A/N: I hope this story isn't too OOC Shadow for everyone out there. It's just that, he hasn't been tramatized yet, so he's a little more happy than usual. XD

Thanks to Hero Memory and shadougexx for the reviews! I really appreciate it!

Please enjoy Chapter 4 and thanks for reading!

-Swift-

Chapter 4: The Angel and the Serpent

I found it hard to sleep that night, even though I was tired from the battle that morning. But when I finally clamored into sleep's arms, I found myself dreaming about what my little sister would look like. In my dreams, she was angelic, beautiful, perfect, strong… everything I knew I could never be. I already knew there was no way I could ever be the hero Maria wanted, even though I was, in her eyes, the most heroic being in the universe. Through my crimson-brown irises, however, the Swift that I envisioned was the true ultimate…

At 1100 hours, my eyes flicked open as my internal alarm woke me up for the special occasion. I literally flew through my morning preparations of looking presentable to the others on the colony and shot out of my quarters within five minutes. Ignoring the pleading rumbles of my stomach, I jogged up to the control room, practically shaking with excitement. I burst through the door and skidded to a stop next to the Professor.

"Ah, there you are Shadow. Swift has completed her transformation with only minor complications." He told me as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Minor complications? What happened?" Suddenly, I was incredibly fearful for Swift's safety, even though I didn't know her at all.

"Nothing serious… She's just not made of pure Chaos like you. Since she had a base, she's a little more susceptible to injury than you. Also, we found it quite hard to alter her power enough to give you a distinct advantage, so we were only able to remove a touch of power from her. In exchange however, we had to add to her speed a touch. So, she ended up a little quicker and a little less strong than you." The Professor explained tiredly.

"That's all? She's okay then?" I expelled a breath I did not know I had been holding in. The Professor nodded and smiled. "Well, where is she?" I asked impatiently.

"Maria is getting her. She should be here about now… There she is!"

Maria and Swift were concealed in a large group of scientists, much to my aggravation. Finally, the group stopped about ten feet from the Professor and I. The group began to thin out and quiet down, until I could hear someone crying in the center. I tensed slightly as I caught sight of the two. Then, Maria strode out from the group nervously. She stopped in front of us and knelt down to my level, clutching a small bundle, my sister, hidden in a white blanket. The unnerving sound was coming from the bundle and I couldn't help but fidget as the hedgehoglet let out a sob only audible to my ears.

"What's wrong, Shadow?" The Professor laughed at me.

"She's scared…" I muttered absently, my attention almost fully trained on the bundle.

"I can't get her to stop crying!" Maria exclaimed, upset that she could not calm the hedgehoglet down. When I edged closer, she noticed. "You wanna see her?" She asked exasperated. I nodded slowly. Maria lifted the edge of the blanket and allowed me to peer inside. The brown and cream hedgehog I saw before was gone with her horrid past. Her navy quills were faintly streaked with ebony, though the highlights would become more defined as she grew, and stuck up like mine and a tiny white patch of fur poked up on her chest like mine. Her eyes were a deep brown color that made me curious of what lay behind them.

She reached her tiny hands up towards me, eyes huge and pleading. Embarrassed and unsure of what to do, I glanced back at the Professor, who merely laughed again.

Just like in my dreams, she was beautiful and sure looked angelic. Although, I wouldn't really get to know my sister until she gained some sort of experience with life so we could speak on an intelligent level.

Still she reached for me, crying desperately for me to take her from Maria. Why she didn't feel safe in Maria's arms was beyond me, but I knew by then that I was the only hope left of calming her down. Her caramel eyes entrapped me in feelings of wonder as I studied her.

The only question that remains is… will she accept me as well?

"Let me give it a shot." I tore my eyes away from my kin and looked up into Maria's watery blue pools.

"Alright, be careful though, Shadow." Maria quickly demonstrated the proper way to hold the hedgehoglet without causing her harm. "Careful now… careful… here you go." Maria muttered as she passed the bundle from her arms into mine. The instant Swift's head came to rest in the crook of my elbow, she stopped crying and, with an amusingly calm demeanor, looked up into my face with a trusting expression on her face.

"Imagine that!" The Professor exclaimed wistfully at Swift's immediate reaction to me. "I think she likes you." He chuckled behind me. The wound on my arm, Maria's stunned and slightly annoyed face, the Professor's light-hearted jeers, the scientists' low discussions… none of that mattered anymore. The only thing that truly mattered in that moment was Swift.

