This is a Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic, set in the game universe. Sonic belongs to Sega, obviously, and so do most of the people in here.

This contains spoilers for most of the Sonic games, but especially Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic Unleashed/Sonic World Adventure.

This story will also contain:

* moderate comic violence
* Non-violent, accidental injury
* Swearing
* A frank discussion of drug use's effect on society
* A frank discussion of domestic violence. Hetero and yaoi pairings are mentioned, but no shipping is actually present
* Horrible customer service
* Pink Socks

If any of these things bother you, turn back now.

Also, many thanks to my wonderful betas, Iammemyself and Raeweis.

Leave It to Me

Chapter 1: The Morning

I rolled over and sighed. It was gonna be a beautiful day.

The sun was shining on my face, warm, though not as warm as the soft flannel sheets I was wrapped up in. The air was warm and it had a damp feeling to it, like the beach. I may not be much for liquid water, but I love the smell of the beach and that soft feeling in the air. The door was wide open and the sun was filtering through it into the hallway beyond my room. Tails hadn't closed my door in the night, which meant I was unlikely to leave the room and trip over a pyramid of cans stacked around a set of blueprints for an alien translator or a new plane. At some point the previous night, and I only barely remembered this, I had changed out of my wet running socks and into some goofy-looking pink fuzzy socks Amy gave me back at Christmas. They felt so soft and smooth on my feet, and I grinned to myself as I wiggled my toes.

It sure was better than the blizzard outside the night before. I hadn't seen it coming and got caught out in it. Good thing I happened to be close to Tails' workshop when it hit. It was also a good thing I remembered the password for the door, because he wasn't awake. I figured he'd probably been up all night and day working on a project and finally gone to sleep.

I sat up in bed and stretched, wiggling my toes some more. I was surprised at how warm the house felt; Tails usually kept it pretty chilly by my standards, so I was surprised that I wasn't cold at all. He must have figured out I was home and turned the heat up for me. He's great like that.

I figured the least I could do was try to fry him up something for breakfast, since he'd probably be up by now. Then we could go out boarding or something. With as much snow as there was when I came in the night before, I figured there was plenty of winter fun to be had.

I went into the bathroom to wash my hands, and I was surprised to see him there, door wide open. He was standing in front of the sink, mirror open, staring into the medicine cabinet. A big fleece blanket he'd gotten for me for Christmas was draped over his shoulders. Funny, 'cause usually if he turned the heat up for me, it was too hot for him. That's why he got me the blanket.

He wasn't standing as tall as usual.

"Hey Tails. Sleepwalking?"

He turned to look at me, a tired, glazed look in his blue eyes. "When did you get here, Sonic?" he croaked.

Oh for the love of…

"Tails? What happened to you?"

He stared at me, blinking for a second. "What does it look like?" He finally replied.

I smiled nervously, scratching my nose. I had that one coming. "I mean, what's wrong?"

"I still have a fever and I'm out of medicine for it."

I tried really hard not to slap myself in the face with the hand under my nose. "Still? How long have you been sick?"

"Two days now. I feel a little better today…"

I could feel my eyes widening. "Why didn't you call me?"

He rolled his eyes, wincing a little as he did, like the movement hurt. "I know you're totally a medical doctor, but I figured you were busy with other things."

And when Tails' snarky comments come out less polished than mine, you know something's wrong.

"Ok, ok, point taken. "

"Besides, I don't want you to get sick." He put the lid down on the toilet and sat on top of it, sighing heavily.

"Come on, when do I get sick?"

"Well, there's that time you ate heart fruit…"

"What? It smelled good…"

"And there were a couple times when you were the werehog…" He started counting on his fingers.

"Professor Pickle said that was probably from intra-something-something whatsits." OK, so he was starting to have a point here. I shrugged, throwing up my hands.

"And that time you had a fever so high you thought you went into the Arabian Nights."

I frowned, annoyed. "So how do you explain the handkerchiefs?"

"Amy trolling you? Didn't that happen right after that mess with Shadow and the aliens? And didn't we just stop Eggman again?"

"OK, ok, point made, but I've been relaxing. I'm not gonna get sick. And even if I am, it's too late now. I already slept in your house with my door open all night while you coughed or sneezed or whatever. So, now we just focus on getting you better." I looked out the window, trying to gauge the time. Still morning. "Put on your warmest clothes. We're going to the doctor."

"No, we're not. If I have the flu antivirals won't help at this point. I'll just have to wait it out unless I get worse."

I glared at him. "If they coulda treated it, why didn't you go in?"

"I was running a simulation on my computer and I couldn't leave it…"

I put my head in my hand and shook it. Unbelievably stupid for someone that smart.

"Didn't Amy have to remind you to eat and sleep when you were the werehog?"

"Shut up. I'll go to the store and get you some medicine. What all do you need? Something for the fever… cough?"

"Sure."

"There food in this house?"

His eyes rolled up into his head, thinking. "Um… I don't think so. I was going to make a grocery run the day I got sick. I have a couple packages of ramen?"

I suppressed a groan. "All right. You go back to bed. I'll go get that stuff. Back in a flash."

"Sonic wait-"

I ignored him, no time to waste. I went back to my room, put on my jacket and shoes, and dashed out the front door.

Then my feet started to slide. Several seconds and fifty feet later, I slid headfirst into the Tornado.