Author's Note: Just a warning this is a looong chapter, but a good one. It'll answer some of your questions you left in your reviews. Sorry for the wait! Enjoy guys!

•~•

Flashback: One-Year Ago

Jaha, Silver, Amy and another adult male hedgehog sat on the couch watching old reruns of a soccer match. Silver and Amy sat on the couch besides each other cheering on their teams, while Jaha and a red hedgehog stood behind the couch and watched.

"There we go. There we go!" Jaha said excitedly while he watched the match.

Amy sat with her knees up to her chest as she held her breath. Her team was getting close to shooting a goal. Silver smiled and sat on the edge of his seat. "Here it comes, the momentum change," Silver said, as his team got closer to overtaking Amy's.

"Serve it up!" Amy shouted at the TV.

"Oh!" the red hedgehog shouted happily behind her. "Goal!" he cheered. The red hedgehog turned to Amy. "Right here!" he put his hand up and Amy high-fived him as they laughed. Silver and Jaha looked at each other disappointed, as their team had lost the game. "Ugh."

The door opened up and Abby walked in. "What'd I miss?"

"Your husband and daughter being obnoxious," Jaha said jokingly.

"Play nice," Abby said shooting a smile to her family's way. Abby walked up behind her husband and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hey."

He smiled and turned his head to her. "Hey, yourself," he smiled back.

"So, I ran into Bennett when I was leaving the clinic and he has that system analysis that you asked for," she whispered. Her husband got a distant look in his eyes as he processed the information. He looked down at his watch before he walked off. Abby looked surprised. "You're going now?"

"Eh, just for a few minutes." He leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

Jaha looked over to the couple. "Everything, okay?"

Amy's father headed for the door. "Oh, yeah, you know. This old boat, it's always something."

End Flashback: Present Day

Amy sat besides Tails in the drop ship. She held his wrist with one hand, and with the other she kept track of Tail's pulse by looking at her father's watch. "His pulse is 380."

Tails moans in pain. "Oooh."

"Go back to sleep!" someone shouted from the bottom level of the drop ship.

"Yeah, quiet!" another person complained.

Amy kneeled closer to Tails while stroking the side of his face. "Don't listen to them, you're going to make it through this, okay?" Amy got up. "Keep an eye on him," she said looking at Mighty sitting in the corner. He nodded.

Amy walked out of the drop ship and heard a young girl scream. It was still dark out. "No!" Curious as to what was going on, she started heading towards the cries. A young cream-colored rabbit lays under a tree tossing and turning, while she talks in her sleep. "No, no!"

Amy kneeled down besides her. "Hey, wake up. It's okay." The rabbit awoke quickly from her touch and looked around. She was just dreaming. "You're, Cream, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, who are you?"

"I'm Amy."

Cream pulled her knees up to her chest, and stayed quiet. Amy sat down next to her. "You know it's okay to be scared. Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's my parents," she muttered. "They were floated and I see them in my dreams."

Amy put a hand on her shoulder. "I understand. My dad was floated too." There was a moment of silence between them. "So, how'd you end up here?"

"My parent's were taking things. Well, actually we were taking things," she corrected. "My parent's were caught and I was caught assaulting a guard, when I tried to stop them from taking my parents away."

"I can't say I blame you," Amy replied. She looked to the sky. "See that bright star up there," she pointed. Cream looked up to where she was pointing. "That's the ark orbiting above us. I think whatever happened up there, you know the pain? Maybe we can move past that now."

"You're right, Amy. This is like our second chance." Cream rested her head on Amy's shoulder. Amy smiled down at the rabbit.

•~•

The next morning Scourge and Shadow were doing target practice with knives. Scourge threw a knife at a tree but the knife missed the tree and flew past it. Scourge growled in frustration from the moaning coming from the drop ship from Tails. It was distracting him from his practice.

"It's that damn kid, always messing with my head," he groaned.

Shadow held up his knife preparing to throw it. "He's not going to last much longer. Better think of an excuse." He chucked his knife with force and it flew through the air and plowed into he side of the tree. "That's how it's done."

Drago came through some bushes towards the two hedgehogs. "Look, Shadow. People are scared, and that dying kid is not helping morale around here."

