Rouge always loved going for late night flights whenever she had the chance. Usually, she kept to the cities, but tonight, she decided she wanted to explore the mountains. She had just passed Hill Top when she heard an explosion nearby, which of course got her attention. She flew in the direction of the noise, only to hear some very familiar voices as she got close.

"My, my, you really pulled out all the stops here, blue boy! But, what's a romantic picnic without some fireworks?" That annoyingly gravelly voice could only belong to one person: Eggman. She was about to activate her communicator to alert the agents at GUN, when another explosion rang out, the shockwave pushing her back a few feet.

And, seemingly to add insult to injury, just as she was beginning to continue her ascent, something small and black hit her in the head. Before it bounced away into the darkness below, she caught and examined it: it was a small velvet box, and it didn't take a genius ex-jewel thief to figure out its contents. Although, she prayed that the Doctor wasn't psychotic enough to ruin something as important as that. But, alas, her prayers went unanswered.

"NOOOO!"

"Oh, boo hoo! Take it from me, hedgehog, it wouldn't have been worth it anyway. You and I both know you're never gonna 'settle down'."

"You monster. You couldn't just give us one night, could you?! I was about to propose! How are you ok with ruining something as important as that?!"

Her heart broke for the hedgehog. Knowing him, she knew he would have put his all into this night, to make it as special as possible for Tails, but now it was all wasted thanks to a fat, bald tyrant. She was thankful that she had decided to wear an extra layer over her usual outfit this evening. It was also a great place to keep the ring safe until she could return it to its rightful owners.

She poked her head over the edge of the cliff, immediately thankful for her skills when it came to stealth, to get her bearings. She could see Sonic and Eggman squaring off against each other, as usual, although Sonic's fur was looking darker than normal. She had only seen that once before, and she had really hoped she'd never have to see it again.

She decided to give them space. So, she surveyed the rest of the area, looking for Tails. She spotted him briefly, just before he disappeared into the cockpit of his plane. Good, he was out of the way.

She decided that she needed some more altitude for a bat's eye view, so she flew over towards the Cyclone, before heading up. Then, once she was at a decent viewpoint for the ongoing battle, she was gonna call in some more backup from GUN, just in case they were needed.

However, for the second time that night, she was interrupted before she got the chance. This time, it was a message from Cream.

Eggman active at Hill Top. Are you available?

She couldn't help but chuckle quietly to herself, but she resisted the urge to fire back a witty response. Time and place, and all that.

Already have eyes on it. Sonic's gone Dark. Send reinforcements.

Already in progress. Shadow's been alerted and is en route, as are Amy and I. ETA 15.

With all that settled, Rouge turned her attention back to the fight.

Dark Sonic was certainly not holding back, and the battlefield had become a symphony of explosions as Buzz Bombers disintegrated. He may not have needed the backup, after all.

"Hey, Sonic! Aren't you forgetting someone?" Eggman's grating voice sounded out again, grabbing her attention.

Right as the mad scientist fired a missile at the Cyclone.

Without hesitation, she dived, hoping to reach the plane before the missile did. She could hear Sonic shouting at Tails to get out, too, but it wasn't looking too hopeful.

Then, the unthinkable happened, as she watched Sonic jumping in front of the incoming missile, taking the brunt of the hit instead of letting it hit the plane.

"SONIC!" Now it was Tails' turn to shout.

Dark Sonic was indeed one of the hedgehog's strongest forms, but even he was no match for the full force of one of Eggman's missiles. The impact was enough to send him straight back to the ground, forging a long trench as his body cut through the ground, ending right beside the plane. Luckily, his interference was enough to deflect the missile upwards, and away from the plane, sending it to explode harmlessly in the air.

In the following seconds, a heavy silence surrounded the battlefield. Not even Eggman made a sound. Tails was white as a sheet as he peered out of the cockpit, down at his fallen boyfriend.

"S…Sonic?" The hedgehog didn't respond.

Or move.

His fur, now covered in dirt, had reverted back to his regular shade of blue.

Tails hovered slowly down to him, dreading what he was about to find.

