Clouds of smoke and ash clouded the town. Standing in the middle of the street, Tom could barely make out the buildings that lined the roads of downtown. As his vision focused and more of his surroundings came into view, he noticed rubble and debris littering the streets, all burned up and smoking. The smoke around him continued to clear, and suddenly a massive shape hovering several feet above the ground became evident. A large hovercraft, emitting a sinister red glow and a faint whirring engine noise. Tom recognized it as Robotnik's ship, but the cockpit was closed, and he could not see the mad man piloting it. The thick fog stopped receding, leaving the road behind him and the buildings beside him obscured. From the light of the hovercraft, however, he could make out a distinctive shape lying directly underneath the ship, shrouded by the large shadow cast on the ground. Taking a few tentative steps closer, Tom immediately recognizes the outlines of triangular quills sticking up in the air. He could now see it was Sonic, the alien hedgehog he had taken into his care. He looked nothing like his usual self, unconscious and laying in an awry position on the pavement. Tom went from his steady pace to a panicked run, as he quickly got down on his knees besides Sonic underneath the hovercraft. He lifts the child into his arms with delicate care. The alien was so small, he could support his damaged frame with only one arm. As he brought the kid close to his chest, he winced at the sight of his injuries. The hedgehog was covered head to toe in scraps, burns and bruises, with quills nearly burned off and his fur covered in soot. Tom placed a hand upon his cheek, patting it softly to try and wake him. As he heard himself call out Sonic's name in anguish, his ears also picked up the sound of maniacal laughter above him, and the sound of the engine getting louder. He continued to cry out to Sonic, but he soon couldn't hear his own voice over the sounds above him. He felt tears streaming down his cheeks as Sonic's body became colder, and the blue faded from his tattered quills. As his vision became completely blinded by the smoke and tears, he felt approaching darkness closing in around him...

Tom's eyes opened in haste and his limbs convulsed in shock. When his vision adjusted to his surroundings, he found himself in bed with his wife, in his own home. That horrid sight was just a nightmare, but a frighteningly real one. Likely sparked from the fight that occurred between Sonic and Robotnik just a few days ago. A lot had changed in that short span of days, including the alien moving in with them. Tom had hoped that it'd be an easy shift back to regular life, but with Sonic having trouble adjusting to life in a house with his own rough nights, and now Tom's nightmares, it was clear that it would take some time and effort.

Tom breathed out a slow exhaled and shifted slightly in bed, hoping for sleep to return to his eyes, but the images of Sonic's broken body, both from the actual fight and the images from his nightmare kept coming into his head.

It took less than two days for Tom to warm up to Sonic. He was young, lonely, and in desperate need of companionship, maybe even a guardian. Tom knew Sonic just wanted a friend, but he kept thinking about the possibility of adopting Sonic as his son. Either way, letting him move into their attic was certainly a good start.

With his thoughts now centred on the juvenile hedgehog, Tom instinctively decided he would just poke his head into his room. He carefully pulled back the covers and stepped onto the carpeted floor so he wouldn't wake Maddie. He left the bedroom and made his way to the attic ladder, which he pulled down with a low creak. He travels up the steps stealthily, and soon his head peaks into the room. His eyes fell onto the small bed frame, where Sonic was sitting upright. Clearly, something wasn't right with him either.

Tom made his way up the rest of the ladder, and made slow steps, inching closer to the bed. Sonic sat in the centre of the bed, but he was obscured by a pillow he clutched tightly to his chest and buried his face in.

His fluffy blue ears perked up at the sound of Tom's footfall, but he didn't raise his head until Tom sat beside him on the small mattress. Tom felt slightly relieved to see no tears on his muzzle, but Sonic's eyes were full of tense and fearful emotion. Tom put one hand on Sonic's lower back and leaned forward to meet the anxious gaze, giving a tender smile. Sonic spoke up before Tom could.

"Did... Did I wake you?"

Sonic asked tentatively. Tom shook his head and responded.

"No, I woke up on my own. I just came in to check on you."

"How come?"

"Well, I had a.. a bad dream."

Sonic's expression changed from one of exhaustion and fear to one of confusion and surprise.

"You get bad dreams?"

Sonic asked genuinely. Tom was puzzled at the question, surprised to think of how brave and fearless Sonic must've perceived him. Tom nodded his head in response to Sonic.

"I do. Not all the time, but they still happen. Everyone has nightmares from time to time."

Sonic broke eye contact with Tom to look down at the floor pitifully.

"I get them a lot. Every time something bad happens I have them for weeks."

