A/N:

Ffnet is apparently having issues, as I'm not receiving any emails from them at the moment. If I'm having trouble, others may be too, meaning you may not get notifications of new chapters.

I crosspost all fics to , under the same user name. You can comment there without making an account.

I'm also fairly active on Tumblr, under mama-qwerty. Come say hi, or read some writing bits I don't post anywhere else.

Onto the story!

Sounds floated to Silver's ears as he slowly came back into consciousness. A chirping, whistling kind of sound. Birds? That was strange. He hadn't heard that in a long time. Since he was really little.

His head throbbed. What happened? Had he been recaptured? Last thing he remembered was being chased through the city ruins, then . . . a portal? His brain felt fuzzy. He vaguely remembered running toward the portal, and now he was here.

But where was here?

Okay. Stay calm. Focus. One thing at a time.

Silver opened his eyes, blinking a few times as they adjusted to the bright light. That was new. The heavy cloud cover usually kept things dark, even in the middle of the day. He couldn't remember when he'd seen the sun for the last time.

Now that his eyes had adjusted, he furrowed his brow. There was no sky above him. It looked like a ceiling, and his eyes slid to the left to see the tops of a few windows. Outside those windows were tall trees, but they were wrong. They had leaves, and were green. They weren't dead and bare. And the windows themselves were still intact.

Where was he?

He moved his fingers over the object beneath him, and discovered two things. Number one, his gloves were gone, and number two, he was laying on something soft. That was strange. There were no soft things anymore. Everything in his world was broken.

New sounds reached him then, and he rolled his head to the right. He was inside a building (a house?) with a strange creature. It seemed female, with long red hair in a braid down her back. But she didn't have any fur, or look like any creature he'd ever seen before. She was also very tall.

Where was he?

The woman had her back to him, and hadn't noticed he was awake. Moving as quietly as possible, he sat up, wincing as his muscles protested. He was sore all over.

Silver slid down, his bare feet silently touching the floor. So his boots were gone, too. This could be a problem.

The little hedgehog tip-toed to his right, eyes scanning for an exit, or at least a place to hide. This world was large and strange. Had he made a mistake going through that portal?

When the woman moved in the other room, Silver froze. Head whipping around, he spied a small space between the wall and thing he'd woken up on. Moving as quietly as he could, he pushed a small table out of the way and crawled into that space. After a moment's thought, he crawled back out to grab the blanket that had been covering him when he awoke, and pulled it into his hidden spot.

Not the best hiding place, but it would have to do.

~X~X~X~

Callie was wiping down her counter for the third time today—funny how she got the urge to clean when she was anxious—when she heard movement in the living room. Brow furrowed, she moved to where she could see in, and found the couch empty. Her heart skipped a beat—great, is she going to have to hunt the kid down in her house?-when she noticed the blanket sliding behind the couch. As though it were being pulled.

Ducking back into the kitchen, the librarian pulled her phone from her pocket and tapped into her texting screen to contact Wade.

[He's awake. Seems scared. I'm gonna try and talk to him. Will let you know how it goes.]

Her thumb hesitated over the send button, and she argued with herself about telling Wade at all. She could wait until she knew more about the kid before alerting the deputy. If he was hiding just because he was scared, it could mean he wasn't a threat but simply a frightened little boy in a strange new world.

On the other hand, a kid who was scared and possibly had some sort of strange powers wasn't a good combination. Granted, she wasn't exactly sure if the kid even had powers to begin with, but all the other kids like him did, so logic dictated there was no reason to think he didn't. Best to err on the side of caution in that regard. Maybe it would be good to give Wade a heads up, just in case some assistance was needed.

Then again, would having Wade here freak the kid out more? She didn't want him to feel surrounded or outnumbered. He wasn't in the best physical shape, so he may also not be in a great place mentally, either. Waking up in a strange place with no doubt strange looking creatures would throw anyone for a loop, and a kid in as rough shape as he was might take it harder than most.

