A Rose And A Thorn

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A Rose And A Thorn

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Winner of the Most Intelligent Review Award… it’s tough, because so many people reviewed, and I don’t like giving it to the same person twice. But… Antwerpsrule was the only person who has mentioned the sequel. And the part about the life-support being switched off. Yeah, I liked that part too.

Froggy: However, SonicFrank, yes, I’ve written with Harley before. It’s another Multi-Chapter-Marvel called At The End Of The Tunnel. Go read it. Now.

Harley: Oh, yeah, and SonicFrank? Froggy’s in charge of Sonic. So it’s him you have to blame if he doesn’t have a sense of humour.

~~~

Chapter Fifteen: Working It Out

Shadow slowly opened his eyes. Judging from the cool air temperature, the smell of disinfectant in the air, and the lack of colour in the room that he was laying in, he was in a hospital. He blinked again, and the pink blur beside him came into focus, "Amy..." he whispered.

Amy didn't stir. From the looks of her she was exhausted, and she'd been crying a lot too. She was still holding his hand, dressed in a hospital gown, and there were two large bruises on her face. She didn't look right without that little red dress she always wore.

Shadow gave her hand a squeeze and said her name louder so she could hear. He started to shift in bed, trying to sit up, but the pain that shot through his gut told him that it was a bad idea.

"Hmmm?" Amy's eyes opened slowly, and she looked at Shadow. A huge smile of pure relief spread over her face, and she hugged him - not one of her bone-crushing hugs, but a far more gentle one, "You're awake..." she said, starting to cry again.

Shadow smiled softly, "Yes, I am awake," He frowned, seeing her tears, and reached up to wipe them away. "Don't cry... I'll be fine."

"Oh god... you nearly died, Shadow," Amy wept, still holding him, "You nearly died... in my arms..."

"Actually, I think I did die," Shadow said quietly, wrapping his arms around Amy, "But I came back… for you."

Amy didn't question him, like he'd thought she might, "I couldn't stand it... they wouldn't tell me anything... they just kept saying you were in a critical condition..." she continued to cry, "And you've been in recovery for five days..."

Judging from the taste in his mouth and the stiffness of his muscles, that sounded pretty accurate. He gently nuzzled her, sighing in relief. It was good to be alive, but it was painful too, "Don't cry," he told her again, “Don’t be sad.”

"I'm not crying ‘cus I'm sad..." Amy stammered, "I'm crying ‘cus I'm so glad you're okay..."

Shadow smiled again and realized that he was crying too, "I'm so sorry, Amy... if only I had been a little faster..."

"It's not... your fault," Amy sniffled, "It isn't your fault in any way... Sonic didn’t even care about me at first, he wanted to know where you were…" she stopped, uncertain of whether to continue, but Shadow filled in the gaps himself.

"...You refused to tell him, so he... lost control," Shadow thought this over. Loss of control... that was something he knew well. Giving into rage and hate, reacting without thinking. It had almost cost him his relationship with Amy. Now he understood why it had scared her so much. Maybe he and Sonic were not quite as different as he wanted to believe. Shivering, he clutched Amy to him and nuzzled her again, stroking her quills, "It's over now..."

Amy wasn't entirely sure of what to say to this, "Actually... it's only just begun."

Shadow frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked quietly.

"You see," Amy took a deep breath, "The doctors were checking me for... stuff. You know... STIs? And… samples… And... I'm pregnant."

Shadow blinked, digesting this little bit of information. He thought back to those nights of passion he had shared with Amy... "Huh," he said quietly, a hint of amazement in his voice, not what Amy expected, "The power to create life... I didn't know I had that." It wasn't something he was told about on ARK, and he hadn't figured that he had been designed with reproduction in mind, "Wow..."

"I'll tell you the truth; that was my first reaction too," Amy confessed. She chewed on her lip nervously, wondering what his next reaction would be. Would he even want anything to do with the baby?

Shadow was silent as he reached up and slowly caressed her belly with his fingertips, just where the child was growing. He didn’t need to ask whose it was. It was his child. Their child. He could feel it, even as he tapped into his innate ability to use the Chaos Emeralds, he could feel that very same power growing inside Amy, that tiny life within her, the result of their love. He felt as if his fingers were electrically charged. It was so very small and faint, a tiny light, like a star in the night sky. Defenceless and innocent...

He knew what he had to do. He felt a responsibility for the life he and Amy had created, he knew that he had a duty to defend it, to love it, to give it the security and comfort in growing up that he never had. Shadow smiled again, leaning up to kiss Amy's lips.

Amy smiled as the long, loving kiss ended, "You... you're not going to run away from this?" she asked him. That would probably have been Sonic's reaction – raw terror at the first sign of any sort of responsibility, "You're not scared?"

"Of course not," he said with a smile, " This child is mine – no, it’s ours. I know it. I can feel it. Why – no, how could I ever be afraid of it?"

"I don't know... I am, a bit," Amy admitted, “But… I’m excited too.”

"Humph. But this child is my responsibility. I could not run from it, even if I tried," he said, caressing her belly again, "This is something... new, for me. I suppose it is a little intimidating. But exciting too. We will face this together, Amy."

Amy smiled again, and kissed him gently. If she looked in her heart, she'd already known deep down Shadow wouldn't abandon her... that the baby was his… but to hear it from him was a massive relief too. She nuzzled his chest gently, "Together," she whispered.

There was a timid knocking at the door, and Cream peeked in. From under her coat Cheese peeked in too. She must have smuggled him in.

Shadow looked past Amy towards the door as Cream entered. He smiled faintly at her, glad for the company.

Cream produced some flowers and a get-well-soon card, "We heard about your fight with Sonic," she said, "And... um... I thought you might like to know..." Knuckles, Tails, Espio, Vector, Charmee and Big pushed past her into the room, "That we all care," the young doe finished. She blushed furiously.

