was lulled away once more, every repetition across her skin percolating into her muscles and releasing them into a state of relaxation unattainable alone, a zone of total release and regeneration they had never even imagined prior to this; and all I can hope; her thought was stilled for a second as Shadow moved up a touch, working all the way along her legs now from ankle to the bottom of her clothing and her thighs began to sway under his touch; is that the rest of me gets there soooohoooonnn!

XXX

Okay, that should be enough on the legs, though she uses them more than most of her other muscles – still, fifteen minutes should be enough for the pair of them; trying to pace himself and receptive to the sensations he was feeling from Julie's body as well as the soft sighs and groans his massage was causing her to make involuntarily, Shadow decided that would do on her lower body for now. Removing his hands from her tenderised calves and thighs, the hedgehog flexed his fingers a couple of times as he'd been taught, ironing out any twinges of cramp that may have been lurking in his hands before immersing them slowly in the basin of lukewarm water he'd brought along into the lounge with him from the kitchen, the heat suffusing his tissues and again safeguarding against the onset of spasms that would have prevented Julie's treat going any further. Taking one last look at his hands, the hedgehog nodded his satisfaction before turning his attention back to the prostrate echidna before him, taking a single glance and grinning; he'd softened her up with what she already knew he could do, and now just where to strike next to let her in on some of his more recent lessons.

XXX

When the touch came on her back she very nearly writhed off the table; as Shadow's palms moved in small concentric circles up and down the length of her body, moving at equal distances on opposite sides of her spine Julie lost all contact just as she had in the case of her legs; all she was aware of, dimly, were the positions of the hedgehog's busy digits pressing into a great expanse of warm, glowing contentment solidified; reinforcing it, adding to the foundation laid before with each new pass over her flesh and cocooning her even further into a blanket of bliss. Relaxed in a way she had never previously thought possible, the echidna's eyelids flickered, dissuading the idea of slumber with the argument that, if she was to sleep she'd miss out on all the rest of this wonderful feeling and that would be a sacrilege. Especially considering what Shadow's put into this; that was a thought, one her mind took up with a will as her body was left behind in its ecstatic rapture – it was a quite considerable amount of work the hedgehog had done for her here and the reasons for it happening, now what could that be?

Julie knew for a fact that her housemate was proud of his habit of keeping his word and, to his credit, she could think of very few occasions when he'd had to reschedule a promise he'd made on a particular date, and even fewer occasions when he'd failed to turn up at all. Though tempting to accept this gesture as a simple token of appreciation Julie found herself unable to comprehend such a thing; their relationship, colourfully described as 'love-hate' by Charmy when he thought they were both out of earshot, was such that both of them could and did make minor concessions to help the other but for something this big, no – this couldn't and quite rightly shouldn't be something done for nothing. She tried to concentrate back idly, mind pretty much overawed by the presence of so much accepting pleasure overrunning the areas of her brain where logic and reason usually held sway, but still she tried to piece together any potential reasons why Shadow would be doing her such a service. However, as a strange noise filled her ears, a low sibilant hissing not unlike a tyre being deflated, her eyes flickered open for a second and puzzlement spilled over her new inner peace like an oil slick; why's the floor getting closer?

XXX

Right then, playtime's over; keeping his finger on the lever to allow a carefully controlled descent, Shadow reached down with his other hand and tugged at his laces, hoping to slide quickly free of his last items of clothing; that's enough work on the surface muscles; the table popped to its lowest point just as the first of his shoes fell limp from his foot; time to get going on the deep stuff.

