Time Heals All Things

Chapter Twenty Eight: Retreat and Relax..

It was late evening when the hedgehog couple landed on Angel Island but due to the island's hostile terrain the launch base was on the opposite side from Mystic Ruins and their friends' mountain side home. For the two fastest beings in Mobius this was hardly an issue, although the forty year old hedgehog was starting to feel a little run down and hungry since he had not eaten anything since their interrupted late lunch and had burned off a lot of energy in his run before the flight over. Not wanting to appear old and out of shape Sonic did his best to bury his ebbing strength and stamina as he ran with his younger, fitter counterpart but this futile attempt to prove to his own ego soon backfired when he started to slow down and lose his breath. In the end Shadow held him in a bridal carry as Sonic clutched the large overnight bag as he speeded the rest of the way to the home of Rouge and Knuckles. The extra weight did not even slow him down..

"You want me to babysit the emerald for you?" Shadow kinked a red and black eye ridge of disbelief towards the red echidna who was now leant against the kitchen counter opposite him as the dark hedgehog was in the middle of creating a large hoagie for his famished boyfriend. "Hmh, I think the thin air up here is cutting off the blood flow to your brain because your insane if you think I'm doing that while you go off on a jolly adventure with your moronic friends." Shadow snorted at the very suggestion as he layered the hulking great sandwich with brisket, smoked ham, a zingy reggae sauce and grated mozzarella on the top. He then set them under the grill of the large range oven of Knuckles' kitchen to melt the cheese.

"Shadow this isn't a joke." The red echidna frowned seriously and folded his arms. "I need you to do this for me. Rouge is too far pregnant and Sonic is hardly in peak physical fitness, there is no-one else that guard the Master Emerald."

"Hrrrm..." Shadow growled deep in the back of his throat in irritation knowing that the red echidna was right. There was nobody else he could entrust with this task while he was away with the Chaotix. But it didn't mean he had to like it..

"You wanna go with the Chaotix?" Knuckles asked in a tone of jest knowing how inept the black and red hedgehog thought they were. The look of disgust that was projected back at him was all the proof that the red echidna needed.

"I think I would rather play Russian roulette by myself than suffer the company of Espio's band of halfwits." Shadow drawled then donned the oven-mitts before removing the grill pan, revealing the now gooey cheese that bubbled on top meaty toasted bread. He picked up one of the over-ladened toastie and sandwiched it over the other before taking a large bread knife and cutting it roughly, setting it on a plate as the cheese oozed out.

"Look, I know we don't always get along but I do appreciate you coming out here for Rouge, it means a lot to me.. And to be honest I would rather stay here with my wife but unfortunately they need an expert on Chaos energy because something has managed to split a Chaos Emerald and they need me to fix it. I can't say no." The red echidna sighed heavily looking somewhat strained. His words made Shadow exhale and looked reluctant as the two of them headed back into the lounge area.

"Fine. I will babysit the rock for you.." He grumbled half-heartedly as they joined Rouge and Sonic. The exhausted looking female bat was lolling on one side of the couch with one hand cradling her heavy swollen baby bump protectively. She looked as if she were ready to just fall asleep at any given moment. Shadow settled himself beside his older looking boyfriend. "Here Sonic, you'll feel better after this.." The teenage looking hedgehog murmured handing over the plate to his forty year old partner as the fingers of his free hand casually stroked those long blue quills.

Sonic's stomach gurgled loudly as he took the plate keenly from his boyfriend, kissing the golden tanned muzzle in a silent thank you before taking an enormous bite out of the over-sized sandwich. He chewed swiftly with a content smile while the spicy Caribbean style BBQ sauce dribbled down his chin.