Shadow smirked, pleased and more than a little surprised by all the visitors. How did he suddenly get so popular? "Why, hello there. Thank you. Thank you all..."

Even Amy looked amazed, "Cream, what did-"

"Cream gave us the short and ugly version," Knuckles interrupted.

“You’re alive! You’re alive! You’re alive! You’re alive!” squealed Charmee, turning a double somersault in mid-air. Somebody had obviously been feeding him sugar again.

“That I am,” Shadow agreed.

"Did Sonic really stab you?" Tails asked Shadow. He looked amazed at such a thing being possible.

Shadow didn't say anything; he just pulled aside the bed sheets, revealing the large white bandage wrapped around his torso.

Tails cringed visibly. Knuckles looked grim, "You know, once he's out of this hospital, I could pound his ass good and-"

"No," Amy said firmly, "It was this sort of violence that led to Shadow nearly getting killed. I want it to end now. Let the police handle it."

Knuckles shrugged and rubbed the back of his head, "Y'know Shadow... I thought... you might hurt Amy. I was wrong, I guess." All this was said very awkwardly. Knuckles wasn't fond of admitting his mistakes - it was one of the traits he, Sonic and Shadow all shared.

Shadow nodded slowly, understanding how hard it was for him to admit it, "We were all wrong..."

Vector produced a get-well-soon card, "Nobody's going to be talking to Sonic for a good long time," he said, "Except his lawyer."

Shadow snorted as he gratefully took the card. "It's unlikely that he will even need to speak to a lawyer. He'll be going free."

"WHAT?!" Knuckles roared, "That piece of fu-" Vector put him in a headlock and covered his mouth for the benefit of Cream, Tails, Charmee and Big.

Shadow looked at the card for a moment, set it down, and then looked at Knuckles, "Is it really so surprising? They can't put him away, even for something as serious as this. Everyone on Earth owes Sonic the Hedgehog their lives, several times over. Someone will make sure that he goes free. It could be this or any other government. It could be GUN. It could be someone else... but he will go free."

Knuckles managed some more muffled curses, but relented. When Vector let go of him, he punched the wall in frustration, leaving a dent.

"It is a lesson to us all," Espio said calmly, "The higher we rise above the crowd, the further we have to fall."

Shadow shrugged, a gesture which brought more aches and pains to his body, "Don't worry. Sonic will be punished enough," he said.

"Ah, yes, guilt," said Espio, "If he has it."

Shadow smiled grimly, "He does. I know it. And this is going to haunt him ‘til the end of his days." The black hedgehog shook his head slowly, "Maybe it'll do him some good."

"It's bad to hurt your friends," said Big, slowly.

"Damn right!" snapped Knuckles.

"I wasn't disagreeing," Shadow said quietly as he slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position.

"What was it like?" Tails asked him, "When you saw Sonic attacking Amy?"

"Terrible, of course. Rape always is..." Shadow closed his eyes, "...You don't want to know."

"HE RAPED YOU?!" Knuckles screeched at Amy, "I'LL KILL HIM!" he bellowed, and this time it took Big and Vector to hold him down.

"You didn't say Sonic raped you," Espio said calmly to Amy.

Amy squirmed, "No, I didn't, did I?" she said, looking at her feet.

"Whoops..." Shadow muttered quietly.

Big, who was now sitting on Knuckles, asked, "What's rape?"

"It would probably be best if you did not find out," Shadow said. He had never really spoken with Big, but the cat seemed to live a blissfully ignorant life. Who was he to ruin that?

Big looked confused, so Amy clarified - slightly, "It's the worst thing a man can do to a woman," she said simply.

Big looked cross, "Well that's not nice," he said.

"You have no idea," Amy shuddered.

Knuckles fought his way out from under Big, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't finish what you started," he snarled at Shadow.

Shadow opened his eyes and looked into Knuckles', "I can't give you a good reason. But I will tell you that his suffering will be far worse and last far longer if you let him live."

Knuckles' hands were tight fists, "That's a stupid reason," he snapped, and stamped out.

"I'll go get him," Espio sighed.

Tails didn't look very happy, "But Sonic's a hero," he said, knowing how feeble it sounded.

"No one is perfect," Shadow told the kit, "Not even a hero like Sonic."

The kitsune looked as if he was about to burst into tears, "I gotta talk to him," he said, and hurried out.

When he left the room, Shadow could hear Espio and Knuckles arguing down the hall. Apparently, Knuckles thought the best method of dealing with Sonic right now would be to snap his feet off so that he'd have to kneel in the gutter while he was looking for his head, and Espio disagreed.

Shadow sighed. "Sorry, Amy. That was not very smart of me..."

"This is gonna hit Tails hard," said Amy, simply.

Charmee sat down, "It's not fair!" he shouted, "Why does Sonic get away with it?! He gets to hurt his friends and stuff and he just walks away!"

"Life is rarely fair," Shadow pointed out.

There was an awkward silence, before Vector spoke up, "So, how are you doing, anyway?" he asked.

"I'll live," Shadow answered grimly. He started to get to his feet.

"You think you should be walking yet?" Vector asked.

"I'll be careful." The doctors probably underestimated his ability to recover fast, but Shadow didn't want to push himself too far out of stupid pride. No running through the city on jet shoes until he had fully healed.

"Hurray! Shadow can walk!" Charmee shouted, turning a somersault in mid-air.

"Shut up, Charmee," said Vector.

Amy took Shadow's arm, in case he needed support. Shadow nodded towards Amy gratefully and stood up. Considering he’d been stabbed in the stomach only a few days ago, he didn't feel too bad.

"I've got to go home now," Cream told him, "I hope you get well soon, Shadow!"

"Chao!" said Cheese.

"Cheese hopes so too!" Cream smiled. She skipped out the door.

Shadow smiled and waved as they left.

Vector glanced at the bandage around Shadow's stomach, "Ultimate Lifeform or whatever, you're damn lucky to be alive you know, Shadow?" he said.

"I know," Shadow said, patting the bandage, "And I'm grateful for that."

"Hurray! Shadow's happy to be alive!" shouted Charmee.

"I'm amazed too," said Vector, grinning. Nobody could grin quite like a crocodile.

Shadow winced as his stomach gave a stab of pain, and got back into the bed carefully, squeezing Amy’s hand.

