Chapter Text
As summer started to gain traction in Green Hill and the weather started to warm, Sonic and his friends realized it was nearing time for their yearly potluck. They started the tradition a few years ago as they realized that they were all getting busy with their individual adventures, and they wanted an excuse to all get together and enjoy some delicious food. This was one of those events that everyone attended and that anyone was invited to, which often led to Rouge dragging Shadow along every year, even if he’d leave shortly after arriving. This had become such a regular routine, in fact, that this year Shadow decided to skip the trouble of having Rouge track him down and attended on his own, much to his chagrin. When he finally arrived (right on time, of course; the Ultimate Lifeform doesn’t tolerate tardiness), he was surprised to see Rouge already present with a mysterious gray wolf. She had long and wild gray hair that seemed unruly, yet well kept, and was wearing combat boots with a bodysuit that allowed for agility and fighting wraps on her hands. Shadow also noticed her tail, which was slightly swaying with frustration and quite large compared to his. It almost reminded him of Tails’, well, tails, albeit a little smaller.
He headed right for his only real friend, so that he could engage in conversation with her and avoid everyone else. As he approached the bat, she gave him a smile already dripping with sass and turned her attention towards him. In response to this, the wolf also turned around to face the hedgehog. Immediately, Shadow looked her over, already attempting to analyze her. He saw her face, which showed she was obviously aware of what was happening around her, but she wasn’t letting herself really experience the party - she was taking in everything around her, evaluating everything in sight. She seemingly had an aloofness and bravado about her that seemed to mask her true intentions.
Hiding his slight interest in this newcomer, Shadow finally approached Rouge’s side. She playfully scoffed at him.
“Well, look who finally decided to arrive. I was starting to worry you’d stood me up.” she said dramatically, to which Shadow just huffed.
“If I didn’t attend, you would have come to find me and dragged me along anyway, and I didn’t want the trouble.”
Rouge chuckled a bit, lightly patting Shadow’s cheek, much to his obvious displeasure. “Good boy.”
The wolf watched this interaction and was quite entertained by it, although she was careful to not let it show on her face. Rouge quickly looked between the wolf and Shadow, and dramatically gasped. “Oh goodness, how rude of me to not introduce you two! Shadow, this is my occasional operations partner at G.U.N. and good friend, Alex. Alex, this is my dear friend Shadow, the one I told you about.”
The wolf, who Shadow now knew as Alex, quickly studied him. Alex’s voice was still feminine, but a little deeper than Shadow expected. She spoke with an obvious lack of care for proper grammar, which definitely clashed with her overly-analytical behavior but fit with her aloof nature. “Shadow, huh? I’ve heard quite a lot about’cha. Like she said, the name’s Alex.”
Alex held out her hand seemingly for a handshake, and before he could think about it, he took her hand. “Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog.”
Shadow now took the time to really look at her wraps, which seemed worn with obvious use but well maintained. There was obviously something solid underneath the wraps where knuckles would normally be showing, but Shadow couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Her hands were warm to the touch and felt rough even under the wraps, obviously calloused from lots of training. Shadow respected the apparent dedication to her craft.
Shadow, in comparison, was seemingly very neat. He made sure he didn’t take up too much space when standing, and mostly kept his gloved hands in the pockets of the leather jacket he was wearing or folded on his arms. The wolf noticed that he also had a distinct delicate scent of lavender surrounding him as well. His jacket looked clean and well maintained, and yet it was easy to see that it was well loved and often worn by the hedgehog.
Rouge looked between the pair and seemingly got an idea, although she kept it to herself. “I’m going to go check on Omega. Chat you two, or Sonic might come over and try to fill the silence himself.”
With that, the bat walked away from the pair, who both had a slightly sour expression on their faces at the mention of Sonic. Alex rolled her eyes. “Ugh, please, anything but that. He can be soooo annoying.”
Shadow nodded. “I also find that faker irritating. His constant cockiness is grating, and even when he fails he doesn’t admit wrongdoing. It is incredibly frustrating.”