I felt like a serpent, impure, hell-bound, incapable, and unworthy of holding this pure, heaven-sent, beautiful, and trusting angel.

Tearing myself from my thoughts, I turned my attention back to Swift. She gave a yawn of titanic proportions and curled up more against my chest, one ear against my heart.

Perhaps my heartbeat is a comfort to her…

Her navy eyelids became too heavy for her and they started to slip over her eyes. I told the Professor of my 'Serpent and Angel' realization as Swift gave another yawn.

"No one is perfect, Shadow, not you, not Swift, not anyone." He sighed in response.

"I know… I just get this feeling that I'm not meant to be a… good guy…" I tried to put it as low-level as I could to reflect my feelings as bluntly as I could. The Professor started to speak, but decided against it.

"You'll know…"

Again with the 'you'll know' crap!

I absently removed one hand from under Swift and cradled her more tightly against me with one arm, while I ran my fingers through her tangled quills. Then, I felt her shift again and I looked down to check on her. She had fallen asleep in my arms, absolutely exhausted.

"Aww… Shadow… You made her fall asleep." Maria cooed, stating the obvious.

A series of 'aww's and 'that's so cute's came from the group of scientists. My ears laid back against my head and I blushed in embarrassment. I halfway growled in an attempt to blow it off, an unsuccessful attempt at that. However, holding my own personal angel was way more than enough to make up for it. I shut the offending statements out of my mind and focused on making sure Swift would stay asleep through the commotion.

"I think she needs to take a nap somewhere quiet." The Professor finally took note of Swift's deep breathing.

Nooooo, really? I asked myself sarcastically.

"Yeah, where's the nursery?" I looked up for a moment.

"Nursery? She has to stay in a containment area, not a nursery." A scientist told me condescendingly.

"Well, excuse me for not knowing." I glared back.

"We'll have to take her from you." The idiot didn't seem to notice my agitation.

"I don't think so. I'll take her wherever I want to, thank you very much." I snarled, eyes flashing in anger.

"I'm afraid you aren't in the position to do that." He moved forward to take Swift from my arms.

"Hey! Stop messing with him!" The Professor ordered the scientist to back off of me. "Let him do what he wants. It's his sister after all, right?"

"No. They're experiments, far below us in the scheme of things. Mere beings that only exists because we let them…" The man said arrogantly as he continued to move towards me.

"Back off, or I'll kill you!" I threatened, ready to protect Swift's life with my own.

"Shadow, don't!" Maria yelled from behind the man.

"Jim, get the heck away from my son and daughter!" The Professor suddenly stepped between the man and me.

"You're a fool for calling those killing machines your offspring!" Jim snorted and put his hands on his hips, as if to say 'are you kidding me'.

Killing machines?

"They have a choice and you know it! I don't even know why I promoted you to the space colony rankings anyway! Why can't you just accept them for what they are?" The Professor defended us furiously, and I could tell someone was going to go down.

"I have accepted them for what they are! MURDERERS!!" Jim yelled over the Professor at Swift and I.

"They've never hurt anyone, ever!" Now Maria was stepping into the mix.

Oh boy…

"They're both damned to Hell! They'll never be the angels you think they are. And in the end, they'll be the death of you." Jim laughed hysterically. He turned quickly and grabbed Maria by the arm, jerking her hard towards him. Suddenly, he whipped out a gun from his coat pocket, cocked it, and pressed it into Maria's head. He pulled Maria's arm behind her shoulder violently with his other hand. She cried out and struggled a bit before he silenced her with a shove in the back, which nearly pulled her arm out of its socket.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I snarled and drew on the Chaos energy in the room. Clutching Swift to my chest with one arm, I used my right arm to redirect the energy I had absorbed through my arm and out of my open hand towards Jim. The burst of energy shot straight into and through Jim's exposed gun hand, causing him to drop the gun. He lunged for it and grabbed it again; through the immense pain the burn wound must have caused him.

Shoot!

Just then, Swift's eyes flew open and she awoke in the middle of the commotion. Her brown eyes glanced up at me for a split second, made contact, and then flicked over to the situation across the room. She seemed to comprehend the danger present. While I charged up again, Jim turned the gun on me and fired a shot. I dove to the side, tucking Swift close and roaring back to my feet with an orb of Chaos clenched in my other hand. I fired another shot, this time hitting the hand that held Maria in place. She spun away quickly and ran to her grandfather. Jim turned his gun again and fired at Maria and the Professor. I let out a yelp in dismay as I realized I couldn't charge up fast enough. But then, I saw a small ball of Chaos fly out from my position and knock the bullet off of its path. I looked down and noticed Swift's glowing right palm.