XXX

She heard a couple of minor clinks from either side and turned her head as much as she were able to towards the noises; the gap in the table wasn't all that giving despite the padding and she only got a very limited picture in the end, also not helped by the fact that her nose was nearly skimming the carpet in the first place. Unable to rely on sight, she fell back onto her other senses; the strange thumps and slight knocks she heard didn't really match up anything she'd heard before and though she could hear Shadow's breathing for nearby she couldn't quite tell what he was up to as he moved around somewhere above her. In the end, just as curiosity was beginning to stir up enough to wonder if she should raise her head and take a look, her sense of touch came to the rescue; as she felt the pressure on her back once more, still light enough not to cause any discomfort but a lot heavier than before anyway and focused on two areas a lot larger than before, the echidna smiled and just before Shadow started moving she called up,

"I hope you washed those before trampling them all over me?"

"You bet I did; could you think of what would happen if I didn't", the hedgehog joked with her as he began to shuffle forwards as he'd been taught, gripping onto the swiftly assembled handrails on either side of him to make sure he never put anything like his full bodyweight onto Julie's back; compared to the vast majority of echidnas the hedgehog was a lightweight but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt if he put a literal toe out of place, "the stench would remain forever".

"Nah", her answer was a lot fainter than before; good – that means she's got to be feeling this; "you take good care of your feet; you don't have a choice really – a stubbed toe for you might mean a week's lay off".

"And that really would drive me nuts", he riposted, halfway to her shoulders by now and knowing that was where the fun really started; all the muscles bunched up there was the masseur's goldmine and he'd already softened them up with his hands prior to this.

"More so than I do?" Despite his maintained professional image, Shadow had to concede a chuckle at that comment,

"Maybe not that much", his toes crabbed over her shoulder blades and his shuffled his hands along the rails, making sure he had a firm grip for this next part of the process, "but that and you together, now that's something that really doesn't bear thinking about".

XXX

She'd past the point of being able to differentiate what was her and what wasn't; Shadow's repeated and rhythmic melody on the back seemed to have penetrated her skin entirely; all she could feel now was the same, steady pulse all across the field of serenity that had once been her stressed, straining spinal column, almost akin to the beat of her heart as she simply lay flaccid, unable and unwanting to make any movement to disturb this heavenly peace. His massage had melded with her completely and she had no possible reason for wanting to rebuff his advances – all her fears had melted like frost in the warm morning sun and she was mildly surprised she'd ever given them credence in the first place. At what point did he say he was an amateur at this?; Julie smiled at the thought that there had been a time Shadow had ever been unskilled at this type of work – she'd never felt anything like this relaxed before and she doubted she ever would again. She glanced to her side, the flickering candlelight prancing across the carpet seeming to aid the work of Shadow above her, the ever-shifting pattern of silhouette cast on the darker material and reflected in the steel legs of the table she rested upon was mesmerising her eyes, relaxing them to the point of virtual hypnosis as she watched on, caught by both sides of the twin-pronged attack on her stress levels.

Now she writhed, now for the first time in what felt like hours a convulsion rippled up and along her back, responding to the exact pressure from what felt like the very edge of Shadow's foot. Slowly and with infinite care the hedgehog was walking up the length of her backbone, never putting on enough pressure to cause even moderate discomfort, let alone pain, but enough to let her know he was still there and that he was still working with her. Oh…yeahhh!; a last, explosive sigh of sheer ecstasy greeted his culmination, the twin pressure on the spot, right above her shoulders and just below her neckline, a final twist of his ankles working like a screw to drill right through to the very pits of her stress reservoir and crack it open, leave it open to a complete flood of delirium-inducing heaven, emptying it utterly and making her eyes roll involuntarily, lips curling upwards in almost erotic joy. Suddenly the pressure ended and he unscrewed; she vaguely felt him leave her back but beyond that lost all contact, concentrating solely on her own elevation to a plane of utter bliss. Such was the force of the final tweak of Shadow's massage routine that then next thing she sensed of him was when something began brushing through her dreadlocks; the next second, though his scalp massage couldn't quite maintain her at this pinnacle of feeling, it sure made the descent back to mortality a lot smoother than just leaving her cold. Again with no obvious input from her mind her head moved to trace his movements, keeping his fingertips as close as possible to the more sensitive areas of her hair roots and drawing as much pleasure from the massage as possible. How long they'd been together like this she had no way of knowing and didn't much care anyway; it was only when she felt his hands slipping away from her was unable to move enough to keep up, only when she knew that this time was over did anything other than this time even enter her mind. There were a few priceless moments of quiet, broken only by her deep, satisfied breathing, and then he spoke, the first time he had for what seemed a very long time; how nice – he's massaging my ears too;