Alex grabbed her drink and grabbed Shadow a nearby fresh drink and handed it to him. “Cheers to that. I think the guy is insufferable too.”
Shadow hesitantly grabbed the drink from her and raised his plastic cup in the air slightly. “To our mutual dislike, I suppose.”
He took a sip of his drink, and noticed Alex seemingly staring at him. “Do you have something to say?” he asked, bluntly.
He meant the question genuinely, but he realized it probably sounded quite rude. Before he could correct himself, however, Alex responded to him with a surprising honesty.
“Just getting a good look at ya. It’s not everyday I get to see a top secret figure in the flesh. I’m trying to get a read on ya.”
Shadow blinked in slight shock. Rouge did mention that she worked for G.U.N. with her, but how did she have access to any information regarding Shadow? Did Rouge share his files with her? “What exactly do you know about me?” Shadow asked, a slight defensive growl in his voice.
Alex raised her hands in a defensive position, careful not to spill her drink in the process. “Relax tough guy, I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m a top agent at G.U.N. and I’m curious, that’s all.”
That made sense to the hedgehog, who took a deep breath and composed himself. “I apologize. I suppose you are right, that logic tracks. How much do you know about me, then?” Shadow asked, a seriousness weighing his words down.
She shrugged. “Not much honestly. I know you’re the ‘Ultimate Lifeform,’ and that you came from the Ark before G.U.N. kept you locked up for 50 years. I was gonna read the rest of your file, but Rouge stopped me and told me that I would find out the rest ‘in due time,’ whatever that meant.”
Shadow slightly sighed in relief, not wanting to have to talk about his past. “Interesting,” he remarked.
He was curious what Rouge meant by that comment, but decided not to voice his questions as Alex most likely didn’t have any answers for him. Without giving them time to ponder, Sonic rushed over to the pair and put his arms on each of their shoulders. “Well hey there, you sulkers! Whatcha talking about all by yourselves here in a corner?”
Shadow growled at the blue hedgehog. “Even if it was any of your business, it’s quite rude to interrupt a private conversation, faker.”
Sonic took his one arm off of Alex’s shoulder and squeezed Shadow by his side, much to the ebony hedgehog’s obvious annoyance. “I’m just glad you actually showed up! It’s always a shame you leave this party so early. Hopefully you’re gonna stick around this year. And Alex! Long time no see. Still running around with Rouge and G.U.N.?”
Alex rolled her eyes at Sonic, then gave him a bit of a smug look, “You know I am. Your face feeling better? I did hit you pretty hard last time we ran into you.”
Sonic looked away, his pride obviously hurt a little, and rubbed the side of his face. “Haha… yea, it’s fine now - thanks for the concern. Anyways, I’m gonna go check on the rest of the party, but have fun you two!” Before he left, he got a sly look on his face and muttered loud enough for both of them to hear. “Don’t get along too well, you two. Last thing I need is another couple to keep track of.”
Shadow’s expression darkened. If Sonic wanted to get a rise out of him, he didn’t need this random wolf to do it. Besides, their rivalry was between the two of them; there was no need to get her involved and make her uncomfortable as well. He didn’t have much time to actually respond though, as Alex swiftly punched Sonic in the gut in response. In watching her, Shadow saw that the wolf’s punch was lightning fast yet controlled, and knew that it was just a warning. Sonic rubbed his stomach and coughed, showing that the hit - which obviously wasn’t hard enough to cause any serious injury - had knocked the wind out of him a little.
“Jeez, I can take the hint! Don’t worry, I’m leavin’.”
With that, the two were quickly left to themselves once again. Shadow looked the wolf up and down, obviously impressed. “Nice punch.”
Alex shook her hand out slightly and chuckled. “Thanks. I didn't wanna leave him with a black eye at his own party, but at the same time I couldn’t let that comment slide.” She growled a little with that last statement and blushed slightly, turning her head away. “But it doesn't matter. He learned his lesson.”
Shadow simply shrugged and took another sip of his drink. Alex gave him another inquisitive look, almost searching Shadow for something. Shadow looked at her, showing her that he noticed her analysis. He huffed slightly. “You know I can see you staring at me, right?”
