He ran.

He wasn't running because he had to make it somewhere before a certain time.

He ran because he wanted to.

Something about running always felt good to him.

So he ran, living up to his nickname, the blue blur, Sonic smiled to himself as he continued running

He ran across the hills and the woods. He even ran across the desert and did so in almost the blink of an eye. And in another blink he found himself doubling back to reach his home. "Ah~" Sonic muttered as he dropped down on his hammock and started to relax. "Now that was a good run." He muttered as he stared skyward.

It really was a nice day out.

Didn't seem like anything could possibly ruin it.

He paused, mentally cursing himself for thinking that. "Now the day's gonna get ruined." Sonic muttered as he slammed a hand on his face and took a breath. Why'd I need to say that?" Sonic muttered before taking a breath and waited. "Any second now." He muttered. "Any second now."

To his surprise nothing came to ruin his day.

No one was coming to his place saying that Eggman was trouble. Amy wasn't coming out of nowhere.

"Huh." Sonic made a noise. "I think I'm in the clear." He thought. "Again." His smile started to fade.

One month.

It had been just over a month since Sonic and his friends had stopped Eggman's near complete takeover of the world. One month since Eggman had gone ghost. It was weird honestly. Eggman was the kind of guy who picked himself up almost weekly with a new plan. But to have him go silent for a whole month? That was honestly strange.

Believe it or not some Mobians were starting to think the old Doc had called it quits.

The rest though, those that knew better?

They knew the doc was probably just taking some extra time to lick his wounds as he planned something, and whatever he was planning was going to be big.

In the meantime, they still had a lot of cleaning up to do. So many of Eggman's robots were still littering the cities and zones… They had a lot of cleaning up to do.

Right now though, right now Sonic just needed some time to himself. Needed to relax and -

Zabok's fists came crashing down on head.

Sonic breathed as he stared outward. "Everything's gonna be fine~"

Shadow kneed him in his stomach.

"It's gonna be fine."

Metal showed how sharp his claws were.

You're gonna be fine."

Chaos started to drown him.

"You're gonna be-"

Infinite glitched in and out of reality as he approached him.

Sitting up Sonic gasped for air before suddenly hugging himself. He was shaking. He had to stop shaking. "Everythings ok…" He muttered as he continued to shake. "Everythings ok." He repeated. "It's over, you won." He muttered. "You helped save the world, again." He muttered before taking a breath. "Everythings… gonna be ok…" He muttered as he forced himself to stop shaking and leaned back down on his hammock.

He really wanted to sleep.

But as it stands his dreams were being haunted by what happened. Sure it had all turned out to be an illusion, but in his mind…

"It was way too real." He muttered. "Just what was that Phantom Ruby anyway?" No one answered. "Where the heck did Eggman find that thing anyway?" Again he didn't get an answer. Rolling over in his hammock, Sonic closed his eyes as tried to relax. The moment he did however his thoughts just went right back to his time in captivity.

He started to shake again as memories passed through his mind.

He'd never tell anyone what happened then.

He'd never tell them what happened to him for six long months.

He couldn't tell them. Eggman nearly broke him.

He was Sonic the Hedgehog after all.

No matter what happened to him, he was always supposed to be easy going and make wise cracks when it comes to anything related to Eggman. He wasn't allowed to be weak in front of everyone, he wasn't allowed to show fear. But that didn't change the fact that he had been afraid back then. It didn't change the fact that he was still afraid now.

His thoughts shifted to Shadow, or at the very least an Illusion of Shadow jabbing a gun into his head and calling him weak.

He knew Shadow could get angry, Shadow was always angry, but that illusion… he'd never known Shadow could look so… pissed. He honestly thought he was going to shoot him a few times, but something kept pulling him back, maybe it was the illusion cast by the phantom ruby, maybe it was Eggman's orders.

"It wasn't real…" It felt real though, that was the problem. Every punch, every kick, every word spoken in pure venom, every time he smashed his skull in with the side of one of his pistols… it felt real. "It wasn't real…" Even after getting out a month ago, Sonic still wasn't able to look Shadow in the eye without having flashbacks. By Chaos he nearly had a heart attack last time he saw him… and it took more willpower than he'd like to admit in holding back his desire to break down crying. "It wasn't real…" He muttered. "That wasn't Shadow."

