Shadow's POV:
Damnit! Where did she go?! For such a small thing with one leg shorter than the other, she's pretty damn fast on her feet. But then again, she's Sonic's sister, so should I really expect less from her? I already managed to convince that bat and her boyfriend or whatever he was that I would handle this, but if I don't find Laura fast, then they might change their minds and take her away. Ugh, why do I even care?! I don't even know her and yet....she intrigues me. I don't know why but she does. And it's such a strong feeling that I can't help be be near her and learn more about her.

She is....a lot like Maria. That might be why, cuz she reminds me of the same person I lost. The only person who cared for me, my only friend. I kept running around until I finally saw her. She was just sitting in a ditch she found. It's not very deep considering i can see the tips of her ears slightly sticking out but then again, this spot is frankly very far away from Rouge and the other one. So it's a good enough hiding spot...for her at least. I walked over to her quietly but due to her keen hearing, she popped her head out of the ditch.

"G-Go away! I'm not coming!"she shouted before sulking back into the ditch. I raised a brow before crouching down, staring at the back of her head."You do realize that if you want to remain hidden and NOT be found, you have to stay quiet right? Also, find a place that hides you well"i said, watching her to see her reaction. She just sunk in more, trying to make herself smaller."You're small, but you're not tiny. Come on, out of the ditch, bunny"I said, reaching a hand out to her. "...stop calling me bunny"she muttered softly. I stayed quiet before sighing softly. "Look, kid. We can do this the easy way or the hard way"I said. "I'm not a kid!" "You act like one" "And you're acting like my brother" "Now that's just insulting. Come on, out of the ditch"i repeated, holding my hand out again.

"No"
"Out of the ditch"
"No!"
"Out of the ditch"
"No!"
"Don't make me pull you out of there".
She paused before raising her gaze a bit and frowned at me.
"You wouldn't dare..".
I leaned closed to her face.
"Try me.... bunny".
She puffed out her cheeks as she looked away from me, huffing.
"Are you gonna get out now?"
"Nope!"
"Alright, that's it. Come here!" The next thing we both knew, I grabbed onto her waist and hoisted up and out of the ditch, just holding her above me. She struggled in my grip, wiggling and kicking as she tried to escape. I just held her in place, watching as she squirm around, much to my amusement.

"Let go of me!"she yelled as she kept squirming."Stop resisting, it's honestly just pointless and sad"I blunted out, causing her to stop. "So, I'm gonna put you down now. Understand?". She nodded her head."When I put you down, you're NOT gonna run. Cause if you do, I will not hesitate to trap you underneath me if I must. Got it?". She nodded her head again. "Alright then..."I placed her down and let go of her gently."See? Now, why don't we just-" and then next thing I knew, she grabbed my arm and flipped me onto the floor. Should have seen this coming, honestly. She let go of my arm quickly before running off, or attempting to, since I grabbed her ankle the moment she tried to get away and pulled her down. "Laura, cut it out! This is ridiculous-OW!" Did she just....elbow me in the face?! Oh, that's how you wanna play? Fine, let's play. I grabbed her again and pulled her towards me again, only for her to place her legs underneath me and flipped me over, straddled me. I stared up at her, raising a brow. "So, do you just like being on top of me? Or-" "D-Don't say that! I just- it's one of the only ways I could think of..."she defended. "Why do you keep running away? What are you scared of?"I asked her. She stayed silent for a moment before speaking. "I-I'm not running away, I just...."she paused again. I lifted myself up with my elbows. "You're a terrible liar". "L-Look, you can't make me go back with them! I won't go!" "Laura, I'm not gonna-" "NO! You don't understand!! I-I don't want to go back with them!" "Laura, I'm not-" "I'm not going back! I'm not going back! You can't let me go!" "Laura-" "Don't take me back, please-"

"LAURA! I'M NOT TAKING YOU BACK!!"I yelled at her as gripped her shoulders. I had flipped her over since she was hitting my shoulders and it started to bother me, so right now she was under me. She finally stayed quiet and stared at me in confused. "...W-What?" "I'm not taking you back..."I repeated, letting go of her shoulders and just let my hands be placed on the sides of her head. "....wait, why would you..." "When you left, that Knuckles guy showed up because he couldn't wait any longer to see you and take you back, but I knew you wouldn't go with him. So I told them to let me talk with you for a mintues..."I explained, just watching as her face expression grew softer.

