Good morning!

Gatekeeper here,

So as I've gone through writing this fic I've thought about the future of this story a lot. I've come to realize that there are countless ways how this fic could have gone. I'm curious, how did you think this story would go when you first started reading?

I want to say that I've had this chapter done for a while now, so that's my bad for not posting sooner. Already working on the next one!

Hope you are all doing well

Sincerely, Gatekeeper

Chapter 13: Of Lies, Leavings, and Learning

Hours later, at Eggman's Home

A pair of brown eyes opened up slightly, sleepily gazing around the room as their owner tried to fight against the warmth and comfort of the massive bed they were on. Oh my... I didn't think that the bed was this large... I should wake up Cream, we should start heading out to the theatre soon if we want to catch a movie before lunch. A hand reached out to grab the small child beside her...

And found nothing.

Shocked, the hand scrambled to find the small body that should be curled next to her.

"Cream?"

The eyes opened wider, as fear started to manifest itself. Where's Cream? She's never up earlier than me!

Searching they started to notice the room around them

This isn't my house! Where am I? I need to get out of here!

A scrambling attempt to get out of the bed resulted in her getting more and more entangled in the large quilted blanket and smooth sheets.

"Miss Vanilla?"

All at once the body halted the escape attempt, eyes locked on the door as it opened slightly.

How do they know me? And why is my dress on?

"W-who are you? Why am I here?" Vanilla called out

"You are at Mr. Robotnik's house, don't you remember about the alley?" A flood of memories came back to her. The movie night with Cream. The kidnapping. Being bound to the chair with the ominous bear watching over her while she waited, prayed for someone to come. Eggman showing up, and the standoff. Clink and Clank showing off, being set free, and then a feeling of being surrounded by fur before she blacked out

"Clink, is that you?" said Vanilla.

"It is. If you are wondering, Cream and Cheese are in a room down the hall by the stairs. Everyone else is gathered in the main living room if you wish to join them." explained Clink

"I will shortly, thank you. You can go if you wish." said Vanilla

She waited for his steps to echo down the hall before getting out of bed and cleaning up a bit. She then peeked into Cream's room, where she was immediately glomped by her sobbing daughter and they both spent a bit of time together, crying tears of joy.

After their heartfelt reunion Vanilla, Cream and Cheese headed downstairs, hearing the sound of voices.

As they moved into the living room, they meet with a curious bunch.

Eggman was wearing another pinstripe suit, this one a light blue with red stripes. He sat across a chessboard with Shadow, in the middle of a intense game. Rouge was arguing with Clink about something that had to do with the color of the drapes while Clank stood in a corner by a desk, cleaning a piece of machinery as he looked on at the argument.

However, the biggest curiosity of them all lay in a hospital bed near the fireplace. It was the bear that had been watching over her last night.

And he was knitting, the long needles tirelessly clicking as he watched her enter.

"You!" Cried Vanilla as she pointed at him

"Me." Said the bear calmly, continuing to knit.

"What are you doing here!? You held me hostage!" accused Vanilla

"I was babysitting you, and I'm healing from last night. And knitting." Replied the bear, as he looked over his creation. He unrolled a new length of yarn, this one a bright orange.

"Baby… babysitting? And what are you healing from?" Vanilla took the time to scan his body, seeing the numerous white bandages that covered his fur

She stumbled a bit, her anger subsiding as worry overcame her. "What… What happened last night? You look like you were in a fire."

"That's because we were." He said flatly.

"What!?" Yelled Vanilla and Cream

His face softened as he turned to face them more. "Ah. Verzeih mir, I apologize. It seems I have misjudged your memory. My name is Stone."

"Ah… my name is Vanilla, and this is my daughter Cream. It's… Good to meet you too?" Vanilla was more than a little confused of the strange words the bear was using.

A clack resounded from the nearby chessboard as they heard Eggman declare "Checkmate. Good game, Shadow."

Both Eggman and Shadow got up and stretched before Eggman clapped his hands together and spoke.

"Very good! It seems we've all become acquainted, that will make this next part much easier. Also good afternoon Miss Vanilla, it's great to see you have recovered well from last night's events."

"Thank you but… what did happen yesterday night? My memory seems fuzzy." Said Vanilla.

"Ah yes, a recap is in order isn't it?" Said Eggman. "Simply put, Rouge found that you were missing last night and called Shadow and I to come find you. We split up and eventually I found where you were taken…"

"While some of us were ridiculed and told to take a vacation. I'm not happy about that, Ivo." Grumbled Shadow as he interrupted quickly.

Eggman chuckled. "Sonic might have a point there, a break could do a world of good for you. Continuing on; I found you and was challenged to a duel by the enemy, the same one from the alley the first time. Due to interference by Click and Clank we were able to subdue him and take you back here to rest until you became conscious."

