It was an unknown amount of time later before Shadow began coming to. The rest he had beforehand felt as if he had been naturally sleeping undisturbed for days, and it felt very rejuvenating. After a stir and a heavy sigh, he opened his eyes a little above a squint, trying hard to overcome the abrupt headache brought on by the bright sunlight shining directly in his bloodshot eyes. After a couple of blinks he fully opened them, quickly receiving the message of the full extent of his injuries. Everything hurt, and it felt as if he had been tortured and beaten for days on end. He stopped writhing with much effort and tried a vain attempt to get up, but pain over swept him, and found that it multiplied by ten if he attempted even the slightest movement so he fell back. He wanted to move so badly so he could deal with his pain better, but he couldn't. He had nothing to hold onto, aside from the dense, dew-strewn vegetation and twigs under his body, and trying to overcome it was beginning to become very stressful to him. He was falling into unconsciousness once more, yet the pain was not letting up at all. Dizziness was conquering his mind, and his vision blurred to the point that he could not see a thing– except for a dark figure the blocked the upper half of his sight. The figure was large and round and seemed innocent enough with its head to the side, and to him in his confused state, it looked like Eggman.

"Doctor?" he whimpered quietly.

Again the figure cocked its head, this time in the opposite direction, and slowly reached out for him. Shadow closed his eyes and that put him back to sleep in a heartbeat. The figure picked him up very carefully, pressure abound on the hedgehog's body until he felt as if he was yanked free from a monster's grasp. He was laid in a small, plastic tarp pulled out from the figure's backpack and carried away in his arms like a little child. He was safe.

"Doc-... tor..."

Whispers were abound in his mind. Quiet whispers that surrounded him and felt directed to him in a discreet manner. The silent, echoing melody wasn't as haunting to him as it was familiar, so he continued listening intently while trying futilely to decipher any particular words or voices. It was only a few minutes until these breeze-like sounds began to amplify. They continued getting steadily louder to the point that the more they penetrated his head, the more it hurt to listen. His world went from a dreamy blue to a solid black and he opened his eyes again to unfamiliar forms surrounding him. This time, there were three. He opened his eyes more, the forms and whispers becoming clearer by the second, and he heard one of them say: "I think he's coming to." His blurry vision fixed and he could see two hedgehogs and a fox staring warmly at him. Before he could let out a word, he instinctively closed his eyes again from another sudden onslaught of a headache.

"Ouch!... My head... Ugh, where am I?"

"Hey, the faker lives!" said Sonic, "And to answer your question, you're on Amy's couch. A friend found you in the forest, tangled in vines and whatnot, so he brought you here."

"No wonder I couldn't move, and who's 'he'?"

Sonic nervously withdrew a bit and looked around to try and find a suitable answer.

"Uh, a close friend. Let's just keep it at that."

Sonic figured that Shadow would be none too thrilled if he found out he had actually been saved by a large, lumbering cat, so he would keep that confidential.

"Hey, was I out for awhile, 'cause I feel that way?"

"Actually, he just left about five minutes ago."

Shadow nodded his head as he began taking in the pieces of information from their short conversation. Suddenly he groaned loudly, his body growing stiff as he clutched firmly into the tarp on which he had been transported.

"Shadow? You okay?"

"Hurts..."

"Don't worry," Amy said, kneeling down beside him and taking his hand, trying to calm him down,

"We'll take care of you. That's why we have him."

Shadow's body finally relaxed after a few deep breaths, and he opened an eye to a smiling, waving fox.

"You're kidding me..."

No, they weren't kidding at all. The little two-tailed fox did indeed help Shadow, but it wasn't his age that irked him the most, but the way he had helped him. It was undoubtedly one of the most painful hours of Shadow's life. True, he could take him messing with his exterior injuries: cuts, bruises, and so forth. He could take a few stings and prods, but it was when Tails tried to set his left leg back in alignment that he lost it. It came as a bit of a warning to him when Amy and Sonic were instructed to hold him still, and the first attempt he instinctively fought, same as the second and the third, until Tails got fed up and put him in a position to where he couldn't fight as much and told to stay there. Throughout his moaning and yelling, the hedgehog couple kept reassuring him he would be all right, but that wasn't the problem! It was a good fifteen minutes before his leg was fully straight, and Shadow was out of breath, even though Tails was the one that did all of the work. Ever since then, Shadow would always hold a grudge against that fox...

After that little escapade and a few others, it was decided he would not be taken to a hospital, because not only was he not in the serious condition that he should have been in, but because they felt it would be a bad idea to release information on his survival out in the public at the moment, especially if GUN still had some sort of personal vendetta against the whole project idea. So Tails left some simple instructions to Amy for his care: Keep his leg elevated and keep him as still as possible. Pain could be kept in check with a bottle of medicine she was given. With that, the pair bid them both good-bye. Amy turned back towards Shadow the second the door closed and found him resting a bit more comfortably. He sighed and shifted a bit, about to go back to sleep when he felt a small, light sensation brush across his shoulder a few times. He pushed the annoyance away and turned to the source, strangely surprised to find Amy staring at him. After an quick, yet odd silence, he spoke up in a somewhat annoyed manner.

"Yes? What'd you want with me?"

