Wade was twisting and turning in his bed. It had been a few hours since he went to bed and he still couldn't fall asleep. After the initial impulse of wanting to protect the child subsided, he was filled with doubt. It was stupid because he already signed all documents so he was stuck with Shadow unless something horrible would have happened. But it didn't stop his mind from wandering.
Did he do the right thing? Of course! He was helping someone in need. It was the only choice that Wade could make. But was it the right choice for him? Wade was planning to be a temporary home for much younger kids. Kids that would stay with him for a few months before they would find their adoptive parents. Kids that didn't need special care.
Of course, he knew that those kids would have some issues. They didn't end up in a foster care system because their lives were amazing. Wade gripped his cover. Shadow was on another level. Reading the boy's file was one of the most painful things that he did in his life and it wasn't the full story, only the part that they were able to recover from corrupted files.
The hedgehog was a science experiment, made in a lab. So Layla mentioning that they need to make sure that Shadow was a child made more sense. Despite looking like a teenager and having a mental maturity of one, he was only 4 years old. On top of that, he was in suspended animation for 50 years. Wade was glad that they decided to treat the boy as a 15-year-old which would put his age between Sonic and Knuckles. From limited interaction with Shadow, it seemed to fit perfectly.
But Shadow's age wasn't the worst part. Wade could also deal with his unusual origin. It was only one level weirder than being a natural alien. The hedgehog was experimented on. It wasn't clear what exactly they did to him but Wade could only imagine the worst possible things. Layla promised to update him if they would recover more files. Maybe they would be lucky and it wouldn't be something horrible. His memory loss could be a blessing in disguise. No, that was a terrible thing to imply. Losing memories of his friend and his life had to be a traumatic thing for the boy.
The experimentation could be that bad, right? Shadow acted so collected around people. If it was something painful, Wade would expect the hedgehog to act more scared around people. But on the other hand, Shadow didn't remember what they did to him. Would he instinctively be scared of people anyway? Wade heard of people being scared of dogs because they were bit when they were so young that they shouldn't remember it. Was Shadow acting angrier than scared a good sign? Wade doubted that he would get an answer to that question anytime soon.
Wade also didn't know how to comfort the child who just lost all the people that he knew. From what the hedgehog told them, he only remembered glimpses of his life. It was enough to let him know that he was an experiment and an ultimate life form. But the report noted that he didn't answer when they asked if he remembered what happened to the space colony. It made Wade shiver, imagining that Shadow lived through the accident. The report didn't mention what kind of toxic gas leaked to the life support system. It could have been something where all the people just went to sleep or it could be much worse.
The military arrived shortly after that happened, wanting to retrieve Shadow. He was government property at that time. They believed that it was dangerous to leave superpowered being unattended but they didn't find him. They founded his life support pod a few days ago. It seemed that there were people who cared about the hedgehog and they saved his life by sending him away to Earth.
It had to be a lot for the teenager. How was Wade supposed to help Shadow with that? The boy could even get some kind of closure by attending their funerals. And after 50 years, it would be difficult to track where people important to the hedgehog were buried. Would visiting their graves help Shadow to move one. For him, it happened just a few days ago. His wounds were fresh even though the world had already forgotten about the accident.
Wade had knocked on the boy's door after social workers left and the hedgehog wanted to be left alone. It was a long day for both of them so he let the boy rest. Shadow should visit a specialist but Wade didn't want to start their relationship by suggesting that. He would need to earn the boy's trust first. Maybe if Shadow opens up to him, that would be enough. Kids have their way of dealing with things. Some are more resilient than others. The most important thing was to provide a safe environment for Shadow and let the hedgehog know that he could talk to Wade if he wanted.
And what should he tell kids about Shadow? It was probably for the boy to decide but they would be undoubtedly curious about the new hedgehog, especially Sonic. As far as Wade knew the blue hedgehog had never met another one of his kind before coming to Earth. Wade doubted that Sonic would be able to hold back his question. He should probably keep Shadow a secret for a few days to let him settle in and let the boy decide in advance what he wanted to tell people about himself.
It was some kind of plan. It wasn't great but it was enough to calm him down a little. Tomorrow there was a long day ahead of him so he should at least try to get some sleep.
"""
Wade didn't get as much sleep as he would prefer but it wasn't too bad. It should be enough to last him through the day. He was already in the living room waiting for Shadow to wake up. It was early in the morning, around the time that he normally went to work. He could have slept longer but he didn't want Shadow to feel uncomfortable if the hedgehog would woke up before him and had to move around the stranger's house.
