Woop I'm back, back in the story ^3^

I want to give a shout out to That Speed Hunter for the contribution of a certain nickname. Soon as I read it I was laughing, so thank you for the idea :D

I really hope you guys like the new chapter, and please leave a review to let me know what you think.

Enjoy x

With an unexpected push, Shadow was forced out of his slumber. The first reaction was to raise his fists threateningly, but once his eyes opened to see the illustrious bat standing in front of him he settled down.

"Rouge, what are you doing here?" he groaned. Looking around he noticed Sonic was also awake and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Rouge crossed her arms, but kept her smile, "Huh, don't ask me how I am, how rude."

Shadow said nothing. He stood up from the chair he rested in and placed his hands on his back, cracking his joints until the stiffness alleviated itself. Apparently Sonic had meant to stretch as well, but as he reached out his arm, the movement caused him to wince at the area where a limb should have been.

"It will take a while to get used to that kid, no harsh movements" Rouge lectured, watching the hedgehog lightly touch the heavy amount of bandages, figuring out how much he could put pressure on it, turns out, not a lot.

"Ugh, I feel terrible" he moaned. Shadow helped him to sit up while Rouge made her way to the door. "Well you wont for long, I have a fun surprise for you" she smiled, before opening the door to his room. Before a word could be uttered, a smile tore across the hedgehog's face.

"Tails!" he cried out as the two tailed fox ran into the room and lept onto the bed, embracing his big brother.

At this point Sonic didn't care about the pain, he wrapped his remaining arm around the kid as much as he could and squeezed as tight as possible. "Sonic! I've missed you so much! Vanilla told me what happened and I wanted to come sooner but they wouldn't let me."

"Hey don't worry about it, I'm fine" he smiled forcefully, which didn't last as Tails frowned. "No, you're not. This is all my fault. If I hadn't of ran away from home, you never would have joined Eggman for me" the kid started to cry.

"No Tails, you can't think like that, run away or not, it doesn't matter okay, you gotta forget about that, it's not important."

Immediately Shadow scoffed bitterly. That's not what the guy said last time he visited! Hypocrite!

Rouge took a hold of his arm and pulled him away, leaving the two in peace. "You want to be any louder?"

"He blamed me the last time I was here for him running away!"

"Calm down" she warned, sensing the level of aggravation growing in the black hedgehog. "He's hand time to think okay. I think he's excited to live with you."

Shadow, no longer agitated, raised his brow, "He is? How do you know?"

Rouge turned her gaze back to the blue hedgehog as he comforted the young fox boy, wiping away the kid's tears when Tails examined the amputated area. "I came to visit when you didn't. You're welcome."

He looked down in shame, but refused to show it, "I had too much to do. But it doesn't matter now. The General has refused my requests."

Instantly Rouge laughed, "Don't worry sweetie, as per usual I've taken care of things. I spoke to him after you left."

Shadow waited, "Well..."

She paused. "Sonic can stay with you until the trial, but by the looks of it, it's going to take five months."

"Five months? Why is this not priority?"

"Because Eggman, that's why. We're holding him in custody while his defence attorney work their case and we can get the rest of the evidence we need" she became uneasy, "This is where the bad news comes in. If Sonic stays with you then it has to be on the grounds that he will stand as a witness, if he refuses then, and I quote 'Do whatever the hell you please, but find a new job.'"

Shadow reflected on her words, silently crossing his arms and looking back over at the blue hedgehog. It was increasingly hard to read him, but Rouge could tell he was conflicted.

"And if he does agree?"

She sighed, "You keep your job, but you're off the case."

Twisting his head, Shadow snarled and sighed at the same time. "So either way I don't win, how convenient for the General."

"Don't be like that Shadow, it was the best I could do. He doesn't want to waist any resources on the hedgehog without gaining from it. If Sonic doesn't speak out then he's not worth the effort, plain and simple" she stated bluntly, much to Shadow's disapproval. "I thought you were better then that" he said.

"Oh come on, you know I'm just repeating here. The General is the one you should be mad it."

Shadow grunted.

"Besides, the case has been left to me now, so while you're busy being mother hen I'll take care of the rest" she teased, causing the other mobian to tense, "What are you talking about?" he snapped. Rouge laughed at him, "Oh come Dadow, it's obvious you care about this kid."

