A/N: Except for chapter 1, which occurs during the six months of Eggman's reign, this story is set in a post-Forces world.

It is chronologically the last one in my series of interconnected stories that begin with "Enigmatic" (although it was written second). The next is "To Choose is To Be Free" (which was written first). The third is "Back in Time" (which is still incomplete), and the fourth is "First Time".

I've tried to make it so that each story can be read as a stand alone as well, so it's not necessary to read all of them in order.

Since ffnet has a limited summary, I just wanted to add these tags from Ao3 so you have a better idea of what this fic will be like

Knuckles the Echidna/Sonic the Hedgehog Knuckles the Echidna/Silver the Hedgehog Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog Knuckles the Echidna Sonic the Hedgehog Silver the Hedgehog Shadow the Hedgehog Miles "Tails" Prower Post-Sonic Forces Pre-Sonic Forces Sonic Forces Established Relationship established knuckles the echidna/sonic the hedgehog sonuckles knuxonic Knuxilver Eventual sonadow Love Triangles Drama & Romance eventual shadow the hedgehog/sonic the hedgehog one-sided knuckles the echidna/silver the hedgehog one-sided knuxilver established sonuckles Smut a lot of smut

At the resistance headquarters, Silver the Hedgehog strolled down one of its corridors. Like everyone else in the resistance, he was preparing to return to the barracks for the night. Although, for some reason, he had an inclination to stop by the command center. He knew he would find their stubborn leader still inside. Lately, Silver seemed to be the one to have to pick up the slack whenever Knuckles became too distraught to make rational decisions.

"Hey, Commander," Silver greeted as he stepped in to the room, the automatic door closing behind him. "Working late tonight?"

Knuckles briefly glanced over at Silver, but ignored his question.

"You should try to get some rest," Silver insisted.

"How can I when there's cities being destroyed as we speak?" Knuckles replied, eyes glued to the computer screen in front of him.

"Come on. You've got give yourself a break. You'll be no good as the leader of the resistance if you don't get some rest. All the others have already left for the night."

"I just can't do that, Silver. There's too much at risk right now. We're at a critical point in our efforts in at least five areas," Knuckles pointed to an area map up on the screen. "And these areas here are still very vulnerable—"

Silver cut him off, grabbing Knuckles wrist to lower his hand, "We have enough of our grunts in those areas right now."

Knuckles jerked his arm away from Silver's grasp and paced away from him.

"That's just it. That's all we have. We have all these rookies out there, losing. I should be the one out there fighting. I should be the one out there... looking..." Knuckles trailed off, eyes fixed on the floor.

"Is that why you haven't been able to focus lately Knuckles? You're still holding out hope? I know you're trying to be optimistic for the sake of everyone here, but it's been four months and there's been no sign of Sonic. One of these days you're going to have to face reality. Sonic is gone."

"Shut up."

"You can't honestly believe he's still alive."

"Shut up!" Knuckles yelled, punching one of the empty equipment crates and splintering the wood to pieces. Silver recoiled, but the hedgehog still pressed on.

"Do you really think Sonic would just be out there somewhere, not doing anything if he saw the state the world was in? I would surely hope not. I think it's time for you... for all of us, to stop giving ourselves false hope. It isn't helping anyone. We just need to mourn our losses, and... move on."

Knuckles tried hard to regain his composure.

"Look, Silver, I appreciate everything you've done, and everything that you're doing for the resistance. Hell, you coming to warn me before anything even happened allowed me time to safeguard the Master Emerald... and for that, I'm so grateful to you... But that doesn't mean you can stand here and tell me that Sonic is gone. You can believe what you want, but... I'm not losing hope."

"Why can't you just accept it?" Silver asked.

Knuckles looked up, trying to blink back the tears he felt threatening to escape his eyes. He shook his head, not wanting to answer.

"Knuckles?"

