*Howdy! So in case, you didn't catch it in my other story, I'm sure you've noticed I've slowed way down updating. That's because I've found that writing scenes that are serious or have a lot of action in them is really hard for me; writing cute warm, feels heavy fuzzy scenes is much easier and faster. BUT I have not stopped!
I'm still working on this story, just at a much slower pace. I've started my Baby Sonic Boom One-Shots set after Sonic's Small Discovery to help keep me going, so if you haven't, check out the first one shot in that series!*
Schooling his face to a neutral expression like he had done a million times before Shadow reached out and roughly shook the blue blur's shoulder, "Huh? Wha? What's happ'n?" a groggy Sonic slurred harshly, rubbing his eyes, angry that he had been woken up when he was very much still tired. It felt like he had only fallen asleep a few minutes ago, and it was still dark.
What the hell?
"Sonic, get up. We don't have much time!" Shadow hushed while checking over his shoulder to see how soon Rouge would be done packing.
Sonic's anger vanished as he was snapped out of his Little space, and his heartbeat picked up hearing that familiar grumpy voice, "S-s-shadow?!" he half shrieked, realizing the compromising situation he was in. The blue devil scooted to the far end of the crib, wide awake, and futilely tried to hide his diaper bulge. Thank Chaos, I don't wet in my sleep.
"Wha-what are you doing here?!"
"Look, we don't have much time to explain-"
"WE?!"
Rouge voices her presence at that point, "Hey, Blue, sweety! Sorry for the wake-up call, but it's kind of urgent." Sonic gapes like a fish trying to figure out what the two G.U.N. spies were doing in his nursery in the middle of the night.
His first instinct was to deny everything even if that wasn't the most intelligent thing to do, "This-this isn't what it looks like-!"
"Calm down, Sonic. It's ok. We know. There's nothing to be ashamed of." Shadow says calmly, hoping his tone will keep the blue blur from panicking too much. He unlatches the crib bars letting them slide down. "I'm sure you're confused and wondering what's going on, and we can explain later, but right now, we need to get you out of here."
"Whoa whoa whoa! Wait a second!" Sonic waves his hands, stopping the dark hog from hopping into the crib and dragging him out, "I can't leave. What the hell is going on?!"
Shadow looked at his partner at a bit of a loss; she checked her watch before nodding for him to spill. His gaze returned to the alarmed blue blur looking at him for answers; "Ok, look...I'll tell you once, but then you have to cooperate, understand?" Shadow sighed; Sonic nodded, confusion written over his features as he watched Rouge fill his diaper bag in the background.
"G.U.N. ordered Rouge and me to secretly spy on you and Eggman as a precaution for your safety. So we know everything that has gone on over the last few months during that time." Sonic's face went ghostly pale, "Y-you have?!"
"Yes," Shadow smiles softly, "It's all confidential, though, so nobody but Rouge and I know, and we support you both."
The blue blur felt sick, horrified by this news. His rival not only knew but had been watching him act like a baby?! For months?! Sonic wasn't sure if he wanted to scream, puke, faint, or a combination of the three. But a bit of his color returned when it clicked in his mind that Shadow had said they supported him?
In fact, as Sonic looks back at Shadow, he's pleasantly surprised to find no trace of disgust, scorn, or rejection he had imagined to receive from his friends like he had dreamed. Instead, he found a warm smile, a helping hand, and was that fondness shining from those red eyes?
Sonic didn't know how to react to the open acceptance right now, as the shock of it all was too much to process. He barely swallowed away his urge to vomit and muttered, "Thanks, but...why are you guys here?"
Shadow's chest swelled, taking a breath in relief that Sonic took the news of their spying well but readies himself for the small breakdown he was still expecting. "Tails has been making plans to get you out of here. As we speak him, Amy and Knuckles are outside, causing a distraction while we take you out of the base and back to his house."
Sonic's head tilts to the side, not grasping the message, "I don't understand. What do you mean? Why are you guys doing this?" Shadow sighs again, this time seeming more tired, "Tails lied. He's insistent that Eggman's brainwashed you and that fox is determined to "rescue" you before the "brainwashing" takes full effect."
"Chaos! Tails!" The blue devil exclaimed, covering his face with his hands, the crisis making him forget his embarrassment; he couldn't believe this was happening! Just when everything was looking up, this happens and screws all their plans, "You guys don't believe him do you?!"
"No."
"Then why are you helping him?!"