Shadow wasn't like that.

Shadow never let himself get that angry.

Shadow never spoke with such hatred in his words that Sonic could feel it in his bones.

Shadow never threatened the safety of his friends.

"That wasn't Shadow…" Sonic repeated as he tried to calm himself.

"What wasn't me?" Sonic damn near pissed himself as he heard the voice, his attention slowly turning to see his rival standing not too far from him, arms crossed and that perpetual frown on his face.

Out of nowhere his expression shifted to one of pure hate as he slammed him against the wall of his cell and threatened to shatter his ribs.

A moment later he was back at his hut and Shadow just raised a non-existent eyebrow.

"Oh, hey Shadow." Sonic put on his best smile as he sat up. "Didn't hear ya." He really didn't; was he that out of it that he didn't hear Shadow on his motorcycle riding up to his place? "What brings you here?"

"I was looking for you." Shadow admitted. "With how often you go running around the world it's not easy keeping track of you." He admitted. "But there's one place you always run back too."

Home. No matter how far away Sonic ran, he would always come back home.

Well I guess you gotta point." Sonic muttered as he scratched his head. "So, what brings you here?" Shadow just stared down at him as Sonic started to squirm. "What?"

"I told you didn't I?" Shadow began. "I was looking for you."

"Well, you found me." Sonic did a sweeping motion over his body. "What's up?"

"Tell me what happened during your time in the Death Egg." For a split second Sonic froze, his mind immediately flashing back to his time in a cell as Shadow narrowed his eyes slightly. A second later though, Sonic was back to normal as he cracked a smile.

"Oh that?" He attempted to brush it off like it was dirt on his shoulder. "It wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

Shadow wasn't buying it. "Six months." He stated calmly. "You were in captivity for six whole months." He stated. "Anything could have happened in that time, Sonic." He tried lowering his voice to sound calmer. "What happened?"

"Nothing, really." Sonic shrugged. "I sat in a cell and got zapped a couple times, but other than that nothing happened."

"So he tortured you." Shadow muttered as he looked elsewhere.

"Eh~" Sonic did this nonchalant hand wave. "It wasn't anything too bad."

"You're lying." Shadow stated matter of factly. "If it was nothing you wouldn't be shaking right now." He stated as he grabbed Sonic's wrist and felt a flinch. "Your pulse just quicked too, your breathings off beat, your pupils are dilated." Shadow could go on for a bit longer but he made his point. He fell silent. "Don't forget, I know about the copies." He stated as Sonic looked elsewhere. "I know about the copies Infinite made of me." He stressed the last word. "And I know you haven't been able to look me in the eye since you got back." Shadow let Sonic go. "Tell me, what happened Sonic, what did 'I' do to you?"

He knew.

Of course he knew; Shadow had always been the perceptive type.

He probably knew something was wrong with him ever since he got back from space.

"Talk to me, Sonic." Shadow whispered. "What happened to make you afraid of me?" Sonic didn't say anything, just falling silent as he looked elsewhere.

"You…" Sonic flashed back to his time in captivity. "You hurt me." He whispered and Shadow fell silent. Taking a breath he settled down next to Sonic on the hammock and just nodded his head.

He let Sonic continue when he was ready.

And Sonic was grateful for that.

When he was ready he told his counterpart about what happened in the Death Egg.

He told him about Eggman's shock treatments.

He told him how many times Chaos seemed to enjoy nearly drowning him.

He told him how Metal would rake those claws of his across his body.

He told him how Zobak would beat him within an inch of consciousness.

He told him… he told him about Shadow's seemingly pure hatred for him.

"I know we've had our differences in the past but… seeing you act like that, I thought…" Sonic paused. "I thought you were actually going to kill me." He confessed. "All I could really think about was how I didn't want to die and wonder what I did to make you hate me so much."

I don't hate you though." Shadow admitted as he stared at Sonic for a moment. "I'm annoyed by your endless arsenal of quips and wise cracks." Shadow stated with a smirk. "But I don't hate you." He paused. "If we're being honest, you're one of the three closest people I consider a friend."

"What?" Sonic paused looking at Shadow as if he had grown a second head. "Did you just call me a friend?" Shadow just nodded his head. "Who are the other two."

"Rouge and Omega obviously."

