At first, Shadow wasn't even aware that he'd woken up. His waking moments of late had been dominated by pain, difficulty breathing, and a feeling that his legs had been immobilized. So when he drifted back into consciousness this time having found the world so vastly changed, it was difficult to understand what had happened.

The raging agony on his hide had been snuffed out. His legs were free, feeling light and unburdened. Last and certainly not least was the sweet feeling of freedom around his ribcage, allowing him to breathe! It was so good that he opened his mouth wide and yawned luxuriously. That's about when he started to question his circumstances because even his body was in a different position. Hadn't he been lying on his stomach?

Did I finally die?

Shadow pried his eyes open to look around and promptly frowned at his surroundings. He was in a building made of rough hewn wood logs stacked on top of each other and sealed with something that looked like… was that glue? At least the ceiling was made of modern looking materials. The floor was also carpeted but it looked so thick he wondered if he'd have trouble walking on it. Golden light streamed in through sheer curtain panels. Altogether, he had to admit, the room had a certain amount of charm. Maria would have loved this.

The thought had crossed his mind faster than he could shut it down. His heart hurt inside his chest, beating erratically as the grief and rage crashed over him again. He was alive and it hurt! Throwing an arm over his stinging eyes, Shadow fought against the tears that threatened. It was suddenly hard to breathe again. Bad memories descended on him, and suddenly he was back in the ARK labs, wrists and ankles cuffed to a chair as the scientists hovered over him with needles and other unpleasant things.

"This is the ultimate life form? Pathetic…"

"Shadow?"

Shadow's heart just about hit the roof as he startled, but it did get him back into the present. He looked over at the doorway and blinked. It was that blue hedgehog. Sonic. Of course it was. The details of the fight came back to him as the blue idiot began to smile.

"Heya Shadow!" he said, coming over to stand by the side of the bed. "Nice to see you awake. You really had me worried there!"

Shadow blinked. Sonic had been worried about him, after everything he'd done?

"The ARK?" he asked, cringing at how rough his voice sounded.

"Back in stable orbit," Sonic assured him. "Tails has been keeping an eye on it. It's actually more likely to crash into the moon at this point. So yeah, crisis averted. But how're you doing? You were in pretty rough shape when I found you. The burns are healing really well. Are you in any pain? Do you need anything?"

The thought of anyone other than Maria taking care of him made Shadow cringe. He tried to move his legs and was rewarded with a burst of agony that had him seeing white for a moment.

"Hey, hey, hey, woah!" Sonic said. "It's probably not a good idea for you to be moving around yet."

Sonic's hands hovered over his body as if he was prepared to hold Shadow down, but it looked like he didn't know where he could actually put his hands.

Shadow lifted his arm and moved the blankets aside to discover the layers upon layers of bandages on his body.

Sonic cringed, retracting his hands. "Uh yeah, when I said burns, it's more like one really big burn all over you. Your quills protected your back, but It looks like you didn't manage to curl up cause your arms legs and belly are toast… uh. Poor wording, sorry. Oh! And look!"

Sonic turned to the nightstand and picked up a mason jar full of sand and pebbles. "You picked up a few souvenirs when you got hit by the planet. You had your very own crater too!"

There was a lot of dried crusted blood in the jar, presumably, it was his own. So Sonic had taken the time to pick that mess out of his hide? Or was it really Sonic's work?

"Who else is here?" Shadow asked, massaging his throat.

"Oh! Sorry!" Sonic rushed off and reappeared with a glass of water.

Shadow accepted it gratefully and began to sip at it, relishing the cool feeling soothing the fire out of his tender throat.

"And uh, this is actually one of my private bolt holes," Sonic said like he was making a big admittance. "So don't go telling people it's here. But there are like four people who even know it exists: the ruler of the Kingdom of Dragons, the contractor who built it, you, and of course me. And hey! If you promise not to say anything about it, you can come here too. I use it to patch myself up, or sometimes I just need a quiet place to think! This place can be like that for you too. I can get an extra key made and everything!

So it was just Sonic, and nobody knew he was here. Ordinarily Shadow would have felt chilled and threatened at that, but there were a couple of extreme factors here that he was forced to consider. He'd learned that he'd been stuck in cryo for fifty years. Everyone he knew from the ARK was either dead or in hiding and even if they were still around, he didn't think any of them would object if Sonic suddenly decided to turn homicidal.

That and as Shadow watched the blue maniac buzz around the room chattering all the while about moving furniture around to make space for a second bed, he got the feeling that Sonic's intentions were pure. He needn't worry about getting a knife between the ribs or anything worse. It was also a little surprising to think that Sonic had taken the time to pick all the tiny grains of sand out of his bleeding hide. He just couldn't imagine Sonic sitting still for that long, but evidently he had.

"How long was I out?" Shadow asked, breaking through Sonic's rambling.

"What? Oh! Well… actually… to be honest, it took me four months to find you after you hit the planet," Sonic said looking guilty. "I'm sorry it took me so long. Can't imagine what that must have been like. It's been about another three days since I found you."

Shadow cringed as he remembered the panic and terror of being completely buried and having to claw his way out of the dirt, only to nearly drown in mud near the surface. He'd collapsed the moment he'd gotten a little air. Then it was endless hours of agony as he lay there and slowly got weaker, dangerously dehydrated and beyond feeling hunger.

