It felt like there was a hole in his chest, a pain that pushed from between his shoulder blades and through the other side. He'd felt worse, a lot worse, but it was the kind of discomfort that fully consumed one's attention with its perpetual throbbing. By virtue of his body, the pain grew duller as he roused further into consciousness and its source faded further into obscurity with each heartbeat but, as that pain left him, he became aware of other, less pressing, injuries. His right shoulder was aching, a sign it'd been recently reset, and there was a certain coldness above his brow that told him both informed him of his position and brought him peace.

Though his eyes were closed, and something soft was keeping them sealed, he could perceive that his surroundings were light. There was a high-pitched ringing in his ears that was, gradually, fading and the ground beneath him was soft, almost certainly a mattress. He could smell too, strong perfume lingered in the air, his partner had been here. Whatever had happened at the end of their last mission, he'd made it home and been left to recuperate in bed as ever. Rouge would be tending her own wounds, perhaps fixing up Omega now that he'd been dealt with. He drew his tongue over his teeth, the first movement he'd dared to make since he'd roused. More was broken than intact but, already, he could feel his jaw shifting as the dentine and enamel grew. He'd clearly taken a beating, but he doubted it could compare to falling from space.

To Shadow the hedgehog, this was not a new position. Fulfilling a mission occasionally meant self-sacrifice. He liked to think he knew that better than anyone else, but a certain biological quirk of his rather predisposed him to such acts. It wasn't that he was any less fragile than his counterparts but, due to his lineage, injuries tended not to stick with him like they did others. He tried to think back, the last thing he recalled was entering one of Eggman's bases with his companions in tow. Well, judging by the compress on his forehead and his soft surroundings, they'd all made it back ok. Putting two and two together, he'd probably told them to escape while he-

The obscured world around him had suddenly grown darker, he felt the coldness on his head vanish before quickly being replaced by a far icier touch. A hissing gasp slipped from his lips at the new contact and, all of a sudden, the shade above him recoiled. The icy mass slipped from the top of his head and slid onto his muzzle before crashing into his clavicle. The sound of multiple small objects meeting the floor followed, though some coldness lingered upon his chest fur.

He immediately felt a hand on his forehead and another upon his uninjured shoulder, "Shadow?! Are you awake?" That was a voice he knew well though its distressed tone was rather rare.

A little annoyed that his first action had been to show weakness, he debated remaining silent for a moment before sighing. Though he'd already assumed such, it was good to hear she was unharmed, "Yes Rouge, I'm awake," When his voice came out as a mumble, he, admittedly, regretted speaking.

Her touch returned to him, heavy to the point of uncomfortableness but now he knew to bite his lip, "Are you still hurting? Have I missed anything? You're practically bandaged head to toe."

"Still hurting, getting better," He managed to wheeze. She seemed to quickly understand and lighten her grasp, "How are my eyes?"

"I've not checked since I've bandaged them, I didn't want to wake you. Just say if this hurts and I'll stop," As words flooded from her mouth, he felt her quickly shift. The world grew darker as contact was made with the front of his face, "You're lucky your head wasn't crushed, the state we found you in was…" Light flooded his vision as the wrapping was removed, he blinked a good dozen times but the bat remained a blur of tan and white. He went to shift closer and rise into a sitting position only for her hand to return to his shoulder, "Oh no, Shadow. You're not getting up until I say you can get up."

She must have caught him squinting, she was getting too good at reading him, "Rouge, I'm fine. I won't be bab-

The weight on his shoulder grew, ever so slightly, heavier and he bit his tongue. Well, judging by their sharpness, his teeth were certainly healing. Left with little choice, knowing he couldn't actually get up and walk around, he half-grunted, "Fine."

Rouge's grasp left his frame as she swept up whatever had fallen to his chest before ducking beneath the bed. It was only as she left that Shadow was able to take in his, still blurry, surroundings. He wasn't in his room, the shelves on the surrounding walls were far too fully stacked for that, this was Rouge's room. What was he doing in Rouge's bed? Usually she set him up in his own room, let him recuperate in peace, what was different this time?