Alex, seemingly thrown off her train of thought, blinked at the hedgehog. “Of course I know you can see me.” She crossed her arms. “Like I said earlier, I’m trying to get a read on you. I’m a little bit of a profiler like Rouge, and it’s hard to turn that part of my brain off.”
Shadow raised an eyebrow, wanting to evaluate her previous statement’s validity. “Profile me then.”
She sighed. “Well, based on your body language, you don’t want to be here because you don’t like crowds. You aren’t comfortable with people, and I’d bet you’re especially uncomfortable letting people in. Ya don’t trust easily, and keep an air of superiority about you as a defense mechanism, and your mannerisms are quite dated. Of course, that’s just a hunch.”
Shadow stood there for a moment in stunned silence, before the wolf broke it again. “Based on that, I’d guess you’ve lost someone very close to you.”
At this mention, Shadow went from tolerant of conversion to clearly agitated very quickly. He glared at Alex in a very obvious warning, and spoke in a low growl dripping with malice. “Don’t you dare pretend to know me. You know nothing, and you will stay knowing nothing.”
With that, he quickly turned away from Alex and started headed towards the door. Alex tried walking after him, but suddenly Rouge appeared from seemingly nowhere and stood in front of the wolf, blocking her path.
“Got too personal, didn’t you?” Rouge smirked at Alex knowingly. Alex scowled and looked away.
“He asked me to profile him, and took it personally.” Alex frowned, looking at the ground as she spoke. Perhaps she did get too personal, but it’s not her fault he’s so cagey about his past. Besides, he did ask for it.
Rouge, seemingly reading Alex’s thoughts, retorted. “You know, you aren’t exactly the most comfortable with your past, either.” She gave her a comforting smile. “There are some things that you should probably let him tell you. Give him a break; you’ll see him again and you’ll get a chance to apologize.” Rouge smiled at her friend. “Come on darling, you can help me annoy my handsome echidna over there.”
Before she could process Rouge’s words, she found herself being led by the bat towards a certain red guardian, her face showcasing her annoyance at the whole situation.
___
Shadow, quite annoyed himself by the wolf’s comments, decided to leave the party. He had made his appearance and decided that was enough to allow him to leave. Before he could make it to the door, however, a soft hand was placed on his shoulder, to which he spun around to face whoever was trying to stop him from leaving. To his surprise, it was Amy Rose, his other “friend” at this party. She looked at him with kindness and a little concern. “Shadow, what’s the rush? Everything ok?”
He sighed. “That wolf there, what do you know of her?”
Amy looked confused at this seemingly random question, especially coming from Shadow. She glanced over at Alex quickly to confirm that was who he was talking about. “Oh, that’s Alex, I think. I don’t know much about her, other than she works with Rouge at G.U.N. and doesn’t seem to like Sonic much. I can go over and see if I can find out more about her, if you’d like?”
Shadow shook his head and grunted dismissively. “No need. She has… unique conversational skills that caught me off guard, is all. Besides, I’m leaving.”
Amy caught a pouty look on her face. “Aww, Shadow, don’t be like that! I’m sure she’s just… awkward. And you can’t leave yet! I got Sonic to put music from our latest concert on the party playlist! I made sure it was your favorite song, too.”
At this last comment, Shadow blushed slightly and got quiet. “...fine. I suppose I could stay for one song, but then I’m leaving. That concert was quite good, after all.”
Amy clapped her hands together and smiled, obviously happy with this comment. “Yay! Come on, let’s check out the food!”
With that, Shadow found himself being dragged back over to the food table by the bouncing pink hedgehog, passing Alex and Rouge and shooting them both a look that read as a disgruntled plea for help. Alex, not paying attention to Rouge and Knuckles’ obvious flirting, watched Shadow pass by and gave him a smug smirk in return. She figured he could handle his obviously uncomfortable situation for a while before she went to save him, and she thought he could consider it payback for being rude.
After some time of Amy chattering away at the stoic hedgehog and Alex being bored of Rouge’s conversation, she broke off and approached the pair. “Yo Shadow, you look like you could use some fresh air. Mind if I steal him for a minute?”
