Okay...so after starting work on converting Secrets of the Emeralds to graphic novel format, I'm in a serious Sonic mood :P Enjoy!

CHT.BI: Thanks :) As for who it was...you'll find out in this chapter ;)

Kj: You did; you got me a review :P That counts as a Christmas pressie, at least to me ;)

XTailsX: Ah...but are they? And thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it :D

Pyro Hedgehog4Ever: (blushes) Well...it's kinda what I do for a living :) The Void...it is still out there but it's behaving itself at the moment :P Or at least, not coming after Sonic et al; I figured they had enough to be going on with right now ;) It'll show up again, don't you worry (weg)

Toboe16: Heh, I live to worry people ;) As for Tails talking to Sonic...well, the answer is both yes and no. That's yes, it's very likely he'll talk to him and no, not in this story.

Matri90: You'll have to wait and see ;) The bedtime story...sort of. It was based on a story I heard when I was about four; a king wanted to touch the moon and got all the boxes in the kingdom, built a tower, stood on it, found he was one box short and told his advisors to pull out the bottom box and...well, you know the rest ;) I updated it and changed it a lot to make it more echidna-like but that was the original inspiration :P

FriedBrickWall: (Sonic: Hey, I was kidding! Though it was kinda disappointing, but still, I. Was. Kidding!) Is Lugnor a real name...well, not really, but then Espio isn't either :P If you really want to know where it came from, I went onto WorldLingo. Espio's name literally means I spy. I worked on the spy theme and Lugnor (or something similar) turned out to be the Dutch for liar. I think it was Dutch, anyway :S

SaffraEchidna: Thanks; glad you liked it :D

Asher Tye: Heh, you're right about Espio; I was wondering if anyone was gonna comment on it :P I'm not sure what his friends are going to think...maybe they won't find out ;) Sonic and Tails back on friendly terms...it's likely to happen at some point :)

Moonpaw7: Thanks, I'll try :)

Guardian's Log no. 11483

I'm losing my grip on things. That's twice today I've heard something that wasn't there. It can't have been Scarface – at least, not the second one – because I know for a fact that Mighty threw him out...and when Mighty throws someone out, they stay thrown. Tails was asleep, Sonic was with me and I can't think why Espio would spy on us...then again, he doesn't usually need a reason.

--Knuckles the Echidna

My Memoirs by Me

Where the hell did ol' Knucklehead learn to play knockout whist like that? Man, and I thought Bait was good! I now owe Knux seventeen Mobiums (and whoever came up with the points method of reckoning winnings should be strung up by his big toe!)

Had the usual debate/argument with Bait about baths, or lack thereof in his case. I did manage a compromise though; the kid's more than happy to shower. Personally, I don't see what the difference is between going into a tub of water and going into a forest lake, although admittedly there's no carpet to worry about splashing in the forest.

Tails wasn't nearly this difficult though, but I think I'm starting to get a handle on this responsibility lark.

--Sonic the Hedgehog

Dear Diary

I'm writing this hunched down in a giant beanbag and hoping that Scarface doesn't catch me. Yes, he's here, in the CDA office. Knux said he'll protect me (at least, I think that's what he implied; it's so hard to tell with Knuckles) but he's not here at the minute and if Scarface comes in and finds me...he can go invisible just like Espio so there's no way I'd even know. I hope the rest of the CDA see through him though.

--Tails

Bait's Jurnal

This is gonna be the last entry. I'm outta here. Not to Raker but to a place far away from here where I can live on my own. No Raker, no Sonic and no more getting hurt neither. Sonic can keep his bruther. I dont want nuthing mor to do with him.

It hurts tho. Big time. I wish I cud say Im suprised but Im not. I guess I was wayting for sumthing like this to happen.

So whys it still hurt?

