Skip if you want, more me ranting:

Ok...

I know it's been way too long. I keep promising updates to These Inhibitors' Flaws and I'm updating this again instead. I have no excuse other than laziness, I've gotta be completely honest with you. I can claim writers' block all I want, but if I don't physically sit down at my laptop to write, is it really writers' block? No. It's not. It's pure laziness, through and through, and I deeply apologise. I'm not going to make any more promises about what I'll update next or whatever, but I will say that I'm not dead and I'm not abandoning this stuff just yet. Nor am I leaving These Inhibitors' Flaws to rot! I will probably start a new version of it since it was started so long ago. Most of it should stay the same, but I might do some re-working of it. I hope all of you who have been waiting for updates stay patient and don't get too mad with me. I know I'm a frustrating human being, but please bear with me.

Following this update, I actually have an excuse though! I'm starting University! First seminar is tomorrow, fingers crossed I can find the damn building. I'm absolutely useless with maps. While that means I'm obviously going to be busy, hopefully when I have time it'll help me get back into updating. I am taking Creative Writing, after all, so my drive should come back in full force soon! Yay! That also means, hopefully, that I can improve my writing.

Thank you again for being so patient, and a massive thank you for everyone who leaves me a review - they really do motivate me, despite the loooooong breaks between updates! Hope you enjoy the recent chapter of Reticence and that you all have a lovely day!

~ Fortune

Chapter Five

Maurice trudged through the doors into the school. Breakfast this morning had been quiet and awkward, now he just wanted to curl into a ball and cry out in frustration. Not only did it hurt that his uncle was too disappointed to talk to him this morning, leading to him leaving early for school, but now he realised that he had no idea where he was supposed to be going this morning and he was fairly sure already that Miles and Knuckles would want nothing to do with him.

He sighed, 'Could this day get worse?'

"Oh, Maurice, you're here early today."

He turned to his left to see Miss Rouge approaching, carrying some paperwork in her hands as well as a laptop and a few folders. It looked like a lot of stuff, and she appeared to be struggling slightly.

"Uh, yeah, I am…" He shifted slightly, trying to forget the tension of the morning, and pointed to the stack of paper, "Can I help you with that?"

Miss Rouge smiled, "That would be very helpful, thank you."

Maurice took the papers from her, glad to have something to do and feeling helpful for the first time in months. Together, they walked down the halls to her office. Thankfully, Maurice had excellent memory, so he already knew where he was going. Miss Rouge opened the door and set the laptop down on the desk along with the folders.

"You can set the paper down here." The white bat pointed to a spot on the desk beside her monitor, "Thanks for the help. I'm glad I ran into you actually."

After setting the papers down gently, he turned to look at her in confusion.

Noticing, she smiled, "I'm sure you don't know what room to go to for your first lesson today, so I asked Miles and Knuckles to come straight to my office this morning. That way you won't have to go searching for them."

"They… still want to show me around?" He asked hesitantly.

Rouge blinked, "Of course they do! You thought they wouldn't?" She frowned.

"Well… I… I don't know…" He was getting tired of not being able to find the words he needed to explain.

He sighed for the thirteenth time already that day and shook his head. He wasn't good with words, never had been.

Miss Rouge looked at him concerned, "Are you ok? You seem a little down."

He looked away, "I'm fine." He mumbled; he knew he didn't sound convincing, but he didn't have the energy for convincing right now.

Truthfully, he wasn't ok, but he wasn't about to admit that. He could already tell without looking at her that she knew he wasn't too, but he didn't care. He subtly shifted his weight, not liking how long the silence was persisting. Hopefully she wouldn't bring it up. He had to fight down a groan when he remembered that he was really early and that he wouldn't be leaving Miss Rouge's office anytime soon.

'Crap.'

The bat put a hand on his shoulder and he froze, head almost snapping to meet her gaze, "Maurice, Hun, I know something's wrong."

'Double crap.'

He shifted his arm slightly so that her hand dropped away, "I'm fine." He replied, a tad bit too forcefully.

