Hey guys, thank you so so so much for the reviews and support.
Sorry it's taken so long to update, but I kinda lost motivation. But I'm back now and hopefully the story shall progress lol.
Please leave a review and hope you enjoy :)
Despite the open cut that lined across his cheek, no doubt leaving a scar in the future, Shadow paid no attention to it. Instead his natural defenses took control and he leapt to his feet, bracing his stance and clenching his fists ready to fight one last time.
Yet, there was no fight to be have.
The blue hedgehog, who a minute ago was ready to create bloody murder, was now staring down at the ground, letting the fire bar fall from his hand while doing so.
Shadow was already confused, but the next part just left him stunned for words.
Sonic sighed deeply, sadness filling his eyes. "I'm sorry" he mumbled quietly, before walking away towards the door and leaving Shadow alone.
The agents was frozen in place, staring dumbfounded at what just happened, unable to figure it out. He had expected another fight, why would... this didn't make sense.
Then, almost acting as an alarm clock, the phone rang, snapping him back into reality. Shadow shook his head, resisting the urge to ignore the phone and throw himself into a pillow.
"Who is it?" Shadow asked, no formalities to be expected from him, especially as he planned on hanging up on anyone who wasn't important to him.
"Oh uh, hello. Is this Agent Shadow? My name is Vanilla, I recently had young Tails placed into my home through the child care service. I was told his friend Sonic was staying with you, and he wanted me to ask if he was allowed to speak to him?"
Shadow was silent for a moment. With so much going on, he forgot about the kid, until luck had it his memory finally jogged and he soon understood the question. However, his mind was still racking as to what to do about Sonic, that he felt he didn't have time for this. For all he knew Sonic was escaping out the window.
"Yes right, well, Sonic can't talk right now, so if you'll excuse me-" he went to hang up, but Vanilla stopped him.
"Wait wait, please Mr. Shadow, I'm afraid this is important. Tails is terrified of the lighting, and he refuses to stop hiding under his bed unless he hears from his friend, is there anything you can do?"
Shadow held the phone away as he groaned, irritated at how badly times this was.
"Fine! Just... leave me your number and I'll get him to call back" he said, before taking a pen and notepad and writing down the number she left him. With that out of the way he could start looking for the blue runt that had a habit of running away.
His first thought was to check the front and back door, in case Sonic had chosen to run out into the city again. Fortunately that wasn't the case as both doors were locked and keys still remained in their hidden place. At least this meant he was still in the house, but where?
Shadow took a brief look in the kitchen, laundry room and dining area. No sight. So went up stairs, and before he even reached the top step, he figured out where Sonic was hiding.
At the end of the hallway, between the two bedrooms that were opposite each other, was a small, simple closet room, which was used to store up old junk that he considered an eyesore. Only normally the door was closed and the light was off. Evidently, the light was on and the door was opened a jar.
Shadow approached it calmly, not wanting Sonic to freak out.
He opened the door, and sure enough, the blue hedgehog sat inside on the floor, his knees drawn up and his face buried into them. Shadow didn't know whether to slap him or console him. But rather then fire up another argument, the black hedgehog opened the door as wide as it could go, and squashed himself into the closet, sitting down next to the thief who had to shuffle to make room.
This was the only reason Sonic looked up from his arms, and Shadow didn't fail to notice the tear stains on his mussel.
It was silent for a moment, but it wasn't completely uncomfortable. Due to the small space they had, Shadow was almost completely pressed up against Sonic's legs, and he was careful not to catch his foot. The kid still wore the soaked through jacket, but that wasn't something he was dealing with just yet.
Sonic barely looked at him, just kept his eyes drawn down while wiping his face.
"Look... I understand that you're angry with me. I should have told you, but if this information had been leaked then I would have been taken off the Eggman case, and I've worked too hard to let that happen now" he lied.
Sonic closed his eyes tiredly, he like he was about to say something, but no words left his mouth, instead all he could manage was a simple shoulder shrug, feeling too low to even agree.
Shadow started to frown, feeling he was in too deep. Never in his life had he comforted someone, he didn't even know what to say. Part of him wanted to ring Rouge and get her to do it, but she had made it clear he was on his own. So it was down to him, and he was far from happy about it. Still, this was his responsibility, and he'll be damned if he couldn't handle any task or challenge before him.