--Bait the Jakkel

Tails was still sound asleep when Knuckles got back into the room, if you could call the occasional whimper and twitch sound, the echidna thought. No prizes for guessing what the kid was dreaming about either. Knuckles knew what that meant. The healing process was beginning, but to heal you had to suffer first.

That kid's in for some very, very bad nights.

He sighed. Indirectly, so was he; Tails really was a lot tougher than even Knuckles would have given him credit for in the beginning, but he was still just a little kid.

Yeah. And guess where little kids go for comfort after a screaming nightmare?

Well, Knuckles supposed that he couldn't deny the kid. After all, he knew better than most people what it was like to wake up after a terrifying nightmare and have nobody to turn to.

"Bait still in the bathroom?" Sonic said from the doorway. Knuckles glanced at him.

"What the hell are you asking me for? He's your shadow."

"Ha ha," Sonic informed him. "Was that a yes or a no?"

The echidna sighed. "No. Not unless he's taken to bathing with the door open."

Sonic snorted. "Fat chance. If there's a lock, he has to put it across. Well, if he's out I'm going in for a shower." Sonic turned back to the corridor and raised his voice. "Anyone wanna use the bathroom, speak now or forever hold your pees 'cause I'm gonna be a while! Anyone? Last call? Okay, too late, it's mine."

He raced away, slamming and locking the door behind him. A few minutes later, Knuckles heard the sound of running water and shortly afterwards Sonic's voice raised in song, or at least a close approximation.

"Oh, I've been all around the world and I've never kissed a girl, but the beggar's daughter brought me to my knees. So I took her in an alley, and then inside a valley, where I found she had a chronic case of fleas."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. The Cherry Pip Song, as it was commonly known, was a popular drinking song (especially in the Jungle Zone) and one of Sonic's favourites, despite the fact that he rarely bothered to sing all nine verses in the right order.

Glancing at Tails' sleeping form, Knuckles got to his feet and moved over to study the bookshelves.

Man, what I wouldn't give for five minutes inside that echidna library...

He couldn't, though. That was the worst part of it as far as the echidna was concerned; he had no idea where to find it and even he wasn't callous enough to ask Tails to go back in there, not after the poor kid had only just got out. The thought of his people's records lying there until the end of time was bad, and the thought of people like Sekko getting their oily hands on them was worse.

Reaching up, he pulled down a crime novel and started reading it.

He'd got about a quarter of the way through when Sonic arrived, still towelling himself off, glanced at the book and remarked, "The psychotic teacher did it," then threw himself into a spare beanbag.

Knuckles considered his options, then snapped the book shut. "Alright. Since you've finished your vertical bath – for a hydrophobe you spend a hell of a long time in that shower – and ruined what little entertainment I can find in this place, you might as well tell me what you want."

Sonic reached around, rubbing his shoulders dry as he answered, "I wanna talk to you."

"Obviously."

"Those footsteps...what'd they sound like?"

Knuckles considered for a long while before replying. "Like footsteps."

Sonic paused mid-towel and glowered at him. "Oh, you're a riot! Can't you be any more specific?"

"No. They were footsteps, Sonic. What more do you want me to say?"

"Where were they heading?"

Knuckles frowned, more in concentration than anger. "I think...away from us. Yeah. Away and pretty fast too. Why?"

Sonic took a long, deep breath, expelled it abruptly and took another one.

"Bait's gone. There's no sign of a struggle, but none of his stuff's gone either. Knux, you don't suppose...you don't think Raker got Scarface to come down and distract us?"

"Doubt it." Knuckles' thoughts were on a simpler, yet somehow far more complicated situation. "Sonic, what were you saying just before I mentioned the footsteps?"

Sonic frowned. "I dunno...something about how you'd take Tails and I'd take Bait and then I called him a kleptomaniac—" He broke off, paling. "Oh no."

"Oh yes." Knuckles shook his head. "You must really love the taste of your foot, Sonic, given the number of times you stuff it in your mouth."

"You don't really think—"

"What? That Bait overheard and took off on his own? Yeah."

