Sorry this one is a little short, I have freaking writer's block again and the fact that I managed to write half this chapter itself is a near miracle. Hope you all enjoy nonetheless, read and review.


Brandon didn't groan as he awoke, in fact he made no sound at all. His eyes merely opened and he sat up, looking around the room as best he could in the darkness of night. As he was trying to make out where he was he noticed a familiarly streaked head against the side of the couch he was on, causing his eyes to widen.

"Boss?" He questioned, red eyes snapping open at the sound of the owner's title.

"Brandon?" Mach asked before he began to smile. "Brandon!" He exclaimed quietly, smiling in the dark.

"So...is this your house?" The dog could remember his leader saying that was where they were going before he'd passed out.

"Yeah." The gang leader nodded, he was still smiling softly...his friend was awake after all, how could he help it when the other boy had been unconscious for so long?

"How long...was I out?" The canine inquired.

"All day...you had everyone worried, even Hyb and the adults." The hedgehog replied, a part of him wanted to hug him...but it wasn't in the streaked boy's nature, it would only scare his friend.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to worry you." Brandon apologised, suddenly feeling bad...he'd never meant to worry everyone, he hadn't even realised he was that sick.

"Don't worry about it." The rider stated, his second-in-command nodding.

"Alright." The younger boy agreed, not wanting to upset the older.

"It's still a while until daytime...you can go back to sleep if you want." The rider stated.

"What about the Chaos Wreckers?"

"They'll be coming to check on you in the morning; as for the Streets, if you're worried about them...well, they live here now." It wasn't that they didn't know the name of the 'Streets', it was simply easier to refer to them as such rather than by individual names in casual conversation or quick orders...a lot of the Chaos Wreckers was divided into groups of four or five and given group names for the same reason anyway.

"They...they live here?" The canine's voice came out like a squeak as this was the last thing he'd expected from even the former heroes that were his leader's parents.

"Yes, they're up in the spare rooms now." The blue and red boy added, his friend merely staring at him for several moments.

"The Streets have a home again...I guess we'll need to change their group name." Brandon stated, it was the tanned skinned boy's turn to nod.

"We can worry about that later, I'm sure we'll come up with something." While they may have been best friends it was odd for them to talk like this...the younger found that he liked it though, speaking to his boss as a person rather than as his position.

"Yeah."

"You hungry?" Mach asked suddenly, standing up.

"Uh...y-yeah..." A little startled at the question and the implications behind it, that the hedgehog was doing to get him food, the dog stuttered over his answer.

"Give me a second." The gang leader responded, walking out of the living room...it was only a few minutes before he returned with a bowl of dried banana chips; the canine's favourite snack. "Here." He said simply, holding the bowl out.

"Boss-" Cut off by the older boy.

"Just call me Mach while you're here...I told the Streets the same. This is my home, I'm no one's leader here...merely the son of heroes." The rider explained, a slight smile still on his face.

"M-M...Mach...thanks." Brandon murmured, unused to the attention or fuzzy feeling in his stomach at the other boy's gesture of kindness...said boy's smile grew just a tad at hearing his name from the other's lips instead of his title.

"You're welcome." The red eyed boy was still giving that soft smile that his friend wasn't used to, but said friend certainly wasn't going to complain with seeing his leader happy for once...though it secretly amazed him that it was merely him being alright that made the usually cold and somewhat distance boy smile so.

"Wait..." The dog trailed off suddenly. "I'm well-known as the Chaos Wrecker's second-in-command so...you told them?!" His eyes were wide again.

"I did." The streaked boy confirmed. "They took it surprisingly well, after Knuckles spoke to them a bit anyway...something about my mother not being perfect or 'good' when they met."

"Wow..." The canine tried to imagine an Eclipse that wasn't a well-known hero...of course; he'd heard of the those who didn't trust her due to a 'bad past', his father was one, but she'd already been long good by the time he'd been born. "Your family and their friends certainly all have a history."

"You're right..." The smile had faltered before falling entirely, the other knew he'd said something wrong.

"I'm going to bed." Mach stated before his friend could respond, standing and walking to the stairs. "I'll see you in the morning."

"M-" Brandon cut himself off, for his leader was already up the stairs and in his room...he hadn't meant to upset him, he was actually a little jealous of the other. His family loved him and even accepted the Chaos Wreckers as his friends and second family...the dog's own father had merely ignored him after he found out. The canine gave a sigh, eating the snack brought to him earlier before going back to sleep.


Brandon struck a nerve, even though he didn't mean to. As pointed out by Sugar, their parents and their history have been heavy on the kids. I hope they're able to make up, it would be bad if the leader and second-in-command stopped getting along...the Chaos Wreckers would fall to ruin. Well, I guess we'll have to find out next time, see you all later!