Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sonic characters, they belong to Sega. Orion/Alan and Sarah belong to TheIrOnFORGE.

Chapter 7

Amy sat in a chair by Orion's bed, wondering why he hadn't woken up yet. She knew Sonic was worried about her spending time with him, after what he did. She just couldn't get what Sarah said, out of her mind. She touched his hand, and it gave a slight twitch. She wondered what he was dreaming, judging by the troubled look on his face it wasn't anything good. "Orion..." She whispered. "Don't worry, I'm here for you."

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Sonic paced around the living room, it was beginning to tick Tails off. "Sonic please sit down," he said not looking up from his laptop.

"I don't like her in there alone with him." Sonic said glancing at the bedroom that Amy was sitting in with Orion, a possible danger to her.

"She's fine, he's unconscious." Tails said, he scratched at his neck, just under the bandage.

"Don't scratch at that." A soft voice demanded from the kitchen door. Tails looked up an ashamed smile on his face.

"Sorry Cream."

"You don't want an infection." She said walking over to the coffee table, placing a tray down. "There's some snacks and drinks here, I'm going to bring Rouge her tea." She looked at Sonic. "Don't worry about Amy, she's strong..."her voice turned stern after that. "And don't let him scratch, he's been trying to do that since I bandaged him."

"I won't let him." Sonic said nodding with a chuckle, as she took a smaller tray from the bigger one and walked towards her room where Knuckles was resting.

"I don't know why this itches so bad." Tails said trying to focus on the computer to ignore the itch.

"What happened, please tell me." He pleaded, wanting to take back every horrible thing he did while under Dark Gaia's influence.

"You kinda, bit me when we were trying to hold you down," Tails said refusing to meet Sonic's gaze. "But don't worry I know it wasn't really you."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine Sonic, it was the werehog not you." Tails replied with a smile.

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Cream knocked on the door to her room where Rouge was sitting with Knuckles. "I brought your tea," Cream said softly as she walked in. She looked at the echidna laying on the bed, quite a bit of his body bandaged. "How's he doing?"

"Fine I guess," Rouge answered taking her tea. "Thanks."

"Are you ok?" Cream asked biting her lower lip slightly.

"I don't know."

"Have you ever considered just letting him know?"

"Letting him know what?" Rouge looked at the younger girl, a brow raised as of daring her to continue.

"You know, that you like him." Cream said with a small smirk.

"I-I...what..." Rouge sputtered trying to control the blush that threatened to spread across her face.

"Oh you do!" Cream was nearly bursting with happiness.

Rouge turned pink and looked down at Knuckles, whom she was glad was still out cold. "I can't tell him," she said gently. "He'd never go for someone like me, there's someone better out there for him. It's not me."

"Oh Rouge." Cream said with a sigh. Rouge looked at her a mischievous look in her eyes.

"What about you and a certain young fox?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Cream went red from the tips of her ears down her neck.

"We're just friends!" She said avoiding looking at Rouge, who was snickering at her.

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Orion found himself looking down at a scene he didn't recognize. It was him facing off against Dark Gaia and Werehog Sonic. The only thing was, he didn't recognize himself at all. His eyes were the wrong color and too cold, he looked ready to kill. He knocked Sonic away then a red echidna jumped in front of Dark Gaia, nearly killing himself in the process. 'What have I become?' He wondered silently.

"You've become a killer." A voice he recognized too well said. He turned and saw Amy and beside her was Sarah, both of them wore expressions of disgust and horror.

"Why are you so weak?" Amy asked.

"You couldn't even protect your own wife, or unborn son." Sarah said venom in her voice.

"Maybe you should just die." Amy snarled. "You're a monster."

"Why are you two..." He looked at the scene again only this time he was covered in blood, smirking as he licked it from his hands. Below him were the decimated bodies of Amy, Sarah and Sonic the hero of Möbius. All the while everyone screamed in terror and ran from him. He let loose a dark ethereal laugh that reverberated through everything.