"Morale will go up when I find them more food," Shadow replied. "We need to go hunting. Scourge stay here and keep watch. I'll take some of the boys and head out."

The boys nodded and left the section. Cream walked over and saw Scourge's knife lying on the floor. She picked it up and put it in her pocket.

•~•

Amy was back in the drop ship tending to Tails' bandages. She changed them and put on a fresh pair. Tails moaned and groaned in pain while she changed them out. "The grounders cauterized the wound. It saved his life," she said making an observation.

"Yeah, so they could string him up for live bait," Sonic noted.

Amy looked over to Mighty. "Any progress on using the wristbands to contact the ark?"

"That would be a firm no. Tails is more of the tech guy around here. I only know a little about this stuff."

Amy sighed and looked back to Tails. She didn't know how well her treatment was doing for the young fox. "My mother would know what to do."

Silver came up to the second floor from the ladder. "How's he doing?"

"How does it look like he's doing?" she retorted in annoyance.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help," he said in defense.

"No bother in trying. The kid's a goner," another voice said from the ladder shoot. Shadow climbed up and approached the group. "He's been like this for three days now. We need to put him out of his pathetic misery."

"No, he's going to get better," Amy, said stepping in front of him. "Please just give me a few more days," she begged.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "You have till tomorrow. If he's not better I'm ending it."

Flashback: One-Year Ago

Abby looked out her window in her cabin. The door opened and her husband walked in. He plopped down on a seat at his desk. He exhaled a deep sigh and placed his hand to his face.

"How'd it go, hun?" she asked.

"I told Jaha it's definitive. The ark's got a year of oxygen left, maybe two," he hypothesized.

Abby sat down besides him. "You'll fix it."

He closed his eyes. "Not this time…" He turned to look at her. "I've tried, Abby. This isn't a glitch. It's a system failure." Abby looked at her husband stunned and remained quiet. "People need to know," he stated simply.

"No. They'll panic," she interjected.

He shook his head and laughed slightly. "You sound like Kane."

"Because he's right," she argued.

He stood up from his seat. "No. We can't avoid the truth. We have to let everyone on the ark put their minds to a solution."

"What, and risk anarchy?" she interrupted. "It's too dangerous." She held his face in her hands. "Promise me that you'll obey the council's orders -that you'll keep quiet."

He pulled her hands away from his face and looked down. "I can't." He walked into his bedroom.

Abby watched him walk away from her. "For Amy. Do it for Amy."

He smiled at her. "I am doing this for Amy."

In the other room Amy leaned against the wall as she listened in on her parent's conversation. She couldn't believe the secret she had overheard.

"They'll float you, Jake," Abby said feeling tears come to her eyes. "If you do this, I won't be able to stop it."

End Flashback: Present Day

Amy sat down on the floor outside the drop ship. She had one of the makeshift bandages that the grounders had used on Tails. It consisted of a large leaf with some purple substance used as glue. She saw a pair of legs approach her and looked up when she realized it was Sonic. "You're mad?" he asked.

"I'm not mad. You want to think Tails is a lost cause, go ahead," she said looking back to the leaf in her hands. "But you're wrong."

"I hope I am," he muttered.

Silver walked up to the two when he overheard their conversation. Amy held out the leaf to Sonic. "Whatever this stuff is, it has to have had antibiotic properties." Sonic kneeled down by her side to examine it.

"Let me see," Silver said from behind them. Both Amy and Sonic looked up at him. Amy grimaced as the silver hedgehog approached. He could see she wanted nothing to do with him.

"Before you get mad at me, remember who aced botany in Mobius skills," he said kneeling by her other side. He took the leaf from her hand and looked at it.

"The grounders used it s a poultice. I'm thinking a tea might be even more effective if we can figure out what it is," Amy concluded.

Silver rubbed the substance between his fingers. "I know what it is. Seaweed."

"There must be a water source nearby," she said.

"Yeah, it would have to have a slow current, lots of rocks. The water would probably be more red than green," Silver explained.

Sonic beamed and snapped his fingers. "I know just the place."

Amy stood to her feet. "Let's go." Sonic and Amy walked off and Silver watched the two walk off. "Hey, I know what this stuff looks like. Do you?"

Amy sighed in defeat. "Fine, you can come."