Ugh. She was going to make herself dizzy thinking in circles like this.

With a deep breath to calm her racing heart, Callie thumbed send. Then she set her phone on the kitchen island, and made her way into the living room.

She moved slowly, making a wide circle so she could see behind the couch. It sat against the wall, three large windows above the back. A side table sat against the arm, normally pushed flat against it, but now sat crooked, as though some creature hurriedly pushed it aside to crawl behind the couch.

Which is what happened. The gray hedgehog huddled in the space between the back of the couch and wall, wrapping the blanket around himself and looking around with big amber eyes. Scared eyes. He caught sight of her and froze, backing himself further into his little nest.

"Hey," she called, making sure to keep her voice soft. "I'm glad you're awake."

He startled at her voice, eyes darting back and forth.

"It's okay," she soothed, sitting on the floor where he could see her, but careful to keep her distance. "I'm not going to hurt you, and there's no one else here. You're safe." She furrowed her brow. "Can you understand me?"

He stared at her for a few seconds, before giving her a very slight nod.

"Oh good. That will make things a little easier."

He didn't respond.

"Do you know where you are?"

Nothing. Then a tiny shake of his head.

"You're on a planet called Earth. Some sort of portal opened, and you came crashing through. You had a pretty rough landing. Do you remember any of that?"

The boy stared at her. He blinked quickly, before shaking his head.

"Are you hurt?"

Another tiny head shake.

"Okay, good." She thought for a second. "Are you hungry?"

He raised his brow, eyes going wide. Biting his lip, he pulled the blanket tighter around himself.

Callie lifted her hands, making a calming gesture toward him. "Easy, kiddo. I'm not going to hurt you. I know it's scary to wake up someplace new, and I'll bet you've never seen anyone who looked like me before, right?"

He stared at her for a second, before nodding.

"Yeah, that would be pretty scary, huh? You don't know if I'm friend or foe. But think about it for a second. If I were gonna hurt you, wouldn't I have done it while you were out?"

His brow furrowed, eyes cast to the side as he thought. Finally he looked back at her and gave another nod.

"That's right. I give you my word I'm a friend. I will not hurt you. I want to help. Now, based on how skinny you are, I'd bet you're pretty hungry, right?"

The boy bit his lip again.

"I'll take that as a yes," Callie said, pushing herself to stand. "I'll get you something. Hang tight."

Moving to the kitchen, the librarian went about making a tuna fish sandwich. Sonic liked them, so she figured it may be a safe bet for this little guy. She cut it into smaller pieces on the plate, dropped a handful of chips next to it, filled a glass with cold water, and walked toward the couch. The boy had been peeking around the edge of the end table as she worked in the kitchen, but now pulled back when she re-entered the living room.

"Here you go," she said, keeping her voice soft. She put the plate on the floor and pushed it forward, keeping most of her body as far from him as possible. Earning his trust meant showing him she wasn't a threat. "I'll need to get closer to put down your water. Are you okay with that?"

He blinked, brows furrowed. Inching backwards, he retreated further behind the couch. She took that as an invitation.

"Okay, I'm just gonna put the cup down here," she said, and did as she described. Once the cup was safely placed near the plate, she scooted back to put space between them again. "I'll let you eat. Just push the plate and cup further out when you're finished."

And with that, she stood and moved back into the kitchen, out of sight.

She stood at the counter, ears tuned to the living room. She didn't dare peek around the corner—he was already pretty skittish and didn't need an audience while he ate. A long minute passed before she heard the first crunch of a potato chip.

Smiling, she wiped down the counter.

~X~X~X~

Silver inched his way back out once the woman had walked back into the other room. He sniffed, tilting his head at the strange scents.

He wasn't quite sure what she had offered, but picked up one of the yellow slices. It was hard, with a gritty substance sprinkled over it. Cautiously, he brought it to his lips and poked his tongue out. Salt woke his taste buds, and his mouth filled with saliva at the promise of food. He crunched down, his stomach grumbling as his appetite fully awoke.

