Finally got around to writing the sequel! For newcomers, you'll probably want to read my story "Any Dark Deed" to get the plot. Otherwise, you might be confused. I'll do a quick summary next chapter for those who don't care too (but not right now for those who don't want a major spoiler).

Anyways, now I'm going to get moving onto this next story. I'm not sure how long it will be…thirty chapters again, I guess. Alright, here we go…

Regular typing: Talking or description

Italic: Thoughts/dreams

Bolded: flashbacks

Bolded and Italic: Author notes, except during flashbacks. In that case, the character is thinking

"November…I'll be back then. Are you ready Sonic? Ready to face me again?"

Sonic pressed his back against the cold stone wall; his ears folded against his head and his legs slightly shaking. Mephiles took another step forward.

"Do you remember what I've done to you? How I've tainted you? How could you forget? After all, it's only been…five months? Still fresh in your mind, eh?" Mephiles chuckled, and Sonic whimpered. His mind was screaming at him to talk back or simply run, but his body wouldn't listen.

Mephiles came right up to Sonic and slowly stroked the blue hedgehog's cheek, "Oh, pretty little hedgehog…don't be so scared. It's not like you don't know what's going to happen – or that you have anything else to really lose." Sonic shut his eyes and tried not to hear that horrible laugh that still haunted him, even though he hadn't heard it a long while…

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic opened his eyes and sat up, panting. It was a cool November night, and the first night in a long while his bedroom window was shut. The hedgehog beside him mumbled something and pulled the covers closer, annoyed that their blue lover and heat source had suddenly disappeared.

The sound caused Sonic to look beside him, and he slowly stroked back the hedgehog's quills. The more time that had passed since what had happened, well, happened – the more often the two hedgehogs ended up in Sonic's bed together. Often enough that Tails teased Sonic that he should install a sound-proof shield around Sonic's room so that the fox wouldn't have to hear the two.

Ok, so they were rarely that loud – but with November arriving, Sonic had been getting more nervous, which meant that he often ended up going to his lover for comfort. Silver and Blaze had both agreed that Mephiles would likely come back around this time, and Sonic had returned home only a week ago – yet the two hedgehogs had made love five times already. It helped calm Sonic down, but now his nightmares were returning…

Sonic shook his head, getting rid of the thoughts. He slowly got out of bed and walked downstairs. Silver had ended up staying with Tails, and Sonic could hear Silver's soft breathing through the slightly open bedroom door. Sonic made sure to walk softly as he made his way past the bedroom and outside.

The crisp autumn air had a slight tinge of winter to it and made Sonic's throat sting when he took a deep breath. The cold wind nipped Sonic's nose as the blue hedgehog ran along; the blood going down to his legs instead of his head, so he no longer had to think about his nightmares.

Everything was a blur when Sonic hit a thousand miles an hour – the stars little white blurs, the crescent moon a bigger white blur, and the trees and rocks black blurs of all different shapes and sizes. There was nothing to focus on out here – nothing except moving and not running into stuff, that is.

Around a half hour later, Sonic came back to Tails' house; it was too cold to stay outside any longer. There was no snow yet – but when it came, he'd be with Tails way more often. His love of the outdoors simply wasn't strong enough to make him stay outside all winter.

"I wondered where you went." Sonic looked up to see another hedgehog in the front doorway with a blanket wrapped around them, "I should have guessed you went for a run."

Sonic smiled and walked up to his lover, "I just needed to get some air." He kissed the other hedgehog on the cheek, "We'd better go inside – we're letting all the cold air in."

Sonic's lover laughed softly, "You're the one who needs to stay warm, not the house." The hedgehog draped part of the blanket over Sonic's shoulders, "Come back to bed with me. I miss you when you're not there."

Sonic snorted, "If only because I'm a heating blanket for you."

"Well, there's that…and you also look cute while you sleep. But mainly it's because I love you."

"Yeah, I know…" Sonic let himself be led back the bedroom and cuddled with under the blankets. It was only two in the morning, but somehow seemed a lot later. While the two hedgehogs snuggled together, Sonic's lover got on top of the blue hero and began to kiss him. Sonic wrapped his arms around his lover's waist and kissed them back. The other hedgehog moaned and began to rub Sonic's chest. Sonic knew his lover expected more – but his mind kept going back to his dream that night. It wasn't long before the other hedgehog realized something wasn't right.

"Something up, Sonic? Usually by now you're up for sex." Sonic's lover sat up and placed their legs on either side of Sonic's waist, "What's wrong?"

Sonic sighed, "Sorry, sweetheart…I just dreamed about Mephiles tonight."

"Oh…" The other hedgehog laid down on Sonic's right side, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not sure…doing so just makes us end up having sex."

"Well, it makes you feel better, right?"

"True, but…he'll be coming soon. I'm just…what if he…"

"Sh, sh…" Sonic's lover kissed him on the lips again, "You're making yourself nervous on purpose, Sonic. Don't panic until Mephiles actually returns."

Sonic snorted, "Isn't that wonderful advice?"

"Alright, alright. But seriously now…what did you dream about? Did Mephiles –"

The blue hedgehog cut the other off, "No, no, nothing too graphic…he was just talking with me again; telling me that he was coming and reminding me…"

Sonic trailed off, and his eyes began to sting. He could feel a dull ache in his chest and backside, and he felt like he was going to throw up. Every time he thought about what Mephiles had done to him in May and June, he always started feeling sick. His therapist said it was a natural reaction to the memories, but still…

"Sonic, don't! No more thinking about that stuff! Come here." Sonic let himself be pulled to his lover's chest, "I know it hurts you, but it's ok. It's over."

