by Kris, a.k.a. Midnight el Gatito
Disclaimer: Yo, look, people: the only thing I own here is Midnight the Cat, this story, and my clothes. A'ight?
Author's Note: (sticks her tounge out) Nyah! Now you Knux and/or Amy fans shall see what I was talking about! (mutters) Impatient little...
Zoewolf: glare Just show me the story...
; Um...heh...O.O;;; So...here's chapter Two! Heh...heh...
XX
Tails jolted awake. Confused and not understanding what woke him, he laid still, listening for whatever it was. He usually slept heavily, so it must've been something really out of the ordinary.
Then he heard it again. Sobbing...
Even more confused, he threw the covers off and bolted from the bed. He went for the door, which opened at his touch.
In the hallway connecting the bedrooms, a bleary-eyed Shadow cast the fox boy a questioning look.
"What's wrong?" Tails gasped out.
The black hedgehog shrugged, just as confused. "I thought you might've been having the nightmares again..." He glanced at Sonic's door.
Tails followed his gaze. He silently walked over and pushed the door open.
Nothing could've prepared him for the sight awaiting him. Sonic sat on his unmade bed, his red-rimmed eyes focusing on nothing. He rocked back and forth, his arms holding his knees close to his chest in an upright fetal position. He gave no recognition of the fact that Tails and now Shadow had entered his room.
Tails stared at his hero. Sonic the Hedgehog, super hero, all-around great guy. The guy who had it all together, cool, calm and collected...bawling his eyes out? It defied the laws of nature.
The two standing at the door could hear some of the hedgehog's ramblings. "...too late...I was...too late...couldn't save her...Amy..." His emerald eyes suddenly switched to Shadow, focusing on him eerily. "I have to do better this time," he stated, suddenly coherent, almost decisively, seeming to have gleaned something from his study of the other hedgehog.
Without warning, he bolted from his bed and through the open door. Tails gaped at his retreating form before following, Shadow close behind.
They found him in the kitchen, perched precariously on a stool, phone in hand and frantically pushing numbers.
"Hello? May I speak to Amy? Huh? Oh, it's Sonic." He waited for a moment before speaking again. "Amy? Hey, it's-" He jerked the phone away from his ear, and even from his position a few feet away, Tails heard Amy squeal.
A barely disguised chuckle erupted from Shadow, now wide-awake. Sonic shot him a glare before holding the phone back to his ear. "Amy, settle down. I just wanted to ask if..." The hedgehog paused again. "Uh...would you consider...staying here...for a while?"
Eyes wide, Tails glanced at Shadow, who stared back, just as stunned.
"Yeah. Yes, that's what I said." Sonic's cheeks reddened. "Uh, no, not like that. Different rooms. Yeah. Yeah? Uh...OK, I guess we could fit her in. Yeah, Rouge, too. As long as you don't all mind sharing a room." He grinned suddenly. "Really? Awright, see ya tomorrow. Later."
He put the phone back in the cradle and hopped from his seat. "Now I just gotta get Knux to stay here," he mused, not noticing the incredulous gazes of Tails and Shadow.
"Amy's going to stay...here?" Shadow asked, jutting one forefinger at the ground.
Sonic nodded, lost in thought. "Yeah, yeah, just for a while." He squinted, looking at something neither of his housemates could see. "Long enough to make sure."
"Make sure?" Tails piped up. "Make sure of what?"
His older brother's gaze switched to him. He studied him, then shook his head. "Nothing, T. Nothing at all..."
Shadow gave the other hedgehog a long, hard look. "Then why are you inviting Amy to come stay here?"
Sonic met his gaze. "Do you think she'll be safe here?" he asked, avoiding the question. "Safer than at her house?"
The black hedgehog's frown deepened. "I suppose. With us here...but why?"
Sonic fidgeted anxiously; not an unusual action for him, like whenever someone slowed him down. But fidgeting because he had to answer a question seemed alien to his nature. He usually met it head on, acted first, and didn't stop to think. Tails felt something inside clench painfully.