Wade looked at the clock. Tom should already be at the office and he didn't hear any noise coming from Shadow's room. His friend wanted an update and Wade needed someone to talk to. He glanced towards Shadow's room and called Tom.
Tom picked up right away as if he was waiting for the call. "Wade, how are you doing?" Tom said cheerfully.
"Hi, Tom. I'm good." Wade paused. "Where are you?"
"I'm already at the office but I can drive by your house later if you need me to get you something." It made Wade smile that his friend was already offering to help.
"No, I'm good. We're good for now." Wade kept looking at the hallway. "Are you alone?"
"Yes." Tom sounded concerned. "Did something happen?"
"He's a hedgehog." Wade blurred out.
"What?"
"Shadow, the boy that I foster, is a space hedgehog." Wade was breathing quickly.
The sound of Tom's old creaking office chair came from the other end of the line.
"I guess we'll be able to help you more than we expected." The sheriff sounded shocked.
"Yes, because it's your fault." Wade meant it as a joke but because of his nervousness, it sounded more like an accusation.
"You're losing me," Tom said calmly.
"You wanted to adopt your kids so now every new alien child is put into a foster care system when they are found," Wade said quickly. He took a deep breath to calm down. "Sorry. I'm a little nervous."
"I can tell. Don't worry about it. I was a mess when I found Sonic." Tom said warmly. "We can visit you with our boys so Shadow would feel welcomed and know that he isn't alone on the planet. Sonic will be so excited to meet another hedgehog."
"I don't think that it is a good idea right now." Wade swallowed. "Could you keep it a secret from your boys for a few days? Shadow's situation is… complicated. He lost his home and all the people that he knew a few days ago in an accident. I think that he's still processing it on top of being in a new place. You know that I love your kids but they can be a little bit too much for Shadow right now.
"Ok, I get it. But if you need anything, I or Maddie can visit to help you. And when Shadow is ready, we can introduce him to my boys." Tom paused and his voice got darker. "They can relate to what he is going through and help him."
"I think so too, even if Shadow is from a different place than your boys."
"A different planet?" Tom asked, surprised.
Wade was angry at himself that he let that slip. "It's more complicated than that. I don't want to say anything more without talking with Shadow about it. I don't know what he's comfortable sharing about himself."
"Yeah, he should trust you with his secrets. But speaking of secrets. Can I tell Maddie about him?"
"Yes, just make sure that boys won't hear it." Wade heard some noise coming from Shadow's room. "Shadow woke up. I'll talk to you later."
"Ok. Bye." Tom hung up and Wade put the phone on the coffee table in time to see the hedgehog entering the room with an unamused expression.
"Good morning Shadow. Did you sleep well?" Wade said cheerfully, pushing his worries to the side. He had to be a support system for the hedgehog whether he was ready for it or not.
Shadow looked at the human as if he was asking a stupid question. "No."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Can I do anything to help you with that?" Wade got up to get closer but stopped when saw the annoyed look that the hedgehog was giving him.
"No," Shadow said.
Great start to the day. Wade needed to change the topic and to do it fast. "You are probably hungry. Sit down at the table and I'll get you some cereal with milk. Do you like it?
Shadow shrugged and sat down at the table. Wade could feel the teenager's gaze at him as he was getting breakfast ready. The hedgehog didn't even try to hide that he was staring at the human. Wade considered himself an expert on alien facial expressions but Shadow stumped him. There was an obvious annoyance painted on the boy's face but there was something behind his eyes that Wade couldn't put a finger on. Maybe it was a mix of a few different things and that made it more difficult. He placed the bowl in front of Shadow and without a word he ate it.
Wade sat on the other side of the table, wanting to start some casual conversation with the hedgehog. He didn't know a lot about the boy and most likely information in Shadow's file was off-limits. He would have to encourage the boy to talk about it when they would be more used to each other. For now, they should start with something simple. Shadow liked the chicken soup. It was an innocent enough topic.
"Do you have a favorite food?" Wade said with a smile. "I have a free day and I could try cooking it for you."
Shadow stopped with the spoon in his mouth. He slowly turned his head towards Wade and looked him deep in the eyes. The hedgehog swallowed loudly and his face was expressionless. He put the spoon down on the table next to the almost empty bowl. "I don't remember."
