A/N Ok so just got to say Xcom 2 did not disappoint me. Although I'm still disappointed by the lack of access to mods thanks to Sony not accepting mods…. And of course because they don't want to polarize audiences they don't allow mods on the xbox one. Sucks but the game is still fun even without the long war mods. Oh and gears of war 4 came out, that is also very fun.

So anyway that's what I've been doing, and I decided to catch some typing time finally. So where'd I last leave off…. I actually forgot….. Ah right here….

Tails trekked along his pre-determined path, through the empty city. He had been able to avoid patrols pretty easily, the way he mapped out his route he minimized having to cross any robots. The few times he ever actually got close to a patrol his cloak and sneaking skills would make avoiding them a piece of cake.

Fiona had been right, it was good for him to go out here and escape the team, the responsibilities and saving of the world. His mind was able to forget it all. He had to thank Fiona for thinking of this.

It was kinda funny though, if he forgot about the fact the city was completely destroyed it felt almost like old times. Despite being part of the freedom fighters he never really got any substantial amount of funds to buy things. A lot of the time he filled his needs through scavenging. He could still remember an old junkyard he'd frequently visit to get supplies.

The owner, a fairly old guy, had quickly come to like the young fox visiting. He was happy to see a young kid using whatever he could to do amazing things. Eventually Tails even made friends with the guy. His visits became longer as he spoke to the guy sometimes.

The guy was always happy to listen to Tails' techno talk would usually ask what he was up to at the time. The guy particularly liked hearing about his plane. It took a bit but when he finally asked why he was so interested the guy told him he had once been a pilot.

The guy…. Wait what was his name…. man he had never gotten the guys name. He felt kinda rude not learning it.

Anyway the guy had explained that time had caught up to him and got too old to fly the fast fighter jets. Tails asked if he had flown less extreme planes but the guy said he liked the speed and danger. Anything slower would have been boring, surprisingly enough slowing down was he had realized he needed. After years of doing what he wanted, getting a wife, having kids his life had led him to his job at the junkyard.

At first Tails felt bad for the guy, his life had been so exciting now his life had been reduced to tending over this junkyard. With time though he knew exactly how wrong he was. He had an exciting life, he was saving the world every other week. It was exhausting and slowly draining him away, and he wasn't even out of his teens yet. The moments he could slow down had become the things he looked to the most. Sometimes even sleep was preferable to too much excitement.

Don't him wrong though he knew how important it was to keep people safe and the moments after saving the day and seeing all the people he had saved made it all worth it, but how long can you do that before your body and mind becomes drained?

So he knew exactly how the guy felt.

The fox sighed stopping in his tracks realizing something, that guy was probably dead like all the rest now.

His mind was back on the present, he looked around the now deserted city. All those people he had protected for years, those people that walked down these streets oblivious to the coming danger… to the end of the world.

He shook his head, he was falling behind his schedule, his helmet sending him a warning and suggesting he pick up the pace.

He began jogging to catch up to where he was supposed to be, not that it really mattered, he'd picked up so much supplies by now he couldn't carry anymore. He wasn't surprised, the city was on lockdown due to all the bots, who would be crazy enough to come through and scavenge this place, let alone come anywhere near it for fear of death?

He could scavenge off this city for his entire lifetime and not use it all up if he could.

The old streets kept bringing him back to the past, the old times. The days where he was happy. The days before he abandoned all his friends because he had allowed a few words make him slowly lose everything that he was.

He didn't blame Fiona for saying those words, who could have predicted he'd take them so seriously. He also knew the whole story now, it was all a way to build a wall and protect him.

The kitsune passed by an old store, the worn letters just barely reading out 'chili dogs' He managed to smile thinking about a great day he had with Sonic. They'd stopped there for lunch. Talked a bit, Sonic even sat back and listened to his techno-babble. That day was great.

Flashback…

"Hey Buddy!"

Tails turned to see his best friend, Sonic approaching "Oh hey Sonic"

He caught up with a smile "What'cha up to little buddy, probably heading to the junkyard for parts right?"

"Nah I visited yesterday I just felt like walking around a bit" the fox replied. He'd been working hard lately, though he was ok with that he liked being busy.

"Aww that's cool, hey it's about noon you wanna get some lunch? It'll be on me" Tails paid a lot for that scrap and old stuff at the junkyard so he offered to pay it all.

