A/N Hi-ho! So the last chapter was semi character, and semi action, so hope that was nice. Anyway sorry for getting slower, work is dissolving my creativity a bit but I'm trying my best. I'm also thinking about the other things I got going, my Tails Nicole thing, and the other story started and kinda left a few weeks ago.

So let's get going.

The team headed back to their hide away so they could have time to rest and figure things out. Nicole made sure to mark the location of the factory for later if they decided to go back. With such a heavily defended facility she wasn't sure Tails would commit to an attack but for now all he wanted was time to think.

They arrived back late in the afternoon, their feet sore from the walking, except Nicole who obviously had infinite stamina due to her body not being real.

Fiona was far worse than everyone else as her foot had only recently healed and by the end had an obvious limp to relieve some weight from that foot.

Unknowing to anyone else the walk was bugging Shadow too, he subtly messed with his leg brace and quickly swallowed a pain pill he'd received from Rosemary while nobody was looking to help with the pain.

Once everyone was inside they went about to make dinner. Silver and Blaze traded ideas while Scourge went off to be by himself like normal. Shadow listened in on the hedgehog and cats conversation, he didn't really care what they chose though. Nicole plugged herself back into the projector system and went about her business.

Fiona just wanted to get off her foot and sat down on her bed sighing in relief. She took her boot off carefully and inspected it. Everything looked fine to her so she sighed wanting to go nap but knew dinner would be made soon.

She was about to read when Tails appeared a few feet away "Foot feeling ok?"

Fiona jumped from his sudden appearance then looked at him oddly "How the hell do you move so quietly in such big boots?"

He shrugged and explained "I designed them to be quiet, military grade stuff to dampen sound" he acted like it wasn't a big deal. Probably wasn't considering who he was.

"Well anyway, it hurts like hell" she massaged it again.

He jokingly replied "Well I'd help but I don't want your stinky feet in my hands" he chuckled.

"That's rude" she light heartedly smiled.

"Thought you got used to that by now" he smiled.

She liked seeing him smile and joking again. It made her remember the good times back in the day. When he was just a kid growing up and experiencing life when he wasn't fighting. She remembered how much The Freedom fighters tried to let him be a kid when he wasn't on a mission, but he was so smart he knew what was at stake.

He was always working on a project of some kind. Only when Sonic or somebody forced him to leave it be and just hang out would he be the kid he was supposed to be. Ironically he was fighting so he could be a kid, so he could see his parents and so he could have a normal life.

In hindsight she hadn't been much different, she was ripped from her family at a young age and imprisoned for so long. So long that the replica Eggman made of her met Tails when he was nine and she had grown another five years. No wonder she was so messed up.

More importantly it made her wonder, people with normal childhoods who went to war sometimes came back broken, but with effort, fixable. How could someone who never experienced being a child at all be like when it was all over? Maybe she got a glimpse of it when he nearly killed her.

In her thought Tails still stood there awkwardly and scratched at the back of his head. Doing that made Fiona realize something , he'd grown mullet behind his head.

"What's up with your hair?" she asked. It was normal like before except the back had grown into a bit of a mullet that spread left and right at the end as it neared his shoulders ending just above them.

"Oh, ya" he huffed like he was surprised "I forgot I even had that" he felt back there running his fingers through it "I never really bothered to cut it partially because nobody was around to judge me about it and also because I just kinda forgot"

Fiona smiled seeing him smiling at the realization.

"Should probably go cut it actually" he pretended to cut his hair with two fingers as he said this.

Fiona stopped him "No, I actually like it, I mean just clean it up, I think it suits you"

"You think so?" he was surprised running his hands through the long hair again.

"Ya, if you want I could help with that" right after she mentally smacked herself for saying that.

He thought about and shrugged "Sure I guess, not like I can get back there, but later, I still need to start thinking of a plan of attack on the factory. Hopefully that robot we need leaves before then, it will definitely make things less complicated. I got mom tracking it for now"

"I really don't know how the seven of us are gonna get in there" Fiona said frowning.

"I should get Shadow and Scourge to go out and take pictures for me, so I can get a proper idea of what to do" he tapped his chin in thought.

"I don't think it will be easy any way we do it"

He continued to explain "If we can get inside I believe things may get easier, unless the place is rigged with tons of traps we can get through the building easily. Even if it's full of eggbots we can travel through areas they can't, like vents, under the floors and other tight spaces"

He didn't notice it but Fiona found his choice of words at the end just a little amusing.

