"Okay everyone, we're nearly there. Please remain seated while we land," Tails's exhausted voice sounded throughout the plane. Shadow sat beside Sonic, keeping a close eye on him. The landing was smooth, barely a bump as the skilled fox controlled the plane. There was a salty scent in the air when the plane opened up. Shadow could hear seagulls and other birds. That meant they were near the ocean, but that was all he could tell at the moment. Omega exited the plane first, scanning the area.

"No threat source detected," He droned from below. Knuckles and rouge glided out followed by a suspended Silver. Once he landed, Sonic arose in the air. He yelped in surprise then smiled as he recognized the greenish energy that surrounded him. Silver carefully let him down outside. Shadow finally hopped down with a spin. When he landed, the surroundings took him by surprise. He wasn't wrong about the ocean being nearby, what he hadn't realized was they were surrounded by it! G.U.N. had sent them off to a relatively small island. There were a few palm trees scattered around it and a large house in the center. Shadow looked at tails with a look that said, "What?" Which the fox returned with a small smile. Why would they come to some vacation spot in the middle of nowhere?

"Okay, guys this is where we'll be staying until Sonic's due date. Everything we need and need to know is supposed to be in there. So Amy, why don't you help Sonic get settled in while the rest of us take a look around the island.

Amy was only too happy to oblige. She grabbed Sonic's wrist and led him to the house. Sonic sent Shadow a pleading look but Shadow was dragged away by Tails. For a while, they will have to part. It almost pained Shadow, but he remained passive on the outside. Tails, Omega, Rouge, Silver and Knuckles stood in a circle. Tails's original happy attitude dropped and was replaced with a mask of worry, "We need to keep our guard up at all times. Dr. Ericson is still out there and looking for Sonic. Amy and Rouge know what to do when the baby arrives but until then we need to set up a very tight security system. We'll set up shifts and take a look at the instructions inside. So you have any other ideas Shadow?"

Shadow stood a little to the side with his arms crossed. He didn't like crowds, even small ones like this, "I'll stay by his side at all times."

Everyone nodded in agreement and headed for the house. The house was large, there were five bedroom and two bathrooms. There was a large kitchen and even larger living room complete with furniture. The beds in the rooms were cushy and the bedding on them were very soft. Shadow wondered how and when G.U.N. set this all up, but it didn't really matter. All that mattered was keeping Sonic safe.

Shadow spotted Amy exiting one of the rooms. There was a worry in her eyes that concerned Shadow. He passed her and entered Sonic and his room. There were two comfortable looking beds, one on each end of the room with a small desk beside each. There were two wardrobes side by side against the wall between the beds with names written on them. The organization almost annoyed Shadow, but at least he was rooming with Sonic.

Sonic sat on the bed to the right. His pillows were behind his back against the wall and his thin legs dangled off of the bed. Shadow sat beside him and took his hand, looking for any sign of trouble.

Sonic's eyes were closed and the muscles in his face were tight, "What will we do if he comes?" Sonic wouldn't admit it, but Shadow could see the fear radiating from the blue hedgehog. He pulled Sonic to him and wrapped his arms around him in comfort.

"I would kill him before he could even see you."

Sonic pulled from Shadow unexpectedly with firm eyes, "Don't put yourself in danger Shadow!"

Like he could hurt me, Shadow thought, "I'll be fine."

Sonic shook his head, "I don't want you to even take the risk Shadow!" He gripped Shadows arms with fear in his emerald eyes, "You don't understand how strong he is!"

Shadow hadn't seen this look of desperation in Sonic's eyes before and it worried him slightly. He knew Dr. Ericson would have to be strong to have taken Sonic himself, but Shadow was sure a lot of Sonic's worry had to do with what the scientist had done to him. Shadow stroked the side of Sonic's face, looking deep into his eyes, "I will not let him hurt you again Sonic. I don't care what the cost is!" Before Sonic could say anything else, Shadow kissed the other hedgehog deeply. He couldn't let Sonic stress any more than he was. This was for Sonic and the child's sake.

When they broke apart, Shadow told Sonic he was going to check out the rest of the house and left Sonic. He found the others in the kitchen. Rouge and Amy were writing out chores for everyone else and Knuckles was working out a security system. Tails and Silver were working out which of the two would cook at what times and Omega was in a corner in standby mode. Shadow stood to the side with his arms crossed.

Rouge looked up at Shadow and straightened out, "Can you finish this Hun? I have to talk to Shadow."

Amy nodded but didn't acknowledge Rouge besides that. The bat walked past Shadow to an empty room and waited. Shadow didn't have any will to follow her, but did on the slim chance it was something of any importance. He stood in the room waiting for her to speak.

Rouge rested one hand on her hip and spoke, "What will we do if something happens and we can't return to G.U.N. before Sonic delivers?"

Shadow hadn't wanted to think about that, but knew they needed a plan. He looked away, "I don't know."

"Well, Amy and I didn't have enough time to be trained for a C section, and Sonic has no birth canal. I'll do some research when I can, but we need a real plan before then."

Shadow agreed and nodded, "I'll do research as well. In the meantime, we need to do all we can to ensure Sonic's safety and comfort for both their sake."

A corner of Rouge's mouth twitched in humor and she narrowed her eyes in that seductive way of hers, "You seem to care a lot about both Sonic and the child. Is there something I'm missing Shadow?"

Shadow turned around as if he hadn't heard her and walked out. He could hear her chuckling but ignored it. He had enough to deal with. He didn't need her teasing on top of it.