Chapter 7: Love, Loss, and Coffee Beans

Shadow heard an incessant beeping noise. Aggravated by the noise, he stubbornly opened his eyes despite feeling groggy. He scanned the room and immediately noticed two things. One, he was in a hospital bed and two, it was still night as no light came through the nearby window curtains. Seated on a couch next to the window, was Tangle. She wore several bandages all over her body and on parts of her tail. She was shivering as she hugged herself in the fetal position as she stared intensely at the ground, her mind consumed with thought.

Where is Rouge?" Shadow asked.

Without looking at him Tangle weakly raised a hand and pointed to the bed next to Shadow that had a privacy curtain. Shadow tore away the curtain revealing Rouge in a white hospital gown. Ignoring the heart rate monitor device that was connected to her, Shadow reached over toward Rouge and gently held her hand as he checked her pulse. He exhaled a large breath he did not realize he had been holding.

"She's sleeping right now. The painkillers knocked her out a while nurse said she'll have some permanent scars on her lower body but she'll live."

The two were motionless, the only noise coming from the rhythmically beating heart monitor.

Tangle hugged herself tightly, tucking her head in, her body trembling violently. "I'm sorry." Tangle said with a shaky voice.

"What?" Shadow asked, genuinely confused.

"I'm sorry. I failed... again."

"Hey, Look at me." Shadow said to Tangle in a quiet whisper. Tangle ignored him and continued burying her head in her knees as she choked back quite sobs. "Tangle… look at me."

Tangle continued trembling. A blanket laid next to her on the couch, folded neatly without so much as a wrinkle. Unused, despite the freezing cold room.

"LOOK AT ME!" Shadow shouted.

Tangle looked up toward Shadow with tears streaming down her face as she silently sobbed.

"You saved our lives Tangle. We'd be dead without you. We owe you a great debt."

Tangle's guilt and remorse poured out of her. "He was after me. It's my fault. Rouge wouldn't have gotten hurt if I didn't join you all. I'm so sorry Shadow. I'm so sorry." Tangle covered her face in shame while repeatedly apologizing.

"Listen to me, you did not intend for any of this to happen. We encountered an obstacle as a team, and we overcame that obstacle as a team. Because of that, Mimic has shown his hand. Now we can bring the resources of G.U.N. down upon him. He got the drop on us once. It won't happen again. That freak won't stand a chance."

"What… what do you think happened to the pilot?"

Shadow looked at the ground and grimaced. Searching for the right words and the order with which to say them.

"Shadow…" Tangle looked at Shadow with pleading eyes. Her face matted with tears. "Please tell me the pilot is okay. That Mimic was just pretending to be him on his day off."

"We won't know for sure until we get confirmation…"

Shadow's words of hope were hollow, his tonation telling Tangle that he somehow just knew the pilot had surely been murdered.

Tangle stared at the ground, or rather, she looked beyond it. Her mind was spinning. Trying to process everything that occurred, "I never should have involved myself with you all."

"Well, Omega and Rouge seem to like you, so as far as I am concerned you're stuck with us. That is, if you choose to stay with us, we'd be glad to have you."

Tangle wiped tears from her eyes as she thanked Shadow.

"Have you been able to get any sleep?" Shadow asked.

"No, I- I can't bear the thought of sleeping right now. Not after all that happened. I think I'll stay up until I… until I fall asleep." Tangle choked back some tears as she recalled Mimic's threat.

"Hey, we're a team now Tangle. You're not in this alone. Rouge, Omega, and I all have your back. We're not going to let anything happen to you and we'll find that bastard and make him pay for what he did to Jewel, to you, to Rouge, and any others he has harmed. Mimic won't know what hit him. I promise you that."

Tangle raised her head and looked at Shadow as she wiped the tears from her cheeks and eyes.

"You… you really mean it?"

"I swear on Maria's name. We will defeat him... together."

Tangle smiled, "You know, you're a much kinder person than most would believe. You really do care about others."

Shadow glared at Tangle, "You better not tell anyone."

