Gwen was once again up early on the beach. However, she had long since missed the sunrise. It had been three weeks since the visit to mainland. The event at sea was starting to feel quite distant, but it was still vivid in her mind and though she had recovered almost completely by the end of four days, the gang was intent on looking out for her. Amy had even gone and bought her a new set of the clothes that she picked out to replace the ones ruined by seawater and Tails had taken a lot of care to make sure her metal limbs were primed and in top condition after their exposure to salt water.

Gwen looked at the waves lapping at her metal feet. She wriggled her single 'toes' on their joints before burying them under the sand. She wondered briefly if it wanted to pull her back in. She folded her arms as she reflected on her new attribute: not being able to swim. She would have to be quite cautious around water moving forward. All the good points of having robotic parts were nice, though experiencing them had made Gwen too comfortable. She hadn't even thought of how being part metal could've affected her in that way or other ways that might be similar.

She groaned and pulled her knees up, resting her chin on them. Home sickness had really started to set in, too. It had caught her quite off-guard, but it had reared its head. She cursed herself for being attached to her old world. She doubly cursed herself for being attached to the new one, too. It would have been easier if she didn't get attached, but when the gang had spent weeks caring for her it was hard. Sonic, especially, seemed to pay careful attention to what she was doing. He never did restrict her, though he tended to do things for her which left Gwen with nothing to do. It felt almost the same as being restricted.

Gwen turned her ear, then her head slightly as footsteps crossed the sand behind her. She could take a decent guess at who it was.

"Out here again, huh?" Sonic plopped down beside her. "This is starting to become a routine for you. You've practically been bunking outside my shack for the past couple weeks."

"Your shack in an eyesore, no one would want to bunk outside of it. I only come down early in the morning."

"My shack is the best shack." He twisted his mouth into a lopsided grin. "It has to be, it's mine."

"That's like saying it's the tallest toddler in nursery." Gwen chuckled, lifting her head slightly. Sonic growled in mock-annoyance. "Besides, the sand's pretty comfortable... after you get over the sand getting everywhere you don't want it to be, that is."

"I hear ya." Sonic agreed, reflecting on the amount of sand that tends to blow into his shack. He should get a door. "So, uh... you wanna..." Sonic scrunched up his face, forcing out his next words. "Want to talk... feelings?" He got the gist that perhaps she'd been coming out here to think. That, or she just liked the view.

"No." Gwen replied flatly; Sonic sighed in relief. "Why put yourself in front of a bullet like that?"

"I'd take a bullet for any friend." He pulled one knee up, resting his arm on it. "Admittedly, I'd rather take a real one..." He mumbled.

Gwen smiled and shook her head. "I think I disagree there, but you have a totally understandable viewpoint... aside from the actual possible death and all of that jazz." Gwen grinned and shoved Sonic gently. He shoved her back much harder, pushing her over into the sand. She groaned and pushed herself up, brushing sand out of her fur. Sonic laughed as she glanced back with a rumble of annoyance. When Sonic focused down on her, his ears twitched.

"Welp," He shot up, jogging on the spot as he spoke. "Gotta run! Can't miss my morning island lap." He ran off down the beach, though he only ran at the pace of a slightly-faster-than-average person.

Gwen got up and chased him, "No you don't! SONIC!"

Sonic looked back and flashed Gwen a grin as he stopped to let her catch up a bit. Once she was close, her revved up his run and bolted off in a flash. Gwen covered her face as flecks of sand pelted her arms. She dropped her arms after the pelting stopped and groaned as she brushed the grains from her fur, though much of it adamantly stuck to her.

Later that day, after getting herself cleaned off, Gwen found the gang - all except Sticks - munching down at Meh Burger. She had taken time trying to get all the grains of sand out of her fur and from various crevices. It was a futile effort.

"Hey Gwen!" Tails greeted, gesturing to a chair beside himself. "We saved you a seat."

She smiled and walked over, seating herself. A burger was placed in front of her by Amy.

"It might be a bit cold now, but we at least made sure Sonic didn't order you a chilli dog."

Gwen chuckled, though inwardly she thanked the larger presence that may be as she unwrapped her burger.

"Uh – correction: Gwen would love a chilli dog." Sonic folded his arms as he set his feet up on the bench. Amy grimaced, shoving his feet off of the side roughly.

"Eating area." She said him, gesturing at the table, as if she had reminded him before. "No feet with food."

"It's Meh burger, Amy. It isn't food. Besides, these tables are probably worse than my shoes." Sonic pointed out as he accepted a chilli dog from Dave. The intern had brought him a small pyramid of the things.

Gwen rolled her eyes slightly as Amy began to fume. However, Amy's face soon contorted into realisation and finally into disgust before pushing her chair a couple inches back from the table. The bunny bit into her burger, munching away anyway.

"Anyone want to play volleyball later?" Tails asked, looking over the group.

"Alight! Now we're talking." Sonic mumbled, muffled by the chilli dog he was shoving into his mouth. He gulped his food down. "We'll go right after I finish this round."

"Ah," Gwen interrupted, "Actually, I'm going to go wander. Works out better that way anyway, two per team and all that."