Sonic looked at the echidna. "Knuckles, what is it about me? Every time I say something, someone else overhears and takes it the wrong way! First it was Tails in the Casino Zones and now Bait here."

In spite of the situation, Knuckles smirked slightly. "Well, Sonic, you know what the solution is, don't you? Next time, don't talk or write about someone behind their back because you never know if they're spying on you."

"We have to find him, Knuckles."

"We?" the echidna echoed. "Oh no. No way. You're not roping me into this one, Sonic; I'm staying right here. Tails needs me."

"I need you. Tails is out for the count and trust me, Knux, when that kid sleeps, he sleeps. I doubt he'll wake up before midday tomorrow. Raker's still out there and if he finds Bait alone..." Sonic let the sentence trail off.

"Hm. Very dramatic, very stirring and yet I'm completely unfazed. I told you, Sonic; Bait's your responsibility. I'm not going out there with you on some wild hunt and nothing you say is going to change my mind."

"I'll tell the CDA you hugged Tails and told him a bedtime story."

There was a long, long silence.

"Damn you, hedgehog," Knuckles muttered as he pushed past to haul himself out of the open window. "I'll take the park. You search the rest of the Zone and then meet me there." He turned and started to climb the side of the building without waiting for a reply.

In the park in question, Bait stood staring at a tree. There was a knot on it that looked a little like Sonic, if you squinted and turned your head to one side. Taking a deep breath, he started to pummel it as hard as he could, oblivious to the resultant pain in his knuckles.

"I hate you! Hate you hate you hate you hate you hate..." He couldn't find the words to go on. Instead he just continued punching blindly, not even noticing when the blood started to fly from his knuckles with every blow he dealt out.

"Hey!" A white obstacle appeared in front of the tree and Bait took no notice, just hit it hard. It closed around his fist and held him, not tightly but firmly enough to stop him pulling away.

It says something for Bait's strength of feeling that he barely noticed, not even when the other hand received exactly the same treatment. Unable to punch, he switched to kicks instead, but every single one fell short. Eventually, he ran out of energy and leaned against whatever was holding his hands, panting rapidly. He'd only ever felt this exhausted once before in his life, when the gang had been bored and spent the entire afternoon playing Hide'n'Hunt, and run him into the ground in the process.

"Finished?" a voice said coolly from in front of him and the jackal looked up into Knuckles' eyes.

"You!" The pain and anger surged up in him again and he struggled wildly, trying to resume his attack, all to no avail.

"Finished?" Knuckles said again in exactly the same tones when Bait ran out of energy for the second time.

"Knuckles, you're dead! You hear me? After everythin' that's happened...after everythin' we...you..." Bait turned his head away, ashamed by the tears he knew Knuckles could see shining in his eyes. "Leave me alone," the echidna heard him mutter, and shook his head.

"No, but I'll turn my head away and won't look until you manage to get yourself sorted out, how about that?"

"Jus' leave me alone!" Bait shouted again. "That's what you're both gonna do anyway, innit? You an' Sonic both got your buddy now so you c'n forget all 'bout me! Yeah, well, fine! You go your way, Sonic goes his an' you c'n take your lil buddy with you! I helped you an' now you got what you want an' so you dunt need me no more, right?" He tried unsuccessfully to tug his hands free again. "Well, that's fine mister, 'cause I dunt need you! I dunt need you an' I dunt need Sonic neither! I heard what he said; he on'y wants me to stick around 'cause Tails blew him off. I ain't gonna be no one's booby prize, mister, an' you c'n tell Sonic that from me!"

"Why don't you turn around and tell him yourself?" Sonic said very quietly from behind him. "Let him go, Knux."

Knuckles complied, although his stance said that he was quite ready to grab Bait again should the need arise. The jackal spun around, glaring at Sonic with an intensity that inwardly surprised the hedgehog.