"I uh, was just wondering... whether you were hungry..."

"A little bit... Uh, some soup would be nice... I guess," he said, turning away.

Without another word, she left him alone and headed into the kitchen. Shadow sighed. Everything was going in a completely opposite direction from what he imagined. He didn't want to be here with this girl, in a hospital, or anywhere on this planet. He wanted that light; the light that made him feel so warm... so safe... so content... and he didn't care whether he had to give up his very life for it, for his life (the way he felt about it) was nothing in comparison to the feeling he experienced when the light began to approach him that day. That feeling seemed to be so addictive... he needed it now... He knew what was there... and who was there... and that's the reason he fell with no struggle. That was the reason he chose to end his life, which had been completed. He had done everything he needed to do; what he was created to do...

So why was he here, in this house, with this girl who was going to shower him with unneeded sympathy?

He was sharply awoken from his thoughts by a loud clattering of pots and pans. Rubbing his head, he whirled around to see her pulling a pot from the cabinets, which looked like a mess inside. He huffed in annoyance, turning back around and closing his eyes, waiting patiently. After filling the pot nearly to the brim with vegetable soup, Amy put it on the fire and went back down in the den, taking a seat on the opposite couch and watching him. He seemed to have this air about him, and she didn't know what it was. It was like... like this hidden person was underneath his hard, shy exterior, and she only caught a glimpse of it once when he ran out of the lonely chamber on ARK, leaving her with the words: "I have to keep my promise to Maria... and you..." So many questions arose from that strange statement, adding on to the millions that still had been left unanswered. What did he mean "promise"? He never promised her a thing. In fact, she was the one who did most of the talking in their conversation. And who was this Maria he mentioned? More importantly... who was he?

"Shadow? Um..."

He opened one eye and slowly turned his head to her in a manner that made him seem as if he was on the very brink of death.

"Yes? What now?"

"You made me think of something... on the ARK the other day... And with all of the hype and questioning going on, it made me wonder..."

"Yes?"

"Did you... fall on purpose?"

His eyes widened at that question. What was he supposed to say to her? That he wanted to commit suicide? He wasn't going to do that in the least, so he told a half-lie.

"I ran out of power. That's all," he said, a hint of anger in his voice.

Amy simply narrowed her eyes in suspicion and continued on to say,

"That's not the whole story, is it?"

Now Shadow's patience was beginning to run out, but he didn't want to snap out at her in any way, however, since he did remember at the moment that she was going to take care of him for God knew how long, so he faced her once more and said in the calmest voice he could muster,

"I ran–... out of power."

Amy remained quiet, immediately giving up her quest for any information. She knew that there was something very personal going on with Shadow that he was keeping from everyone and would probably take to his grave one day, and whatever it was it was devastating. She could sense it immediately from the look in his eyes as he continued to stare angrily at her, which truly sent the full meaning in his words towards her. His eyes were very intimidating and seemed to slash right through her. But on closer inspection they seemed more desperate than stone cold... much more sadder... She turned away and smirked to herself, thinking about that secret person inside of him and what that wonderful person was like. Who knows? Maybe Shadow was simply another Sonic before he experienced whatever event that turned him into this quiet little mystery. Soon, Shadow sat up with a little bit of effort and again turned to look at her.

"Uh... Amy?"

"Hm?"

"I think the soup's done."

She too, could smell it in the air. Again, silence reigned throughout the house as their conversation ceased and she went into the kitchen to turn the fire off. Once she did, she retrieved a bowl from out of one of the wall cabinets, poured some soup out of the pot, and gave it to him. Unknown to him, he was downing it quite fast, and it wasn't hard to see why, since he hadn't eaten any real meals in a good fifty years. Amy giggled at him inside her head and a few times out loud. The few times she did, he would stall a bit and quickly look in her direction, a bit of confusion and nervousness in his glances. The hedgehog was never real good with the opposite sex. It had even taken him a bit of time to get used to talking and interacting with Maria comfortably, even though it had been love at first sight, so he tried as hard as he could to seem as normal and casual as possible.

"How's the soup?"

"Hm, not bad," Shadow said, clearing his throat, "It's pretty good."

Amy then focused more and saw a lot of liquid around his mouth and even a bit on his white fur. She couldn't help but laugh, but Shadow frowned at her.

"What's so funny, huh?"

"Oh, nothing..."

Shadow looked at her in confusion for a few seconds. He then looked down at himself, letting out his trademark "Hmph" and wiping the liquid off of his mouth, then off of his fur.

"Hungry, huh?"

He was silent, only raising a brow at her. Without another look or another word, he finished off the soup and set the bowl on a small coffee table right beside the arm of the couch. After that, he laid back down and turned towards the inside of the couch, preparing to go to sleep for a few hours. When Amy had finally worked up the courage she had left to speak to him, she found he had indeed fallen asleep. She watched him closely: his twitching ears, his irregular breathing pattern, his stirring... And yet, even as peaceful as he seemed to be inside of his dreams, there was still something wrong... And Amy knew just what it was.

After a few minutes, the hedgehog was covered in a deep, blue blanket, snuggling further and further inside the soft pillow and warm cover as he continued to drift farther into his beautiful, mystic dreams.