~~~

Tails entered Sonic's hospital room quietly. The blue hedgehog looked phenomenally bored, watching the television in the room and flipping the channels rapidly, "Hey, Sonic," Tails spoke up, forcing a smile.

Sonic paused and put the controller down. Without looking over at Tails, he said, "Hey, Tails." His voice sounded drained, devoid of his usual energy.

"I... came to see if you're okay... after your fight with Shadow," Tails said quietly, pulling up a chair.

"...I'll live," Sonic replied, almost sounding disappointed.

"You don't sound too happy about it," Tails said quietly, not sure of whether to tell Sonic that he knew what his hero had done to Amy.

Sonic didn't respond for a long moment. "...You should go. I'll... I'll probably just end up hurting you, too," he said, his voice breaking. Finally, he turned towards Tails, his eyes bloodshot and watering, "I'm a monster, little buddy."

"Y-No," Tails corrected himself, "I mean, you're my friend. I wouldn't make friends with a monster..."

"I thought Eggman was bad. But he doesn't even compare to what I've done." The tears flowed freely now. The hedgehog sniffled, looking more vulnerable and hurt than the young fox had ever seen him, "I hurt Amy. I hurt her very badly and I betrayed her trust. I can't ever take that back..."

"Well... I just wanna know why," Tails said, "And I'm pretty sure she wants to know too."