He folded his arms and looked away again. He could feel his ears trying to flatten themselves and he fought so hard against the urge. Unfortunately, it seemed his ears were on a strike and were refusing to listen to the commands his brain was yelling at them. He supposed a whole night and morning fighting off the low feeling had exhausted his will. Now it was hard to resist the urge to run out the office. He tightened his fist until he could practically feel how white his knuckles were.

"Maurice…"

'Screw it, I can't!'

In seconds he found himself darting through the still empty halls. He hadn't meant to. Really, he hadn't. It just… happened and he couldn't stop it. His body needed to run and he hadn't been able to tell his legs no. He opened the door to a random classroom and collapsed against the door. From there, he slid down to the floor and hugged his knees to his chest. He could hear Miss Rouge panting on the other side of the door and he felt terrible. Again. Why was he like this?

Rouge put her hands against the door Maurice had disappeared behind and tried to catch her breath. She hadn't been expecting the poor kid to flee her office in such a way. Damn kid was fast. What had even happened? One moment they were standing there in awkward silence, next thing she knew she was chasing down a clearly distraught hedgehog who was not, repeat, not fine.

She regained her composure and knocked on the door softly, "Maurice, Hun? Are you alright?"

No response from the other side of the wood. Rouge frowned and pulled out her phone.

"I'm going to call your uncl-"

She was cut off by a panicked shout, "NO!"

"Wh-what?" Rouge replied, startled, "Mauri-"

"Don't bother him, please…"

"Maurice, if you're still not 100% I have to call your legal guardian."

"Please…"

Rouge sighed. She really shouldn't be doing what she was about to do, but she wanted the kid to trust her. She put her phone back in her pocket after sending her grumpy co-worker a quick text. She would do as he said. She needed Maurice's trust.

"Ok…" She sighed quietly, "I won't."

"… Promise?" The meek voice asked.

"Promise." Rouge took a deep breath, knowing her next question might be pushing it, "Can I come in?"

There was a long pause from the other side. For a sickening moment, Rouge was worried that she'd already ruined her chance.

Then a response, "Are you going to ask more questions…?"

'Damn, there goes that idea. But, if I can't ask him anything, at least I can get his trust. Yes, that's more important right now.'

"I… I won't if you don't want me to." Might as well leave it open ended just in case though.

The door opened after a moment with a sheepish looking hedgehog standing in the doorway. His blue ears were folded back so far they were flat against his head. Emerald eyes remained fixed on the ground as he stepped aside to let her in the room. Once she was inside, the door was closed again and Maurice leaned against the wall, still looking at the floor. He looked upset, almost… ashamed? It made her want to go over and hug him but, judging by what Shadow told her yesterday, that wasn't really going to happen.

"I know you don't want to talk about what's bothering you," She started, "But if you ever do want to, Mr Shadow and I are ready to listen, you know that right?"

The kid nodded, but he still wouldn't look at her. He shuffled his feet slightly where he stood. Rouge noticed his hand twitching over his right wrist but she pushed the thought away. Now Rouge was stumped, what was she supposed to do?

She decided she should at least be honest, "I sent Mr Shadow a message, he'll be here soon." She could tell he was about to protest, so she cut in before he could, "He's your Learning Mentor and if I can't contact your uncle for whatever reason, he's my only other option."

Maurice looked at her for a moment, his expression unreadable, then dropped his gaze again with a sigh.

When Shadow got the text, he was in his classroom writing up a starter for his first class on the whiteboard. The phone vibrated twice on his desk, the sound reverberating through the wood in an annoying way that got on his nerves. With a long, drawn-out sigh, he stopped writing halfway through his sentence and picked up the phone.

Rouge. With a grumble, he tapped the notification to read whatever she had to say. Annoyance was quickly replaced with concern when he read the oddly straight to the point message: "Come to M3. Maurice."

The dark hedgehog, aware that the halls would be mostly empty, made his way as fast as possible to the Maths block. He easily located the room Rouge had specified and opened the door. Rouge and the kid were standing there in silence. Maurice had his gaze fixed on the floor and he looked uncomfortable. Rouge, even weirder, looked lost. He'd almost have laughed if it hadn't been so tense in here… and if he had no self-respect, of course. He just wasn't used to seeing such a look on his flirtatious, frustrating co-worker.

