There haven't been any comments at all for the last two chapters! AAAAHHHHHHHH! Hey! This is the internet! I can be as needy as I want! PLEASE tell me what you think. (I'm not crazy, I promise...) I'm open to suggestions and if you have questions, I will try to answer them. Fair is fair though... if it's a spoiler I will decline to answer, but you will still get a message back saying so.

You know the drill. I don't own any of it.

"That's it!" Amy crowed into the receiver of the phone she was using to help coordinate. "That's the all clear. Good work everyone!"

Maria sighed with relief. There had been some pretty intense sounding explosions outside the building, just a second ago. That meant Sonic had probably just taken out the last of Eggman's bots. She went to the door of the closet they were hiding in and tentatively pushed it open. There were a few car alarms going off still, but the sounds of the fight had ended. The interior of the ice cream shop was untouched, though the world outside the glass looked like a tornado carrying robot carcasses had blown through. Amazingly enough, there wasn't even a scratch on the glass windows.

Sonic was still out there, but he was kneeling down near a dark form with red stripes.

"Shadow!" Maria cried and ran to the door, shoving it open violently.

Sonic looked up as she approached. "He's breathing," the hedgehog said. "But I'm pretty sure that's a bullet wound." He showed her a spot on Shadow's shoulder where the flesh had been torn open in a tell tale circle.

Maria dropped to her knees and carefully lifted Shadow enough to look at the back of his shoulder. "No exit wound," she said. "If it is a bullet, it's still in there. I need tools! I need a clean operating space!"

"I know someone," Sonic said. "Hold on."

He whizzed off, leaving her supporting Shadow, and she took a moment to look him over for anything else. There was an alarming amount of blood in his fur down his right side, but she was relieved to find no other injuries. She checked the wound again and it was bleeding, but sluggishly. It didn't make sense for this to have just happened. How long had he been running around like this? And why was he unconscious?

People were beginning to emerge onto the street to silence their screaming vehicles and to begin surveying the damage. Some were starting to look their way, murmuring and pointing with looks of concern.

"Oh for the love of chaos!" someone exclaimed.

Maria turned to look and spotted a white bat mobian in an interesting cat suit headed their way.

"Did you see what happened?" the bat asked crouching down to look Shadow over.

Maria shook her head. "I got shoved into a closet," she said. "I don't even know when he showed up. He was like this when I got out here."

The bat rubbed the tips of her fingers beneath her lips in a worried fashion. "We can't take him to a hospital," she said. "You might regret coming over to try to help him, hon."

"My friend says he knows some people," Maria said, resisting the urge to hunch protectively over Shadow. "He's coming right back."

The stranger looked a little taken aback. "You do know who this is, don't you?"

"He's my friend," Maria said, growing even more wary. "Who are you?"

"I'm also a friend of his," the bat said, putting a hand on her hip. "And I don't think he's ever mentioned you."

"Prove it," Maria said, feeling her heart start to speed up.

The bat's mouth dropped open in indignation, and she spluttered a little. "Hon?" she said. "I should be asking you to do that!"

"Maybe you can ask me something next," Maria said. "But you're going first. What's his birthday?"

"Trick question," the mobian said. "He wasn't born, and that was over fifty years ago. Your turn. How does he take his tea?"

"Trick question," Maria said. "He likes his coffee black."

The bat hesitated. "Alright, maybe you do know something about him," she said. "Although that could be a lucky guess."

Shadow stirred suddenly, head rolling to the side as he moaned miserably, reaching his left hand towards his right shoulder.

Maria gently caught his hand, restraining him. "Don't touch it," she said. "I'm sorry Shadow, I know it hurts."

"Maria?" he asked groggily.

The bat sucked in a shocked breath.

"I'm right here," Maria said.

Shadow's eyes snapped open and he tried to sit up, choking on another sound of pain.

"Easy, Shadow," Maria said, working to support and restrain him without hurting him.

"The robots," Shadow said. "Maria? Are you hurt?"

