The dim, stale light of the single-occupant restroom was only made worse by the fact that one of the bulbs had long ago given out. The one that remained cast a sickly yellow glow across the small space, as well as the distraught android fox that sat on the cold tile against the back wall, his head angled up at the ceiling. He'd retreated here the moment he'd heard that Rotor's condition was stable and had been lost in thought ever since.

Minton General Hospital was, thankfully, quite well-equipped to handle trauma cases, and they had also graciously allowed Tails to park the Tornado on the helipad in VTOL mode. Both were very large reasons Rotor was still alive and coming along well in surgery at the moment. He was in the care of a Dr. Horatio Quack, if Tails heard correctly, apparently one of the finest physicians in the world. All things considered, this was the best place his friend and teammate could possibly be.

It was less great for the fox himself, as it was his own hubris and carelessness that led to Rotor's injuries in the first place, and if that weren't enough, his other teammates would doubtlessly arrive any moment, rightfully demanding an explanation as to how such a routine mission could have gone so disastrously wrong.

And Tails found he couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer.

Slowly, he dragged himself off of the soulless surface and made his way to the mirror. He didn't look any different, really, aside from appearing particularly battle-worn. He was the same as he had always been, which was the worst part of knowing. Knowing that underneath such a perfectly innocent fox was a lethal weapon ready and waiting to obliterate anything in its path. Plainly, he was scared. Scared of himself, scared of his creator, scared of his friends .

"I don't think there's any worming my way out of it this time," he spoke aloud to his reflection, "They're going to know soon, anyway. For better or worse...I have to tell them."

He glared at his reflection, at this demon that had taken over his life. He wasn't so blind as to not notice. He was more violent lately, more prone to lying and manipulation. The thing that scared him most, however, was the intrusive thoughts. Subconsciously, he'd begun to think of his friends as intrinsically beneath him. They were organic, after all, flesh and blood, and his cybernetic side had been slowly trying to convince him that they were indeed inferior. As he became more in tune with his mechanical body, his computerized mind grappled with his personality.

"I am not giving into you," he growled at the glass, "I'm not going to become like him . I'm my own person! I'm not evil !"

A flash, and suddenly the reflection staring back at him did so with deep, crimson irises, surrounded by pitch black sclera. Tails gasped harshly and stumbled away from the visage, landing on his back and propped up by his elbows. He scrambled backward from the mirror, closed his eyes, and furiously shook his head in a desperate attempt to reign himself in.

After a few seconds, he hauled himself up once more, and saw that, thankfully, his eyes had returned to their usual sky blue. The metal sink, on the other hand, had bent and warped under his grip. Tails rushed out of the restroom and into the blindingly white hall just in time to hear the message over the intercom.

"Miles Prower to reception. Miles Prower to reception."

o-o-o-o

Sonic had never particularly enjoyed hospitals. He supposed that was probably typical of him. They so often involved sitting around, sometimes for days and weeks on end, in blank, sterile rooms, eating cardboard food, watching the same old game shows on TV. Nah, not for him, thanks. His past experiences with injuries had seen him recuperating in his bedroom or on the couch at home, with not much more than bandages and the occasional splint to right whatever ailed him.

But Sonic had been on the receiving end of a laser blast once before; enhanced speed and agility can only get you so far, and eventually his luck had failed him. There were no words to describe the relief he felt when he was rushed through the hospital doors on that occasion. With that kind of pain, the white coat of a skilled doctor might as well be the robes of an angel.

The tinny intercom pinged on, the receptionist rotely calling Tails to reception so that he could, hopefully, fill them in on what had happened.

"Maybe they were ambushed, like Antoine and Bunnie," Sally offered, beginning her third trek down the isle of seats. She was big about pacing while thinking.

"I mean, could be," Sonic replied, fidgeting in the supremely uncomfortable waiting room chair, "But it couldn't have been in the air. Tails made it sound like Rotor got hit directly. I doubt that could have happened while they were in the plane."

"So they had to be on foot when it happened. But they were miles away from the base, still! How could…"

"Sal," Sonic interrupted, "Just hang back a bit. We'll be able to talk to the doctors and Tails in a minute; we'll get the full picture from them."

No sooner had the sentence left Sonic's mouth did a door near reception open, and out walked a stern, rigid duck. He looked to be in his mid-40's, early 50's at most, with a glare that could melt steel despite the fact that it was coming from only one eye, the other covered by a stark black eyepatch. Contrasting his vicious appearance, the man also wore the tell-tale white of a doctor hard at work, with a clipboard tucked securely under his arm. He wasted no time in locating and making his way toward the two Freedom Fighters.