Orion sat up in a cold sweat realizing he was in a bed, and a figure sat hunched on the bedside sleeping. He calmed his breathing down, and looked closer at the figure to realize it was Amy. He gazed down at her, her breathing was a little ragged as if she were having a nightmare. He felt something for this little hedgehog, she was like a daughter to him now one that needed protection. He was one of the things she needed protecting from. He got out of bed slowly and lifted her so he could place her on the bed instead, so she'd be more comfortable. She turned to her side when he set her down, a sigh escaped her lips. "Sonic..." "Dream well little Rose." He said softly. He slipped out of the room where he ran in to Sonic. "Where's Amy?" He asked a slight edge to his voice. It was totally justified. "She's sleeping," Orion said. "I'm leaving, I have to sort some things out for myself, please keep her from following me this time." "There's no way I'm letting her out of my sight." Sonic replied, Orion nodded to him as he snuck out the door.

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Amy woke up in a bed, which wasn't where she'd been when she fell asleep. She looked around and saw no one was with her, and she was in the guest bedroom of the Rabbits.

'Where'd Orion go?' She wondered, she swung her legs over the side and got to her feet. She looked at the time and saw it was just passed noon. Her stomach gave a light growl, so she walked out to the living room where everyone was talking and eating. She spotted Sonic on the couch with his back to her. She walked over and sat next to him, snuggling close.

"Hey Ames, I see you're finally awake." He smiled down at her, and handed her a sandwich from the platter Vanilla had set out.

"Thanks," she ate the food. "I feel refreshed."

"Well you slept for like four hours." Rouge said smiling at Amy. "How are your hands?"

"Oh you noticed that?" She asked wincing as she remembered the scrapes. Sonic wrapped an arm around her shoulders, just loving that she was here with him. "Where did Orion go?" Amy asked looking around for the blue fox.

"He said he had to get away, and to keep you from going after him." Sonic said emphasizing you, which made her give a small huff. "He doesn't want to hurt you again."

"I know but..." She stopped herself wondering if she should really share that information with anyone else, so she switched focus a little. "I just worry."

"You worry too much Ames, he'll be fine." He couldn't help but wonder what it was, this strange connection between Amy and Orion. It made him jealous that she was worried over him and they've only known his just over a day and a half.

"I worry about all my friends, all the time." Amy replied smiling softly. "But I worry about you the most." He almost hadn't caught what she'd said, but he did and it made him smile.

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Knuckles woke up sore as hell wondering what the heck happened. He sat up a bit and noticed a lot of his body was wrapped in bandages. 'The hell?' He struggled to sit up fully. He began to unwrap a bunch of the bandages, hissing as some places stung from the fresh air. Once he'd gotten all the bandages off he looked around the room, wondering where he was.

He caught sight of some pictures and figured out he was in Cream's room. He stood up from the bed wincing at the pain radiating from his legs. He couldn't really remember what happened that knocked him out, but he remembered feeling afraid. He knew if he left the room the usual way Rouge would have a fit, so he decided to sneak out the window. He was extremely worried about the master emerald, so once he was outside he teleported to it.

When he got there he glanced around. At first he didn't see anyone so he walked around it, when he came upon a blue fox and it triggered some unknown fear inside him. "What are you doing here?" Knuckles asked gruffly.

The fox turned, for some reason he expected electric blue eyes. Instead he saw sad emerald eyes staring back at him. "Go away...I don't know when he'll come out." The fox said.

"You're Orion aren't you?" Knuckles said when he realized it could only be him.

"Yes." Orion snapped. "I can feel it...it's getting closer."

"What is?" Knuckles asked confused.

"The darkness, it will consume this world unless the pure heart stops it." Orion said.

"You mean Dark Gaia?"

"Why are you here?"

"You're disturbing my emerald." Knuckles answered. "It senses something within you, you don't belong here."

"And what do you know about belonging?" Orion said harshly.

"My race died to protect this thing," Knuckles replied anger bubbling up. "I belong to the emerald and I protect it."

"You're seriously aggravating." Orion snarled, electricity sparking off his fingertips.

xXA Girl Like YouXx

"Man this bite is really starting to hurt." Tails complained yearning to just scratch it.

"Just leave it be." Cream demanded. "I'll go get some fresh bandages and ointment." She walked out of the room.

Amy looked over at Tails from her spot on the couch. "What bite?"

"Oh um...Sonic as the werehog kinda bit me." Tails replied sheepishly.

"Sonic as the werehog?" Amy asked confused. "I thought you were only that back on Earth." She looked at Sonic a worried look in her eyes.

