Hey there! JAF here! This is the first chapter of Fighting the Past: Tails' Secret Life! Yes! Here we go! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for the plot. Thank you.

Chapter One: Nightmare Lane

It was dark… so very dark… and cold.

Where am I? What am I doing here? Why am I here? Who am I?

The thoughts raced through the young kit's head. He knew the answers to the first three questions. He was in a dark place, a cell most likely. What was he doing here? He was there because of the strange man. That answered the third question as well.

And the fourth? Who was he? He was nothing, just like the strange man said… The tiny kit shivered. How long had it been since he'd come back to the dark place? A few hours probably, though it felt like days.

There was a crash of thunder and lightning flickered across the darkness above. The kit jumped, yelping as the sky rolled and crashed, threatening to crush him. Was he outside? No, if he was, then he would feel the wind in his fur and rain on his face.

Footsteps.

The kit whimpered. Why couldn't the man just leave him alone? Why did he always come and poke him with needles and run wires through him?

"Hello my friend," the dark man's voice echoed around the shivering child. Why call him his friend? They weren't! Above the sky thundered again, and the lightning flashed once more, seemingly closer then before.

Again the tiny creature whimpered. The dark shape of the man came closer… grew larger…

Miles "Tails" Prower leaped out of his bed, a shriek of pure terror cutting through the air like the lightning he feared. The young fox dived under his bed, shaking like a leaf. With tears in his eyes, and the dark edges of the strange dream lingering in his mind. What was it about?

Footsteps. Footsteps running towards him. Fast.

Sonic was just down the stairs, drinking coffee at the counter, two plates sat on the table. He glanced at the clock. Where was Tails? The fox was usually up by this time…

Then the shriek pierced the air.

The sound was so sudden, it caught the blue hedgehog off guard. The blue hero fell over, coffee flying into the air and splattering onto the wall.

"Tails!" Sonic said, green eyes widening as he pushed himself up. Heart pounding in his chest, Sonic raced up the stairs to his little brother's room. What could make Tails scream like that? There wasn't a cloud in the sky, no chance for a storm…

Without a second thought, the hedgehog ran through the door, and looked frantically around the room. Nothing was out of place other then the tossed aside bedding. But where was Tails?

He felt like he was a young kit again, alone and scared of everything.

And everyone.

The young fox kit shivered, curling into a tight ball of fur under the twin sized bed. Behind him the door swung open and the footsteps from before echoed in the kit's sensitive ears as the owner of the feet ran into the room.

"Tails? Tails you here buddy?" a voice asked. The kit shifted around, trying to make as little noise as possible. Who was that? Why did he sound familiar?

Moreover, where was he?

There was a scuffling sound from under the bed. Sonic pricked his ears slightly before kneeling down to look under the bed.

Crouched under the bed like a trapped wild animal, with his blue eyes wide and frightened, was Tails.

"Hey pal," Sonic said gently. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling that it would be a good idea to speak softly, and not scare the kit. But what had scared him so bad?

Sonic winced as his younger brother flinched away from his voice, his eyes showing no sign of recognition that he knew who Sonic was. "Tails? Its okay, I'm not going to hurt you," he soothed, keeping eye contact with the scared kit.

Slowly the light of fear left Tails' eyes. The yellow twin tailed fox blinked sky blue eyes, his shudders fading, and his body un-tensed.

"Sonic?" Tails asked, slowly crawling out from under his bed. His older brother smiled in reassurance, while on the inside he was thanking Chaos that whatever had happened had passed.

For now at least.

"You want to tell me what happened?"

Tails looked up at his brother curiously as he picked up a piece of toast. What was he talking about? Oh, right. Quickly the fox looked down, turning his head away from Sonic.

"Uhh," Tails said, hoping he didn't have to answer. But knowing Sonic, that wasn't a possibility.

"Come on Tails, I know you well enough to know that something's wrong. Really wrong. What's up?" Sonic said, walking around the table to look Tails in the eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it. Please?" Tails asked. His ears laid back, flat against his head; his twin tails rested against the floor, twitching slightly in what might have been discomfort or lingering fear; and he lowered his eyes.

Seeing the clear submissive behavior, Sonic nearly felt his heart break. Ever since finding Tails six years ago, he'd sworn never to hurt his brother, and to keep him from harm.

But how do you protect someone who doesn't tell you how to help?

Man, that's something. To tell the truth, even I wasn't really expectin' this, and I wrote it! And I have a feeling that this will soon be trumped by something else… -JAF logging out!