"I miss him," Knuckles said finally, voice wavering. He let the tears fall, but he quickly wiped them away. "I miss him so much. I love him so much. I just want to hold him again, and tell him how much I love him. I need him now more than ever."

Realization suddenly dawned on the hedgehog.

"Oh... Knuckles... I'm such an idiot. I'm so sorry."

Silver cautiously approached the echidna, pulling him into an uncertain embrace. He relaxed when Knuckles didn't protest, holding him firmly and pulling him closer to his chest.

Silver pulled away to look at Knuckles. The echidna's eyes were distant, and the tears kept falling, so Silver tried to comfort him. He reached for his cheek, wiping away a tear with his thumb. He let his gaze fall to Knuckles parted mouth, as the echidna let quiet sobs escape his lips. The hedgehog instinctively closed his eyes, feeling as if something magnetic was reeling him in. He pressed his mouth lightly against the echidna's, but it quickly backfired as Knuckles roughly pushed him away.

"What the hell are you doing?" Knuckles asked incredulously, his sadness quickly turning to anger.

It didn't register with Silver right away.

"Sorry. I'm so sorry... Crap! I just keep fucking up."

The hedgehog hastily made his way toward one of the exits, wanting to escape the awkward situation as fast as possible.

"Wait! Silver... Why did you try to kiss me?"

Silver halted, relaxing a bit when Knuckles sounded more confused than angry, and turned to try to explain himself.

"I... I don't know. I just thought... I thought it would help..."

Silver crossed his arms to hug himself. Thinking of what he was going to say next.

"It's the way you look at me... I guess I thought... I thought there was something going on," Silver admitted.

"Is that why you've been so involved with me lately? I'm... sorry, Silver. It's just that... You remind me of him sometimes. I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression," Knuckles apologized.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for... I had no idea you and Sonic were an item... I mean, I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now. I've been so insensitive and, god, I'm just making it worse, aren't I? I should go."

Silver turned toward the automatic door behind him.

"No, wait Silver," Knuckles sprinted after the hedgehog, catching his arm.

Silver reluctantly turned around to face Knuckles again.

"I want you to stay," Knuckles pleaded.

Still holding on to Silver's arm, he pulled the hedgehog closer. His heart started to race a million miles a minute looking at Silver. The expression on his face was so like Sonic's. But the eyes staring back at him were a warm amber, lined harshly in black. Even so, Knuckles would be lying if he didn't admit there was something seductive about the silver hedgehog.

"You aren't completely wrong about the way I look at you," Knuckles finally admitted.

They both gawked at each other for a moment, realizing they both wanted the same thing, and this time, Knuckles leaned too, mouths colliding softly into each other.

Knuckles slipped one of his huge hands under Silver's back quills, holding his slender waist close, while the other hand cupped the hedgehog's cheek. Silver reciprocated the intimacy, sliding his hands up Knuckles' torso before resting them on his shoulders.

The kiss was short, Knuckles being the first one to pull away.

"That felt..." Knuckles searched for the right word in his head.

"Good," they both finished simultaneously.

Silver initiated another kiss, a needier, hungrier kiss, each of them searching to satiate their lust.

Silver raised one of his lanky legs, wrapping it around the echidna's waist.

Knuckles felt his arousal growing, and he lifted Silver off of his other leg, so he was carrying the younger hedgehog with both legs wrapped around his waist, kissing passionately until they needed air.

Breathing heavily, Silver tilted his head back for moment, lifting one hand off of Knuckles shoulder to use his psychokinesis on a nearby table. He dragged the table behind himself and sending the computer off to the floor, so he could rest his elbows on the surface, readying himself for the echidna, his dripping cock exposing itself.

Knuckles, too, was painfully aroused and when his cock sprung out, Silver felt it on his inner thigh, its warmth working him up even more.

"God, you're huge." Silver marveled at the echidna's strange anatomy, and just how everything about him seemed exaggerated.

Knuckles was briefly pulled out of the moment, thinking about where this was heading.

"Well, com'on, Commander. What are you waiting for?" Silver asked flirtatiously.