"We're trying to contain the damage. Look-" Shadow steps closer to the crib, brows folding down as he carefully formulates his words, "Tails refuses to accept that Eggman has turned good. We know, but they don't and are convinced that you are in danger. Rouge and I have a plan, but we need you to help us if it's going to work."
"Why should I?" Sonic asks defiantly, crossing his arms; Shadow scoffs at his resistance to authority, "Because if you want to see the doctor again and not behind bars, you need to come with us." the blue blur tenses at the threat. Eyes dropping to the suddenly fascinating carpet.
He couldn't let that happen; all of their months of hard work gone just because of a misunderstanding was too easy to do. He couldn't risk losing his Eggy. If Tails succeeded, Sonic wasn't sure if he'd be able to forgive himself for letting his brother rip Eggman's second chance of freedom away from him.
"How do you know that...that this will work?"
Shadow gulps, "We don't. But Sonic, I promise you we will do everything we can to make sure the contract is fulfilled." he says with the underlying promise that Sonic and Eggman would still be together in the end. Shadow holds a hand out, silently begging the hedgehog to accept his offer.
Sonic bites his lip, thinking about whether to go with them and trust that this was the right decision or not. I don't think I have much of a choice. But Shadow never backs out of a promise, and if there's anyone I can trust right now...it's them. He lifts his eyes to Shadow's and, firmly grasping his hand, says, "I'm counting on you guys."
Rouge steps up next to Shadow with the bag on her shoulder as he helps Sonic get out of the crib, "Don't worry, sweetheart, just let us do our job." Sonic smiles at the white bat as a silent thanks before his face falls, remembering what he was almost walking out wearing and who in front of.
"Wait...uh, uh-"
Rouge reading his mind, smiles back kindly and asks, "Do you need help, sweetheart?" Sonic's cheeks flush at the pet name, "No. I got it. Why aren't you...?" he stammers clumsily while unzipping the footie pajamas that made him want to dig a hole and die in it.
Rouge chuckles lightly, understanding the rest of his unspoken question, "We've been watching you two since the beginning. And while it was a shock and concerned us at first, once we saw how much you and the doctor were benefiting from this-" she gestures to the nursery and the diaper Sonic was working on taking off, "we thought it was really sweet to see how much Eggman cares for you."
"You don't think-" the blue blur pauses, tossing the thankfully unused diaper aside and running and hand through his quills to distract himself from how red he knew his face must have looked, "that this is all...weird?"
"Well..." Shadow coughs bashfully, and his shoulders ride up, "It is a bit...odd, though I'm not the best judge of that since I'm behind the times after being asleep for 50 years. But I can't argue the benefits of the therapy. Also...I think I like you better this way." he smirks playfully at the end.
Sonic blushes once again and scratches the back of his neck at the compliment? He wasn't sure what to make of the smirk as he had never seen a playful one on the grumpy hog's face before, but he did like it, so Sonic decided to take Shadow's perceived compliment. "Uh, thanks? Heh."
The ebony hog nods and turns toward Rouge, "Got everything?" the white bat pats the full diaper bag, "We're ready to go!"
"Good-"
"Wait! What about Eggman?!" Sonic asks worriedly; he doesn't want to go unless Eggman knows what is happening. He couldn't leave his Eggy without saying goodbye or a see ya later; besides, with his collar's restrictions, he couldn't step one foot outside the perimeter. Not unless he wanted to be barbequed hedgehog.
"He can't know about this until later," Shadow says, impatience laced in his tone; he was trying to get Sonic to leave with them faster. He had been hoping to leave while the silent alarm was still on, but with all these delays, it looks like the base would go on full lockdown mode from the other group's distraction before they would budge.
Sonic's jaw dropped in shock, "What! No! He has to know what's going on now, not later! I can't leave anyway with my collar still on."
"Sugar, if we did that, Eggman would be compromised, and we've already got that covered. We'll fill in the doctor later, but right now, we need to go!" Rouge steps in, gently taking his arm and pulling him towards the hallway; Sonic makes a noise of refusal and tugs back, "No! Please just let me go talk to him real quick."
"We don't have ti -" just then, the vocal alarm cut Shadow off, and he cursed under his breath. Red lights flashed in the dark hallways as the alarm for lockdown thrilled in their ears. Entirely out of patience, Shadow went to grab Sonic's arm again, but the blue blur caught his movement and dashed away. The Ultimate Lifeform growled in annoyance at how difficult Sonic was being; he jumped on top of the blue devil, who was temporarily disoriented by the lights and sounds reflecting off the metal walls while searching to get away.