"I didn't defeat Mephiles for good," Sonic whispered, "He's still out there…and he can still hurt me."

"No, he can't. You're safe…it's ok now. I love you."

Sonic sighed, "I'm surprised you love me…after all, I was used before you got me."

"You weren't really 'used'. So Mephiles did some crazy shit to take away your virginity – but I got the real deal. If Mephiles had taken the time to really make love to you, he'd have found out you're quite lively in bed – and he'd have been with a real angel."

"Shut up," Sonic replied, and he lightly slapped his lover's shoulder.

The other hedgehog laughed, "It's true! I feel like I'm in heaven with you."

"And you make me feel like an angel every day."

"You're so sweet…" Sonic was pulled closer to his lover and kissed, "But it's late…we should get some sleep. And you have your therapy session tomorrow."

"Oh yeah…I guess I can ask Dr. Nam about the dream."

"Honestly, I don't think it requires a psychiatrist to tell you that you're dreaming about Mephiles because he'll be coming back soon so you're focusing on him."

"You're probably right…still, he can help me get over it…" Sonic rolled over, "It'll be morning soon…'night."

"Goodnight, Sonic."

Sonic closed his eyes, but simply wasn't tired. In a few minutes his lover's breathing became deep and slow, soft under Sonic's rapid breaths.

Sonic rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, "I wonder when Mephiles will come back…maybe tomorrow, two days, a week? I just wish I had an exact date…or that I knew what he was up to. Either one would be nice…well, there's no point in wondering. I'll find out soon enough…"

Despite his best efforts to calm himself down, Sonic tossed and turned until dawn.

XXXXXXXXX

"I should have taken better note of this place before. I have no idea where to set everything up…" Mephiles walked along the top of a cliff, staring down at the forest below. He had been looking for a good two days now, and still wasn't satisfied.

"It's got to be somewhere close so I can keep watch on that blue hedgehog, but far enough away so it stays hidden…" Mephiles stopped in his tracks and kneeled at the edge of the cliff. About halfway down, which was a good two hundred foot drop, part of the cliff jutted out, forming a small shelf. It was the perfect place to start digging.

Mephiles grinned, and then slowly floated down. After inspecting the rock wall, he nodded and began preparations to make himself a base.

XXXXXXXXX

"You're tired this morning…wake up, Sonic!" Tails lightly hit Sonic on the head. Sonic said something muffled and then let his head rest on his arms. Sonic barely slept half the night, and trying to eat breakfast, let alone move, was proving to be a challenge today.

"By the way, there's frost outside. Everything's covered in it," Tails said after about a minute, breaking the silence between the two friends.

"That's nice," Sonic replied sleepily.

"The weather report says it's going to snow tonight."

"Wonderful."

"They say it's going to be nuclear snow and it will kill everything it comes in contact with."

"Fantastic."

"The sun will go out. The world will be plunged into complete darkness. We'll all die a long and terrible death."

"Yippee."

Tails rolled his eyes, "Your lover is planning a secret surprise for you tonight and told me all about it."

"Really?" Sonic looked up at Tails, "What is it?"

"So you were paying attention after all…" Tails turned back to the stove.

Sonic frowned and was about to question the fox further, but Silver walked into the kitchen yawning, "Morning." He looked at Sonic, and then at Tails. "What's with him?" Silver asked, pointing at the blue hedgehog.

"Tired," Sonic mumbled, staring at a glass of milk in front of him. He lay down on his arms again.

"Why so sleepy? I thought sex didn't tire you out this much," Silver said, placing a slice of bread in the toaster, "By the way, where is your lover?"

Sonic moaned and sat up, "Stop teasing me! And my lover," Sonic glared at Silver with bloodshot eyes, "Left early this morning. I was asleep, so I don't know why."

"You were asleep? You look like you were up for days," Silver replied, sitting across from the blue hedgehog.

Sonic sighed, "Nightmares. They're coming back…" Sonic finally managed to eat a bite of cereal, "Kept me up all night."

Tails turned around and looked at Sonic, "I thought you stopped dreaming about…well…"

"It's not about that…it's just Mephiles mocking me. That guy still freaks me out." Sonic shivered, "Just thinking about him makes me feel sick."

"So stop thinking about him! You're not helping yourself here." Tails joined the two hedgehogs at the table, "Your appointment isn't until three. You've got the whole morning to distract yourself."

"Cool…maybe then I can catch up on my sleep." Sonic yawned and closed his eyes.

"Shall I carry you over to the couch?" Silver asked.

"Maybe…" Sonic mumbled, his head falling forward onto the table and narrowly missing landing in his breakfast.

Silver and Tails exchanged glances. "Um, maybe you should go back to bed now…" Tails said slowly, staring at Sonic.

The blue hedgehog gave Tails a thumbs-up before letting his hand drop back to his side.

Silver sighed and whispered softly so only Tails could hear, "We'd better hope that Mephiles doesn't come today. Sonic isn't going to be any help right now."

"No kidding…" Tails looked over at Sonic, and shook his head when he realized the blue hero was now fast asleep.

I'm going to end it right here, for now. For those who are wondering why I never said who Sonic's lover is – well, it's either Amy or Shadow. I'll reveal it at some point…