A/N: FUN AS THIS WAS, I can't help but feel like I didn't follow this prompt correctly. Like, at all lmao. I wanted to experiment with an action scene because typically, I'm not very good with them, so I'm not too happy with how this turned out. Plus it's way too long, please ignore the word count. (·•᷄ n•᷅ ) I took out as much as I could without disrupting the flow of the story too much.

I couldn't think of a title and the prompt was way too long to use. Apologies for my laziness.

Prompt #1 Person 'A' keeps giving themselves away because they keep looking at Person 'B' for a bit too long.

2/8

To say that his day had gotten out of hand was an enormous understatement.

Getting wrapped into fighting another ominous bad guy was not the first thing he wanted to do after finally being discharged from a failed assignment after spending weeks on duty. But, when his communicator started to beep an SOS from one of the devices of the Sonic Team, he'd readily responded.

The only people that had access to his own personal communicator that wasn't affiliated with GUN were the Guardian and Tails. The Guardian for… obvious reasons and Tails because if there was anyone he'd trust only to contact him if they were in dire need of help and not just to purposely annoy him, it'd be the fox.

However, this wasn't a personal call. It was an SOS signal. Which meant that everyone had been contacted and was being asked to come ASAP.

Shadow at first was genuinely confused. Usually, the Sonic Team was plenty capable to handle Eggmans shenanigans. One of the perks of having a long-term enemy whose nonsense they were well acquainted with was that there was always a sense of familiarity when it came to fighting the mad doctor. Everyone was comfortable with the deranged humans' inventions enough to easily maneuver around his robots and obstacles with ease.

But as he blinked into existence on the wing of Tails plane (much to the surprise and shock of the young pilot himself) it was quickly revealed to him that this bad guy was someone new, and they were losing to him; big time. And Sonic, for some reason, wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Where is he?" He remembered asking Tails shooting him a questioning look.

"His communicator was damaged a couple of weeks ago! The SOS might have not gotten to him!"

Tch, well that was just great.

Tails had quickly filled him in on the progress of events that took place. How the masked lunatic didn't seem like much of a threat at first glance, but as the fight dragged on, everyone was forced to slowly come to terms with the fact that they had severely underestimated their opponent and that came with some serious ramifications.

These robots were ready to kill on sight, not just them but anyone within the vicinity. The team quickly found themselves overwhelmed with both trying to fight back and evacuate civilians. They were in dire need of backup.

Hence, the SOS.

Shadow didn't mind in the slightest. In fact, he was actually was glad he was one of the first to turn up because that meant he had far more machines to let out his pent-up aggression on. It wasn't as thrilling as any sparring match he'd could have been having with his significant other but for the time being, it sufficed.

He was in the middle of dishing out one of his own special attacks when he noticed the sun suddenly began to be blocked out from above. The energy field shifted and he didn't need to look up to know who said culprit was.

It was the island.

For the floating landmass to show up so soon meant Knuckles must have already been nearby.

Shadow felt him approaching before he'd even reached the surface.

As the island itself continued slowly moving in one direction, passing over the battlefield in a display omnipresent sentience, Knuckles came dropping down from the sky. Bringing both of his fists down with all of his strength to crush the head of one of the giant mechs that'd towered over them. The sound of him colliding with the machine was ear piercingly violent and the sheer force of the impact shattered the mech completely, sending waves of dust to go blowing past the hedgehog's face.

Shadow felt himself smirking before he could manage to stifle down his enthusiasm. This wasn't the way he'd originally wanted to reunite with his significant other after the stretched amount of time they spent apart, but he'd be damned if he was going to complain about it.

When the dust cleared enough for him to see Knuckles, ruffled and standing over what was left of the mech robot beneath his feet, Shadow had to will himself to take a deep breath and not snatch his boyfriend up right then and there. It only took one look at the pissed-off snarl on Knuckles face for Shadow to feel the true weight of just how much he fucking missed him.

While dealing with wannabe madmen wasn't a favored pastime of his he knew that the echidna would drop anything and everything when his friends were in dire need of help.

The battlefield shifted after that.

It hadn't escaped Shadow that on any rare occasion when Sonic wasn't around if needed, Knuckles would be one of the first to take charge. Being one of the Sonic team's older members, he was the first one that the rest of Sonic's friends all felt comfortable going to if they really needed help. Which Shadow found interesting to say the least because no one failed to constantly tease the echidna about how hot-headed and dense he could be.

The fact that they didn't even hesitate with letting Knuckles take over the reins of being the temporary leader showed that when it came to the competence of the echidna's leadership skills, his friends had faith in him.

Even though Knuckles was no Sonic, not even jokingly so.

Sonic led through his enthusiasm and his energetic personality drew people in. A hero who made every experience count and let nothing tear the fun out of any given situation was a leader that most desired to follow. Even Knuckles, to a certain degree. He was allured by danger and brave enough to stare it right in the eye, and smile. There was very little that could tear away that hedgehogs dedication to enjoy every bit of what life gifted him, even if he managed to skid through some situations just by the skin of his teeth.