Sonic folded his arms across his chest, his face calm and composed as he looked Bait squarely in the eyes, holding the young jackal's gaze for so long that Bait began to squirm slightly. Finally Sonic spoke.

"Is that really what you think of me?" he said, more seriously than Knuckles had ever heard him speak before. "That I'm only offering to keep you with me because there's nothing and no one better on offer?"

For all his faults, Bait was no coward, Knuckles had to admit; the jackal hesitated for a brief instant, then nodded mutinously, keeping that accusing gaze fixed on Sonic.

"I see." Still the same serious, level tone. Sonic looked over at the echidna. "Knuckles, will you leave us alone, please?"

Knowing full well that he'd most likely get a thorough (if somewhat rambling) account of the conversation from Sonic – the hedgehog could never keep serious things to himself for very long – Knuckles obliged. He wanted to check on Tails anyway.

"Right." Sonic continued staring at Bait, not angrily, just...steadily. "You didn't answer this question back in the Aquatic Ruin Zone, so let me ask you again. Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me? The last time I saw Tails, it was through a hail of insults and flying rocks. He said, and I quote, 'if you're gonna keep being such an ungrateful jerk, then you can go to hell'. His words, not mine, and yet I trudged all over Mobius for him. What makes you think I'd abandon you?"

"You tell me, mister! You're the one who was talkin' 'bout me'n'Tails!"

"Which proves three things, Bait; firstly that you've been eavesdropping on at least one of mine and Knuckles' conversations, secondly that it's true listeners never hear any good of themselves and thirdly that you didn't even hear all of it." Sonic shook his head. "I understand your concerns, but why on Mobius didn't you just ask me yourself instead of sneaking around? I thought we'd gotten past all that."

"Thought wrong then, dint you mister?"

There was a long silence.

"No," Sonic said at the end of it, "I don't think I did. I think I'll just choose to believe it was a lapse of judgment, and that's not answering my question. You were worried what would happen once we'd found Tails, fine, I understand that. But why didn't you ask me?"

"'Cause...'cause..."

"Yeah?" Sonic prompted, his tones never altering.

"I thought you'd lie. Y'know, like mebbe you knew you needed me an' so you'd say anythin' to keep me from leavin'."

"I see," Sonic said again. "A liar who betrays his friends. I had no idea you had such a high opinion of me, Bait."

The jackal scuffed a toe along the ground. "Well, now you know, mister."

"Yeah, now I know. I'll tell you something else I know, kiddo. I know the other reason you never asked me; you weren't afraid I'd lie, you were afraid I'd tell the truth and the truth wouldn't be what you wanted to hear."

Bait opened his mouth.

"You've been very honest for most of this conversation," Sonic added. His tone was still perfectly level, but now there was a faint warning there as well. "Don't even think of lying to me now, Bait. Even if I wasn't going to keep you with me, I would have seen you alright before leaving. Maybe you just use and lose people in that damned gang of yours, but I've never gone down that path and I've no intention of doing so either."

"Mister...I don't think you're exactly a liar—"

"A liar is someone who tells a lie, Bait," Sonic cut across curtly. "It doesn't matter if he does it once in his entire life or once every five seconds; he's still a liar."

"Did you know, then? If I'd asked you back at Aquatic Ruin, would you've been able to tell me what you was plannin' to do with me?"

"No," Sonic said candidly, "but I'd have been able to tell you that I wouldn't leave you stranded." He shook his head. "Bait, you are no booby prize, as you put it, and the only time I've been seriously tempted to leave you alone to your own devices occurred during the last ten minutes."

Bait's head snapped up to look at Sonic and the hedgehog saw for the first time how scared the kid really was.

He's only two years older than Tails. Sonic was never able to explain why that realisation hit him so suddenly, but there was no escaping it. He's still just a little kid, and...

Understanding dawned and he took a deep breath.

"You're still afraid of Raker, aren't you?"