"Easy big guy," the bat said soothingly as she attempted to lean into the hedgehog's field of view. "You've lost a lot of blood. Though I don't think that's the only thing wrong. You… you keep calling for Maria."

Shadow stopped attempting to turn around in Maria's arms and focused on the bat. "Rouge…" he said.

"Yes, dear?" Rouge said.

"This is Maria," Shadow said, then began to look around almost frantically. "Long story… Sonic. Sonic went down."

"He was up and about when I got out here," Maria said. "I think we're both more worried about you."

Sonic raced up to them coming from inside the Ren and Larry's. "Good news," he said. "I managed to get a hold of the Freedom Fighters. They've agreed to let us use their medical supplies."

"Impeccable timing there, big blue," Rouge said. "You going straight there? I heard you have one of the chaos emeralds.

Maria's head came up in shock. "You have a chaos emerald?" she said.

Sonic reached into his quills and produced a perfectly cut gem the size of a baseball. To say it was blue was an understatement. It was blue in a way that gave definition to the word "blue." This gem didn't just reflect light either, but was a source by its very nature. Maria could almost swear she felt the whisper of power coming from it.

"That would have come in handy earlier," Shadow grumbled. "I had to use chaos control without one in order to break line of sight with a sniper. Just about burned through all my chaos energy."

"WHAT?" Maria shouted. "Shadow! You can-! But- the energy that takes is enormous!"

Shadow smiled and leaned back against her. "Learned a few tricks while you were… gone," he said.

Rouge meanwhile was staring at Maria as if she had two heads, AND they were both horribly disfigured or something.

"Nice to see you're awake, Shadow," Sonic said. "You had us all worried there."

"Perhaps next time you'll reconsider getting your own hide blown to smithereens," Shadow said, wincing as Maria helped him reposition.

"Ready for a chaos control?" Sonic asked the group. "I'd be happy to bring you with us, Rouge."

Maria's head rose sharply in panic. They were going to warp there? All of them? Now?! She looked down again at the feel of Shadow tugging on her dress. He was gazing calmly at her considering the pain he must have been in. "This is something the two of us do on a regular basis," he said. "There's a flash of light, and you're simply somewhere else. It's like breathing. It doesn't hurt, and Sonic knows what he's doing."

"Oh, right," Sonic said apologetically. "First time flier. It really is nothing to worry about. It was kinda anticlimactic in that regard, the first time I did it."

So not only could Shadow teleport without a chaos emerald, but there was another hedgehog who could do it too? She turned to look more closely at Sonic, just who was this guy? Come to think of it, when he ran, he was almost as fast as Shadow. We're all hedgehogs special or was Sonic… like Shadow?

"As much as I'd like to ride along, Shadow and I shouldn't be seen together for some time," Rouge said. "I'm pushing it as it is. Definitely keep me posted about his condition."

"I'll let you know as soon as the surgery is over," Sonic promised and placed a hand on Maria's shoulder. Shadow reached up and grabbed his arm.

"Chaos… control!"

The transition from one place to another really was as seamless as Shadow had described. Though being in such a different place so suddenly did come with its own moment of vertigo, but she shook it off quickly, and carefully lifted Shadow into her arms.

Shadow's eyes squeezed shut tightly as his expression went pinched from the pain of the motion. He turned his face into her shoulder just like he always used to do after the many times she managed to rescue him from whatever horrors the scientists had come up with for him. "I know, Shadow," she said softly. "I know it hurts. I promise I'm gonna take care of you. You'll feel better soon."

Maria's first impression of the Freedom Fighter base was rushed. Another time she might have enjoyed the enclosed feel of the glade. Mobians scurried about on urgent sounding tasks calling to each other in somewhat hushed caution. It was a blur of tents and some worryingly ramshackle buildings, though to her relief their party was directed towards the sturdiest one.

The interior looked cleaner than she'd hoped for, and it was a relief to be surrounded by familiar equipment. This place of all the places she'd been so far, most resembled the interior of the Ark, and while the Ark didn't carry the best memories, it was still the closest thing to a home she'd ever had.