Knuckles was different on nearly all accounts. Both of them thrived in the midst of a good fight but while Sonic thrived in the unpredictability of it all, Knuckles preferred, when dealing with hazardous situations especially, to win the fight as quickly as possible.

Used to already being the one to take things seriously while everyone else took part in battle for fun, the echidna lead through with a simple purpose in mind. That he was only there to get the job done.

Just his strength alone gave the team a huge advantage when dealing with the worst of the worst and today was no exception. The manner in which the echidna equally dished out and absorbed damage turned the odds into their favor. Put both of them on the field together and it was a game-changer.

Knuckles was relentless when he was angry, and boy was he angry.

While observing his boyfriend in the serenity of his island was a favored pastime of his, it was nothing compared to seeing him in action. It's always been a thrill to both fight him and fight alongside him. It was how he became so attentive of the Guardian's fighting style; how neither of them needed much communication in battle to be on the same page. Not a word was spoken to him since the moment the echidna got there, but a look, a quick jerk of the head, and he quickly understood the echidna's intentions.

Much as he tried to smother it down, there was no way to hide the look of raw appreciation within those crimson eyes of his whenever he looked Knuckles way.

However, when their final and yet biggest threat arrived, it came unannounced and burst through a skyscraper that towered over the city. While thankfully the giant building didn't come crumbling down altogether, the top of the concrete structure had been obliterated.

It was unfortunate that during this time, Knuckles had been hit hard by a piece of sharp debris that'd he'd taken right to the face. It came flying out of the smoke so fast that the only thing Knuckles had time to do, was shove Amy down behind him and brace himself.

The robot beneath Shadow's foot was completely forgotten about when he heard Amy cry out.

He'd only turned back quickly enough to see Knuckles head violently snap backward, his blood spraying in the air. Something akin to horror dropped to the base of Shadow's stomach. The echidna stumbled on his feet and before Shadow could make a mad dash in his direction, the Guardian grounded himself with a stomp. Shuddering through his disorientation when his eyes reopened they were filled with inconsolable rage, as blood began to pour down his face.

Shadow's breath caught in his throat.

He remembers the echidna brushing off Amy's hands and shoving her hammer back in her hand. Mouth moving and clearly speaking to her while he watched the massive mech land in the clearing, making the ground beneath all their feet rumble. Though he couldn't hear them he had a gnawing gut feeling to what the Guardian was proposing to do.

While Knuckles face was hard and focused as he began to piece together a plan, Amy's looked sick with worry; but when Knuckles turned to her and finished what he had to say, the pink hedgehog quickly got a grip of herself. The fear in her eyes shifted into fierce determination.

Shadow took another moment to silently appreciate how adaptable the Sonic Team was. There was a certain air of maturity that Knuckles pulled out from the rest of them by standing in as leader.

After that, Knuckles saddled himself with the responsibility of using himself both offensively and defensively. Distracting the last giant mech enough to give the rest enough time to clear the area. Shadow himself focused on taking out larger mobs of robot lackies until the Chaotix finally managed to show up. They were the last to arrive.

With them taking over getting rid of the stragglers, Shadow had enough room to give Knuckles the backup he definitely could use.

Within seconds, he phased into being at the panting echidna's side. Eyeing the wound on the echidnas face without blatantly showing his concern. There was no point in voicing it anyway, not when Knuckles had been hellbent on putting dent after dent into the things form. One of the mechs arms was already sparking electric bolts from the way the Guardian had smashed into it with his fist. Definitely damaged but still functional to his disappointment.

Shadow spoke. "Where do you want me?"

"It's power supply on the right side of its chest, but I'm not fast enough to get to it." He spat out.

However, when he turned to Shadow and their eyes met, he'd swear it was almost as electrifying as touching the Master Emerald itself. Shadow stared as blood began to pool beneath the curve of his chin, passing over the angry snarl plastered onto his partner's face. Then, Knuckles grabbed his arm in a tight grip. A spark of electricity completely unrelated to his chaos energy went shooting down his spine.

"You have a chaos emerald on you right?"

He nodded. "I do."

"Good." Knuckles eyes darkened. "I'm going to throw you."

Shadow couldn't help it, his smirk came rushing back to its face.

"You got one shot. Take out its battery and then, after we put it out of commission, we're going to grind its creator's face straight into the dirt." The look in Knuckles' eyes hungered for a victory, and Shadow... well, he could care less about a victory when it was blatantly clear to him that he hungered for something much, much more.

Which was why that now, hours after the battle had finally come to a close, his eyes were still glued on Knuckles from the moment they'd all entered the bomb shelter with the cowering civilians.

Their perpetrator had unfortunately skipped town the minute they'd taken down his last sizable threat; the fight clearly no longer being in their favor. This person was no doubt dangerous and none of them had been able to tell what his motives were besides trying to destroy Mobius City.