"Just 'wander'?" Amy asked, "Really?"

"I wander all the time!" Knuckles puffed out his chest, but then set a finger to his chin. "That means you get lost right?"

"Uh. No, Knuckles. Just a harmless walk. Without getting lost. I wander around a fair bit anyway; I know the area pretty well now."

Sonic tapped his finger on the table. He then pointed at Gwen's communicator. "As long as you take your communicator with you."

"It never leaves my wrist." Gwen assured him, though a small, spiteful part of her wanted to take it off just for the sake of it. She brushed that feeling off.

Amy smiled, "And you call us if anything happens."

"Okay mum and dad."

Sonic gasped, then coughed. He clutched his throat, choking on his chilli dog until he coughed up the chunk stuck in his throat. He sat up straight.

"What?" He blurted, though Gwen had already stood and began walking away.

Amy giggled, then cleared her throat. A light blush dusted her cheeks before the two hedgehogs shared a glance. They were quick to begin justifying themselves and falsifying the implication to Tails and Knuckles, but more so to each other.

An hour and a quarter later, Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles were playing volleyball. The game was in full swing, though Sonic and Tails were currently winning. Knuckles whacked the ball. It slammed into Tails' chest and sent him straight into the sand. Sonic whacked the ball back and helped his buddy up.
"You alright?" He checked, though his gaze was focused on the ball.

"Yeah.." Tails mumbled as he brushed sand from his fur. "Guess I'm a lightweight."

"Guys?" Gwen's voice buzzed out of their communicators as the ball was returned by Amy. Sonic zoomed and hit the ball back. The ball bounced off out of bounds while Amy and Knuckles were distracted.

"Ha! Win!" Sonic fist pumped into the air.

"I wasn't ready!" Knuckles growled, then gestured to his communicator, "My watch was talking to me!"

Tails shook his head, "That was Gwen."

Sonic smirked and he brought the communicator to his mouth. "Thanks for the strategic distraction."

"Uh... no problem?" She went quiet for a second. "Look, can someone come and help me out? I may have – just maybe - wandered into a trap."

Everyone's eyes shot open a bit wider.

"I'll be right there!" Sonic said, already starting to zoom off.

"A-ta-ta! Wait!" Gwen cried upon hearing the urgency he seemed to have. Sonic skidded to a halt at the edge of the jungle and held his position for a moment before setting his leg down. "I only need one person. It's not what you're thinking." She grumbled, lowering her voice slightly. "It's one of Sticks' traps."

Sonic's posture relaxed and he chuffed as he held in a laugh, "Really?"

"Really. Now just... come over." Gwen growled quietly. She wasn't annoyed with anyone but herself. "Really starting to feel light-headed."

Tails shook his head slightly, though he was smiling. He jogged over to Sonic and took his wrist, fiddling with his communicator until a radar came up. "You'll be able to track her with this. Follow the purple dot." He instructed.

"Aw, why can't I go?" Knuckled whined as he and Amy made their way over.

Tails folded his arms. "Because Sonic is the fastest and there's no actual danger. On top of that, you'd probably get lost."

Sonic gave a two-fingered salute. "So long, Knucks." He looked at his radar, then bolted off.

Gwen folded her arms as she waited, swinging from the tree. A vine was wrapped tightly around both of her ankles. As it turns out, her time stuck upside-down had led her to discover that she had rocket boosters on the soles of her feet. It was a discovery she cursed that she didn't realise she had earlier. Perhaps she could have saved herself some trauma. Regardless, she couldn't actually control them and her initial discovery of them, from the shock of getting yanked up into the air, had left her swinging violently in the tree. As the swinging had subdued, she kept it going – swinging forwards and backwards gently in a bid to distract herself from the unsettled sickliness her stomach had churned up and to entertain herself while waiting for someone to arrive. She didn't have to wait long.

"Ha-ha-hoo! What do we have here?" Eggman chortled, hovering down in his flying machine. A spherical spy bot flew up beside him, buzzing around.

Gwen looked at him. The sight of the man still sent shivers down her spine, even though she knew he wasn't the same kind of threat anymore.

"What do you want, lardass?" She hissed. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Lardass? That's awfully harsh." Eggman whined. "I've been on a strict diet!"

"You'll fail at that diet." She pulled her lips into a thin line, frowning. Her sourness of Eggman wasn't helped by her current predicament.

"I know..." Eggman relented, but then perked up. "Wait, no! I don't have to take that from you!" He growled as he stood, leaning over the windshield of his transport and gripping it for support. "Robots, attack!" He screamed.

"What? Really? While I can't even fight?" Gwen asked with an edge of nervousness. That was low, and, admittedly, she panicked – she was in a vulnerable position and though Eggman was hardly a threat anymore, her prior experiences still had her convinced her life was at stake. She unfolded her arms, flailing them to grab at the nearest tree as she swung towards it. Perhaps if she could get a grip on something, she could free herself. She even tried to power up the rockets in her feet, but she didn't know how.