"Princess," he greeted stiffly, "Dr. Horatio Quack. I've been assigned to your teammate."

Sally, previously still lost in thought, snapped her eyes to meet the doctors', "He's in surgery, right? That's all the receptionist could tell us."

"He is. I just came out to tell you that it's going very well, all things considered. He gave us a pretty big scare with the blood loss, but thankfully your other friend was able to get him here in time."

"So how's he lookin', doc?" Sonic inquired, "Nothin' permanent?"

"Well, we'll know more once we get him into recovery, but the blast didn't hit any organs. It's possible he may have some minor nerve damage around the wound but other than that I don't see anything that would be cause for concern."

"When will we get to see him?"

"That's tricky. He should be moved to recovery within the next half-hour, but we'll want to monitor him there until we're positive he's stable enough to move to a room. Even then, he'll probably be under for a while. I would guess he probably won't be up for conversation until tomorrow morning."

"We gotcha, doc. We can hang," Sonic assured.

Sally's eyes were studying the doctor's features, however, and her head was cocked to the side in thought.

"You look familiar, doctor," she mused, "I don't suppose we've met before?"

A small smirk broke through the doctor's stone expression, "I wasn't sure if you would remember, but yes, we have. I was the royal physician quite a long time ago; gave you your first ever checkup."

"Oh, of course! You were a field medic beforehand, right? I'm sure I've heard my father mention you."

The doctor nodded, "Yes, we do go back quite a ways. Give him a shout for me if you feel so inclined; it's been too long since I've seen ol' Max. Now if you'll excuse me, I should get back in there. We're just about to finish up."

"Of course."

Only a few seconds after Dr. Quack left did a ragged and disheveled orange and white figure round the corner into the waiting room. Sally rushed over, immediately embracing Tails, followed swiftly by Sonic.

"Tails! Tails, please tell me you're okay," Sally crooned, her eyes radiating concern.

"Uh, yeah...yeah, I'm alright, Sally. I mean, I've felt better but...I'm not hurt."

Sally stepped back, and sent a quick, wary glance over to Sonic, who met her eyes. The unspoken agreement was clear: this can't be put off any longer .

"Tails, bud," Sonic began, "Can we talk? Like, just the three of us?"

"Yeah," Tails replied, his eyes wandering everywhere and nowhere at once, "I think...I think we probably should."

It didn't take too long to find an empty waiting room in some out-of-the-way alcove of the wing. A quick word of notice to a nearby nurse, and the trio were gathered around the small coffee table in the oddly cozy room, door locked and away from prying eyes.

The room sat stagnant and still for a moment, before Sally tentatively began, "So, Tails. What happened?"

"…"

"Were you ambushed?"

"...no. We...weren't ambushed."

"Then what happened, bud?" Sonic added gently, "We can't help if we don't know what went wrong."

"Look, I'll tell you everything that happened. Just...you're going to hear a lot more than I think you want to know."

Sally looked over to Sonic for backup, only to see the same growing fear on his face that she was sure was present on her own. What exactly happened out there by the lake? What had Tails been going through these past few days that seemed to perpetually cast a shadow over him? Were the answers to these questions at all related?

I have a feeling we're about to find out, Sally thought.

"We...well - it's more accurate to say I - went into the outpost. Deliberately."

The clock ticked twice as the two others in the room took a moment to process that bit of information.

"You... what? " Sally demanded, voice laced with anger, incredulity, and concern.

"Tails...why would you do that!?" Sonic added.

"Okay, before you say anything else," Tails interjected, not trusting himself to pry his eyes from the knot in the coffee table he'd been centering on, "It's all my fault. We got to the lake where the emerald was located and split up to cover more ground. I found it pretty quickly, and secured it, but when we met up on the other side of the water, I...I told Rotor I didn't see it. I tried to send him back toward the plane while I secretly went into the outpost to get what I needed...but he shadowed me and insisted that he back me up."

"So it was my decision to even go near the place at all. I was the one who went in, I even tried to send Rotor away so he wouldn't get tangled up in anything. I figured if I could get in and out quick enough he wouldn't even need to know I was gone. And if he hadn't followed me, I might have been able to."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Sally commented.

"What? That he followed me? He wasn't supposed to get involved!"

