This idea came to mind when I thought about how Sonic goes from being active 24-7 in Unleashed to fighting Eggman up in space in Colors. (That's where Sonic and Tails are going when they take off at the end of Unleashed, folks. I looked it up.) Now, I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Sonic didn't take much time off in between the two… After all, Eggman already had all those spaceships in Unleashed, and Sonic didn't destroy them all… And what evil genius doesn't have a back-up plan?

…Enough rambling. This takes place immediately post-Colors. Oh, Blaze and Silver may show up at some point, but Sonic 2006 isn't remembered by either of them. And I apologize in advance for any OOC-ness… There's more than reason I haven't written a bunch of Sonic stories, folks…

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SONIC AND COMPANY. I ONLY OWN THE OFCs AND THE COMPUTER I'M TYPING THIS ON.

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Tails looked over at the hedgehog who was sitting on his couch, eyes closed in exhaustion. Tails knew Sonic had been through a lot in the recent couple of weeks, but it didn't mean that he thought it was OK that his brother pushed himself over his limits because Eggman didn't know when to quit.

Sonic opened one eye to watch Tails head towards the phone, biting his lip to prevent himself from coughing. He knew that it would just worry the kit more than he was already, and he would be leaving for his own home as soon as he could. Assuming that he managed to convince Tails he was capable of getting himself home, of course.

Tails looked over at Sonic uneasily as he dialed the familiar number. The hedgehog wouldn't be happy that he was doing this, but Tails couldn't just ignore the fact that Sonic needed some medical attention. And even if a doctor was out of the question, Tails did know one person that Sonic wouldn't be too upset if they took care of him.

"Rabbit residence; Vanilla speaking."

"Vanilla, its Tails," the kitsune said, glancing back towards Sonic, who seemed oblivious to the conversation.

"Tails? Well, this is a pleasant surprise."

"I'm afraid this isn't a social call, Ms. Rabbit," Tails said, eyes watching Sonic. The hedgehog leaned forward a little and coughed, but showed no sign that he was aware of what Tails was saying.

"What's wrong?"

Tails bit his lip, hearing the change in Vanilla's tone. "Sonic," he admitted quietly. "I think he might be sick, and I know that he's beyond exhausted. He kinda didn't sleep much in these last few weeks, and he probably hasn't eaten right, either."

"I'm going to have Cream get things set up here. I'll be over in a few minutes to help you get him here."

"Thank you," Tails said, feeling reassured that the mother rabbit would be taking care of Sonic. "I'll let him know."

Sonic was drifting in and out of consciousness, echoes of recent pain causing his face to screw up. A hand on his shoulder produced a low hiss, but he forced his eyes open to see Tails looking at him in a mix of sympathy and worry. "I called Vanilla. She's going to be taking care of you until you're better, Sonic."

It toke Sonic longer that it should have to process that, a tiny part of his mind realizing that was a very bad thing, but he ignored. "Tails, I don't need someone to fuss over me. I'm fine." Suddenly, Sonic twitched, feeling like he was being electrocuted again. Tuning the pain out the best he could, he tried to push himself up.

Tails' hands were suddenly restraints, holding down the fifteen year old hedgehog, a definite sign that Sonic was sick, because normally the kit could never hold him down.

After a few seconds of struggling, Sonic stilled, mouth open as he gasped for breath. Tails was instantly worried almost to the point of panic when she could hear how labored Sonic's breathing had become. He made an instant resolve to drag Shadow, if he could find the ebony loner, and definitely Knuckles to the Rabbit house so give an accurate analysis of what was wrong with Sonic, and help him get better.

A knock on the door had Tails getting up to open it, knowing that Sonic was too weak to run anywhere. He opened it, letting Vanilla in. "He's on the couch, and a lot worse than I thought. He tried to get up, but I was able to hold him down."

Vanilla paled slightly, sitting down next to the teen. His breathing was heavy and labored, and it worried her.

Sonic turned his head, almost completely drained of energy. His emerald eyes focused with some difficulty on Vanilla, but then he let his head flop back, too exhausted to keep his eyes open. His breathing slowed, but it still was noisy.

Tails came up behind Vanilla. "I recently made a new walker… It would get you to your house faster. And it's a bit larger, so…"

Vanilla understood, and gave the kit a grateful look. "If it's not too much trouble, Tails, that would probably be the best thing for right now. I'm not my daughter; I can't fly like Cream can."