He ate quickly, in case she changed her mind and returned to take back her food. He'd learned that when people offered food, it was best to eat it fast. Sometimes they took it back. And sometimes they expected something in return. Well, almost always they expected something in return. He wasn't sure what she would ask him to do, but since he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten, right now he didn't really care.

The yellow crispy things left greasy crumbs on his fingers, and he licked them clean before moving on to the other food on the plate. There were bits of some sort of meat in between soft, spongy slices, and he bit into one carefully. A smile spread across his lips as he discovered he liked the taste, and he scarfed down the remaining squares quickly.

Once the plate was empty, he picked it up to lick clean. He wasn't sure when he'd eat next, so he didn't want to waste a single crumb.

As he put the plate down, he looked to the glass she had left. She had called this 'water', but it didn't look like any water he'd ever seen. It was crystal clear, with no dirt or things floating in it. He leaned forward and sniffed. No scent. Where did she get such clean water? And why would she waste it on him?

Whatever she was going to ask him to do must be either very important, or very dangerous.

Brow furrowed, he wondered if he should finish. If he didn't drink, maybe that would mean he didn't fully agree to whatever she'd ask. Like a payment that wasn't fully accepted.

But he was so thirsty. And the water looked so good.

He sighed. He couldn't eat the food and then leave the water. It seemed . . . rude. His mother had always told him manners were important. Even now. Especially now. If someone offered you something, you must be grateful and polite. Sometimes people were nicer to you if you were nice first.

He'd found that wasn't always the case. But he tried to do as she had taught him.

Then again, this woman hadn't done anything mean. (Yet.) She'd been nice and quiet and what she said made sense. If she were going to hurt him, why wait until he woke up? She had also brought him into her house. Why do that if she didn't want him around? So maybe she wasn't a danger.

And she'd given him this food, even if it was only because she wanted something in return. But that wasn't too strange, was it? If someone did something for you, it made sense they might want something as payment. He just hoped it wasn't something too hard or scary.

Shaking, he reached forward and wrapped his hands around the glass. He lifted, but before it reached his lips, it slipped from his fingers. The glass shattered against the floor, spilling the precious clean water all over.

His chest tightened and he cursed his carelessness. She'd be furious, and would no doubt punish him for wasting such a rare resource.

Whatever she wanted from him, he would do without question.

~X~X~X~

A car pulled up out front and Callie turned to look out just as the unmistakable sound of glass shattering reached her ears. She swiveled on her heels, heading toward the living room in a hurry.

The boy was halfway out from behind the couch, looking down at the spilled water and broken glass with almost panic in his eyes. As she watched, he reached down, as though he wanted to scoop the water up in his hands.

"Stop!" she called, and the sharp tone startled him upright. A soft cyan glow appeared around his hands, seeming to come from those strange circles on his palms, and she found herself frozen in place, unable to move. "What the . . ."

He breathed hard, eyes wide. She'd obviously scared him.

Then her kitchen door burst open as Wade came in at a run.

"Callie!" he cried, and skidded to a halt when he registered the scene before him. "What-"

That was as far as he got when he too became engulfed in that same cyan glow. He gasped loudly.

"Mind powers!" he cried, his eyes wide as he flicked them back and forth between the boy and Callie. "I told you! I told you!"

"Wade, you are so not helping right now."

"He's like Syndrome!"

A pause. "What?"

"The bad guy from The Incredibles. He had those wrist thingies that froze Mr. Incredible in place while he monologued and-"

"Oh my good lord, Wade, he is not like Syndrome," Callie said, and she would have rubbed her temple could she move. "This doesn't feel like an attack. More of a defensive type of thing. We scared him."

"What do you think he's gonna make us do?" Wade asked, his voice strained. She could hear the panic starting to bleed in. "Rob banks? Overthrow the government? Assassinate the president? I don't want to be an alien puppet of wrongdoing!"