"Jules – still with me down there?" She could only assume he'd seen her nod despite the restraint imposed on her by the table headrest as he continued,

"Good; I hope you enjoyed that"; could I have done anything else?; the question almost made her laugh but for the nagging suspicion that there was something he was waiting for, something she aught to be providing, but what it was eluded her for now, languishing tauntingly just out of reach of her dulled senses, "listen Julie, much as I'd have loved to do that for nothing, and please believe me I was planning to do it in the near future at some stage, I hate to admit it but there's something I…"

He got no further; suddenly reminded more by his apologetic tone than his words, Julie summoned all her resolve and resilience in order to bring her body up and fold her arms underneath her chin, giving her head some much needed support at the same time as making sure she was covered. When she was sure she was comfortable and capable of completely coherent speech, the echidna looked up in Shadow's careful neutral yet faintly apologetic expression and felt herself smile,

"Shadow", she knew she was going to be completely honest, everything was coming out right here and now – in such a state of mind as she was in now, any thoughts of deception were impossible to comprehend, "go into the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers in the bedroom and feel around a bit, there's a slightly loose corner at the front left. Feel around under that and it lifts up; trust me, what you find there says more than I can right now", she smiled up at the hedgehog's raised eyebrow before sliding her arms back to their previous positions and letting her face fall forwards once more, voice muffled but still audible, "but before you go, whatever you were doing to my dreads keep doing it, and don't worry about the girls in the office finding out about this", the memory of his visage of horror when she'd suggested such a fate made her giggle now in the light of what she'd just been exposed to, "after tonight, I'm making sure I get to keep you all for myself!"

XXX

If he was completely honest with himself, he cheated a little bit, right at the very end when she was virtually on the point of dropping off on her own; a couple of his fingers had surreptitiously slid down the side of her face and caressed her jaw line on both sides, rather than just the one as it had been earlier. Even when he'd begun to hear the gentle snores from just in front of his kneeling position he'd kept up for a couple more minutes, just to be sure the sometimes sly echidna wasn't shamming him this time. No, she's gone – just as well too; gently disentangling himself from the crown of his flatmate's head Shadow shook his hands, curling and uncurling his fists in response to the slight shooting pains now registering there; too much longer and we'd have been in trouble. Luckily the water in the basin was just warm enough still; having soaked his hands and dried them on the kitchen towel he'd brought through, Shadow dipped his fingers in the bowl and carefully walked around the grounded table, skilfully pinching out the still glowing candles in the incense burners before any more of the wax was wasted, leaving the room in total darkness while Julie slept.

This was a quick process; it had to be as his next action was completely direct – ignoring everything else the hedgehog stood up and lightly vaulted over Julie's slumbering form, not even pausing to put his shoes on as he marched into the bedroom, locating the drawer Julie had indicated and pulling it sharply open. Coupling as much speed as he could manage with his understandable haste, Shadow inserted a finger under the slight gap he could see now; and…what's this? Feels kind of slimy…; this only deepened his confusion, the unfamiliar sensation on his exposed finger nothing he was used to, but as he set his other hand to work in the virtual darkness, not having spared the time to turn the bedroom light on, he began to slowly draw this strange being out from its hiding place.

