(Y/n) crouched down on the rooftop, aiming her gun down at a figure hunched over something. She hoped it wasn't a body.
She was hunting. For vampires. Strange, yes. The city didn't exactly know about them, but that was because they could blend in perfectly with the normal Mobian population. They attacked at night when no one was around to see them and the bodies of the victims were rarely found.
(Y/n) didn't want to kill anyone, but she did want to save the city.
Theoretically, a vampire's bite could turn its victim into a vampire, and some of the victims (Y/n) had been studying had returned. Vampires only killed people if they were extremely hungry, from what she'd found. If not, they were turned into one of the bloodthirsty monsters.
So (Y/n) had been trying to develop a cure. If she could cure the vampires of their immortality, basically everything that made them vampires, then she could save hundreds of lives.
She just didn't know if it would work.
The (a/t) looked through the sights of her gun, finding a bare spot on her subject's neck. However, before she could fire, someone tackled her from behind, knocking the gun out of her hands. She grunted and rolled to the side, standing up. Her opponent was practically invisible except for softly glowing red stripes on his head, arms, and legs. His eyes were a deeper red, glaring at her.
(Y/n) moved around her opponent, checking the position of her gun. Behind him. He seemed to get what she was going for and stepped back, picking up the gun and pointing it at her. "Are you going to shoot me?" she said suddenly, stopping and raising her hands. "It won't do anything. I'm not going to kill anyone." Her opponent eyed her, then took the magazine out of the gun, checking the ammo. Just a dart.
"What is this?" he asked, holding up the dart.
"An elixir for vampires," the (a/t) said. "I don't know if you've noticed, but sometimes people go missing and it's impossible to find them, or some come back with weird tempers and behavior."
"Well, I suppose so," the newcomer said. He closed his fist around the dart. "What does the elixir do?"
"I haven't tested it on a real vampire yet, but from my research, a vampire's bite can turn a regular Mobian into one of them. So I was wondering if there was any way to reverse that." The newcomer studied her. "I hope you didn't think I was going to try and kill anyone."
"Perhaps that is what I thought." He handed the gun back to her, but he held onto the dart.
"Um, what are you going to do with that?" she asked, nodding at his fist.
"Perhaps I could study with you," he said. "I have a certain interest in vampires myself."
"Oh, um, I don't know."
"Please," he said, stepping over to her. "I insist."
~
His name was Shadow the Hedgehog. Apparently her research was just fascinating. He studied every part of it, wandered around her lab, poked around with the prototypes she'd been using. She watched it all with a bored expression, resting her head in her palm as she sat by the door.
"You finished yet?" she asked. Shadow looked up at her, narrowing his eyes in a silent threat. She sighed. "Right." He continued reading the test journal and (Y/n) closed her eyes, dozing off.
"(Y/n). (Y/n), wake up." She opened her eyes to Shadow waving the journal in front of her. "How did you find this?"
"That? Oh, those are just theories," she said, grabbing the journal and skimming over her writings. "I'm not going off much here. Just some stuff I've inferenced. I mean, the turning into vampires, I have evidence to support that one, but how to reverse it, that's just a bunch of chemical crap. I'm relying on science, here, but vampires are mythical creatures."
"Of course," Shadow said, taking the journal back and looking over the writings again.
"Why is this all so fascinating to you?" she asked. "Everyone else who I've tried to tell has dismissed it."
"I think you've got something going here." He added something to himself that she didn't hear and he turned away. "Do you mind if I write something in here?"
"Do whatever you want. Just leave my stuff alone unless you ask me for help." He nodded and flipped to a blank page, grabbing a pen and scribbling something down. (Y/n) closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
~
When he'd said that this (Y/n) had something going, he'd meant it. Everything made sense. Just a few tweaks, which he was sure she'd figure out in due time, and she'd be able to reverse the vampire effects.
Which was bad for him and every other vampire in the city. If she completed this elixir, she could erase the population entirely. And being a vampire himself, Shadow was determined to make sure that she didn't complete it. So he looked over to where she was, sleeping in a rather uncomfortable-looking position, then walked over to where she kept her prototypes.
He put the one he'd been holding in the case with the others, then tucked it under his arm. He then tore a piece of paper out of the journal, wrote her a note, and hurried out of the lab.
"Watcha got there?" one of his fellow vampires asked when he entered the warehouse they met in. He set the case down on the desk and the journal, which he had also smuggled out.
"This is research from a (a/t) named (Y/n)," he said. "These are the prototypes she's been using." His companion picked up the journal and studied it, flipping through its pages. His expression gradually grew more and more worried.
"Good thing you got this," he said, dropping the journal on the desk. "If she finishes this, it could be the end of us vampires." Shadow nodded.
"What will you do with the prototypes?" he inquired.
"Destroy them," the vampire said, waving a hand. "Stay with her, make sure she doesn't progress anymore on this." They picked up the journal as well. "And burn this." Shadow nodded and picked up the research, taking it outside. "And Shadow...." He turned around and was met with a fist straight to his eye.
"What was that for?" he snarled, stumbling back and dropping the objects.