Bait squirmed. "Mister...you still dunt really know what he's like. One guy, he run off and when Raker caught him he ripped the skin from his back while he was still alive. I was on'y six then, but I still remember it like it was yesterday."

"Did he die?" Sonic asked very quietly.

"Well, no, mister. Least, not at first. He might've survived, but the bugs came an' got a hold an' then there was all these squirmy things wrigglin' in his flesh an'..." Bait looked away. "He died then, mister, but it took him a long time."

"Tell me something," Sonic said flatly. "Why do you really want to stay with me? Do you want to do it because we're friends, or because you just want your own personal bodyguard?"

"Why'd Tails first come along with you, mister? Wunt that 'cause he thought bein' friends with you'd stop the other kids pickin' on him?"

For a moment Bait was afraid he'd gone too far, then the barest hint of a smile appeared on Sonic's face.

"Touché, I guess. Yeah, that's a fair point, Bait, but you're forgetting one thing; Tails was completely open and honest about why he wanted me for a friend. A lot of that could be due to the fact that he was only four years old at the time, but it's also something to do with him being outspoken to a fault, even at that age. And although I hate trying to score morality points, I have to say this; if you hadn't been eavesdropping in the first place, you'd never have heard what you did."

"Yeah?" Bait glared at Sonic. "Well, I'm glad I heard! At least now I know what you really think of me, for all them fine words of yours! I'm glad I listened an' I'd do it again! You hear me?"

"Yes, Bait, I can hear you," Sonic said, deliberately keeping his own voice calm. "So can half the Zone, I shouldn't wonder. If all you're going to do is shout at me, you can at least wait until morning. This is between you and me, and there's no reason to make other people suffer."

"I don't care!"

"I do, and if you're going to be like this about it all, then I'm not going to talk or listen to you until you've calmed down."

"Calmed down?" Bait all but shrieked at him. "Calmed down? I'd like to see you get stabbed in the back like that, Sonic, see how calm you are! Look at you, jus' standin' there an' not sayin' anythin' new or even sayin' sorry, oh no, that's beneath the great Sonic, huh?"

"In the first place, it's Knuckles who has a blind spot when it comes to saying sorry and secondly, Bait, I'm not going to apologise until I know what I've done wrong. So far, all you've done is rant at me, rave and insult me, accuse me of some pretty low-down, crappy things and yet you've not said one word to back any of this up short of admitting to overhearing part of a conversation between me and Knuckles."

"I heard the whole thing, Sonic, not jus' a part of it!"

"If that was true, Bait, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"So now you're sayin' I'm a liar too?"

"No, I'm saying you're wrong," Sonic said simply. "There's a difference. You heard a chunk, misinterpreted it and ran away. Tell me if I'm wrong."

"You called me a kleptomaniac. I don't think I coulda misinterpreted that so I figured if that's really what you thought of me, I might as well do stuff like that. If I'm gonna be called names or get a beatin', I'd rather deserve it."

"You heard that as well, huh?" Sonic shook his head. "Bait, I was kidding when I said that."

"How was I s'posed to know?" Bait jammed hands on hips and glared at Sonic. "You go 'round makin' a big joke outta ev'rythin', don't you? Well, there's some things that ain't funny, Sonic, an' some things you shouldn't laugh at!"

There was a silence. Sonic, who could see that Bait was genuinely deeply hurt under all his righteous fire, racked his brains, trying to think of the right thing to say.

"Come on," he said eventually. Bait jerked away.

"Nuh uh! Forget it! I ain't goin' back to them friends of yours, an' you can't make me neither!"

"I'm not going to try," Sonic answered calmly. "But it seems like this has been boiling up for some time, so you might as well get it off your chest, and we can thrash this out – Bait, stop looking at me like that; you should know damn well I didn't mean that literally – by the lake. People are less likely to overhear us. Come on; if you want to scream at me some more, then fine, but that's no reason to disturb other people. We're going to the lake. Or at least, I'm going and you can do what you damn well like. If you don't join me in ten minutes, I'll assume you've gone your own way."