"Sonic?" He repeated the name again, and still Sonic didn't move.

The fox reached an arm out, wrapping it tightly around Sonic's torso, before lifting his head into his lap.

Still warm. Good.

He placed his hand on Sonic's chest, and the wave of relief that washed over him as he felt the steady beating of Sonic's heart almost made him forget about Eggman.

"… Well, that hurt!"

Immediately, Tails' eyes darted to Sonic's face, to see his eyes open slightly, and a weak smile on his face.

"Sonic!" The tears sprang immediately back into Tails' eyes as he embraced Sonic. "What were you thinking?! You could have died!"

"Better me than you, Miles. You know I'd die for you a hundred times over if I had to."

"Don't say that! I'd be completely lost without you!"

"As would I. But, we still have a rotten egg to deal with."

Sonic made to stand, but he didn't get far. For one, Tails wasn't letting him go.

"Nuh uh, Mister. You're not going anywhere in that state."

"Miles, I'm fine." Sonic tried again, but this time he crumpled as soon as he put any pressure on his left leg.

"I'm not fine."

"Yeah, I can see that. Here." Tails grabbed Sonic and lifted him bridal style, before carefully taking to the sky and dropping Sonic off gently in the cockpit of the Cyclone. "I think I can finish this off myself. You've already done most of the work, anyway!"

"I'm here too if you need any backup, Tails." The new voice startled the couple, but it was a voice they recognised instantly.

"Thanks, Rouge, but for now, I just want you to make sure Sonic doesn't hurt himself any more than he already has." After receiving an annoyed 'I heard that' from the hedgehog in question, Tails continued. "Are the others coming?"

"As far as I know, Shadow, Cream and Amy are on their way. They should be here soon."

"OK, good. That should give us the advantage."

After that, Tails grabbed his Miles Electric handheld computer, before turning back to face the mad scientist, who surprisingly hadn't launched any more attacks after hitting Sonic. I guess he didn't think they were necessary.

"Oh ho ho, does this mean it's your turn now, Tails? We don't get to spar one-on-one too often."

"Don't get used to it, Nosehair! I don't intend on letting you get away after what you just did!"

"Big words, foxy! But, what exactly can you do without your giant mechs?"

"Oh, not much. You know me, I'm just Sonic's technical support. However, and I think you'll find this pertinent, I am a pretty good hacker." As if on cue, the few Buzz Bombers that were still left airborne suddenly turned their sights on Eggman's pod.

"What? How?!"

"Really, Eggman, if you're gonna run all of your Buzz Bombers on the same hivemind network, you really should have a stronger password than 'honeycomb', although, I'll give you props for creativity." Tails pushed a button on his computer, and multiple stingers began glowing, preparing to fire.

"Now, this might sting a little, but if you're a good boy, I'll be sure to give you a lollipop." Another pushed button later, and the Buzz Bombers fired upon their creator. Yellow electricity surged through the doctor's pod, causing it to short circuit and become unstable.

It certainly looked like the Doctor was going down, until he fired off an EMP, shutting down his own bots. His pod had certainly seen better days, but it was annoyingly still airborne. The man himself look mostly unscathed, save for a slightly singed moustache.

"This isn't over, fox boy!" The Doctor made to turn his pod to fly away, but was surprised to find it not going anywhere.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't I mention? I'm also really good at protecting my tech from EMPs, and this tech of mine is also brilliant at hacking into vehicles. For example, if I wanted to make you go up, or down, or spin in a circle, it wouldn't be hard." As he said each of those directions, Eggman's pod followed the instructions to the letter.

"Oh, and one more thing." Suddenly, Eggman found himself and his pod mere inches away from Tails. Close enough to see the anger simmering behind his eyes.

"If you ever hurt Sonic like that again, I'll make sure it's the last thing you'll ever do. That is, if GUN is ever stupid enough to let you see the light of day again."

One more button press, and the pod flipped over, depositing its passenger unceremoniously at the fox's feet, before Tails sent it sailing over the edge and deactivating it.