"I owe him for what he did."

"Then send him home, reunite him with his family, that would pay your debt right?" she grinned, Shadow turned away, pausing before he spoke. "He ran away for a reason. I'm not sending him back somewhere he could be hurt."

"Because you care?"

"Shut up."

While they conversed on the matter, on the other side of the room, neither person was listening to what they had to say. They had almost forgotten about Shadow and Rouge being in the room, happy to be reunited with each other at last.

The happiness for Tails could only last for so long, but when he sat on Sonic's lap and stared at the mountains of bandages that wrapped around his brothers torso, concealing the parts that had been cut clean away, he couldn't help but release tears from the guilt.

Immediately Sonic tried to wipe them away, but it was surprisingly difficult to use his less dominant hand to do so. "Come on Tails, you don't have to cry."

"But it's not fair... you did the right thing, why do you have to suffer?" he whimpered.

"I'm not, Tails I swear to you I'm not suffering, I don't even feel it... I'm on a lot of pain killers" he tried to laugh, but Tails wept more. "No come on buddy, if you cry, I'll cry, then we'll both be crying, it will look ugly, and there's a really cute nurse I'm trying to impress" he joked, finally earning a small chuckle from the fox kid.

Reaching up both his hands, Tails took hold of Sonic's one and sadly buried his face. "It's not just because you found me... I told you to help them capture Eggman. I was so selfish! I thought if you were able to be free then I could find you... I never thought you would be hurt" he cried.

After hesitating for moment, Sonic put on a soft smile before lifting the younger boys chin up so he would face him. "I don't regret it. We got Eggman, probably saved a lot of people too. Side's, probably better not to have a robot arm from that nut job, it might have blown up on me."

Tails still looked at him with misery.

"Come oooon, cheer up bud, I'm trying to make you laugh, but you need to give me a hand" then as soon as he said it, Sonic burst out laughing.

Hearing the loud eruption, Shadow and Rouge stopped talking and looked over, curious as to what was going on.

At this point Sonic was belly laughing, and wasn't settling down, "Boy I really armed myself with that joke" he laughed again.

"Sonic!" Tails groaned, not sharing in the enjoyment, but Sonic wasn't done, "I'm sorry I'm sorry, it's terrible... I'm an unarmed man" he snorted loudly, still laughing.

Shadow walked back over to the bed, glaring down disapprovingly. "Sonic you're making the kid feel uncomfortable!" he lectured.

At this point he struggled to grasp his breath, but did so enough to say, "You're right I'm sorry... this is really the pits!" then proceeded to laugh harder.

"How is he so happy?" Rouge asked.

Shadow raised his brow, suddenly realising the answer. "He's still has the anesthetic in his system."

"So he's..."

"Doped up like a moron."

Tails stared at the two older people before worryingly staring back at his brother. "Sonic please stop laughing" he begged.

Amidst the laughter however Sonic wouldn't stop, now wiping his own tears away, "Oh Chaos my arm hurts... nope wait, I don't have one!" he yelled merely.

"You didn't lose them both you idiot!" Shadow snapped, but to no avail. The blue hedgehog was snorting and laughing to the point of turning red. So Rouge, as usual, stepped in. She took a hold of Tail's wrist, as well as Shadow's and led them out of the room, "Give him a moment, let's go boys" she ordered.

Once outside, she closed the door, cutting off the laughter. She turned back and smiled kindly to the two tailed fox, who rubbed the last of his tears from his eyes. "Don't worry sweetie, you can see him again soon" she reassured.

Tails remained quiet however. Then surprisingly, Shadow stepped in, "Rouge stay here in case Sonic needs you. Fox boy, let's take a walk" he said, then immediately started to walk down the corridor. Without much time to agree or not, Tails had to rush to keep up to the hedgehog's side.

They walked in silence for a short time.

Having passed several rooms and descended a couple flights of stairs, Tails started to wonder if he misheard the black hedgehog, and wondered if this man was actually trying to walk alone. It felt like eternity until they walked into the hospital cafe and the man finally spoke, but it was only to tell him to sit down somewhere, which he did.