She laid Shadow down and began to take stock of the room. Some of the things looked pretty well used, but it looked like they had everything she would need… well… except for one thing. Although, with a chaos emerald at her disposal, she might just be able to acquire…

"Sonic?" she asked.

"What's up?" Sonic said. "How can I help?"

"I need something," Maria said. "Something from the Ark."

"Something that will help Shadow?" he asked.

Maria bit her lip, attempting to decide whether to let Sonic in on this secret or not. All the time they'd been together, Sonic had been nothing but pleasant at worst and downright altruistic at best. She let out a breath. "Alright. There is a gas blend that reacts with Shadow's unique biology and it puts him into a state of hibernation," she said. "I'm not comfortable telling you what that blend is but there should be a stock pile of canisters in the Ark storage."

"That's gonna make this a lot more pleasant for him," Sonic said, clearly getting behind the idea. "I've got another trip in me."

Maria grabbed a handy paper and drew a symbol with a number beside it, handing it to Sonic. "They're marked like this."

"Got it," Sonic said, taking the paper. "Be back in a jiffy."

Maria began to organize what they'd need, sterilizing tools and lining them up on a tray.

"Maria?" Shadow asked. He sounded scared.

"Shadow, what's wrong?" Maria asked.

"Can't you just take the bullet out so we can leave?" he asked, staring up at her with his red eyes. "I don't like being here."

"I know," Maria said, bending down over him to press her forehead against his. "We won't be here long. I promise. Once Sonic gets back it's gonna seem like the blink of an eye."

"Can you sing?" Shadow asked, and Maria couldn't help smiling.

"Sure," she said, and went back to prepping the room and herself, though she hummed and sang, letting Shadow know where she was at all times by sound.

They both startled when Sonic reappeared. He had two tanks.

"Sonic, that's perfect," Maria said, taking one and attempting to haul it over to the operating table. Sonic ended up having to place it for her.

She began hooking up the hose and was very pleased to find a cone that would fit on Shadow's face perfectly.

"Could you use an assistant?" Sonic asked. "I'm gonna leave the skilled work to you, but I can at least stand by with tools."

"That's alright, I don't usually have help when I'm fixing him u-" Maria stopped abruptly as she realized that she didn't have to face this alone. Not this time. "On second thought, do you know how to scrub up?"

"Sure do!" Sonic said and zipped over to the hand washing station.

"Alright, Shadow," Maria said. "We're ready to start."

"I'm not sure I want to sleep," Shadow said, reluctance clear on his face.

"Why not?" Maria asked. "What's bothering you?"

Shadow shook his head. It seemed like even he didn't know. "It's been a long time," he said slowly. "Maybe that's it."

"We're safe here," Maria said, softly rubbing the spot between his ears. "No one can hurt us, and Sonic's here. He protected me. I'm sure he wouldn't mind protecting you."

A lazy smile slid across Shadow's face. "Faker couldn't even tie his own shoes," he said.

"Leave him, Maria," Sonic said. "If he can still trash talk, I'm sure he's fine."

"Please, Shadow?" Maria asked. "For me? I don't want to hurt you."

Shadow sighed. "Alright," he agreed. "But I want your face to be the first thing I see when I wake up."

"Deal," Maria said quietly, and Shadow allowed her to slip the cone over his face.

He promptly stopped breathing, a look of mild panic in his eyes, ears pinned flat.

"Oh, Shadow," Maria said, rubbing his ear with one hand. "Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise. Please breathe. We're safe. You're alright."

Shadow finally managed to loosen his lungs and he took a shuddering breath, though he kept his eyes locked on his sister.

"You're doing so well," Maria encouraged him. "All you have to do is breathe. I'll take care of the rest, and I'm going to be right here when you wake up. You're going to feel so much better."

It never took long for the gas to work its magic. Shadow's form relaxed, going soft and lax on the table as his eyelids began to flutter. It seemed like he was still fighting it though, as if he wanted to watch Maria until the very last second. At last, his eyes closed, and the very last bit of tension flowed out of him.