When she moved back into view his vision had already improved a little. Rouge now had the shape of a bat now even if specific details were harder to pick out. One thing though, based on the blend of colours she wore, confused him though. As she sat back on the bed, taking a position next to his chest, he couldn't help but ask, "Why are you still in your work garb? Shouldn't you be in something more comfortable?"

Partway through lowering what he now recognised to be a makeshift ice pack onto his head, his words seemed to register with her, "Because I'm looking after you. Do you not realise what you did to yourself?" There was a certain harshness in her voice that Shadow could only recall hearing a handful of times, "You remember what you did, don't you?"

"Well," His brow hardened, he tried to recall, but everything beyond that base's entrance was a mystery to him. He tried to change the subject, "Where is Omega?"

"Grocery shopping, getting you more medicine too. No more than a couple scrapes on him, unlike you," She replied, that tone not leaving her voice.

"So, it all worked out then? My plan worked," He tried to, nonchalantly, respond.

"Yes Shadow, you defied the odds again, you defied death again," The heavy touch of the kitchen towel filled with ice made him flinch, his eyes shut tight as the cold spread across his face, "Now, tell me what you did."

"I…" He tried one last time, but nothing came to mind, "I don't remember."

"I thought so…" Silence hung stagnant in the air, each passing second felt like an hour, "What do you remember?"

He felt her shift, the cold compress was danced across his forehead. He didn't dare open his eyes as he spoke, "Eggman was using a chaos emerald to power a new assembly line, intel suggested he was constructing more robotic copies of me. We went in while he was out dealing with Sonic, thinking it'd be easy," As he said that, a few more synapses fired, he remembered just a little more, "The factory was guarded though, not just by copies of me but bigger machines. Whenever we took one down a new one would be built, it seemed like an endless battle of attrition. We made it…" His memory lapsed again, "Somewhere, I think it was the generator? I can't remember anything beyond that."

"I see," She seemed to hum, the compress left his forehead and a warm hand took its place, "I don't care if you don't want to know, I have to tell you so you can understand."

There was a quiver in her voice, that was enough to force his eyes open. As he looked upon her for the third time, his vision fully restored, a brand-new pain stabbed in his chest. Rouge the bat always looked prim and proper, fashion seemed more natural to her than breathing, but she sat by him in this perfectly styled room, her fur thick with dust and bags beneath her eyes. Though she'd shed her gloves to tend him, the rest of her attire remained: tears lined her unitard, small cuts and bruises remained entirely untended, and she looked to be facing a titanic internal battle.

On instinct, he went to sit up, "Rouge, wh-

Her hand pressed over his mouth, he lacked the strength of body or will to fight her despite his immediate worry. Totally bewildered, his eyes darted across her frame as if it might show some kind of explanation. Despite her injuries, despite the tiredness within her eyes, he could only identify one emotion on her face. Rouge was worried, Rouge was worried about him.

"You brought it down on top of you, all that concrete and metal. You took down the factory," She recalled, shifting her hand to caress his muzzle, "We all made it to the generator, saw it was powered by an emerald, and you told Omega to blast a way out. You insisted that I go with him and promised that you'd follow us out. We weren't happy about it, but you kept ordering us, you told us that you could handle this, and we believed you. Once we'd made it back to the entrance we radioed in, told you it was clear, but something happened," She turned away from him, her hand dropped to his chest, "I don't know if you noticed something about the generator or did it yourself but there was an explosion; we were thrown through the entryway by the shockwave as the factory collapsed. The dust cloud was massive, rubble flew everywhere."

They'd been working together for almost two years now, though he supposed it'd been more like one since he'd fully regained his memory. Events like this weren't too uncommon, he could remember seven since he'd got his memories back, but this time was admittedly different. Usually he'd take a blow for her, he'd get caught off guard or something of that nature. It'd be bad, but it'd be quick. This was, undeniably, the worst he'd hurt since he'd fallen from space.