Amy, seemingly overjoyed that Shadow had another friend here, responded gleefully. “Of course, he’s all yours!”
With that, Shadow found himself free from Amy’s surprisingly strong grasp and followed Alex out the back door of Tails’ house. As they walked, Alex pulled out a box of cigarettes and offered it to Shadow. Without speaking, Shadow shook his head and waved away the box. Alex shrugged and took one out for herself, letting it hang out of her mouth as she pulled out her lighter and tried to light it. Her lighter kept sparking but refused to light. He looked at Alex, who was quickly becoming frustrated, and sighed as he snapped and conjured a spark between two of his fingers. He offered his hand to her, and she happily used the energy to light her cigarette. They approached a cliff face overlooking the ocean where Alex took a seat, letting her legs dangle over the edge. Shadow decided to remain standing, to which Alex motioned at him to sit down, and he begrudgingly did so. She took a long drag of her cigarette and looked out to the horizon.
After a few moments of silence, Alex took another drag of her cigarette. “Man, I hate those things.”
Shadow looked over at her, his features ever stoic. He waited for her to continue. She shook her head slightly and smiled incredulously. “Those kinds of parties, y’know? Rouge always drags me along to G.U.N. parties and military balls, and I hate it every time. She says it’s important to meet people and “network”, but I don’t really care ‘bout that stuff. Someone gives me an order and tells me who to hit, and I hit ‘em. Keeps things simple.”
Shadow scoffed softly, his disdain for the organization apparent. “G.U.N. is a despicable organization, and you are a fool for following their directives blindly.”
Instead of taking offense at this comment, Alex just gave him a dry chuckle in response. “Yea, I guess ya might be right. Still, I’ve never known anything else, and they give me direction, even if it ain’t always right. A fighter without someone to fight is kinda useless, y’know?”
Shadow sighed. “I suppose you have a point.” He paused, looking over her wraps inquisitively. “So, you’re a fighter? I thought you were a profiler.”
She looked to Shadow, then her hands. She inspected her wraps as she answered him. “Well, I guess I’m a bit of both. You gotta be able to read your opponents to figure out their fighting style and weakness right there in the heat of a fight. If you can figure out their openings, both physically and psychologically, you can win any fight. That strategy hasn’t failed me too often.”
Shadow suddenly stood up, walking away from the edge of the cliff. “Let’s see this strategy, then.”
Alex, tossing away her cigarette butt, looked at him incredulously before standing up. “Like, a sparring match?” She approached the hedgehog, noticing his resolve. She casually cracked her neck before bouncing a little as she took a wide fighting stance. “Alright, let’s dance then.”
Without warning, Alex rushed in front of Shadow with incredible speed and threw three extremely quick punches at him, surprising him. The first collided with his side as he grunted at the impact. The second, seemingly intended for his other side, faked out and went for his gut, which he just barely managed to block with his arm. The third quickly barrelled straight for his face, but he managed to catch her fist just before it collided, letting Alex watch his expression go from shocked to determined and focused. He obviously wasn’t expecting her to be so fast, but now that he knew her trick he was prepared to go all out.
As he gripped her hand, he realized that there was some kind of metal plate where her knuckles should have been. He wondered how she could manage to throw her punches so fast with heavy metal in her wraps. She smirked. “Caught you by surprise?”
He allowed the corners of his mouth to raise slightly, obviously amused. “Hardly.”
He swiftly threw her hand to the side and blinked behind her. As he threw a punch at her from behind, her ear quickly swiveled around to catch the sound. Before his fist could connect, she ducked out of the way of his intended uppercut. She then quickly responded with a speedy kick to his face, which he blocked with his arms, the force of the kick sending him skidding backwards a little bit.
He looked bewildered for a moment, wondering how she could outpace his chaos control before figuring out her other trick. He grunted slightly, his expression hardening. “Hm. So it seems you can hear it before you can see it coming. Impressive.”
She gave a cocky smile and chuckled. “You catch on quick.”
