Hello everyone! I'm back with yet another Sonic Boom one-shot! And it's gonna be a little tense! After watching Sticks and Amy's Excellent Staycation, I wondered what it would have been like if Charlie and Belinda attacked Team Sonic? So this is why I am writing this work of art down! And by the way, I'm coming out with a new story soon, but it's still taking me a while. Oh and yes, someone in this story is bound to be seriously injured… and I'm NOT telling you. That's for you to find out! So just sit back and read...

Sonic Boom

Brother's Keeper.

This is all my fault. I was supposed to be there for him, but I let him down again.

Sonic slowly placed a hand into another one and squeezed it tight. Then he stared at the face of the person whose hand he had just grabbed. The person's eyes were closed; his chest rose and fell with each breath underneath the covers. Beads of sweat popped up on the person's forehead. Sonic slowly starting caressing the hand of the person who was laying on his sickbed; or more like, deathbed. At least, it felt that way to the blue hedgehog. Sonic immediately thought of how he could have prevented the person on the bed from even being confined there in the first place. The hedgehog hadn't even seen it coming. He couldn't have known that the person was even going to get hurt. And now, Sonic regretted not being able to save that person from being hit with a Disintegrator Ray. And now, there was a very real possibility that Sonic could lose the one thing he absolutely loved; or more like, the one person he absolutely loved.

Why didn't I see that sooner? I could've stopped her from blasting him with that stupid wingsuit of her's that he made for her anniversary gift. I could've. I would've. And I most certainly should've. I'm so sorry... I let you down again. And it's all my fault. Not yours. You were just trying to stop him from blasting them with his stupid mech suit. Again, I'm so sorry for not being able to stop her. I'm so sorry... buddy. I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry...

An hour before…

Sonic, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks were all gathered together in Tails' workshop. All of them were watching as he fixed up his plane. And they were accompanied by Chad Parell, Tails' cousin in-law.

"Hurry up before we realize that skydiving into a waterspout is a bad idea." Knuckles said.

Chad looked at the echidna. "Patience Knux."

Suddenly, something on the fox's plane snapped. The kid took a quick look at it, then he sighed.

"Ah, crud. Whelp, that's over. Anybody else have any ideas of what we should do for fun?"

Knuckles immediately shrugged his shoulders.

Sticks suggested that they could go treasure hunting; and what she meant by 'treasure' hunting, she meant looking for 'redeemable' items from trash piles.

"Ick, gross!" Chad exclaimed.

"Eh, yeah no." Amy said.

"That may be your thing, but it's definitely not my thing." Chad told the badger.

"Where is your cousin by the way, Tails?" Sonic asked.

Tails knew which cousin Sonic was talking about. Fara had left for her home island to spend some time with her father for a couple days after her and Chad had a big argument.

"She won't be back until tonight. Maybe then, she'll help me with my plane."

"I'm sure she will, she'll probably do anything to stay away from me." Chad said.

"C'mon now," Tails said, looking at him. "She ain't that mad."

"How would you know? It's like you don't live with her and I everyday."

Tails gave Chad a cold glare.

"Hello!" The young fox snapped. "She's my cousin!"

"Okay! Tails! Chad! Enough bickering!" Sonic immediately snapped.

Amy suddenly interrupted.

"Sorry, not meaning to step in, but you guys wanna do Meh Burger?"

Chad looked at the pink hedgehog. "Now that's worse than 'treasure' hunting for items out of a trash pile."

Amy only glared at him. "How is it worse?"

"For one," Chad replied, "it's meat's not even real beef. And second of all; it has lousy customer service."

Chad then imitated Dave's voice. Tails immediately dropped to the ground and rolled over, laughing. Sonic and Knuckles soon snickered. Amy immediately grew even more angrier with Chad, and now the three boys of Team Sonic.

"Wow. You guys are so immature!" Amy snapped.

Tails soon helped himself up and snickered alongside Sonic and Knuckles. Pretty soon, the little fox stopped and looked up at the two of them, frowning.

"What are we laughing at?"

"Wow, that was amazing Chad." Sonic snickered, completely ignoring Tails' question.

Amy only growled, slugging Chad in the arm as she and Sticks left Tails' workshop. Tails watched as the two girls walked out of his workshop angry. He really felt bad about what he had just done a few seconds before.

"Alright guys, that's enough." Tails chimed in.

"Aww, fine." Chad replied.

A few minutes later...

The four guys soon joined up with Amy and Sticks at Meh Burger, and were now seated. Chad was anything but dissatisfied with Amy's choice. Dave came up and soon enough, seeing Chad, he gave the rest of the group a cold look.