Concerning as their lack of knowledge was Shadow couldn't bring himself to care about any of that as of right now.

There was heavy tension set into his brow as he watched every stitch being embedded into Knuckles' cheek. The rest of the echidna's face was in a permanent scowl as the needle in Amys hand pierced through a long painful-looking slash. His dark violet eyes stared down at the pink hedgehog who was speaking to him with a grave serious frown that up until this point, Shadow had never seen on her face before.

He remembers the gut-wrenching horror he felt when that thing made contact with Knuckles face so truthfully, he could understand her lingering concern. Knuckles most definitely was going to be suffering from some sort of concussion if he wasn't already.

When the echidna finally stepped away from his friends moments later his face was fully stitched up. Knuckles seemed ready to send everyone back out to recon the streets for any lingering machines before letting the civilians re-enter their city.

Shadow, however, didn't move an inch when Knuckles finally turned to address him from across the room. Said hedgehog continued to stare him down as if they were the only ones present in the room.

There was no mistaking the unadulterated hunger within his gaze as the proximity between him and his boyfriend diminished with each and every step the Guardian took. With his adrenaline still roaring on high, Shadow had to fight to hold onto the remaining threads of his patience as his lover drew closer.

Knuckles however, after making a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Amy and the others were preoccupied, practically stomped the rest of the way towards him with a sense of urgency. Leaning far too close into Shadow's personal space with a stern glare. "Stop looking at me like that. You pull yourself together before I decide to knock some sense into you." The echidna had said it threateningly under his breath but with him being so close Shadow could see evidence of a slight flush building up the surface of those cheeks.

Anyone within proximity to them would have been confused by the seemingly unwarranted threat, but both of them knew why the echidna was laying his foot down.

Despite that, the hedgehog put on a good front of being surprised by the accusation, raising both of his brows humorously while his lips did their best not to twitch into a knowing smirk. Evidently, he failed and when Knuckles saw it, alarm bells started ringing off in all corners of his head. "Don't make me repeat myself. I mean it Shadow." He said again, this time with more of a serious edge to his voice. "There's still more work to do. We're not done here."

Shadow, like before, offered no returning statement. Instead, the hedgehog allowed his Guardian to fully see the raw desire he was still currently holding on a tight unforgiving leash. Taking full advantage of the fact that Knuckles was so close that he didn't even need to pretend he wasn't looking at him like he wanted to tear him apart. Gasoline was poured onto the flame as he watched his boyfriend begin to visibly falter within his stony resolve. Shadow could imagine it was hard to keep composure when he was staring at the Guardian like that. Prurient intentions all written within the depths of his eyes.

As the Guardian prepared to put some space back between them Shadow's hand reached up and cupped his face; catching the Guardian off guard enough to loosen the tension in his red brows.

Shadow's thumb lightly grazed along the stitched seam that closed the gash on his cheek, assessing its length and the angry redness surrounding the wound. While he didn't enjoy seeing Knuckles get hurt in the midst of battle, he'd be a hypocrite if unable to admit to himself that he liked how the wound made the echidna look notably more dangerous. Which fits, because he was. Being reminded of it so indirectly was probably not something Shadow should take that much enjoyment in, and yet here he was.

Finally, he spoke. "You're right." He agreed, lightly surprising the echidna before him. "We're not." Shadow took a step closer, foot crunching the gravel beneath his feet and prompting Knuckles to take a full step back. Now, he was in the Guardians' space and far closer than before. To close for their interaction to be seen anything platonic. Knuckles resolve wavered nervously, as he watched his lovers' blood-red eyes stare up at him with salacious intent. The echidna swallowed nervously being the recipient of such shamelessness. "But once we are Knuckles, don't hold it against me when I decide to rip you away from your friends as soon as physically possible."

Knuckles entire face lit aflame, red as a freshly picked tomato. Shadow couldn't help but be filled with a sense of well-deserved satisfaction at the sight of it. "Do not mistake my inaction for patience Guardian." He spoke lowly, their faces close enough for him to hear the shaky breaths Knuckles took. "It's my respect for your boundaries that keep me from putting my hands on you, not my patience."

It was only once he saw a hint of that same desire ignite in Knuckles eyes as well did the hedgehog swiftly pull back from Knuckles personal space, appeased by the flush now present on Knuckles snout and the fact that he had made his intentions clear. With that being said, Shadow released his face with a gentle pat to the cheek. "A little more caution next time, if you'd please. Battle scars look good on you, but I'd rather not risk you losing your entire face."

Knuckles had to grit his teeth together just to compose himself. Vein pulsing at the top of his skull as the corner of his lip twitched in irritation."You- just-argh." He growled in frustration. "Get out of my sight you shameless punk. Go recon the city like I asked you too." He said between gritted teeth before storming past him, their shoulders brushing in something a little more affectionate than a shove.

Shadow only just managed not to let his eyes follow him this time.

A/N: Squirms in all the deleted extra gay banter I had added to this ending.