"The deal was I talk with you and then I take you back-". I notice her freeze in fear so I tried to calm her down. "No no! Not like that, let me finish. I take you back...to TALK with him. I won't let him take you...."I said. "But....how are you gonna convince Knuckles to let me stay? My wound wouldn't really be an excuse, sure it's deep, but it heals and it could heal over there..."she said. "Don't worry, just leave me handle it, okay?". She stayed quiet before nodding her head. I sighed, finally, she's calm and she agreed. I was about to get off when Laura suddenly wrapped her arms around me, pulling me down onto her as she hugged me.
"Laura, what are--"
"...thank you".
I stayed quiet before sighing softly, wrapping an arm around her gently. We stayed like that for a few minute before letting go.
"Come on, let's head back"I said, standing up and pulled her along with me. She held onto my hand as we walked, we were both quiet throughout the whole way, I comfortable silence between us. When we started to get closer to where Rouge was, Laura stopped and started to walk slower. I looked back at her, tugging at her hand a bit.

"Don't worry...i won't let them take you. I promise..."i whispered. She stared at me before sighing, nodding her head.
"Ready?"
"....ready".
Here we go.

Chris's POV:
"Knuckles is back!"Amy's voice could be heard from the living room. He's back! That means he's found her and brought her back. I ran down the stairs to see Knuckles open the doors and enter my house. But....where's Laura? Sonic and his siblings ran up to him, they were all smiling before seeing that Knuckles came alone.
"What happened? Did you find her?" Sonia asked. Knuckles stayed quiet, sighing softly before looking at them all.
"I did find her..."
"Then where is she?!"Sonic shouted. Knuckles frowned at him before walking forward. "Don't worry, she's safe. She's injured, but safe"
"Wait, injured?! By who?! From what?!"Blake asked, worried.
"Rouge said that on the battlefield, Laura saved her when one of Eggman's beams beams nearly hit Rouge. She pushed her out of the way and she took the hit instead, she now has a deep gash on her side. But it's been treated and it's healing. It's pretty deep, might take two weeks for it to heal"he explained.

"I don't understand, her wound is why she's not here? It's that bad that she can't be moved?"Tails asked.
"Actually, she can move. And she could have made it her safely-"
"Then why didn't you bring her?! We sent you out to bring back our sister, not to leave her there!!"Sonic shouted again, taking threatening steps towards Knuckles but Yzuma and Sonia stopped him.
"Because it's the deal I made with Shadow". Everyone froze. Shadow? He knows about Laura?
"Dude, what are you talking about? That black and red hedgehog that's one Egghead's side?"Maniac asked, confused.
"Yes him, I made a deal with him regardless Laura"he said.
"You did what?!" "Sonic, let me explain-"
"You left Laura with him?! He'll take her to Eggman!!"
"Sonic stop!"I shouted, causing everyone to stop. "Sonic, you told me you wanted to make things right. To make amends and be a better brother. But according to the story you told me, you haven't changed. You still way too overprotective of her, just let Knuckles talk"I told him. He stayed quiet before sighing.

"Shadow said Laura wasn't ready to come back, in fact, she's way too scared. And he's telling the truth, as happy as she was to see me, she was scared cuz she thought I would take her away. So we made a deal"Knuckles said.
"What was the deal?"I asked.