The foxes mind went back to asking Shadow and Scourge to do some scouting when it hit him "Wait, Shadow has a chaos emerald, and he can teleport…. Maybe he can teleport us all inside"

Fiona looked to him "I totally forgot that, think he pull off a seven person teleport?"

"I'd have to ask him" he said already walking out and leaving her be. She took the opportunity to continue reading her book.

In the kitchen area, Silver and Blaze finally decided on mac 'n cheese, atleast for themselves, Shadow was off to the side preparing a simple sandwich for himself since they were using the oven.

Tails walked in and saw Shadow finishing and turning to get away from the duo.

"Shadow need to talk with you a sec" Tails silently flicked his head back meaning in the hallway.

The ebony hedgehog followed taking a bite as he did and met the younger fox outside.

"What?" he gulped down the bite.

"I was trying to think of a plan to get in that factory and it occurred to me that you can teleport with the chaos emerald, think you could pull off a seven person jump?"

Strangely enough his voice was deeper and more intimidating again, although only Fiona would notice the change if she were there.

He sighed thinking "I don't know, if I did it probably wouldn't be accurate, or travel far enough. I could send us all right into their defenses or half into a wall. I can't do seven, I might be able to do two plus myself"

That really limited his plan but he was already recalculating in his head "So we'd only be able to send you and two others, at best? Hmmmm" he closed his eyes to clear his mind.

Shadow just waited, eating away at his food.

"Ok, Nicole would have to be the second person, she could hack into the systems and shut down the defenses and anything else we need taken down. Allow the rest of us in and maybe route us around the base and delay eggmans forces"

"Sounds like the best plan we got, who's gonna be number three?" he asked gulping down another bite.

"I believe I can help with that choice" Both males looked to Nicole who materialized next to them.

"Who do you think Nicole?" the fox let her continue.

"Why Scourge of course?"

Both gave her strange faces to explained her reasoning "We'll need someone who's fast to get through the factory quickly with Shadow, you can go really fast Tails but only in short bursts, Scourge can keep up with Shadow and will allow us to reach a terminal quicker"

"She's got a point" Shadow looked to Tails.

"Ya I guess she does, if he tries anything funny, you take him out" he told Shadow.

"I doubt he'll double cross us inside a factory full of robots that want him dead" he reassured back.

"Also very true, alright so I guess that's the plan, we wait outside while you three find us a way in. We'll tell everyone in the morning, for now just relax" Tails advised.

Both nodded and went about their business. Tails didn't have any chores to do around the base. Nothing had really come up today, there was really only one thing to do besides just sit around. So he walked back to the bedrooms.

He found Fiona reading and debated whether to bug her again, but he also sort of just wanted to watch her for a little. He found himself wanting to do that now, it was obvious to him why, so far his luck had held up and nobody noticed him do it.

Finally he shook himself from the trance and walked over "Hey, feeling better?"

She looked up, he found it a little cute "Ya, doing fine, can Shadow do it?"

"He can only teleport two people and himself reliably, so we're sending Scourge and Nicole with him" He expected her outburst.

"Scourge!? Why him?"

"Because he's the only one who can reliably keep up with Shadow"

She sighed "…. I guess that makes sense"

Tails then awkwardly scratched his head "So…. Can I take you up on that hair thing now?" he looked away nervously avoiding her eyes.

Her pause to answer nearly made him back off but she closed her book "Sure, I'm not doing anything really important" even though her head screamed to stop doing stuff with him she felt he could use it and asked "Where you wanna go, cause you might be losing some hair"

"I guess, the workshop, got a vacuum in there" he said smiling.

"We go there a lot" Fiona chuckled.

"Ya guess we do" he chuckled back and led her back to the workshop door. She quickly slipped on her boots and followed.

As she followed she wondered why she never noticed that mess on the back of his head, it truly was bad.

He reached the door and went inside first with Fiona right behind.

Like always the room had neatness to it in an organizational way, but looked pretty dirty when it came to cleanliness. Something told her Tails didn't worry about gathering dust until it had to absolutely be dusted away.

"So I should just sit on a stool and let you work?" he asked turning to face her, catching her looking around like always.

"Oh ya sure" she said, then asked "You got scissors and a comb right?"

"Somewhere I think" he looked though a few drawers until he had both items.