Built with determination, he lifted his hand, and very very hesitantly, he went to place it on Sonic's shoulder, but stopped at the last second for no real reason. He didn't like touching people or being touched, and this was not something he was getting over easily.
Finally he settled with placing a hand on Sonic's knee, not noticing the disturbed look on the hedgehog's face. It quickly ended though after a brief pat and a very pathetic "there there".
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sonic mumbled, raising his brow at the agent. Shadow merely grunted, keeping his hands away now.
Now it was time to get straight to the point. No more messing around.
"What happened to you after you helped me?"
Sonic sighed sadly, almost placing his head back in his lap. He didn't want to talk about it, yet what choice did he have now?
"My dad did." He took a deep breathe, "When I came home we got in a fight about me giving you the jacket, he had spent a lot of money on it, so... you know. I can't remember what he said, or what actually happened, but I had to get out. So I ran away that night. I stole money from my parents room and left. I didn't know where to go or what to do, so I ran... just ran and ran until I couldn't any more. I don't know where I ended up, or how far I had gone, but it was just another city. I tried getting into a hotel, but they wouldn't let me in without an adult. So... I made the stupid mistake of sleeping outside. A group of guys saw me... and... attacked me. They stole my bag, which had the money in and left me with nothing, except this" he held the piece of the jacket in his hand.
"Anyway, that was my life for a bit, sleeping on the street, looking for food in the bins, having to beg only to be kicked down. I basically ended up like you did" he sighed, finally looking Shadow in the eyes, but the agent felt an empathy that was too deep to look back.
"And Eggman, how did that happen?" Shadow asked, not wanting to deal more with the thought of homelessness.
Sonic looked away, the memory being an extremely painful one.
"It happened seven or eight months ago. Eggman always goes after those who are desperate, who will be willing to do anything. Tails was with me at that point and... he was really sick. I-I didn't know what to do. If I took him to the hospital then they'd send him back home, a-and I couldn't do that to him! His parents are worse then mine. One of Eggman's henchmen found us outside of a pharmacy. I had used my speed to try and steal some medicines for Tails, but I didn't know which one he needed. The guy said his boss could help us, a-and I dunno, I was desperate for help! Tails wouldn't survive the night otherwise."
He stopped talking for a moment, having to inhale a trembling breath before he could even think of the next part. Shadow could feel the tremors from where he sat.
"I went with him... and I met Eggman. He offered me everything I needed, a place to live in, protection against the police, the medicine Tails needed, he even offered to pay me to work for him. I thought it was too good to be true" he laughed bitterly. "He promised... Tails wouldn't be hurt if I did it..." The smile was gone, twisted into despair. "You have to prove your loyalty... You have to submit to his rule... You have to surrender..." Water spilled from his wide eyes, as images of horror tormented his mind.
"Surrender? Surrender what?"
The boy was silent.
"Sonic. What did he make you do?" Shadow urged, gently placing his hand on the blue hedgehog's arm, but that set off a reaction he had not expected to happen.
From the single touch, Sonic threw his head down, grabbed onto his ears and began to scream tortuously.
Shadow pushed himself back out of instinct, almost knocking things off the shelves. The hedgehog was screeching out so loudly that his lungs should be bursting from the impact. He would struggling to even breath between every shrill, as he cried for his life. The agent wouldn't be useless however, not now.
He placed his hand on Sonic's back, rubbing firmly between his spines, the other he used to remove the blue hedgehog's hands from his ears, before any damage was done. The teen couldn't breath, he could stop screaming and he couldn't stop the tears from flowing. It wasn't hard to figure out now that he had a sever case of PTSD, and that he himself had triggered it.
"Calm down" Shadow repeated, possibly more aggressive then he had intended to. Sonic wasn't doing so however, and it was to the point he himself didn't know the best course of action was.
It was beyond his knowledge, and there was only one real option. He needed to call for help.
Standing up, he left Sonic screaming and crying in the closet, while he walked to his room, grabbing his cell phone before heading back as quickly as possible.
Before he even dialed the number, he sat back down in the tiny space he hand, and finally letting go of all his comfort, he placed his arm and the blue teen and pulled him close into his chest, causing Sonic to have his screaming muffled by the white fur he cried into. Yet, as unsure as Shadow was about this, he felt the boys arms eventually wrap around his torso, no longer resisting the force hold he was in.
"Rouge, I need you to come over, and bring a Doctor."