-Flashback-
"About time you finally got here..." Knuckles growled as Shadow finally approached him and Rouge, Laura railing behind him. The black hedgehog narrowed his eyes as him, snarling softly. "Watch it.... remember that the only reason why I allowed you to stay was because I went for Laura. If it wasn't for her, I'd kick you to the ground right now..."he said. Laura appeared from behind the hedgehog, causing Knuckles to smile.
"Laura!"he beamed, making his way over. She backed off and hide behind Shadow, lightly hiding onto his arms. Knuckles paused, staring at them in confusion before narrowing his eyes as Shadow. "Let her go..."he growled, making Shadow raise a brow. "I'm not holding her against her will, she doesn't want to leave..."he said. Knuckles frowned before glaring at him.
"You're lying"
"Oh? Why don't you ask her then?"
They both stayed quiet before Knuckles turned his gaze to Laura, as if asking her with his eyes if this was true. The female frowned, looking down before nodding her head softly.
"But...Laura-"
"I....I don't want to go....".
Knuckles paused before making his way over again. "Laura, I know you're scared but trust me, Sonic and the others miss you. So if you just let me-" he reached for her, only for Shadow to slap his hand away.

"Shadow!" Rouge scolded. Knuckles growled as he raised his fist."Why you-" "Knuckles don't!"Laura yelled as she stood in between them. The male paused, taking a step back once he saw Laura's pleading eyes. "I.... I'm sorry, but....I'm not ready yet...."she said, frowning sadly. "But...I thought-" "Look, here's the deal buddy. As you can see, Laura is injured. She took a hit for Rouge on the battlefield"Shadow cut him off, glaring at him. Knuckles looked back at him, glaring back. "It needs to heal, and while she can move with it, it isn't a good idea for her to move places around too much and as you can tell, she's scares to hurt someone again..."he continued. Knuckle liked back at Laura who just avoided his gaze.
"What are you getting out?"
"Laura stays here with us, until her wound heals properly"
"And how long would that take?"
"Two weeks"
"What?! You're insane if you think I'm gonna leave her with you-"
"Shut up and listen! Laura stays here with us, Rouge will attended to her wounds"
"Oh really? And what about you? You'll run off and tell Eggman about her?!"
"No... I'll train her...". Everyone froze.
"Wait, what?"Knuckles questioned.
"Shadow..."Laura looked up at the male.

"In the two weeks that Laura stays here with us, I'll help her control her powers. So, when times up and she has to go back...she won't have to worry about losing control, because this time...she'll have me to help her...."he explained, grabbing a hold of Laura's wrist and brought her closer to him. Knuckles stared at him, conflicting whether or not this was true.
"What's the catch here?"Knuckles growled, Shadow looking at him with a displeased look."Look, I'm not joking. Give us two weeks, Laura will heal and i will help her control her powers. When that time is up, I'll contact and Laura goes home to her family..."he snarled. Laura looked in between them, honestly not knowing what to do as Shadow extended his hand out. "Deal?" Fhe hedgehog asked, waiting for an answer. Knuckles stayed silent, staring at his hand before looking back at Laura. "Are you okay with this?"he asked. The female paused for a minute, before nodding."Yes....I'm okay with this. Tell Sonic...and the others, I'll be fine. I promise..."she said, smiling. Knuckles finally smiled back before frowning at Shadow and shook his hand. "Two weeks, Edge Lord. Play any games and i won't hesitate to break your bones". "You won't even have hands to break me with if you even dare to come back here before that time is up.." "Okay! Okay! Enough! Come on, handsome, let's go"Rouge said, cutting in between them and led Knuckles away.
-Present Time:

Chris's POV:

We all stayed quiet as Knuckles finished explaining. "Shadow....offered to train her?"Sonic asked, confused. "I'm just was puzzled out you, but believe me, he meant business. I've never seen anyone so serious like he was in this situation. He seemed.... overprotective of her"he said, making me confused. Shadow? Protective over Laura? Why? It didn't make any sense. "So, we're just.... Okay with all this?"Maniac said, his siblings looking at him."Well, Laura was okay with it, meaning she trusts him. And Laura's never been wrong before, mates"Yzuma pointed out. Sonic groaned loudly, crossing his arms. "Ugh, fine! But i still don't trust him...."he muttered. Blaze places a hand on his shoulder, patting it. "It's okay, bro.... she'll be fine.."he said. I frowned softly before looking at the window. This was all so weird and sudden. But life is so mysterious at times, so i guess we'll just have to wait for the two weeks to be over. But....what else could be waiting for us around the corner?