"But I could control it then." Sonic said softly. "When she took you over again she claimed me, apparently."

Amy's eyes welled up once again. "See if I had a stronger will you wouldn't be forced to become that monster...someone who harms his friends..."

"Hey please don't blame your self." Sonic said turning to her, running a hand through her quills. "I know you're strong...it's just that she's stronger."

"We need to find a way to get rid of her." Amy said fervently.

Sonic nodded as Cream came back in to the room. "Ok Miles sit still please." She commanded softly. Tails blushed profusely at the use of his real name. He sat still as she slowly unwound the bandage from his neck. She pulled the gauze off the wound, and gasped covering her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Amy jumped up and hurried over. Tails looked worried as she too gasped. "It looks infected..." She turned to look at Sonic who looked so guilty he was about to bolt from the room. He slowly got up and moved over to the group around Tails. The wound looked horrible, he couldn't believe he'd done that to his little bro.

"Tails, I'm so sorry."

"I know," Tails said with a slight hiss as Cream applied the ointment. "It hurts really bad." He winced when she applied pressure to it.

"Sorry," she muttered trying to keep her lip from trembling. She finished wrapping it and stepped away. "I'm going to go throw this stuff out." She shuffled out of the room quickly.

Rouge shook her head and stood up stretching out her wings. "I'm gonna go check on Knuckles." She left the room. Only a few moments later she let out a frustrated scream. "That idiot!"

Amy rushed in followed by Sonic, who surprisingly was going normal speed. Tails brought up the rear slowly, looking tired from the effort. "Where is he?!" Rouge shrieked. "He was severely wounded. And he thinks it's ok to just take off his bandages and take off."

"There's only one place he could be." Sonic said shaking his head. Rouge glared out the window. "I'm heading to Angel island to take care of that idiot." She fumed as she left.

"We should go too, so she doesn't kill him." Amy said looking to Sonic. He nodded at her and looked at Tails.

"You up for it?" He asked.

Tails smiled and nodded. "Course I am, we'll do this together." He said enthusiastically, considering the circumstances. "All of us."

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Knuckles took notice to the sparking from the fox, and stood defensively. "Just how am I aggravating?"

"You have no right..." Orion shook from the anger coursing through him. "Just because your race died, does not mean you can give orders."

"The emerald is the one who gives me my orders." Knuckles replied backing up slightly as Orion began to slowly advance towards him.

"Come back when you're responsible for the extinction of an entire race." Orion snarled, his eyes changing color without him noticing. "Then you can give some orders."

"You wanna go buddy, bring it." Knuckles said raising up his fists.

"That was the exact, wrong thing to say." Orion said charging at the echidna. He threw a punch which Knuckles barely avoided due to his stiffness and being sore. Orion growled as he punched towards Knuckles stomach.

Knuckles growled as the electricity grazed him. "You have a weak hit." He knew in the back of his mind that egging Orion on was the worst thing he could possibly do, but with the anger clouding his judgement he could care less.

Orion let loose a loud snarl as his entire body became electrified. "I'm not weak...I'M NOT WEAK!" He finally caught hold of Knuckles around the middle, causing the echidna to let loose a loud scream of pain.

"ORION!" That one voice made him drop Knuckles, who coughed up a bit of blood. He looked in her direction to see the terrified look lighting her emerald eyes. "What are..."

"No I told you not to let her come find me!" He yelled looking over at Sonic, a dark glare on his face.

"We didn't even know you'd be here." Sonic replied harshly. "We came looking for our friend, who you just almost killed."

Rouge ran up to Knuckles ignoring Orion, even though he was a threat. She knelt down next to him, angry tears spilling over. "You damn idiot, you could have been killed again!" She said and he only looked up at her a small smirk in place.

"I couldn't let...him make a...fool of me...now could I?" Knuckles asked with a weak cough.

"Idiot." She shook her head burying her face in to his chest. "I hate you so much." She mumbled.

"No you don't." He said reaching up and cupping her face. "I did hear what you said...by the way." Her eyes flew wide at his statement, just before he moved up and kissed her.

Amy walked up to Orion, cautiously with Sonic as her shadow in case anything bad happened.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked softly, her voice trembled.

"Dark Gaia pushed her wretched darkness inside me." He said roughly. "Anything can trigger it now it seems..." He backed away slightly. "I should go...I would rather not hurt you, of all people."