For no particular reason he chose the window seat, getting a really good view of the small garden outside. There was a cool looking pond next to the walk way, and a stream of water that bypassed a rose bush. He'd of loved to go see it properly, maybe when Vanilla came to pick him up they could visit it then. She wouldn't be here for a couple of hours however, and he wanted to spend a little bit more time with Sonic without hearing arm jokes.

A small clink noise grabbed his attention, and looking away from the window he saw Shadow place a cup on the table in front of him. He dread to think what the scary agent got him, he didn't like tea or coffee, he was just a kid. After giving it a quick sniff however, his eyes lit up at recognising the smell. "Hot chocolate! Thank you sir."

"My name is Shadow, don't call me sir" the agent replied.

Tails felt his ears lower, "Sorry... Shadow."

With an uncaring nod, Shadow moved on, "Tell me" he started, causing the kid to worry. "How did you and Sonic meet?"

The question wasn't so bad, but Tails still hesitated to answer, "Is this for the investigation?" he asked. Shadow shook his head though, "More personal interest."

"Oh" he picked up his hot chocolate and took a sip, "It's a long story but, I ran away from home..."

"Why?" Shadow interrupted.

"..." he took a deep breath, "My parents didn't want me. I think they were ashamed because of my two tails. They used to lock me in the house and refuse to let me be seen in public. Eventually when I did get out, I was picked on by people who saw me, and my parents didn't care. So seven months ago I ran away. I don't think they looked for me. I was only on the streets for a month, and during that time I got really ill. I don't know what I had, but Sonic said it was bad. That's how I met him. He found me lying in a box under newspapers... I don't even remember it. All I remember is that I was cold, and then he put his jacket over me. From that night he never left my side. He let me wear that jacket for days and carried me around on his back when looking for food. I loved it so much! He used to run at full speed when I didn't feel so bad, and he'd take me to the park at night, and the beach. We had so much fun."

Tails smiled at those fond memories, only regretting they couldn't last longer.

"He told me why he ran away from home, and we came up with a plan to make money, try and save up for a place of our own. Only I was getting worse. I stopped being able to work, and I couldn't breathe properly. Every part of my body hurt, and I didn't know what to do. Sonic tried to take me to a hospital, but without money they turned me away." He sighed lowly at what happened next. "It was then that Sonic got desperate. I didn't even know what had happened, but he left me alone in the park for a full day, a-and I was worried sick. I thought something horrible had happened to him. He was gone for hours but when he came back... he was smiling. I thought something amazing must of happened because he was going on and on about this guy who was helping us and now we had a house and I could get better... I was wrong. He didn't tell me until three days later. We moved into the apartment you found me in, and... I later found out to get this house he had to steal for Eggman. I didn't want him to break the law, I-I was terrified of him getting into trouble, but he said it was okay, that it was only temporary until we could save up for our own place. He said it was the only way he could afford medicine for me... I knew he felt bad for what he was doing, but he seemed confident, so I didn't bring it up again." Tails started to tremble. "But then... a week later... he didn't come home... and I was scared. I went to look for him, and I found him outside hiding behind the bins... his arm had been replaced with a robot one... and... and I felt sick! I couldn't... I couldn't look at him, it was horrible! But he did it for me... Eggman would only give him the medicine if he went through with it... I didn't even know I was dying... It's all my fault, I should have never let him care for me. He's the only family I ever really had and I put him through this..."

Immediately Shadow tapped his fingers against the table, making enough noise to silence the weeping child. "Stop it. Be grateful for what he did for you. You can't change the past and brooding on it wont help either. The fool might find it funny now but he's going to struggle over the next few months. If you spend all of your time regretting what happened then that makes all his sacrifice in vain. Appreciate what Sonic did and return it by helping us. I dread to think how whiny he's going to be."

Feeling those words hit deep, Tails worked hard to breath away the remaining sobs that got stuck in his throat. As blunt and aggressive as Shadow was, he was right, now matter how much he blamed himself. There was nothing he could do to change the past. Yet, it was all so strange, having this agent become a massive part in his brothers life. Sonic said this guy was horrible, yet so far, he hadn't seen Shadow be nasty abusive at all. Mean and scary yes, but not abusive.

But then again, Sonic didn't trust anyone... not since Eggman.

"Y-you're right... I'm sorry. I don't know what help I can be though. Sonic always looked after me, I've never had to take care of him before" he confessed.

Shadow sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Well, that's something we'll both have to figure out."