He resumed his fighting stance and stood his ground. “You’re fast, too. Let’s see how long you can keep up.” With that, the air around him crackled as he once again used Chaos Control to constantly reappear around her as he threw a fast volley of punches at the wolf. Alex used a combination of dodges and blocks to avoid his attacks, but found he moved too fast to provide an opening. In the midst of their fighting, she spoke between heavy breaths. “Why’d… you avoid… my question… earlier?”
Shadow, still fighting but now just throwing punches from in front of her, responded in turn, his expression ever stoic but disgruntled. “It’s none of your business.”
Alex noticed his attacks slowing down ever so slightly as he responded, and took the opportunity to sidestep him and hit him square across the muzzle. He stepped back at the hit, a look of offense and annoyance on his face. Alex smirked once again. “That’s my strategy. Got you distracted, didn’t I?” she said, obviously proud of herself. Shadow, in turn, smirked as well. “Maybe, but your speed can’t keep up for long. Sure, you’re fast, but only in short bursts. Not like me.”
With that hit to her ego, Alex growled and lunged at Shadow, preparing another fact combo of strikes. But this time, Shadow was ready for it. He quickly blocked her attacks and responded with a swift uppercut that sent her flying before landing on the ground a couple meters from where she initially stood. As she went to get up, Shadow blipped in front of her and offered her a hand up, which she reluctantly accepted as she wiped a little blood from the corner of her mouth where her fang had caught her lip in the impact.
She looked at him disgruntled, spitting a little blood from her mouth. “Now that was just rude.”
Shadow smirked at her, knowing he had won this fight. “I was just using your strategy. You don’t like being insulted, and respond to slights with violence. It makes you predictable.”
She scoffed at him, knowing he had a good point. “Well, what was up with that teleporting shit? You tried to pull a fast one on me there.”
He looked at her indignantly. “You never said special skills were off the table, and if I remember correctly, you rushed me before I was ready for a fight. I’d say we’re even.”
Alex huffed in response, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it with her lighter. “I guess you got me there.”
She paused for a moment before looking back at Shadow. “Thanks for a good fight… and I’m sorry I got too personal earlier. Sometimes it’s hard for me to tell when I’ve gone too far, I guess.”
Shadow looked at Alex as Rouge’s past lectures about forgiveness and “letting bygones be bygones” and the importance of apologies ran through his head. He rolled his eyes and sighed, responding begrudgingly. “I suppose… I was a bit too quick to anger. I apologize. I asked for an accurate assessment and shouldn’t have gotten offended when you gave me one.”
Alex smiled at Shadow. “Thanks. Y’know, I can tell Rouge we got into an argument to give ya cover to leave, if you want.”
He gave her another indignant look and scoffed. “Hmph. As if I need you to fight my battles for me. I can tell Rouge that I’m leaving myself, when I choose to. Besides, they might play a song I like, and I would like to listen to it.”
Alex started to walk back to the house, with Shadow following her. She folded her hands behind her head and smirked at him, cigarette hanging out of her mouth. “Oh yea? And what kinda song might that be?”
Shadow returned her smirk, ready to shut her up with his answer. “Pop,” he responded simply.
Alex laughed, thinking that this must be the hedgehog’s idea of a joke. She turned back to see him as serious as ever looking right back at her. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
Alex immediately stopped laughing and went into damage control mode, realizing she must have seriously offended him with her laughter. “O-oh, nothing. I just… wouldn’t expect someone like you to enjoy pop music. Maybe metal or some screamo, but definitely not pop.” She jumped at her last statement and tried to save the conversation. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that! Just… surprised, is all.”
Surprisingly, he chuckled at her flustered reaction. “It’s fine, that reaction is warranted I suppose. I usually don’t listen to it on my own, but Amy brings me along to her concerts and they are surprisingly enjoyable.”
Alex smirked. “Didn’t realize you enjoyed concerts that much, Spikes. Remind me to drag you along to my next one with Rouge.”
Shadow, not acknowledging her new nickname for him, gave her a slight smile in response. “I’ll hold you to that.”