¿Him or Her? {Sonadow}

Chapter Twenty-four

__Everyone went upstairs into Shadow's room. Shadow was rummaging through his drawers, looking for the flash drive. He couldn't find it. Navi had been tugging at his arm, trying to get his attention. Shadow stopped and looked at the chao, feeling annoyed. "What?"
__"Chow!" Navi was holding the drive in her nubby hands.
__"Oh." Shadow took the drive from her and turned on the desktop. He put the drive into the tower and opened the files. He selected the unlabeled file and saw the Enter password bar again, but something was typing on it's own and the file opened.
__"Oh!" Rouge sounded astonished. "Tails can do that?"
__Sonic snorted as he sat on the bed. "Of course. He's a genius." He then smiled when Milo and Navi both went and sat on his lap.
__Shadow began reading everything in the file. There was so much to read, but he was willing to go through everything. It took him over ten minutes to read it all, but he recalled the key points in the file. One was that Nate had someone make the two spheres, which he ironically called these bombs Big Bang. The same man (who was left unnamed) had somehow scattered the two bombs on the floor near Shadow the day Nate had introduced himself. They were programmed to follow until they entered one of the rockets. They would then blow up once Shadow activated them. It would appear they didn't think this through since they wanted the bombs to explode in his shoes at a certain time, and that was when Shadow, Rouge, and E-123 Omega found the illegal bomb shipments. They had planned to activate those bombs, which Nate had someone order them anonymously.
__Another thing was about Shadow's suspension. After Shadow had confronted Nate about the bombs, he used it as an excuse to keep Shadow away while he figured things out. Nate had wanted to get rid of Shadow, but he saw an opportunity to use him to have the president agree to his plans for the government. He had planned on taking control of it and play it off as if he was doing good things for the people. There was nothing that said if his plans were bad, but Shadow figured he just wanted power.
__It also said how he planned to dismantle E-123 Omega and use his parts for his own creations. That made Shadow mad. It also said that he wanted to turn everyone against him. The steps were unclear, though. Nothing in the file said why he wanted Shadow to suffer this. But it didn't matter what his motives were. Shadow had the whole information in his hands now.
__After stepping away from the computer, he explained to Sonic and Rouge those key points. Rouge was bewildered as she went to read part of the file herself. Sonic had stayed still on the bed. Nothing in his expression changed after hearing what Shadow said. Shadow didn't really think much about it.
__Rouge backed away from the computer and looked at Shadow. "I can't believe him! He wants to turn the world against you and tear Omega apart!? That snake!"
__Shadow crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "What do you suppose we do now? Is this enough evidence?"
__Rouge nodded. "Yes, but..." Rouge grabbed her chin as she looked at the computer. "It's one thing to write down all your plans. It's another to perform them or have witnesses to further prove these writings."
__"I guess so."
__"Do you still have those little bombs?"
__Shadow shook his head. "I broke open one of them and threw them away weeks ago."
__"Dammit," Rouge rasped. "You serious? What did you find in them?"
__"Nothing. Everything inside was burnt and broken."
__"And what about witnesses?" Rouge asked herself quietly. She then looked at Sonic. "You were there when his shoes broke down, right?"
__Sonic nodded slowly. "We were racing and they suddenly caused Shadow to trip over his own feet."
__"And that was supposed to make those other bombs blow up?" Rouge asked in annoyance. "And Omega and I were on those crates. That would've killed us as well."
__"Perhaps Nate didn't expect us to bring those crates back," Shadow infered. "He just wanted me to be caught in it. He doesn't have anything against you."
__"But maybe it wouldn't have mattered if I'd died with you," Rouge said quietly. "What I really want to know is why he hates you. We already know how he feels about the things Eggman makes, but he has a different motive for Omega."
__"Guess that means we're still not done with this," Shadow sighed in disappointment.
__Rouge nodded and looked at the drive in the tower. "Could I take that? I want Omega to know the contents of that file now that it's unlocked." Shadow nodded and she pulled it out of the tower. She then smiled at Shadow. "I'll leave you two alone then." She winked and left the room.
__Sonic had shooed the chao off of him and stood up. He walked over to Shadow and was about to speak when he brought his attention to the photograph. He flattened his ears and lowered his head a bit. "A lot of things are bothering you, aren't they?"
__Shadow looked at Sonic. "I guess."
__Sonic sighed and pressed his head against Shadow's. "You know you can tell me about the other things bothering you, right?"
__Shadow perked his ears. He knew what Sonic wanted to know, but he wasn't sure he even wanted to talk about it right now.
__"Shadow, I need to know," Sonic said pleadingly, yet not very commanding. "What are these nightmares of yours about?"
__Shadow pulled away from Sonic and narrowed his eyes. "Why do you want to know so badly?"
__"I just want to help." There were a lot of confusing emotions that Shadow couldn't read on Sonic's face. It would seem he was fighting against something in his mind, but Shadow didn't know what it was. He did know there was more than Sonic was letting on.
__"Are you sure that's it?" Shadow questioned.
__Sonic had pondered for a bit before replying. "I..." His phone then went off and he backed up to check it. He groaned as he put it away. "Dammit. I have to leave. The Freedom Fighters need me right now."
__Shadow flattened his ears and sighed. "I don't want you to leave on these kinds of terms," he muttered.
__"I know." Sonic reluctantly hugged Shadow and sighed. "But I have to right now. I'll come back tomorrow if I can." Sonic pulled away and motioned Milo to follow. "Say bye to Navi, Milo." Milo had looked at Navi for a second before flying after Sonic. It took a few minutes for them to leave this house.
__Shadow kept his ears down as he looked at the photograph. He went to sit down in the computer chair and grabbed the photo. Is he starting to catch on? He knows my nightmares are about Maria. But what is he going to think about me wanting her back so badly? It's nothing serious, right? He would help me. He said so himself. I know he meant it. But Shadow sighed and shook his head. Wishful thinking. No one understands me like that. Maria was the only one who did. Even if I love Sonic and he loves me, it's not the same as the love Maria and I shared.