•~•

Silver, Sonic and Amy walked through the woods together. "You know, you should really rethink about hating me," Silver suggested. "It's not just the grounders, we're surrounded by criminals." He climbed up a hill besides her. "We need each other. We're going to be friends again."

Amy walked a head of him. "You got my dad killed. Not possible." Amy quickened her pace leaving Sonic and Silver in the back.

"I'd let it go," Sonic whispered to Silver.

"I've known Amy her whole life. Better than you ever will, so, I'll decide when to let it go," he replied.

Sonic cracked a grin. "Yeah, I can tell you guys are so close." Sonic's foot hit something metal under the dirt. He stopped and pounded his foot on it again.

Amy stopped when she heard the sound. "What is it?"

Sonic knelt down and rubbed some of the dirt and moss away to reveal a car door. He pried it open and looked inside. "It's a automobile," he smiled.

"Come on, guys. This thing's been here 100 years. It can wait, Tails can't," she said before walking off again.

•~•

In another part of the forest Shadow hunted a boar from behind some bushes along with Drago and a few other boys. He heard a branch crack from behind him and feared it was a grounder. He quickly spun around and threw his axe hitting a tree next to Cream.

The pig ran off and some of the other boys chased after it. "Get it!"

Shadow walked over to retrieve his axe when he came up to Cream. "Who the hell are you?"

She blinked a few times looking up at him. "Cream."

He plucked his axe from the tree. "I almost killed you. Why aren't you back at camp?"

"That guy who's dying? I couldn't listen to it anymore," she said shyly.

Drago came up behind Shadow. "There's grounders out here. It's too dangerous for a little girl."

She frowned. "I'm not little."

Shadow smirked. "Okay, then." He pulled out something from his pocket. "But you can't hunt without a weapon." He handed her a dagger and she took it from him. "Ever killed something before?" She shook her head. He smiled. "Who knows? Maybe you're good at it." He nodded his head signaling for her to follow them.

•~•

Amy, Sonic and Silver came to a shallow river with loads of rocks. "So what does this seaweed look like?" Amy asked as they stood at the edge of the water.

Silver pointed to some red stuff floating at the top of the water. "Like that."

Amy walked over to the edge and grabbed a chunk of the seaweed. As she walked back onto the shore, everyone turned when they heard birds squawking getting louder. They looked to the sky and a flock of birds flew straight towards them as a giant cloud of green gas crept up from behind the trees. Amy put the seaweed into Sonic's backpack.

"Let's get out of here," Silver said feeling uncomfortable.

An ominous horn trumpet echoed through the hills and forest. None of them had ever heard that sound before. Amy looked to Sonic trying to determine the cause of sound. "Grounders?"

"It could be a war cry or a warning," Silver deduced. The giant wave of green smoke started heading towards them.

"What the hell is that?" Sonic asked while backing up.

Amy backed up before making a sprint. "Run!"

Flashback: One-Year Ago

Amy sat in the game room with Silver as they played chess. Other people sat at other tables playing board games. Amy looked at the floor distantly after hearing the shocking news her father had discovered.

"Amy," Silver said staring at her distant eyes. He leaned closer to her, thinking she didn't hear him. "You're up." She continued to look away in a daydream state, and Silver reached over and touched her arm. "Amy."

She shook her head coming out of her daze. "Sorry…" She moved a piece on her side and sighed.

Silver watched her move and chuckled. "If your strategy is to lose really fast, that was a great move," he said before taking one of her pieces. "What's going on?" He noticed she wasn't quite herself today.

"Nothing," she lied.

He leaned closer and stared into her eyes. "You can talk to me," he whispered.

She took a deep breath. Silver was her best friend. She knew she could confide in him, and she just had to get this off her chest. She leaned closer so only he could hear. "My dad found a problem with the oxygen system. I'm not supposed to know."

"They've had other malfunctions. They always figure out a way to deal with it," he whispered back not thinking much of it.

She shook her head. "No. This one might not be fixable." Silver remained quiet not having an answer to respond with. "The council doesn't want anyone to know."

"The council meaning, my dad?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, and my mom and the others. I think he's going to go public anyway."

Silver looked at her seriously. "Amy, he can't. He'll get floated."