"But… what about the fire that Stone mentioned?" Asked Vanilla

"Yes, Stone would you care to explain? I was a little distracted at the time." said Eggman.

Stone nodded and mused.

"It seems there was a… gas leak, no? The building we were in was old, something must have sparked near the tanks. Luckily for us there was not much gas left, just enough to cause a small explosion. I grabbed you because I felt something in my bones that there was danger."

"Oh… thank you! I owe you my life!" Exclaimed Vanilla.

"You owe me nothing. If I had thought more about you and less on myself we could have avoided more of the situation." Stone replied. He yawned, and stretched his neck before looking back at her. " My apologies, but I am very tired and need to rest. I am glad to see you and your kinder safe and sound. I hope to see you soon."

"Same to you, I hope you'll heal well." Vanilla said softly. She turned away as Stone settled in to rest when she yawned as well. "Oh my, it seems that yesterday was more than I could recover from in one night." She frowned. "But what will I do? My house was damaged very badly last night with all that happened."

Eggman smiled. "Not to worry Vanilla." He flourished a hotel key card, handing it to the astonished rabbit. "I was able to secure a room for you two at a nice hotel downtown. Please use it while repairs are being done on your home."

Vanilla held the card tight to her chest while tears formed in her eyes. She pulled him into a tight hug as she started to cry. "Thank you! How can I ever repay your kindness?"

Eggman was shocked by the sudden embrace but awkwardly reciprocated it. Pulling out of the hug Eggman replied "You can repay me by staying safe and happy. Clank will drive you over whenever you're ready."

Clank dug a set of keys out of his pockets and jingled them merrily before clipping them to his belt loop.

Vanilla nodded and stifled a yawn. "I think it would be best if we went now." She turned her head to look over at her daughter, who had somehow gotten Shadow to play chess with her. "Cream," she called "are you ready to go, dear?"

"Yep!" She replied, hopping out of the chair. She turned to Shadow and said "Thanks for playing with me Mr. Shadow!" Shadow gave a small nod and Cream walked over to her mother. "I'm ready Mom!" She declared.

Vanilla smiled. She took Cream's hand and joined Clank by the door, who volunteered to drive them around for the day. Waving goodbye the three of them left.

A silence fell over the room.

Stone shook his head and looked at Eggman "Was that truly necessary, Ivo? She has every right to know about what happened with the incident."

Eggman sighed. "The one thing we do know is that we don't know much about the incident, Stone."

He beckoned for Clink to come to him and said "Grab the pieces we recovered from the operation." before sending him off.

Shadow growled "Incident? Operation? What are you hiding now, Eggman? Besides the fact you lied to us about Vanillas' location?" Rouge perked up her ears and walked closer to the center of the room, sitting lazily on one of the arms of a chair

Clink came back with a small glass jar in his hand, and gave it to Eggman before exiting upstairs to clean the used rooms.

"What I told Vanilla was the truth...with the exception of one thing." started Eggman "I didn't mention the extent of our enemies preparations."

"Didn't seem to make much of a difference, sugar. You took care of him just the same." Said Rouge. "And I'm grateful that you were able to find her, even if you didn't want us coming along."

"No Rouge, you don't understand." Said Eggman. "That wasn't supposed to be a kidnapping… it was an assassination attempt."

He tossed the glass jar over to Rouge. She caught it and looked inside with a gasp.

In the jar was a small pile of metallic beads.

"The explosion that happened last night? It was enhanced by some leaking tanks in the apartment, but the root cause was from the payload of a human weapon called a claymore. It was pointed downwards at the door, most likely to kill me in the event that I defeated him. Not only that, he had a military grade ECM jammer configured exactly to the layout of the alley."

"What? How is that possible? Not even Rouge or I have regular access to that kind of equipment, and there isn't a chance in hell some two bit thug has those connections!" Yelled Shadow

"There's actually one who does have that power, though I find it difficult to believe that she'd use it like this." Answered Eggman.

Rouge snapped her head over to Eggman and narrowed her eyes. "Honey, you don't truly believe that she would do this, do you?"

Eggman adjusted his glasses "I sincerely hope not."

Shadow growled "Who's she?"

Both Rouge and Eggman looked at Shadow humorously. "Oh come now Shadow, stop playing around. You know who rules here in Mobius." Said Eggman with a chuckle.

"NO I DON'T!" yelled Shadow. "I'VE BEEN STUCK ON A SPACE STATION SINCE BEFORE EITHER OF YOU WERE BORN!"

Stunned silence filled the room until a rustle came from the hospital bed. Stone groaned a bit and then said. "I think it would be best to purchase a history book, Schwarzer Igel. Ivo, for the sake of sleep, pray tell us who is this? My bed is calling but my mind is curious."

Eggman coughed gently before starting. "Certainly. Shadow, the one person that wields enough power for this operation to occur is none other than Princess Sally Acorn."