A/N: This chapter is a tad more heart-wrenching than I had expected. Fair warning. Oh, and there's also a little bit of a certain something that I generally would NEVER put up. Brace yourselves, and please review!
Shadow sat on the windowsill in the upstairs hallway, watching the rain outside. He glanced over to the side at the wreckage of the government helicopter. He pursed his lips grimly.
"Now I know why that guy wants us all killed," he said to himself.
The rain threw itself at the window like tiny bullets. It fell heavily and hard, as though trying to penetrate the glass. The black hedgehog sighed and leaned his head against the side of the window. Sonic's annoying voice buzzed around his head, reciting his plan.
We're going to stay to protect the family that shelters us. We'll all be outside the house and watching for danger. No one is going to get taken away or hurt like Jet was, and no one is going to be arrested for being nice. We fight to bring justice to this world.
Shadow shook his head. Justice is such a confusing thing; people fight for it by fighting. Or was that peace? Thoughts once again clouded Shadow's constantly questioning mind.
"Shadow?"
The black hedgehog turned around as lightning flashed behind him from the glass.
"Who's there? And what do you want?"
"It's just me," said Gabriel, who slowly walked towards the mysterious hedgehog. "Shadow, what are you doing up so late?"
The black hedgehog shrugged.
"I always stay up late. It's hard for me to get things off my mind sometimes," he replied bluntly. Gabriel watched as another flash of lightning illuminated the hedgehog's dark expression.
"Is there something wrong, Shadow? I know you aren't one for talking, but if you ever need to, I'll be here."
"Something's always wrong," Shadow countered darkly, "and I appreciate this . . . concern, but I think you ought to go to bed."
Gabriel stared at Shadow dismally.
"Shadow, I know there's good in you. You know that you aren't here for destruction. Are you with us? Will you help us to protect the women and children?"
A flashback came to Shadow. Maria stood in the ARK, severely hurt. Shadow could hear his own voice calling to her as she collapsed to the ground next to a control panel.
Shadow stopped himself from going any further with that memory.
". . . I will, but only for her."
Shadow leaped from the windowsill as lightning flashed again and hurried down the stairs, leaving Gabriel more confused than ever. The young man shrugged and went into his own room as thunder crashed over the house. I worry about you, Shadow the Hedgehog . . .
After a restless night of restless dreams and worries, the morning started roughly.
"Well, I can't make a big breakfast because the electric stove won't turn on," Mrs. Charis said sadly, "I'm afraid you all are going to have to eat cereal for breakfast."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Charis! I'll eat whatever we have!" Cream exclaimed eagerly, not wanting to start and sort of argument.
"Thanks, honey," the housewife sighed with a sad smile, "I'm afraid we don't have all that much."
The first opportunity to carry out the plan had arrived. Sonic almost felt excited to be taking action for the first time since they had landed on Earth. He ran to the TV room, where Knuckles sat on the couch with Rouge.
"Morning, Knucklehead!" he said, perhaps a little too loudly, "today's the day, you know."
Knuckles scowled as Rouge turned to the blue hedgehog.
"Can't you see we're busy, faker?" Rouge asked, giving Sonic a cold glare.
"Well, who called in the ice queen this morning?" Sonic shot back, feeling more witty than he had been for the previous few days. Rouge scoffed.
"Excuse me for minding my own business," she huffed, "what do you need the hothead for, anyway?"
Sonic chuckled nervously.
"Heh . . . well, see, I need Knuckles to . . . to help me out with something," he concluded vaguely. Rouge crossed her arms.
"All right, I'm coming too, boys. I know your little secret."
Knuckles attempted to argue.
"You can't come, Rouge! It'll be too dangerous!"
"Hey, I've been through plenty before, hothead. Don't even try to argue, because you're arguing with a woman. You won't win!"
Knuckles looked about ready to explode.
"Well, fine! If you get hurt, then I don't want to hear you whining!"
"Gotcha, hon," Rouge stated with a wink. She flew to Sonic as Knuckles squeezed his eyes shut.
"Well, uh . . . okay, then Rouge. This will be dangerous, you know," Sonic started awkwardly. Rouge raised an eyebrow.
"Uh huh," she agreed, "I'm looking for a thrill here. We haven't had one in a while, you know."
Sonic decided that it would be best if he said nothing to her in response.
After a few minutes, Sonic had gathered up Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, and Peter and Gabriel Charis. They huddled together in the basement.
"Now, we're going to be posted outside like soldiers. Standing watch for helicopters and stuff won't be easy, but someone's gotta do it to protect each other. If we see one, then I'll start giving orders about what we should do. Peter, did you tell Mrs. Charis that we'll be doing this?"
Mr. Charis nodded nervously.