The boy pulled his muzzle into a grimace, his fear quickly turning to panic as he looked between the two.

"Okay!" the librarian called, forcing herself to keep her voice calm. Inside, she herself was on the verge of panic, as none of her limbs would obey her commands. It was a greatly unnerving feeling. "Okay. Let's all just calm down. No one's going to hurt anyone else. We're all going to take a few deep breaths and be much calmer." She looked at the boy. "Does that sound okay?"

The little hedgehog furrowed his brow for a few seconds, flicking his eyes between the two humans. Then he gave a small nod.

"Okay. Good. Wade, are you listening?"

He panted beside her. She didn't like the sound of it. "Y-yeah."

"Easy, Wade. Close your eyes and focus on my voice." She pushed her own panic to the back of her mind and focused on the man beside her. Focused on making her voice soft, soothing, and calm. She couldn't see him from her frozen angle, but his quick breathing brought to mind a rabbit caught in a snare. "We're going to be okay. Just take a deep breath for me. In," she pulled her own breath in, "and out." She pushed it out slowly. "In . . . and out." Locking eyes with the boy, she took another deep breath. "You too, kiddo. In . . . and out."

Callie repeated this slow breathing coaching for another three breaths, and relief replaced the panic when Wade's breathing slowed and evened out. The boy also looked a little more calm.

"Wade, you good?"

He was quiet for a few seconds, and when he spoke his voice was soft. "Yeah. I'm okay."

"Okay," she said, mostly to herself. "Good." She looked back toward the boy. "I'm sorry I scared you. I just didn't want you to hurt yourself on the broken glass."

The hedgehog's eyes flicked down at the mess before him before moving back to her. His brows pinched, then he shifted, pushing himself to stand. He looked down at his knees, and Callie followed his gaze.

Red smears coated the fur there. He must have accidentally knelt on some of the glass when she startled him.

"Oh no," she said, hissing in breath between her teeth. "Oh kiddo, I'm so sorry. Let me go and we'll get those fixed up." He furrowed his brow, eyes narrowed. "I promise I won't hurt you. Neither one of us will. We just want to help. Please."

Uncertainty flickered behind his eyes, but he gave a small nod. The glow around his hands faded, and she and Wade regained control of their bodies. Callie took a few deep breaths, relaxing her tense muscles.

"Okay," she said, exhaling. "Thank you. Stay right there. Don't move. And don't touch any of the glass or water. We'll be right back."

She turned to Wade, who was rubbing the back of his neck. "Can I speak to you in the kitchen for a second?"

Without giving him a chance to respond, she grabbed his arm and dragged him after her. Once they were around the corner, she rounded to him.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed, keeping her voice low.

Confusion clouded his face. "Wha . . . you said he was awake."

"Yeah, and that I was going to talk to him."

He pointed toward the living room. "He had you frozen with his . . . whatever it is power!"

"I had scared him about a second before you came bursting in like the place was on fire!"

"I wanted to be here in case he was dangerous!"

"Yeah, big help you were, too. Thanks."

Wade flinched as if struck, and Callie uttered a soft grunt while she massaged her temples. Feeling stressed over this insane situation she found herself in didn't excuse her continued snapping at the one guy who was just trying to watch out for her. Who was just trying to help.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, laying a gentle hand on his arm. "I'm sorry I keep snapping at you. It was sweet of you to come and try to protect me."

A shy smile curled his lips. "Ah, just trying to . . . ya know, do what Tom would."

"Well, thank you for your concern. Really. I appreciate it."

He shrugged. "Thanks for helping in there. With the breathing thing, I mean."

She waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. I was pretty close to freaking out, myself."

"Ah, I don't believe that. You're always so calm and in control."

She uttered a short laugh. "Yeah. Not always." She peeked into the living room before turning back to Wade. "Could you clean up that mess while I get him bandaged up?"

He nodded. "Sure. Point me in the right direction and I'll get it taken care of."

