Shadamy one shots.

Turn Back Time. (Part Five)

He reminded her more of Liam than ever.

With him towering beside her and offering her warm comfort in the middle of the eerie ruins of a once beautiful town. A town Liam had always loved before the accident.

No, she reminded herself, don't think of him. Don't falter. This young man needs you now. They walked through, a shudder ran down her back as she looked around the desolate, wreckage of a hospital as they made their way through the rubble.

Her patient seemed undisturbed by the debris for the most part, trudging through the scene like he was used to it, making Marissa wonder, for about the hundredth time, what the ebony hedgehog used to be.

He stopped suddenly, and his hold on her shoulder pulled her back with a bite of strength that Marissa winced.

His brows knotted as he looked around with a sudden sense of ferocity that made Marissa wish she had never gotten involved with this walking nightmare of power and occasional fluff.

"What is it, Mr. Hedgehog?" She squeaked softly, praying he would let go of her shoulder.

He noticed her distress and smirked at her, letting go of her shoulder immediately.

"Still afraid of me, I see?" He teased her, chuckling. "Don't worry. Ms. Marissa. I quite enjoy your company. Besides..." he turned, scanning their surroundings.

"There's someone else here. Watching us."

He glanced over his shoulder and laughed at her increasing alarm.

They had spent enough time together for him to realise that the term "Scaredy cat" was not an ill-suited expression. He had also learnt how to abuse this knowledge for his own amusement. Marissa would jump at the slightest surprise and ever since he realized he could warp, things had been more interesting for the pair of them.

At least, in his opinion.

"Mr. Hedgehog! Please. Do not tease me so." Her pitch grew higher as she continued to panic.

"With any luck, Ms. Marissa, it's only ghosts. Don't you fret." He chuckled again, warping up to a higher point to get a better look around.

Marissa continued to panic even more now, but he could clearly see her from where he stood. In spite of being a constant tease, Shadow would not let any harm befall her. She was a good woman. Kind. She didn't deserve to have lost her only family- a boy that she had adopted years ago. A child that she had raised like her own son and had buried with her own hands. She had told him the story while she drove him here. It had moved him. The fact that he reminded her of a child she had loved, a son she had lost; He felt a sort of kinship to her in that way.

She had lost everything the world had meant to her.

He had lost every meaning of the world for him.

And then he saw it.

A movement in the wreckage behind Marissa. Someone was moving towards her.

"No," He snarled, warping immediately.

His fingers curled around a soft neck. Fearful green eyes stared into his own, with a mixture of disbelief, recognition and... something else.

And they began to line with tears.

"Shadow," she rasped, clawing at his grip on her throat, through the ruined white gloves.

Shadow... Shadow? Was that his name?

He loosened his grip and dropped her like she'd burned him in some way, stepping back as he took in her coughing, haggard state.

"Who are you?" He snarled, his voice icy. "Do you know me?'

She looked up at him, her hand on her bruised throat, and she threw her head back and laughed in an almost maniacal fashion.

"Of course. You had to lose your memory again..."

She stood up slowly and dragged her feet, walking up to him. He stepped back again, hitting the cold stone wall behind him. She drew her face close to him in a manner that both left him frozen and alarmed. From the corner of his eye, he saw Marissa hobble to the scene and watch on, terrified.

"I'm Amy. I'm your Rose." Her voice was a quiet whisper, and she leaned in, placing the lightest of kisses on his lips.

Time stopped.

The world stopped.

His head quaked with a sudden sharp spike of pain and he fell to his knees, shaking. Memories flooded through him with the force of a tsunami. She knelt down beside him, her hands on his shoulders.

"Shadow?"

He looked up, tears dripping down his face as he slowly lifted his hands to her soft cheeks, tracing the tiredness that now lined her face.

"Rose," He exhaled. He cupped her cheeks, gentle and fearful, as though she would disappear into nothingness. His thumb traced the curve of her lower lip and she closed her eyes tightly, yet the tears poured down her cheeks silently.

"There you are... Oh god, Amy."