"We have to make it look like you were in a fight," he said. "Just say one of us came in there and tried to get the research and succeeded. You fought back." The vampire kicked him again and Shadow grunted, gripping his stomach. He allowed them to get a few more punches in before he declared it was enough and shoved his colleague away. He then retrieved the research and went to destroy it.
~
She opened her eyes and rubbed them. Shadow was gone and she jumped to her feet, racing over to the prototypes. They were gone.
"You little-" She cut herself off when she noticed a note on the desk. She picked it up, quickly read over it, then ran outside. Shadow was lying on the ground, bruised and apparently unconscious. She ran over to him, shaking him until he slowly opened his eyes.
"What happened out here?" she asked. He shook his head, bolting upright.
"One of them," he gasped.
"A vampire?" He nodded.
"They took the research. I tried to stop them-"
"Where did they go?" He shrugged sheepishly. (Y/n) rubbed a hand down her face. "All of it is gone...." She stood up, shaking her head. "Come on. Let's get you at least a little patched up before you head on your way."
"You don't seem as upset as I thought."
"If I can do it once, I can do it again, and I have the roots of the project, so I won't be starting from nothing like I was." She scraped together her first aid kit and walked over to Shadow. "They didn't bite you, right?" He shook his head. "Strange. Why would a vampire come, just to land a few blows but not to feed? They jump at every opportunity."
"They seemed to be in quite a hurry. Stopping to feed would have stalled them too long. They may have considered you a threat." She hummed thoughtfully.
"Maybe they fed recently," she said. "I mean, vampires can't go too long without feeding or they essentially...." She shrugged. "They're just naturally weird and creepy." She finished treating the worst of his injuries and stood up. "Alright, out you go. I've kept you long enough."
"Might I come back later?"
"If you really want to." Shadow stood up and headed to the exit. "And Shadow...." He glanced back at her. "Thank you." He paused, then gave her a nod and disappeared around the corner.
~
(Y/n) worked tirelessly to try and revive her work. But it just wasn't the same and some of the components were missing. She massaged her temples, closing her eyes. Instead of thinking, she was trying to make sense of some things. The pieces just weren't fitting together.
Shadow said in the note he'd gone to pick something up. What was it? He didn't have anything new with him when she'd found him outside, so either he'd never made it to where he wanted to go, or he had something to do with the taking of her research.
How did the vampires know where her lab was? She was pretty secretive about getting to it for that reason. Conveniently, on the day Shadow decides to help her, her research goes missing because a vampire came and took it. She still pondered over why they didn't at least feed a little bit on Shadow. They didn't get the opportunity to often, especially since she'd started her work. So why pass it up? They couldn't have been in that much of a hurry.
"Who are you, Shadow the Hedgehog?" she muttered, writing down her ponderings. "If you don't start telling me, I'm going to start looking."
~
Shadow returned later that afternoon. (Y/n) greeted him quietly, still writing in a formerly blank journal. He peered over her shoulder and she didn't stop him from reading what she'd written. His eyes widened slightly.
"You think I'm associated with them?" he asked.
"Give me a reason why not," she said, turning to face him.
"I'm not a vampire."
"So it's just pure luck that it didn't bite you when it stole my research? This isn't fitting together. Vampires don't eat normal food like we do because it doesn't offer the sustenance they need."
"I eat normal food."
"We'll see about that. Anyway. How come they conveniently found the location of my lab the day you came to help me?"
"I don't know. You think I know this? You seem to be the most knowledgeable about vampires. I don't know what to tell you."
"Vampire fangs are retractable. I've seen it."
"How?"
"I've been up close before. Not a pleasant sight, but I'm pretty good at sneaking around. They can retract their fangs. It's how they blend into the public. And, unlike popular belief, they can be in the sun, and they can attack during the day. The night is just easier because there are less people around and their victims are more vulnerable."
"Okay."
"Here's another thing." She held up a knife that she'd been keeping beside her notebook. "If a vampire has recently fed, they hardly react to the scent of blood. It's like a normal Mobian after eating." She pressed the tip of the knife to her wrist.
"What are you doing?" Shadow hissed, grabbing the wrist of the hand wielding the knife. She jerked her hand away and set the knife down.
"But if a vampire hasn't fed for a while," she said slowly. "If they smell blood, then they can hardly control themselves. It's a sort of feral downside."
"I'm not a vampire," Shadow said through his teeth.
"Like I said: we'll see about that. I'll be able to tell if you're lying. They have certain behaviors that give them away. And so far, I've never been wrong about who's a vampire in this city." Shadow's expression remained neutral and somewhat offended. She picked up her pen and turned back to writing in her notebook. "Carry on, Shadow the Hedgehog."
~
(Y/n) was smart. She could see through his story, but he wasn't about to give up yet. He would just have to prove that he wasn't what she thought he was.
So he stuck it through, and the days turned into weeks. Soon, he'd been working with her for about a month, stalling her research discreetly and hiding what he really was.