The ultimate life form let his head fall back once more against the pillows, once again reveling in the ability to breathe. Given what he'd just survived, Shadow reassessed his situation. His body was sore, but as long as he didn't move too much, the pain was manageable. He could tell he was still dehydrated and the ambient chaos energy in the area was a little depleted, so he also needed to eat, but altogether he felt much stronger. Sonic had managed to keep him alive for three days, not that it was much of a feat, but he was still feeling… thankful.

Sonic's prattle filtered back in as Shadow took another sip of that beautiful, clear, clean water.

"-had some beef stew on the stove since this morning. Think you're about ready for something a little more solid?" Sonic asked, blinking at him as if he'd been entirely unaware of Shadow's mind wandering.

"Stew sounds nice," Shadow said and found that his voice had smoothed out nicely with the water.

Sonic turned out to be a surprisingly good cook, but he only managed a single bowl before his stomach began to protest. He would have been content to curl up and go back to sleep, but Sonic shattered that idea.

"Kay! It's about time to change those bandages," the blue speedster announced.

Shadow groaned. "I'm fine," he said. "Leave me alone, I want to sleep. You can change them later."

"Sorry pal," Sonic said, already pulling the blankets down. "But this needs to happen."

Shadow growled and reached for the covers, but he was too late. Sonic had seen him move and had pulled them off the bed entirely.

"Leave me alone!" Shadow growled again more threateningly, quills starting to rise.

Sonic raised his hands defensively. "Man, I know you're tired," he said. "But you heal as fast as I do, maybe even faster, and the last thing we want is for that cloth to heal into the wounds, trust me I've had it happen before and it's not pleasant."

So he wasn't the only one? Shadow threw an arm over his eyes and groaned. He did actually know exactly what it was like to have to pull bandages out of half healed wounds, tearing the delicate sensitive skin back open in strips. In this instance, Sonic was correct.

"Well, what's it gonna be?" Sonic asked, tapping a foot impatiently.

"Fine," Shadow growled. "Do what you need to do, just make it quick."

"Look who you're talking to buddy!" Sonic chuckled, then began undoing the bandages on his arm.

Shadow watched his progress and listened to his ongoing commentary taking note of the places Sonic was most concerned about.

"Honestly, you're doing really well," Sonic informed him happily. "Even after only three days, I can see new skin forming along the edges. That patch of fur is new. I had to dig a pebble out of that spot and didn't get a reaction from you, so there might be some nerve damage."

"That'll heal," Shadow assured him.

"That sounds like the voice of experience," Sonic said. "I'd love to exchange war stories some time."

"No," Shadow said darkly. "You really wouldn't."

"Oh, not something you wanna talk about, huh?" Sonic asked sympathetically. "Yeah, we've all got a few of those."

Shadow narrowly avoided snorting. There were things that happened aboard the ARK that even Maria never knew about, and even if she were still alive, he'd never tell her...Ever. He winced as Sonic pulled loose a bandage that had stuck a little.

"Sorry about that," Sonic said at once. "I'll try to be a little more careful."

The apology surprised him. Only one person had ever been considerate of his injuries.

"It's fine," he grunted, but he began to notice how gentle Sonic was trying to be, how his deft fingers would catch the very edge of a bandage and slowly lift it, always checking for resistance. He was proving to be a very considerate but still somehow swift and efficient medic. This was the kind of skill that came with long hours of practice.

Shadow felt himself relaxing at that realization. He was in good hands. So instead, he began to study his caretaker. He'd seen Sonic up close a few times, but never this still. Those green eyes were usually filled with emerald flames when they looked his way, but now they shimmered peacefully making him think of the serene power of the green chaos emerald. Sonic had stopped talking at some point and was humming quietly as those eyes focused with laser like attention on his injuries.

Maria had that same kind of focus. It didn't even feel like two full weeks ago that she'd rescued him from the scientists for a few hours to treat his latest set of torture wounds and make the pain go away for a while.

Shadow turned away from Sonic, closing his eyes for a moment. Maria's absence was like a bleeding wound in his soul, a chunk of light and love that was gone, ripped out to leave jagged edges. It was a hollow pain, a depth of sadness he couldn't even begin to fathom. His eyes began to sting, and his throat got all tight and painful again. Grief really sucked.

"You alright Shadow?" Sonic asked, sounding quiet and subdued for once.

"No."

I'll never be okay again.

A few days passed. Shadow recovered physically. Sonic attempted to start a conversation a few times, but backed off when Shadow resisted all his attempts. Then one evening after dinner, the ultimate life form made a simple announcement.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning," Shadow said.

"Oh, okay," Sonic said, but then looked up. "Are you sure? You're not completely healed yet. You could stay a little longer if you wanted."

Most of the bandages had come off at this point, and his fur had grown back in. Only the ones on his arms remained, a stark contrast of white against his inky black fur.

"I'm functional now," Shadow said. "In two more days, I'll be back up to full strength."

Sonic nodded after a moment's hesitation. "'Kay then," he said. "You can always come back here if you need to, but you'll probably need to bring your own food. If you end up having to get into the medical supplies, just replace what you use."

"That's reasonable," Shadow agreed. It was kind of Sonic to offer this place as a haven, not that he ever had any intention of using it, but still.

"Where will you go?" Sonic asked him suddenly.

"I'll go wherever I'm needed."

I have a promise to keep.

Shadow was gone when Sonic woke up the next morning.