"I don't know!” Sonic shouted, “I just... I lost control, Tails! I couldn't stop, I wasn't thinking clearly! I just felt so betrayed by her... I was angry at Shadow, afraid that he was turning the world against me! I... I'm such a fool... you're wiser than I'll ever be, buddy, and you deserve better friends than me. I was wrong... Shadow isn't the faker. I am."

Tails didn't know what to say. Were you supposed to comfort rapists and tell them that they weren't all that bad? He felt as if he was looking at Sonic for the first time, "Well... Shadow's still alive and he’s recovering... and Amy looks okay... and you kinda drew in that fight..." Tails pulled a Get Well Soon card out, "And I brought you this."

Sonic reached over with a shaky hand and took the card from Tails. He opened it up and looked at it, staring at it for a long moment. He sniffled as he looked at the card, and then the dam broke, unleashing the guilt he had been trying to smother. The blue hedgehog curled up, cradling the card in his hands and started to sob, his whole body shaking with them.

Tails just looked on for a while. Sonic was supposed to be tough and to see him crying like this... it wasn't like he was looking at his Sonic at all, but a pale, faded imitation, "Hey, it's gonna be okay," he said, because he felt like he had to say something. When Sonic didn't stop crying, he asked, "Did I do something wrong, Sonic?"

Sonic looked up at his friend, feeling cold and sick and wounded inside. He forced a small smile, "You never did anything wrong, Tails. I'm proud of you... Did they tell you what I did to Amy? Really tell you?"

"Well... sort of...” Tails looked uncomfortable, “Shadow accidently told us. Knuckles went crazy."

Sonic didn't blame him, "Maybe Knuckles will punish me," he said, almost hopefully, "He doesn't care that I'm the ‘big hero’. No one else will; they treat me like I'm some sort of saint. They would let me get away with anything..."

"Knuckles shouldn't punish you, Sonic," Tails told him, "He hasn't the authority. He thinks he has, but he hasn't."

Sonic didn't have an answer to that. He felt like he should be punished, knew he should be, but no one was going to do it, "I'm sorry that I'm not the hero you thought I was..."

"Don't worry, Shadow thinks the cops will let you go, and you'll soon be everybody's hero again," Tails said. It occurred to him that this probably wasn't the best thing to say, but he wasn't sure what else to say at the moment.

"Yeah... and I'll be the hero again..." Sonic said distantly. He closed his eyes tightly and tightened his hands into fists, "I've got to try."

"You'll succeed, I know it," Tails told him firmly, "And everything will go back to normal. Ish."

"I can do it. I can be a hero again. I'll be even better than before. I'll make up for this... somehow." It sounded like Sonic was begging.

Tails swallowed, "Yeah. Amy's bound to forgive you." Eventually, he added in his head.

"She shouldn't..." Sonic whispered. He looked up at his friend and sat up. Suddenly, he pulled the fox into a hug, "Thank you, Tails. Thank you..."

"Hey, I'm your friend," Tails hugged Sonic back, "I'm supposed to make you feel better."

Sonic finally stopped shaking, and he let go of Tails. He sniffled and nodded towards Tails. "You're a good friend."

Tails nodded, "I'll come visit tomorrow," he promised.

"See you later," Sonic said softly with a wave. After Tails was out of sight, he sighed. There was someone else he was hoping would step through that door soon. A certain thief that he had trusted too blindly.

That was when the door slammed open, and Knuckles stood there, glaring hatred at Sonic, pounding one fist into the other in an obvious portrayal of what he planned to do next. Clearly Espio hadn't convinced him.

"You're a BASTARD, Sonic," the echidna growled.

Sonic looked up at Knuckles with a blank expression, "I know."

Knuckles landed an accurate punch in Sonic's face, and waited for a few seconds, "Aren't ya gonna fight back?" he snarled, "Or do you only attack helpless little girls?"

Sonic took the blow soundlessly, not even trying to dodge. He faced Knuckles again and answered, "No, I'm not."

Knuckles ground his teeth. Somehow, attacking Sonic while he couldn't fight back didn't feel very satisfying, and he knew why - there was no pride in it, "You raped Amy," he snarled, "She was something special, something innocent... and you stole that innocence. Ripped it to shreds. I oughta twist your sick head off."

"...Do it. Please..." Sonic asked of Knuckles quietly, looking up at the enraged echidna.

"I oughta," Knuckles repeated, "But I'm not gonna, cus I'm not like you - I don't attack the weak and the helpless. I'm gonna wait until you recover - I'm good at waiting," he growled, "And then I'm gonna snap every bone in your fucking body."

"At least someone has the guts to," the blue hedgehog said

"Huh?" the echidna looked confused, "You want me to hurt you?" he asked.