The two shared a laugh. As the laugh died down the pair heard doors being opened then slammed shut one by one. A nurse was heard pleading, "Please sir, just calm down and answer some questions and we can walk you to her room. There is a formal process for this-"

"No thanks. I shouldn't be long anyway." The voice that spoke was of a tone that was both blunt and stubborn.

"Sir, please. For everyone's safety we need to verify who you are."

"I already told you who I am."

"Well, what is your address?"

"Don't have one. Angel Island I guess. It's a big floating island. You can't miss it."

"Your phone number?"

"I forgot it."

"Sir, there is a process to follow if-"

"-Listen, I am being very well mannered right now. I just want to make sure my friend is okay then I'll be leaving."

"I understand that, but you can't just hurl our security staff across the room when they try to stop you, if you want to see one of our patients there is a process to follow."

"TO HELL WITH YOUR PROCESS! WHERE IS SHE?"

Loud footsteps echoed down the hall and soon grew louder as more doors were opened then slammed shut.

Shadow started to move to exit his bed. He pulled a I.V. drip from his arm and got to his feet and assumed a tentative combat stance. Tangle stood up and did the same. The two faced the doorway as it was thrown open and a red Echidna stepped inside the room. His seven dreadlocks swayed as the Echidna turned to glare behind himself. It was at that moment Shadow and Tangle lowered their guard as they noticed a full team of the hospital's security and several nurses were tentatively following the troublemaker, the security being wise enough to keep their distance from the Echidna having had a spat with him already.

The Echidna looked the hospital room over, upon seeing Rouge in her bed he walked over slowly and quietly. He knelt down beside her bed and grabbed her hand. At that moment, Rouge began to stir. She slowly opened her eyes to see the Echidna kneeling beside her, holding her hand. Knuckles realizing this quickly let go of her hand. Rouge's words were weak and slurred. Her mind still affected by painkillers and anaesthesia.

"Knuckles? Is that you? What are you doing here?" Rouge said.

"I got a call saying you had been hurt and that I was on your contact list." Knuckles' pale complexion turned a light shade of red.

"You- you came all the way... all this way... to see me?" Rouge asked.

"Don't think anything of it batgirl. I had to make sure you weren't trying to commit insurance fraud is all. Also, if you're here then I don't need to worry about somebody trying to steal MY Emerald on Angel Island. Besides, it's been a while since I saw everyone so..." The Echidna broke eye contact with Rouge for a moment as his voice trailed off.

"That's so sweet of you. I missed your cute face."

The Echidna's blush deepened along with his embarrassment, "Those drugs are turning your bat brain to mush."

Rouge giggled as she toyed with one of Knuckles's seven dreadlocks, "You're even cuter when you get flustered."

Knuckles's face turned almost as red as his fur, "Well, you've clearly lost your marbles so I'm going to have to stay here until you quit this foolishness and return to your normal untolerable self… you're… you're not in pain? Are you?"

"No, I'm fine. Just very tired. I don't suppose you'll let me hold onto the Master Emerald for a teeny tiny bit after all this passes?"

"Not a chance."

Rouge weakly let her hand fall from the side of Knuckle's head and let her palm rest open on the bed, "What about holding my hand again? For just a little bit?"

"I… well… that…" Knuckles face was beet red as he stammered, "Fine, but only so you'll quit messing with my hair."

"You have such gentle hands." Rouge said as their fingers intertwined, before she began drifting back to a drug induced sleep.

Knuckles groaned and cursed under his breath as he looked away to hide his flustered expression.

Shadow grinned and chuckled to himself after having witnessed the exchange, then he turned to Tangle and spoke quietly, "Tangle?"

"What's up?" The lemur whispered back.

"I need to check on a couple other patients but then we should get out of here before I get sick and start vomiting." As the pair left the room Shadow turned to the nursing staff and security and asked, "How is Sonic and Tails? Can they be seen?"