"What would you like, Mister Parell?" The nutria asked, his voice sounded ever so more bored.

Chad told him immediately, and the rest told him what they wanted also. He soon returned behind the counter. Chad looked at Tails.

"Wow, you only ordered yourself a little thing of popcorn chicken?"

"Yeah, not that hungry." Tails answered him.

Suddenly, they were startled when they heard the voice of Doctor Eggman. Chad looked towards the counter and saw that the evil 'genius' was ordering a chilli dog.

"What? Eggman wants a chili dog? Never heard of it before." Dave said from behind the counter.

"I'll get right on that. Mister 'Savage Style.' "

Suddenly, the whole entire outdoor restaurant burst out in laughter. Eggman's anger suddenly swelled up.

"How dare you! All I ask for is a jumbo sized chilli dog, and this is what I get!? Oh the nerve! Minions, ATTACK!" Eggman yelled.

Nothing happened.

"Still waiting for your robotic minions to 'attack' us." Chad said, using his fingers as quotation marks when he the word 'attack'.

Eggman suddenly threw a dart towards Tails, but Chad caught it before it struck the little fox in the eye. Sonic whispered something into Chad's ear. The full grown fox smirked.

"Should you be home, helping Mombot out with cleaning house?" Chad asked jokingly.

Suddenly, laughter burst out again. Eggman yelled for his robots to attack them, then he remembered something.

"Oh, right! They're all out of commission for the week. Well, I'll get even with you later Sonic!"

The egg shaped man then hopped into his Egg mobile and sped off for his lair.

"That was nice!" Tails congratulated Chad, giving him a fist bump.

As they were about to eat their food, a pink colored shrew ran towards the group, screaming.

"Hey, what's wrong Beth?" Amy asked.

"Is it Eggface!?" Sonic asked. The shrew only shook her head.

"It's Charlie. He's gone ballistic, I betcha mister!"

"Charlie!?" Tails exclaimed.

"And I would've thought Eggman was gonna be our number one problem with us this week!"

"Where is he?" Knuckles asked.

"Fennec's place. You gotta help him I betcha mister!"

"Ah crud! And I was beginning to enjoy the tasteless meat of Meh Burger! Oh for crying out loud! Good grief!" Chad exclaimed, quite upset.

Sonic and the others immediately rushed over to Fennec's store and saw right away that the enstranged desert rat was in his mech suit. He took one look at the group of heroes and glared.

"What the heck is this all about?" Chad asked the deranged rat.

Then he and Team Sonic saw that Charlie had froze Fennec with his freeze ray.

"Let me guess? He didn't have what you needed for your mech suit?" Tails deduced.

Charlie immediately yelled and with his mech suit, he smacked Tails away, causing the fox to yell and hit the ground. That did it. Everyone else prepared to defend themselves from the maniac.

"How dare you!" Sonic and Chad yelled in unison.

Chad pulled out his bo and prepared himself for defense. And pretty soon, a full battle was in motion. Tails eventually recovered, only to have him almost get froze up by Charlie. He quickly dodged and flew up in the air using his twin tails. Amy swung towards the enstranged rat with her Piko Piko Hammer. But he smacked her away also.

"Has your mama ever told you that smacking girls is impolite and rude!?" Chad yelled angrily. Then he pulled out a Disintegrator Ray and fired it at the leggings of Charlie's mech suit. Suddenly, a blast almost hit Knuckles in the back. The echidna swiftly dodged it and looked up at where the laser had came from. He soon found out that Belinda, Charlie's wife, had joined the fight. And in her wingsuit.

"It is I, Belinda! And now, Mama B wants a piece of the action."

She flew down and immediately snatched up Chad and flew upward with him in her hands. Then she quickly thrusted him down. Chad groaned as soon as he hit the ground.

"Chad! No!" Tails yelled angrily. Then he flew up towards Belinda and gave chase after her.

Meanwhile, Charlie was gaining the upper hand. He had frozen Amy and Sticks. He was now shooting fireballs at Sonic and Knuckles. However, one of them came too close to hitting the echidna. Knuckles flew backwards and hit the ground. Knuckles immediately got back up, but it was too late. Charlie fired a freeze ray at him, freezing the echidna immediately. Sonic immediately growled as he realized that he was the only one left now. Chad was too weak to even stand at this point. And where was Tails? Sonic immediately sped around Charlie's mech suit. But the desert rat wasn't falling for it this time. He immediately smacked the hedgehog away. Sonic was sent flying right into a stack of crates. Tails looked down and saw that everyone else had been defeated by Charlie and Belinda. It was all up to him now. Then the fox thought of an idea. Immediately, Tails turned the dial on his belt buckle, which in turn, activated his Enerbeam. He immediately used it to his advantage and whipped the energy lasso around Charlie's mech suit. Soon enough, Charlie found himself not being able to move around at all. Chad had regained his strength and now he and Sonic, who had also regained his strength, looked up at the young fox and both of them smiled.

