The ride back home was a little scary for the black hedgehog. He was constantly checking Tom to see what he was doing, but at the same time he don't wanted to go close to him. Sonic tried to make some talk, to relax the black hedgehog, but Shadow was really cautious of his surroundings, his eyes and ears perking at everything.

As the boys walked inside the house, with Shadow extremely hesitant and kinda scared, suddenly Ozzy ran to them, barking happily at Tom and Sonic. It scared the poor Shadow, as he quickly got in a fighting stance, growling loudly and trying to be as intimidating as he could at the loudly animal. Sonic quickly tried to calm the hedgehog, but he swore that he saw Shadow eyes glows for a split second?

"It's okay Shadow, calm down, it's our dog, Ozzy. He won't hurt you, he is just happy." He smiled a bit.

Ozzy got scared of the black hedgehog loud growling though, and quickly got away to hide somewhere.

"What's going on here?" Maddie came from the kitchen and saw Sonic trying to calm a black hedgehog. But Shadow only growled louder when he saw her. Another human? Why they are so much humans?! He don't want to be experimented on again. He started to pant, his heart beating fast in his chest with fear. He started to tremble, his small and hurt body wanting to rest. And then it was too much, he couldn't fight his own body as he felt unconscious.

Sonic quickly caught him, extremely worried now. "Shadow?!... What's wrong with him!?.."

"Sonic, calm down, go get him to the couch and I'll see what's wrong, alright?" Maddie said calmly.

Sonic looked at her and gently calmed himself, she was right, no need to be worried, she will find what he have. "Yeah, right..." He took Shadow to the couch and gently laid him down, Maddie followed him before looking at the unconscious hedgehog.

---

As Maddie was checking Shadow, Sonic couldn't stay still on his seat, he was sitting on the small table at the moment, he was watching as Maddie checked and cleaned the wounds that Shadow had. He have scars, some smaller and others deeper. He looked really thin, probably malnourished, and what served him as gloves and shoes looked more like rags than real clothes right now. Sonic wondered what happened to this poor hedgehog... He looked like he was the same age at him...

"I have to admit that he really looks like you, Sonic." Tom suddenly said, smiling at Sonic, trying to lighten the mood as he saw Sonic with his worried face.

Sonic snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Tom. "Yes... He is a hedgehog, just like me..." He looked back at Shadow, who was sleeping for now.

"You never saw another hedgehog like you? Even when you were little?" Tom asked.

The blue hedgehog's ears went down. "No... Longclaw once told me that hedgehog like me were starting to be rare, I never knew why..."

Maddie looked at him. "Don't make that face, Sonic. You're not alone anymore, alright? You have us now and the black hedgehog just need some rest, and food." She smiled at him, making Sonic start to smile as well, feeling better with what she said. "But he have a lot of scars, deep one at that. I wonder what happened to him, I really hope that he wasn't tortured..." She added after looking at the black hedgehog who was still sleeping.

Sonic looked at her, becoming all worried again. "You really think that he was tortured?.." He really hoped not, it really didn't felt right for him...

Maddie smiled again, trying to reassure the blue hedgehog. "I can promise you that it won't happen again. He will be alright now, okay?"

Sonic took a breath before smiling a bit. "I'll make sure of that."

"Now who is hungry? Because I kinda am." Tom added himself in the conversation. And before Sonic could reply, his stomach growled loudly, making him blush.

"I guess that I am too..." He quickly started to go to the kitchen as Tom and Maddie chuckled before following him, letting Shadow rest peacefully on the couch.

~~~

Sorry for the wait again... I'm really trying to work on my writing style, kinda... But I have to admit that I'm kinda happy with this chapter, and I hope you will like it too! ^^

Votes and Comments if you like! ^^