Chapter Text
There are so many things that people can predict that could happen to them in a single day.
Some predict that they'll finally get that pay raise they've been hoping for after working at their job for so many years.
Others predict that the fancy, expensive dinner their partner takes them on could be the moment they pop out the ring and ask that one million dollar question.
No one however, would ever predict that they would end up saving the world from an insanely powered laser death cannon that was made by the recently discovered grandfather of your archenemy, and also find out that for an all powerful hedgehog that looked very similar to you was hidden away from the public eye for 50 years, and gave you the ultimate run for your money and your money.
Not to mention witnessing the deaths of both Robotniks and your doppelgänger as they prevented any more damage from being done (after part of the moon was sliced off that is) and the explosion in the sky looked like it created a new galaxy itself.
Nor did he predict that all of this happened in a single day. That ended with him and his brothers miles from home, bruised and tired while they walked through a random cornfield after all of that.
Sonic shivered as the sudden cool breeze hit against his fur, hitting the exposed burned areas on his arms and face. He didn't think that the injuries he had got were that bad at first, due to him being able to stand up after literally falling from space and crash landing rather roughly in the cornfield he was currently dragging himself through.
But needless to say, his body was hurting pretty bad now that all of the adrenaline he had for the past two hours had pretty much ended and it’s starting to become a major struggle.
But Sonic wasn't the only one, Tails had quickly filled him in that he had dived in after him once he powered down and went to use a ring portal but passed out as well during the fall. Knuckles had managed to save them both by using the ring and they all landed in the cornfield.
Normally, he'd be highly impressed by the fact that this kid, his little brother, had made such a move in order to rescue him, but all he felt was shock and nausea building in his stomach at the possible thought of both of them not making it, or worse if he made it but Tails didn't because he decided to go off on his own and leave them behind. God forbid if Knuckles had gotten both out of harm's way and he somehow didn't make it.
He was already close to losing his da-, to losing Tom, the thought of also losing those two in the same day…
The attempt to shake his head to get rid of the what-if scenario train immediately came with regret as a painful pounding seared all over his head and a bit of his eyes, causing him to gasp out and hold the side of his head.
Something lightly pressed against his back quills, a firm heavy hand. “Are you alright?”
Sonic didn't look in the direction of the voice, but he gave a small nod as he continued to hold his head. The fall was one thing his body was still recovering from, even after Knuckles had shielded both him and Tails from the impact as they landed in a random cornfield in South Dakota thanks to Knuckles’ quick thinking.
No, it was also due to him passing out due to preventing the giant ass laser with chaos energy emitting from the Eclipse Cannon and falling back down towards the planet and his entire body nearly going up into a hedgehog shaped fire ball that would be so disappointing to even try to make a wish upon.
He remembers hearing Tails’ voice yelling out to him while he was going in and out of consciousness with the wind heavily in his ears, finally waking up when he heard the sounds of coughing and felt a secure arm around him, smelling the dust in the air, looking up at the sky where the where mere minutes ago, was now a giant explosion of chaos energy as bright as the sun.
And Shadow-.
Shadow….
He only knew of him for a short time, most of what he knew about him was from commander Walters and bits of information he managed to put together when they were exploring the old research facility in Oklahoma. Other than that, he was a total stranger.
A total stranger who never held back his punches whenever he saw him, yes, but it was a stranger who was also hurt and dealt with loss that lasted for literal decades and wasn't able to talk about it to anyone, until Sonic came along and it took a fight to the death, being super-punched into space and to the freaking moon to have a talk that managed to bring him to his senses, only to give his life for the planet he sought out to destroy.
If he only had more power, maybe if he wasn’t so hellbent on getting his revenge, he would have had enough to stop the cannon himself, that way no one else would have to be lost
But you don’t know that.
I don’t, but it could have worked.
But what if it didn’t?
What if it did?
Sonic was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't even realize that his pace had slowed down and was lagging behind the others. He had his head looking down at the ground as well, so he definitely didn't notice that a certain someone had stopped to wait for him, pausing their walk until he was right next to them before he felt his arm being lifted and slung around a pair of familiar shoulders that caused him to lean against the body.
Sonic made an attempt to move away, but the other arm held him securely against the older one's torso. He tried to wiggle out of the echidna’s grip. “Knuckles, I said I'm fine-.”
“No, you are not.” The echidna grunted, adjusting his hold so he wouldn't try to move out of it again. “Your pace is slowing and you keep grimacing.
“Ugh, I just got a bad headache, I can still walk.”