The nurse was surprised by the sudden question and took a moment to process what Shadow was asking, then her expression became emotionless, the sort of face of someone who is used to giving dreadful news to those who deserve it not. "I'm sorry, they are still in the Intensive Care Unit. They cannot have any visitors yet. In the meantime I can put your name down-"

"-Don't bother, I'm sure they will be up and about sooner or later. I'm not the least concerned." Shadow said matter of factly. "Also, don't mind that red idiot back there. He's perfectly harmless unless you get him angry. Those two really need some time to get caught up."

"What he needs," a security officer began, butting into the conversation, "Is to be arrested for disturbing the peace-"

The lead nurse interjected, "-But they're so cute together and we've had enough harm and sorrow for one week. Leave them be. Besides, no one got hurt!"

"I got hurt." One of the security guards in the back of the small mob of hospital staff exclaimed.

The lead nurse rolled her eyes, "Suck it up. People do crazy things for love. Now as I said, leave them be!" The lead nurse spoke with an expression and tone that declared the issue was decided and not up for debate.

The security guards were irritated, their pride having been harmed more than their bodies. Regardless, the nursing staff went on with their shift, sharing the occasional chit chat and gossip.

One of the nurses that stayed behind turned to speak to Shadow as he was leaving along with Tangle, "Sir, wait. You need to be given a clean bill of health before you can leave!"

Shadow waved behind him as they walked away from the nurse, "There's no need for that formality. Send G.U.N. our bills. Tangle and I are leaving."

An exasperated nurse simply sighed and said, "Of course you are."

After Tangle and Shadow had exited the hospital, Tangle turned to Shadow and said, "I didn't mention this earlier but while you were out, I sent a report to G.U.N. telling them what happened to Rouge at the hands of Mimic. An agent stopped by not long ago and picked up the rocks I had found so they could be analyzed back at the base..."

"Well, that takes care of that then." Shadow began, "Ready to get some food? I know a great diner. It's a long drive but it's worth it for their locally grown coffee beans. We just need to run by my place and grab my bike."

"Sure. That sounds great." Tangle said, her reply devoid of her normal enthusiasm for life. "Lead the way."

Shadow and Tangle arrived at the breakfast diner. The place was surprisingly busy considering the sun had yet to rise. The pair was seated at a table and across from them was a rather large Squirrel family with many smiling faces, the building was filled with the families laughter and gaiety. Shadow noticed they were not fatigued unlike Shadow and Tangle and were particularly high spirited and energized, as if their day was just about to begin. The family looked to be almost entirely composed of farmers...

"Welcome, I'll be your waitress for this evening." A waitress said as she handed Shadow and Tangle their menus.

Tangle was drooling as she looked at her menu. She glanced up to the waitress who had finished saying what the breakfast special and drink options were, "I'll have your chocolate chip smiley face pancakes! With extra choco-chips!"

"Oh, uh, of course ma'am. That is from the kids menu though. Are you sure you don't want something-"

"-And coffee! Lots of coffee. Keep it coming." Tangle said as she excitedly and lightly pounded the table for emphasis not unlike a child.

"Of course." The waitress smiled and turned to Shadow. "And you sir?"

"Dark roast coffee beans."

"Dark Coffee, excellent choice-"

"-Just the coffee beans." Shadow corrected her.

"Not a problem, I'll be back with your coffee choices shortly after I place your order."

The waitress smiled as she left and Tangle thanked her loudly.

Tangle's phone chimed with the sound of a text being received and she quickly checked her phone, before sending back a quick reply.

"Is everything okay?" Shadow asked, not bothering to hide his irritation.

"Yeah, I have a friend who was worried sick about how my first day went. She wasn't very enthusiastic about me joining G.U.N. and that was before we almost died yesterday."

"She sounds like a good friend if she was that worried about you."

Tangle sighed as she laid her head and arms on the table, totally exhausted, "She is. She really is. We've been there for one another ever since we met shortly after Jewel passed away. A part of me left the world along with her and I lost much of my enthusiasm for life. I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around it all."