"Of course he was going to get involved; you were on a mission together!" Sally's voice was only barely below a shout, and it was everything she could do to restrain herself, "But more than that, why was there anything to get involved with in the first place, Miles? Why did you lie to your teammate and willingly enter into enemy territory without backup?

"Robotnik has some extremely sensitive intel in his network. I was trying to get in and grab it before a SWATbot tracked me down."

"That doesn't answer my question," Sally responded, "What could this intel possibly have been? That it was so important you felt it necessary to jeopardize both you and your teammate's lives with zero authorization?"

Tails' right hand was by now gripping the armchair, his hold becoming tighter by the minute. This detail was not lost on Sonic, who was watching the fox's growing stress with mounting concern.

"C'mon, Sal," Sonic interjected, "Let's at least let him try to explain."

"I don't know what kind of explanation could justify something so...so...negligent," Sally continued, "Miles, you know better than this! I wouldn't have expected this from any of my teammates, but especially not from you."

"Sally, I'll tell you, just give me a minute," Tails ground out, "I was doing what I thought was best. I was trying to protect everyone."

" Protect ? Rotor nearly died because of your carelessness!"

"Sal!"

Sonic's word of warning coincided with Tails wrenching his eyes open, but the glare that radiated from them wasn't the sky blue of the kind-hearted young man they'd accompanied into the room. These eyes were pitch black, with hellfire irises blazing. The grip he held on the chair tightened further, the wood splintering, and in one sheer motion the thing that looked like Tails slung the chair away, shattering it and embedding pieces into the drywall.

"The hell!?" Sonic hollered.

The monster's right arm revealed a small but definitely powerful laser blaster above its wrist, and a deadly blue light was promptly aimed in the direction of the two senior Freedom Fighters.

"Sonic, get down!"

The princess grabbed her companion and pulled him behind the relative safety of the nearest couch as a shot whizzed past them, shattering an outside window. Sally hopped back over their makeshift cover and drew her weapon in an attempt to fire, but the enemy reacted quickly, kicking the gun from her hand and aiming a punch for her jaw. She blocked, and Sonic, sensing an opportunity, lept from behind the couch to confront the attacker. He got one good right hook in, but it seemed to barely faze the android, who delivered a devastating knee to Sonic's ribs and a subsequent elbow to the back, sending the hedgehog to the floor.

Sonic rose as quickly as he could to prepare for an onslaught, but none came. He instead whirled around to see Sally in a headlock with the laser blaster pointed directly at her temple. The deceiver's brimstone eyes held the hedgehog firmly on the other side of the room, an unspoken promise of what he would do should anyone make a sudden movement.

"What are you?" Sonic demanded through gritted teeth, "Robotnik sent you, yeah?"

No response.

"Okay, then," he continued, "Let's try something else: where's Tails?"

The villain still stood motionless, his grip on Sally tightening.

"Where's Tails, you son of a bitch!?"

"Call the King."

The voice was Tails', yet it was not. Beneath his usual raspy tenor lurked a deep, distorted growl. It shook Sonic's soul to hear such a sound come from (what at least appeared to be) his own brother.

"What are you talking about?"

"Call the King, or the Princess dies."

"Sonic, do what he says," Sally ordered, and her tone broached no argument.

After a moment's deliberation, Sonic slowly raised his wrist and dialed his communicator. Sally's words were as even and confident as they could be with the pressure on her windpipe, but he'd known her all her life, and he could see in her eyes that the situation was dire. How had they let some imposter pose as their friend and not even noticed the difference? How long had they been in the dark? And most importantly, where was Tails?

The digital ring of the device was the only sound in the room aside from two beating hearts, and Sonic didn't dare to think what the imposter would do should the King not answer. Thankfully, the third ring came through.

"Sonic, what is it?" He already sounded concerned; news must have reached him about Rotor.

"We got a situation here, Max."

Before the King could respond, Sonic turned the device to capture the scene before him, "Looks like Grandpa Ivo snuck a present in without us knowing. This tin can's been pretendin' to be Tails for who knows how long."

"Quiet," the robot ordered, "King Maximilian, you will contact Dr. Ivo Robotnik and surrender Mobotropolis to his forces within the hour, or the Princess will be killed. There will be no negotiation."

Sonic clenched his teeth. He had a feeling something like that was coming, not that it helped him at all. They were at a loss, and though he knew Sally was hard-headed enough to die for the Kingdom, it's not a thought the hedgehog was willing to entertain.

"Well I'm sure you know," the King replied, his voice steely and calm, "that neither of those things will be happening."