"It took us five hours just to find you. We'd find an arm or a leg only for it to be another android, and when we did…" The time they'd spent together had taught him more than how to catch a bullet for her. By the shape of her wings and position of her ears, he could tell she was upset without seeing her face, "The state you were in terrified me." Silence filled the room again, its pressure smothering him. He heard her take a deep breath and swore he saw her fist tighten in the corner of his eye, "How long can you keep this up for? How many times can you get crushed or shot or fall from space? How often can you defy death?"

Her eyes were thrown at him like sharpened daggers, but they struck with the force of sledgehammers. He could see the rage at the forefront of her expression but, behind it, was a hurt that hit him far harder. Never faced with a situation like this before, always so focused on completing missions and never discussing their aftermath, Shadow could only stutter the truth, "I-I don't know…"

More pain shot across her brow, he cursed his lack of nerve, he should have said something better. He should have told her he could endure anything or at least risen to embrace her at the very least, but he wasn't made to do that. All he really felt he was any good for was this; fighting as hard as he could and doing what he thought was right.

"When I found you in the pod, when the three of us became a team, you know I'd looked for you before that, don't you?" The sorrowful edge to her voice could cut diamond, "I thought I was crazy, searching for someone who'd fallen from space, but when Sonic gave me that ring, I had a feeling. I knew we'd meet again," Despite how long they'd spent together, Shadow hadn't heard Rouge mention this, not even once, "Eggman beat me to it and did who knows what inside that pod to help you heal… I can't do that. The best I can do is bandage you and wait."

Unable to rise but longing to do something, Shadow put his hand atop hers, "I'm fine Rouge, I'll be fine. It'll just take a little longer this time, how long has it been?"

"Almost twelve hours since the mission ended, five since we got you home," She didn't sound happy with his response, but he felt her return his hold, "I don't know that I can keep doing this, Shadow. I don't know if I can keep…" Her brow softened as her true emotions floated to the surface. This was so unlike the Rouge he'd come to know, "Patching you up like this. One day you're going to break in a way that I can't fix, how long will I have to wait to know you're actually gone?"

"I…" His stare broke from hers as he scrambled for an answer. Care like this, clear cut concern for his wellbeing and blunt disapproval at his self-destructive activities, reminded him of only one other person, "I do this because I promised Maria that I'd protect everyone else. What happens to me, doesn't really come into that. I'm just collateral."

Anger flared in her eyes but this time it was genuine. Her composure was regained, Shadow knew she had a spine made of steel, but he'd never seen it used like this, "Do you really think Maria would want you doing this to yourself over and over? If it means saving the planet then maybe but we can stop Eggman's nonsense without you blowing yourself up or falling from space if you'd just talk to us, if you'll just talk to me," Her grip tightened, "It's good enough to win the day, you don't need to turn everything to ash or sacrifice yourself. You can do a lot more good if you take better care of yourself."

"What're you talking about? You don't know what was going on with that generator and I can't remember, it might've been rigged to explode no matter what," He protested but his words fell on deaf ears.

"I really doubt Maria wanted you to work yourself to death, Shadow," She insisted, "In fact, based on how you describe her, I know that's not the case."

"What are you talking about, you never knew her," Shadow grit his teeth only to again flinch in pain.

"She was in the position that I was now, she cared about you like I do now," She succinctly posited, "Think for just once in your life, what if it was Maria sitting here instead of me. Would she really react at all differently? She wouldn't want this for you just like I don't want this for you, Shadow."

He tried so hard to rebut, tried so hard to pull some counter argument from his memories. Sure, he'd talked about Maria a lot, but it wasn't as though Rouge had ever met her. They were entirely separate parts of his life, fully divorced from one another. Ultimately though, no matter how he tried to look at it, she was right. The method would be different, Maria would be sobbing against him, she didn't possess Rouge's strength, but it'd be the same. They would both hurt, Rouge was hurting for him just as Maria would.

"W-Why though?" He stammered, "Why do you care about what Maria would want?"

"I don't care about what Maria would want; you dummy. I care about you and know she's the easiest way to get through to you," At seeing she'd won, Rouge's demeanour immediately seemed to improve. She shifted on the bed, right leg crossing over left as she leaned in, using her free hand to mess with his quills, "Sure, you can be arrogant, pompous, stupid, ignorant and you clearly have no fashion sense… but, we're in this together," She seemed to delight a little too much in listing all those things, "Before you I was alone, working job to job. It's nice to come home and have someone waiting, be nicer still if he was always in one piece."