"The lake?" Bait glanced at the water.

"No," Sonic said, reading his mind. "I want to talk to you properly, not just shout three or four words at you whenever you come up for air."

Turning, not waiting to see if Bait was following, he strode away between the trees and came to a halt by a bench that was fortunately deserted.

After a couple of minutes had ticked off the clock, Bait arrived, dragging his feet.

"I'm on'y here 'cause I ain't finished talkin', Sonic!"

"Fine," Sonic said coolly. "But first let me say something before you storm off in a temper again; I'm sorry."

The jackal turned darkly suspicious eyes on Sonic. "Sorry that you said it or sorry that I heard you?"

"Both, I guess. But do you really think after all I've already done that I wouldn't keep protecting you?"

"I know you'll protect yourself an' if I was with you that'd involve protectin' me. Your li'l brother's safe now, right?" Bait shook his head. "The longer Raker has to wait, the madder he gets an' the worse it'll be. He ain't gonna give up until either him or me's dead. Mebbe Knuckles'll take me."

"Knuckles has hardly been friendly towards you."

"He dint hit me, Sonic, never. That's pretty friendly in my book."

Sonic folded his arms across his chest and stared hard at the jackal. "Neither did I. I've never laid a finger on you, Bait, not violently. You wanted a chance – and then a second chance – and I gave you both those, and now you're going around shouting that I'm basically a backstabbing hypocrite. Nice way to act, after all we've been through."

A stone whistled through the air at his head and Sonic barely had time to dodge – Bait's aim was lethal – then he lunged and seized Bait by the arms, not roughly but firmly enough to immobilise him.

"Alright," he said, lowering his voice. "You want to abuse me some more, you might as well get it off your chest, but if you're going to start behaving like your brother then you and I have nothing further to discuss."

"Yeah?" Bait struggled uselessly against Sonic's hold. "Well, what was I s'posed to think? You was all nice an' friendly until we got your buddy back. Then the next mornin' it was like you dint wanna know me. You got what you wanted an' you dint hafta pretend to like me no more. I know you hate Raker an' what he done but at least he wunt never pretendin' to be somethin' he ain't."

Sonic shook his head. "Bait, listen to me—"

"No!" With an immense effort, the jackal tore himself out of Sonic's grasp and backed out of reach. "I'm done listenin' to you an' all your high-handed talk 'bout never stealin' an' never lyin' an' how you wanna kill Raker for usin' me like he did! Well, what'd you do, Sonic? You tell me that! You was great to me, makin' me feel like we was friends an' it was worth pissin' off Raker, right up until I delivered the goods an' then you dint need my help no more an' so you turned 'gainst me."

"Bait—"

"You wait, Sonic! You're a great one for talkin', love the sound of your own voice, don't you, 'specially when you're lecturin' me on this or that! You said a whole lotta stuff to me while we was travellin' together an' I had to listen, well, now it's my turn to talk!"

Sonic waited until Bait was silent again and then said, "Alright, I'm listening. What more do you want to say to me?"

"Jus' that you can't dump me whenever you feel like it an' if you treat Tails that way it's no wonder the kid's happier with Knux!"

"Alright Bait." Sonic straightened up suddenly. "I've listened to you, now you can listen to me. If you think for one minute that I used you and dumped you—"

"What else'm I s'posed to think?" Bait demanded. "One day you're all nice and junk, the next you treat me like I ain't worthy to lick your feet. An' what happens in between those days? Your precious little brother turns up again! Coincidence? I don't think so. If you on'y wanted me to lead you to him, then fine, but you coulda said so right at the beginnin'! I wunta minded! But to lead me on like that an' then chuck me for Tails...can you honestly say you was gonna keep me with you if Tails had picked you 'steada Knux? You on'y want me 'cause you figure mebbe I'm better'n nothin'. An' I am better'n nothin', Sonic; you taught me that. I ain't gonna be nobody's toy, not after Raker. I'm worth more'n that now an' even if you don't believe everythin' you said to me about how I dint deserve none of what Raker did to me, that don't matter 'cause I believe it. An' I believe that no one got the right to use me'n chuck me when they get what they want from me, not you, Sonic, not Knuckles, not no one! I heard what you said an' so I know you don't really care if anythin' happens to me 'cause no one ever did, but that don't mean I don't got feelin's, Sonic."