Sonic balked only for a fraction of a second, before he realized what the King had surely seen. Ever since the standoff had begun, Sally's hand had been slowly, steadily reaching for her belt, and it seemed she'd finally found what she was looking for.

A press of a button, and Sonic's communicator was immediately jammed, and the android locked up. The experimental, portable EMP's Rotor had recently developed weren't particularly strong, and could only stun a significantly advanced battle droid for a few seconds.

But for a Freedom Fighter, a few seconds is more than enough.

o-o-o-o

When Tails came to his senses, he was on the floor, with his hands restrained behind his back and a weight on top of him. He turned his head, only to have it grabbed and slammed back down onto the carpet.

"Don't move," a familiar voice growled.

Tails nearly began to protest, but then the hazy, blood-red memories of the past few minutes steamrolled him. He'd entered that fugue state again, where the war machine took over and Miles Prower was merely along for the ride. But this time, he had been guided. Something beyond his own motivations had been directing him. Something wholly malignant.

[BRUTUS]

Shit shit shit SHIT! NO! This wasn't how it was supposed to go! How did this even happen?

Did I…?

Tails was instantly relieved when he registered Sally speaking into her communicator on the other side of the room. Okay, at least he hadn't done anything irreversible...maybe. His mind was still sluggish, so he couldn't make out the entirety of her conversation, but he was pretty sure he heard the words "impostor", "machine", and "G.U.N.", so things didn't appear to be in a particularly great spot.

"Sonic-"

"No, you don't get to talk," Sonic interrupted, "You'll get your chance when you tell us where the real Tails is."

The real Tails. Of course they would think him an imposter. In a way, he sort of was, living a lie for going on a decade, deceiving everyone into thinking he was truly their friend. He didn't know, he couldn't have known, but that didn't change the fact that he was little more than a metal shell playing pretend.

"I'm so sorry," said Tails, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Sorry!? You're kiddin' me! That EMP musta knocked a few screws loose in your processor," Sonic berated, "Well you can drop the whole 'play nice' act, your cover's been blown."

"You don't understand," Tails said, voice wavering, "It's me Sonic. This is what I am , what I've always been, the whole time I've known you."

The android was tugged from the floor and subsequently slung into the wall.

"Y'know, for a robo-lackey, you gotta lot of damn nerve," Sonic spat, "You think I wouldn't notice in ten years if my own brother was a robot or not? I've seen Tails eat, sleep, I've even seen him bleed. Don't you dare compare my brother to some junkyard scrap."

"I…" Tails began, but had to pause to bite back the tears, "I was built for deception. And it worked, too. I didn't even know what I was until a week ago. I didn't want you to find out like this; I was going to tell you, I swear, but...I don't know, something took hold of me."

"Yeah, I'll bet. Do us a favor and keep your mouth shut; your little game's over."

Sonic dropped Tails to the floor and turned to Sally who was approaching their side of the room. She directed a piercing scowl in his direction, but otherwise didn't acknowledge him.

"The hospital's on lockdown until we can get him out of here safely," she reported, her voice slightly hoarse from the altercation, "Father says Penn and his team are on their way to transport him."

Sonic nodded and returned his attention back to Tails, "Think he's secure enough?"

"Those cuffs are made from the strongest grade steel we have, and that EMP should still be affecting him for the next few hours," Sally confirmed, "We should be able to hold him just fine until they get here."

The cuffs were, indeed, quite strong, and if he were so inclined, Tails wasn't sure he could break out of them unless he were to return to combat mode, which he had absolutely zero intention of doing. This was probably what he deserved, after all. He was an enemy, whether he wanted to be or not. He just wished he didn't have to see his friends, his family , glare at him with such pure hatred.

He just wished he'd had the chance to tell them.

The rest of the time spent in the ruined waiting room went by in a daze. At some point, Sally had gone out into the hallway, presumably to ensure the lockdown was being enforced, and Sonic stayed behind to keep an eye on the Acorn Kingdom's newest enemy. No more words were spoken, but the fury in Sonic's eyes said more than Tails could bear to hear.

Eventually he was removed by armed men and half-escorted half-shoved into a service elevator. He vaguely recognized some of the people around him: that raccoon that was always hanging around the general, as well as Penn himself. He seemed to be taking part in his usual less-than-courteous banter with Sonic, until the elevator doors opened and their conversation drastically increased in volume, drawing Tails' attention back to reality.

"Wait, what!? " Sonic cried incredulously as the android was shepherded toward an armored van, "You can't be serious!"