"Yes, after arguing with her for a while last night, she finally agreed that we could do this. Just as long as we protect each other in the process, okay?"
Sonic nodded after glancing over at Rouge and Knuckles, who both gave each other looks of "Hah!" and "Oh, shut up" after hearing that Mr. Charis won the argument with his wife. Sonic nodded.
"Good. Now, we'll need to be on the alert. You never know when something might happen. No one gets left behind, and no one will get taken away. Not in my book."
The discussion came to an end. Mr. Charis and his son took some bebe guns out of a closet and loaded them up, ready for action. Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Rouge announced to the kids what they were doing and what procedures they should follow if something were to happen.
Tails ran up to Sonic and hugged him tightly.
"Sonic, I want to help!" he cried, with innocent tears forming in his eyes. Sonic rubbed his head.
"Hey, kiddo, don't worry! We'll be fine! But if anything should happen to me," he whispered, kneeling down to match Tails' height, "I want you to take my place as leader. But for now, you're the man of the house. Watch over Mrs. Charis and the girls, okay?"
Tails' eyes grew large and teary. His bottom lip quivered slightly.
Sonic, as he was about to comfort his "little brother", felt a sudden force behind him.
"Sonic, don't leeeave meeee!" wailed Amy from behind him as she squeezed him around the waist. "I don't want you to get hurt!"
"Whoa, Amy!" Sonic exclaimed, not surprised by her outburst. Surprisingly, he hugged her back. "Amy, you'll probably see me again, I promise. If not, then take care of the kiddos, okay?"
Amy fought back tears in her eyes.
"Sonic, I want to come, too!" she bawled.
Sonic shook his head.
"Amy, I don't want to see you getting hurt again. Not like the night of the Master Emerald's . . . Chaos Explosion. I know you're a tough girl."
The little hedgehog sniffled a few times and wiped her nose.
"I'll . . . I'll try, Sonic. For . . . for you . . ."
Sonic gave Amy a sincere smile and then, without any warning, gave her a tiny and partially sincere peck on the cheek.
As Cream caught a passed-out Amy Rose, Shadow stood by the window and watched as everyone wished them luck.
What's the big deal? he thought bitterly, we'll take these pitiful humans on without any problems. There's nothing to worry about at all; everyone's acting as though we're going off to war.
Agatha crept over to the dark and quiet figure.
"Uh . . . Shadow?"
The black hedgehog turned slowly to the black-haired girl.
"Yes, Agatha?"
Agatha fiddled with her fingers, again very nervous about speaking with Shadow.
"Well, I . . . it's just that looked lonely over here, and I thought I'd just wish you luck."
Shadow turned to the window.
"Thanks."
Agatha, disappointed by the brief exchange, frowned and mustered some courage up. She approached Shadow and violently turned him around by the shoulder.
"Shadow, please tell me, what is on your mind? What do you think of this situation? I want to know what goes on in your head!"
Shadow tore away from Agatha's grip, seemingly appalled by her action. He looked at her for a few moments and then stared her straight into her eyes.
"What goes on in my head would take far too long for me to explain to you," he said smoothly. Agatha covered her eyes in what seemed to be a mix of fear and distress. She said nothing, but instead started sobbing. Shadow didn't know how to respond to the burst of emotion. He thought for a moment and then came closer to the girl's face. "I'll tell you this, though," he began as Agatha let go of her reddened eyes, "I'm always deep in thought because I'm trying to remember my friend, who was killed in a horrible accident."
Agatha frowned and looked at Shadow quizzically.
"I'm . . . I'm so sorry, Shadow . . ." she uttered.
Shadow shrugged.
"No big deal," he mumbled, "it's not your fault. Uh . . . thanks for wishing me luck, though."
Agatha let out a grievous laugh.
"You're welcome, Shadow."
Mrs. Charis seemed the most upset throughout the morning. She tried to fight back the tears that gathered in her eyes and hugged and kissed everyone, not just her family members, but everyone who was going out(even Shadow, whose face turned bright red).
"Boys and Rouge, please, I know you'll only be outside of the house, but please be careful. Aren't you planning on coming back inside?"
Sonic shook his head.
"We'll be outside for as much time as we need, Mrs. Charis. We want to keep you guys safe until everything passes."
Mrs. Charis' voice broke numerous times as she spoke.
"Then take this bag of food. I'll bring you some when you run low, okay?"
The boys and Rouge nodded.
"Yes ma'am."
Once Peter and Gabriel kissed the baby twins goodbye, they went outside and locked the door behind them, leaving a heartbroken group of women and children in the house, all with tears in their eyes.
"I won't let you down, Sonic," Tails said aloud, "I'll keep everyone safe, like you said. Don't worry."