"I can certainly try but…" He thought. Back on all they'd done, "In our line of work we do need to fight Rouge, I'm going to get hurt every so often."

"I know that," She tutted, "Just say if you're going to blow yourself up or something so I can stop you. For a so-called ultimate lifeform, you really have no sense. You have two main flaws, you act far too rashly and, well…" She seemed to search for the right words, "You don't always have to work, you know."

"What do you mean?" He asked, struggling to keep up with her train of thought.

"I've worked with you for what, two years now? I still don't know what you like to do outside compete with Sonic, mope in your room and take bullets for other people," When he didn't catch her drift, Rouge rolled her eyes, "You'd think, having survived certain death so often, you'd have thought about what you actually like doing with your life," When he still didn't understand her left brow arched, "You don't have any hobbies, Shadow, not that I know of. What do you actually like doing, besides dropping buildings on your head? If Eggman gave up tomorrow, if there were no more worldwide threats, what would you do?"

Shadow blinked, "I've… never considered that possibility. It seems highly unlikely."

"So, you're saying you have no hobbies?" She looked at him as though he'd just eaten his own foot.

For the first time in recent memory, Shadow felt a bizarre heat spread across his cheeks, "I-I've never had time for them… I've never had time for anything but work," That wasn't quite true, he'd played games with Maria on the Space Colony Ark and listened to music, but never anything he'd considered picking up when he'd arrived on the surface. He'd always thought those two halves of his life as being entirely disconnected.

A bizarre mix of amusement and distress overtook the bat's features, "Really, nothing? Haven't even thought about getting a girlfriend, boyfriend, something?"

"I've never considered it," He bluntly responded, growing aggravated that the heat kept swelling, "You're all I really need in terms of companionship."

"R-Right, okay, okay," That seemed to catch her off guard, but she quickly regained her composure, "Well, you've got forever to decide I suppose, but we could go out and do a thing or two. It would be nice to leave and come back better than we were rather than exhausted and aching."

"What would we do?" He pried.

"Well, we'd start with the stuff I think you'd hate. Shopping, romantic movies, pampering, all those sorts of things," Her smirk grew as she listed ideas, "I figure that, if we start with those, you'll decide what you want to do a whole lot faster. Start trying to give me orders again."

"You know me too well, it's getting scary. I don't think I could stand that," He huffed. As he said that, Shadow noticed the wheeze was gone from his speech and the pain had left his chest.

He attempted to sit up only to again feel her push against his chest, "You're not leaving this bed until I know you're properly healed. Every crack, scratch and bruise," She insisted, "I don't care if it takes four more hours or four more months."

He wanted to sit up, he wanted to take control, but couldn't find the strength. Not for a lack of healing, it was due to some strange weight in his chest. Half scowling, he managed to mumble, "Fine."

She gave him a small stare that read as making sure he would actually stay in place before, finally, their hands separated. The bat's fingers trailed across his body, gently beginning to check beneath bandages and remove those that had been made redundant. He usually did this by himself, he'd wake up and pull everything off and find himself restored, but there was something… nice, albeit sorrowful, about her doing it. Something far gentler too.

Once she'd finished, half his bandages removed, she looked back to his face. The light had fully returned to her eyes and, as she spoke, he heard the joy in her voice, "You know, you'd be pretty cute if you could keep that chip off your shoulder. Guess you can't heal everything."

"Yeah, well," Even though he couldn't come up with a retort, Shadow couldn't help but smirk.

"Oh, your fangs are back then, I rather missed them," She hummed, bundling all she'd removed.

That strange heat returned to his face, "You know you've spent too much time fussing over me, you should have been looking after yourself."

"Oh, am I? I hadn't noticed," She sarcastically chided, "You're not slipping out of bed that easily, Shadow."

