The trip wasn't long, perhaps only a few minutes to town. It felt like an eternity. For every violent twitch of pain Omu released, he thought for sure she was done for. He held onto her tightly, adrenaline fueling him to pick up the pace.

Shadow's anxiety balled into a pit in his gut as he avoided detection. It wasn't like him to get so unnerved, especially about someone he barely knew.

He weaved through shadows to avoid people out for walks with their dogs, groups of people, cars and their invasive headlights. He had no clue what he was going to say to the Wachoskis, or if they would even help him.

It didn't matter. He had to try.

The blood that was pooling out of Omu's wound was beginning to dry on his gloves and stain his pawpads. Time felt like it was moving slower for him as he saw the Wachoski home enter his vision.

No time to think.

Go!

Shadow closed his eyes and channeled his energy, Chaos snapping inside.

The sudden energy crackling forced the bundled up family, sitting together in the living room with quilts and snacks, to jolt up from their seats. The once cozy and calm atmosphere of movie night totally abandoned.

Shadow stood in front of them, knees shaking from exhaustion, his chest heaving from exertion. It was Maddie and Sonic who reached him first, eyes wide with disbelief.

Sonic blinked, mouth agape before he stumbled over a few words.

"Shadow? Y-you're alive?"

His voice trembled and tears welled up in his eyes. His voice raised an octave as he motioned toward Omu.

"A-annd who the heck is this?! Is she okay?!That's...ohhh man that's a lot of blood."

Shadow froze. Everyone's voices overlapped and fell away from his ears as the stress of the moment consumed him.

Tails and knuckles surrounded him, screaming soundlessly at him, eyes darting from him to the wounded girl in his arms. Questions and panic reverberated through his ears, making his breathing quicken even more. Their panic dulled into a ringing sound as he felt the familiar prickling sensation of an anxiety attack begin to bubble to the surface.

"Help her!"

He managed to at last cry out, reclaiming control of his senses.

The sound was like a shotgun.Everyone fell into a hushed silence as they finally focused on the trembling ball of feathers. Her breathing was ragged.

Shadow regained composure as his brow furrowed in frustration.

"Please. I..I didn't know where else to go. I don't...GUN.."

His words failed him as he choked back the lump in his throat and the stinging in his eyes.

Maddie's face hardened into focus.

"Alright, set her on the table."

Shadow felt his legs move on their own as the others hurried and cleared the living room table of its clutter swiftly. He laid Omu on the table carefully, resting her arms at her sides.

Maddie began inspecting her wound.

"Sonic, knuckles, I need you to grab my first aid kit. You know where it is, yeah? Tails, do you have anything that can help me monitor her vitals?" She was collected and calm as she requested assistance.

Shadow watched as everyone sped into action. Here they were, dropping everything to help. No questions asked. He felt nauseated. What had he done to deserve such kindness?

What on earth was he doing here, and for this girl?

Quietly yet efficiently they all worked together, solemn faces keeping it together to accomplish their goal.

"Shadow."

Maddie's words broke his train of thought and he locked eyes with her. Her face was soft yet stern.

"Can you help me take off her gloves? I need to see if she's injured there as well."

She motioned with her eyes to the bird's fists, which were firmly clenched. Barely perceptible claw tips stabbed firmly into her palms through the leather.

Shadow nodded, taking a step closer to the table. Maddie had worked quickly, the edges of her large wound were already cleaned, and she had already prepared sutures. They laid ready off to the side.

Knuckles handed Maddie a large pair of medical scissors.

"Here, pretzel woman. These may be of use in treating this fallen warrior."

"Thank you Knux." She whispered. He nodded softly.

Mrs. Wachoski lifted Omu's arm gently.

"Well, from what I know about birds, I know that they can lose blood really quickly if hurt. Its dangerous for them to be so deeply wounded."

She paused for a moment, exhaling curtly. Through pursed lips she continued.

"BUT, seeing as how she's not EXACTLY a bird, and I keep getting alien creatures sent to my doorstep, I'm going to assume her biology is different."

Maddie's nose wrinkled as she studied the bird's injuries.

"What happened to her? These look almost like a bear attack, maybe? Like claw marks?"

Her hand traced the shape of Omu's wound.

Shadow took Omu's clenched fist into his, trying to loosen up her grip so he could slip off her glove. It proved to be difficult as her claws dug deeper into her hand.

"I dont know." Shadow muttered.