"Well…. I guess I forgot I was a little hungry, sure. If you're paying you choose the place" he already had a good idea where he wanted to go.

"Alright, chili dogs it is" Sonic said already on the move to the nearby place that sold good chili dogs.

Within a few minutes they were seated in a fairly empty place, Sonic had two chili dogs. Tails just had a sandwich.

"So what'cha been working on anyway?" He asked already beginning to eat.

"Oh well I got something, it's only in prototype stages but it's gonna be a super suit when it's done. Bullet proof chest plate, active cloaking tech, on board VI, the helmet will have a HUD just like our video games and so much more. Also making very adaptable incase I need to add extra features in the future. But like I said it's only in prototype stages. Just gonna make it fit for now and slowly work my way up. Find the right materials to make it as light as I can, maybe improvements to the basic plans as I go further" The little boy seemed so excited talking about it, it sounded really ambitious.

"Sounds cool, but hey just cause it's bullet proof doesn't mean you should go and take on Eggmans armies" Sonic said, he liked the idea but still advised caution.

"Oh no of course, It's gonna be light weight so I can still fly, meaning maybe only the chest and helmet will be bullet proof"

"Good, wouldn't want my little buddy getting shot" Sonic smiled.

"Ya me neither" Tails chuckled.

"Anything else going on?" Sonic continued to ask.

Tails gave him an odd look, why was he asking about this stuff. Usually he didn't listen to his techno babble but he decided to see if he was at his limit and just trying to be nice "Well I had an idea for a cool morph gun idea.

Sonic gave him a look "You we don't use guns Tails"

"No! No it's not meant to be a gun, it will be more of a utility gun. Shooting grappling hooks,, be a hack tool, shoot my gadgets if I need to, stuff like that. No dangerous bullets and stuff" he tried to explain. One day that would end up being a lie.

"Well…. It better be non lethal stuff…. Got it?" Sonic said sternly.

"Yes, I promise"

"Good" his face softened a little "Anything else"

Tails thought taking a bite of a his sandwich. He'd forgotten during all his techno talk "Oh, I've been working on this for a very long time. Still trying to find a way to get even the basic idea to work" he frowned feeling bad that he couldn't figure it out after so long. He still considered it a challenge worth beating.

"What is it, I'm sure you'll get it soon" Sonic encouraged.

"I'm trying to make EMP grenades, non lethal to mobians and pretty much anything that's alive, but will shut down electronics. The problem is making an EMP small enough to used like a grenade that doesn't go far out enough to effect your equipment but is still powerful enough to actually short out what you've thrown at" Tails explained again.

"Well, I'd like to help but you've always been the smart one. But I'm sure you'll get it buddy" he rustled his hair "But for now just chill out, you deserve it after all that work you've been doing lately"

Tails nodded, though he didn't feel like he was over working too hard. The two sat and ate for a minute until Sonic spoke again.

"Hey I know you've been working a lot but you wouldn't happen to know where Amy keeps disappearing too?"

Tail was about to take another bite until he said that "Wait Amy has been disappearing?"

"Well she comes back by the end of the day. And it's not super often. Like every so often" Sonic said rephrasing that.

"How is that weird, maybe she has a club she goes too or something?" things had been quiet for awhile, maybe she was trying to find a way to pass the time.

"Ok ya, but she's… well she's stop getting real obsessive over me too"

Tails gave him an un-amused look, he really hoped he was joking "You've wanted that for years and now that she stops you find it worth investigating?"

"What? No… it's so abrupt and tied with her going off by herself sometimes just got me worried" Sonic said.

"She's getting older Sonic, she probably finally got past her fan girl phase and is moving on. Found something distract her or entertain her. I think she's doing what's healthy" Tails really didn't see a problem. Of course he was also completely out of the social loop lately so maybe it was one of those gut feelings.

"Either way, if she's not asking for help and is happy when you do see her then I think she's fine. Remember, you got Sally and not having Amy clambering over you will ease your relationship I bet"

Sonic took in his words and nodded "Ya maybe you're right…. I'm stuck trying to be her older brother and looking out for her I guess" he chuckled.

They both agreed to let Amy do her thing and went back to lunch.

Present…

Tails found himself in that exact seat he'd sat in back then. What he'd give to have that sandwich right now.