Wade's eyes went wide. "That is fine." He smiled nervously. The boy was going through so much and Wade had to say something stupid right out of the gate, making it worse. He needed to be more thoughtful. "We'll figure out what you like. I can cook different meals each day for a little while or order different food. Today we can order pizza. Everyone loves junk food so it would be a good start."
To Wade's surprise, Shadow started growling. The hedgehog stood up and started walking towards the back door.
"Where are you going?" Wade looked worried.
"To the woods," Shadow answered sharply.
Wade stood up quickly. "You can't."
Shadow turned around and glared at the human. "It isn't illegal for me to go on a walk."
"You can't go alone. You don't know the area and you could get lost." Wade wasn't planning that but a nice walk could be a good idea. It would clear their minds and make it easier to talk to each other. "Give me a moment to get ready and I'll go with you."
Wade moved quickly to get his phone when he heard the crackling electricity and suddenly Shadow was in front of him with deep red sparks all over his body.
"I can't get lost. I know your house and I can use chaos control to get back." The hedgehog snarled and moved toward the back door again. "I don't need your help."
Wade stood there stunned. It was one thing to know that Shadow can teleport but it was another to see it. The name that he gave to that ability was unusual but that wasn't the most important thing at that point. He couldn't let the hedgehog go alone. Teleporting was a nice backup plan but that wasn't enough.
"How far can you teleport?" Wade asked to ease his mind a little.
Shadow stopped and to Wade's surprise, the hedgehog's anger disappeared and was replaced with a calculated coldness.
"I'm not telling you that," Shadow said as his body got tenser and he lifted his hands in front of him. His eyes darted to all the windows and doors. The boy was getting ready to defend himself and escape. How did they get to that point?
"Fine. You don't have to." Wade said dismissively as his heart was racing in his chest. His interest in Shadow's powers triggered that weird behavior so maybe not bringing any more attention to it would get him to relax again. "But in that case, I need to make sure that you know how to find your way home when you are too tired to teleport so I'm going with you."
"I want to get away from you," Shadow said angrily, which in that bizarre situation, was an improvement.
"How about this? I'll go with you on a few walks and when you'll prove to me that you can find your way home without your powers, you'll be able to go on your own as long as you tell me where you are going and when you'll be back." Wade thought that it was a reasonable solution. Shadow would learn about the area and they would spend some time together. It beat the alternative of Shadow locking himself in his room.
The hedgehog studied Wada's face for a moment before he lowered his hands, no longer seeing the male as a threat. "No, and you can't stop me."
"I know but you can't just leave," Wade said as he was moving around the room getting ready to leave with Shadow.
"It's not illegal for me to leave. " The hedgehog narrowed his eyes. "I'll be back before sundown."
"It's not about that," Wade said firmly. "It's my job to make sure that you are safe and taken care of. If I can't do my job, they may decide that I'm unfit to be your foster parent and take you away. We need to work together so it won't happen."
Shadow went through a few emotions. Shock, disbelief, anger and finally landed on frustration. His ears twitched and finally, he let out an annoyed groan. "Fine. But if I have to spend time with you, you are going to tell me about other projects."
It was a small victory to get Shadow to listen to Wade. He tried not to show how relieved he was while putting on his shoes. "Other projects?"
"Yes, Wachowski projects." Shadow followed Wade to the front door and went outside as Wade locked the door. "Can I meet them?"
It was unexpected but Shadow was showing initiative. "Of course. I was planning to introduce you to them. I just wanted to let you settle in first."
"Can we do it today?"
Wade bit his lip. "Yes, but are you sure that you can handle that? A lot happened recently. Maybe you should take it easy."
"I'm fine. I want to meet other projects." Shadow said firmly leaving no room to debate if he was ready.
Wade sighed. "Ok. If you're sure I'll text…" He looked at the hedgehog who was asleep for 50 years. "inform Tom. He already offered that they could visit us later today. But Shadow, you need to know. They aren't projects."
The hedgehog furrowed his brow. "You and Layla implied that they are like me."
"Because they are." Wade looked down at the keys in his hand. How should he break it to Shadow? How much he was aware of the world outside ARK. Did those scientists know about aliens? They had to, right? Shadow looked too much like Sonic for it to be a coincidence. Maybe he was even based on a sample that they found.
"So what is the difference?" Shadow was irritated.
Maybe it is better to tell him right away. He was going to learn about it anyway if they were going to meet. It would give him more time to process before he would meet them. "They are natural aliens. They were born, not made."
