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Y/n•Pov
I opened my eyes to the sound of beeping in my head—another system update from Tails. Blinking a few times, I sat up and stretched, feeling more refreshed after recharging. As I stood, Tails turned around from his workstation, grinning like he had something planned.

"Morning, Y/n! You're just in time. I have a mission for you!"

"A mission?" I tilted my head. That was new.

"Yeah! There's been weird energy readings coming from an abandoned facility outside of town. I was gonna check it out myself, but I've got my hands full with upgrades. So..." Tails turned back to his monitor, typing quickly before he glanced at me. "I figured you could go."

I felt excitement spark inside me. My first mission! "Really? That sounds great! Who am I going with?"

Tails rubbed the back of his head. "Well... Shadow."

I blinked. "Grumpy hedgehog?"

Tails chuckled. "Yep."

Just as I was about to question why, Knuckles walked in with his arms crossed. "It makes sense. You need experience, and Shadow's the best at sneaking into places. Just don't slow him down."

I pouted. "I can hold my own, you know!"

Knuckles smirked. "We'll see about that."

Before I could argue, a familiar presence filled the room. I turned to see Shadow standing in the doorway, arms crossed, expression unreadable.

"Tch. Let's just get this over with" he muttered before walking away.

I let out a breath.

—
The trip to the facility was silent. Shadow didn't bother talking, and I had a feeling if I tried, he'd just ignore me. But that was fine. I could prove myself without words.

The facility was old and run-down, with vines crawling up the walls and the air thick with dust. But the energy readings didn't lie something was here.

Shadow moved like a shadow himself, barely making a sound as he led the way. I followed, scanning my surroundings. A task popped up in my head.

- Search for power source

That made things easier. "There's something giving off energy deeper inside" I said.

Shadow barely acknowledged me, only giving a small grunt as he kept moving.

As we ventured further in, I found old control panels covered in dust. I reached out, placing my hand over one, letting my system scan it. Within seconds, the screen flickered on.

"Huh, looks like I can still access the database" I muttered, scrolling through corrupted files. Most were unreadable, but one stood out—a warning message.

"Shadow, there's a security system still active" I said.

"Then hurry up and shut it down."

Before I could, the entire room buzzed to life. Red lights flashed. Alarms blared.

Shadow tensed. "Tch. Too late."

The walls shifted, and suddenly, drones shot out from hidden panels, their glowing eyes locking onto us.

- Enemy detected - Defense mode activated

I barely had time to process before the first drone shot a laser. Shadow dodged with ease, Chaos Spear forming in his hand as he destroyed one instantly.

I wasted no time either. The moment another drone flew at me, I grabbed it midair, crushing its metallic body in my grip before slamming it to the ground.

Shadow glanced at me, and for a split second, I thought I saw mild surprise. But he quickly turned back to the fight.

I darted through the battlefield, dodging lasers, flipping over enemies, and using my strength to tear them apart. At one point, I saw a drone charging up behind Shadow.

I didn't hesitate. I lunged, knocking him out of the way just as a blast hit the floor where he was standing.

He tensed under me as we landed, my arms shielding him from the impact.

He pushed me off immediately. "I didn't need your help."

I smirked. "Too bad. I'm programmed to help."

Shadow narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

With the last drone destroyed, the facility finally went silent. My system pinged.

- Threat eliminated

Shadow dusted himself off. "We're done here."

I stood up, stretching. "That wasn't so bad."

Shadow gave me a long look before turning away.

The mission had gone well for the most part. Sure, I got a little banged up, but nothing I couldn't handle.

Shadow didn't exactly give me praise, but the fact that he didn't immediately tell me to stay out of his way felt like progress. Maybe just a tiny bit.

As we made our way back, something felt... off. My vision flickered slightly, static buzzing faintly in my head. I tried to ignore it, but then my steps started to feel heavier, my joints locking up for half a second before working again.

"Hey, uh... Shadow?" I mumbled, shaking my head to clear the fuzziness. "I think something's wrong with my system."

He barely glanced at me. "Then fix it."

"Wow, thanks for the advice. Really helpful." I tried to sound sarcastic, but my voice glitched, breaking halfway through the sentence.