He was stuck; she was happier but clearly no in a trusting mood. Rouge needed to look after herself. Though her injuries were small, and most looked to have at least scabbed over, they needed cleaning and care. She plainly needed rest too. His hand found his quills as he thought for a moment, not liking but not hating the conclusion he came to.

"If I promise to stay here and to go on one of those…" He fumbled for the right word, "Date things with you, shopping or the pampering or something, will you go and look after yourself?"

"Oh, they're dates now, are they? I know my bedside manner's good, but I didn't realise it was that good," Her hand topped his head, ruffling his quills. Shadow blinked, had he misspoken? Were those outings not called dates? He didn't know much about these social terms, "You're not tricking me Shadow, you need rest."

"So do you," He took hold of her arm, almost instinctively pulling her towards him and properly meeting her face to face, "And you know how serious I am about promises, Rouge."

The closeness he'd enforced had a rather immediate effect; he felt the bat stiffen as their gazes collided. Rouge rolled her eyes again but, this time, fully turned away, "I suppose I can trust in that," He let her go and she immediately rose to stand, heading straight for a chest of drawers and collecting a set of pyjamas before turning back to him, "I'll be back before you know it so try to get comfortable. This is my room after all."

"Oh," Before she could slip out the door, he managed to catch her attention again, "I meant to ask about that, why here? Why not my room?"

"Shadow, I checked your mattress, it's like sleeping on a rock. I'm having Omega seek out a replacement first thing tomorrow. I wanted you to be comfortable, isn't that obvious? I have half a mind to remodel your whole room, it's so empty," She tutted, "You can save the world and sleep in a comfy bed, you know. If I have to drill that into you then so be it; seems like I'll have plenty of time to teach you."

As the bat vanished from view, hopefully off to tend her own wounds, a sigh of relief slipped from Shadow's throat. She would look after herself, that was what mattered. He was stuck here, he could surely walk and move if he really wanted, but if it meant she'd look after herself then he wouldn't. Besides, no matter the state of his body, his mind was abuzz with nonsense.

Why had he let himself get caught in that explosion, had there been a trap? Did Maria expect him to do all that he'd done? What did date actually mean?

Committed to his promise not to leave the bed, he instead simply sat up and took in his white on red surroundings. He'd never really been in Rouge's room before, not for an extended period at least. It was, undeniably, far more decorated than his sparse, grey walled, domicile. While he had little more than his desk, chair and bed, she had furnished the walls to display the various treasures she'd stolen. Rather than those though, his attention was drawn to her desk.

Though his eyes first fell upon a certain chaos emerald, the very one he vaguely recalled seeing within the generator, it was the collection of objects next to it that fully captured his attention. The right side of Rouge's desk was littered with picture frames, one especially wide and one tall but thinner. The largest was a group shot, containing just about everyone Shadow knew from Tails through to that ludicrous green crocodile. Amy had demanded that they take that picture when they were all together at Sonic's last birthday party, something about preserving the moment. Of course he hadn't smiled for it, despite the prodding of Rouge's wing.

The second picture though, Shadow didn't remember it being taken. For one, he was smiling in it and for two he looked more comfortable than he ever recalled being. Rouge had clearly taken the photo; it was done in a selfie style from sitting atop Omega. It was just the three of them out in the open, somewhere rocky, relaxing. He assumed it was after a mission, they'd probably taken down one of Eggman's robots or overturned another of his bases, but that didn't matter to him so much as the emotion the image exuded. Though it was difficult to tell with Omega, they all looked so happy together. Rouge's arm was around his shoulder, his eyes were closed; they both looked exhausted but so content. Were moments like that really achievable, reachable by him?

Rouge's words about Maria echoed in his head, did she expect him to do this much? How far did she want him to go? He could only guess, just as Rouge had. Though the two were so different, verging on being opposites in a lot of ways, they seemed to care about him in the same way he knew he cared for them. He wasn't good at being social, even on the Space Colony Ark he'd been horrendous in social situations, but he could pick up on that much. He understood that the space they occupied in his heart was similar and that his promises to either of them were far more unbreakable than he was.

Maybe he'd defy the odds in a different way. Perhaps, with Rouge, he could live just a little more normally.