A/N: If the last chapter was a little too intense for you, then I'm hoping that this one lightens the mood a little bit. ^_^ Anyway, enjoy, and please review!

Shadow's eyelids fluttered. He moaned as he woke up from his state of exhaustion. When the hedgehog's eyes snapped open, Rouge came into focus, along with stone walls, a low stone ceiling, and about fifteen beds. The bat sat in a small chair and played with her hair.

"Rouge?"

"Whaddya want?" she asked as he woke, obviously not happy as she twirled her hair around. Shadow tried to get up, but his limbs felt oddly immobile. Rouge chuckled darkly as she noticed him struggling. "Yeah, don't even try, hothead. You caused too much of a scene earlier. Thanks to you, we have a smoking wreck of a helicopter right in the yard!"

Shadow looked at his arms and legs. They were duct-taped to a table, which is where he had been resting. He set his head down, sighing and shutting his eyes.

"The scene triggered some sort of traumatic emotion in my head," he explained, "it drove me mad."

"Yeah, we could hear that," the bat said, standing up and putting her hand on her hip, "and thanks to your traumatized and insane outburst, we are now responsible for the destruction of a government helicopter."

Shadow gritted his teeth.

"They were too close for my taste," he growled.

"Isn't that just like you, to make up excuses for your anger issues? You sound like that red-headed walking temper machine."

Shadow smiled upon hearing Rouge's nickname for Knuckles.

"Whatever floats your boat," he said mysteriously.

Rouge cocked her head in puzzlement.

"In case you're wondering," the bat began, changing the subject, "we'll all be rotating out to keep an eye on you."

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"Has it occurred to anyone that I can break through this tape whenever I want to?"

Rouge crossed her arms.

"Sure, it's occurred to us, but we'll be watching you. You're like a prisoner."

"I've been one for far too long," Shadow replied snidely, "and I won't tolerate it any longer."

"Don't you dare have another outburst, hedgehog!"

Shadow didn't go wild again, but instead he merely broke each strip of tape with a slice of Chaos Energy. Rouge held up her hands.

"Now take it easy, big guy. You're basically still recovering from the overwhelming amount of Chaos Energy you used up."

"I can handle it," Shadow muttered under his breath, "and by the way, did I seriously hurt anyone?"

Rouge focused her gaze on the ground awkwardly.

"Not that we've seen yet, no."

Shadow pursed his lips.

"If I did, that should teach them to mess with the Ultimate Life Form."

Shadow limped up the stairs strangely. He walked with a swagger that demonstrated his weakness as he ascended. Rouge hastily followed him up the stairs and out the little door.

"Please don't kill me!" screamed a delirious voice. Sonic stood in front of the chair in the dining room and watched as a government officer struggled to break free of his rope bonds.

"We aren't going to kill you," Sonic replied calmly and with a smile. Knuckles crossed his arms and started tapping his foot in annoyance.

"For the last time," he muttered angrily. The man continued to resist against the ropes that held him down.

"What are you going to do to me?" he asked, distraught.

Sonic shrugged.

"Eh, I dunno. We might feed you, maybe read you bedtime stories with the kids . . ."

"Enough! I know what your plan is, Mobian! You're going to kill me because I came for you!"

Knuckles threw his head back, groaning loudly with an air of vexation. He took the man's shoulders and throttled him.

"Shut . . . up!" he yelled, "The only reason someone might kill you is if you keep talking!"

This was enough to shut the man up. He whimpered a little, shaken by Knuckles' outburst, and hung his head. Knuckles cracked a grin, satisfied with himself.

"Nicely done, knucklehead," Sonic said gratefully. Knuckles shrugged.

"Hey, it's no big deal. Shake the guy a bit, and they do whatever you want."

"A-hem . . ."

The clearing of the throat sound came from the doorway. Shadow stood there and kept his arms limply at his sides. Knuckles and Sonic widened their eyes, alarmed that he was out of the basement.

"Shads, get back downstairs!" Sonic cried.

"Take it easy, he's not here for major destruction," said Rouge, who emerged from the doorway behind Shadow, "Just give him a chance to apologize."

Shadow limped his way into the dining room and recognized the man as the one he had threatened before. Unfortunately, the man also recognized Shadow, and burst into a sudden state of hysteria.

"Get away from me! Go away; let me be! Out! Please, please don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!"

"Holy crap, get a grip, man!" Shadow stated sharply as he slapped the frantic man across the face. The man shivered as Shadow came closer and knelt down on one knee.

"What do you want from me?" the man inquired curiously and nervously.

Shadow glared at the officer and set his voice a low growl.

"I'd like to apologize for my previous threats," Shadow said smoothly, "and I promise I won't hurt you anymore."