Callie showed him where the various cleaning supplies were, and suggested he hang back until she took the boy into the bathroom. The last thing they wanted to do was crowd him.

As Wade set about gathering his supplies, Callie walked back into the living room. She approached the boy slowly, giving him a friendly smile as she drew near. He stood still, head lowered, hugging himself tightly. As she watched, he moved his left hand to his muzzle and stroked the fur there.

"Is it okay if I come closer?"

He bit his lip, but nodded.

"Don't be afraid," she soothed, closing the distance. "I won't hurt you." She carefully stepped around the glass shards on the floor, lightly tip-toeing through the puddle. "I'll need to pick you up to get you to the bathroom, is that okay?"

His head shot up, eyes wide. He took a shaky step backwards.

Callie held up her hands. "Hey, easy. I just don't want you to cut yourself any more. You're barefoot, and there's glass everywhere. I'll only carry you until we're past the glass. Then you can walk. Deal?"

The boy looked down at the glass, and bit his lip again. Then he looked back up at her and nodded.

"Okay, here we go."

She moved toward him with slow, steady movements, and he raised his arms. Gently, she lifted him over the glass and puddle, maneuvering herself away from the mess.

Every bone was painfully evident through his skin, and his fur was rough and filthy. It brought to mind a stray cat she'd once taken care of—too troubled with surviving to bother with cleaning itself.

What had this boy come from?

"There you go," she said, placing him back on his feet. "This way."

She led him into the downstairs bathroom, as Wade moved into the living room to clean the mess.

~X~X~X~

Silver sat on a strange stool in a little room. The lights were bright in here. Almost too bright. He kept his eyes down.

The woman was rummaging through a cabinet, looking for first aid supplies. He wanted to tell her she didn't have to bother. He'd had worse than these little cuts on his knees. Much worse.

Why was she being so nice to him? He'd spilled her water. Broken her glass. Held her and that man in his telekinesis, which had apparently scared them both. Why didn't they attack him after he had released them? Or at least yell at him, tell him to go away?

Maybe what she needed him to do was super dangerous. She wants him to be at his best so he'll have a better chance to succeed.

Yeah. That must be it.

"Okay," she said, turning to him. She held a cloth in one hand that had some kind of foam on it. "I need to wash your knees to make sure there's no glass still in the wounds, and to prevent infection." He nodded. "I'll be as gentle as I can, but it may sting a bit." Another nod.

She nodded in return and knelt before him. When the cloth touched his knee he hissed in breath. It did sting. More than he thought it would.

"Sorry, kiddo," she said, her voice soft. She gently wiped his wound. "Be brave for me for just another minute, okay?"

He bit his lip, and tried so hard not to cry. The pain in his knees, the fear of this world, the guilt from wasting such clean water, the unknown danger she'd no doubt send him into when he was healed . . . it was all too much. Tears brimmed in his eyes, slowly trickling down his muzzle.

A tear fell onto the back of her hand and she looked up, her face opening in surprise. "Oh, kiddo . . . oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. Does it hurt that bad?"

He shook his head, sniffling in a shuddery breath.

"Sorry," he said, his voice little more than a harsh croak. He hadn't spoken in a while. He swallowed, trying again. "I'm sorry."

Her brows furrowed. "For what? The glass?" She shrugged. "It's okay, sweetie. It was an accident. No harm done."

He frowned. "But . . . your water . . ."

She smiled. "Plenty more where that came from," she said, finishing her work on his knee and moving to the other one. "Don't you worry. We'll get you all cleaned up and then you can have another drink."

His eyes went wide. "You have more?"

"Of course." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Do you not have a lot of water where you're from?"

He shook his head. "Water is rare. And I've never seen it as clean as that."

She furrowed her brows. He wasn't quite sure what that meant. Was she angry?

"Well, I'll be glad to get you some more, once we're done here," she said, and stood to move to the little bowl above the cabinet she had dug into before. She turned a lever and water rushed out of the center piece.