Tails just nodded, racing for the hanger, his namesakes spinning to give him a speed boost. Vanilla turned back to Sonic, a faint smile in spite of the situation. "Will you ever stop landing yourself in these situations, child?" she asked softly, her tone that of endearment. Her lips brushed his forehead, frowning slightly at the fever. Carefully slipping her arms under him as not to jostle him, she gently picked him up, frowning again when she felt how little he weighed. She knew that Sonic was always a little on the light side, but there was no way his current weight was healthy.

She carried the distressed hero to the hangar, and was had just entered the area when Sonic began to twitch again, as if he was in pain. Tightening her grip on him so he couldn't break free and fall to the ground, she hurried towards the walker which Tails had named the Cyclone.

Tails hopped out of the pilot's seat, taking Sonic for a moment so Vanilla could get in. As soon as she was, he wordlessly handed Sonic back her, and she cradled him in close, softly humming in an effort to soothe him.

The short trip to the Rabbit's home placed in silence, Cream racing out to meet them when they came to a halt, silent tears slipping out of her warm brown eyes when she saw Sonic weak in her mother's arms. She kept her distance, though, and for that both Tails and Vanilla were grateful. Once Sonic was settled in the bed that Vanilla had taken to calling his due to all the times he slept there, Cream quietly walked up to him, taking his hand gently.

Looking up at her mother, she rubbed the tears away before opening her mouth to speak. "Should I inform Amy, Mother?"

Vanilla looked up at her daughter for a second before her gaze shifted back to the completely unconscious Sonic. "Yes, but please, sweetie, go tell her in person… Otherwise she'll race over here right away, and I need a little time to get him situated."

"Yes, Mother," with that, Cream fled the room, slightly glad not to have to stick around with Sonic in that condition. He was a big brother to her, and it scared the six year old to think of him lying so still and vulnerable.

"I'm going to go get Knuckles and see if I can find Shadow," Tails said. "Knuckles can tell us if any of this is connected to Sonic's Chaos energy, and Shadow has a Chaos Emerald."

Vanilla nodded, and the boy rushed from the room. As hard as it was for Cream to see Sonic like this, it was twice as hard for Tails, since Sonic was his brother in nearly every sense.

Bowing her head, Vanilla made a quick mental prayer that Sonic would get through this, because there was no other option. None of them could deal with the alternative.

XXXXXXX

Knuckles wasn't anti-social, but he preferred his solitude most of the time. A month ago Sonic had been there to spar, but Knuckles hadn't heard from him since. So one can imagine his surprise when Tails deftly landed the Tornado-1 in a clearing not far from the Master Emerald's shrine, and that surprise just increased when there was no sign of Sonic.

"What is it, kid?" Knuckles asked, not too harshly, but Sonic not being there made him uneasy.

"Sonic; he's sick," Tails said. "Like, really sick. I was able to hold him down, and he's too weak to do anything, even keep his eyes open!"

Knuckles felt cold. Sure, he and Sonic had their issues, but he couldn't let that fool of a hedgehog die. He had promised he would keep Sonic safe. "Where is he?"

Tails was slightly taken back. He had thought it would be harder than this to convince Knuckles to check on the cerulean hedgehog. "At Cream's house. Vanilla's taking care of him until he's better."

"Get your plane started, I'll be there as soon as I've got the Master Emerald shrunken down to an easier size to carry around," Knuckles said, turning back to the shrine.

Tails was startled, but knew better than to question Knuckles. Spinning his tails, he was at the plane momentarily, and starting it only took a moment. Within a minute, he felt the tremors starting that signaling the island lowering itself back to the ocean. Knuckles kept his word, and soon tails was headed back towards the Rabbit's house, one of the two people he felt that could help Sonic on board.

XXXXXXX

Knuckles walked into the house alone, since Tails was determined to locate Shadow. Walking up the stairs, he gently tapped the open door at the top of the staircase. Vanilla looked up and say him, motioning him inside.

"How is he?" Knuckles asked, even though he could see Sonic's too-still figure, the exposed skin pale, a damp cloth on his forehead to relieve his fever.

"Not good," Vanilla said. "I do wish he would stop getting himself in these situations. Tails didn't have time to give me the details on what he's been up to these past few weeks, but whatever it was, it wasn't a health benefit. He's literally exhausted, and I'm not sure I want to know when he last ate. Plus he obviously hasn't been eating right a while now, because he's at least a good five pounds lighter than last time he was here, probably more like ten or so."