He wished he could go back in time and appreciate those moments better. That was around the time he started disappearing more from the group and working more by himself. He looked around the old place and expected to feel dread and despair. Instead he felt some strange sense of nostalgia. When he was younger, and times were good. It also reminded him of why he was fighting this fight, if they succeeded maybe one day people could come to this place and enjoy whatever it became in the future.

That memory also made him remember Amy, she had seemed to get more mature around that time. They did figure out where she went every so often. Nobody asked, and she never told anyone. Tails had always been glad that it wasn't another Fiona situation. She still always was there when they needed her and was just as passionate about being a Freedom fighter so everyone just let her be. She never gave signs of depression, in fact after awhile she seemed to be even better than before.

He shook from his throats, took one last look around before heading back for the HQ,

About an hour walking through the city and avoiding more patrols he arrived at the designated tunnel entrance at the end of todays route. He hot a button on his wrist and after a second the door opened. He slipped inside and the door closed behind him a few seconds after.

"Alright, first trip out and I didn't get shot at or experience some kind of accident" Tails said to himself.

The fox walked down the long empty hallway until he reached a hatch like the other tunnel. He opened it up and crawled up and was back in the base.

"Well it's good to see you aren't dead"

Tails turned to see Fiona was waiting nearby with a relieved smile. He smiled back.

"Ya that's always good"

Fiona gave him a hug then walked with him back to the workshop "So you find anything good?"

"I had quite a lot to pick from, this place is basically untouched by scavengers. As long as I don't get caught I could take nearly anything" he explained opening the door to his workshop and walking inside.

Fiona followed inside and warned him "If you don't get caught"

Tails was gonna say not to worry but knew she wouldn't and just said "I'll be careful. I promise you"

His reassuring tone calmed her so she just nodded as he took the backpack off and revealed a bunch of stuff inside.

"Well time to organize" Tails smirked.

Elsewhere…

"Nicole just let me know that Tails just came back" Shadow walked into the make shift kitchen where Silver and Scourge were hanging out. When he was last there Scourge wasn't really talking, and it didn't seem to change since then.

"Oh well that's good. Maybe we can get an arsenal going again" Silver smiled.

"That's what I'm hoping as well" the Shadow nodded.

Scourge didn't comment. He actually used Shadows appearance to get away from Silver and walked off.

Shadow waited for him to disappear and asked getting to business "So have you thought of a way to talk to Blaze?"

Silver quickly looked uncomfortable and looked away "I've been thinking about it…. Just need a little more time to think"

Shadow sighed shaking his head "The longer you wait the harder it will be"

"I know, but I'm still worried. Like what if what she did was just instincts kicking in… or not…. Doing that for a long time and your body just needs it" Silver stuttered through tried to be subtle with his wording.

"That's stupid. You know who she is right. She's just as serious as I am. She rarely shows much of any kind of strong emotions. If what happened wasn't triggered by something more than simple hormones then it's not Blaze or you're lying" The mentor basically telling him it had to be real emotions.

"R-really… I mean…. If you're right then why me…. I'm not that interesting besides my powers" Silver fiddled with his hands looking away.

Shadow sighed again, annoyed at how daft his student was "If you don't think so then why has she spoken to you so much. She's spoken to you more than anyone here and has actually taken the time to get to know you. Very few people can say that about themselves. I believe the next closest person to get this close to Blaze was Marine" He remembered back then meeting the younger girl. A little annoying but had a good heart.

Silver remembered Blaze mentioning Marine. She hadn't seen her since Eggman kidnapped her. Of course they were from another dimension so Blaze could never see her again until she got her emeralds back.

"Well if…"

"No ifs, ands, or buts. You need to talk to her and figure it out soon" Shadow explained, he was getting a little annoyed that Silver was so hesitant.

"Ok… I will… just… don't we have more important things to worry about? Like… haven't you said distractions on the battlefield can cost other people lives?" By distractions he meant feelings for another and potentially abandoning missions to save them or other stuff along those lines.

"Yes I have but…." Shadows face softened "It's good to have something that you can see and feel to motivate you"

Silver looked at his mentor and knew something was up. He never softened his voice, hell he rarely, if ever frowned "Did… you have someone like that?" he asked cautiously.

Shadow snapped from his moment of weakness as he asked that question and shook his head "Forget it… just talk to her" he walked away to be alone.

It was obvious he was hiding something, But Silver knew from experience to not inquire. If he wanted to talk about it he'd have planned to talk about it before hand. His mind slowly left those ideas aside and began to really think of a way to speak to Blaze.