She can use Chaos this early?

I finally charged another ball again and gathered myself up enough to fire it directly at Jim's chest. He screamed eerily before it crashed into him head on, taking the light from his eyes instantly as his blackened heart was silenced forever. I breathed a sigh of relief and cast a thankful glance down at my baby sister, who gazed up at me with an expression that said 'it was nothing'.

"Shadow!" Maria cried and struggled to get out of the Professor's grasp. He refused to let her go and strain her lungs for the second time in two days. I walked to her instead and let her envelope Swift and I in a flurry of tears and hugs while the Professor ordered several of the cleaning crew staff members to clean up the body.

"You realize that if you and Swift weren't here, Maria and I would probably both be dead." The Professor said solemnly.

"Yeah." I groaned through Maria's bear hug.

"Thanks…" He said towards me, and then bent down to Swift's level. "To the both of you." He added and smiled at Swift. She giggled and burbled happily. I smiled at this and held her closer to me. I began to wonder why I was so numb and cold about killing the scientist. I glowered towards the spot where I had ended a life, personally taken someone else's soul from his body.

Maybe I am a killing machine... I cast a solemn look at my sister. I just hope she won't follow my lead.

"He has been about to crack for a while now, and I think Swift just sent him skyrocketing over the edge." The Professor shrugged as he explained Jim's behavior. The other scientists seemed to know about Jim's 'condition'. Still, I didn't care about him, I cared about the future.

Day one and she already trusts and likes me. Maybe, just maybe, she'll stay at my side like the Professor said she would…

"Pure insanity, nothing else." Maria said as she released me. Swift was returning to her previous tired state and I couldn't blame her, for I shared the feelings with her.

"If you don't mind, using Chaos under stress like that made me a little tired, and I didn't sleep much last night either… can I go back to sleep?" I asked politely, proving my point with a stifled yawn.

"Of course you may. Maybe we need to put you under more stress during the training sessions if you are tired now." The Professor was already putting together tomorrow's schedule for me.

"Yes, sir." I said, choking down another yawn.

"What about Swift?" Maria asked. Swift gave a huge yawn and curled up against my chest again.

"There's your answer." The Professor chuckled.

"Can I take her?" I asked pleadingly.

"Yes you may, just be careful and keep in touch with us." He waved me off.

I took off out of the control room and down the hallway at a run, which didn't seem to bother Swift one bit. Slamming my heels down into the metal, I skidded to a stop in front of my quarters and entered the numerical password that allowed me an entrance. I walked in the sliding door and kicked off my Jet Shoes towards their place beside the dresser. I took off my gloves, but left my locking bracelets on to allow for a faster Chaos recovery. I launched myself onto my bed and turned on my back just before I landed and held Swift more loosely. Then, I threw back the covers and placed Swift on one side of the bed before climbing under the covers myself. I wrapped the blanket around her more loosely to allow her more movement. I smiled at her as she gave me a yawn and closed her eyes. Then, I let my head crash to my pillow and I closed my eyes as well, attempting to fall asleep instantly. Instead, I lay in bed thinking for a few moments, turning on my side to better detect any distress on Swift's side.

Then, I felt movement on the other side of the bed. I opened one eye and propped my head up on my elbow to get a look at what Swift was doing. She obviously felt uncomfortable in a big area without anything next to her and she was struggling to get out of the blanket, eyes fixated on me. When she looked down at the blanket for a moment, I reached over and lifted one edge of the blanket to help her. She looked up the instant she sensed my movement. She watched with mild interest as I untangled her from the mass of blanket that surrounded her. I allowed myself a small smile and freed her. Upon gaining her freedom, she crawled to me and curled up against me. I smiled and ran my fingers through her quills again, trying to make her feel safe enough to fall asleep. Sure enough, within a few minutes, she was out like a light. After that, I let my head fall again and rested my hand over her tiny body protectively.

Will I be a good enough brother for her? I suppose only tomorrow will tell.

And with that, I closed my eyes on reality and opened the gate to my subconscious, where dreams waited to be enacted.