A/n: I have no idea what year it is presently on Mobius, so for them, it's 2020. Lucky them. No coronavirus. But just keep that in mind.
"Hey there," Sonic said, plopping down next to (Y/n) and dropping his head on her shoulder.
"Tired?" the AI asked.
"Yeah," Sonic said. "Of everyone's attitude!" He snuggled into the (a/t), wrapping his arms around her waist.
It had been a little more than a month since they had gotten together and (Y/n) was having little doubt about their relationship. Sonic may move quickly, but he was surprisingly gentle and loving when it came to a relationship.
Her screaming had been...ever so slowly progressing. She still had nightmares, but working towards handling the smaller bursts was working. Sonic had talked with Shadow and they were working on a different approach. However, the dark hedgehog was suddenly sharp with her and it took everything she had not to bust his ears. She often returned to base and fell asleep, not to wake up for hours.
"How was training?"
"Quiet."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Shadow invited Silver to our lesson today. He took your advice and was trying to teach me to get a level head, and Silver's good at meditating apparently."
"Yeah, that's kind of how he got a grip on his powers."
"Well, I hope that it will help me get a grip on mine."
"I'm confident," Sonic said, looking up at her. "You're stronger than Shadow gives you credit for."
"Yeah, but he does make me do pull ups every morning." She flexed one of her muscles to show him. "(F/n) would be jealous. Except, she'd probably be confused about me being a (a/t)."
"You miss her, don't you?"
"Every day." Sonic sat up. "But I know she's okay. Starline didn't go after her, anyway. I think she'll just be a little confused, and maybe behind on her project without those blueprints I was supposed to give her." (Y/n) stared blankly at the floor, refusing to cry. She'd managed not to for a long time. She didn't like crying. Made her feel pathetic.
Sonic put his hand on her face and she instinctively leaned into it. "It's okay to be sad," he said. "I'm...I'm sad all the time."
"You're a hero. Heroes tend to lose a lot for the greater good. I understand."
"Well, you're one of us, now! You deserve as much love as the next." She turned her head to look at him and he smiled. "Plus, you're beautiful, which is a nice bonus." She blushed softly and he leaned over. "You know-" She quickly closed the gap between them.
"-you're amazing," Sonic finished when they pulled apart. She blushed furiously and looked away, ears pressed flat to her head. "And don't you forget it, (Y/n)."
~
"Someone's in a good mood," Rouge said the next day. "I meant Shadow, but Sonic's in a real good mood." Shadow was hunched with his arms crossed and a murderous look on his face beside the bat. Sonic was talking excitedly to (Y/n), who was going to join them today for her first day on the field. "Do you think she's ready? Is that why you're so grumpy?" Shadow harrumphed and shook his head. "Take that as a yes."
"Everyone ready?" Tails asked, fiddling with something in his ear. "Get your comms up and let's go get 'em!"
"Yes!" Sonic said, especially excited.
"(Y/n), come with me on the Tornado," Tails said. "Tangle, Whisper, tag along with us. Rouge, Sonic, Shadow, Silver, meet us there."
"You got it," the blue hedgehog said, stretching his arms. Shadow made a low noise in his throat and was out the door before anyone could blink. Sonic whooped and shot after him, leaving Rouge and Silver to shout and try to catch up. The other four ran out to the Tornado, Tails and (Y/n) taking the two seats while Whisper and Tangle occupied the wings.
The other four were waiting there by the time the plane reached the destination. A Badnik horde was marching across the field with a strange gun between three of the larger ones. "What is that?" Tangle whispered as they hopped off and out of the plane. Tails raised a device and ran scans over the device.
"From this distance, it's a little hard to tell," he said, reviewing the results. "But it looks like some sort of warp gun. Transports whatever it shoots to a set destination."
"What would Egghead want to do with that?" Sonic asked.
"Not what," Shadow growled. "Who." He glanced at (Y/n). "He wants his creation back."
"I can get the gun," Silver said. "You take out the Badniks." They nodded and the white hedgehog lifted himself off the ground, raising his hands. The gun was enveloped in a teal glow and Silver moved it away from its Badnik carriers.
"Go!" Sonic yelled. The others ran out and he grabbed (Y/n) by the shoulders. She nodded and sat down before he could say anything. "Okay, cool." He darted away.
Such a liability, the (a/t) thought angrily. Why can't I do something for once? She sighed. She knew it was for the best, but she'd rather be back at the base than sitting here watching Silver move a warp gun.
"Hello there." She sprang up and Silver yelped, dropping the gun. He collapsed on the ground and (Y/n) ran over to him. He was unconscious, a small dart lodged in his neck. "Don't worry. He will come around eventually."
The (a/t) turned around and there stood the one face she could never forget. Dr. Starline pulled his glove on, flexing his fingers. "It has been far too long," he said. "Your screams have been lost to me, darling." She shook her head, backing away from him. "I just want to take you back where you belong." She heard the warping sound behind her as he opened a portal and walked towards her.
"-CONTROL!" (Y/n) flinched as a green light flashed and Shadow appeared between her and Starline. He punched the platypus with incredible force that sent him flying back. Starline tumbled to a halt and pressed a button. The warp gun that Silver had dropped righted its position and aimed straight at (Y/n).
"Hold on!" Shadow shouted, jumping for her. He wrapped his arms around her, a loud warping sound going off as the warp gun fired. "Chaos Control!"
There was a jarring jerk and a blinding light that made a scream rise in (Y/n)'s throat and burst out that she'd been holding in, but it seemed quiet in the strange abyss. Shadow held onto her tightly, curling around her.
Then they hit the ground, rolling down a grassy hill. (Y/n) managed to stifle her scream and Shadow hit a boulder at the base of the hill hard, causing him to unroll and collapse flat on the ground. (Y/n) sprang off him and knelt next to him. Where they were, it was dark, the lights of a city just beyond them.
"Shadow," the AI said. "Wake up! Wake up!" She shook him until he sputtered and opened his eyes, bolting upright.
"Where are we?" he said, pushing himself up.
"Shouldn't you know?"
"The warp gun must have interfered with the Chaos Control," the dark hedgehog said. He pressed his comm. "Shadow to Sonic, do you read me?" He flinched suddenly and ripped the comm out. "It shorted out." He put his hand on (Y/n). "I'm going to try and get us back to base." She nodded. However, the results were very underwhelming.
"What's wrong?" she asked as Shadow repeated the phrase and nothing happened.
"I can feel the Chaos energy," he said. "But I can't seem to harness it."
"So, we're stranded."
"Not yet." He nodded at the city. "We need to see where we are and get to some sort of computer and send Tails a signal. He'll be able to come and get us." The (a/t) nodded and followed him as he marched to the city.
The first thing they saw was an ad on a nearby building, but it wasn't the product that was on it. It was the date. "Shadow," (Y/n) said, pointing at the ad.
"The hottest books of 1990!" the ad read. Shadow squinted at it.
"So?" he said.
"Why would they be advertising books from 1990 in 2020?"
"Why do people do anything?"
"Good thought, but look at these buildings. And over there." She pointed to a store. Inside it were strange devices. She recognized some of them as similar things to things she had updated as an engineer or stripped down for parts, but they were all old pieces of tech.
"The fastest tech this generation has seen yet!" a poster on the store's window read.
"That is not the fastest tech," she said. Shadow glanced between the ad and the store, then cursed.
"The warp gun messed with time," he said. "We're not going to find Sonic here, let alone Tails."
"Why?"
"Because we've been shot thirty years into the past."