After half an hour he noticed she hadn't even shown her face this morning. That was strange, she always woke early and ready for the day. Besides Tails she usually woke earlier than everyone else. That worried him. He soon decided to check on her, screw making up a script, if something was wrong he wanted to help.

He walked over to room she'd been sleeping in since they arrived her and knocked "Hey Blaze, you awake?"

There was silence, that strange kind of silence where you could feel someone was there despite having no indication they were there.

"Blaze…. I just want to see if you're ok alright… just a simple answer would be ok?" He waited… still nothing.

After a few seconds he sighed and said something he really didn't mean to say aloud "I'm sorry about yesterday"

He sighed and began to walk away then the door opened "What do you mean you're sorry about yesterday, I was the one who…. got close and did weird stuff?"

Silver turned, atleast she was ok. Though he saw her face and noticed she looked very tired. Did she not sleep well?

"No I mean… how I reacted to what you did I didn't mean to…"

"What does that have to do with anything. I lost control and began touching your fur, smelling your scent and getting really close. You had a right to look so surprised and shocked?"

Silver suddenly realized that he hadn't really done anything wrong, he thought he'd scared her off by accidentally looking like he was rejecting her advance on him. The reality was she had done it all somewhat subconsciously and lost control of herself.

"So you ran off not because I looked like I was uncomfortable and wanting to you to back off?" Silver asked cautiously.

"No I left because I had invaded your personal space, got too close, did all those things and I wasn't even really the one doing it. I just lost all control after you helped me out…. I've never had that happen before" She frowned looking away and crossing her arm defensively "I can't control my powers properly and now I can't even control myself"

Silver frowned. He didn't like seeing her so depressed, and the fact she couldn't even figure out why she did it made it worse. She was afraid of herself it seemed, afraid of losing control.

"Blaze" he said softly "I know you're confused, and scared. I don't think you need to be scared. Especially of yourself. What happened yesterday wasn't a bad thing. Because… well.." he suddenly had a frog in his throat.

"Because?" she asked eyebrow raised. How could anything justify what she did. She still wasn't sure what even caused it.

"Because…. I… " Silver took in a deep breath then exhaled "Because I lie you a lot…. Like… in the way where getting that close is nice… and normal… and…." He lost all nerves now. He had said it enough to make it clear but he lost all confidence and looked to the floor.

She's a princess where she comes from, I'm just an orphan kid…. This was a mistake, why'd I open my mouth?" all manner of fears were floating through his head now.

Why was it so quiet? Did she walk off, no her feet are still there… she was probably about to smack him and yell at him for all the touching yesterday and blame it all on him.

He braced for anything but her voice said "Please look at me"

Oh, here it comes. He'd lift his head and then get slapped, well…. Better not keep her waiting.

His head slowly lifted back up to look at her but instead of anger, or resentment, or disgust he saw only soft questioning eyes. Was he not clear enough, oh did he really have to explain more depth, it was already hard enough to explain that far. He might pass out if he had to explain more.

"Silver… how long have you felt this way?" her soft voice asked, she gave away so little emotions it made him worry that Shadow was wrong about all this.

"I don't know… longer then when I actually realized it I guess" he rubbed his arm nervously forcing himself to not look away again.

"Is that why you… have spent so much time with me. Or did what you did yesterday before I…" she blushed madly realizing that her actions worked along with his feelings now "Oh… Ummm… I" she was now stuttering, she never stuttered, what was happening to her?

"Ya… pretty much… I mean, you were nice to talk to and you listened to me. Atleast to me I thought we were having a good time talking about the past… even if mine was kinda depressing" he felt like a burden explaining his depressing past when they were surrounded by this depressing world.

"What!? No, it was not depressing, it was inspiring. With all the terrible things you had to go through, being alone. Having no parents to watch over you, having no place in this world and having no real goal to head to. And mostly having to suppress your own powers yet still come out of all of it as you are"

Silver nearly began to frown until she got to the end and said he'd turned out great.

She continued "You are enthusiastic, open to new people, you're kind, you think about others and…. And…. I kinda admire that because…. I could have been more like you…. but I closed myself off" it her who now looked away trying hide her emotions again.