Sonic stared at Bait for a long moment, appalled that his own behaviour could have been misinterpreted so badly, then reacted the only way he knew how; he seized the jackal and pulled him into a tight hug before Bait had time to register the action, let alone evade it. For a few moments, the jackal fought wildly against Sonic – who refused to budge an inch – then abruptly caved in and started to cry in harsh, racking sobs that shook his entire body.

Calmly, moving as slowly as he could, Sonic sat down on the park bench, holding Bait and rocking him gently in much the same way he used to rock Tails whenever the fox had been seriously upset, and waited patiently for the jackal to wind down.

It didn't take long. Less than five minutes had gone by before Bait's sobs subsided, although he showed no inclination to loosen the death hold he now had around Sonic's torso.

"Bait." Sonic spoke very softly, knowing that Bait's acute sense of hearing would pick up the words. "Bait, listen. What happened this morning was not your fault. I was upset, sure, but not because of anything you said or did. I just took it all out on you because...well, because I figured you were the easiest target. And as for me and what I said to Knux...I wasn't serious about it. You can ask Knux; he'll tell you I was pretty much laughing while I said it. I'm sorry, kiddo. I'm so, so sorry. I never thought you'd take it like you did or that you'd take it this much to heart." He rubbed the jackal's back soothingly. Bait's sobs had all but stopped now, although he still emitted the occasional hiccup.

"Raker said..." Bait began, and stopped.

"What did Raker say?"

"Said how you was jus' usin' me an' that when you got Tails back, you wunt need me no more. I tole him he was a liar. Then we got Tails back an' you started actin' like you did an'...I thought mebbe..."

Sonic filled in the gap smoothly. "You thought that Raker was right and I was finished with you."

A nod.

"Sonic, would you've taken me along if I hadn't been able to lead you to Tails? Honestly?"

Sonic thought about it for a long, long time before saying, "Yeah. Knuckles probably wouldn'ta done, but me...yeah."

"Why, though? It dunt make no sense. If I couldn't do nothin' for you, why'd you wanna be friends with me? I don't get it."

"That's not how it works," Sonic said dryly. "C'mon. Let's go back."

"Nuh uh!" Bait shook his head vigorously. "I ain't goin' back, Sonic, not yet. Can't we jus' stay here a bit?"

"Alright. Alright, fine." Sonic shifted his weight and Bait scrambled off him to sit next to him instead, now clutching Sonic's hand so tightly that the hedgehog found bruises on it the next morning. "But we can't sleep out here, Bait."

"'S no diff'rent to sleepin' out in the other Zones."

"Yeah, it is, largely because it's not fair to keep the CDA on watch all night when you're safe here with me."

The jackal shook his head. "I ain't goin' with you until you promise you ain't gonna 'bandon me. An' that I ain't gonna be no dumb charity case neither. I don't want you takin' me along for no better reason than you pity me."

"I don't pity you, Bait. If anything, thinking about it makes me angry."

Bait grinned suddenly. "Yeah. I figured that when you whacked Raker. That was a good'un, Sonic, right in the hip, pow!" To illustrate the point, he brought one clenched fist smacking down on his leg. "Wish I'd done it too."

"Bait..."

"What? I do." Something seemed to stir in the jackal's mind; he looked away suddenly.

"What's wrong?"

"I..." Bait swallowed. "I...I got somethin' to tell you."

