I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the characters.

Friends

Blaze rushed into the medical wing of the partially-destroyed building, seeing Sonic and Silver were on a pair of medical beds, both of them bandaged and with IVs. "What happened? Who did this?"

"Shadow," Knuckles growled. "He's out of control."

"He's not out of control!" Rouge snapped, currently handcuffed to her chair, keeping her from being able to leave. "He's scared and hurt! And I never should have trusted you three!"

"What are you talking about?" Blaze asked. "What's happened?"

"Shadow was training with me and accidentally set off a Chaos Blast without the use of a Chaos Emerald," Omega said.

"That's possible?" Blaze asked.

"Apparently so," Knuckles said, gesturing to Sonic and Silver. "It's what he used to take both of them down."

"Yeah, when they were attacking him while he was begging them to stay back so he wouldn't hurt them!" Rouge snapped.

"There is more," Omega said. "When it happened, he seemed to be in terrible pain, and he was afraid and confused. He did not seem to understand what was happening. Shadow still does not remember who he was before coming here and replacing the Shadow that died. It is possible that wherever he came from before, and whoever built him, created a way for him to use his abilities without Chaos Emeralds. But as Shadow does not remember, he does not know. He is likely scared right now because he does not know who he is, or what he is. He did not seem to want to hurt anyone, and I believe he is currently trying to hide until he learns to control himself."

"If all he wants is to be left alone, why were you three trying to attack him?" Blaze asked, looking to Knuckles.

"Because we don't even know if he's actually our ally," Sonic said. "All we know is that someone built him, and he showed up at the same time as the real Shadow died. He could be a spy, or a puppet. He's pretty clearly a time bomb."

"No, he's a friend who's afraid of whatever's happening to him!" Rouge snapped. "And he's hurt because all of his friends betrayed him! And thanks to me believing you, that includes me!"

"What do you mean?" Blaze asked.

"Sonic tried to arrest Shadow right after the first blast," Rouge said. "I stopped him, and tried to convince him to let me try and calm Shadow down, that way we could help him. Sonic agreed, so I made the mistake of taking them with me when I went after Shadow. But then they attacked Shadow, and he thought I led them to him so they could arrest him. He thought I betrayed him. His feelings of fear and betrayal is what led to the second Chaos Blast that hurt Sonic and Silver, but when it went off, Shadow was trying to get away from us before it could go off, and they both went after him looking for a fight."

"So then it's their fault," Blaze summarized. "Where'd he go?"

"I don't know," Rouge said. "I've been stuck here."

Blaze sighed and picked up the key to the handcuffs from where Knuckles had left it on the table.

"What are you doing!?" Knuckles demanded.

"I'm going to take Rouge and show Shadow he's not alone," Blaze said. "If he's scared and hurting, he's just going to get worse, since negativity is what powers his Chaos Blast, assuming it works the same way as the original Shadow's did. If we can show him that we're friends, we can calm him down and get him under control."

"And then I can take him in," Knuckles grinned.

"No," Blaze and Rouge both said.

"You're not going anywhere near him," Rouge said. "You're not attacking him again. None of the three of you are. Blaze and I will handle this ourselves."

Shadow curled tighter into himself, hugging his knees to his chest. He had exploded twice since he'd hurt Sonic and Silver. He was getting better at feeling when it was going to happen, and he could feel a blast beginning to build. Any minute now he'd erupt into a massive explosion, once again decimating the area he'd already scarred, and then he'd go back to the small, helpless coward he truly was.

"Shadow?" a voice called out just before two people stepped up to the edge of the crater, both stopping, staring down at him through the rain.

"Shadow!" A voice he recognized as Blaze, a purple, pyrokinetic cat, gasped.

"No!" Shadow shouted. "Stay back! I can't stop it!"

Rouge caught Blaze by the hand, retreating just before the explosion went off. Shadow collapsed in the center of the crater as the rain that had been pushed away by the blast all crashed down on him. He gasped for breath for a moment before managing to slow his breathing. A moment later, Blaze and Rouge were kneeling at his sides.

"Why are you here?" Shadow asked miserably. "Why can't you just leave me alone? Why do you keep trying to arrest me?"

"We're not here for that," Blaze said. "Neither of us wants to hurt you. We don't want you arrested. We're here to help."

"Shadow, I'm so sorry for what happened," Rouge said. "They swore to me that they only wanted to help, and that they'd let me help you. I didn't mean to betray you. I wanted to help you. I still want to help you." she reached out, gently pulling him into a hug. "You're my friend, and I won't abandon you. Whatever's going on, we'll figure it out." Rouge gestured for Blaze to join the hug with the hand behind Shadow, and Blaze complied, wrapping her arms around both of the others.

"That's right," Blaze said. "We want to help you, Shadow. We won't let you suffer alone."

Shadow's eyes began to water, but he fought the tears back. He hated being weak. He refused to cry anymore. All he'd been doing since he blasted Omega was crying. He wrapped his arms around the two women, swallowing to hold back his sobs. "Thank you." His voice was frail, despite his best efforts, and when they heard it, both girls held him a little tighter.

"You don't have to play the tough guy," Rouge said. "It's alright to cry when you're scared. Even for a guy."

"We won't judge you," Blaze said. "You can let it out if you need to. No one will ever know."

Shadow leaned his head forward, resting it on both of their shoulders as he began to tremble. He tried to hold himself back, but failed, beginning to cry again despite his best efforts. Except, it was different this time. As he cried, he began to feel calmer. He began to feel like a hand that had been slowly crushing him before was easing off. And he felt the pressure from the next explosion, which had been building up inside of him, slowly beginning to fade. Finally, he had calmed down again and took a deep breath, lifting his head and wiping his eyes, even though they were all soaked from the rain. As he looked at the two, he noticed Rouge had been crying as well, and that both of the women were shivering.

"Come on," Shadow said. "There's a cave over this way. We should get out of the rain."

Both of them nodded and followed him out of the crater and through the forest surrounding them until they reached a cave. They walked inside and Shadow began to work to get a fire started using sticks. However, Blaze knelt beside him, gently taking the sticks and setting them back on the pile before using her pyrokinesis to start the fire instead.

"Thanks," Shadow said. "Are you two okay?"

"Us?" Rouge asked, smiling slightly. "We're worried about you."

"You're both the ones who're cold," Shadow pointed out, then smiled slightly. "I'm okay. I don't know why, but I can feel that...whatever this power is...it's calmed down. It's under control. At least, for the moment."

"That's good," Rouge smiled, she and Blake now seated on opposite sides of the fire. "Sit with us."

She and Blake both offered a hand, and Shadow hesitated for a moment before taking setting his own hands in theirs, allowing them to pull him down into a seated position beside the fire between them.

"Once the rain clears up, do you want to start trying to learn to control it?" Rouge asked. "Or would you like to rest for a bit first?"

"I think I want to rest," Shadow said. "But...you're sure the others won't come after me? I mean...I hurt Sonic and Silver." Panic filled his face instantly. "Oh my God! Are they okay?"

"Hey, come on now," Rouge smiled. "You have to stay calm, remember? That's how you keep in control. Sonic and Silver are both fine. They're already awake. And the others won't bother you. If they try, me and Blake will beat them up."

Shadow's face fell at that.

"It's alright, Shadow," Blaze said. "No one will get hurt. Trust us."

Shadow watched her for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

"Get some rest," Rouge urged. "We'll be here when you wake up."

Shadow nodded and lay on his side, staring at the fire for a few moments before closing his eyes and slipping into a dreamless sleep.

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