“You are not walking, you're dragging your feet and limping.” Knuckles paused his walking, putting his full attention to the hedgehog, a glare starting to form at his stubbornness.
“Okay, that may be true-.”
“Uh, guys?” A small voice piped in, but was ignored as the two continued with their bickering.
“If it's true, to which it most certainly is, then stop trying to argue about it.”
”Guys?”
“I'm not arguing, I'm giving my statement!”
“Well, your statement is invalid to this discussion!”
”You’re invalid to this discussion!”
“That makes no sense!”
“GUYS!”
The two stop and whip their heads forward and see Tails staring at them, clearly annoyed with his fists clenched up at his sides, his tails fluffing up in a frizz behind him. He took a moment to take a breath and compose himself before closing the gap between him and them, giving them a hard yet still adorable glare.
“I know that it's been a rough day, for all of us, but right now we got to get to a flat opening so my signal is strong enough, but we can't do that if you two stop every two seconds to bellyache about random stuff.”
He adjusted his backpack as he stared at them dead in the eyes. “Knuckles, you carry him till we come across a big enough clearing so I can properly send the signal out. Sonic, you let him carry you cause you're just as hurt as all of us and you don't want to overexert yourself before we get proper medical treatment. Are we all clear on that?”
The two older boys were too stunned to speak as they both looked on at the kit, who took their silence and shocked expressions as confirmation that they understood, knowing fully well how he can be when you piss him off, which was rare but they still admitted defeat just from that.
Tails walked on ahead, putting his attention back on his miles electric and holding it up, scanning the area. Sonic huffed out a laugh as the two resumed walking. “I think he's definitely been around Maddie too much, he had those same scary eyes that she does whenever I get into trouble.”
“That does explain I felt a slight twinge of fear when he was glaring at us.”
Sonic scoffed, sounding a bit sour than he intended. “Slight? Dude, I felt your whole body tense up like a pulled muscle.”
“I was not. Besides, my body is 100% muscle so it makes sense that it felt like that.”
“You just realized you've proved my point by admitting that, right?”
“I have not.”
“Yes, you have.”
“Have not.”
“Have too-!” Sonic paused, his locked gaze he had with Knuckles faltered. He knew better than this, heck they all did. He didn’t even know why he felt the need to argue with him in this manner. The feeling just came up suddenly, not in the usual way he tended to do where he’d get Knuckles annoyed or mad just for a quick personal laugh.
This was a different feeling. A feeling of frustration, anger even that was spilling out more than when the three of them were standing outside of GUN headquarters mere hours ago. That same chest, tightening anger that he felt when arguing to Knuckles about taking the master emerald and breaking their sworn oath to never use it for such a purpose, only for him to leave them behind and do just that.
Even if they did forgive him in the end, he still wasn't sure that he could forgive himself.
“I’m sorry.” Sonic said out loud, surprising himself and Knuckles, who was helping him sit down on a cobble they came across after they arrived at a large clearing Tails was satisfied with using.
Knuckles blinked at him, puzzled. “What are you sorry for? Helping you did not exhaust me, if that's what you mean.”
“No, it wasn't that. I'm just sorry about what I did earlier…with taking the master emerald.”
Knuckles paused, his eyes shifted down a bit while his face was still unreadable, making Sonic’s sudden anxiousness rise up a bit. It's like he was contemplating how to properly scold him or something and it was driving him nuts.
‘He already forgave you earlier, why are you scared that he's still mad?’ A small voice echoed in his head. His mini-me voice as he usually called it.
‘I know he still is, we all know he is quick to show his emotions, but he's even scarier when he doesn't show it.’
‘Don't be a wuss just because he could still be mad at you.’
‘Well, you don't have to be so rude about it, man.’
‘Or be a wuss because you can't take constructive criticism.’
‘Why are you like this??’
“Sonic.”
He jumped once he heard Knuckles say his name, seeing the echidna’s face not have the usual stoic, sharp eyes mask that would stay the same even when he was showing positive emotions, but rather a tired and almost sad expression. It took him by surprise to say the least, he couldn't even recall whether he's even seen him make that face before.
“While I understand the choice you made was in response to our beloved male caregiver nearly losing his life,” He paused, lightly tapping the tip of his shoe against the soil. “I won't be dishonest to say that it pained me seeing you act on it.”
Sonic recoiled at the words that felt like they were practically thrown at him. He still remembers the face both Knuckles and Tails gave him when he found out Wade had the master emerald and went through the portal without a second glance. It made him feel so sick inside then, it still did now.
“But it's not just because you were starting to go down that path, but because we weren't there with you.” Knuckles had seamlessly drifted over to the cobble Sonic was resting on and was now sitting by him. “That hurt more than anything.”