"Why does your workshop have a comb in it, she understood maybe scissors but the comb made no sense.

"Used to have a weird habit of running the comb down my arm when I was thinking" he shrugged not really bothered with admitting that, he'd grown out of it, instead just rubbing his chin or closing his eyes.

"Wow, but I guess we all got our weird habits" she shrugged getting behind him and getting a good look at the terrible mess.

"This is one of the greasiest and knotted up messes I've ever seen" trying to run the comb through it even a little.

Before he could reply her attempts to get through it made him yelp in pain "Hey be careful"

"I'm trying you cry baby" with a few more strokes she was able to straighten out a small section on the far right, combing through a few more times to make sure it was good. From then on she worked from right to left doing small sections as she went.

Every so often she'd hear the younger fox grunt or hiss in pain.

Thinking back to when she got haircuts she knew conversation helped "So…. What ya think about Silver and Blaze?"

He looked puzzled "What ya mean?"

"You haven't noticed it, Silver is crushing on Blaze hard. He somewhat admitted it to Scourge and I when we were watching movies" she ran her fingers through his hair to see how her work was going. Tails liked the feeling of her doing that and delayed his reply because of it.

"No didn't notice, guess I've been working too hard" back when he was younger he used to think he wasn't very good at socializing because he was awkward and shy, with age he'd come to the conclusion that now it was because he worked too hard.

"Guess it was a good thing I put them together this morning, accidentally gave him a chance to work the moves"

"Wonder if he did?" Fiona asked.

Tails thought back a few minutes ago "They were both making mac 'n cheese for dinner, so maybe"

"Nothing says romance like mac 'n cheese" she chuckled and heard him do the same, her smile only growing hearing him happy as well.

Although his smile went away as she ripped at his hair again "Sorry" she apologized.

"Probably should have gotten you a spray bottle or something"

She nodded "Ya would have helped" she was halfway done getting through the thick stuff which was mostly all she needed it for so neither moved to get any.

Tails shifted a bit to get comfortable and held back a small giggle when he felt her fingers run along his neck finding it a little bit ticklish. She heard and would occasionally do it purposely just to hear him hold back snickers until Tails caught on.

"Ok, you can stop that now" he wasn't angry, he had a nice smile on his face.

She smiled stopping, he truly started to feel like an older version of his old self again. It warmed her heart to see the monster that he used to be gone and the good guy he'd always been back.

"Alright almost got it" she ripping at a really stubborn clump.

"Ow! Dammit" he growled.

"Finally after a lot of effort the clump was gone and Fiona actually felt slightly winded from the effort and found the rest much easier.

"Ok, took a monstrous effort but now I can cleanly run this through without it catching on anything. Now let's just clean it up a bit so it isn't as messy looking" she was mostly talking to herself but knew from experience that she liked hearing what the stylist would do so you could ask questions or something.

Fortunately for her Tails wasn't much of an expert in the area and must have had the humility to let her work since she was clearly more experienced than him.

"Your mom ever bug you about this?" she asked the sound of her snipping away in both their ears.

"I think so, now that I think about it. I probably just blocked her out or muted her though"

"Rude" she laughed "Come on she's your mom!" she couldn't remember her parents anymore, too young to have much memory of them, in her sleep she sometimes could catch quick memories but most were too hazy to see much. She only remembered one thing and that was a clear picture of her mothers face. She got her looks mostly from her.

"I know, but sometimes she cares a little too much, if I took her advice more I might not do anything. But I still appreciate that fact she cares so much" he sounded truthful with what he was saying.

Fiona was glad to see he was so relaxed, more importantly she was glad he still had his mom, sort of. From what she knew he got to know his parents after defeating Eggman, his relationship with them had heavily strained his relationship with Sonic and especially Sally. Things turned out ok though.

Tails seemed to be thinking deeply as Fiona continued her work. He spoke up again "Did you ever wonder if we found and freed your parents?" he asked very cautiously.

"No… while I was trapped Eggman tortured my mind saying they were dead, I assume you never found them?" she frowned and stopped working old wounds opening again.

Tails frowned, he'd briefly wondered if they had been found a long time ago but sadly they hadn't been listed "No, we never did"

"Thought so" was all she sighed out.

