Sonic Shadow and Tails sat quietly at the GUN agent's kitchen. It wasn't by choice and no one was happy about it, but with the rain beating down like lead bullets, the mobians took any shelter they could find. Sonic and Tails were lost in thought , surprising the half alien. The silence wasn't deafening, but Shadow wanted to break it. As Tails was slowly drifting to sleep , resting his head on Sonic's thigh, Shadow spoke in a whisper;

"You too seem close." It was an accurate statement. Sonic jumped at the sudden voice. When he recovered from the shock, Sonic let out a chuckle and looked down at the sleeping fox.

"Yeah, that's a major understatement" Sonic looked up at his comrade. "He's my little brother. He went through hell before he met me, and-" Sonic mutered but was interrupted bya knock on shadow's door. Tails flinched slightly in his sleep. Sonic was soothing the fox back into peaceful slumber, Shadow answered the door. Into the main living room , near the couch the hedgehog and fox were resting on, walked in a white bat with dark gray wings. Rouge was notb wearing hr usual skintight suit, but was wearing gray sweatpants and a black tanktop. her blue eyes surveyed the scene between the brothers. The thief smiled and looked at Her best friend. Shadow looked back at Rouge and had a wistful look in his eyes, though his face was nuetral.

"Hey Big Blue, long time no see." Rouge whispered so she wouldn't wake Tails. Sonic looked at her and smiled .

"Hey, what brings you around?' Sonic asked.

"Power went out at my place. So I figured that Grumnps here would let me stay." Rouge said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Shadow frowned at the 'grumps' comment. Lightning flashed. Sonic quietly counted until the thunder shook the house. Tails flinched and snuggled closer to Sonic, shaking as he did so.

"Poor little guy. I can't imagine what he dreaming,." Rouge said as she scratched behind Tails' ears.

"I can." Sonic said with all his typical mirth gone from his face.

This piped Shadow's intrest. "What do you mean?" he questioned.

"Well..."

Flashback A.K.A What Sonic is Telling Rouge and Shadow:

Tears streamed down Miles Prower's face as he ran in the thunderstorm. His parents were dead. Killed for giving birth to a two tailed fox. Miles was only three years old and he had to take care of himself. He found an overhang that had holes in it, but it was better than nothing. The kit ran under it . Dispite his fear, Miles fell asleep.

He woke up to a kick to his face. His eyes bulged out of his head at the wind being knocked out of him. When he looked up at the assailant, he saw a panther glaring at him with a baseball bat in his hands and a sneer on his face. Miles felt tears building in his eyes.

"Well look who decided to show his ugly face. I thought I told you to beat it, you freak." The panther said in a threatening tone.

"You only said to not be near you. I was 'ere all night; therefore you tracked me down." Miles said fully aware of what will happen next. The panther's face contorted in rage and hit him with the bat.

In Shadow's House:

Tails flinched when the torrmentor was mentioned, as if he was listening to what Sonic was saying. Rouge was looking at Sonic in pure disbelief and Shadow had no facial expression, with the exception of pure rage in his eyes.

Rouge was the first to speak,"Why would anyone do that to a kid?" She was too shocked to speak above a whisper. Her ears were bent back in sadness.

"I don't know. We, tails and I, never went back to West Island, and I don't care to much to." Sonic said with fury that Rouge and Shdow just noticed was deeply embedded into who Sonic was.

"...I bet me 'n Shadow can find the bastard." Rouge's tone left no room for argument.

"His name was Rory." A new female voice entered the conversation.

"And don't worry, I took care of that dirty coward." A deep masculine voice finished for her.

"Amy. Knuckles. Why are you here? How did-" Sonic stuttered.

"Magic. My sweet hero." Amy said sweetly.

"Hey why are you telling that story? " Knuckles demanded.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna finish it." Sonic muttered.

Story\Flashback :

Miles felt the pain of the bat beating against him for what felt like hours. He could picture what the bruises would look like but not a way out. Never a way out.

"What's the matter freak? You about ta cry for mamma." Rory laughed at the whimpering kit. His words were hitting Miles harder than the bat was. Finally the brute grew tired of beating on him and left, leaving a shaking Miles in his wake. It felt like he was laying there for hours inn pain. When he looked at the sky, he noticed that the clouds were covering the sky again. Then it started to pour down rain. Miles couldn't help but notice the runoff was turning a dull red color. He realized that he needed medical help. He struggled to stand up and limped to a nearby clinic.

When he stepped in, many heads turned to look at him, one of them being a blue hedgehog.

Shadow's house:

"Wait you two meet in a clinic?!" Knuckles shouted suddenly, making everybody jump.

"Yes and no. That's when I first saw him, but we officially met when I saw him being beaten half to death." Sonic said as he stroked Tails' head moving sweaty bangs out of his face. Tails leaned into the touch.

"Can you skip to that part?" Knuckles asked. Amy smacked him.

Sonic raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "So you want to skip to the part where I step in and be the hero, huh? Well I can't blame you. So the clinic treats his wounds and I can't find him for a couple days."

"Exactly how many days?" Shadow asked.

"Two days." Sonic answered as he looked at Tails sadly. "And when I found him..."

