Chapter XVI

-Radisson Edwardian Hotel-

Two days had already passed since Sherlock had saved Shadow's life and took the blow to the head that Sherlock had taken for him was beginning to heal very slowly, but painful for his brain, even he had to admit. For two days they had heard nothing on the condition of Shadow nor have they heard of any signs of him coming back to the world of the waking.

Until now.

They had gotten a call from John to come to Radisson Edwardian Hotel immediately, so that Sherlock may start asking him questions about the himself.

Sherlock knocked on the door to room 5A. John had opened the door as both Sherlock and Sakura entered with the two dogs.

Sherlock had immediately asked turning to Agent Gibbs, "How long?" Gibbs replied, "He's been up since this morning."

Tony had said, "Yeah, and he is one hell of a fighter when it comes to it."

Sakura had asked all concerned about her friend, "How is he doing? Is he going to be okay?"

John reassured her, "He'll be fine sweetheart. And from the looks of it the drugs that this Medusa person has given him weared off rather quickly. I mean normally, it would take days for him to recover, considering that he's half human." Sherlock just walked over towards the room where Shadow had stayed, while John was told to keep Sakura from coming in the room for now.

The detective opened the door, to see the hedgehog (Whom was covered in bandages so he is not wearing a shirt) and Andrew who were interrupted by him.

"Oh, it's you." Andrew said.

The consulter turned to Shadow, and he turned to him. They both stared at each other for the longest time. Eventually Shadow had said, "Andrew, I want to talk to him."

Andrew gave somewhat of a "DAFAQ" look.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Andrew asked

He had replied, "Yes."

"But Shadow, how do you know that you can trust him?"

"I don't. But I just have a gut feeling."

"But-"

"Andrew. Please, just let me speak to him."

Andrew soon nodded his head, then got up and left. Shadow soon spoke up again.

"You were the one that saved me, weren't you?"

Sherlock took his seat at the side of the bed.

"Yes." He replied, "You would've died if you had taken that blow."

Shadow looked at the wound on his head. "You didn't have to do it you know."

The detective replied, "Like I said, you would've died."

"Believe me, I've survived worse than that."

"Yes, judging from the dog bites on your arms I wouldn't doubt you."

The hedgehog took a minute to look at the scars on his arms.

"How did you know they were bit wounds from a dog?"

The detective replied, "I didn't know I saw."

Shadow sat back on the pillow. "Do you always do you always say that people, everytime they ask you that question?"

"Yes. It gets annoying after awhile though. Since I'd rather not explain." Sherlock answered almost immediately, "And I understand that you're pretty smart yourself."

He gave out a sigh. "She told you about that didn't she?" The detective simply nodded his head to him. Shadow pretty soon made himself sit at the side of his own bed, so that he was now sitting next to him.

Shadow pointed towards the door. "She's… She's there. Isn't she?" Shadow asked, with his voice almost cracking.

Again, Sherlock nodded his head.

Shadow asked, "How did you find her?"

Sherlock answered, "One of the dogs that you provided for her. He helped me find her. She was nearly dead by the time I got there. Had I not know that she would go back to the scrapyards looking for her family locket she would've been dead."

Shadow stared at him with wide eyes, "She... Almost died?"

Sherlock nodded his head. Shadow had buried his face in his hands, "Gah, I'm such an idiot. She almost died because me."

Sherlock replied to him, "Look, what happened to her in the scrapyards is not your fault. Well partly, besides it's your fault for believing Minatsuki's lie."

"No need to go rubbing it in. But you are right I shouldn't have let her manipulate me like that."

"You admit it?"

"Well, sort of, so tell me Mr. Holmes what did you want to ask me?"

"About yourself of course."

"I kind of go that part figured out, but what do you want to know about me?"

"Everything."

Shadow froze, forgetting the fact that he could move his limbs. "E-Everything?" Shadow asked stammering. The detective simply replied, "Yes. Everything." Shadow soon sat on the side of the bed along with Sherlock.