”I’m just-.” The same dull ache in Sonic’s head grew even more with the feeling of his throat making it a bit harder to breathe, causing him to grimace once more. Whether it was from a potential cry trying to push its way out or a new injury developed by his fall, he couldn't tell but he refused to let it come to surface.
Much to his chagrin, Knuckles noticed the change in his face. “You need to stop hurting yourself over this as well.”
“But I'm not hurting myself.”
“By allowing yourself to slowly diminish your inner self, you are hurting more than you realize.” He gently laid his hand on Sonic’s shoulder, his glove nearly enveloping the entirety of his upper torso. “Believe me on that.”
He held his gaze with Knuckles’ comforting eyes, his arm slung around him like a hug that was still incomplete due to him not returning it right away. Rather than glomp the both of them into another hug like previously, Sonic merely leaned into the half-given embrace and laid his head on the echidna's shoulder, too tired to even lift his arms to do so, closing his eyes as Knuckles reciprocated by pulling him closer and wrapped his other arm around him, securely completing the hug.
He could just break down right there, at this very moment if he needed to. Not even the group hug they all shared an hour ago had him feeling close to doing it. He wanted to, but the exhaustion was too much to where he couldn't even bring himself to gather strength to even try.
“Yes!”
Sonic and Knuckles both break away from their embrace at the sound of Tails yelling at the top of his lungs and flying over to them with a wide smile on his face, waving his tablet in the air. “I knew moving to this area would work, the signal is even stronger and it should be on our location within the next minute!”
“Wow, that fast huh? Whatever that thing is, it's going to give me a run for my money.” Sonic joked lightly, letting out a groan as Knuckles helped him stand. “Did you do an unofficial upgrade with the car?”
“Hmm, not exactly.” Tails held up his miles electric and pointed it in a central direction in the sky, pushing a button that gave out a series of loud rapid beeping within the tiny gadget.
They all looked in the direction the device was pointing, seeing a small dot in the distance the size of a house fly suddenly grow bigger and bigger until it was close enough and hovering right above their heads. The craft Tails had mentioned to them before made it seem like it was a hovercraft that could belong in that one movie they all watched where that kid traveled to the future with his crazy scientist neighbor.
This makeshift plane (?) did look a bit futuristic, only this one was more rugged looking and if it was an odd piece of concept art they had for the film but had thrown out late in production. It had patches of different colored and sized scraps of metal covering the exterior of it. It was also smaller than the plane he had upgraded after they had crashed Rachel's wedding and used to fight Eggman's robot.
It had two seats just like the old plane did and the wings of it looked like dolphin fins but seemed to be uneven and the propeller kept shorting out and backfired as it hovered above them, making the eldest uneasy and back up as Sonic continued to stare up in awe at it.
“Okay, since when did you even have this and none of us noticed?”
The fox gave him a shrug. “Since about a month ago? I was working on it in the shed at first, but hid it not too far in the woods just in case someone would see.” Tails pointed the remote at the plane, bringing it down to land it. “I'd figured that we need it for a quick ride and since G.U.N isn't going to be rushing over to look for us…”
His voice trailed off, fiddling with the remote in his hand. Clearing his throat, he decided to change the subject. “Anyway, it should get us back to Green Hills in about an hour or two with the recent upgrade I did. C’mon.”
Knuckles hesitated, only moving when Sonic gave him an encouraging smile and motioning his head to hop in. The echidna sighed in defeat, gathering him up in a bridal style and hopped into the 2nd passenger seat, gently placing him in the seat before moving in to sit next to him. It was a bit of a snug fit, but Sonic was just relieved to have a more comfortable seat to relax in after forcing his injured body to move around for so long.
Tails flew up to the cockpit, fastening his seat belt, pulling out his goggles and securing them over his eyes. “Alright, let's go home!”
With that, he pushed a button on the console, causing it to buckle and loud bangs coming from the engine before the power from the booster died down. The fox gave a single hit to the side of it with his fist, making everything come to life and start to ascend up. Tails shifted a level gear, the humming growing even louder until the acceleration took it across the sky and towards the setting sun on the horizon.
Even with the harsh winds blowing around his face and eyes, Sonic felt the sleepiness creep up as he struggled to keep his eyes open. Knowing he was safe, both figuratively and literally since Knuckles was basically holding him to prevent his body from moving around, he finally gave in to the sweet call of sleep. The random conversation Tails and Knuckles were having soon became a muffled, indescribable noise as he soon drifted off into a dreamless sleep.