From the bushes, out hopped mantis bots and moto bugs. One of the mantis bugs detached its blade, throwing it at Gwen. It hit her ankle. It deflected off, bent at an awkward angle, but dealt no damage to Gwen. However, it did manage to break the vine.

"Ha-! YOW!" She cried, landing on her back. She got up, briefy taking a moment to rub her back, before getting into fighting stance and spoking into her communicator. "Nevermind that thing about Sticks' trap."

"So you don't need help?" Sonic asked. "I don't get to save the day?"

"Ehh..." Gwen hummed, before clutching onto a moto bug that attempted to ram into her and taking it for a joy ride. "I may have run into some Eggman troubles too. Just maybe."

"Just maybe, huh?" She heard Sonic say. He sounded awfully close. She glanced back as the moto bug she rode ran circles around the small clearing they were in. Sonic was stood at the edge of the clearing, watching the scuffle. She chuckled.

"You gonna stand there all day, Champ?" She grinned as he revved up.

"Just watch and learn, Twinkle Toes." Sonic smirked, though the last thing he'd wanted to see was Gwen tangled up with Eggman. It pricked a nerve with him.

Gwen groaned. Don't tell me that nickname is sticking. Please, for the love of God.

Sonic shot off, smashing into a mantis bot, then a moto bug. The moto bug smashed into a second one then they skidded off along the ground and into the foliage, leaving tire tracks on the torn-up ground.

Gwen raised her leg and smashed down on the moto bug she was riding. She hopped onto a second one as the broken one rolled off and smashed into a tree.

"Duck!" Sonic yelled.

Before Gwen could react, Sonic had already zoomed over and dipped her down in his arms as he leant down and pinned his ears back - a mantis blade passing just over them. Gwen stayed quiet. She felt her face heating up with Sonic's face only a couple inches from her own. She hadn't quite expected to end up in such a position during battle, if ever. She swallowed and snapped herself out of it however, upon realising Sonic hadn't moved off again at the first opportunity. In fact, he was struggling to not drop her while holding an awkward grin as he gestured for her to do something with his eyes. Gwen stood herself up and straighten out. He sighed, relieved after her weight was out of his arms – and he was no longer at risk of dropping her. He rubbed his arm, then frowned and smashed into the mantis bot that threw the weapon. He dusted his hands then placed his wrists on his hips, looking up at Eggman.

"Any more toys, Egghead?"

Eggman fumed. "Curses! That was such a good opportunity to take a hostage or begin picking you goobers off one-by-one." He grumbled, then looked between the two, both standing quite smugly as they stared him down. "Fine! I'll go. Happy? Enjoy your nature walk, Lovebirds!" He hissed, hovering away.

Gwen quickly dropped her smug pose while Sonic's eyes widened slightly.

"It's not like that!" Gwen yelled after the doctor.

"I don't like her!" Sonic also yelled, gesturing at her with both hands. His ears tilted back when he felt eyes drilling into him. He glanced over at Gwen.

"You don't like me?" She folded her arms, scowling.

"I-I don't mean I don't like you! I don't like-like you!" He shook his head frantically, "I mean, love!" He held his hands up in his own defence, "You know what I mean!"

Gwen broke her look and snorted, then laughed and began heading back, waving her hand. Sonic followed her with his gaze, confused at first before he slowly began to realise she had duped him. "Oi! Oi!" He jogged to catch up, then walked beside her. She glanced over at him with a certain smugness.

"You should've seen your face. Man, I wish I had a camera for that." She grinned.

"Oh, yeah?" Sonic challenged. "Well, you should've seen your face when I saved your butt from that mantis bot."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Like I'd have made any kind of face."

Sonic zipped in front of her, walking backwards. Her placed his hands behind his head. "Oh yeah, you did. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say you did like me." He cleared his throat. "Like-li-"

"Love." Gwen corrected, interrupting. "You sound dumb saying 'like-like'."

"Okay, fine, whatever, 'love'." Sonic relented but kept up a grin.

"Yeah, right. Like I'd fall for an egotistical, blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog with a trendy neckerchief and over-done sports tape whose main talent is running fast and blowing up when he can't have the win."

"H-hey!" Sonic furrowed his brow and slowed to a stop, though he tried to keep up his confident veneer. "I aren't any of those things!"

"So, what, you're denying you're a hedgehog?" She stepped closer as he opened his mouth to protest. She poked him in the chest. "And blue? And fast?"

"No. I'm sa-"

"Then we agree!" Gwen smiled and folded her arms in a 'final' manner.

Sonic growled, about to retort until they both heard a snap. A moment later, a net whipped up from the floor, dangling them both in it from them tree. Gwen did her best to keep away from Sonic's spikes and he half-heartedly struggled with the net. He was conscious of the fact that him moving could prick Gwen.

"This is not cool." Sonic growled as he folded his arms but seemed to relax instead of struggle. If the thing wasn't so sudden of restricting, it could have just been a hammock with extra-large holes and that was closed off from the rest of the world.

"Geh! Ow!" Gwen whined as Sonic's spikes pricked her despite his minimal movement. She tried to curl up behind her metal arm and legs. She groaned, then growled, yelling out into the forest: "STIIIIICKS!"