"That's rough- and I'd know. After Maria died, a similar thing happened to me. It wasn't till later that I met Rouge and Omega. They have been a team I can always depend on no matter the obstacle. Listen, what I said earlier, I wasn't being polite when I said you saved our lives back there, especially Rouge's life. Now, I don't owe anyone anything in life. What I choose to do, I do of my own volition, to honor Maria's memory. For you though, I'll make an exception…" Shadow furrowed his brow and looked away. "What I'm trying to say is… thank you… and I owe you one. There. I said it. Now never bring this up again or else..."

"Awww don't mention it Shades." Tangle said as the waitress appeared and handed the two their ordered items before leaving them to enjoy their meal. "You would have done the same for me and my friend."

"Who exactly is this friend of yours Tangle?" Shadow inquired while raising a single eyebrow.

"She's actually on her way here! I'll introduce youuuuuuuuuuuuu whoa! Uhhhhhhh hello down there!" Tangle's face was bright red with shock and embarrassment.

Shadow and Tangle looked beneath their table to see an adorable squirrel in tiny farmer clothes. To Shadow, he looked to be around Cream's age. The child was mesmerized by Tangle's tail as he played with it.

"Can I help you kiddo?" Tangle's face was contorted as she was not used to her tail being handled in such a carefree manner, particularly when it was covered lightly in bandages and numbing ointment.

The kid let go of the Tail and turned around and showed off his slender tail, his face beaming, "We're weird tail buddies!"

Shadow chuckled and grinned at Tangle, "Is this another friend of yours?" He said, as he popped a handful of coffee beans into his mouth."

"N-no. I just met him- Please don't pull on it!"

The boy looked over toward Shadow who was devouring coffee beans at a steady pace. The child's eyes shone upon seeing the coffee beans, he turned to face Shadow, puffed his chest out and pointed at the coffee beans and proclaimed, "I helped make those!"

"What?" Was Shadow's only possible response.

"Those coffee beans, my family and I made them. We supply this restaurant with their coffee beans." The child beamed with pride as he rubbed his nose. "We're kind of a big deal in Central City. We have the largest farm in the Region." The child awaited what he assumed would be inevitable praise and awe. The Mother and Father at their table looked over, noticing their son and said to each other, "Oh no, here he goes again!" before calling for him to leave the nice couple to their meal. The small boy ignored his parents as he awaited Shadow's response.

Shadow's eyes became incredibly serious and the child was for a moment very scared for his safety. "Tell me everything you know about making coffee beans. Firstly, how do you grow them outside a tropical climate?"

Relieved and excited to share his knowledge, the child crossed his arms, "Hmph! We use technology! It's a family secret! It's just one of the many crops we grow-" The young squirrel was suddenly lifted up by a pair of strong hands and given a giant bear hug, both silencing and squashing the young squirrel.

"-I am so sorry sir, I hope my son has not caused you any displeasure." A young adult squirrel said.

"Not at all. Quite the contrary, I love coffee beans and he was telling me all about your farm."

"Oh, that again." The child, meanwhile, was playfully gnawing on his fathers arm in the hopes of escaping. "Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad! Can we show him the farm! Can we? He's so weird. He eats coffee beans raw! Who does that?"

"Son, don't be rude." The dad turned to Shadow apologetically, "I'm so sorry Sir, you know kids, they speak without thinking. Rascals."

"No offense taken."

"Well, if you're interested, it would make my son very happy if he could show off the farm. We could give you a tour of our facilities and show you the process of making the coffee beans."

"Oh really now? Could I bring a coworker along with me?"

"Of course. Bring your whole family! We have berry picking, corn mazes, and more. Our farm is on Country Road, just barely inside the city limits. Your GPS can't miss it! Mr-?

"Call me Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Dad the Squirrel. It's good to meet you, Mr. Shadow!" The two shook hands. The father's hand's were surprisingly strong yet held the gentleness of a father. "This little one here is Douglas the Squirrel." The Father put his son back on the ground, but still held onto his shoulders. "Well, we better let you two get back to it. Stop by the farm anytime. Our family farm is something of a tourist trap after several generations of its operation, but if you decide to stop by we'll treat you like family and show you around."

"Thanks, Country Road was it? I'll definitely stop by when I can get off of work." Shadow promised.