Sonic was looking oddly serious and just a little distant when Maria looked at him.

"Sonic?" she asked and he startled back into the present.

"Dj uh-. Yeah?"

"We need to get started," she told him.

It was a textbook surgery as far as Shadow was concerned, even though it was an armor piercing round. The tungsten core was easy to find and remove. After making sure everything was clean, she closed the wound using super glue, reasoning that he simply healed too quickly for stitches. After he was all wrapped up in bandages to stabilize her work, she made him a comfy nest of blankets in the recovery room and had every intention of camping there until he woke up.

The hospital bed was large enough for a human, so once Shadow was settled, Maria crawled up with him, tucking him in so he was curled against her right side.

Sonic looked a little jealous.

Honestly, the blue (slightly scorched) hedgehog was just generally looking worse for the wear, now that she had the attention span to give him a closer look. Come to think of it, didn't Shadow say that Sonic had gone down? She didn't even quite know what he'd meant by that, but she could surmise that Sonic had taken a hit. Maria patted a spot on the bed in invitation and felt glad when Sonic's expression brightened.

He made to hop up with them, and it was mostly successful, but he ended up on his tummy hissing in obvious pain.

"Sonic?" Maria asked.

"It's nothing," Sonic said, fumbling a little to right himself.

"Shadow seemed concerned about you," Maria said, reaching out to assist him. "And you're looking a little scorched. Did you take a hit back there?"

"Ow!" Sonic yelped as his weight landed on his ankle. "Eeehhhhhh...Maybe…"

"What happened?" Maria asked, arranging him so that he was leaning against her.

"Missile blew up just behind me," Sonic admitted. "Don't remember much after I hit the building. My ankle feels a little sore."

"Can I take a look?" Maria said, leaning forward to examine his legs. It was easy to tell which one was injured. His left ankle was already a swollen mess.

"It'll heal," Sonic said, waiving off her concern. "I can already tell it isn't that bad."

"Maybe not, but that looks like it hurts, and I know you've been running around on this," Maria said. "We've got some down time. At least let me take a look at it."

"Well I- but it-..." he began stuttering excuses, but he stopped, his expression going soft with realization. "This is how you took care of Shadow, isn't it," Sonic said.

Maria realized yes, Sonic was right. Whenever Shadow got hurt, he usually tried to hide it unless he just couldn't. She was in the habit of picking on him until he was forced to relent and show her what was bothering him. Her persistence had saved Shadow's life more than once.

"How can I say no to that?" Sonic said, and cautiously scooted so that he could put his left foot in her lap.

Maria began carefully undoing the buckle on his shoe, frowning as she realized it was as heavy duty as the ones on Shadow's shoes. They'd designed Shadow's shoes very specifically to withstand the forces they'd be subjected to on a regular basis. Sonic's shoes were more streamlined, but the same sturdiness was there for those who knew what they were looking at. "Alright," she said. "I'm gonna pull."

"Ah!" Sonic yelped, trying not to squirm. "Ow, ow, ow ow ow!"

"You're almost there," Maria said. "The swelling's making this more difficult."

"No kidding," Sonic fussed.

"And just what exactly is going on in here?" a new person asked from the doorway. She was a rabbit mobian with long floppy ears and fawn colored fur. She stood there scanning the room with green eyes, hands on hips.

Maria realized with a start of surprise that the rabbit had three robotic limbs.

"Oh, hey," Sonic said, casting her a friendly wave. "Just ah… trying to get my shoe off. Sorry for the racket."

The rabbit's eyes landed on Sonic and she gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh mah stars!" she exclaimed. "You're that Sonic the Hedgehog, and here I was coming in hot for a scoldin'."

"We were making a lot of noise," Maria said apologetically.

"Sugar, this here is the hero of Mobius," the rabbit said. "You go on and make as much noise as you need. Though it looks like your darker friend there wasn't the only one hurt in that scuffle I heard about in Station Square. You sir, look like you're in sore need of an ice pack and a cushion for that leg. You stay here mah darlins, and I'll be back in a jiffy." She disappeared back into the hallway.