"What are we doing, Silver?" Knuckles finally asked.

Silver scoffed at the question as if the answer was obvious.

"We're making each other feel good," Silver answered quickly.

"I can't. It's not right. Sonic is..." Knuckles trailed off.

"Gone," Silver said flatly.

Knuckles huffed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Knuckles," Silver whined. "Please. Don't leave me hanging," he insisted.

Knuckles still hesitated, his somber demeanor suddenly becoming resentful.

"Are all you hedgehogs always so horny?" he asked rhetorically.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Knuckles said dismissively.

"Alright. But you're right here with me, aren't you?"

Knuckles ignored him once again. "Have you ever done this before?" he asked, grabbing his own cock to stroke it.

Silver wanted to yell at the echidna to stop stalling, but he indulged his question nonetheless.

"Never, ever," he said innocently. "I want to know what it feels like Knuckles. Please, fuck me. Do me right here on this table."

"It's going to hurt," Knuckles said carelessly, guiding his dick to finally penetrate the hedgehog.

Silver whimpered, and Knuckles grabbed the back of the hedgehog's thighs, pushing them up as he plowed into Silver.

Silver closed his eyes, moaning loudly and gripped the edge of the table, supporting himself on his elbows and forearms. He felt the table slipping back as Knuckles' thrusts became more aggressive, and used his psychokinesis to hold the table from moving, the lanky hedgehog accordioned between the table and Knuckles.

"Ohh... fuck... fuck yeah," Silver kept repeating under his breath.

Knuckles couldn't look at Silver's face. He kept his eyes on his body, watching how his furry chest went up and down as the hedgehog sighed and moaned. He kept thinking about what he was doing. How it wasn't Sonic he was with. How it felt so wrong. This fair, slender body, so thin and fragile. Knuckles leaned forward, lowering is mouth to Silver's torso, grazing his sharp teeth against the sensitive skin besides the hedgehog's white fur.

Silver yelped a little when he felt a nip.

"God, I could break you in half," Knuckles whispered.

"What?" Silver wondered, between pants.

Silver was becoming too vocal for the echidna's liking. Knuckles slipped out of him momentarily to flip him around, bending him over the table, before shoving his cock back inside.

Before Silver could say anything, Knuckles covered the hedgehog's muzzle with one of his mitts. Then, using his teeth, Knuckles pulled the mitt off of his free hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, Silver witnessed Knuckles' ungloved hand for the first time, a bit disturbed by what he saw. He wasn't sure if it was the twin bones that protruded from his fists that frightened him, or the long claws on his fingers.

Knuckles ran one of those claws down Silver's torso, feeling him up from his chest down to his belly, and below that until he finally reached his dick.

Knuckles' hand stifled the moan Silver tried to let out when he touched him. The hedgehog's cock had just been begging for attention.

Knuckles wrapped his hand around Silver's cock, pumping it and thumbing over the slit at the head.

Silver almost immediately felt himself wanting to ejaculate into his hand, but the pleasure he was receiving on the other end was so intense, he didn't want it to end.

It sent shivers down Silvers spine until he couldn't stand it any longer, and all the pleasure culminated into his shaft and he came all over Knuckles' hand.

Knuckles reached his peak almost simultaneously, pulling out as he came, semen dripping out of Silver, down his thighs, the rest shooting to the floor.

Knuckles removed his gloved hand from Silver's muzzle, the hedgehog panting, still leaning over the table for support.

"Holy fuck... You're amazing Knuckles," Silver professed, after catching his breath. He turned around, using the table to prop himself up.

Knuckles just shot him a sideways glance. He picked up his discarded mitt, replacing it on his hand.

"You're a shitty liar, by the way. You know you're a fucking slut."

"What?"

"Don't play dumb, Silver," Knuckles said, looking at the hedgehog almost intimidatingly so. "I don't like being lied to. Makes me think people take me to be some kind of idiot."