Flashback/Story

Miles was surounded by bullies. The fear forceing tears to form in his eyes. Rory was with his friends; Jimmy, a racoon, and Paulie, a badger. The bat was absent . What they were using was a little more brutal. They were using their own fist. When the first punch landed, Miles felt something crack. when he recoiled from the pain, the trio started to kick the kit all over. The brutal display went on for a few minutes until Miles fell unconcious. When they had done they had wanted to do, they left.

Sonic looked in every alley. He grew more worried by the minute. The second day of searching was al in vain. Sonic was about to give up when he saw the last alley , which was cover in shadows' It was the purfect place to hide. Sonic slowly walked into the alley, not knowing what he would find.

Shadow's House:

The group grew deathly quiet by now. Tears flowed softly from Amy's eyes and Rouge's eye's were watering. Sonic and Shadow locked eyes. Shadow's eyes showed an emotion that he had not felt since Mari had died. Sonic had a look of regret on his face. Even six years later, the thought of him being just a little faster. After a few minutes, Shadow shattered the silence.

"Amy, how exactly did you get into my house? you just apeared here." Shadow said in a quiet voice breaking eye contact and whippng his head toward the pink hedgehog.

"I just need to know who I'm after. I don't need a name, just that the person exsist and I have a spell to transport me and at least three other people to where the person is. Me and Knuckles went lookling for you and we thought that you were caught in the storm so looking for you would be alot easier, and that's how we got here." Amy said, avoiding eye contact with Shadow.

"...Can you show me how to do that?" Shadow asked bluntly.

"Why? You can already teliport." Amy questioned.

"I want to know that I'm beating up the right people." Shadow said in a way that ended the conversation.

"...Finish the story, please. " Rouge asked, mentally making a note to make Shadow bring her along.

"Right. so after I go into the dark alley..."

Flashback/Story

Miles woke up on cold asphalt. Nothing he wasn't used to, but he couldn't help but feel like that something was different. When he tried to lift his head, he felt pain shoot out from his neck. He whimpered at the pain.

"Careful kid , you have a broken colorbone. You really shouldn't move." A white gloved hand shoved itself under Miles' head and gently placed it on the ground. "You look like hell kid, but I can help you." The voice continued. Miles could now see the owner for the voice. It was a blue hedghog with a smile, not a harsh one; a comforting one. Miles wanted t be trusting of the stranger, but no one showed him comfort since he could walk.

"Why would you help me? I'm a freak." Miles asked with a bitter twang in his voice.

"Now who told you that?" Sonic asked waiting to see how bad the situation was for the poor kid. Now clouds were forming over head and it looks like rain would fall soon.

"The three that was just here, the normal kids-" Miles was answereing but was inturropted by Sonic.

"Why do they call you a freak?" Sonic asked ignoring the tails that began to sway left and right .

Shadow's house:

"I've noiced that he swished his tails when he got frustrated with something." Knuckles said out of nowhere, suprising alot of people, mostly because he noticed something, but because of the mood of the story, no one said anything sarcastic. Notnhing except for looks. Knuckles blushed at the looks and muttered, "...continue..."

Flashback/Story

"My two tails aren't excatly 'normal'. Most people only have one." Miles explained as Sonic was prepared to snap the bone back in place. Sonic gave Miles his gloves to bite down on. Miles did so without a second thought. Sonic snapped the bone back into place. When Miles calmed down, Sonic removed the glove.

"What's the name kid?" Sonic asked as he helped Miles into a sitting upright position, exposing the tails even more. Miles sighed and aswered.

"Miles Prower." Miles flinched at Sonic's chuckle.

"That would suit me a bit better." Both boys started to laugh as the rain started to pour down.

Shadow's House:

"I can't believe you said that." Shadow muttered.

"Hey, had to keep his mind off what had happened before I had arrived." Sonic defended.

"I didn't say that wasn't the case, but you went for the easiest pun." Shadow replied, still pissed off about what the bullies did to Tails. "...Why do I feel that there's more to this?..." He eventually asked.

"Because there is a little bit more."Sonic said with a fond smile on his face .

Flashback/Story:

Sonic and Miles finally sobered.

"Well what do you suggest then?" Miles asked. Sonic looked at Miles up and down for a long time. Finally Sonic acknowledged the tails than were pressed against the small child.

"Tails." Sonic said as he looked at the child's eyes. Miles raised an eyebrow at the name.

"...Fine by me. Just... don't call me 'Miles'" The newly-renamed Tails asked slowly. "And since you want to help me , can we get some food?"

"You like chillidogs?" Sonic asked with a giant grin on his face. Tails creaked his head to the side, idicating he had no idea what Sonic was talking about. "Don't worry you'll love 'em Tails!" Sonic said as he picked up Tails and sped off.

Shadow's House:

"Well what happened next ?" Knuckles asked.

"I made sure he was fed, then took him to a doctor who took care of the broken collerbone' and we've stood by each other ever since." Sonic asnwered. Tails rolled over in his sleep. Everyone smiled at how things turned out . There was more than what meets the eye when it concerns Tails.

A Few Weeks Later in G.U.N. Hedquarters:

Shadow and Rouge were called into the comander's office.

"Three civilians were hospitalized on West Island ." The comander lectured. "A witness to the assult that put them there put you two at the scene of the crime."

"So why are you telling us this?" Shadow interjected.

"...Next time don't get caught..." The comander said as he flinched away from Shadow's glare.