"Can you be more specific about it?" Shadow asked but a bit hesitantly. Sherlock was surprised to hear Shadow say something like that. But he quickly let it go and just said, "About your family and what your ties you have to the girl's family."

He saw Shadow froze. The hedgehog cleared his throat and said, "My family? That may be a bit… Complicated." Sherlock began to wonder. "Why?" the detective asked. This time Shadow didn't say anything; all he did was stare at his feet.

"Oh." The hedgehog heard the detective say, "You can't remember anything, can you?"

Ten miles from town

And I just broke down

Spittin' out smoke

On the side of the road

The only thing Shadow could do was shake his head.

"Is that why you changed the subject with Andrew everytime you and he talked about it?"

Shadow nodded his head to answer him.

I'm out here alone

Just trying to get home

To tell you I was wrong

But you already know

Soon enough he turned to the detective and looked him in the eye, "The name Shadow was given to me by her mom. The reason why I was given that name was because I was always with her, and I never left her side. My real name however is still mystery for me."

Sherlock soon became interested, "Tell me from the start, and don't be boring."

Shadow sighed and said, "From the start, eh?"

Believe me

I won't stop

At nothin'

Shadow began to tell him his story.

"I lost my memories when I was only 5. The only evidence I have of my own past, is this scar on my head, a sword I always carry around with me, and these dreams I've been having for ten years now."

Shadow pointed to a faded scar on his forehead and than his sword which had sat in the corner of the room while he spoke.

"Do you know how-"

"No, I don't Mr. Holmes, but you already know that don't you?"

The detective nodded his head to him, and cleared his throat.

"Continue." Sherlock said.

To see you

I've started running

Just as said, Shadow had continued.

"Before I knew it, I found myself living on the streets. Because of my appearance no one would give food or money, because they were so scared of me. They thought I would do horrible things to them just because of the way I looked. I tried to tell them otherwise, but they wouldn't listen."

All that I'm after,

Is a life full of laughter

As long as I'm with you

I'm laughing with you

"Soon enough, I found myself dying of hunger, I felt ready for death though." Shadow said to the detective, "But that wasn't until I met her."

"That was when you met mother?" Sherlock asked.

Shadow nodded his head towards the detective.

I'm thinking that ,

All that still matters

Is love ever after

After the life we've been through

"Her mother's name was Nadeshiko; named after a flower like Sakura is. She wasn't afraid of me." Shadow told him, "She was even kind enough to let me stay with her and her family. When I learned that they had a daughter, I was having second thoughts about staying."

"But your mind changed when you saw Sakura?" The detective asked.

Shadow nodded his head again.

After the life we've been through

Cause I know

There's no life after you

"As the years went by, I started to care about Sakura, and eventually I saw that she was the same as me." The hedgehog continued, "Everyone was pretty much scared of her too, well it's not her fault of course though, she can't exactly control her abilities."

"So I've been told." Sherlock said. The two sat there in silence for a moment. It wasn't until Sherlock asked, "So when did it happen, when both her mother and father were murdered?"

Shadow looked at him all confused. "You should know already, they were killed on April 20th just like the others."

Sherlock shook his head towards him. "Oh no, something tells me that they were killed way before that time."

Shadow's eyes had changed, at which Sherlock knew, that he was right about one thing. They did die before April 20th. Shadow sighed and he said, "You're right they did die before that day."

Sherlock let out a small smile, but it quickly faded and said, "Tell me exactly."

Last time we talked

The night that I walked

Burns like an iron

At the back of my mind

Shadow sighed and said, "It started out like an ordinary day from what I remembered. All of us saying to Professor Fujitaka have a nice day at work, but…"

The hedgehog had stopped. His eyes began to fill with his tears. He managed to hold them back before continuing, "But later that evening, just before supper…" Shadow said, "He didn't come back home."

Sherlock's curiosity level began to rise, "He didn't?"

Shadow shook his head, "At first, I thought he was working late, but when I asked Nadeshiko when he would come home, she said that he didn't call her. At that point I got scared."

