Baby Sonic One-Shots

Something Unexpected

He was dreaming. Which was odd, being something he could only remember experiencing once. Though the dream itself made no sense. It wasn't a traditional dream, with people from your life interacting with you like bad actors. It was more of a...feeling. Colours, patterns, emotions, theses were what Shadow's dream consisted of. It was the kind of dream that shattered easily.
Someone was shaking him by the shoulder.
Shadow opened his eyes.
Sonic was staring down at him, arms crossed impatiently. It was a look Shadow recognized, since it was the one he'd used too many times to count. The twelve year old had mastered it, and clearly enjoyed using it on Shadow.
"What's up, pal?" Shadow mumbled sleepily, pushing himself up on his elbows.
"School." Sonic said.
Shadow's eyes widened and he leapt out of bed, tripping over the sheets and falling on the ground. "Ow." When he opened his eyes, he was staring into the electric green ones of Sonic, peering over the edge of the bed.
"You fell." He observed.
"Thank you, Sonic. I hadn't noticed." Shadow untangled his legs from the covers and the two raced into the kitchen.
Sonic sat down at the table and finished a bowl of cereal he'd gotten himself, grumpily watching Shadow move around the kitchen. "Why can't I go by myself?" He asked, again.
"You know why." Shadow told him. Looking in the fridge, he realized they would need to restock very soon. He grabbed an apple and a leftover slice of pizza and wrapped them in tinfoil, since he'd neglected to get lunch bags.
"I'll pick up some groceries on the way home." He promised when the smaller hedgehog wrinkled his nose at the sorry attempt at lunch.
"But everyone else walks alone." Sonic protested.
"True, but you don't walk." Shadow reminded him. "And running on your own is dangerous."
"You do!" The empty cereal bowl appeared in the sink and Sonic disappeared into the living room.
Shadow stuffed the lunch into Sonic's backpack and took it with him into the same room. "That's because I know how to run without breaking the sound barrier. And you still have to learn how to avoid hitting every obstacle in your path."
Sonic grumped as he took the bag from Shadow and put on his shoes.
They were good reasons, valid. But truth was, Shadow knew the blue hedgehog would be fine. He was smart and resourceful, and he had been getting better at not running into things lately. He'd been warned about this. He was being overprotective, and his charge was chafing under the restrictions.
This knowledge however, did not change his mind. At least, not that morning.
Outside, he took Sonic's hand and they ran side by side to the school.

Shadow wasn't sure how it had happened. Somehow, he'd ended up becoming a regular at the local food mart. The one that had a hotdog stand out front and a little section that sold flowers. It was just another thing he hadn't expected to come with parenting. But after five years, he'd grown used to the place.
Grocery shopping was not Shadow's favourite thing, and before going in,  he stood outside the store, bracing himself.
Suddenly, something rammed into his legs.
Unprepared, Shadow was knocked off his feet. He looked around and found a little hedgehog, maybe three or four years old, with white quills that stood up in a funny way in his head.
The little guy picked himself up, looking wholly panicked and started running.
Shadow watched him duck into an alley and he stood and walked over, peering into the gloomy alleyway.
The little hedgehog had pressed his back against the wall, catching his breath.
"Hey, you ok, buddy?" Shadow asked, walking into the space and kneeling before the kid. He reached out a hand but the little hedgehog cowered behind his arms.
Shadow drew his arm back. Obviously physical contact had not been a positive thing in this child's life.
"SILVER!" A stern voice called.
The little guy cringed.
"Is that your mom?" Shadow asked.
He shook his head no.
Was someone after him? Had he done something wrong? It didn't matter. The kid already had Shadow's protection.
"Come on." He held out a hand to the child again, palm up. "Let's go sort this out."
The little hedgehog, Silver, looked at his hand, then up at Shadow. Slowly, he put his little gloved hand in Shadow's and the two made their way out of the alley.
A rather tall falcon was angrily stomping around. "SILVER!" She squawked. "YOU GET YOUR TAIL BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"
"Excuse me."
She turned, finding Shadow and Silver standing behind her.
"Silver! Get over here now!"
The little white hedgie moved to obey, but Shadow held him back a moment.
"If I might, are you responsible for this child?" Shadow asked her, carefully polite.
"What's he done now? And how much will it cost to fix?" Was her gruff answer.
"No. I just want to make sure I'm handing him over to the proper guardian."
"Back off, pal. It's non of your business. Silver, come on."
Silver looked up at Shadow, his bottom lip trembled.
"Do I have to call the cops? Are you deaf? Not that it's any of your business, but he's my foster child and I'm demanding you release him. Now."
Shadow looked from the child, to the enraged foster parent. Obviously it wasn't a happy arrangement. Equally obvious was the fact that either she, or someone else in the household had been practicing their right hook on the little hedgie.
But there was nothing he could do about it, not in that moment. Reluctantly, he let go of the little guys hand.
Silver stayed by his side for a moment, until the falcon took a threatening step forward. Then he scurried over to her.
She pushed him roughly ahead of her, away from Shadow.
He should have turned and gotten on with his day, forgotten about it, put it out of his mind. But couldn't. That kid needed help, and heck, Shadow thought that legal guardian of his could stand to be taken down a few notches too.