"You turned out so good in such a bad environment. I wasn't raised in the best of positions either, forced to learn how to use my powers as best I could. Hide away from the world because they were all afraid of me and how dangerous I could be. I had to grow up so fast so I could be the new guardian of the Sol emeralds. I never got a childhood at all, it was all taken from me. Even after all that I still couldn't control my powers entirely, everyone fear of me was true. I could hurt people at any moment against my own will. I really was a danger to all of them…. So I bottled myself up, I didn't make friends, connections… too afraid one day I might hurt them when I meant to protect them" her eyes teared up, she'd been so alone for so long, the one good thing in her life was Marine, the one person who didn't fear her. Even when she pushed the girl away for her own safety she just kept coming back… now she couldn't see her anymore. It hurt her so much to not be able to speak to her little friend anymore.

Silver listened all the way through, he could hardly stand the idea that people were afraid of Blaze. She was a good person and only wanted to protect people and do her duty of protecting the Emeralds. She had failed to do both. He could only imagine how it felt to have the two things you lived to do both fail.

But she was crying and he had to make her stop. So on pure impulse he hugged her and said "We're going to make it all right again. I promise"

Blaze accepted the hug and hugged back tight. She'd lost so much. Shed lost the emeralds, she'd failed in protecting people from their powers, she'd been beaten and jailed for two years, she'd lost her best friend. All she had left was hope she might be able to fix it all…. And Silver"

Blaze sniffed and tried to stop crying, she hated the idea of herself crying, but she knew it was healthy to let it out once in awhile.

Silver just continued to hug her. It was the first time he'd seen her truly upset, maybe the odd frown here and there, but never any form of real sadness.

"It was so hard being all alone in that prison" she suddenly said.

He couldn't imagine being alone like that for two whole years. She had failed had millions of people killed due to her losing the emeralds. It should have been enough to drive her insane. But she seemed like her normal self according to Shadow.

"I don't know what I can say to help with that… except that you made it out, you survived it and now have a chance to make things right" Silver softly said.

"How can I make millions of dead people right?" she now crying into his chest.

"I don't know…. But I know that the fact you haven't given up means something"

Blaze shuddered but he could feel her nod against his chest agreeing with him "Yes… it's just…"

"Try not to think about it for now alright, just try to calm down. I'm right here for you." Silver whispered.

"But how can I forget about it when it's the only thing I was raised to care about?" she asked. It seemed her whole life she'd been pushed to be the guardian of the sol emeralds and never anything else.

"Is there anything important…. Anything?" he really hoped it would be something like the hope she could see Marine again… wait she needed the emeralds or a way home to do that.

But he was surprised to feel her nod again and her breathing start to calm and normalize. Her hold on him didn't cease up though.

He pat and rubbed her back. Staying quiet as she slowly calmed down until she was done crying with the occasional tremor.

"Thank you Silver… I've been holding in so much stress, I just…."

"I know" Silver smiled "I know. Come on, maybe some breakfast will help"

He was about to lead her back but she stopped him and said "One more moment, if that is alright?" she sniffed and cleared the last bit of tears from her eyes.

"Sure whatever you need to do"

She smiled, there he was being super kind, just for her. He could have gotten breakfast to leave her to what she needed to but, she kinda needed him to do it.

"First off, I'd just like to apologize for getting tears on your chest fur" she found it quite soft.

"No need to be sorry"

She smiled again then said "Also thank you, you really are…. Far too kind to me" she blushed and leaned over a d kissed him in the cheek.

His own blush appeared, she just kissed him, did this mean she liked him too?

The cat blushed more looking like she had something else to say "Perhaps we can talk about… what you told me a little later. After some breakfast and I've completely calmed?"

Despite his excitement he remembered to ask "You aren't afraid…. Of losing control again?"

"No… I believe I understand why I did what I did yesterday, we'll talk about it a bit later, alright?" For now she was content with the situation right now. She'd never really felt this way. Silver liked her and it made her feel warm inside. Not the feeling of fire, but a gentle and happy warmth.

"Alright, later then" Usually Silver would have taken that statement as a dodge but she seemed to genuinely mean it. He was so nervous now, nothing was official but she just wanted to calm down and eat a little.

He led her back, both smiling a slight blushes on their face. This might be an awkward breakfast.

Alright so I want to apologize for such a long wait. I said this before in he last chapter but a lot of stuff recently came out that grabbed my attention and I had been doing this chapter bit by very small bit whenever I wasn't working or gaming. So I am super sorry about the long wait, but that is the newest chapter. I got what I wanted to do actually done. Hope you enjoyed

Live long and prosper

Admiralkirk