"What happened?"

He watched Rouge look over to Maurice slowly, as if debating something in her head, "I ran into Maurice earlier and we went to my office… I… I think I pushed him a little too hard." Her expression turned apologetic, but Maurice wasn't looking at her so he didn't catch it.

"Were you going to call his uncle?" Shadow asked, worried by the alarmed look Maurice shot him, before the young hedgehog snapped his head to look at Rouge.

Rouge made a calming motion with her hands, "I said I wouldn't and I won't, ok?" she addressed both of them, but her focus was clearly Maurice.

So that was off the table. Obviously there had been some sort of attempt from Rouge to call him already, and Maurice had somehow managed to get her to agree not to. He narrowed his eyes. Why?

"May I ask why you don't want us to contact him?" Shadow asked, ignoring the shaking of Rouge's head in his peripheral vision.

The mumbled response he got was frustrating, "Because."

Shadow frowned, "'Because' isn't a response, Maurice." The blue teen wouldn't meet his gaze at all, "Maurice."

"I just don't want to bother him, ok?! He's busy, really busy!" Maurice snapped with a raised voice, followed by a quieter whisper when he realised he'd just shouted, "Really, really… busy."

Rouge took a hesitant step closer to the blue hedgehog, "I'm sure he wouldn't be bothered, Maurice."

"He would." Maurice said with certainty, leaving no room for argument.

Rouge tried again anyway, "He's your uncle, he'll want to know if you're upset for whatever reason. He'll understand." Maurice looked lost, confused almost, but also unsure, "We could… we could maybe just send him a message? No phone call, and you won't have to be picked up!" She added quickly at the panicked look, "Just a message. That's all."

Maurice looked like he wanted to protest so bad.

So Shadow butted in with, "It's either a message or a call, Maurice. Legally, we have to let him know how you're doing."

With a sigh that was perhaps more audible than Maurice intended, he nodded slowly. He obviously hated it, but he caved enough for them to send a message which was the best they could expect for now. Wordlessly, it was decided that they'd go back to the office to wait for Miles and Knuckles. Rouge was texting Maurice's uncle on the way there. It was kind of funny to Shadow how professional she could seem sometimes, while acting childish other times. Perhaps that's why, despite how much she irritated him, he still considered her a friend; she was serious when the situation called for it.

They still had a while before the school day started, so they had to hang around the office for a while. While they were sitting around in the dark office, a high pitch sound made them all jump. They both looked at Maurice in confusion as he moved the cuff of his glove aside to reveal what looked to be a watch.

'What?'

The room was so silent, Maurice legitimately thought you could hear a pin drop. He'd always heard that phrase before, but he never believed it until now. That's why, when he heard the tell-tale sound of his communicator going off, he jumped terribly. In confusion, forgetting where he was, he looked down at the device strapped around his wrist. His face scrunched up in confusion again when the device failed to recognise the number that the message came from. He would have thought it would be his uncle; while that would have surprised him, it wasn't as surprising as this. Who else had this number…?

He opened up the message and he felt his blood run cold.

"Maurice? What is that?" Miss Rouge asked, but her voice sounded far away, distant.

He sat there for a moment, simply staring at his communicator. This couldn't be right. It had to be some practical joke… but, then, no one he knew would pull a trick this fucked up.

He stood up and grabbed his backpack. He hopped over to the door and put his hand on the handle.

"Maurice?" Miss Rouge tried again.

He hesitated for a moment. He couldn't just run off without telling his uncle he was going. Despite the current tension between them, he'd never do that to his only family. He wouldn't be gone long, shouldn't be, but he had to investigate. He had to know. But what to say… he couldn't tell his teachers what he was doing, and if he told his uncle he might panic – he didn't want that. But he wouldn't lie to his uncle either. He thought for a moment – code. He could use code.

"I-I'm sorry." He cleared his throat to expel the tremor, "Call my uncle. Tell him… tell him '9, 14, 6, 9, 14, 9, 20, 5.' He'll understand."

