A sharp knocking started up behind the front door, and Amy opened it. "Hello, Rouge. Shadow's over there on the couch."

The white bat came rushing over to him. "Shadow! I saw the news and they were talking about you! I was so worried…"

Shadow had been lying down on the couch before she arrived. He sat up and held his blanket around himself. "Come closer."

She leaned in right next to his face. "What, Honey?"

"Are my teeth chipped?" He parted his lips to reveal his lethally sharp teeth.

She sighed. "No, Shadow. Your teeth are fine. Jeez, I thought it was something important."

"That's important to me. I took a fall back in the cave."

"That's an understatement." She grabbed him by the chin and viewed his neck. "Christ, did he try to strangle you?"

"Well, he was just trying to scare me. It didn't work, for the record." He was lying, though.

"You poor thing!" She hugged him, and Shadow showed a look of irritation on his face. "Personal space, Rouge."

"Sorry." She stepped back and took a spot next to Amy, who was watching Shadow from about a meter away. "So, I have to bring up the elephant in the room. What are you and Silver hiding?"

He gasped. "Amy! What the hell?!"

"Don't pretend I could honestly just ignore it!"

"You guys all need to leave me alone. I don't have to tell you if I don't want to!"

"But you're our friend, so it's our duty to know what's bothering you!" Rouge said, crossing her arms.

"Bullshit!"

"We're not going to stop asking until you tell us!" Amy chipped in.

"Yeah!" Sonic added.

"Don't make me come over there, Faker!" Shadow screamed at Sonic.

"Do it! I don't care!" The blue hedgehog positioned his feet into a fighting stance. "It's not like you could do any damage anyway! Look at yourself!"

"You're gonna get it now, Sonic!" Shadow leapt off of the couch and threw the blanket down at his feet.

"WAIT!" Amy yelled. Everyone froze. "Nobody. Move."

Shadow was confused, until Amy elbowed Rouge and pointed at him.

"Don't look at me!" Shadow shouted.

"Amy, I'm not sure what you-" She stopped herself mid-sentence. "Wait. Wait, Amy, are you saying…"

The pink hedgehog whispered something into Rouge's ear. Shadow began to look alarmed. He didn't know what to do.

"Holy shit! Oh my God!"

Shadow covered his face with his hands. Sonic still looked as confused as ever. "What?! What am I missing?!"

Rouge grabbed Sonic by the shoulders. "Mephiles raped him! That sick demon raped him!"

Sonic froze. He was speechless.

Rouge looked over at Shadow frantically. He was shaking his head, face still covered by hands. He was whispering, "No, no, no… It wasn't real… It wasn't real…" The bat took a step toward him. "DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" He screamed, bolting for the door.

Silver put a hand up and the ebony hedgehog froze, surrounded by teal.

-XXX-

"Don't make me do this… please…" Shadow begged, sitting on the couch, surrounded by his friends (who were just standing close so that he wouldn't make a run for it).

"Honey…" Rouge put a hand on his shoulder. "We have to go to the hospital."

"I'm not going to die! And we already know who did it! Why do we have to make it a crime scene and have the whole damn world know what he did to me?!"

"Humans can help protect you from him." She replied, "Plus, the hospital can give you the care that we can't. And I don't just mean physical care."

"Like hell I'm going to a shrink! Before I know it, those idiotic humans will have me in a straight jacket!"

"Shadow. Look at me." Rouge turned his head to her's, so that they were making eye contact. "You need help, or else this will haunt you for the rest of your immortal life."

"I moved on from Maria, didn't I? I can get over something as ridiculous as this!"

"But this isn't ridiculous!" Silver interjected. "Shadow, it's going to hurt but I'm going to say it anyway, because you need to hear this." The black hedgehog glared at him. "Shadow. Just hours ago, you were brutally raped and left for dead. Yes, I said it. Raped. And you need help."

Shadow just silently glared at him for a long time. But eventually, that glare became nothing more than a hollow stare, and tears of pain and guilt began to well up behind Shadow's eyes.

If I cry, that's it. I'm nothing more than dirt.

But he couldn't help it. And the tears began to stream down his face. And breathing got harder. And before he knew it, Rouge was hugging him again and he was sobbing into her shoulder. Nobody said a thing.

Minutes passed, and Shadow continued to cry. His dignity was long gone at this point, so what did he have to lose? The Ultimate Life Form simply let the emotions go. Nothing could be heard except his own rhythmic sobbing. Finally, the moment was broken when he mumbled, just barely audible,

"Oh God, why…?"

Tears began to drop from Rouge's face too. This was an unbearable sight to see.

"Oh God, why?" He repeated.

She hugged him tighter.

"Why? Why? Why?"

"I'm sorry." Rouge whispered, "Shadow, I'm so sorry."

Shadow pulled away from her and faced the wall. He didn't want anyone to see his red, swollen, tear-stricken face. "He did it."

"Did what?" Rouge asked delicately.

"He said he'd do it, and he did it."

"What?" She repeated.

But Shadow kept silent after that.