"Sonic...what is it?" he asked anxiously.
The blue hedgehog's eyes shifted around the softly lit room. The only light came from the slowly rising sun. The window above the kitchen sink looked to the east at the glorious sunrise, the top decked with blue curtains Amy had brought over a few weeks ago. She'd claimed that the house looked way too much like a bachelor's pad, even if it was one. She'd also roped Cream and Midnight into coming, and the trio of invaders set about cleaning and sprucing up the house. The trio that actually lived there looked on with a mixture of annoyance, bewilderment, then reluctant acceptance.
The girls had done a great job. Even Sonic had to agree with that sentiment. But this early in the morning, with a sense of doom and gloom hanging over his head, Tails saw only the shadows, the darkness, the uncertainty.
Sonic still didn't meet either of his friend's eyes. His own came to rest on an apparently interesting part of his foot. Tails looked, just in case, but it was just the same old blue toes.
"Sonic." The one word caused both Sonic and Tails' eyes to fly to Shadow, who'd spoken. The dark hedgehog gazed at both of them, though mainly Sonic. "What is it? Why do you want Amy to stay here?"
He didn't say it, but Tails could almost see the words cross his eyes. Especially when you would've given anything to get away from her yesterday...
Sonic saw, too. His eyes switched to Tails, then Shadow again. They wandered around toward the window, but came back to Shadow when the other hedgehog snapped his fingers.
The darker hedgehog shook his head. "Don't try to get out of it. Answer the question."
Sonic shuffled around a bit, but his eyes never left Shadow's face. "Well, it's just- see, what I mean is-" He sighed heavily. His eyelids covered emerald orbs.
"I'll tell you," he whispered. His eyes opened and darted to Tails. "But only if Tails leaves the room."
Tails stiffened, pulling himself to his full height. "Why?" he challenged, offended. "Why can't I hear?"
Sonic met his gaze firmly. "There is no way I'm gonna tell you this," he said, his tone ungiving. "It's too much." His eyes closed again, but not before Tails caught a glimpse of pain behind them.
Shadow hesitantly laid a hand on Tails' shoulder. "Maybe...maybe you should leave." He bent down to look at Tails directly. "OK?"
He didn't need to say it, but the fox heard loud and clear; whatever it was had made Sonic incredibly upset, to the point that he invited Amy to stay in a room next to his. What made Tails think he could take it any better?
He nodded reluctantly. "OK, I guess." He looked between Sonic and Shadow, then slowly shuffled back to his room.
Sonic opened his eyes again and stared out the window. "Is it safe?"
Shadow crept to the kitchen door and pushed it open. There wasn't any sign of Tails listening in. He went back into the room and nodded. "Safe."
Sonic sighed heavily. He ran his bare fingers through his spines in an unmistakable sign of distress. "As you already know," he began, "it's about Amy...and Knuckles."
He ran through the entire account without looking at Shadow. He ended the story and glanced at him now.
The other hedgehog's tan muzzle had faded into a milky white color, close to the color of the tips of Tails' namesakes. His grip on the edge of the counter turned his ungloved knuckles white, even under the blanket of black fur. And his eyes were closed- shut against the horror of Sonic's words, against what might happen.
Sonic nodded to himself. "You see, now," he said. "You see I have to do whatever I can to save them. I won't let them die again. Once is enough..." He stared into Shadow's opened eyes. "Twice is torture."
Taking a deep breath, Shadow did not even attempt to release his grip. He exhaled forcefully. "What can I do to help?" he asked quietly.
MwaHA! Do you understand now? Sonic must stop Mecha from destroying his friends.
But wait, wasn't it all just a dream? Perhaps...but then, fact often follows fiction...:evillaugh: Waitaminute...all of a sudden, I feel like getting Johnathan Frakes' autograph...hmm...
Shadow: -.-; Suddenly, I feel REEEEALLY bad about all this...