The two landed on the ground, grunting, and hissing at each other. Sonic squirmed and wiggled to get away from the black hog, but Shadow had a firm grip on his torso. Sonic kicked his powerful legs, threw his head back, and screamed but was cut off by a funny-smelling piece of cloth held over his mouth; he scrunched up his face at the awful taste.
He turned his head side to side to get away from it but the more he breathed, the weaker and fuzzy-headed he felt. With the disorienting surroundings and the chemical he was breathing in, he quickly forgot what was happening and why he was so upset; his eyes fell half-lidded, and he stopped struggling.
"Finally!" Shadow breathes out, using his strength to hold the blue blur up instead of pinning him down, "Shadow?" Sonic slurs turning his head to see the black hog, and says with astonishment, "You're hugging me?!" Shadow rolls his eyes at the drugged hedgehog.
"Thanks for the help." he huffs; Rouge lets out a small giggle putting away the laughing gas soaked cloth so that no one else would become accidentally loopy, "Come on, let's get Mr. Cuddly here to the workshop." she then gestures to the blue hedgehog who was now weakly hugging his grumpy rival mumbling about the white bit of fluff on Shadow's chest. The dark hog lowly growls at her joking and waits for her to grab his arm before yelling, "Chaos...Control!"
Shadow's eyebrows stayed scrunched down in annoyance as the rest of his face was being squished and stretched like taffy by clumsy gloved hands belonging to the person in his arms. Big green eyes watched in awe at how malleable Shadow's features were while the blue bundle babbled, "Shadow sad. Shadow smile. Shadow confus'd, Shadow-"
"Achoo!" the Ultimate Lifeform sneezed when Sonic tickled his nose; the blue blur giggled at the brief puzzled look on Shadow's face, "Shadow sneeze!" said black hedgehog rolled his eyes and quickly caught Sonic as he was falling back from giggling so much. He tightened his hold on the floppy blue devil that swayed; Sonic opened his eyes and paused, taking notice of his surroundings of the workshop, "Tails...where's Tails?"
"Tails will be here soon, baby." Rouge cooes, setting the diaper bag down, and affectionately pets his head. Sonic's dilated eyes widen at the bat, clearly too drugged to notice or care about her baby talking to him, and he gasps, "Wouge! You here too! You so pretty!"
The white bat faintly blushes, surprised by how sincere the compliment was, even if it came from a delirious hedgehog, she awkwardly replies. "Thank you, sweety." Sonic giggles and shyly hides his head in Shadow's chest fluff. The dark hog groans bouncing the blue blur in his hold to keep a better grip, "Seems like we'll be looking after the little one after all." Rogue fondly chuckles at the two.
Shadow narrows his eyes at her showing he is not amused about the situation, and scolds her. "You gave him too much gas. He just needed enough to be complacent, not enough to turn him Little and high as a kite. If he has an accident, you're cleaning it up."
"Well, he can't have an accident if he's empty now, can he?" she quickly retorts, opening her arms to take the blue blur; Shadow gives him to her happily, "You call Tails and let him know we're back while I take this little one~" her voice rises a few octaves as she turns to talk to the bundle in her arms, "To the potty and get him a snack~!"
Sonic's eyes light up hearing 'snack' it is about the midnight hour, so a bite to eat sounded really good. Focusing on his stomach, the blue hedgehog babbles to Rouge excitedly about what he wants to eat while she carries him inside the house.
After the door closes, Shadow sighs in relief at the silence as he pulls his communicator and sends a message that the mission is complete. Tails replies that they would be there in about a half-hour.
Shadow sniffs and crosses his arms, leaning back on a table, and closes his eyes to rest for a minute soaking up the brief respite of peace and quiet before everyone returns and the chaos starts again. The lack of distractions allows his mind to contemplate how to handle the blue blur's secret since he had accidentally slipped into Little space under the influence of the laughing gas.
Perhaps blaming his peculiar behavior on the medication would be a good excuse? After all, it was widely known people under its influence tended to act unusually and outright ridiculously at times. There were countless videos on the internet one could watch of such people crying over mismatched socks or from a commercial about dish soap. So it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he could convince Sonic's friends that the drug was to blame for the blue blur's behavior if they questioned it.
Shadow sighs, fiddling with his golden inhibitor cuffs, dreading the next few hours. This mission would not be easy, granted it was less physically demanding, but emotional and mental challenges were still in play. What I wouldn't give for a swiss roll right now, just to make this day slightly more bearable. Hmmm, perhaps I can use Sonic to convince Rouge to get some after testing as a reward? That is if he behaves well enough for one.
