*dodges tomatoes* Sorry, guys! I'm really starting to hate writer's block now, since it interfered with my other story as well. *sigh* Also, the site wouldn't let me upload the document.

Thanks for the reviews! I love the positive feedback!

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, only the plot.

Chapter 6

"Ow! Dad, would you quit with the antiseptic already?!" Sonic complained. Currently, he was in the middle of getting the cut on his hand cleaned.

They hadn't left the den, as it had a first-aid kit stored in it.

"I'm just making sure it doesn't get infected," Shadow replied. He had Sonic's wrist in a firm grip to keep him from yanking his hand away. Sonic's tattered glove was on the floor.

"What's the point? I've never gotten sick!" he protested.

"Funny, I seem to recall you catching a lot of different ailments when you were a baby. Especially diaper rash." (1) He smirked when Sonic blushed and ducked his head in embarrassment.

"That doesn't count…" his son muttered.

"On the contrary, it does," the ebony hedgehog said as he fished out the roll of bandages from the first-aid kit.

Sonic looked up when he saw them in his peripheral vision, and he gave a dramatic sigh of relief. "Finally, this torture is almost over!"

Shadow raised an eyebrow as he wrapped the bandages around Sonic's palm. "You've been in a neglectful orphanage, albeit for a few days, and lived on the streets for 2 years, yet you consider this torture?"

"No, I'm just trying to work on my acting."

"I'm sure you were, son," Shadow replied, ignoring the sarcasm he plainly heard in his son's voice. He finished wrapping his son's hand and started putting the medical supplies away.

Sonic grinned. It may have only been a few hours since he'd been reunited with his father, but he was already feeling the old, yet familiar feeling of contentment.

"Who knows? Maybe I could become an actor someday."

Shadow chuckled. "Yes, you could, but you'll have to work hard at it. And go to acting school."

Sonic looked at him with disbelief. "What?! I'd have to go to school to be an actor?" he exclaimed, practically spiting out the word school as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"You'd have to go to school for anything."

"Damn."

Shadow's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything about the vulgar language. Sonic must've noticed either way, because he suddenly looked sheepish, but also a little annoyed.

It was going to take a while for the both of them to get re-used to this.

The seconds ticked by with neither of them speaking, unsure of what to say. It was quiet, except for the soft ticking of the clock above the fireplace and the drumming of Sonic's fingers on the arm rest of the chair he was sitting in.

Biting back a yawn, Sonic continued to drum his fingers.

"You're tired. You should get some rest," Shadow said softly.

Sonic gave a half-shrug, then he grabbed his glove and put it back on. "Alright." Before standing up on the chair and jumping off, doing a couple of flips in the air before landing in the doorway the way a gymnast would.

He didn't get a chance to take a step out of the room before his wrist was once again in the grip of his father, this time gently. He turned his head to look at Shadow.

"Dad, what gives?"

"I said you should rest, but I didn't say you could right now. What you should do is get some food into your stomach first." Again, Shadow was speaking softly.

"I don't want soup. And from what I remember, you used to be a terrible cook."

"A lot can change in 9 years." There was a hint of sadness in his father's voice and eyes, and Sonic noticed. He looked away, sadness in his own dual-colored eyes.

"I know…"

"Will you at least try the soup?"

"Why can't I have something other than soup?"

"You might vomit it back up if it's too rich, and I'm sure you don't want that."

"…You're right, I don't, but does it have to be soup?"

"Yes, it does."

After a few moments of thought, Sonic sighed and gave in. "Alright, fine."

"Come along, then," Shadow said, letting go of his son's wrist and leading him back to the kitchen. Sonic followed.

10 minutes later…

As hungry as Sonic was, he still wasn't happy with the idea of having to eat bland foods for a few weeks.

In front of him was another bowl of soup, freshly made.

He was still somewhat convinced that his dad was a bad cook, so instead of eating it, he was merely swirling the spoon around.

"It's not poison, Sonic."

"That remains to be seen, dad."

"If you must know, when I wasn't searching for you, I was travelling the world. I learned many recipies, including that soup."

"When exactly were you not searching for me?"

"3 days every month."

"Not much of a vacation if it's only three days."

"Not necessarily. 9 years is 108 months, and 3 days a month is 36 days per year, which means I had a total of 324 days of vacation out of 1095 days."

Sonic stopped swirling the spoon, a thoughtful, concentrating look on his face. He was obviously trying to do the math in his head.

"Sonic."

He didn't get a reaction. He hadn't expected one.

"Sonic!" he shouted.

He still didn't get a reaction. He decided to go with another tactic and punched the table as hard as he could without breaking it. Somehow, the soup didn't spill a drop. It didn't even shake.