"I know…" She closed her eyes. "But what if he's right? Don't people deserve to know the truth?" Silver stayed quiet. He did slightly agree with her but he didn't really want a panic to start because of it. Amy could see he was conflicted with the information she had just given him. "You can't tell anyone," she begged.

He nodded. "Your secret's safe with me." He put his hand on top of hers. "I promise."

End Flashback: Present Day

"Amy, run!" Sonic shouted, as the gas was right on their heels. Sonic had managed to lead everyone back to the automobile he found buried under the ground. He pried open the door allowing Amy inside first. Amy and Silver jumped in and coughed after breathing in some of the gas. Sonic hopped in behind them and sealed the door shut from the inside.

•~•

In the other parts of the forest, Shadow and his guys ran away from the poisonous gas as well. They could hear the trumpet echoing through the woods as well. "Come on they're caves this way!" he shouted.

Cream ran closely behind Shadow as the gas was closing in on them. Shadow saw Cream was falling behind and quickly ran back. He picked her up in his arms and continued running. Shadow ducked into a nearby cave with some others. They went as far back as they could to avoid the toxic gas.

•~•

Back at camp everyone outside herded inside the drop ship. Mighty and Rouge were looking after Tails when everyone started rushing inside. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Air got thick, everybody's skin started burning," a green hawk explained.

Rouge looked frightened. "Mighty, my brother's out there!"

"He'll be fine," he said trying to ease her worry.

•~•

In the automobile Sonic was nosing around when he found the glove compartment. He opened it and found a bottle of alcohol.

Silver looked at the bottle in his hands. "Is that-"

"-Booze?" Sonic finished. "Yep."

He sat down besides Amy and cracked it open. He brought it to his lips and started drinking it.

"Careful, Sonic. It could be-"

"-Whiskey?" he said making a face from its potency. Sonic held his arm out with the bottle for Silver to try.

Silver looked at it like he was nuts. "Alcohol's toxic."

"It's Mobius. Everything's toxic," he quipped.

Amy grabbed the bottle out of Sonic's hands. "Let me try." She took a big swig and made a face after it burned the back of her throat.

Sonic laughed. "Not good, huh, princess?"

It was her first time having alcohol. "Yeah, no." Not her favorite drink. She handed it back to Sonic.

•~•

In the cave with Shadow and the others, it had gotten dark while they waited for the toxic fog to clear. Cream lay on the floor of the cave and had fallen asleep. She began to toss and turn again as she had a nightmare. "No, no!

Shadow touched her shoulder and shook her gently. "Cream, wake up," he said in a hushed voice.

She woke up and panted. "I'm sorry."

"Does that happen often?" he asked curiously. He felt sympathetic towards her. He remembered when he comforted Rouge when she had nightmares as a little girl. She nodded her head. "What are you scared of?" She stayed silent not answering. "You know what? It doesn't matter. The only thing that matter is what you do about it."

"But…I'm asleep," she said.

"Fears are fears," he stated. "Slay your demons when you're awake, and they won't be there to get you when you sleep."

"Yeah, but how?"

"You can't afford to be weak. Down here, weakness is death, fear is death," he advised. He looked down at the knife besides her. "Let me see that knife I gave you." She picked it up and handed it over to him. "When you feel afraid, you hold tight to that knife and you say, screw you. I'm not afraid."

She took the knife back in her hands and looked down at it. "Screw you. I'm not afraid."

He patted the top of her head and got up. "Slay your demons, kid. Then you'll be able to sleep."

•~•

In the drop ship everyone tried to sleep while they waited for the fog to clear. Rouge looked after Tails on the second floor. Tails was still in a lot of pain and would occasionally cry out. On the lower level, teens groaned in annoyance at the cries of pain Tails made from above.

Scourge was lying in a makeshift hammock between two pillars of the ship trying to sleep. He tossed and turned trying to tune out the painful moans from above. "Grr…that kid!"

"Shut up!" another teen shouted.

Scourge hopped out of bed and started making his way for the ladder. "That's it. I'm ending this," he spat.

Mighty was on the bottom level and overheard Scourge's threat. He quickly ran over and climbed up quickly. As his head peered on the other side he warned Rouge. "Scourge is going to kill Tails!"

Rouge's eyes widened. "Hurry get in!" Mighty pulled himself up, as Scourge was making his way up the ladder. Rouge slammed down the hatch and locked it.

