Who's ready for another chapter? Thanks for the reviews, guys! And sorry for the wait, writer's block won't go away.

GenesisBlazingShadow: Will you please quit talking about Chuck Norris? I have nothing against him, but for the last time, THE CONCUSSION WAS AN ACCIDENT! SHADOW DIDN'T INTEND FOR THAT TO HAPPEN!

anime2videogames: Glad you like the family relationship! I like writing it as much as you like reading it. ^_^

IluvSilverShadow: Yes, it was already answered, but don't feel bad for forgetting. I don't mind answering it again. Shadow heard about the fire after it had already been extinguished, and Sonic had just been taken to the orphanage by the time he got there.

jorenmartijn: Sorry if it seemed too mushy, I wasn't trying to do that, I just wanted a comforting scene. Sonic had his grief bottled up, because it was painful to think about. He never got to really grieve, and since he had no one to comfort him for the past 2 years, Shadow's hug made him realize that he does have someone who cares about him. You didn't read incorrectly, but there is a reason why I did that. I will be reveal what happened in full detail soon.

Disclaimer: If I owned them, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.

Chapter 9

By the time Sonic was done crying, it was 4:37 am. He felt emotionally drained, but he also felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His eyes were red and puffy from all of the tears he shed.

After a few more minutes, something finally seemed to click in to his brain. He pulled back from the comforting hug, obviously embarrassed about breaking down like that. Wiping away his own tears with a tattered glove, he clutched the stuffed Chao closer to his chest. "Sorry."

"There's no need to apologize," Shadow reasoned, not yet understanding why his son was apologizing.

Sonic almost laughed when he heard the slight confusion in Shadow's voice. It didn't seem like a good time to, but still, who knew his father could be so dense?

It took another few seconds for Shadow to finally understand, and when he did, he mentally slapped himself. "You haven't had anyone comfort you in a long time, have you?" They had already established Sonic's forced independence more than once, but this would confirm any more suspicions he had about just how hard life had been for his son.

Sonic's eyes hardened slightly as he shook his head, pushing more memories away. "There was no time to grieve. Everything changed too fast." He clutched Speedy tighter, nearly popping an eye, and his head off just by the sheer pressure.

"Calm down, son, before you end up killing Speedy," Shadow said, obviously trying to lighten Sonic's tense mood. He would've had better luck fixing a broken china pot with a sledgehammer, for Sonic glared at him, threw the stuffed Chao at him with impressive force, and Chaos Controlled out of the room.

After barely dodging the stuffed-toy-turned-missile, and making sure it didn't fly into the fireplace, Shadow sighed. He now knew that Sonic wouldn't want to confront his past, even if he had talked a little about it just days earlier, but it would help his recovery.

Right now, there was just one objective on his mind: Finding Sonic.

He ran through the halls once again.

Meanwhile…

Sonic, instead of hiding in the house this time, was at the entrance of the nearby woods, punching a large tree.

Due to his tattered gloves, his knuckles were already bloody, but he didn't stop. He wouldn't stop.

No matter how hard he punched, his frustration wouldn't dissipate. What gave Shadow the right to ask about his past like that? He already told him enough!

Of course, the only mistake he made was not counting on the wasp's nest that was high up in the tree. After landing an extremely hard punch, the nest promptly fell and landed right in front of him.

He paled, and started running back to the house with the wasps chasing after him, forgetting that he could've used Chaos Control to get back.

When he got to the front door, he tried to open it, but it was locked. Still forgetting that he could just use Chaos Control, he started pounding on the door. "DAD, LET ME IN!" he shouted as loud as he could.

It wasn't until the wasps were 2 feet away from him that he finally remembered about Chaos Control. He quickly warped into the house. Leaning against the door, Sonic tried to calm his racing heart. His ears twitched as the wasps buzzed outside the door.

"I change my mind…That was too close," Sonic muttered to himself.

"Sonic?" Shadow came running down the stairs, looking almost as panicked as he did.

For a minute, the two hedgehogs just looked at each other. Sonic was the first to break eye contact, still focused on calming down.

Shadow noticed his son's bloodied knuckles, and could also faintly hear buzzing. "What happened?"

Not wanting to fully explain, when Sonic looked up, all he said was, "Wasps."

Shadow just gave a look that clearly said "continue" but Sonic stayed silent.

Shadow went over to his son and started to check for any other injuries, but Sonic pushed him away. "Dad, I'm fine."

"I just want to make sure," Shadow said, concern evident in his voice.

"I already told you, I'm not a little kid." Seeing the pained look on Shadow's face, Sonic realized why he was being so persistent, and it made him become slightly annoyed, and somewhat guilty. 'He feels like he needs to make up for lost time, and I'm biting his head off about it.'