"Yeah, right! I know your kind," the officer hissed, "your promises are nothing but a bunch of lies!"

Shadow stood up and gave the man a glare mixed with a look of disgusted pity.

"They've been brainwashed," the hedgehog concluded. "I've seen it before. These people were told too many times that we're dangerous, and it's been drilled into their heads like they've been raised on that belief."

Sonic exchanged glances with Knuckles.

"That's a good point, Shads, but what are we going to do with him?"

Shadow grinned smugly.

"We'll have to keep him here until this unsettling episode comes to end."

On that mysterious note, Shadow hobbled away and into another room, leaving Knuckles scowling at Rouge.

"Well?"

Rouge blinked, puzzled.

"What? Why the stare? Is my radiance too much for you to look away from?"

Sonic stifled a chuckle as Knuckles nearly blew his top.

"You let Shadow out when we told you specifically not to?! What's the matter with you? Can't you follow simple directions for more than two minutes? He was your responsibility!" he yelled, flailing his arms in rage. Rouge backed off slightly.

"Hey, he didn't hurt anyone, and quite frankly, I had him under supervision."

Sonic watched as Knuckles chased a laughing bat out of the dining room angrily. He yelled rapidly, as though he was speaking in another language.

Sonic looked back at the man, who's head was drooping again. The hedgehog moved closer to check if the man was okay.

"Hey, pal, you all right?"

The man breathed heavily.

"I've been taken hostage by the enemy, not knowing how long I'll be staying here. I've let down my country and my leader. What's more, the enemy is nothing but a couple of little rats like you! Do you think I'm all right?"

Sonic chuckled and wagged a finger at the man.

"No, no, no," he teased, "that's not a very nice thing to say. Maybe we can teach you manners while you're being held hostage."

Sonic stepped out of the room before the man started cursing like a sailor. When Tails passed by the room and curiously peered inside, Sonic covered up the fox's ears and led him to the TV room.

"Nothing to see here," the hedgehog said quickly.

Later that night, the TV was set to the news channel. Agatha, Gabriel, Knuckles, and Sonic watched the screen intently as the reporter rapidly described their situation.

"There have been numerous reports of disappearing military vehicles and men from earlier today. Investigations show that the wreckage of government planes and helicopters have not yet been found or reported witnessed. Officers are still investigating the places where the military sergeants had been ordered to patrol and search. We now go live to military headquarters in the city of-"

The TV shut off abruptly.

"Hey!"

Not only did the TV shut off, but all of the lights in the house started to flicker and dim. Everyone immediately stood up and froze in terror.

"Oh, no," breathed Agatha, "they've shut off power in our area!"

"Hah! That's ridiculous," Knuckles scoffed, ever in a state of rebuttal. Sonic chimed in with his opinion.

"If your new leader wants to get the word out of missing vehicles to prove that we're possibly dangerous, then why would he shut off the power?"

Gabriel groped his way into the kitchen, occasionally bumping into a wall or two on the way.

"Well, Sonic, they're probably trying to scare us," he said, opening a drawer in the dark kitchen and digging into it for a flashlight.

A bright blue glow came from the living room. Agatha yelped in surprise, while Gabriel jumped. Knuckles and Sonic knew all to well what the source of the light was.

"Shads, bring the light over here!" Sonic called quietly, fully aware that there were children sleeping.

"My pleasure," came the deep and sarcastic voice of Shadow from the room.

The blue ball of light moved closer and illuminated Shadow's dark expression eerily in the night. The light came from Shadow's hands, as though he was holding a ball of flame. Agatha even backed away, still slightly intimidated by the dark hedgehog and his ambitions. "Oh, and by the way, Rouge says good night, hothead . . ." Shadow said directing his attention to Knuckles. Knuckles bared his teeth.

"She's never going to stop calling me that, is she?"

"Oh, she never said that. I added that bit at the end."

The echidna contained his anger and let his face get completely red. Shadow smiled slightly.

Sonic spoke up bravely.

"Okay, everyone, we're going to have to stick together. No Mobian or human will leave the house, nor will we split up. We stay with each other. Everyone understand?"

A short chorus of "yes's" came from the small group in the TV room.

"Good. Now, I've come up with something that resembles a plan . . ."

Sonic whispered to the small group that was with him, explaining his ideas and discussing them with the little organization. When he had finished, he concluded with a profound statement.

"We're more than just a team, guys, we're family. If we believe that we can do this, then I don't think anyone can get in our way. Agreed?"

A stronger chorus of "yes's" came, and the group dispensed, each heading to bed with some sort of confidence about them. They knew that they were family, and family helps each other through tough times with support and and faith.