The basement parking garage to which they'd escorted their interloper was practically deserted. Panic at the hospital had, apparently, been kept to a minimum, but you don't have a brief life-or-death struggle with a killer robot without attracting at least some attention. The fact that this confrontation happened in a civilian space only seemed to heighten the general's already perpetually ill demeanor.

"You heard me, Hedgehog," Penn retorted, "The robot, as of this moment, is property of G.U.N. and the Acorn Kingdom. You and the Princess are to stay away from it and this investigation indefinitely."

"This is ridiculous! This thing comes 'round and tries to kill us by impersonating our friend - who's still missing, by the way - and we're just supposed to let you whisk it away?"

"Sonic is right, sir," Sally continued, "We have a team member, and more importantly, a family member most likely in Robotnik's clutches. If there's anything that can be uncovered, we're obligated…"

"Look, Your Highness," Penn interrupted, "This is a direct order from your father."

"M-my father?"

"Yeah, the big man himself. He specifically requested no Freedom Fighters be involved in the handling of the android until further notice. Don't ask me why. I don't know; didn't particularly care to ask," the general made a brisk turn to walk back to the vehicle along with his men, "Now as much as I'd love to keep shootin' the shit and wasting time, we got a dangerous enemy weapon to load up in this APC that we probably shouldn't sit on for too long, and I think you got another teammate to worry about here."

As the two Freedom fighters watched, still reeling from the idea of being barred from information regarding their best friend, Tails was guided into the back of the vehicle. Penn climbed into the front, the engine came to life, and just before he closed the door, the general added, "Oh, and be prepared for further instructions. You'll be getting your shot at Robotnik soon enough."

The front door shut, the twin back doors slammed, and Tails was on his way.

o-o-o-o

The soldiers had been, predictably, quite rough with him. Two sat in the back of the carrier the entire way back to Green Hill, rifles at the ready and itching to fill him with holes at the slightest provocation. It didn't particularly bother him, though. Hearing two of the people he loved most in the world decry him as an object, a monster, was infinitely worse than any bullet.

He dragged his feet on his way into the facility, drawing the ire of his chaperones and earning him a few swift rifle butts to the back. He hadn't done it out of petulance, he was just so damn tired . He'd lost everything: his identity; his family; even his conscience was slipping away from him. In less than a week, he had gone from Miles Prower: friend, hero, person, to Project Brutus: thing, killer, weapon.

And still it wasn't over. Now it was time to face what was to come.

He was thrown, quite literally, into the magnetic restraints of a chair in the middle of an oppressive concrete room. The armed entourage did a once-over to make sure he was properly secured, and then unceremoniously disappeared behind the sliding metal door, leaving him alone with his own dread and regret.

It was a long time of sitting after that, sitting and wondering what was in store. Would they even give him a chance to speak? Or would they just rip him apart and go rooting around for data themselves? Would they torture him? He'd like to think not. The Freedom Fighters have had their misgivings about G.U.N. here and there, but he couldn't imagine them stooping to cold-blooded abuse. Then again, would it be abuse, since he was only a machine?

He decided to observe his admittedly sparse surroundings to distract himself from the inevitable. The only other objects to speak of in the room were two additional chairs, identical to his own but without restraints and not bolted to the floor, situated across from him. A lone, uncovered light bulb illuminated the cube, which wasn't terribly difficult due to the small dimensions. He had initially assumed this was a cell, and under normal circumstances it might have been, but that wouldn't explain the chairs. An interrogation, then. At least that implied they'd at least be willing to let him talk, if only so they could dismantle him later on rather than straight away.

Well, so much for distracting himself.

What must have been hours of similar thoughts came and went until a small beep pulled him out of his musings, and the door slid open, admitting two shockingly familiar faces. With a few purposeful strides, King Maximilian and Sir Charles Hedgehog both calmly took their seats opposite the fox, who for his part couldn't muster a single sound. Thankfully, Uncle Chuck took the helm. The hedgehog produced a small remote, and with a flick of his thumb the restraints were disengaged.

"Tails, my boy," he said, a sad but warm smile appearing on his face, "Looks like you're in a bit of a spot, eh?"

o-o-o-o

Oh boy! Tails has been revealed...kinda, but it looks like there's more in store for our little foxbot. Thanks so much for your patience, all. I've been working on this one for a while, and I really wanted to get the pacing and dialogue right. Hopefully, I lived up to the expectations. Hope you dug the update!