Scourge growled. "Hey! Let me in!" he said while slamming the corner of his shoulder against it.

"No!" Rouge screamed back.

•~•

In the automobile Silver, Sonic and Amy were still trapped inside. Amy leant her head against the side of a seat. "It's been hours. Tails-"

"-Is in good hands," Sonic finished. "Mighty and Rouge will take care of him."

"While we're on the subject, why is it that everyone thinks me wanting Tails not to die is a bad thing?" She took another swig of the alcohol. "I can be fun you know? I'm not always serious. You think I'm fun, right, Sonic?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. She was clearly drunk. "Uh, yeah I think you're fun, among other things," he muttered.

"You're fun," Silver said. "Remember that time-"

"-That time you got my father executed?" Amy shot him a glare. "Yeah, I remember,"

Silver frowned and looked away hurt. "I'm sorry, Amy. I made a mistake." Sonic noticed the tension in the air and started to feel uncomfortable. The feud between Amy and Silver was unbearable to be around.

"I bet you couldn't wait to run to daddy," she sneered. "Tell him everything so that he'd finally believe you were the perfect son he always wanted."

Silver was biting his tongue as he held back as long as possible not to lash out at her. He looked away as she continued to rant to him, but he couldn't hold back any longer. "What do you want me to say?" he yelled.

"I want an explanation," she said feeling tears come to her eyes.

"I can't give you one," he spoke softly. "I thought I could trust him."

Amy leaned back into the corner of the vehicle. "Well, I thought I could trust my best friend. Guess we were both wrong," she droned.

"I'm still your friend," he spoke up.

She hid her face away from him. "No you're not. If you were my friend, you would walk out into that fog and never come back," she spat.

Sonic put a hand on her knee. "Okay…how about we just take it easy." He reached over and took the alcohol away from her.

"I have no idea how to do that…"

Silver reached over and grabbed the alcohol from Sonic and took a giant sip. There was an awkward silence after that, and Sonic looked back between Silver and Amy. "So, we having fun yet?"

Flashback: One-Year Ago

Jake Rose sat in his cabin as he pre-recorded a message for the rest of the people on the ark. "In this time of uncertainty we will come together as a people. I'm telling you this because you must know the truth, and because I want a future for my child and yours. Be strong." He leaned over and ended the recording.

"You're going to disobey the council?" Amy said from behind him. Her father was surprised when she appeared from behind him. He stayed quiet. She sat down on the couch. "Dad, I know. I heard you and mom."

He exhaled. "Okay, you know." He looked over to her. "I've been thinking about this for a long time. The people have a right to know. Your mother doesn't understand-"

"-What's the plan?"

He smiled at her. "You don't need to know the plan." He admired her wanting to help him.

"You're making a video, so, what? You're going to break into the communications mainframe?" He looked away confirming her idea. "This is suicidal and incredibly dumb."

"Wow. You are picking a fine moment to start behaving like a teenager."

Amy stood from her seat. "I'm going to help you."

"No. You're not," he said standing from his seat,

"But I can-" she yelled.

"Absolutely not." He walked up to her and held her in his arms. "You get that stubborn streak from your mother, you know." He kissed the top of he head. "One of the many things I love about both of you."

The door to their cabin opened up and five guards stormed into their room unannounced. "Jake Rose, you're under arrest for treason." Two guards came up and grabbed him away from Amy,

"Dad?!" She reached out and tried to stop them from taking him away. "No, no, no!"

Another two guards came and seized Amy from helping her father. Her father glared at them. "Get your hands off of her!"

She struggled in their grasp. "Let me go!" They released her and she ran and hugged her father for one last time. "I'll warn them. I'll find a way," she whispered into his ear.

His eyes widened. "No, Amy, no, listen to me. Do not do that," he warned as the guards dragged him away.

Amy began to cry as he left the room. Two guards grabbed her again. "No, let me go, no! Dad, dad!" she cried.

End Flashback: Present Day

The door to the car opened and Amy popped out of it. The toxic gas was gone now. "Come on." She pulled herself out and put her backpack on. "Let's go, Tails is waiting."