"Careful!" he cried, leaping to his feet on the stool and reaching under the little spout to cup his hands. "Don't let it spill!" The water, which looked just as clean as the drink had been, ran through his fingers to drain through a small hole at the bottom of the bowl. "No!"

The woman reached forward and twisted the lever again, turning off the stream. "Honey, it's okay."

"No!" Silver cried again, licking his wet fingers. "It's so clean, you don't need to waste it on me, I'm sorry I spilled your other water, I'm sorry I broke your glass, I'm sorry I froze you, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so sorry please don't hurt me I promise I'll try harder-"

Tears ran down his muzzle in streams now, and all his fear, all his worry came flowing out. He was scared, he was confused, he was tired and hungry and thirsty and had no clue where he was or how he really got here or what to do next. This woman was being so nice but there had to be a catch, there just had to be, because no one's nice just because, and no one shares food and water for no reason.

What did she want from him? What did she want to do to him?

~X~X~X~

The little gray hedgehog stood on the toilet, his hands clenched against the sink, as tears rolled down his cheeks. He spouted apologies, promises, and pleas of mercy and forgiveness.

Callie stood in shock. The things he said . . . the way his face twisted as he cried . . . it was heartbreaking.

What kind of horrible world did this kid come from?

"Hey," she said, once she had found her voice. "Hey, whoa, it's okay." She pulled his hands from the edge of the sink and ran her thumbs over the backs. Over those strange circles on them. "Hey . . . what's your name?"

The endless stream of words slowed, and he blinked at her. His nose scrunched up in a sniff. "Wh-what?"

"Your name. We never introduced ourselves." She gave him a small smile. "My name's Callie."

He stood silent for a second, his brow furrowed. Another sniff, then, "My name is Silver."

She gave a little nod. "Silver. Okay. It's very nice to meet you, Silver. Do you want to take a few deep breaths?" He nodded, lowering his head to wipe his eyes with an arm. "Okay. Here we go."

Callie led him through three deep breaths, and after the last, he gave another sniff. A small smile curled his lips.

"Thanks."

"Feeling a little better?" He nodded. "Good. I think your knees look okay, the cuts seem mostly superficial." She glanced down and noticed the areas she had cleaned with the washcloth looked at least two shades brighter than the rest of his fur. She chewed her cheek. "Silver?"

He lifted his head, rubbing an eye with a fist. "Yeah?"

"Do you . . . Would you like to take a bath?"

The boy lowered his hand, his brow furrowed. "What is it?"

Callie nearly slapped her forehead. If water was as scarce as he claims on his world, it stood to reason no one would bathe in what little they had.

"It's, well, it's when you fill a tub," she pointed to it, "with water and get in to wash yourself off."

His eyes went wide. "Why would you use water like that?"

"Because it's not as rare here as it is on your world. And it feels really good to be clean. No offense, but you look like you could use a good shampoo."

Another brow furrow. "Shampoo?"

"It's what you use to wash your hair. Or fur, in this case."

The boy looked at the tub, uncertain. He scratched at the fluff of fur on his chest. Callie could almost hear him worrying about how deep the tub was, how much water would be wasted.

"How about a shower instead?" she suggested, making him turn back to her. "You use less water that way, and it might be better to get you rinsed properly anyway."

He turned back to the tub, still scratching that fluff. When he pulled his hand away he looked at it, frowning. His hand had still been wet, and now it was caked with dirt and ash from his fur.

"You don't have to if you're not comfortable," she said, her voice soft. "All this must be so different than what you know. But I guarantee you'll feel a lot better being clean."

Another long moment passed, before Silver nodded, looking back at Callie. "Okay."

"Great," she said. "Why don't you go to the bathroom, and I'll let Wade know what's going on."

She gave him a quick rundown of the toilet—trying to keep the description, ahem, polite—before heading back out toward the kitchen.