"I know you're not, but I can't stand the thought of you getting severely hurt. I've already lost you once; I don't want to risk it happening again."

Sonic, unsure of how to respond, sighed and closed his eyes.

"You know, you're not the only one who's knocked down a wasp's nest," Shadow said, smiling to himself at the memory.

This got Sonic's dual-colored eyes back open, and he looked at his father in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I was about your age, and I was dared to knock down a nest with a rock. It took a few hits, but I managed to do it."

"I never thought you would be willing to take a dare like that."

"It was either that or take the other dare of dyeing my streaks pink. Now, we've got to get those knuckles cleaned up."

Though he had a hard time containing his laughter when he imagined what his father would look like with pink streaks, Sonic rolled his eyes at the sudden change in topic, but he got up anyway. "Can't I clean them myself? By myself?"

"If I let you, how will I know you'll do it?"

"How will you know I won't?" he retorted.

This was a good point, but… "Believe me, I'll know."

Sonic huffed again, "Fine…" before he started looking in various rooms for the medical kit.

He found it a while later, and, after removing his gloves, started the task of cleaning his bloody knuckles. Once he was done, he wrapped them with the gauze, but he didn't bother putting his gloves back on.

Shadow was watching from the doorway, making sure his son was actually cleaning his wounds. The moment Sonic finished, Shadow was about to Chaos Control back to the door, but he decided not to. He wasn't going to startle his son, again, but instead he wanted Sonic to realize he was there himself.

Sonic could see his dad standing at the doorway in his peripheral vision. Grinning like a madman, he grabbed the large roll of bandages. Faster than anyone could blink, he wrapped Shadow's entire body with them. He now looked like he was in a cocoon, and with one little nudge, he fell to the floor.

Sonic, for reasons unknown to his father, decided to do a little pose which included placing a foot on his father's back and holding an imaginary sword in the air.

"Do you mind telling me why you did this?" Shadow asked.

Sonic simply grinned. "I just thought it would be funny," he replied.

His grin faltered when Shadow glared at him. "Alright, fine, I'll get them off."

"No need to." Shadow started to tense every muscle in his body, which caused the bandages to stretch, then he relaxed his muscles. The bandages had become loose now, so he was able to wriggle his way out of them.

This shocked, surprised, and impressed Sonic, who had backed away to give his father room. "Whoa. Where'd you learn that?"

"It's something I learned on my travels."

Sonic thought back to the conversation they had in the kitchen, and remembered the time his father had spent taking a break from his searching. He almost started doing the math in his head again, but then he didn't feel like it.

He was about to ask if he could learn it, but since it would involve him getting tied up, he decided against it.

Shadow saw that Sonic was deep in thought, and left the younger hedgehog to his thoughts.

Sometime later…

Sonic woke with a start. As he looked around, he realized that he had fallen asleep standing up. 'When did that happen?' he thought.

Though he still felt tired, he didn't feel like going to his bedroom, so he wandered the halls of the house.

When Sonic came across the storage room, he wondered what else was in there. He'd check later. 'Or, if Dad's asleep, I can see what else is in here without him knowing right now,' he thought. Looking around to make sure he wouldn't get caught, he then used Chaos Control to get into the room. He would've used the pocket knife, but it would've taken him longer to get inside, and he wasn't even sure if the door was still locked.

It took a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and once they did, he rummaged through the piles. He found a few more things from his childhood, though he didn't really care at the moment, for underneath the pile, he found a gem. It was emerald colored, and seemed to give off some kind of energy. 'I wonder what this is for,' he thought as he picked it up. 'Ah, I'll ask later. In the meantime, I'll hide it.' He stuck the gem into his quills, making sure it wouldn't fall out.

Seeing nothing else interesting, Sonic Chaos Controlled to the den, where he last remembered leaving Speedy. It seemed childish to want to go back for the plush, but he didn't really care. Finding him on the arm chair, Sonic picked him up before stealthily running up to his room. Feeling more tired than he did earlier, he flopped down onto his bed and was asleep before his head hot the pillow, with the hand carrying Speedy hanging over the edge.

T.B.C.

Why do I usually have my characters sleep? Probably because I can't think of anything else for them to do at the moment. Oh, well. If this chapter sucked, blame writer's block.

The whole "falling-asleep-while-standing" thing hasn't happened to me, but my brother's done that a few times.

And yes, Sonic found a Chaos Emerald. I haven't thought of what to do with it in the upcoming chapters yet, but I'll think of something.

Let me know how this chapter turned out. Leave a comment/review!

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