¿Him or Her? {Sonadow}

Chapter Eight

__Shadow had went straight home. He had never felt this flustered before. It wasn't just because of how calm Nate acted when denying Shadow's confrontation. He's was really annoyed with how Sonic had spoken to him. What really bothered him was the last thing he said to him. "I'm going back to hang with Sally." The way he said that was infuriating. Shadow wouldn't normally care about Sonic going to see someone else, but he really hated Sonic's tone.
__Shadow felt relief once he was inside his house. He sighed and looked at the small black spheres in the palm of his hand. He clenched them tightly and went into the kitchen to throw them away. Shadow then looked around the living, looking for his chao. "Navi." He perked his ears and headed upstairs to his room. His door was ajar and he pushed it all the way open. He went in and saw that the bottom drawer of his dresser was open. Navi's tail had popped out of it before she brought her head out as well. Shadow was about to step forward when Navi pulled out a framed photo from the drawer and dropped it on the floor face down.
__Panic filled Shadow's mind as he stared at the framed photo. "Be careful with that!" He shouted. Navi had flattened her ears and flew under the bed to hide. Shadow ran over and knelt down to grab the photo. He slowly turned it over and sighed when he saw the glass was still fine. In this photo, there were three people standing together. There was an old man with a white mustache wearing a lab coat with his hand on the shoulders of a young girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a blue dress. In between them, Shadow stood there with his hands behind his back and a hint of hope on his face. His head was tilted toward the girl and she had her hand behind Shadow.
__Shadow couldn't help but think back to Sonic's little lecture and compared it all the lectures and teachings he remembered receiving from this girl. He thought about how hostile he acted towards Sonic and how upset he was, yet when it came to the girl, he always followed her thoroughly and she was always happy. Why were you the only one that could ever talk down to me without me getting mad? His heart started aching as he kept thinking about the girl. God dammit. I've been doing a great job so far, forgetting about you. I'm sorry, Maria. He set the photo back in the drawer face down and closed it.
__"Chow?" Shadow looked over and saw Navi peeking her head carefully from under the bed. Her ears were still down and she looked sad. "Choo..."
__Shadow sighed and sat down crisscrossed as he held out his hand to her. "You can come out now." Navi's ears perked back up and she quickly flew into Shadow's chestfur, snuggling her face against it. Shadow put one hand on her back carefully and looked out the window. For the first time, he began to worry about him going to G.U.N. headquarters the next day.

__"Why would you do that!?" Rouge shrieked.
__Shadow, Rouge, and E-123 Omega were at the same table in the same cafe the next morning. Shadow had told his comrades about what happened between him and Nate the other day. E-123 Omega didn't seem bothered by it, but Rouge was furious. Shadow kept his eyes narrowed and drank a bit of his coffee before responding to Rouge's outburst. "I know he sabotaged my shoes. He's just willing to keep his act up."
__"But what if he's not lying and you're just jumping to conclusions!?" Rouge retorted.
__"You know I can sense when people are lying," Shadow reminded her. "That's why you could never snag a gem while I'm around you."
__Rouge narrowed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. She flattened her ears as she frowned. "Okay, maybe he is lying. But do you have any actual proof? You can't just confront someone about this."
__"I still have the two small machines that Nicole found in my shoes. I'll get those back out and see what's in them." Shadow had crossed his legs under his chair as he leaned forward. He now found himself in hot water. How would he get more proof? He shook his head and looked at Rouge. "You have any other ideas?"
__"Well..." Rouge straightened herself in her chair and grabbed her chin. "I don't really know. Maybe I could try hacking Nate's files? The only problem is that the headquarters is full of agents like us; no one is able to slip by."
__"You're better at stealth than all of them," Shadow pointed out. "That's the reason Topaz agreed to recruit you, isn't it?"
__Rouge smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I can do it. I just need to ask Tails for another hack-proof flash drive."
__"Great." Shadow leaned back and allowed himself to relax when E-123 Omega started speaking.
__"If I remember correctly, you said to 'keep a low profile.'"
__Shadow groaned and allowed Rouge to speak for him. "Think about what's happening, Omega. The first thing we learn about Nate is that he hates everything that Eggman has made. He gave you ugly looks on his first day and put some weird devices in Shadow's jet shoes to break them." Rouge looked over her shoulder and back at E-123 Omega before continuing. "Just don't do anything that'll bring attention to us. Got it?"
__E-123 Omega moved its body down and up as if it just nodded. "Understood."
__Shadow suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable. He slowly looked at Rouge and waited until she looked back. "Do you find my aggression annoying?"
__Rouge's eyes grew a bit wide as confusion filled her expression. "No, of course not. Why would you ask that?"
__Shadow just looked away. "No particular reason."

__"Suspended?" Shadow repeated in question. He had been called into Nate's office and was standing alone in front of him. Shadow found it irritating to be in the same presence as this tiger after knowing what he did. He had his arms crossed and his hip popped out a bit as he tried not to glare at Nate. "This isn't a school."
__"I understand your concerns, Mr. Shadow," Nate began with his usual calm tone. "But the way you acted yesterday was unacceptable. I understand why you feel uneasy around me, but you have to understand that there's a reason I'm your commander now." He then stood up and his stripped tail twitched. "They didn't have any humans that were right for the job, so they chose me. All I want is to keep this world safe and sound. I can't do that if none of our soldiers cooperate, now can I?"
__Shadow narrowed his eyes and looked away. "I guess not."
__"Great," Nate grinned and sat back down in his chair. "This suspension is only for three days. I just want you to cool down and understand what's going on." Another one of your filthy lies. Shadow stifled a growl as Nate continued. "You do want to keep this job, don't you?" Nate asked. Some form of lust were in his eyes, yearning for something. "Why is it that you're even here?"
__Shadow was caught off guard by his question. No one had ever asked him this before, not even the previous commander who had offered him a job here. He had uncrossed his arms and tried to refrain from scowling. "That is my business," He replied coldly.
__Nate quietly giggled as he leaned back in his chair. "Look, for whatever reason it is that keeps you here, I suggest you don't start up trouble. Because of you accusing me yesterday, I should have fired you. But I believe you're smart enough to keep yourself from making these mistakes again." He then smirked, which made Shadow uneasy.
__"Is that all then?" Shadow wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
__"Yes, I suppose so. I'll see you again in three days."
__Shadow didn't give any sign of a farewell to Nate as he quickly left the office. He ignored all the other agents curious stares as he walked out the building. Nate's question came back to his mind. He had never brought the answer out to anyone, and he didn't even have a detailed response for it. All that he had for an answer was Maria.