He silently chuckles to himself, imagining Sonic pouting and giving Rouge his deadly puppy dog eyes, begging her for a swiss roll. Shadow could easily see the white bat giving in after an internal struggle.
During their time spying on the human and hedgehog, they had both caught Eggman falling prey to Sonic's pouty face begging for extra playtime, sweets, or something else he wanted countless times. He knew if the blue blur ever pulled the same trick on them, they would give in as well. The real question was who could last the longest. Shadow did not doubt that he could outlast anyone but would still give in at the end.
You can't win them all.
The sound of a door opening alerts Shadow that Rouge and Sonic had returned; his other ear twitches, hearing the distant sound of a plane landing a moment later. Hmmm, that went by fast.
"Tails is back?" Rouge asks, hearing the muffled hum of the engine as well. The Ultimate Lifeform nods before tilting his head to the examination table; Rouge understands and gently sets the blue blur on the table, who was distractedly licking the last bits of peanut butter from his fingers.
The rotor of the plane quits, and the small fox with his band enters through the garage doors a few moments later. Tails and Amy's faces brighten, and their steps quicken to the table once they see the blue blur. Knuckles lags but smiles all the same over the reunion.
"Sonic!" Amy cries, reaching the hedgehog first leaping to hug him; Sonic jolts in her arms, startled, "Knuckles?" he shrieks in confusion. Why was his best-roughhousing buddy hugging him? Knuckles was NOT a hugger.
"No, it's Amy, silly!" The pink hedgehog laughs; she pulls back, looking and feeling him over for any injuries, "Are you ok? Eggman hasn't hurt you, has he?"
"Hmph! Leave me 'lone Nuckles don't wanna play with you now." Sonic pouts, put off by who he thought was the sharp knuckled echidna fussing over him. He was not in the mood to mess around; crossing his arms, he turns away from Amy.
The pink hedgehog steps back and laughs nervously at Sonic's odd reply, "What?! No, Sonic, it's me, Amy, you're girlfriend?" she enunciates slowly as if he was slow in the head, trying to help dispel his confusion while also taking his head to force him to look at her. Thinking that maybe his vision was somehow impaired, and he had confused her fur coloring for Knuckles?
Sonic whines and wrestles with her hands to let him go. "Noooooo! Stooooop!" the blue devil pushes away from her and turns to the real Knuckles shocking him asking, "Amy, make Knuckles stop bugging me; he's being a meanie!"
The echidna stills and blinks in confusion with his fists lying loosely to his sides at a loss, "Uuhh, why does Sonic think I'm Amy and that Amy is me?" he stutterers.
Tails sighs, pulling a hand over his face, his mood darkening as he steps closer to see Sonic's glassy and unfocused eyes. Tails' head falls in disappointment before lifting back up, annoyed at the red and black hedgehog, asking with a drone, "You had to gas him, didn't you?"
"Unfortunately," Shadow answers, walking up and gently pushing Amy to the side to keep her from upsetting the whiny and pouty blue blur further. Sonic sticks his tongue at her and pushes his face into the black hog's shoulder. Amy steps back, slightly hurt, confused, and shocked but pushes her feelings aside; there was no point in arguing about her identity with the out-of-it blue blur.
Tails moans and runs his hand through his bangs, "Just great." he mumbles to himself before saying in a resigned, louder voice, "That's ok, I can work with this. Let me get my stuff, and we can start." he then walks over to his desk and pulls out a medical kit and a stethoscope hanging by the wall.
Setting the kit next to the blue blur, Tails opens it and takes out a blood pressure cuff. "Ok, Sonic, can I have your arm for a minute?" The blue devil turns to see who is speaking and quirks a brow, "Cream?" he looks around the fox, searching for something, "Where Cheese?" he asks, raising a brow.
"No, Sonic, it's me, Tails. Your little brother?" Sonic squints his eyes at the fox, thinking for a moment before declaring, "Nope! You're Cream, not Tails." he then leans over and pets Tails' namesakes greeting them with a smile, "Hi Cheese!"
The small fox refrains from rolling his eyes in irritation at the situation; this is not how he had wanted the recuse mission to go. He takes a deep breath to compose himself. Gathering his patience, Tails tries again, "Can you help me with him, please?" he asks Shadow. The dark hog grunts, "I'm not faker's keeper." but then assists anyway, pulling one of the blue blur's peach arms away so that Tails can attach the cuff.
Sonic turns to Shadow, tilting his head to the side like a puppy dog, silently questioning what Shadow was doing with his arm before he smiles goofily, allowing the dark hog to do as he wished.
