"How much of what you said is true?" Dr. Osaka asked interrupting his thoughts.

"All of it," Sonic said. "This wouldn't have been a good time to lie to her. She has this weird ability when she's sad and angry to read right through them."

"Then you should know something," Dr. Osaka offered. "That name is nothing but a childhood fantasy to him. His real name is Daryl and he is a far more dangerous opponent than Robotnik could ever hope to be."

"I can believe that," Sonic said with a pained groan. "But why would Robotnik have used all the force against him? Couldn't you have teamed up with him to stop the coup?"

"Deep down Daryl wanted to try and save his father whereas I would rather have killed him," Dr. Osaka said quietly, his own eyes growing hollow and haunted. It took Sonic a few moments to comprehend what the doctor meant. He stared at the lynx in disbelief once he understood what had been said. "Now, you need to get your sleep. And do not mention this to Sally. It will only cause her more worrying, something she does not need right now."

"Got it. Not a word," Sonic promised yawning. "If you don't mind I'm gonna-" With a jolt Sonic remembered the plans that Uncle Chuck had given him. "Doc, you gotta get Sally for me!" he said. "I have some mondo important stuff for her." Dr. Osaka nodded and walked outside. In a couple minutes he returned with Sally in tow. She had a slightly confused look on her face. "In my bag is a computer disk Uncle Chuck gave me," he told her.

She fished around in the bag and threw out an old chili dog before finding said disk. "What's on this?" she asked him.

"They're the latest specs Uncle Chuck got from Buttnik," he answered. "He mentioned the plans for the AI program the new SWATbots are using as well as something to do with sound waves. Apparently Snively is taking charge of this new toy."

A look of relief spread across Sally's face. "Thank you so much, Sonic!" she exclaimed kissing him on the cheek. "I'll get Nicole working on these right away."

Sonic smiled glad that his part was done now. "No prob," he said with a slight blush. "Now, I'm going to finish what I was doing before I remembered that disk."

He closed his eyes and was almost instantly asleep. Sally smiled and Dr. Osaka sighed. It was about time the boy was asleep. He would need as much as possible to recover quickly. So absorbed in thought was he that he didn't even notice Sally kiss Sonic's forehead and stroke his quills lightly. Sonic smiled a little and gave a deep sigh. Dr. Osaka was pulled from his thoughts when Sally latched onto his neck without warning.

"Thank you for everything," she said. "We would've lost him if it hadn't been for your quick work."

"Just doing my part," Dr. Osaka said. "That and I have a promise to keep to Sir Charles to watch after the little scamp."

Sally let go and went back outside to continue her rounds. Dr. Osaka sat down and picked up his book to continue reading. He frowned trying to find where he had been before all this had started. At least it had made his day more interesting. The news of Daryl's possible reappearance was disturbing but he would worry about that once Sonic regained his strength.

The next few days were relatively uneventful. Sally and Bunnie kept tabs on Sonic's recovery much to the hedgehog's chagrin. By the fourth day Sonic had been able to move around with relative ease but didn't want to try running quite yet. Sally kept him informed of the goings-on of the village and bringing him chili dogs every so often. Her excuse had been that Dr. Osaka had taken a liking to them but was a terrible cook. At the very least the last part was true. By the sixth day Sonic had removed the last of his bandages and stood in front of Dr. Osaka completely healed. Dr. Osaka gave him a clean bill of health and Sally and Bunnie both approved. That night Sonic quietly snuck off into the woods to "return" from his recon assignment. The entirety of the village welcomed him back enthusiastically glad their hero had returned safely. Sonic gave Sally his "report" which was simply old information that had been deemed unimportant before and was still now.

The next afternoon Sonic was sprawled out on the grass outside the power ring pool soaking in the sun's rays. It felt good to be outside rather than in a bed wrapped up like a mummy. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A bundle of fur landing on his stomach forced the breath out and Sonic sat up winded. The familiar sight of two tails told him who it was.

"Sonic!" Tails said hugging his idol. "When did you get back? I missed you."

Sonic laughed and hugged the little orange fox back. "Last night," he answered. "And I missed you too, bro." With that he mussed up Tails' hair. This caused him to jump away and fix it quickly.

"Sonic! You know I hate it when you do that!" Sonic and Tails both laughed and Tails lied down next to him. "So what was your mission like?" he asked curiously.

"Eh, boring as usual," Sonic replied with a shrug. "Trust me, when you're old enough to go on missions you'll learn that recon jobs outside of Robotropolis are really boring."

"I wish I could do even that," Tails said moping. "Aunt Sally won't let me do anything."

"It's cuz she's worried about you kid," Sonic replied. "It's not that we're worried about you getting hurt. In fact, you're more prepared than the rest of us to escape a dangerous situation. Sal just wants to make sure that you have the proper training and experience before you take anything like that on."

Tails didn't say anything. He knew Sonic was right but he still didn't like it. It was right at that moment Bunnie stood over the two of them and shook her head.

"Why did Ah know I'd find you two here?" she asked. "Y'all know that Antoine is looking for you sugarhog. Something about a quick run to Cherrywood to answer a distress call."

Sonic rolled back and sprung to his feet. He stretched out and turned to face Bunnie.

"Alright, alright," he said shaking his head as Tails got up. "I'll go find him and we'll head out. Knowing those jerks it's probably some stupid prank again."

"Can I come Sonic?" Tails begged looking up at him.

Sonic sighed and looked at Bunnie who just shrugged. "It's Sally-girl's call," she said simply.

"You heard her bro," Sonic said smiling. "Let's juice it loose!" He revved up and took up with Tails following close behind.

Bunnie shook her head, trying to remember a time when the two of them weren't like brothers. Sonic and Tails sped off towards Sally's hut, stopping by to pick up Antoine who was trying to figure out what had just happened. A couple knocks later Sally answered the door with the three of them standing in front.

"Please?" Tails begged her before anything else was said. Sonic just started chuckling while Antoine and Sally both had on confused expressions. Sally caught on first as to what Tails wanted and shook her head.

"I'm sorry Tails but you can't go," she said sternly causing the fox to pout. "If it was anything but a distress call-"

"And what makes you think this on will be any different than the last dozen we got from them?" Sonic pointed out coming to Tails' defense. "Besides, if it is a SWATbutt attack we'll need all the help we can get. With Ant and I there he'll be fine."

Sally closed her eyes and sighed. While Sonic was right it wasn't Tails she was so worried about. Sonic had just recovered and was heading out again. Even with Dr. Osaka's word she had wanted Sonic to stay in Knothole for a little while so he could regain all his strength. On the other hand he wasn't alone this time. Add to it that pretty much everyone knew that she wanted Tails to start gaining some field experience. She knew between Sonic and Tails she would never win this fight.

"Alright," she said finally, "he can go with you two. But there had better not be a scratch on him when you get back or I'll do to you what the SWATbots would have."

"Do not be worrying, Prinzess," Antoine said saluting. "We shall do our bests to ensure ze young Tails' safe peeping."

"Keeping Ant. Safekeeping," Sonic said holding his temples as Sally and Tails blushed slightly. He then proceeded to throw Antoine over his shoulder, much to the other's protest, and sped off to the west with Tails taking to the sky. Sally watched them leave unable to make the knot in her stomach go away. She closed her door and went over to her sink. She turned on the water and splashed water on her face. She looked in the mirror, worry written all over her face. She hoped everything would be okay.