Can You Feel My Heart?

Alone

Shadow POV

I laid on the bed unmoving, the faint sound of the rain hitting the window pane and distant thunder was all that filled the room. I wasn't sure how long it had been since then. Was it a month now? I rolled over on the bed thinking back to that day

Everyone was screaming, badniks were everywhere. I had my focus on them instead of Sonic. That was my first mistake. I shouldve known Sonic would've hid his injury from me. I saw him running but something was wrong. He wasnt going his usual full speed. Instead he was much slower, he even seemed like he was struggling. It wasn't until I saw him fall that I knew it must have been the same problem as before. The mechanical parts that Tails had added to keep him alive were malfunctioning again. I ran to him, called out to him even. But I wasn't fast enough. The doctor had already gotten to him and the badniks had changed their targets to civilians. If I had known then of Sonic's fate. I would have ignored their barrage on the people around me.

Twinkle Park was the last place I got to see him. The real him. I let out a sigh. Now I'm stuck having to deal with some imposter in his place.

There was a knock at the door.

Don't tell me he's back again. I let out an aggravated sigh as I went to the door. I didn't open the door instead I asked through the door.

"What do you want?" I waited impatiently for an answer. When I didn't get one, I rolled my eyes. He didn't think this through did he. Just as I was going to walk away there was a knock again. My ears folded back in annoyance as I asked again what he wanted. Still no answer. I hated this game of his already. I gave in and opened the door. As I was about to shout at him my breath caught in my throat.

... Sonic?

"Project Shadow." That familiar robotic voice greeted. I felt conflict again. This really is the worst timing.

"Sonic..." I didn't know how to take this. At least not until after the initial calmness of the situation ended abruptly when he threw me to the ground. Stunned I tried to get a grasp on the situation but he was already pinning me down by the time I managed to steady my vision. He didn't attack further. Instead he spoke.

"By all accounts you should be recognized as an enemy, yet you still do not register as such." His fingers began to dig into my shoulders harshly. I gritted my teeth as I tried to get out of his grip. I managed to slip from his grasp and use chaos control to make some distance between us. He didn't come closer, he just stared in my direction for a moment before he spoke again.

"You are a strange creature Project Shadow. I require an answer, when you came back to the laboratory you didn't attack. Why?" He waited as I stood there unsure of how to answer. It didn't matter what I said, he wouldn't understand it. Not now that he was a machine. I let out a defeated sigh as I looked away.

"You wouldn't understand given the circumstances." I avoided his question.

Metal lunged at me I stiffened, ready for him to tackle me to the ground but instead he placed his hand on my face delicately and examined my face. I wasn't sure what to think of this. I wanted to give into instinct, but I knew he wasn't the same Sonic anymore. He was just an empty shell now.

"I unnerve you." He stated. I rolled my eyes at this, unnerved was an understatement.

"If that's what you think, Robotnik must have broken you." My facade however didn't work.

"You're a terrible liar." He stated.

His unmoving stare began to make me anxious, what was I supposed to expect? He slowly began rubbing circles on my muzzle with his metal thumb. This is different? I leaned into the touch without thinking and closed my eyes. For a moment, it was like my Sonic was back. I miss him so much...

"Shad..." He uttered something so simple but my eyes shot open, looking at him, yearning for him to remember something. "That's what he calls you." He stated. I gently pull away disappointed. It wouldn't make sense for him to retain memory, it would make too much conflict with whatever Robotnik assigns him.

"You should go, I will not be as welcoming next time you invade my space." I warned. Realistically, would I be able to attack him on sight? Maybe not.

"Will you, Shad?" He asked. Caught off guard I looked at him with wonder again, I wanted so badly to believe he remembered but I needed to remind myself of the reality. I glared at him, he's testing me. He must be looking for a weakness to use in battle. I quickly pushed him out the down and closed it. I leaned forward into the door, eyes moistening as the reality set in. Sonic is gone. There's nothing I could do, I'm stuck having to face what used to be and his replacement. Maybe I should start to resolve these feelings. I'll start by talking to that fox boy. It should be interesting to hear his excuse as to why he just accepted the false Sonic so quickly. Then I can ask Knuckles and Rouge, I'm not sure if they knew what actually happened. Hell, I'm not sure anyone else really knew what happened besides Miles.

With new resolve I wiped my face and went to the one place I swore I'd never go to again. Sonic's home.

Chaos control.

I appeared in front of the door. I knew his replacement would be here, but so would the fox boy. If I do this, I can't back out. I pushed the feelings of anxiety down and knocked on the door. I waited with my arms crossed for someone to answer. My thoughts raced around my mind but I didn't show the impending fear growing inside.

The door opened to reveal a familiar blue hedgehog. I wanted to smile, I wanted to hold him, I wanted to pretend like everyone else. The only thing that stopped me was the thought that maybe I could fix this and get my Sonic back. I hated these mixed feelings that arose. I looked at Sonic with distaste as he greeted me.

"Shad? I wasn't expecting you. What's up?" He was surprised to see me, but I could see the glee in his eyes at the sight of me.

"I need to talk to Tails." I stated curtly.

"Oh... Uh, okay. Come in. I'll let him know."  Sonic let me in and quickly left to the back rooms after closing the door behind me. It looks like everything had been repaired since then... I went to the couch but just stared. This was where we confessed to each other...

I pushed the thoughts aside as I noticed the two come back in.

"Everything alright Shad?"

"I see you fixed the roof." I avoided his question. Sonic looked at me slightly confused as he looked at where the damages used to be before looking away sheepishly.

"Uhhh... Yeah. Tails and knuckles helped me out with that." he smiled fondly. I stated him down until he was uncomfortable again. He excused himself before stating he was leaving for a run and was out the door in seconds.

"What did you need to talk about Shadow?"

"I want to know the truth. You and I both know he's not the same Sonic, how can you be so calm in replacing him?" I asked accusingly.

The fox boy immediately went from calm to uncomfortable as he shifted his weight to the opposite foot.

"Well... I guess I have some explaining to do" Tails said unsure of himself.

A/N: for the purpose of this fanfic, I did a small redesign on Metal Sonic, so if your unsure as to why he looks that way in the chapter covers, that's why. Also I've made a few tweaks to my art style, so when I have time I think I'm gonna go back and redraw all of the chapter covers for 'A Promise is A Promise' maybe. Idk, I might be too lazy to redo all of them lol but we'll see I guess haha. Anyways, I waned to start updating this more often so I'm gonna try to be more consistent.