"I deserve it," Sonic replied.

"I know you deserve it!" Knuckles replied, looking at Sonic as if he was a new breed of slime, "You did it, why do you think you deserve it?"

"I know that what I did was wrong, Knux, but no one else is going to punish me for what I've done."

"There's always yourself," Knuckles snapped at him, "Cus sure as hell I'm doing nothing you're gonna enjoy." With that, he stamped out of the room.

Sonic sighed and lay back on his bed, waiting.

~~~

Several hours passed, but it felt like forever to Sonic. But the door opened slowly, and Rouge entered. Sonic looked up silently as she came in.

She smiled. The smile didn't seem very certain, as if she wasn't sure why she was here. She sat down after a moment, and pulled out a Get Well Soon card, "This is for you," she said distantly.

Sonic reached over hesitantly and took the card, not sure what to think, "Thank you," he said quietly. How did Rouge feel about all of this? Angry at him was the most likely reaction, but if that was so, she was hiding it well. Maybe she was scared.

"This is all my fault," Rouge said quietly.

"You lied to me," Sonic said, surprising her, "But I was the one who took action. It's my fault, not yours. I screwed up. Not you."

"Amy's right, I am an inconsiderate whore," Rouge muttered, "I never cared about Shadow. I hardly even cared about you."

The fact that she cared at all made him blink. After realizing her blatant manipulation of him, he didn't think she cared about him in the least, "Well... I guess we both know something new about ourselves."

"Hmmph. Yeah... like everything they say about me is true," Rouge said bitterly, "Amy got raped cus of me... Shadow nearly died... you could have wound up in slam the rest of your life... Amy's baby would be without a dad..."

Sonic gasped and looked over at Rouge with wide eyes, "Her... what?"

"She's been diagnosed as pregnant, she told me when I came in to apologise a couple of days ago... I couldn't face you then, but I had to talk to her..." Rouge thought, "Oh yeah... she probably wouldn't tell you..."

"Oh please tell me that I didn't do that to her," Sonic begged, "It can't be mine... It wouldn't be fair to her!"

Rouge shrugged, "I dunno," she said, "She just told me it'd be my fault if her baby grew up without a dad."

It was far more likely that the child was Shadow's, considering the time he and Amy had spent together... but what if it really was Sonic's? The thought horrified him. He buried his face in his hands and rubbed hard, groaning.

"Can't say I think much of you for treating Amy like that," Rouge added, her face hardening, "You could have just beaten it out of her, like a normal bastard," she added spitefully.

"I know..." he said quietly, "And I'll understand if you want nothing to do with me anymore."

"I haven't decided about that yet," Rouge admitted, "I've never been in anything approaching a real relationship before, to be honest... doesn't say much for me, does it?"

Sonic gave the bat a little smirk, "No one is perfect." The smirk disappeared as he contemplated her words, "Wait... you'd actually consider having a relationship with me, after what I’ve done?"

"Maybe," Rouge squirmed, "If you can stand me doing a slut's job..."

Sonic sighed, "I can hardly say that I'm too good for you anymore, so... sure. Why the hell not?"

"I dunno... I'm a thief and a liar and a slut... you just made the worst mistake of your life, I do bad things on purpose all the time," Rouge sighed, "I'm really not a nice person."

"You've got your moments," he told her with a little comforting smirk, "If I can't be good all the time... then you can't be bad all the time, either."

"That's a nice thing for you to say," Rouge smiled, "It would be great if more people could lie as well as you do..."

"I learned from the best," he said, smiling back, "Looks like you and I are made for each other... or at least deserve each other. I say we go for it. What have we got to lose, anyway?"

Rouge smiled, "It's not you... it's me... I just don't know if I can handle a real relationship... when you brought me those flowers, it was a real shock."

"Well, the only way to find out is to try," he said, almost sounding like himself again.

"I guess," Rouge said. After a few moments she took his hand in hers.

Sonic gave her hand a squeeze, "I'll try not to be such a bastard anymore."

"And I'll try to be less like myself," Rouge squeezed his hand back, "But I still like it rough," she grinned at Sonic.

Sonic chuckled, grinning back, "That's alright. I like it rough, too."

~~~

Froggy: The End?

Harley: Pretty much. But we’ve still the Epilogue to deal with. AND THEN THE INCREDIBLY VIOLENT SEQUEL! YEAH BABY!

Froggy: BABY! SEQUEL! VIOLENT! YEAH!

Harley: Or, in layman’s terms, next week the Epilogue and the first chapter of the Sequel will be going up! And I don’t care how loud you warble, it’s not going up any faster than that.