"I like her," Maria decided.

"Yeah, she-," Sonic started, but hesitated. "She seems pretty on top of things."

"We still need to get your shoe off," Maria reminded him and his ears went back. She reached out and ruffled his ears the same way she would with Shadow before she realized what she was doing. "I think it will only be one more pull."

"Heh, either way," Sonic said, examining his ankle with a cringe. "That's not going back on my foot any time soon. Best to get it off at this point."

"On three?" Maria asked.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Sonic said. "Just go for- Ah! MMMMMMmmmmm!"

Maria set the shoe aside in favor of rubbing Sonic's ears comfortingly as he rode out the pain. "I'm sorry," she said. "The worst is over, though."

"Shoulda done that yesterday," Sonic whined.

Maria gently peeled his sock off once the worst of the pain was gone, and frowned at how much swelling she could see. As gently as she could, she tested a few things and had him wiggle his toes, quickly determining that it was an impact sprain.

"Didn't think it was broken," Sonic said as the rabbit walked back in. "It is worse than I thought it was, though."

"That does look a sight worse without your shoe covering it," the rabbit agreed, handing over an extra pillow and an ice pack wrapped in a towel. "You prop that up now, s- darlin' and keep that towel between your fur and that ice. All three of you look just about done in, anyway. Why don't you go ahead and spend the night here."

"It is getting late," Maria realized, glancing out the window.

Evening had set in, and the light was beginning to fade. It would be dark in a few hours.

"Yeah," Sonic agreed. "Bet Shadow is tough enough to handle being moved, but I don't really wanna disturb him."

They all glanced down at the darker hedgehog. He was still curled into Maria's side. It was the most relaxed she'd seen him since the Master Emerald had set her down on Angel Island. If only it hadn't taken a sedative to get him there. "It's been a rough couple of days," Maria said, smoothing his quills down with a cautious hand.

"If you need anything during the night, you come find me alright?" the rabbit said. "My name's Bunny and I'm pretty well known around here, so just grab anyone you see and ask for me and they'll be able to point you in the right direction."

"Thanks Bunny," Sonic said.

"No problem darlin's," Bunny said, giving them a little wave at the door. "Sleep tight now, ya hear?" She closed the door behind her.

Maria carefully moved Sonic's foot onto the pillow, laying the ice pack against his ankle.

"Leg injuries are the worst," Sonic complained, letting himself fall back against Maria. "Guess we're grounded until Shadow wakes up."

"He could wake up soon," Maria said. "But… now might be a good time for me to play catch up. Why is my name so significant? And Bunny knew you!"

"She did?" Sonic asked, head jerking upwards in alarm.

"She called you the hero of Mobius," Maria said. "Come to think of it, that explains why everyone was looking at us in the shops today. They all know you."

"Oh," Sonic said, and she felt him relax. "Yeah, I guess I am a bit of a celebrity. Dr. Eggman's been a problem for quite a few years at this point. Places like Knothole are still in danger because of him. I'm the only one who's been able to give him a run for his money, though he has so many hideouts that it's been difficult to stop him completely. If there's one thing Eggman's good at, it's running away."

"Eggman… I almost forgot," Maria thought, resisting the urge to shiver. His image was burned into her mind, though his nose was redder and he definitely had more than a few pounds on her grandfather. The mustache, and the wicked grin, however were exactly the same. "I saw him when he came down to talk to you. He looks just like my grandfather."

"Ivo Robotnik," Sonic said.

"What?" Maria asked.

Sonic shifted a little to look directly at her. "That's his real name," he said. "Dr. Ivo Robotnik, really. Guess he wanted his doctorate before he attempted to conquer the world. And, yeah, you're related. He's your cousin."

"Looks like I need an alias," Maria concluded. "That's why Amy panicked in the ice cream shop."

"Yep," Sonic confirmed, snuggling back up to her.

"... It doesn't bother you?" Maria asked after a bit.

"Hmm?" Sonic asked, sounding drowsy.

"That I'm a Robotnik?" she explained.