The explosion that sounded a few seconds later was the only clue needed to determine its fate.

Eggman just stared in disbelief, his mouth flapping uselessly as he tried, and failed, to form words. How had this fox bested him?

As if reading his mind, Tails spoke up again. "You see, Eggman, you were always too focused on Sonic to pay much attention to me. He is the brawn, after all. But, you of all people should know not to underestimate those who are the brains of an operation. But, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to think about it soon enough."

"Not bad, foxy. Remind me not to get on your bad side. Sonic thought you might need this." Rouge flew over, carrying a length of rope.

"Perfect. That should hold him until Shadow gets here."

By the time Amy and Cream arrived in the Malleus, Shadow had already Chaos Controlled himself and Eggman back to GUN, leaving just Sonic and Tails resting in the Cyclone, with Rouge relaxing on one of the wings. Amy was the first to speak up.

"Is everyone ok?"

"We're all still alive, but I've been better." Sonic tried to laugh at his own joke, but it ended up sounding more like a dying walrus.

"Oh my God, Sonic, what happened to you?!"

"He took a missile for me."

"WHAT?!"

Tails proceeded to explain everything, as Rouge filled Cream in about Eggman's whereabouts. After everything was said and done, they then needed to decide what happened next.

"Amy, would you mind taking Sonic to a hospital? I'd do it myself, but I think the Malleus would be more stable than the Cyclone."

"Sure, but it's only got two seats. Cream would need to go with you."

"That's fine. I'm sure we can manage. Right, Cream?"

"No complaints here!"

"Great. What about you, Rouge?"

"I'll just carry on with what I was doing before. I was having a delightful late night flight before Eggy showed up!"

"Sounds great."

"Although, before I go," Rouge reached into her pocket to reveal a familiar black box, which she promptly tossed to Sonic. "I believe this belongs to you guys."

Sonic stared up at her, eyes glazed with tears.

"Oh my God, Rouge. Thank you! Thank you so much! I thought I'd lost this!"

"You had, until it hit me on the head! You're lucky I'm nice! Now, get on with it. My evening flight wasn't the only thing Eggy interrupted, right?"

She held out her arms for Sonic to grab on to, which he did, and she gently carried him to the ground between the two Prower-made aircraft, with Tails flying down shortly after.

It took Sonic a little longer to get down on one knee this time, but once he was down, he spoke up.

"Well, it's certainly not how I thought this proposal would go, but hey: that's life! Miles, I already said everything I had planned to say earlier, but if there's one good thing to come out of an Eggman attack, it's that I was able to show you just how much I care about you. Yes, I've ended up a little worse-for-wear, but that doesn't matter to me. What matters is that we're safe. You're safe. And now, Eggman's out of the picture. We won, and it wouldn't have been possible without you. You are so much more important than even I could give you credit for."

He took a short break to dab his tears before continuing.

"We're adventurers, you and I. Our lives are always gonna be full of mysteries and uncertainties. But, there's one thing I am certain about: that wherever my life takes me, I want to spend it with you. So, Miles 'Tails' Prower, I have to ask, and hopefully with no interruptions this time, will you marry me?"

"Oh you speedy, blue idiot, of course I will!" With that, Tails collapsed to his own knees and wrapped his arms around his injured boyfriend. Actually, fiancé now. That was going to take some getting used to.

And, of course, under the watchful gaze of the moon, and three squealing girl friends, the newly engaged couple shared a tender, tear-soaked kiss.

Well, there we are! I told you I'd try to get the next chapter out within the week, so here I am. I think I might have reached another one of my 'writer phases', so there might be an influx of content coming out in the not-too-distant future, including at least a couple more chapters for this one, as well as a couple new stories I have in the works.

Thanks again to pikachulover1234567891011 for the reviews and adding this story (and author) to your favourites, and new thanks to lowercaseenderman, AMYROSEANDSONIC and AnyyDidi for favouriting me, this story, or both. I hope I can continue to keep you all entertained!

Anyway, that's all I have to say for this one! Ciao for now!

OnTheSpectrum