Metal Amy Rose, just Amy to Sonic, towers over the battered hedgehog with the sinister, twisted hammer raised in trembling claws, having heard his gentle voice, now recognising the warmth in his eyes after he rolled over to gaze helplessly upward, compassionate hand reaching over to touch the gleaming toe of the boot that had planted itself threateningly beside his head. What he just said, exactly, doesn't matter.

Eggman watches another of his plans fail as the hammer slips free, falling heavily, yet harmlessly to the ground.

Amy can't. As much as the Doctor's command pulses throughout his cruel programming, mechanical joints of limbs strained by contradictions, her heart or mind or whatever part of herself that is left, just can't.

It is this defiance which gives Sonic the strength to smile.

"I sense you have a question."

Shadow huffs, crossing his arms and subtly readjusting his footing on the former battlefield.

Seated on a nearby chunk of rubble, Rouge is trying to wipe dirt off of her jawline. "Go on."

"It's not important."

"Really? You're not the type to ask frivolous questions."

"Mmhm."

"Oh, now I'm painfully curious."

"Alright, alright." He turns to look at her sideways, his fierce eye assessing her. "But do not mock me."

"I make no promise to that effect."

"You're horrid."

She smiles and gestures for him to continue with his question. All whilst fiercely rubbing her smudged jaw. It's unintentionally funny.

"If you were roboticized and Eggman ordered you to kill me, would you be able to resist his programming?"

"Ah! So now the romantically, tragically heroic Amy Rose becomes a litmus test for our relationship!"

"I did say the question was not worthwhile asking. I already know the answer."

"You just want to hear me say it."

"Yes."

Rouge laughs huskily.

Shadow eventually joins her with a few quiet chuckles of his own.

They recover mutually, looking at one another with their own abrasive sense of companionship and familiarity.

"Oh, honey," she says whilst leaning forward, forgetting the mark on her jaw and winking as she props herself on a knee, "are you feeling insecure?"

"I am not." He shrugs calmly. "It's just a senseless whim. Think nothing of it."

"What a vulnerable thing to wish for, though."

"It really is pointless."

"You know, hon… I wanna answer that question."

"You really don't have to. As I said, I already know the answer."

"Then say it."

"Fine." The dark hedgehog clears his throat. "The Doctor couldn't make you kill me."

The bat is smirking, now.

"You might assault me against your will. But you'd be incapable of killing me."

"How are you so sure, huh?"

"Because I know how you feel about me. Besides, you are the most stubborn woman I have ever met."

"Even more stubborn than Amy Rose?"

At this, he hesitates, directing a contemplative gaze at the dirt. Quietly, he replies, "Maybe not quite that stubborn, actually."

"Ah. Does that make you jealous?"

"How so?"

"Do you think I love you less than Amy loves Sonic?"

"I didn't think that at all."

"Because that's what made Amy stop. Her ridiculous, idiotic love for Blue. So powerful, so fundamental to who she is, that it overrode Eggman's programming."

"I know you wouldn't kill me, in those circumstances."

"Then you know how much I love you."

Shadow grumbles, meeting Rouge's affectionate gaze with a half-heartedly sour glare.

"Why the look? I'm telling you, you're right."

"Of course I am."

"I'll say it again. If I did get turned into a sexy robot version of myself," she pauses to gesture at her figure quite needlessly, earning a scoff for her efforts, "sure, I could beat you, but I could never kill you. Not even if Eggman's programming caused me pain." The bat has suddenly become sober. "Because Amy… She looked like she was suffering, back there."

The dark hedgehog nods in humble respect. "It must have been incoherently difficult for her."

"Yeah. She's a strong idiot, that girl."

"Is she truly an idiot, for loving Faker in such an intense way?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot, for the way I feel about you?"

There is a noteworthy pause.

"No."

"Whew."

"I think you're an idiot when you selfishly eat all the yoghurt and ice cream."

"Hon."

"What? It's a problem."

Rouge gracefully drops from her perch, sauntering over to loop her arm around Shadow's midsection.

The dark hedgehog bares his teeth, but it's mostly for show at this point.

Knowing that she is in no danger, the bat isn't afraid. She's outright cheeky, the way she drags him over for a squeeze. "Do you want me to say that I love you as much as Amy loves Sonic?"

"You just did."

"But would you like me to say it again, more directly? I could skip the implications, you know."

"Rouge."

"Shadow."

The allies share some sort of wordless, tender exchange.

"Would you like me to sweep you off your feet, handsome?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you're sweaty and gross."

"Oh, my dear, dearest friend." Rouge removes her arm from Shadow, her brows dangerously bent. "I think you just lost your cuddly privileges for the rest of today."

"Oh, no."

"Perhaps the week."

He watches her saunter ahead, but stops her after a few paces by murmuring softly, "I wouldn't kill you, either."

She turns an ear back, listening, with her face focused on their friends in the near distance, laughing and fussing generally over a battered Sonic and restored Amy, the hedgehogs looking at each other with newfound closeness, perhaps closure.

"I would rather kill myself."

"Don't talk like that."

"As a robot, doing so would be easy enough."

Rouge suddenly turns around, marching back to Shadow.

He allows her to lean against him, her arms briefly pinning him close to herself.

"I love you."

"I know. Likewise."

"I know." She allows this moment to pass at its leisure, then withdraws, smirking at him.

"You really do need to have a shower."

"Would you please relent? Making me self-conscious, here."

He reaches for the muck on her jawline, ineffectively disguising a fond caress with the effort to wipe the grime away.

"Honey."

"Yes?"

"Would it make you feel better if I were a little more… emotive?"

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"Because Amy is terrifying."

"Hey, c'mon! I wouldn't be like Amy! Not nearly as mushy."

"I like us as we are. Don't change us."

The bat enjoys the feeling of the hedgehog's powerful thumb, tilting her head back a little for a scratch.

"If you began to act like Amy Rose in those respects, I likely would run from you."

"Just like Sonic?"

"No. With elegance."

"Mmm. You are very chic."

"Indeed. Let's stop comparing us to them."

"Is it getting uncomfortable, mm?"

"They're both idiots."

"Lovable idiots."

"Quite." Shadow sighs, ending the rare moment of physical intimacy with a final brush. "We are not idiots in the slightest."

"But we're totally lovable, anyway."

"I'm not sure I'd agree with that."

Rouge cannot see it, but the dirt has been removed. She has forgotten it was here to begin with, but she is mildly annoyed, now, that she is no longer being petted. She'd hoped, her eyes having fluttered shut, that he was merely pausing for effect. Opening them, now, she watches Shadow drift toward the others, his movements graceful and fluid to hide or stylishly weaponise his antisocial reluctance. It's hard to tell, sometimes.

"Coming?"

"Once I've recovered. I was enjoying that."