He felt as though Maddie was going to explode on him at any second. Every word felt like a risk. He pressed on.

"I met her like this. I have no idea where she came from, or who she even is."

His eyes drifted up to her face, it seemed a little less strained now, as if the pain was beginning to subside.

"I know her name at least. Omu."

Omu kept her hand tightly cinched. Maddie lifted her scissors and lined them up with her adjacent glove.

"Well, Omu isn't letting go of that kung fu grip. Yikes... I'm going to need to-"

Omu suddenly yanked her arm away from Maddie, her eyes barely opening to meet her gaze. Her voice was surprisingly calm and low.

"Don't."

Maddie tried again, approaching her arm more cautiously.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt yo-"

Omu flinched away again, this time with sparks of turquoise energy cascading from her fists. Shadow and Maddie released her hands in surprise. It was short lived as the energy quickly fizzled out and her arm fell weakly to her side.

Maddie sighed and threw her hands up in the air

"Okay, okay, no touching the hands! Got it."

Shadow didn't know what to do. He watched as Maddie focused on suturing the wound instead. Her hands shook a little as she did so.

Omu looked so small on the table, despite being slightly taller than Shadow. The proud, protective facade was crumpled into a heap of feathers. Helpless. Struggling to take breaths in from the pain. Shadow wasn't the best at words of comfort, so he did what felt right, and simply stood beside them both.

Sonic and all his friends crowded around the table, minus Tails. He was fixated on scanning Omu's body with a small, handheld device. The other mobians anxiously watched Maddie work.

Sonic glanced over to Maddie.

He could see she was clearly a little shaken. He rested a hand on her arm.

"You're doing great Maddie."

He offered her a comforting smile. Maddie released a shaky breath and shot a warm smile back at the worried hedgehog.

"Thank you, Sonic. I'm alright. This isn't the first time I've worked on a colorful talking critter from space."

Sonic smirked and let out a dry chuckle

"Hah, guess not. You're totally a pro now!"

Maddie continued carefully suturing.

"I just worry about if she's going to be alright after losing all that blood. Her pulse is weak."

The room was silent aside from the snipping noise of the scissors, tenderly closing the wound. Maddie looked over to Shadow again, her hands still dutifully working.

"It's good to see you, you know. Everyone thought you were a goner. What happened? Where have you been? Sonic told us about what you two did together. Saved the world?"

Shadow didn't respond aside from an involuntary twitch of his ear. Where to begin? What was there to say? That after he realized he was alive, he isolated himself in shame? Like a weakling? To avoid everyone? To avoid this feeling?

Everyone waited anxiously for him to respond. To give them anything. Knuckles looked frustrated. Sonic's eyes were glazed over. Tails looked as if he were about to cry.

"Shadow." Sonic's voice pierced through the silence.

"Shadow, what happened?"

Shadow felt his stomach twist. He stood up, hardening his expression as well as his heart.

"I'll be back to see if she survived in the morning."

As he turned to leave, he felt a large hand rest on the top of his head. He spun around, growling slightly. "Hands off, Sonic!" He warned.

Above him stood a tall man with dark hair, however.

Tom.

Tom's face was shockingly warm in expression. He let out a small snort of protest at Shadow's outburst.

"What? Nonsense. You can rest up here. We have some extra blankets! The boys will show you where you can stay."

The sight of Tom made Shadow's blood run cold. He must have just gotten home, he was still in his uniform. Keys still in hand. How much did he hear, and why was he speaking to him so casually? When did he show up? He must not have heard him through the commotion of the moment.

Shadow couldn't answer. His tongue laid in his mouth like a lump of clay. The other Mobians looked relieved to see him.

"Tom!" Sonic cried out, running to his side. Tom leaned down and wrapped him in a huge hug.

"Tom! Shadow's back! He's alive!"

Tom's face changed to a more tired expression. The corners of his mouth drew into a frown.

Ah. There it was.

Shadow felt his stomach drop. He still couldn't bring himself to respond. He opened his mouth, but nothing came to his aid. He silently cursed his body for betraying him.

Sonic sensed the tension and wrapped his arm around shadow's shoulders. Shadow shuddered at the sudden contact and recoiled slightly.

" Soooo you're sleeping over?" Sonic piped with a small smirk.

"Come on, Shads! Maddie will take good care of your friend. We've got the coolest digs around. I'll give you the tour!"