Sonic didn't know why, but that comment sent a searing pang of jealousy through him.

"Why won't you let me help you?" She asked eyes brimming with tears.

"I don't deserve someone as pure as you, helping me." He said anguish clear in his emerald eyes. "Not after all I've done."

"But you haven't done anything wrong." She whispered as he backed away even more. "I can help you...you just have to let me."

"No." He turned to run, when he felt a pair of arms encircle him.

"Please..." She whispered.

He pried her arms loose and turned to look at her. "Amy you've done all you can, you just need to think about yourself and all your friends now..." He looked back at Sonic and Tails. He looked closer at the young fox and noticed how pale and tired he looked. He moved quickly away from Amy and over to Tails. "What happened to you, you don't look very well."

"I-I...well Sonic bit me, while in werehog form." Tails replied unsure where he was going.

"It must be the venom." Orion said worried. "It's making its way through your system, if you don't do something about it soon...I'm afraid you might not make it."

"What do you mean he might not make it?" Sonic asked a lump rising in his throat.

"I mean by biting your friend, you've sent him to an early grave." Orion said harshly. He turned and spared Amy one last glance before dashing away again.

"I-I killed you..." Sonic sunk to his knees, staring into space.

"No Sonic, you haven't." Tails said trying to reassure his older brother. "I promise you we'll find a way..." He suddenly felt extremely weak and lightheaded. His vision blurred and he swayed heavily. "S-Sonic..." and he fell to the ground just barely being caught by Sonic.

"Tails!" Sonic yelled catching him. He turned to Amy who looked ready to bawl her eyes out. He picked up Tails and sped away from everything, back to the Rabbit's.

"Sonic..." Amy whispered, she didn't miss the hurt look on his face.

"Amy come on, I need your help supporting Knuckles." Rouge said softly, Amy nodded and began to help her.

'I have to find a way to save everyone, even if it means I lose my own life...I would gladly give it up to make sure they all live.' Amy thought.

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Sonic paced around the living room as Cream and Vanilla tended to Tails, who'd gotten worse as soon as he got here.

'This is all my fault,' Sonic thought gripping his quills tightly. 'No it's her fault...' His thoughts suddenly took a turn towards blaming Amy, the only one who caused this. He didn't notice the dark aura that was surrounding him, or that his fur was becoming a dark navy. 'If she had only been stronger...he wouldn't be dying!' There was a very small part of him, in the very back of his mind telling him that it wasn't her fault, he was angry and not thinking clearly.

Then Amy walked in to the room helping Rouge support Knuckles who could barely walk. They didn't spare Sonic a glance as they hurried him to one of the open rooms, calling for Vanilla along the way. Once he was being taken care of, Amy slipped out of the room and headed to the living room trying her best to keep the tears at bay. She sat on the sofa burying her face in her hands trying to keep her tears in. She didn't notice the dark figure advancing on her until she heard a shout from the door way.

"Amy look out!" She looked up at Chip who'd yelled her name. She then looked behind her just in time to dodge Sonic's spin dash.

"Sonic? What are you doing?" She asked scared as she scooted backwards on her butt, trying her hardest to get up. The fear would barely let her move, her eyes brimming.

"You're to blame." He said darkly. "If it weren't for you he wouldn't be dying!"

"I-I didn't...it's not my fault..." Amy whimpered as Chip appeared in front of her, standing protectively over her.

"Sonic you're not in your right mind." Chip said hoping his harshness would snap the hedgehog out of it.

"Sonic please..." Amy stood up and wrapped her arms around herself. "I may not be able to...to help Orion, but damn it I will not let you go through this alone!" She hurried over to Sonic wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Please come back."

Sonic's eyes widened as he looked down at Amy, his mind cleared of his dark thoughts. He sank down to his knees, his fur returning to it's normal cobalt, bringing her down with him. He wrapped his arms around Amy, burying his face into her quills. The tears finally came and he sobbed so hard he shook. Amy just held him tightly, letting him get it out.

"I'm sorry Ames...so sorry." He muttered in to her quills.

"It's ok Sonic, I'm here for you." She said rubbing his back now, as his sobs began to slow down. "Always."