"I'm sorry Fiona…"

"Don't be, you couldn't have done anything. It happened and I got to live with it" she felt that knowing her parents had been gone might have been one of the first scars on her mind that caused her to almost entirely change her personality, nobody when she was young to teach her right from wrong. Besides that she had nobody to think about that would look poorly on her bad decisions. They just couldn't be there to influence her in any good way besides the memory of them being gone.

She could tell he wanted to say something, but just had no idea what to say. What could he say? He had the opportunity to know his family, and she simply didn't.

She got back to work after a short moment of thinking.

Tails sighed and tried to get away from the silence "So that generator you helped me with I was able to get it nearly done see?" he pointed over the nearly complete piece of hardware.

"Cool, thing hurt me so bad" she laughed.

"Ya well I grinded down any sharp edges so if you want to mess with it you won't be cutting yourself again" he did it for himself but it was good for a joke.

"Well thanks, I'll make sure to remember that"

After a few more seconds Tails asked "So you haven't cut a chunk off one side and made it look uneven right?"

"No, I decided to not be cruel today" she bit her tongue already hearing his resentful response.

To her surprise though he just thanked her.

She definitely felt a little paranoid around him still.

Paying full attention to his hair again she realized she'd pretty much subconsciously finished and inspected it quickly to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

"There, I think I'm done, I suggest you take a shower though, to get the loose fur out and…. Clean your grimy hair…. When was the last time you showered anyway?" she asked noticing a bad smell.

"Awhile now" he admitted embarrassed as he got out of the chair.

"Well go shower you pig!" she yelled playfully.

He yelped and backed off a little "Alright, alright"

She gave him a smirk and crossed her arms like she were saying "Yup, I'm the boss" and watched as he walked out to do as she commanded.

When he left she heard her stomach growl. It just occurred to her that probably everyone beside her and Tails had eaten, so she left to go make some dinner for the both of them.

Inside the kitchen she found she had been right, even Scourge got off his butt to get something to eat and everyone was watching movies in the rec room. The fox started looking around and got something going.

She found some ham and hash browns and started cooking that. She almost felt bad for eating this stuff while other got those crappy rations outside. Her stomach didn't though.

Fifteen minutes later she heard footsteps approaching and looked back to find Tails had finished. He had dressed back into his cargo pants and white muscle shirt. He was still drying a little even after trying to with a towel so he had that wet dog smell linger around him.

He had expected nobody to be in here and get something quick to eat but found Fiona cooking.

"Hey, feeling better after that shower?" she asked.

"Ya, much better, what'cha making?"

She revealed it to him and smiled seeing him almost drool.

"When was the last time you ate?" she asked.

"Yesterday, but I suck a cooking" he shrugged.

"Luckily I'm here" she chuckled.

He smiled and went to make something but she stopped him "It's for both of us you know"

He paused and realized it was pretty obvious considering there was too much for just her "…oh"

She laughed "It will be done soon"

"Thanks" he smiled.

Fiona heard some laughter from the other room and said "Everyone seems to be getting along it seems"

"What about you and Scourge?" he asked, there had to be some tension between them.

She sighed remembering him "I can tolerate him, and he has been helpful. So I have no direct problems with him being here. But if he tries anything I'll be the first to kick his ass"

"Hopefully he won't, I think he knows what situation he's in. Everyone else seems to have found their ways around him" he was glad for that.

"Well I guess it doesn't really matter. As long as he does his job it doesn't matter if we like him. Although I suppose antagonizing him wouldn't do anything but force his impulsive nature and make him either leave or do something rash"

Tails nodded in agreement

The two waited for several more minutes until their dinner was done and when it was, split it between the two of them. Joining the rest the team spent the rest of the night watching movies.

Soon one by one people headed to bed, Silver going first, practically passing out right there in front of the TV, he was followed by Blaze, Then Fiona, Tails, Shadow and finally Scourge. Nicole went into her sleep mode once Scourge had left and everyone rested for what was to come tomorrow.

All in all, a relaxing afternoon.

Damn another bit of a wait. Sorry about that, and DAMMIT another character chapter, I was starting this out to get right to action but it morphed into more talking. I won't promise the next chapter will be action but I will heavily imply it so I back out if I do something like this again.

Anyway hope it was nice to read, I feel like I'm not doing enough for the side characters and their little interactions. If you feel that way too let me know and I'll try to shift a little focus.

I also want to say I forgot about Shadows powers for a moment too.

Live long and prosper

Admiralkirk