"Yeah that makes sense." Sonic laughed slightly as he stared off into space. "Thanks." Sonic said after a while. "I hate that you're so moody, but I think of you as a friend too."

Shadow released a smirk at the word and seemed to nod his head again.

"There are things friends do that get on each other's nerves, but that doesn't change that they're friends in the end."

"What does Rouge do that gets on your nerves?" Sonic asked as Shadow just raised a finger to his lips as if to say 'it's a secret'.

"Wouldn't want you ratting me out to her now, would I?"

"I guess not." Sonic laughed again and the two fell into a silence. "You're… not gonna tell anyone, are you?" Sonic asked slowly as Shadow's smirk disappeared. "Please, they can't know what happened." Sonic all but begged. "They can't know I almost...broke down."

"I won't." Shadow admitted. "You should be the one to tell them that." Shadow paused. "When you're ready." He added. "In the meantime, I think you should see someone."

"Let me guess a therapist?" Sonic admitted. "You know I actually thought about it, but I'm not too sure if it's for me."

"PTSD isn't something that just goes away Sonic." Shadow muttered. "It's gonna stick with you and its keep hurting you unless you get help." Shadow stated. "You remember the Rookie? Well, they started a counselling circle for those who suffer from PTSD because of the war with Eggman. They knows they can't do much outside of that right now, but they listen to those willing to gather around. They talk about their issues, their nightmares and those that were lost…" Shadow admitted. "That might do you some good, so check in on them when your ready." Shadow reached behind him and pulled something out. It was a flier.

Post Eggman War Counselling Sessions

For Private Seasons please call XOX-XOXO-XXOO.

For Group Seasons please call OXO-OXXO-XOXO.

"Give them a call when you're ready." Shadow stated as he got up looked at Sonic for a moment.

"Thanks… I'l… I think about it." Sonic muttered in this uncharacteristically uncertain tone. "Thanks for stopping by Shadow, it means a lot." Shadow nodded his head before seeming to look around as he scratched his quills. Then out of nowhere, he stepped back up to sonic and hugged him. "Uh Shadow? What are you?"

"You're gonna be ok." Shadow spoke in an unnaturally soft voice. "It's gonna take some time, but you're gonna be ok." Sonic didn't say anything before slowly smiling as Shadow patted his back as if uncertain whether this was the right thing to do. That done, Shadow backed away as he gave Sonic a look over before turning away. "See you around, Sonic."

"See you around, Shadow." Shadow hopped on his bike as he started the engine and drove off not a moment later, leaving sonic and the flier behind. Sonic looked it over again before stepping off his hammock and headed inside. "Post War Counselling huh?" He muttered as he closed the door to his hut and settled down on his couch.

He'd think about it. Right now though - right now he really just wanted to rest. Close his eyes for a few minutes and not flash back to 'that time'.

A knock on his door caught his attention as he opened his eyes again. Settling his flier on his couch, then taking a second to hide it between the cushions, he walked back to his door as he called out. "Who is it?"

"Um Sonic, It's me Cubot."

"Oh great." Sonic muttered as he popped the door open and looked down at one of Eggman's personal machines as they scratched their head.

"Hey sonic, uh you're looking good."

"Hey Cubot, let me guess Eggman wants to settle things, right?" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Wow, you know how this goes don't you?"

"Cubot I've been fighting back to back since I was 15." Sonic admitted. "After every major failure he issues a 'One last round', I kick his butt and he turns tail and runs off cursing my name." Sonic stated. "I figured he'd do something like this sooner or later."

"Oh…" Cubot stated as he scratched his head. "Well… he's issuing his final, final challenge." Cuubot stated. "A winner takes all battle to decide the fate of the Eggman War."

"Right~" Sonic didn't really believe him. Too many times had he responded to this Final battle and either veggman got away or it was one of his robot doppelgangers. "When and where?"

"Green Hill Zone in~." Cubot seemed to think as he tried remembering something. "3 hours."

"Tell him I'll be there." Sonic dug a finger in his ear. "I'll take a nap first, ok."

"Right. You do that." Cubot popped up as he started floating off before stopping. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"I uh…" Cubot seemed to think for a moment as he scratched his head. "No matter who wins um… it's been an honor." Sonic blinked as he watched Cubot fly off. For a moment Sonic just watched the little robot fly off as he stared in confusion.

"Huh?"