They began walking as Amy walked further ahead of the two boys. Sonic and Silver stayed further back. "Last night was pretty intense," Sonic said quietly to the grey hedgehog. "You and Amy ever-"

"-No. Not like that," he answered cutting him off.

"So, help me out. Your best friend tells you something fairly explosive. You seem like the type of guy to keep it to yourself."

"You don't know me."

"Why'd you do it?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know. Why do you care?" he snapped.

"You knew what the rules were on the ark. You had to know her dad would get floated," he whispered.

Silver stopped in his tracks. "I made a choice. If she hates me for the rest of my life, I made the right choice. That's all you have to know," he said before walking away.

Shadow and his group came out of the cave. "It's clear." They began heading back to camp. "Let's get back." The group started walking back to their campsite.

Sonic caught up with Amy and decided to talk with her. "Last night was, what's the word? Fun?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Hardly."

"You know you were kind of hard on Silver back there."

"He deserves it," she replied emotionlessly.

"You know he loves you, right?" he asked. "But every time your dad's brought up, he won't give you a straight answer." Amy remained quiet as Sonic tried to help clear Silver's name. "I think he's hiding something. So, I gotta ask you. How sure are you that he turned in your dad?"

She stopped in her tracks. "100%. He's the only one I told."

"Is he the only one that knew?" Sonic asked.

Amy opened her mouth to answer but stopped when she heard a familiar voice from a far. "Come on!" she heard Shadow say close by. Amy and Sonic ran off in the direction with Silver to where they heard Shadow.

They pushed past some bushes. "Shadow?" Amy asked while they got closer.

Shadow and his group turned when they heard his voice being called. "Well, well, she finally returns." Shadow said crossing his arms.

"We ran into some trouble," Silver spoke.

"You mean the toxic gas back there? Yeah, we did too. It ruined our hunting," Shadow said. He started to lead the way. "We're only a few more minutes away from camp. Let's go."

It was getting dark when the group finally got back. Amy made a beeline for the drop ship. "I'll need some boiling water to make the medicine," she explained to Sonic.

"Right," he said before jetting off to get it.

"Need any help?" Silver asked her from behind.

"No, I've got it," she replied dismissively.

Rouge came out of the drop ship when she heard Amy. "It's about time. Scourge was trying to kill Tails."

"I've got the medicine. I'm going in there now."

Flashback: One-Year Ago

Two guards escorted a handcuffed Jake towards the execution chamber. Jake walked with his head held high as he walked towards his impending death. Jaha, Silver, Kane, and his wife Abby stood outside the chamber doors as the guards opened them. Abby had tears running down her eyes as she watched her husband pass her.

The guards stopped him in front of the chamber doors to unhand cuff him. Jake smiled when he saw his wife. "Hey, baby."

Abby ran towards him and gave him one last hug. When he was unhand cuffed he embraced her tightly. Jaha looked away as he locked eyes with his friends. Silver looked uneasy as well, feeling sorry that his best friend's dad was about to be put to death.

"You have to warn them, Abby," Jake whispered to his wife as they embraced.

"Jake, stop," she whispered back.

"The ark's dying. There's no choice."

"Yes there is," she said. "There's Mobius. We'll at least have a chance."

The guards opened the sliding chamber doors and Abby pulled away from her husband. He took off his wedding ring band and placed it in her hand. "Here. Hang on to that." Abby began to cry as he placed it in her hand. Jake took off his watch and handed it over. "Give this to Amy, and tell her that I-"

"-Dad!" Jake looked over his shoulder seeing his daughter run to him.

"Amy? You shouldn't be here, honey!" Abbey said running to her daughter. "You don't want to see this."

Silver and two guards went over to restrain Amy, but she struggled with them.

"It's okay," Jaha said dismissing his guards. The guards stepped back and Amy ran to her father.

Amy hugged her father tightly as she cried. "It's okay," he whispered reassuringly.

Jaha cleared his throat. He hated having to cut their last moment short. "Jake. It's time." Silver glared at his father. He couldn't believe he would execute his best friend over this.

Jake kissed his wife one last time, and kissed Amy on the cheek. "I love you, kid," he said as he backed up from them.

"I love you, too," she croaked through sobs.