~X~X~X~

In the living room, the shattered glass and water were gone, and the end table was pushed flush with the couch again. The blanket Silver had pulled behind the couch was folded neatly on the arm.

In the kitchen, Wade leaned against her island, answering a few texts.

"Thanks for cleaning that up, and please tell me you're not texting Tom," she said, grabbing some water from the fridge. She held a bottle out to him.

Wade smiled, shaking his head. "You're welcome, and nah, just checking in with the station."

"I'm not keeping you from some drug syndicate that was just waiting for Tom to leave to start their illegal activities, am I? In this hotbed of crime that is Green Hills."

He uttered a laugh as he pocketed his phone and took the offered water bottle. "Aw, you know this place. Nothin' much happens."

"Except for all the alien kids that keep dropping in, that is."

He nodded, his smile fading. "Yeah, except for that. So how is he?"

She let out a sigh. "Talking. His name is Silver, and the good news is I'm pretty sure he's not here for the boys."

The deputy furrowed his brow. "Okay, good. Uh, is there bad news?"

Callie pulled her lips tight. "Based on what he's been saying, I think his world was a really horrible place."

Wade furrowed his brow. "How horrible?"

She shrugged. "There was barely any water, and based on how freaking light he is, and the fact that I felt every bone in his little body through his skin . . ." Another shrug. "Food didn't seem all that plentiful, either."

Silence descended in the kitchen, and Callie took a drink from her water bottle. "I don't think he's been treated very well."

"How do you know that?"

She shrugged. "Just some of the things he said. He just seems . . . beaten down."

"Like he's seen some things?" His voice was soft. "Like . . . scary, horrible things?"

Another swig from her bottle. She nodded. The marks on his wrists and ankles came to mind, and she shivered.

"Oh," Wade said, downing his first drink. "Well, I guess he landed in the right backyard, huh?"

Callie flicked her eyes to the deputy.

"'Cause if anyone can help him, you can."

She didn't know how to respond to that. Well, scratch that, there were plenty of knee-jerk replies she could have shot back, ranging from good old self-depreciating humor, to full-fledged defensive anger. None of which would have ended well, and considering she'd snapped unnecessarily at Wade a few times today already, she figured it was safer to simply keep her mouth shut.

She wanted to help Silver. She did. He was alone on a strange world with no one. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to take care of him, and make sure he never had to deal with whatever happened to him on his planet ever again.

But the vault loomed heavy on her mind. All that pain. All that heartache. All that suffering.

Wade pretty much assumed from the beginning that she would take Silver in, much like the Wachowskis had taken in their little alien refugees. They hadn't hesitated. All three of those kids had a home pretty much immediately after the Robotnik fight. Now they're all one big happy family.

And she was happyfor them. Really.

But as much as she wanted to take care of Silver, she wasn't sure she wanted to take in Silver. She hadn't exactly wanted a(nother) kid. She wasn't mother material. She could be impatient and too sarcastic and she liked her privacy and quiet. And besides, the boy was probably better off with a family who could deal with his trauma better than she could.

She could barely deal with her own.

Ignore it, you mean, her mind whispered.

Well, ignoring was a way of dealing. Denial was a great way to deal with emotional pain. Right? Shut up, brain.

"Callie?" a little voice called, and she and Wade turned to see a little gray hedgehog peeking into the kitchen.

She pushed a smile to her lips. "Yeah, kiddo?"

His eyes flicked to Wade, and he seemed to shrink. "I'm done."

"Okay. Do you want to come in and meet Wade?"

The boy bit his lip and shrank more.

"Hey, it's okay," Wade said, moving toward the kitchen door. "I'd better get back to it. Gotta whole town that needs sheriffing, ya know." He turned back to Silver as he opened the door. "You settle in, little guy. We can talk when you're more comfortable." He turned back to Callie. "Call if you need anything. I'll check back with you later."

Callie nodded, and gave Wade a wave as he left.

Once the police car pulled away, she turned back to Silver.

"Now about that shower . . ."