Sonic snuggled more firmly into her left side as if to make a point. "Why would it?" he asked. "I mean, sure, every family's got a rotten egg or two, and maybe some families are made more of rotten eggs than anything else, but there are always exceptions. The way Shadow talked about you made you sound like an angel."

"He's biased," Maria said, but couldn't help smiling a little at the praise. "I'm his sister. Of course he'd say that."

Sonic shifted a little, making a small sound of discontent. "No, you were a lot more than that to him," he said. "Shadow's been hurt. He tries his best to hide it, and he largely doesn't talk about what it was like on the Ark, but I can see it. He does his best to cover it with anger, but the guy's as flinchy as a beaten cat. Doesn't like being touched. DON'T tell him I said that."

"I won't," Maria promised, because it was true, and Shadow would not appreciate being called out in such a manner.

"But, the point I was trying to make here," Sonic continued. "Is that you're his life line. When all the rest of his world is pain and confusion, you are his constant, Maria. He knows that when all else fails, he can still go to you and trust that you'll be gentle with him, that you'll love him no matter what. People like you are one in a million, and if there was anyone who deserved to have a second chance at life, you're the one."

Maria could only sit there for a moment, feeling as if the breath had been knocked from her lungs from that glowing review. The praise felt wrong, like an ill fitting shirt, as if she were an imposter, and yet… how could Shadow have survived all the things he had without such a life line? The way he had attached himself to her, their friendship and mutual reliance had all made sense before, because at times, it felt as if they were the only two sane people on the Ark. It was only natural that they would bond, but the way Shadow looked at her as she stitched his torn flesh back together…

Shadow had this way of looking at her as if she was the most important thing in the universe. That look usually came out when she was patching him up, or in the quiet moments when they'd managed to hide for a few hours where the scientists couldn't find them. One day, they'd managed to delay an important test for a good three hours, and they'd spent it all cuddled together, watching the earth hanging in space, huge and blue outside an observation window. She had told him about wanting to go see the earth at least once, even if they never found a cure for her condition. His gaze had been so sad as he looked at her, but also filled with so much love she could feel it.

She turned slightly to ask Sonic another question, but found that in the time she'd been thinking, the blue hedgehog had fallen asleep.

"Out like a light," Maria said quietly.

With Shadow on her right, and Sonic on her left, she was pretty well stuck where she was. It felt so right! She'd always felt that things would be better on earth, and here she was! Sonic was such a natural addition to their friendship, too. She could only hope he felt the same way. Her little family was growing.

The distant ache in his shoulder was finally too much to ignore. Shadow let it push him to the surface because the pain meant something. Pain was always a bad sign, although the cozy nest of blankets around him was at odds with the feeling of alarm. He managed to lift his head, and the first thing he saw was Maria's face.

That's right. He'd been hit by a sniper round and Maria had patched him up just like she used to on the Ark. His shoulder was swathed in bandages, but he could feel his chaos energy addressing the wound. It wasn't going to be long before he was completely healed.

His field of view was limited from inside the blankets, but his other senses filled in for him nicely. There was a third presence in the room with them, but Sonic's rapid heart rate had grown familiar to him. Although… he sounded awfully close by…

Shadow carefully pushed himself up and discovered that the other hedgehog was in the bed on Maria's other side, foot propped up on a cushion with an ice pack on his ankle. So Sonic had been injured. It didn't look bad, but he would never forget seeing his form crumpled lifelessly on that sidewalk. Seeing him sleeping peacefully nearby was a definite help in gaining some distance from the incident.

Letting himself back down with a slight wince, Shadow realized there wasn't much else to do other than go back to sleep. Besides, Maria was a pleasant warmth pressed right up against him, and this was much better than pretending they were safe. Dr. Stein would never be able to find him again. The scientist and his assistant had both been cremated. Even if there was a zombie apocalypse, those two would have no chance of being among the walking dead…

Shadow cringed and turned his face into Maria's shoulder. He'd been watching far too many zombie flicks. Definitely Rouge's fault. Maybe Maria would like them…