Tom moved his hand onto Sonic's far shoulder to pull him in close. A thirteen-year-old with no one to talk too would likely have frequent nightmares. Tom was thankful to have his wife Maddie, who he could talk to whenever something was eating at his thoughts. He too easily forgot about the years Sonic was forced to spend in solitude. Tom spoke up as the hedgehog nuzzled against him.

"I find that if I talk about it with someone, those bad thoughts are less likely to bug me again at night."

He heard Sonic exhale heavily, and sat up straight on the bed, staying in place but moving his head away from Tom. He let his legs fall over the edge of the bed and tossed the pillow to his side as he spoke in a low tone.

"I... I dream about Robotnik coming back... and destroying everything. I'd want to stop him, but I can't... I can't get my feet to work. And then I'd see you 'n Maddie..."

Tom heard Sonic's voice strain, but the young hedgehog presses on, his words starting to come out faster.

"...I can't save you guys, or the town, or... I'm just stuck there and I have to watch you get hurt and everything just-"

Sonic's voice breaks as he chokes on a sob. Tom sees tears beginning to fall down his muzzle, so he scoops the kid up onto his lap to bring him into a tight embrace. He rubs his back in slow circles and makes calming shushing sounds.

"Shhh, it's alright... you don't have to dwell on it tonight if it's too much... It's ok, I'm here for you."

Sonic sniffles and hiccups as he tries to suppress his sobs. He leans into Tom again and buries his head into his pyjama shirt.

After a minute when the hedgehog's sobs have subsided, Tom asks Sonic if he wanted to sleep with him and Maddie for the night. Sonic shook his head 'no' in reply.

"Can you just stay with me for a little longer? Until I fall back asleep?"

"Sure thing kid."

Tom gave a warm smile as he replied, and began to get the bed back into order. With Sonic cradled in one arm, he uses his other to grab the pillow at his side and put it back at the head of the mattress. He lowers Sonic onto the bed and let his head fall on the pillow. As the kid turns onto his left side, Tom stands up and finishes tucking Sonic in. As he stands beside the bed, he sized up the space and dimensions of the child-sized mattress. He figures he could lay beside Sonic while he falls asleep. It'd be a little tight, but he should be able to fit beside Sonic without falling off the bed.

With great care and caution, he lays on his left side behind Sonic, who shifted forward in response, allowing Tom to scoot in closer. He brushed Sonic's quills downward so he wouldn't get poked, and adjusts the blanket covering Sonic so Tom wouldn't be laying on top of it. With his legs positioned so they wouldn't hang off the edge, he and the blue alien now lay side by side, facing the same direction with Sonic on the inside. Despite being somewhat cramped and unable to move, Sonic had never felt more safe and secure before in his life. He always tried to make the best of any hard situation, but growing up without physical affection was constantly eating away at him. Getting to stay with the Wachowski's allowed Sonic to finally belong to a family, and get the love and care he missed for so many years. While there was a lot for him to adjust to, including the strangeness of finally receiving physical affection, Tom's fatherly love was always an anchor for him, especially when things became too much for him to handle alone.

Maddie awoke to the sound of Tom's morning alarm going off... and still going off. She opened her eyes to see that Tom wasn't there to turn off the alarm. She sat up with a grunt to reach over to his nightstand to turn off the noise. After peering around the bedroom, she decided to get up and see where he may have gone off to.
If Tom was up early, she would expect to see him in the kitchen or living room, but both were empty. There was no sign he had left the house and he didn't have a shift, so she decided to investigate.

After working her way through the two main floors, the only place left to check was the attic. Upon climbing the top of the stairs, she noticed that the ladder was already lowered.
Upon entering the small bedroom, she finally located her husband, along with something that made her nearly gasp aloud in glee: Sonic and Tom, passed out cold together on the small bed. Tom was on his back with a blanket roughly draped over his chest, his leg hanging off the different ends of the bed frame. Underneath the blanket was Sonic, sleeping just as soundly and directly on top of Tom with his quills pointing upwards. His cheek rested against Tom's chest, and his short arms were hanging off the sides of Tom's torso in a loose hug.
Despite meeting Sonic after he and Tom already developed a friendship, seeing them interact had brought them all together even faster. Back then, Maddie would joke about how cute Tom and Sonic were when they interacted. It seemed to be a casual friendship, but once Sonic moved in with them, she began noticing moments between them that made Tom seem more and more like a father.
Moments they spent together, moments they talked, moments like Tom getting up in the middle of the night to comfort the child who couldn't sleep alone.
She walked over to give them both a quick kiss on the forehead before returning downstairs.