"Alright Tails!" Sonic cheered.

"Keep him there! We got him!" Chad whooped.

"When I say; let go of your Enerbeam." Sonic yelled at Tails.

Sonic and Chad immediately ran towards Charlie and were about to Charlie, but suddenly, the Enerbeam that had been wrapped around the rat's mech suit lossened. And Sonic immediately saw why. For in that moment, he had just seen Tails get shot in the stomach area with a laser by Belinda, who used the Disintegrator Ray that Charlie had installed on her wingsuit. Tails immediately yelped upon feeling the laser hit him. He immediately let go of his Enerbeam, closed his eyes and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Nooooo!" Sonic yelled angrily. He immediately prepared himself for a Spin-dash. As soon as he was ready, he immediately Spin-dashed Belinda out of the air, damaging her wingsuit in the process. The goat was sent flying right into Charlie, who immediately yelped as he felt his wife get smacked right into him. Immediately, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks were unfrozen and helped turn the tide of the battle. Knuckles and Amy both sent Charlie and Belinda flying away from town with both hammer and punch. As soon as they both were out of sight, Sonic helped Sticks to her feet. Amy looked at where Tails had fallen and immediately gasped.

"No!"

Seeing Amy's reaction immediately reminded Sonic about Tails' situation. He immediately sped up and soon enough, he and the others, especially Chad surrounded the fox. Tails was laid out in an odd position, and with him unconscious, he looked limp and lifeless. The young fox had his right hand covered on to the lower left side of his abdomen. The left hand was laid out on the ground, limp. His face was scrunched up in pain, his ears drooped to the sides of his head. Sonic immediately lowered his head onto the fox's chest and waited to hear a heartbeat. And fortunately, he heard a couple of them. Tails suddenly moaned. Chad immediately gently removed the young fox's hand from his stomach and soon enough, he and the others saw that the lower left side of his stomach had definitely been hit with a laser. The spot was singed. Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy immediately were worried about Tails' survival. Suddenly, he moaned again.

"So… sorry.. Sonic…" Tails whispered softly.

"Tails, it's not your fault buddy." Sonic reassured his injured friend.

Tails didn't respond; for in that moment, the young fox had passed out again from the pain.

Chad took a good look at Tails' wound. He immediately took a deep breath.

"Ah no! How is this happening? Fara's gonna be frickin mad when she gets home tonight!"

Sonic gently picked up Tails and carried him back towards Chad and Fara's place.

"I'm so sorry bud. I let you down again and now look at you. You're wounded, and probably sick also." Sonic whispered, tears streaming down his face.

"I promised to be there for you. And I failed you. I'm so sorry Tails…"

Present…

This is all my fault. I was supposed to be there for him, but I let him down again.

Sonic slowly placed a hand into another one and squeezed it tight. Then he stared at the face of the person whose hand he had just grabbed. The person's eyes were closed; his chest rose and fell with each breath underneath the covers. Beads of sweat popped up on the person's forehead. Sonic slowly starting caressing the hand of the person who was laying on his sickbed; or more like, deathbed. At least, it felt that way to the blue hedgehog. Sonic immediately thought of how he could have prevented the person on the bed from even being confined there in the first place. The hedgehog hadn't even seen it coming. He couldn't have known that the person was even going to get hurt. And now, Sonic regretted not being able to save that person from being hit with a Disintegrator Ray. And now, there was a very real possibility that Sonic could lose the one thing he absolutely loved; or more like, the one person he absolutely loved. That person was none other than his sidekick. That person was none other than his best friend. That person was none other than his little brother. That person was none other than Tails. And that was who was laid out on the sickbed.

Why didn't I see that sooner? I could've stopped her from blasting him with that stupid wingsuit of her's that he made for her anniversary gift. I could've. I would've. And I most certainly should've. I'm so sorry Tails. I let you down again. And it's all my fault. Not yours. You were just trying to stop him from blasting Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks with his stupid mech suit. Again, I'm so sorry for not being able to stop her. I'm so sorry Tails buddy. I'm so sorry.

Sonic placed his head next to Tails' head and wept silently. He could've prevented her from nearly killing his loyal sidekick; best friend; and most important to him, little brother. But he didn't. And he felt that it was all his fault that it happened.