Knuckles flexed his hand in his mitt.

"No, of course you're not. Okay... so I've had sex before," Silver finally admitted. "But I'm not some easy slut, I swear."

"Shadow?" Knuckles simply asked.

Silver's eyes went wide at the mention. "How did you know?"

"Remember our little encounter on the rooftop? The very first time I met you?"

"Yeah, you gave me some great advice. Not to get involved with Shadow."

"I also know that he doesn't give up easily," Knuckles added.

"Yeah... he was very persistent. But I kind of like... liked him."

Knuckles scoffed and rolled his eyes. This was sounding all too familiar.

"You're more like Sonic than you know," Knuckles uttered softly, too low for Silver to hear.

"How do you know about Shadow? Did you two—?"

Knuckles scoffed at the assumption. "I'd never. I hate his guts. I just know that's the kind of person he is. We're only civil to each other when he's on our side. But where is that asshole now? I bet he's sided with the enemy."

"Relax, Knuckles. Why do you have to have your guard up all the time?"

"If you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a war."

"Well, it's not between me and you." Silver reached for the echidna's shoulders, giving them a little squeeze. "Anyway, I bet you're spent now."

Knuckles was tired, and he thought he might finally be able to rest peacefully after letting out all the pent-up frustration with Silver.

"Come to bed with me," Silver offered. He slid his hands down Knuckles' arms, stopping to hold his wrists.

Knuckles was still downcast, and his eyes still shined with grief. Silver didn't know why, but he wanted to be the one to make his commander smile again.

Silver kissed him, receiving no response from the echidna.

"You're really sexy, you know that?" Silver purred, caressing the white crescent on Knuckles' chest.

"You aren't gonna let me turn you down, are you?" Knuckles asked.

"No. But only because I know deep down, you really want to. Now let's go to bed. You can do me all over again in the morning if you want."

Knuckles reluctantly let Silver lead him by the hand. He followed him out of the command center, down a corridor to their sleeping quarters. Fortunately, the leaders of the resistance had a nicer set up than the barracks that all lowly grunts had to share.

Silver's room had a spacious enough bed, and he had made it his own over the past few months that they had been forced to go into hiding.

Knuckles climbed in first, laying on his back, and the hedgehog crawled in next, swinging one leg over him to straddle his hips. Silver sat on Knuckles, gazing into the echidna's pretty violet eyes.

Knuckles eyes swept over the ethereal hedgehog, taking in all of his delicate features. He had never focused on the hedgehog enough to notice how gorgeous he was.

Silver leaned forward, glaring at Knuckles with a serious expression on his face.

"Now don't go trying to leave me in the middle of the night. I'm a light sleeper so I'll wake up if you get up."

"I won't, Silver."

"I want you to get a good night's rest for once. The resistance needs you to be on top of your game... I need you, to be on top."

Knuckles smirked. "Was that a dirty joke?"

Silver shrugged innocently.

Knuckles pulled Silver down for a kiss, and Silver finally relaxed, laying down with his head on Knuckles' shoulder.

"I know you're still grieving," Silver whispered. "And it might take you a long time to get over losing... Sonic. But things will get better. I'll make sure of it, Knuckles."

Knuckles simply kissed the top of Silver's head in acknowledgement.

They both drifted off shortly after that thought. That night, Knuckles was able to rest better than he had in a long time.

A/N: Hey all! I think this will be my last story in this Sonic universe I've created. Unless of course, I get inspired, but most likely I think I want to conclude it with this one. It'll be kind of long and multi-chapter, in the same vein of To Choose is To Be Free. I hope you guys enjoy all the twists and turns and juicy drama that will unfold once, spoiler alert, Sonic comes back! Gasp! Well, obviously Sonic was alive. You don't even need to have played Forces to know that. Also, like all my other fics, the continuity is loosely based on the games, so you don't have to know much about them because I take a lot of liberties anyway. As usual, feedback is greatly appreciated, and thank you so much for reading!