I must've been high

To say you and I, weren't meant to be

And just wasting my time

Oh, why did I ever doubt you?

Sherlock asked, "So when did Nadeshiko leave?"

Shadow continued, "She left right after we both went to sleep, 8:00 I think. Sakura was the only who stayed up late. She couldn't sleep because of her mother's absence."

"So she saw her leave?"

"Yeah, it was around 10:00 I found her sitting on the couch. When she told me about Nadeshiko, I stayed up with her. About an hour later…"

Shadow had stopped, again he was holding back his tears.

You know I would die here without you

All that I'm after

Is a life full of laughter

As long as I'm laughing with you

Shadow gulped before he continued. "About an hour had passed before we both heard a slam at the front door." He said to the detective, "But when I opened it…"

Sherlock saw a single tear coming down his cheek. Shadow buried his face in his hands, and tried his best not to choke on his sobs.

I'm thinking

All that still matters

Is love ever after

After the life we've been through

Pretty soon, Shadow had tried to keep his act together but failed. "They're… They're dead bodies, were right on the front porch…" He said with his voice cracking, "The killer… Medusa, she put them there as a warning for us, for her family… When… When we tried to warn everyone else, they called us crazy, and they thought that we had killed them both. They just rejected us, and they wouldn't let us stay with them… So we ran away… And we didn't look back."

Sherlock put both of his hands under his chin, "So they didn't take the warning, for granted, and because of that, they ended up dieing the following years."

Shadow wiped up the tears that he had, "I was a fool… I was a fool to run away… I could've helped them… I don't know how but I could've saved them…"

Cause I know

There's no life after you

Sherlock got up from the bed, and had his back to Shadow. "No one could've foreseen this you know." Sherlock said to him, "Even if you did knew they were going to die, and even if there was a warning I doubt that even you could've saved them."

Shadow looked at Sherlock even though his back was to him, "Even so." Shadow said, "I would've found a way."

"Honestly…" Sherlock mumbled, "You're more stubborn than you look."

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"Nope, you must've been hearing things."

"No I didn't I thought that you-"

All of a sudden the door had opened slightly, causing both of them to jump slightly. They heard a voice from outside.

"Um, excuse me?"

Shadow eyes widen knowing whom the voice belonged to. The two dogs came inside, letting the door swing wide open. The dogs jumped on Shadow and licking his face, while he tried to push them away. Soon he saw a familiar face standing just outside of the room.

There was Sakura, standing right there, staring at him with her emerald green eyes. Shadow sat there dumbfounded, and the two just stared at each other for the longest time. It almost felt like an eternity for the both of them; they both got lost in each others worlds, not knowing what to say to each other.

Sakura felt her arms lose her energy, and before she knew it, her purse dropped to the ground with a thud.

"Shadow...?"

"Sakura…?"

Soon there was a smile upon Sakura's face and tears of joy in her eyes. She ran past Sherlock and threw her arms around him. Shadow winced in pain from the impact but as quick the pain was, it had slowly faded. Hesitantly, he placed his arms around her; he soon felt her cry into his bare neck.

"I… Thought I would never see you again…" She choked, "I was so worried…"

"Shhh... It's alright now…" Shadow had replied, "I'm here now… Just like I promised."

Pretty soon Shadow had realized something different about Sakura. "Wait a minute…" He said as he gently pushed her out of the hug, "Are you… Speaking english?" Sakura wiped away her tears as she nodded her head, and giggled "See? I can be full of surprises too." Shadow started laughing too, "I can't believe it! Your speaking english!" Sakura and Shadow soon both started laughing, and the dogs barked with joy.

Sherlock couldn't help but smile at the sight. John soon joined Sherlock and he was in awe at the sight. "You've gotta admit, it does bring comfort in your heart." John said to Sherlock. All the detective did was stare at the former doctor giving him some kind of glare, as if he is saying, "I don't have one, remember?" He walked away from the room and shut the door leaving the two alone for awhile.

They had soon joined Gibbs & his team and they began to have a chat. Sherlock told them everything about Shadow, his amnesia, and the real day that her parents died. The team was shocked by this new information, "So her parents were killed before April 20th?" Ziva had asked.