I'm so sorry Tails…

Sonic was immediately interrupted from his thoughts when he heard the door to the guestroom open and close. He looked behind him and saw that it was Knuckles and Amy who had walked in. He saw that both of them had sad looks on their faces, and that Amy had been crying also. Sonic knew that both echidna and hedgehog were in here to comfort him; thing was though, he didn't want them to. It was not that he wanted their friendship, but he felt like them comforting him just wasn't going to help him cope with what had happened to Tails. With what Chad had told Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks; things were not good with Tails' laser wound. Being a nurse for five years before even meeting Tails and his friends, Chad knew what he was talking about when it came to him and his previous experiences in the medical field. And from what Chad had told them, it didn't look good for Tails at all; there was a real possible chance that the little fox could never wake up again. And that had Sonic really scared; and not just for himself, but rather, for his best friend. Currently, the young fox was laid upon the bed underneath some covers that Chad had found. His left hand was laid out on the bed, limp and unmoved. Sonic placed a hand on the cub's forehead, and with his other one, he gently grabbed it and placed it across his lower stomach. Then he placed the hand he had used back in Tails' right one. Knuckles sat down right beside Sonic, whereas Amy sat down in a soft cushion on the other side of the bed. She saw that Tails was wearing a gray colored shirt on, and she knew why too. Chad had wrapped a bandage around his lower torso in an attempt to keep the wound from being infected. They saw that Tails' bangs were unkempt and had drooped to one side of his forehead. His mouth and muzzle were covered in a black colored rubber oxygen mask which Chad had installed onto his muzzle. The door opened and shut gently as Sticks entered the room. She pulled out a chair and placed it next to Amy's seat, then the badger sat down and wrapped an arm around Amy's shoulder. Then for the next several hours or so, no one said a single word as they just sat in their seats, keeping an eye out on their young friend. Knuckles eventually fell asleep in his chair. While he was sleeping, Sticks broke the silence when she looked up at Sonic, and with a glum look on her face.

"So… what do we do now?"

Sonic looked up at her. "Have no idea. But Fara's going to be extremely grumpy about this whole entire ordeal when Chad tells her tonight. That I know for sure."

Amy only nodded her head sadly. "And extremely sad."

Sticks then looked up just in time to see Tails roll his head barely on the pillow. Sonic and Amy saw that Tails' hand flinched. Then, his ears that were drooped perked up and flicked. And the same could be said for his eyes. All three of them—minus Knuckles—watched Tails' eyes flicker open. Once he got them opened barely, he tried to talk but found out something was covering his mouth and muzzle. Amy immediately got out of her chair and ran for the door. Once she exited the room, Tails slightly turned his head towards where the pink hedgehog was sitting at.

Sonic placed a hand on Tails' shoulder.

"I-it's okay… b-buddy.." he choked. "Amy's getting Chad."

Speaking of which, Amy had just came back in the room, and with the silver colored fox right behind her. Chad sure enough saw that the little fox was awake. He immediately went in-between Sonic and Knuckles' seats and gently took the oxygen mask off of Tails' muzzle. Tails then slowly turned his head towards Sonic and saw that the blue hedgehog had tears rolling down his face. Tails then smiled weakly, as he just woken up. By this point, Knuckles had just woke up too, and to his amazement, the echidna saw that the orange and white fox cub had woke up. Tails slowly straightened his head on the pillow and weakly closed his eyes. Then his ears drooped again. However, his face lit up as he placed a hand in Sonic's.

"...w-what… happened..?"

Sonic placed a hand on the cub's forehead. "It's okay. Don't talk much."

Chad suddenly smiled. "You're doing better than I thought you would."

Tails opened his eyes and slowly inched his head until he was staring at the silver fox.

"I need to know… w-what became of.. me…"

Chad took a deep breath, then he and Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks all explained to the injured fox that he had been wounded by Charlie and Belinda; and that they had been scared for him when they brought him back to Chad and Fara's place. And with each sentence, Tails seemed to stir more.

"You're probably thirsty." Sonic said.

Then he poured the fox same water into a midsized glass and placed it to the kit's lips. Sonic helped him drink it. By the time Tails was done, he looked flushed. He laid his head back down on the pillow and closed his weary eyes.

"Thanks… guys.."

Chad cleared his throat. "Hey, I have someone who wants to see you."

Tails swallowed hard. "Y-you.. do..?"

Chad smiled at Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks. "Yeah, I do."

The silver fox then pulled out a commlink and spoke into it.

"You can come in now."