"Sounds great-" The Father said, "-See you then!" Douglas the Squirrel yelled excitedly as he waved goodbye, his father dragging him back to their table."

Shadow and Tangle were digging into their food when the ever-observant Hedgehog noticed the large farming family was almost finished eating, and that several of the kids had hand-me-downs with patched up squares that had been visibly mended. "I need to excuse myself for a minute. Wait here." Standing up, Shadow left Tangle alone at the table.

Tangle, who was all of a sudden quite bored, began to tap her fingers and whistle a tune. She glanced around the restaurant and was shocked when she was suddenly tackled by a multitude of tiny colorful aliens. "Hey there!" She said to her Wisp friends, happy not only to see them, but happy to soon see the one who they were with. "It's good to see you all still sticking around this giant rock of a planet to help my friend out, you cuties you!" Tangle gave the colorful tiny floating aliens a combination of head pats, hugs, and fist-bumps as they too were excited to see Tangle once again.

A Wolf wearing a black and dark gray cloak, a cream colored tube top, and gray combat boots, stepped forward silently. Her eyelids looked to be almost entirely closed as far as anyone could tell. "Whisper! Long time no see. Take a seat." Tangle grinned sheepishly before using her lemur tail to pull a seat over for her friend to sit in.

Whisper was motionless and remained standing in defiant silence. Her expression, a subtle duality of worry and anger.

Tangle swallowed nervously but decided to play it cool, "What'd I say? Everything was going to work out juuuust fine." She ended her sentence with a nervous chuckle.

Wisper looked at the bandages that covered her friend and the look of exhaustion on her face, Whisper simply glared at the Lemur, causing a single bead of sweat to slide down the latters face.

The wolf's voice was entirely silent, preferring to use her eyes to speak at the present moment, her predatorial eyes were unavoidable, focused intently on her lemur friend, their piercing gaze screaming in sadness, anger, and rage. Whisper ignored the offered chair and remained standing.

Tangle grinned nervously and sheepishly raised a hand, "Waitress! One coffee for my friend please. He he..."

"You promised that you would be careful." Whisper spoke so quietly Tangle had to strain to hear her.

"Oh, but I was careful." Tangle politely asserted.

"That's what I'm worried about. I told you getting involved with them was a bad idea. It nearly got you killed."

"It was a one off, a fluke. We were caught flat footed. It won't happen again. I barely got hurt, all things considered. Besides, we need their resources to find Mimic, he's too slippery!"

"Do we? Do we really? Or do you just want your adrenaline fix?" In her fit of emotion, Whisper had unintentionally tipped her tongue with a most lethal poison that only those that shared a close bond are armed with. Whisper immediately regretted her words, but it was too late as they had already left her mouth and could not be returned.

Now, it was Tangle's turn to glare, as she held back tears that began to form, she struck back but kept her tongue dull so as to not wound her friend in the same manner. "Whisper, you're my friend, and I know that as my friend when you say that, you don't mean it! Did I mess up? Sure. Royally so. One of my new friends is in the hospital now. Had I not been there she might have died. I know you don't trust them and I don't expect you to, but I trust the people I've met and fought beside. All I am asking from you is that you trust me!"

A waitress holding a cup of coffee approached Whisper from behind, offering the cup to the Wolf before realizing the tension in the room. Whisper took the offered cup out of reflex, as the waitress quietly excused herself.

"Of course I trust you!" Whisper yelled so loudly that the entire restaurant had stopped eating, halting their conversations to look at them. While the room was silent a waiter approached the Squirrel family and informed them that their meal, including any dessert they would like, had been paid for anonymously.

"Am I interrupting something?" Shadow asked upon his sudden return.

Tangle answered, "No, we- we're done. We're fine. Shadow, this is Whisper, Whisper, this is Shadow. Whisper, Shadow is one of my new… battle buddies. I'm glad you two can finally meet."

"Hello." Shadow said casually, coated with his natural air of indifference and annoyance.