"Yes." Sherlock said, "But why?" Andrew asked, "Probably because they knew something and they were killed before April 20th." Ziva answered.

"Not probably, they did kill them before that time." Sherlock said to the former assassin.

"Again, why would Medusa do that? It's not her style." Andrew asked.

"Because both her and her husband found something that they shouldn't have before April 20th came. And it was because of that they were killed earlier than her family members whom had soon shared the same fate as her parents." The detective explained

"If they found something that her parents knew, then what was it that they found?" John asked, "I don't know, but it has something to do, with April 20th and the documents that her father had found."

Soon Sherlock pulled out the printed documents that Sakura had captured on her phone and he showed them to Gibb's team and all of them looked through it.

The team looked through the old documents, examining them picture, by picture. "Whoa." Tony said, "These are very graphic."

"Indeed they are." Sherlock said as he looked through the pages. He felt John, tapping his shoulder. "Sherlock, look at this." John should Sherlock a certain document that really did get his attention. He took the paper from John and read it to himself.

Gibbs took notice of the papers in his hands. "Did you find something?" Gibbs had asked.

Sherlock had said, "It's a poem."

"A poem?" McGee asked.

"What's the poem called?" McGee asked.

"The Red Roses." Andrew had read.

Sherlock started to read the poem aloud.

I hate them

All the roses that are white

They are a poison to us

They all don't have a right

They are nothing but a taboo

A curse, a pain

They cause wars, and such

All which are no meaning

They are all lies

All of them are!

All the battles, all the wars

They all fight for lies

I'm sick of them

I'm sick of seeing them

All the little white roses

So instead I'll paint them all

I'll turn the roses red

"The words. 'Turn the roses red' they keep repeating." Sherlock had said as he finished reading. "So the reason that Medusa has been killing, is connected to whoever wrote the poem." Andrew said. "But that's not possible." Ziva said.

"What do you mean?" Andrew asked.

Ziva pointed to the date on the paper. The paper had said, "840 A.D". "This poem was written approximately 1173 thousand years ago."

Sherlock then began to wonder. He walked over to the window, near the room where Sakura and Shadow were. He looked in the room to see them just talking to each other and laughing.

"Why would a simple poem from the past, give a reason to kill that little girl's parents before April 20th?"

-New Scotland Yard-

Minatsuki and Toto were pushed into a cell with no bars, just a table and a single mirror. "What? You don't have other of your special treatments?" Toto asked in a sadistic tone of voice, "No other magic tricks?"

"Can it you bloody perv!" The officer yelled to him, "You're lucky that we weren't ordered to kill you yet. I suggest that you enjoy the fact that you're still alive."

The officer shut the door on them, however the minute that they did someone else had appeared in the cell with them.

"Hello Icey." Minatsuki said, "How nice of you to drop by~"

There stood Nazo, in a trench coat, with cargo pants and black shoes, wearing a shirt that had been somewhat torn revealing a scar across his chest.

"So Nazo-chan, what brings you here to New Scotland Yard?" Toto asked.

"Medusa has made it known." Nazo had said calmly, "Phase Two is about to begin. She wants the two of you to be prepared."

"It's about damn time." Minatsuki said, fixing up her shirt.

"I trust that the two of you already have a plan of escape?"

Toto then showed a hidden blade with Toto's necklace, he had made sure that the camera's did not catch sight of it. "This all you need to see my darling Nazo?" Toto asked this time with a smile. Nazo simply nodded his head.

"When she gives you a sign of when the girl is a distance from Sherlock, you'll know what to do." He said.

The two nodded both of their heads, "Until than, we'll just wait patiently." Minatsuki said with a smile.

Nazo then turned and he took his leave. The two birds gave a dark chuckle.

"The curtain is about to raise~" Toto said in a singsong voice.

The both continued to laugh, not caring that the walls had closed around them.

-End of Chapter XVI-

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Song is 'The Life After You' by Daughtry