Frost: Hey everyone! This time I am giving you all a chapter but before I get to that I just want to say thank you all so much for the amount of support you've all given me. It feels great knowing you all accept me and will be there for this crazy journey I'm about to partake in. To answer a few questions I was asked, "Will you go back and change how you refereed to yourself in past chapters or leave it as a reminder?" I will be changing how I refereed to myself as I am very dysphoric about myself and gender right now and don't want reminders of how people used to or still do view me. "Will you accept they/them pro-nouns?" Yes I will, its only the female ones I have a problem with but I do identify as a Trans male.
Now onto this chapter, it was a request from a Guest who asked for a one shot about Sonic being captured and experimented on, Shadow gets captured too and finds Sonic in a bad way and rescues him. Hope you like it!
Pain, it is a constant that brings focus to the world around him.
Time, time is irrelevant now, only measured in how hungry he goes between the scares meals given to him. How long has he been here? Months could have passed for all he knows
Safety, it is nothing but a distant memory that is slowly being chased away by fear and the pain.
Pacing. Pacing is all that brings stimulation now. He paces back and forth in his tiny cell, low growls slipping past bared teeth the whole time. His legs burn with each step, chest constricting with each breath. Counting each step he takes before turning to pace back the other way helping to focus on reality and not the nightmares.
Blue ears swivel to the side at the distant sound of approaching footsteps. He's backed into the corner straight away, lips pull back to bare small fangs while pupils turn into fearful slits. The door opens letting in the blinding light of the outside world as two men with long poles step into his cell and he gives a loud screaming cry of fear as the ropes at the end of the poles are slipped over his head to wrap around his neck.
The sound of a scuffle is what makes Shadow pull himself from the hazy fog he'd been drifting in. The ebony male blinked while trying to sort out what had actually happened. He can recall fuzzy memories of taking a walk around the Thorndyke manner, or men dressed in white appearing with a gun and shooting him with a dart of some kind and then nothing. The realization that he'd been drugged and kidnapped has Shadow shooting to his feet in seconds, an enraged snarl taking over the creations features. Now that he's up, Shadow can see he's in a cell of some kind with open bars before him reminding him of a cage at a zoo. The sound of a struggle can be heard from the hallway his cell is overlooking which perks the interest of the dark male.
As Shadow comes up to the bars he can hear what sounds like an animal snarling and crying out in fear accompanied by the sound of claws dragging on the floor. He looks to his left, expecting to see an animal of some kind being pulled from its cage. What he sees instead has something snapping deep inside him.
Sonic is there, muzzled and collared as two men drag him down the hallway with poles attached to the collar around his neck. His fur is matted and even missing in some places and Shadow can see track marks along the younger males arms from syringe injections. It's his eyes however that break Shadow's heart. The pupils are nothing but thin slits, glazed over and filled with utter terror. He's screaming in an utterly animalistic way that speaks to the primal part of Shadow's brain. It's a sound that reverberates through his skull and suddenly Shadow has thrown himself at the bars that shatter under the force. The men dragging Sonic away give startled yells which is all they can muster before Shadow has smashed his fists into their skulls with enough force to possibly kill them.
Shadow stands there breathing heavily, trying to control his temper. Blood red eyes glare at the crumpled forms of the men wanting to cause them more pain when a soft shuffling noise draws his attention away from them. Looking to the side finds Sonic scrambling away from him, his eyes still filled with fear and terror.
Ebony lowers his hands, slowly crouching down to Blue's level seeing how the younger male has curled up on the floor, back pressed flush against the wall. Sonic is watching his every move, breathing hurried and panicked while sweat begins to dampen the once royal blue fur.
"Faker…its me. You're alright, you're safe." Shadow doesn't dare reach out to the other who looks like he'd sooner bite Shadow's hand than take it as an offering of peace and help. Instead, he kneels before the terrified hedgehog and averts his eyes to the side so as not to make direct eye contact. Ebony also makes sure to blink often to show he isn't trying to intimidate the other with an unwavering stare. It takes nearly ten minutes for the low growls to turn silent and for raised spines to soften against their owners head. When Shadow reaches out Sonic flinches but doesn't try to attack. Instead, those dazed emerald pools blink in confusion when Shadow takes hold of the collar and unclips it freeing the younger males neck.
"I'm not gonna hurt you, Faker."
The eyes continue to blink growing more clear with each one until finally, Shadow can see a fragment of recognition in them. He moves in, ignoring the way Sonic flinches back and pulls the trembling form into his arm. The creation winces when he sees the smaller males ribs showing and feels the way his spine digs into his arm. It's clear these disgusting humans haven't been feeding him properly which just leaves the red-eyed warrior wanting to hurt them even more. For now, though thoughts of revenge are out as Shadow whisks his rival away and back to the safety of his friends and family.
It seemed that bringing Sonic home had been the easy part. While the blue blur was mostly calm and relaxed in Shadow's presence probably due to the fact that the elder male had saved him Sonic would not go near the others. He hadn't spoken a word since his return, wouldn't except food unless Shadow gave it to him and would sleep under his bed instead of in it. His recovery was slow mentally but physically he was improving. Chuck and Tails and run some blood tests and while they had found experimental drugs in the hedgehog's system they would quickly leave it and he'd be good as new.
Shadow was worried, however. He knew Sonic had been having nightmares and wasn't sleeping well anymore. The only reason he knew was because of his advanced hearing that would alert him to when the other would start tossing and turning in his sleep. It probably doesn't help the Faker that every two hours one of his friends takes it upon themselves to check in on him which of course sends his new found anxiety skyrocketing.