Suddenly, the door gently opened up and when it was shut, Tails' eyes flickerer. Rolling his head towards the direction of the bedroom door, he saw a black and white colored two-tailed fox standing right behind Chad. Immediately, the injured fox smiled as he opened his eyes halfway.

"F-Fara.."

The black fox only nodded her head. "Hey, I heard what happened to you."

Tails then lost his smile. "Y-you're still… mad at Chad… aren't you..?"

Fara immediately looked looked at her husband, who was rubbing his beard on the lower part of his muzzle.

"No. Not anymore."

Right there, right then, Tails straightened his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. Then he started crying.

"Good… I thought… *cough* you guys were… going to… *sniff* divorce each.. e-each other.."

Fara was immediately heartbroken. "Aww, Miles. No, we would never do that. Never."

Tails swallowed hard, then he smiled. "N-never..?"

Fara smiled again. "No… never in a million years."

Tails then smiled weakly. "Good. I'd have.. to kill.. you b-both…"

Chad and Sonic only snickered. Amy, Sticks, and Knuckles only smiled. Fara chuckled.

"In the condition you're in? Ha! I don't think so." Fara said jokingly.

Tails only smiled as he stopped crying. He was glad to hear that his cousin and Chad were no longer angry with each other. Tails swallowed hard, then he cleared his throat.

"Um? Can I… have a.. moment with.. Sonic..?"

Everybody else in the room knew this was coming, but they weren't angry with Tails for him asking the question. Amy sat up and placed a kiss on the little fox's face.

"Of course."

Knuckles and Sticks got out of their seats and headed for the door, with Fara and Chad not too far behind. Fara looked at her little cousin.

"Let us know when you guys are done."

Tails slowly nodded his head. Once they left the room and both hedgehog and fox were the only ones in the room, Tails turned his head on the pillow until he knew that he would be looking at Sonic. Then the injured fox opened his eyes and stared at his best friend, diamond blues pupils staring into emerald green ones.

"I-I know… you're beating yourself up… on what happened… to me.."

Sonic placed a hand in Tails'. He only nodded his head.

"Please… don't… if this is anyone's fault… it should… be mine…"

Sonic immediately squeezed his friend's hand.

"Aww, Tails.. no buddy. It was my fault. Not yours. I promised you that this wouldn't happen again… but–"

Sonic sighed, then he continued.

"–I failed you again. I let you get shot. I've should have seen it coming. Tails, I love you, and because I do, I'll do everything I can do to protect you from ever being hurt again. I'm supposed to be my brother's keeper, but… like I said, I failed you again. I hope you can forgive me Tails. And if you don't, I won't be mad at you. If anything, you're the one that has permission to be angry and swollen at me for letting you get injured again… Tails–"

Sonic immediately stopped when he heard Tails cry. He saw the injured fox cry as tears spilled down his face and onto his pillow.

"S-Sonic… stop.." Tails wailed. Then he placed a hand on Sonic's own face.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm not angry and swollen at you either. Neither do I hate you for what happened to me. None of us seen it coming. We had no idea that Belinda was gonna shoot me.. s-so, please… stop.."

Sonic looked at Tails.

"But Tails–"

"No!" Tails yelled at Sonic.

"Just shut up! You're right… it's not my fault… but neither is it yours… okay… o-okay..!?"

Sonic never expected Tails to yell at him like that before, but he was; the younger brother yelling at the older one. Tails then placed a hand on Sonic's face and wiped the tears off his big brother's face.

"I love you, and because I do, I want you to know that my being shot and injured is not your fault. So whatever you're thinking about right now, please leave it behind and don't let it bother you. It's okay. I survived, you survived. It's going to be okay Sonic. I am going to be okay Sonic."

Sonic started caressing Tails' face, his emerald green pupils staring into his little brother's diamond blue ones, then both hedgehog and fox smiled at each other again.

"I love you lil' brother."

Tails smiled bigger.

"L-love.. y-you.." Tails whispered weakly.

Tails then straightened his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. And before Sonic could call the others back in here, he found that Tails had already fallen off to sleep. Sonic then leaned over and placed the injured fox's goggles back on his forehead, but not before placing a little brotherly kiss on the fox's face.

"Love you more, Tails."

And this is where I have to end Brother's Keeper. I hope you all will fall in love with this oneshot. And if you do, please leave me a review of what you thought about Brother's Keeper. I would really appreciate it so much. I couldn't help but write this down, because I couldn't help but see the brotherly relationship that Sonic and Tails have between each other. They really do see each other like brothers, and that's because they love each other and they would do anything they could do to help each other out. Like I said, I really hope that you will fall in love with this oneshot. Thanks a million. And as always… until next time, God bless.

Sincerely,

JalcoFox.