"What? Maurice, what's going on?" Mr Shadow had joined in now, standing up from his place by the windowsill.

"I have to go. I have to do something real quick." He shifted on the spot, "I'll be back tomorrow. Probably."

Then, before they could ask anymore questions, he walked out and closed the door. While he had the barrier to shield him for a few seconds, he zipped down the hall and sprinted out the building. He felt guilty. Supremely guilty. But this was far more important right now. It crossed his mind that he could be running into a trap, he could get hurt, but he felt like he was obligated to take action. He wouldn't be able to focus on anything else until he either proved or disproved his theory. If it turned out he was wrong, he'd apologise to his uncle later. If he was right…

Well, he really didn't want to know what would happen if he turned out to be right.

The sky-blue hedgehog sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He felt bad about giving his nephew the cold shoulder, but he was beyond disappointed. Maurice had never broken a promise before. He knew he hadn't meant to, but he really worried him the other day. What if something had happened to him? He was so harsh, simply because he was so afraid.

Maurice reminded him too much of his brother. Jules was reckless. He was brave but, in his opinion, to a fault. He was too brave. He charged into battle full of confidence, knowing full well any battle could be his last, because he was so selfless but hasty. Since Maurice was a kid, he had been trying to teach him to be careful, cautious, smart. Trying to teach him to be less like his brother.

Too much of him was like Jules. When Maurice broke that promise, it reminded him of the last promise his brother ever made. The last promise he ever broke…

But, he sighed again, he was also so much like Jules' wife, his sister-in-law and Maurice's mother, Bernadette. She was so kind, so… so naïve. She, like Jules, was also selfless. It was no surprise that Maurice was so willing to put his life on the line for the people around him. That also scared Charles. It didn't used to, but it did now… it did now because of Jules…

Charles heard the four distinctive knocks on the door, a pattern he could recognise anywhere, and knew who it was immediately. Maurice, who had been sitting at the table with him, the remains of a cookie in his hand, stood up to follow him to the door. Upon opening the old, oak door slowly, they were both met with the familiar face of Jules. The distinct blue colouration in his fur looked dull, but Maurice didn't notice. Why would he?

"Dad!" Maurice almost flung himself at his father, wrapping his arms around his waist in a tight hug.

Jules chuckled, ruffling the quills on Maurice's head affectionately as he stepped inside the small hut.

"Woah there, kiddo, I haven't even gotten inside the house yet!" He exclaimed, pulling the young hedgehog into a hug just as strong as his.

"Jules, you're late." Charles laughed jokingly, walking over to hug his brother.

Jules reciprocated the embrace like always, "Charles, thank you so much for looking after my son tonight. I'm afraid I just could not miss that meeting."

"Of course, it was my pleasure. Maurice is so quiet, I almost forgot he was here for a moment!" He cast a glance at said hedgehog who was standing between the two brothers now.

"That reminds me... Charles, can we talk for a moment?" Jules whispered just quietly enough so that Maurice couldn't hear him.

He blinked at him, "Of course. Maurice, why don't you go say bye to Muttski?" Charles beckoned the boy closer, "I think I saw him last in the living room."

"Ok!" The blue hedgehog dashed away to find the mobini, a large grin plastered on his peach muzzle as he called out the dog's name.

Jules turned to Charles, his pointy ears drooping in exhaustion once Maurice had disappeared out of ear shot. His brown hair was a mess and his dark brown eyes were clouded over with clear fatigue and dread. That made Charles nervous.

"Thank you, again, for looking after Maurice for us, Charles. I don't know what we'd do without your help... I hope he wasn't too much of a bother..."

"Nonsense, Jules! It's a delight to have him around; he's a great kid. I know you and Bernadette have had your own problems to deal with recently, helping the King with the army and whatever else. I'm just glad I can work from home when I want to!" He chuckled.

His brother sighed, "There's been rioting on the East Side for the past few days... I... I don't want Maurice knowing about all of this. As far as he's concerned, we're helping the King with establishing peace..."