Though by the end he was tempted just to rip the damned draw apart and buy a new one later, he persevered just long enough to feel this whatever-it-was pop free from the confines Julie had forced it into; got it, and not before time too. Now let's get a look at you; hurrying back to the crack of light visible from the bedroom door, Shadow held his prize a lot in the light beam, hoping for the answers Julie had promised to materialise before him. Huh?; it was not to be however – as he lowered the small CD, encased safely within the thin plastic wallet that had protected it during its long hibernation in his drawer, Shadow's brow knitted as he tried to think how this was meant to help him; unless Julie had made some kind of Dictophone diary, his thoughts were all pretty much blanks. Well, no matter; it was a CD, he was obviously supposed to listen to it and by great good fortune he had just the machine to do the job; in a split-second he was in the kitchen, flipping open the top of his radio bug and carefully placing the mysterious disk within it. He closed the lid in the same motion as set the selector slide to CD, then he flicked the switch at the wall, took a last second to try and wonder exactly what this thing could be as the CD player component of his radio span the disk within it up to speed, the pressed the play button down, listening intently to the lowered volume. After a couple of seconds, of faintly buzzing static, a voice drifted out to him, making him prick his ears and narrow his eyes a touch; was it just him or did whoever was speaking have a dialect problem?:

"Ah, I reckon I'm fedup wi'this now, need somethin' a bit different to keep me palette sweet".

"Wha'ever"; only his hands stopped the radio being sucked into the black hole that had become his mouth – slurring he might have been but there was no way Shadow couldn't recognise his own voice coming out the speakers at him,

"Your choice pal, I'm payin' this round. What's yer poison?" And he knew that voice too as it all suddenly, horribly, made sense – the faint background bustle, the reason both he and Vector sounded less coherent than usual; that single P-word brought all those awful, shaming memories back with a vengeance.

"Does idiocy count?" And she'd heard this, the knowledge that Julie-Su of all Mobians must have listened to his rambling on tape made his ears incinerate and burn even more than the horribly out of tune laughter being blasted into the unsuspecting organs,

"Now, now if you were askin' Esp, I betty'ed say yes; anyway why'd you say you were 'ere in the first place? You norrat work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm working but I gotta do this more; I screwed up Vec". Too bloody right I did – first thing tomorrow I'm going over to the Chaotix's with a skinning knife and a do-it-yourself football making kit!

"We all screw up Shads".

"Not like I do we don't", and a truer word had never been spoken; Shadow buried his head in his hands as he knew he couldn't stop what he was hearing any more than he could take back the words he'd said in the first place, "I had everything; job, house, friends, girl"; oh and wasn't that just the icing on the cake – he could just picture Julie's reaction to that, "but I threw it'way, poof, gone, all gone. Now everyone'll hate me, and I don't blame 'em, not a bit. I was a, a…"

"Jerk?" Despite the fact his heart was no longer beating and most of his blood seemed to be haemorrhaging in his cheeks, Shadow's biological systems took enough of a time out to nod at that choice of word; he'd been a jerk and a lot worse than that,

"Yeah, jert, that'sah good one; I was one'a them, the worst one'a them I wanted 'em to leave me alone, just be by m'self; now I am, they did, and I hate it 'cos she was right about it".

Forget the skinning knife; he was crocodile hunting with a rusty spoon! He was all at once revolted, amazed, incredulous and mortified that Vector had somehow managed to set him up for this one but there was no denying the crocodile deserved to suffer for it, doubly so for have the brass neck to serve up a copy on a plate for the echidna with a tongue of acid who he must have known would only inflict further misery on his already woeful lot. Shadow swore that long and bloody revenge in the split-second of silence before the seemingly baffled crocodile's next words rang through to him, the next few lines in this hideous pantomime,

"Who was?"

"Julie course – said I was sel'ish, an I was, really selfish; put myself before everyone else cos I found out I was immorrall and didn't wanna be left alone when they all headed upwards. Well, I'm not gonna be alone then, I'm alone now instead, and when that time does come, I'll be alone then too – good for me, an I deserre it". All thoughts of furious vengeance were squashed at once as Shadow ran that line back through his head – had his ears and drunken speech deceived him or had Vector, not Cream or any of the others he'd later apologised to, been the first to discover the dirty little secret he'd imparted in the wake of recognising his catastrophic error?