The cup of Coffee Whisper had been holding fell to the floor and shattered. Whisper's eyes were wide open, a look of terror and hatred filled them, her teeth bared, growling gutturally, her tail was stiff and straight up, her legs rigid and ready to move at a moment's notice. The Wisps, noticing their friend, leader, and caretaker in such alarmed state flew over and took a defensive stance around Whisper. Whisper took a step back, then another, as she shook violently. "I- I have to go." With those words Whisper ran out of the restaurant.

Tangle was shocked. Shadow was more-so confused, "Was it something I said?"

"I'm sorry Shadow. I have to follow her!"

"That's fine. I'll pay the tab. Try not to die out there, alright?"

"Thank you, and I'm sorry!" Tangle ran after Whisper out of the restaurant. She ran after the Wolf and eventually caught up to her as they both were exhausted from running.

"Whisper! What's wrong? Talk to me."

Whisper who by now had stopped running turned to face Tangle. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she covered her face in anguish. "That face. That horrible face."

"What?" Tangle asked, genuinely confused.

Whisper, either ignored her or did not hear Tangle's question. For a moment Whisper froze as memories she long suppressed and buried away flowed out of her consciousness. Whisper The Wolf proceeded to collapse onto the ground, staring at the dirt beneath her feet...

"When I was a mercenary in the Diamond Cutters, we had accepted several missions by the Federation to destroy Eggman assets. Our leader Smithy the Lion, both Charismatic and Brave, he was always the first to put himself in harm's way to keep the rest of us safe. Claire Voyance, responsible for cyber warfare, intel gathering, hacking, and Phy Ops, then there was Slinger the Ocelot our Sharpshooter, I never once saw him miss a shot. Myself as the Scout, and… Mimic. The traitor that got everyone but me killed for a pile of cash. He was the Infiltrator. Together we were the A-Team. The best money could buy. We had the luxury of handpicking all of our missions. We were good. Really good. I guess at some point, Eggman had had enough and made a deal with Mimic. Then one day a mission that was going a little too well soon took a turn for the worst. Shadow, he… well, not him, but androids that looked like him, killed my friends. They were cut apart like worms. That face has haunted me ever since." Whisper meekly looked at Tangle. After having poured out her soul she looked so very weak and frail. Like the slightest word would cause her, both body and spirit, to shatter.

"I knew mimic was hunting you down and had taken people from you as well, but I… I didn't know that Shadow was... if I did I wouldent have-"

"-I know, and I'm sorry for keeping this from you. I meant to tell you sooner. It's just not a topic that I can bring up easily."

"Hey, like I said," Tangle knelt down and hugged her friend tightly. "We're going to make things right. We're going to stop Mimic so he can't ever hurt anyone again. So don't cry. Because then I'll have to cry too."

The two hugged each other tightly.

The last of Whispers' worries and suppressed emotions were unleashed like a tsunami as she hugged Tangle and shivered once more, "I don't trust G.U.N. or any of their goons. Claire Voyance always said she had a bad feeling about them. They've gone to great lengths to hide their dark past. Terrible spec ops and other experiments all redacted or purged from their database. They have blood on their hands. They've gotten better, sure, but all it takes is a change in policy, a change in leadership, or one very bad day and all that power can be put to terrifying use. Tangle I… I'm really not comfortable with you working with them. I don't trust them."

Tangle rubbed her friends back gently, "I understand, but I promise it's only until we catch Mimic. We need their help to find him."

"You're too good for them Tangle."

"Thanks but I'm really not. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to fighting and combat."

Whisper broke her embrace with Tangle, instead of being filled with anger or sadness, her eyes were filled with a sort of love and tenderness that was rare to see in one's life. Whisper took one of Tangle's hands and pressed it to her chest.

"Your heart! I was talking about your heart!" The two were somber and silent for several seconds, then Whisper continued, "I can't lose you too! I just can't! My heart couldn't take it!"

The two cried and hugged one another as they gazed out across the city as the first rays of light spilled over the horizon. Somewhere in this sprawling metropolis was Mimic. It was the dawn of a new day, but before they could continue their mission, Tangle and Whisper needed each other. They needed to cry, to hug, and to heal.

Then the hunt would begin once again.