Jake stepped into the execution chamber and the doors sealed shut. He gave Amy a smile as he waited for the exit doors to be opened. This would be the last time he would ever see his family again. Jaha nodded to one of his guards that pressed the open button. The doors slowly opened on the opposite side, and in a quick second Jake was sucked out into space as the doors closed behind him.

Amy fell to the ground in shock as she watched her father get sucked out in oblivion. "Oh, my god…" she cried. "I'm so sorry…"

"Sweetheart, it's not your fault," her mother assured.

End Flashback: Present Day

Amy, Sonic, Mighty, and Rouge sat around Tails as they tended to him. They fed him clean water and wiped him off with a clean rag.

"He'll get better, won't he?" Rouge asked staring down at him.

Amy nodded. "He will."

"We got to stick together out here," Sonic said quietly.

Amy nodded. "He's right, we do. We're all each other…has." She got up and went towards the ladder.

Sonic watched as she started climbing down. "Where are you going?"

"To talk with Silver. I'll be right back." Sonic nodded and smiled. She needed to rekindle her friendship with him.

Silver was sitting out behind the drop ship alone. He rested his back against it as he looked at the dirt between his legs.

"Silver?"

He looked up and noticed Amy approaching him. He stood up to face her.

She rubbed her arm uncomfortably. "I know I probably don't deserve it, but I need to know the truth." He waited for her to ask her question. "It was my mom, wasn't it?"

Silver looked away trying to decide whether or not it'd be good for her to hear the truth. "She's the one who told your dad." His silence answered her question for her. She exhaled a shaky breath. "I didn't want to believe it. I-"

"-I knew how you would feel," he said quietly. "I wanted to protect you."

"So, you let me hate you?" she asked in shock.

He gave her a weak smile. "What are friends for?"

"How can you forgive me?" she asked feeling herself start to cry.

"It's already done," he said bringing her into a loving hug. Amy hugged him back and rested her head on his shoulder as she cried. Silver held her and rubbed her back as he rested his head on top of hers. "You're like my sister, Amy. I love you."

"I love you, too."

•~•

In the drop ship, Rouge, Mighty and Sonic sat near Tails and they finished up the alcohol Sonic had brought back. Rouge grimaced at the taste. "Yuck!"

Mighty laughed. "Smooth."

"Hey, can I get a hit of that?" Tails asked while lying down. "Maybe start with the smooth stuff first though?' he asked weakly.

Everyone got up and moved closer to him. "Hey, buddy!" Sonic said as he sat down besides him.

"Hey," he replied.

Mighty took a cup of water and fed him some of it. Tails sipped the cool content. "Thanks."

"I see someone is doing better," a voice said from the ladder shoot. Amy appeared and smiled when she saw Tails talking.

"My savior!" he joked.

Amy laughed. "Thank you for not dying."

"I'll try not to die tomorrow too, if that's okay," he joked. Everyone laughed and stayed close by.

•~•

Silver sat alone on a log on the outskirts of the camp. He was on watch duty and he watched as the night had ended and the sun was just starting to peak. He heard footsteps approach from behind and turned to see who it was.

"Hi," Cream said. "Are you on watch?"

"Yeah, I am. What's wrong, couldn't sleep?" he asked while gesturing for her to come sit with him.

"Yeah," she said timidly.

"Join me," he offered.

She sat down by his side. "I had a nightmare."

"Oh?" he asked interested.

"Yeah but I have them every night." She put her right hand into one of her pockets. "But I think I found a way to make them stop."

A bird, flying out from a tree distracted Silver and he looked to the left. With his moment of distraction, Cream pulled the knife she had found in the woods, and stabbed it into the side of his neck. "I'm sorry!" she apologized as it plunged into him.

Silver screamed out in pain before he fell to the ground and held a hand to his bleeding neck. He rolled down a small hill and gagged on his own blood. Cream watched as he withered in pain on the floor bleeding out.

Cream looked down at him. "Every night I see him," she explained. "Your father. He kills my parents. I see his face and then I wake up and I see yours. The nightmare never ends," she sniffed. "The only way to make it end was to slay my demons. I had to," she cried sadly.

Silver lay motionless on the ground as he stopped breathing. He had died. Cream got up and walked away from his body. She tossed the knife near some nearby bushes. She had completed her mission of slaying her demons. Now maybe she could finally put her nightmares to rest.