That snapped him out of it. Actually, it startled him so much he fell out of the chair. His head hit the floor with a loud 'CRACK!' and he promptly yelled out in pain. Fortunately, or in his case, unfortunately, he wasn't knocked unconscious or bleeding, but there was a rather large bump on the right side of his head, near one of the 3 quills that had a red streak like Shadow's quills did.

Shadow nearly knocked over the chair, and the table plus the bowl of soup rushing to his son.

"Sonic are you alright?!" His voice was full concern, and his heart full of guilt.

"Head hurts…feel tired…" he mumbled, eyelids drooping.

'Concussion. I need to keep him awake,' Shadow thought. Quickly, he got a bag of ice and gently held it to the swollen bump. "Try to stay awake, son."

"Cold…"

"It'll help ease the swelling and the pain. Stay awake," he repeated. He noticed that the sunglasses his son was so fond of had fallen off.

"It's hard…" he mumbled softer.

"I know it is. I'm going to ask some questions to keep you awake, okay?"

"Don't…wanna answer…tired…"

"Can you tell me your name?" Shadow knew that sometimes concussions could cause memory loss, so he asked basic questions.

"S'nic…"

"My name?"

"Sh'dow…"

"How long did you stay at the orphanage?"

"Few…days…"

"Then what?"

"'scaped…lived on…streets after that…"

"How did you find out I was your father?"

"Knock'd over picture…saw resem'lance…"

"How old are you?"

"'M gonna be…15 in…couple weeks"

'Good, there isn't any damage if his memory's intact. Still need to keep him awake.' "Is the ice helping?"

"Little bit"

"Try to stay awake a little longer, alright?"

Sonic only muttered something incoherent.

Shadow sighed. 'I need to find another way of keeping him up. Wait a minute, that's it!' Still holding the bag of ice to the bump, he carefully stood up and picked up the bowl of soup, which still hadn't spilled anything, and set it down next to his son before kneeling back down himself.

"I need you to stay awake for this, Sonic, so you won't choke."

"Don't want it…"

"You need to eat something, Sonic." He was strongly reminded of when Sonic was a fussy, picky toddler who didn't want to eat. 'This should be interesting for the both of us.'

"No"

Shadow took the opportunity of sticking a spoonful of soup into Sonic's open mouth, making sure the navy teen didn't choke on it. Seeing that his son hadn't swallowed, he massaged his throat until he did.

"Cheater…" It wasn't really surprising that Sonic managed to glare even in his state.

"The quicker you eat, the quicker you get to go to sleep later."

"I thought you…didn't want me…to sleep"

"That's why I said later," Shadow explained, holding up another spoonful.

"I can…feed myself," he insisted, sitting up. Unfortunately, he sat up too quickly, which caused him to become really dizzy.

Placing the spoon back into the bowl, he steadied his disoriented son. "You can't even sit up without being dizzy. Let me do this for you."

Sonic could tell his father was feeling bad about indirectly causing all this, and it was an accident, so he complied and gave a slight nod.

Shadow continued to spoon-feed his son until the bowl was still was 3/4 full and Sonic was struggling to stay awake.

"Can you eat anymore? Or stay awake?"

The only response he got was Sonic leaning against him, already asleep. 'He does need his sleep, but he might slip into a coma due to the concussion.'

Deciding to let his son rest, and silently vowing to keep an eye on him, he picked Sonic up before standing up and exiting the kitchen.

Instead of taking Sonic to the room he had prepared for him months earlier, as he redecorated it to fit his son's age over the years, he took him to his own bedroom. Almost everything was either a dark blue color, or black.

After setting Sonic down on the bed, he turned to get a wooden chair, only to find that his arm was currently being held hostage by his son. Shadow sighed and tried to get his arm free without waking Sonic. Nothing he tried worked, so he just remained standing. 'And here I thought teenagers were supposed to resent their parents,' he thought.

It was going to be a long night.

T.B.C.

So, how was it? This chapter was just to have them bond some more, though as you can see, most it happened due to Sonic being hurt.

(1)- Shadow just needed something to get Sonic to shut up, but as to whether or not it's really true, I haven't decided yet.

Another little note: Fanart. If anyone would like to draw either Sonic or any of the scenes from this story, you're free to do it. I would do it, but I can't draw Sonic very well. I can draw Shadow pretty good, but I always have trouble with Sonic's quills…

Just remember that Sonic is navy blue instead of cobalt, has a ruby eye along with his regular emerald colored eye, wears sunglasses to cover his dual-colored eyes, and has 3 red streaks in his quills, one on the top quill, and the other two are on the two side quills at the bottom of his head. In my head, Sonic has 6 quills like it shows in the games when viewing him from behind. His gloves and shoes are the same way they've always been, just tattered due to his living on the streets.

Leave a review/comment to tell me how I did!

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