That made Shadow stop. He turned to me fully now, eyes narrowing. "What's wrong with you?"

I was about to respond when everything around me started spinning. My HUD flashed red, words blinking rapidly.

WARNING: SYSTEM ERROR. POWER DRAINING. SHUTDOWN IMMINENT.

"...Oh, that's not good."

Before I could do anything, my body gave out. The last thing I saw was Shadow's expression shifting just for a second from his usual scowl to something almost like... concern?

Then, everything went black.

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3rd•Pov
Shadow stood frozen for a second as Y/n collapsed in front of him. He wasn't used to dealing with situations like this. His first instinct was to check for injuries, but... she wasn't exactly organic. No bleeding, no visible wounds just completely unresponsive.

"...Great." He muttered under his breath. "Just what I needed."

There was no point in talking to her. She was shut down, unaware of anything happening around her. But despite that, Shadow still found himself speaking.

"What a mess" he said quietly, kneeling beside her. "You're supposed to be the one that doesn't need saving."

Silence. Of course.

Shadow let out a breath before picking her up. She wasn't heavy mostly metal and tech, but lighter than expected. He started moving, his grip firm but careful.

"Tch... Tails better know how to fix this."
—
Tails nearly jumped when he saw Shadow walk into the workshop, carrying an unconscious Y/n. His eyes widened.

"What happened?!"

"She shut down" Shadow said simply, setting her down gently on the workbench. "Said something about an issue in her system before collapsing."

Tails quickly grabbed his tools, checking her vitals on the monitor. "She must've taken more damage than I thought... or maybe her power output was strained too much during the mission..." He muttered to himself, hands working fast.

Shadow stood back, arms crossed, watching intently. His expression didn't change, but his focus was sharp.

Tails noticed.

"You're worried, aren't you?" he asked without looking up.

Shadow scoffed. "I'm not worried."

Tails glanced at him for a second before turning back to Y/n.

"Uh-huh. Sure."

Shadow said nothing. He just stood there, watching every move Tails made as he scanned through her system, checking for errors. The workshop was quiet, except for the occasional beep from the monitors and the sound of Tails typing.

After a moment, Tails sighed in relief. "Okay, it's not too bad. Looks like her power supply short-circuited from overuse. She pushed herself too hard."

Shadow frowned slightly. "So?"

"So" Tails said, pulling out a small device and connecting it to Y/n's core, "I just need to reboot her system and let her recharge. She should be fine after that."

Shadow exhaled through his nose, but he didn't move. He just kept staring at Y/n, his red eyes flickering over her unmoving form. Something about seeing her like this completely still, unresponsive it made something in him feel... off.

He didn't like it.

Tails worked quickly, resetting her power functions. After a few moments, Y/n's fingers twitched slightly. Her systems hummed back to life, her HUD flickering as her energy stabilized. Her eyes opened halfway, still a bit out of focus.

Shadow immediately straightened. He didn't lean in, but he was paying attention.

Y/n blinked, her voice slightly distorted as she spoke. "Ugh... What happened?"

"You shut down" Tails explained, adjusting a few more settings. "Your system couldn't handle the strain."

Y/n groaned, rubbing her head. "Guess I overdid it..."

"You think?" Shadow muttered.

Y/n turned her gaze toward him, studying his expression. He was still as unreadable as ever, but there was something in his eyes something that made her smirk slightly.

"Were you worried about me, Grumpy Hedgehog?" she teased.

Shadow clicked his tongue. "No."

Tails snickered. "He totally was."

Y/n laughed softly, but then her HUD flashed a small warning, reminding her that she still needed more time to fully recharge. Tails noticed too.

"Alright, you need to rest. No pushing yourself for a while, got it?" he said.

Y/n sighed but nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Got it."

Shadow huffed. "Good. You're useless if you break."

Y/n rolled her eyes, but there was something oddly... comforting about his words. He wouldn't admit it, but she knew he cared just a little.

As she leaned back and let her system recharge, she made a mental note.

-Get Shadow to admit he cares.

It was gonna take time, but she had patience.

For now, though, she'd let herself rest.