Black ears flick at the telltale sounds of bed sheets moving followed by soft whimpering cries. Shadow stands, moving to stand by the Faker's bedroom door like he does every night when this happens to make sure no one walks in and disturbs the younger male. The first and last time someone walked in on Sonic during one of his night terrors resulted in Chuck getting badly clawed by the panicked hedgehog. So now Shadow stands by the door waiting for the whimpers to die down as the other drifts off into a deeper sleep like he does every night. Tonight, however, was different. The whimpers don't slowly fade away, instead, they grow louder. The trashing grows more violent and Shadow is just considering going in the check when a deafening blood curling scream rips from the room.
Ebony is in the room before he even realizes whats happening. The creation rushes to the bed where Sonic is sitting up, eyes wide and filled with terror while his hands press on the sides of his head. Blue is rocking back and forth while muttering something under his breath. The small black claws suddenly unsheath from his fingers to dig into the sides of his head.
"Faker, stop!" Shadow knows that one should never touch someone who is in the grips of a flashback or night terror which is most certainly what Sonic is experiencing but he also knows that if he doesn't do something the younger male will end up hurting himself. His hands are gentle as they take hold of shaking peach ones, pulling them away from Blue's head. Looking down at the shaking hands Shadow is shocked to see the fur surrounding the fingers has been nawed and chewed back and the skin is bitten and raw. Self-mutilation was common in animals suffering from stress and anxiety but Shadow had never considered the possibility of Sonic suffering from it.
The sounds of shuffling feet have blood red eyes flicking to the side where the rest of the household is standing nervously. None of them look like they know what to say and honestly, Shadow doesn't blame them. Tails by far looks the most distraught, wanting to rush forward and comfort his brother but not knowing how too. After a few seconds, Knuckles steps forward and clutched in his left hand is the light blue Chaos Emerald. Shadow tenses, not sure how the ancient jewel will react to Sonic with his emotions so highly strung.
"You sure you know what you're doing?" Shadow asks carefully once Knuckles has crouched down before them, the Emerald held midway between Sonic and himself.
"I'm not just the Guardian of the Chaos Emeralds. I look after those that have Chaos Energy which means it's my job to look after him when he needs it." The echidna growled but there was no real malice to his words. There is genuine concern in his violet eyes and it's that concern that has the wariness inside Shadow settling. With a small nod, Shadow and Knuckles focus their energies, controlling it as the Emerald is placed into Sonic's lap. The speedster jumps at the first contact, panic flaring for a brief moment before Knuckles reaches out with his energy to sooth away the fear and replace it with feelings of safety and love. Those wide, fearful emerald pools soften, relaxing before falling close as sleep claims the younger male once more.
Knuckles and Shadow stay the night, silent guardians to ward off any more nightmares as well as to stop the others from disturbing Sonic's slumber. Chuck comes in when morning breaks to assess Sonic's bitten fingers, applying anti-bacterial creams to the self-inflicted wounds.
"In humans, its called Wolf Biter syndrome. It manifests from stress and is also sometimes related to OCD. Sufferers sometimes don't even realize they are biting until someone else points it out or until they draw blood." The man matters after cleaning the wounds. Sonic sits by the window, his eyes focused on the world outside while his ears remain focused on the occupants of the room.
"We'll keep an eye on him." Knuckles promised.
And they do. No longer is it just Shadow working with Sonic on his recovery. Now, Knuckles sits in on the sessions, brings food and soothes away nightmares. By the one month mark of his rescue, Sonic finally makes progress in that he started to respond verbally to some questions. It's with these few spoken words that the true extent of his confinement is revealed.
"Do you want to talk about your dream? What was in it?"
"Drill."
"Drill? What do you mean drill?"
"Drill."
Shadow sends Knuckles a wide-eyed look after this revelation and can see the Guardian is just as distressed as he is. Sonic looks at them, his eyes shadowed by the horrors he's seen and been subjected too, begging them to take the memories away. His hands once again flick towards his legs, a nervous tick he'd developed after being rescued and it suddenly becomes clear why he does it. It also has something inside Shadow stirring, that old hatred for humanity that had been put to rest with his returned memories of Maria and his promise suddenly awakening once more. It just seems that the more he sees of humanity, the lower his opinion of them drops.
"Is the drill all you see?" Knuckles asks delicately, large paws holding one of Sonic's smaller ones. The blue one sighs, ears lowered and eyes half-lidded. The elder two don't push, they let him compose his thoughts and take his time.
"Needles…pain…straps that hold me down. And the drill." Blue mutters, a tremor running up through his whole body. Knuckles squeezes the hand he holds, offering what little comfort he can in such a situation.
"It will never happen again," Shadow vows to which Sonic offers a very weak smile. It speaks volumes about what he feels and thinks. It may never happen again but the memories of what did happen will haunt him forever. Knuckles sees this and frowns, pulling out the Chaos Emerald once more.
"I might not be able to remove the memories, but I can dull them so that you won't remember them with such clarity." He says. Sonic only takes a moment to stare before nodding vigorously. The echidna raises one hand to rest on the hedgehog's forehead, the other clutching the emerald. The Jewel glows brightly for only a moment before fading, Sonic's shoulder slumping in relief. Its not a quick fix, all three of them know that, but it's a start. And until those dull memories have become nothing more than a distant thought both Shadow and Knuckles will continue to be there for their friend, ready and willing to take his pain onto themselves.
Frost: I had fun writing this. I'm trying to keep Shadow in character as much as possible as I feel he's the most difficult to do so for me. As always, send in requests, review and have an amazing day and once again thank you all for sticking with me and I will see you all next time!