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Amy looked at the clock it was 6 o'clock, it was nearing sunset and she knew it meant Dark Gaia would be coming soon. Sonic sat in the corner away from her, trying to process everything that had happened so far. She looked out the window taking in the slight hints of purple, orange and red.

She felt the first hints of the darkness, making her feel numb. "S-Sonic...it's starting soon."

"I know."

"We should probably get you..."

"Yeah." He looked over at Chip, who nodded solemnly. He walked over to Sonic placing some heavy duty chains on him. "Are you sure this will hold me?"

"I don't know." Chip replied softly.

Suddenly Cream made an appearance. "He's getting worse...I don't know how much more..." She sniffled her large brown eyes filled with tears. Amy walked over and held the little rabbit as the tears spilled over.

"You've still got a half hour," Chip said looking into Sonic's guilt ridden face. "You could see him..."

"It could be the last time." Amy said softly. "Do it while you're still you."

Sonic nodded and walked in to the room that was holding Tails. "Hey bud," he said and Tails looked over weakly, he was a sickly pale and his eyes looked sunken in.

"Hi Sonic," he said weakly a hacking cough interrupting him. "I know you're gonna turn soon, so I wanna say this now." A large shiver ran down his spine as another cough wracked through him, making Sonic flinch. "I love you big brother, don't forget me ok?"

"No you're not gonna die." Sonic said firmly, so much so he almost believed it himself. "We will defeat her...and you'll be ok...I promise."

"Don't promise anything." Tails said softly, as though he were accepting his fate. "It'll be ok Sonic."

"Don't say that, please." Sonic said falling to his knees beside Tails. "You'll make it through this..."

"I don't think so this time." Tails said closing his eyes. "I'm so tired."

"NO! Don't go to sleep...stay with me!" Sonic said as Tails let out a ragged breath. He didn't open his eyes again, but Sonic could still see the slight rise and fall of his chest. "Please just hold on a while longer, we'll get through this together." He whispered to Tails as he stood up to leave again, but he didn't head back to the living room he headed to where he knew Amy would be right now.

When he entered the room he saw her chained to the wall, looking dejected. She looked up at the sound of someone entering the room. "Sonic no you can't be here!" She said frantically.

He walked up until he was right in front of her. "Amy you have to fight harder..." he said pleadingly. "You have to fight for all of us, especially Tails." He cupped her cheek tenderly, leaning down so he could press his lips to hers. "Don't let her win..."

"Sonic," she whimpered as he back away across the room, attaching his chains to the wall.

"I'll be right here the whole time." He said with a smile.

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Orion wandered aimlessly trying to distance himself from anyone he could potentially harm when Alan took over. He knew he shouldn't be in the open like this, but he didn't know where else to go. He wouldn't go back to Amy, because Alan wanted Gaia dead more than anything. He wouldn't put her in to any danger because she was using Amy's body as her vessel.

He fell to his knees as the sun disappeared. "Sarah help me..." he whispered to the evening air as his consciousness left him. His eyes became deadly blue, a snarl ripped up his throat.

He didn't see from the trees a figure watching him sadly, because no one could see her. "Oh Alan..."

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Amy closed her eyes expecting to be lost until the next morning, but instead she found herself in the spirit plane as Sarah had called it. She looked around unsure of what she was supposed to do.

"Why have you brought me here?" She turned to find Gaia glaring at her.

"I've come to reclaim my body!"

"Not today little Rose." Gaia laughed. "I have more havoc to wreak, plus I hear my knight calling for me." She forced Amy to the ground once more, smirking as she pushed her influence in to Amy.

xXA Girl Like YouXx

Dark Gaia awoke to find herself chained to a wall, across from her werehog. He was straining against his bonds trying to reach her.

"Patience dear one." She said smirking. She closed her eyes and concentrated until she heard some faint clicks. She walked away from the wall as Sonic ran up to her. "Oh how I detest having to slumber during the day."

"Yes." He purred as he burying his face in to her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. "If only there were a way to stay in control."

"Oh there is." She said sinisterly. "But I need to be free from this body, take my own form."

"Why haven't you attempted it yet?" He asked nuzzling her neck.

"Because I haven't enough power." She replied. "I need to spread more darkness, if I want to accomplish anything."

"Well lets get to it." He said lowering to all fours. She got on to his back wrapping her arms around him tenderly.

"Lead the way."