"Sorry, run the last bit past me again, what are you thesh days?"

"Immorrall;I no gonna die, gonna live forever anaday, alone, great". Obviously the crocodile had been his first confident, but in that case why hadn't he told the others about what had been going on? Perplexed by the reptile's circular logic, Shadow almost missed the last few lines of this particular outtake from what sounded depressingly like a whole night of uncut mayhem and embarrassing depravity,

"Immorrall huh – gotta be bad that has. Still look at it like this. You're at the bottom now, life's just thrown the whole lot at you, what else can it do? You finish up here, then we get you home; wha's the worse that could happen?"

"When life hands you lemons right?" He had to chuckle a little – even at his lowest point it seemed he hadn't lost his sense of humour,

"Now thasa thought; ever tried tequila slammers?" Even now, stone sober and having vowed never to touch another drop in his life, Shadow grimaced at the very name of the cocktail.

XXX

The night dragged on, depositing an ever-higher pile of cheek-incinerating misery on the ever-increasingly appalled hedgehog's doorstep; every drunken toast, every glug of the seemingly bottomless bottle of whatever it was he and Vector had been ploughing their way through that night rang out in his ears like church bells as still he listened in to this train-crash broadcast – he knew he should have switched the radio off and then gotten down to the serious business of finding a nice deep, dark hole to expire in, but at the same time some masochistic element of his mindset demanded he keep his ears tuned into this travesty of midnight celebration,

"Ah, soonbe lass bells", it was getting harder to decipher as evidently the alcohol took its toll on both of them, but he could at least still tell which of them was doing the talking, "'Owz abhat one ferdaroad?"

"Sure"; again that ever-present sloshing of spirits filtered through the speakers and Shadow shivered; he'd long since given up trying to count how many measure he and the head of the Chaotix must have packed away between them and now knew he owed his liver a very large bunch of flowers and sincere note of apology as his slurring speech drooled through to him once more, "plenny time fer laz regets".

"Regetz; ah I gorrafoo, but nuffin too…er…too hooge. You?"

"Oh, oh me, yeah, I gorraload, loadzanloads", too right I had; just this once it appeared that the alcohol had made him honest at least and he could agree with himself, "I'ze gorra be sorry to e'yone – sorry to Zonik, Ayes, Cals and Team, youanKnu-hu-cks…"

"Ah, we'ze okay, me an' da guyz, dey'll unnerstand – whorrabout,er, wasaname? You know, you pickerup offa road, shez…"

"Who, Julez", the black hedgehog squeezed his eyes shut – what could he have said here when the alcohol had hold of his tongue and was refusing to let common sense take it back, "nah, nah, well yeah, sorta sorry to her".

"'Owzzat work?"

"I'ze sorry, but I'm sorrier, das a good word, hafta 'member thatun", his drunken self tailed off into a series of hiccupping laugh at the same time as he lifted his head from his hands, something very close to an idea he really didn't fancy the look of coming back from the recesses of his mind to start and haunt the edges of his wildest ideas, "but nah, I'ze sorry, but I'ze sorrier that, well, shez gonnow, neva seer'gain, so I'll neva be'ble to zay how sorry Iyam to 'er…" The rest of the transcript faded into the blackness, dropping below Shadow's audible range as he stood up suddenly, all other thoughts gone from his mind as a couple of very stark facts superimposed themselves over his brain and gave him instant access to a conclusion he very readily accepted.

Julie's heard this tape…

…therefore I can assume she heard that bit – she's therefore heard me say that I'm sorry…

…and must have already accepted it…

…then she acted like she hadn't…

…and I've been working like there's no tomorrow ever since, trying to make up for something she's already heard.

BITCH!!!