He glanced up and looked into the other room where Maurice was kneeling on the carpet, hugging Muttski tightly. Muttski wasn't exactly an old dog, but he was certainly older than Maurice. In fact, Maurice had always known Muttski. The dog had several large brown splodges that stood out against his cream fur and a thick scarlet collar with a tag displaying his name hung around his neck. He sat beside Maurice, resting his head on the kid's forehead. His strong tail was thwacking against the floorboards loudly.

"Well you are, aren't you? It's not a complete lie. Besides, you know you won't be able to keep this from him for long."

"Huh?" Confused, Jules looked back over to the other hedgehog.

Charles was still watching Maurice, the smile on the light blue hedgehog's face merely growing as Muttski licked his face and he giggled, "He's a smart boy, Jules. He knows when he's being lied to. He has your spirit, my attentiveness and his mother's determination."

"Determination? Is that what you call it...?" He mumbled, "I see it more as persistent stubbornness and a little bit of arrogance..." He sighed, "... And that's exactly why I married her. But sometimes I wish Maurice wasn't so much like us... And I fear the traits that he has picked up are ones that will get him killed later in life..."

"Now, Jules, you can't seriously be saying that, can you?" He turned back to him in disbelief, "Just look at him, I'm sure he'll be fine! He knows how to survive; we've all passed that knowledge down to him."

"Maybe you're right... I just want to protect him, that's all."

"And no one can fault you for that, Jules. But you can't look after him forever, you and I both know that." He paused for a moment, "He knows the difference between right and wrong and he knows how to defend himself. Trust me, he'll be okay when you let him out into the world by himself." Charles rested his arm over his shoulders reassuringly.

"I wish I could share your optimism, Charles..." He sighed before switching his calm and collected façade back on and putting on a convincing fake smile.

Charles noticed how remarkably easily he could do that, but he supposed he couldn't let Maurice notice how distraught he was inside; he didn't need to see that. Charles wasn't as good at masking his emotions, but he had learned for Maurice's sake a few years ago. Jules had always been way too good at it though… fooled even him at times.

"Maurice, come on! We need to leave your uncle alone before he gets sick of us!" Jules added a short laugh to the end of his sentence, making sure the young kid didn't take it seriously.

"Coming!" He called from the other room, patting Muttski on the head one last time before racing to his father's side.

"We'll probably be back tomorrow," Jules told Charles as he opened the door to leave, "King Acorn will be expecting me to tell him our plan for tomorrow before we head out, so I might not be here to pick Maurice up. Hopefully Bernie will be off her shift by the afternoon though, so you won't have to keep him for the night."

Charles nodded, waving to his brother and nephew as they turned to leave.

"Stay safe." He whispered before Jules had stepped out the door.

"I will." He replied, a twinkle in his eyes overriding the exhaustion and stress for a moment, "I promise."

"Bye Uncle Chuck!" Maurice called, waving his little gloved hand as he followed Jules through the door.

Charles closed the door once more. Muttski skittered across the floor to meet him as he entered the living room. He collapsed onto the grey chair in the far corner with a barely audible sigh, "How long must this go on..." He muttered under his breath, "The pain, the death… Jules is right, Maurice doesn't need to know. Not yet..."

'He's too young...'

Charles supposed that Jules' fears rubbed off on him that night. He shook his head. That didn't mean he had to be so harsh on his poor nephew. He had to apologise when he got home. He needed to let Maurice know he hadn't meant to be so cold last night or this morning. Perhaps he could get off work early, get home before Maurice and start cooking up some chilli dogs.

On another note, he wondered if he should give Muttski's old collar to Maurice. He always loved that dog… he must miss him as much as he himself did. Or… maybe once they'd properly settled and money was stable, he should adopt a dog for Maurice's birthday? No dog could ever replace sweet, old Muttski, but having a dog around the house again sounded nice.

With a smile on his face and a plan in his head, Charles was about to go back to the half-finished blueprints in front of him when his communicator beeped, signifying a call was coming through. The smile slipped off his face when he recognised the school number. The headmistress had already texted him fifteen minutes ago to tell him Maurice had a brief freak-out at school. She had assured him over text that he was fine, but a call? So soon after the text?

He answered the call and tried not to sound worried, "Hello?"