"Yeah?"

"Well...I was all mad at you an' I passed this candy store an' there was this big bar of choc'late an'...well..."

"You stole it?" Sonic said.

Bait flattened his ears. "Yeah. An' I opened it, on'y I felt so bad I couldn't eat it. Then I went back to the shop to try an' return it, but it was closed. I'm sorry, Sonic, honest I am; it was jus'..."

"Go on," Sonic said coolly. "Just what?"

The jackal ducked his head. "I jus' wanted...you hurt me an' I know you don't hold with stealin' so...I dint really mean it, though. I jus' wanted..."

Voice steady, Sonic said, "To hurt me back? Like I hurt you?"

Bait nodded, face mashed against Sonic's chest. He felt, rather than heard, the hedgehog's sigh and cringed. He'd really screwed up now; he might be able to persuade Sonic not to have him arrested for old times' sake, but he'd scuppered any chance he had of lasting friendship.

"An' you mighta been mad this mornin'," he said, voice extremely muffled, "but you wasn't mad this evenin'."

"No. But I wasn't serious either."

"Sonic, what're we gonna do? 'Bout the chocolate? 'Cause the shop's closed an' it's not open again 'til Monday."

"What'd you do with the chocolate?"

Bait's ears flattened even further. "Well...uh..."

"I won't get angry at you or walk out on you if that's what's got you worried."

"No...but you might laugh."

"You know me better than that, Bait. Where is it?"

"Well...you know that pink hedgehog?"

"Amy. Yeah."

"Well...she said how she had all them kids stayin' with her an' I thought...well...mebbe they could share it or somethin' an' so I give it her an' she agreed to take it back an' share it out...so I guess it's in their bellies right about now."

Sonic continued staring at him for a couple of minutes, then shook his head wryly.

"Jeez, Bait, what am I going to do with you? First you steal something to hurt someone, then you give that something to someone else to cheer a group of kids up..." He grinned. "It must be pretty confusing being you, huh?"

A nod, although if the heat on Sonic's ribs was anything to go by, Bait wasn't finding it particularly funny.

"Hey, c'mon. It's okay."

"Are you mad at me? Or dis'ppointed? Honest?"

"Honestly...no. I'd probably be both if you hadn't been so upset when you did it. As it is, I think I'll call it a temporary lapse."

"I jus' thought, y'know, I been tryin' to act like you want ever since I stole that food an' stuff an' then you said what you said an' I thought, well, if you think I'm a thief, I might as well be one."

"I don't think you're a thief, kiddo. Maybe you were but that's past history now, right?"

Another, far more vigorous nod, and Sonic wrapped a friendly arm around the jackal's shoulders. "At least some good's come of this," he added.

Bait glanced up at him curiously. "Yeah? What?"

A slight gleam appeared in Sonic's eyes as he looked back down at the jackal. "Well, for one thing, you've stopped calling me mister."

There was the barest hint of an answering gleam in those liquid brown eyes as Bait answered, "Sorry mister."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Alright, that's getting real old real fast! My name's Sonic, okay? One word, two syllables, kid. C'mon, say it; Son-ic."

"Seems kinda rude though."

"You didn't hesitate ten minutes ago. Granted that kind of ties in with what you just said, since you only seem to use my name to insult me with, but still...cut out the mister thing, okay?"

Bait grinned. "Okay mister."

Sonic glowered at him for all of three seconds before giving up the unequal struggle and grinning back, shaking his head.

"I guess I walked into that one. C'mon, let's go back before Mighty sends Charmy out with a spotlight."

"Okay...Sonic."

Ha! So it wasn't Scarface's footsteps! Fooled you all :D Probably disappointed most of you too but hey, that's life ;) One more chapter to go...then it's on to the sequel :P Also, if anybody's interested, the first chapter of Rising Star (my story version of Sonic 2) was uploaded at the same time as this :)