XXX

If she'd been aware to see him stood there over her prostrate form, filling the entire space and pervading the room before him with the certainty of a lingering, deadly doom, she would surely have cowered just as he had once. Indignant wrath combined with magnificent embarrassment that she'd been able to play him like a fiddle for this long and he swore he was going to take it all back from her; every ounce of effort was going to be recouped, every fiendish, madcap scheme was getting repossessed and the individual words were getting clawed back from her unworthy hide…or at least they were until, standing above the sleeping echidna's back Shadow felt his appatite for a fight suddenly desert him and lowered his raised fist, sighing as, monstrous though the injustice perpetrated against him was he had no choice but to accept it. He couldn't take back anything he'd done and nor would he really want to if he was completely honest with himself; just as it had been a couple of months back, squabbling with the Mobian now before him had been a demanding, unceasing and always entertaining struggle that, he sniggered to himself for a moment, never really stopped and on this occasion she'd got the one-up on him. Okay you; dragging the sleeping bag off the end of the settee and unzipping it completely, Shadow narrowed his eyes for a second before draping the makeshift blanket over the entirety of the massage table, tugging and twisting various corners of it to make sure Julie was completely covered against the onset of a sudden winter chill in the night air; you got ahead on this one, but there's always tomorrow for me to make sure you come a cropper for this!

He knelt down, peeling his hand underneath the back of the echidna's head and gently dredging her dreadlocks up from underneath the sleeping bag, feeling the pliable hair feather on his arms as he fanned it out over the top of Julie's makeshift sleeping arrangements. Reaching across to make sure he had all of them in his hands, the hedgehog gave a couple of careful twists, making sure the vast majority of his housemate's hairstyle was meshed together in a single, easily-undoable knot arrangement, keeping it off the floor at the same time as ensuring it wasn't going to end up completely tangled come the end of the night. Task completed, he made to stand up only for a single whim to give him a second's pause; inclining his head, the former ultimate life-form bent down into a position of virtual obeisance to touch his forehead to the roots of Julie-Su's dreadlocks, pausing just long enough to savour the faint traces of her shampoo scent lingering around her tresses, refilling him and his lust for life enough to let him stand up on his own two feet again and slowly remove himself from the lounge, closing the door behind him with all the softness of a falling leaf on winter snow.

XXX

His main impression of the rest of the night, consisting mostly as it did of getting ready for rest of his own, was that of surreality; he knew he should be absolutely blazing at Julie for leading him on like she had, especially when he'd been so cut up about her refusal to forgive him and then finding out that she'd heard his confession a long time ago and must have privately shaken her head at the whole thing, granting things as equal between them once more. But for a reason that only became clear when he pulled back the covers and slid into bed for the night his rage simply wasn't there; dragging the covers to cloth his body again, the hedgehog sighed for the last time, eyelids already heavy enough to drag him down into the welcoming depths of sleep; it's because what went before doesn't matter any more – who cares about hard I worked, or how much Julie must have wanted to tell me at some stages, and there were times when it looked like she was about to crack – it doesn't matter at all. He resisted the urge to fend off sleep and struggle with this new line of thinking it; he merely accepted it as placidly as Julie had taken up on his idea of a massage for her to say sorry; a slight smile slipped over his apparently resting face as in front of his closed eyes a very familiar figure stood waiting for him, hands on hips and a knowing smirk on that oh-so-familiar face; she's given me a second chance, that's all that counts – all that matter is this, my other shot, the next bite at the cherry, a second chance…; the figure beckoned and he approached, too late for the doubt at the very back of his mind to usurp power enough to want to part the blurred lines completely, to lift the rose-tinted glasses from his eyes and make him see that the figure ahead of him, waiting for him, perhaps wasn't the echidna he thought it was; …my second chance…

…at happiness…?

A/N: Aww, Julie got what was coming to her all right, but by the time this night is over, will Shadow have enough left in him to grasp the new life she might be offering him?