It came at a cost, however. What she'd said about vampires not often eating normal food because it didn't provide the proper sustenance for them was true. But she was keeping a close eye on him so that limited his opportunity to feed to a minimum. That was probably the hardest part of keeping up his charade. Forcing himself to eat normal food that often made him sick afterwards.
But she seemed to be dropping it after a while, caring for him instead of monitoring him.
"You look extra gaunt today," she said. "Have you eaten anything recently?" He nodded but she didn't look convinced. "Are you sure?" He gave her a funny look and she sighed. "Of course."
She turned back to her work and Shadow sat down, gripping his stomach and trying his hardest to keep his fangs from emerging. They tended to do that when he hadn't eaten for too long. He stuck a finger in his mouth, feeling where they usually were. A sharp prod told him they were halfway out, but not enough to be poking out yet.
He heard (Y/n) hiss in pain and he turned his head towards her. She dropped her fist on the table, setting something down and gripping her wrist. The dark hedgehog froze suddenly as a certain scent wafted over to him. The (a/t) was bleeding. That's when he spotted the knife splotched with red. She'd purposely cut herself.
"What have you done?" he said, his fangs emerging fully. She turned towards him, mouth pressed into a tight line. He closed his mouth quickly, trying to cover his fangs, but she'd already seen them.
"I knew it," she whispered. "You took my research. You've been stalling it. That's why you've been getting sick so much. You can't eat our food without getting sick. You haven't fed for a while so you reacted to smell of my blood." She held up her hand, the red liquid dribbling down her arm.
"You're dooming yourself," he hissed, gripping the table hard.
"And why would you care?"
"I don't want to feed off you!"
"And why's that?" Both of their voices had risen.
"Because I care about you! Why would I have stuck with you this long if I could have either killed you or turned you into one of us?" He stood up, then dropped to his knees, forcing himself not to move, though any second now, instinct would take over. "You need to get out of here."
"If you cared so much, then why did you take it?"
"GET OUT!" Shadow sucked in a sharp breath and stood up, zeroing his gaze in on her. Her ears flattened and he was in front of her in an instant, slamming her against the wall. He could feel the blood on her wrist as he gripped it, taking his hand off for a moment and staring at the red liquid.
"Oops," she whispered. Shadow opened his mouth slightly, returning his hand to her wrist to keep her from struggling. He leaned forward and pressed his muzzle into her neck, his fangs softly grazing her skin. She seemed to realize there was nothing she could do, that she'd brought this on herself. That didn't stop her from squeezing her eyes shut, tears trickling down her cheeks.
"I just had to know," she whispered. "You've been lying to me all this time. You've been hurting yourself. Why?"
"I didn't want to hurt you," he mumbled against her neck.
"Get it done and over with," she said shakily. He pulled away slightly, but her eyes were still closed. She bit her lip hard and Shadow hissed.
"You brought this on yourself," he said, giving her injured wrist a squeeze.
"I know."
"Why?"
"Are you going to do it or not?" She opened her eyes, staring at him. He let out a short breath and lifted his head, suddenly pressing his lips briefly to hers. His fangs grazed her lip and she made a small noise.
"I'm sorry," he whispered after he pulled away. Then he clamped his fangs down onto her neck.
~
"Well, I guess that's the end of that," Rouge said, staring down at (Y/n) as she lay unconscious on one of the beds in headquarters. She shrugged. "Her fault."
"I should have told her."
"And what would that have profited us? A lot less vampires, that's what. You did the best you could, but it was her that led to her downfall." The bat crossed her arms. "But give her some credit - she knew how to get to you." Shadow frowned. That was true, and it made him feel uncomfortably vulnerable.
"Well then," Rouge declared, straightening and flaring her wings. "You should get her acquainted when she wakes up. The transition can be a bit rough sometimes." She turned around, walking away. "Have fun."
Shadow fingered one of his fangs, thinking. He didn't like being vulnerable. He turned his head as (Y/n) groaned, shifting and blinking her eyes open slowly. "Where am I?" she mumbled.
"Headquarters," Shadow said shortly. She suddenly sat up, eyes wide. She grunted, bringing her hand to her mouth.
"I feel like I was just at the dentist," she said, opening her mouth and touching her teeth. Her fingers brushed over her new fangs and she froze. "Oh, no." Shadow stood up and put his hands on her shoulders, pushing her back down onto the bed.
"It's a bit of a shock at first," he said. She reached up and touched her neck, running her fingers over the bite marks. She shut her eyes.
"This is my fault," she said. "Shadow, I'm so sorry." The dark hedgehog hesitated, then grasped the hand on her neck and knelt next to the bed. He leaned over and pressed his lips gently to the mark, his free hand resting on the side of her face. "Sh-Shadow?"
"I'm glad you did," he said, lifting his head and looking at her with lidded eyes. "Because now you know who I really am and I don't have to hide from you anymore." He stood and leaned over her face, looking lovingly into her (e/c) eyes. Then he bent down and kissed her firmly. "But for future reference, don't ever do something like that again."
"Okay," she breathed. "I promise."
"Good." And with that, he allowed her to stand and accept her new place. Her new light on them.