"So he's, what, 65, 70, pounds?" Knuckles asked, shocked. He wished that he could tell her that this weight was because his Chaos energy was just higher than before, but in truth, it had lowered drastically. "That's not good at all. Underweight and low energy… I'm surprised he's only showing the effects now."

"His Chaos energy is down?" Vanilla asked, horrified. She knew that Sonic needed the Chaos energy in his system because it was part of his total life energy. She turned to him, fresh tears forming, but she blinked them away. "It's not right."

Knuckles, who was now sitting next to Sonic's bed hoping to use the Master Emerald to stabilize him at the very least, looked up with sympathy. "I know."

"No you don't!" Vanilla snapped, a rare occurrence. "He's just a child! You're not much older than him, but at least you don't purposely put yourself in harm's way, even if he does it to protect others. It isn't right. He should be focusing on the pretty girls he sees, not on saving the world. He's too young to know what he's missing, and by the time he figures out that out, it'll be too late. He's fifteen, Knuckles! Fifteen!"

"He lost his chance at a normal life a long time ago, Vanilla," Knuckles said softly. "Long before Eggman started attacking. When Sonic was four… His foster parents were killed, and he saw them die. But do you know what he did?"

"He became a hero because of it," Vanilla said quietly, still trying to wrap her mind around Sonic losing his parents at that young an age. Something occurred to her, however, and she looked back up at Knuckles. "Wait… Foster parents?"

Knuckles nodded. "His mother was forced to abandon him. He grew up in Robotropolis. His uncle took him in."

Vanilla couldn't hide her gasp, or her look of horror. She had fled Robotropolis when Julian Robotnik took over, and had a hard time imagining Sonic going up in such a horrible place. "Does anyone else know?"

"No," Knuckles said. "He didn't want them to. But you should know. You need to know why he feels the need to stop Eggman. Contrary to what he says, he's not just doing for the thrill of it."

"Knuckles, when did you met Sonic?" Vanilla asked, her tone clearly demanding the truth.

Knuckles looked down at the Master Emerald, which he held loosely in his hand. "When I was eleven… In a few months, it'll have been five years since we first met."

Vanilla just nodded, but she could see that Knuckles was kidding something. "A year before he met Tails."

"Eighteen months," Knuckles corrected. "I had known him nine months before… An accident occurred. His… Best friends were killed, and he was still grieving when he met the kit. Something about Tails reminded Sonic of them, and even if Tails hadn't been so talented with machines, Sonic would have let him tag along."

Vanilla just looked down at the sleeping hedgehog. There was so much she didn't know about him, and she was only truly realizing how fast Sonic had been forced to grow up. Shadow may give him trouble for being immature at times, but in truth, Sonic was probably just trying to act his age to the best of his abilities.

The soft rev of the Tornado-1 alerted Vanilla and Knuckles to Tails' return, and Knuckles was suddenly quite focused on Sonic. "I'll tell you more later. At this point, I don't really what Sonic thinks of it. You deserve to know."

The engine cut, and the two could hear the door open, somebody muttering the entire way up the stairs.

Shadow came into view, and the annoyed look vanished when he saw Sonic lying horribly still, looking like a ghost. Rouge was behind him, and she let out a faint gasp. Although Sonic and Rouge rarely interacted, they did have a mutual respect for one another.

Shadow snapped out of the short trance he had fallen into, ruby eyes suddenly determined. "Tell me what to do."

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I know, I know, Shadzy would never act like that… But we haven't seen him for a while, so who can really say how much he could have changed in that time. Besides, his attitude here will be explained further later on…

500 points to the first person who can guess who Sonic's 'best friends' were back when he met Knux. And I'll give you a hint… Only one of the TV shows occurred, and none of the games before Sonic Adventure.

For those of you that need a timetable…

-TV Show

-Sonic Adventure

-Sonic Adventure 2

-Sonic Heroes

-Shadow the Hedgehog (true ending)

-Secret Rings

-Black Knight

-Sonic Unleashed

-Sonic Colors

I know, I'm skipping some stuff, and that may change a little, but any changes will be additions, not deletions. And I kinda liked Secret Rings and Black Knight, plus it gives me more to work with… MWUA HA HA HA HA!

REVIEW! IT THE PLOT BUNNY FROM ATTCKING! PLUS I HAVE MORE REASON TO UPDATE!