For the rest of the examination, Shadow tried to keep Sonic still and occupied while Tails continued the physical; but the blue blur was determined to talk to the fox. Tails tried to answer patiently and acknowledged his outrageous statements and questions such as; "Cream, why are you orange? Are we playing doctor? Cheese can be the nurse while you're the smart doctor! Can you see my brain with that? You smell like mint, Tails likes mints!" other than that the blue blur was mostly compliant. Only taking the stethoscope once to pet it, "Nice snake!" before ripping it away and throwing it to the other side of the workshop and randomly screaming, "No Cream! Bad snake, no bite!"
At that point, the fox gave up, exhausted and thoroughly done with Sonic's erratic behavior; the physical examination was done anyway.
"Alright, Sonic, just one more thing, and then we're done. Can you lie down for me?" Tails asks, patting the table, not waiting for an answer as he pushes the blue blur back, wanting to finish this last test as quickly as possible.
Sonic whines and kicks a foot in agitation, "No Cream! Not tired!"
"You're not going to sleep. I just need you to lie down for a few minutes, ok."
"No!" Sonic yells again, upset that "Cream" was trying to trick him into taking a nap; he crosses his arms and pouts, "No sleep!" Tails continues to wrestle and argue with the blue devil, but all the fox's reasonings were for not as Sonic refused to listen, adamantly repeating that he did not want to go to sleep. Like an overtired toddler, which he was.
After Sonic childishly kicks Tails in the shin and blows a raspberry, the fox turns growling and stomps away out of patience for this nonsense. He tosses his hands in the air exclaiming, "I give up! Anyone else have any ideas cause I'm all ears!"
Crickets chipped in the air, and everyone stared at each other, waiting for someone to move. No one even attempted to help or suggest an idea to get Sonic to finish the last test.
Shadow swept his eyes around the room, having an idea but waited for someone else to step up. He had already helped out keeping the blue blur in check, the ebony hog was determined not to assist anymore, but the rest of the group seemed lost on what to do.
Shadow internally groans to himself as it seems he was resigned to be the secret Little's handler. Sucking up his aggravation, he steps forward to the blue hedgehog swinging his legs wildly on the table, softly singing the itsy-bitty spider. "Sonic, can you lie down for me?" Shadow asks, already knowing the answer.
"No!" the blue devil refuted with a smug smile and rubbed his eyes with a clumsy fist. Shadow raised a brow and almost smiled smugly back but prevented himself from doing so. He knew this game. He'd seen Sonic do it several times before. The blue hedgehog would refuse and deny that he was tired and wanted a nap, but after some coursing with promises of cuddles, Eskimo kisses, and a story, Sonic would be out like a light.
Of course, doing so meant doing such things in front of an audience (how embarrassing!), but it was the only way to get the hedgehog who had as much energy as the energizer bunny to be still long enough for Tails to finish his tests. (Seriously, that company needs to rebrand and have the blue devil as their mascot instead; it would be more fitting!)
"Well, then I guess that means you don't want cuddles or a story." Shadow leans closer and enticingly whispers into Sonic's ear; the blue blur's eyes widen at this prospect. He loved getting cuddles and hearing Eggy's stories; Shadow doing the same sounded like a dream come true cause he never thought the Ultimate Lifeform would do something so domestic and paternal in a million years. No way was Sonic going to let this opportunity pass by!
"No, no, I want!" he begs, reaching out for the dark hog. Shadow bites his cheek to keep himself from laughing at how easy this was, "Ok, scoot over then." he grunts, tapping for the blue blur to move to the side before hopping up on the table next to him, ignoring the odd stares from everyone in the room. Putting his arm around Sonic's peach-colored arms and pulling him close, Shadow thinks of a story he can tell.
He didn't have very many good stories suitable for a toddler, at least not any, after his 50-year sleep, and some of his memories about life in the ARK with Maria were still fuzzy or missing, but he did have a few good ones.
One memory, in particular, stood out.
"Have I ever told you about the time Maria and I decided to make a cake for the Professor?" Shadow softly asks, setting the tone that now was quiet time; Sonic shakes his head with a smile and eyes shining with innocent curiosity and interest.
Rouge smiles warmly, seeing where this was going, and plants herself on one of the rolling stools; everyone else looked at Shadow, then Rouge, then at each other, questioning what was going on before they all shrugged. Taking Rouge's lead, they each found a suitable spot and took a seat, anticipation stirring in them as they watched and waited for the Ultimate Lifeform to start his story.