6. Fallout

They eventually found both Tails and Antoine on the outskirts of the city, and purely by chance. Rotor was just explaining that the strange whining noise was the engine, and that they'd have to ditch the SWATpod now anyway because Robotnik knew it was bogus, when something thumped against their side.

Tails had a rag around his eyes. It was too soaked with blood to tell what colour it had been originally, but when Sally opened the hatch to let them in, it was plain Antoine had torn it from his own jacket. The move was so unprecedented from the ever-fastidious coyote that everyone instantly knew things were serious.

It emerged that Tails and Antoine had escaped from the roof of the factory before the SWATbot enforcers arrived, intending to hook up with the other Freedom Fighters and mount a rescue for Bunnie. Tails was flying blind, however, and they'd quickly become lost. Dangling from his arms, Antoine had tried to direct them, but his garbled instructions put them deeper into enemy territory. Eventually they'd been forced to hide in an abandoned diner to try and get their bearings. When the damaged SWATpod flew overhead they'd taken a chance and followed it, until Antoine's belated "Arrêt!" had Tails flying into it when they should've hovered.

"Tails, how'd this happen?" Sally asked, plucking at the rag. She took off her own vest and started trying to tear it into strips, but the fabric was too tough.

"It was an accident. When Antoine's rope came loose the little metal bit caught me. I'll be all right, Aunt Sally, honest I will."

There were tears in Sally's eyes as she drew him into her arms and ruffled his hair. He stiffened, but didn't cry out, just bunched his fists in pain. "I'm sure you will, honey." She caught Antoine's eye and nodded at him. "Thanks for looking out for him, Antoine. You're a real hero."

"Is what I have been saying for too long time, my Princess." Yet instead of proud, Antoine just sounded tired. Both he and Tails were streaked with dirt and blood, and for all protestations that he was fine, Tails was trembling. Being lost and injured in Robotropolis was the stuff of nightmares.

"Aunt Bunnie?"

"Here, sugar." Bunnie knelt beside Tails. "This ain't exactly how I pictured your first mission with me. Guess I got you into a real pickle, huh?"

"It wasn't your fault. Like you said, it was a freak accident. I just wanted to apologise."

"What the hoo-hah do you got to apologise for, pumpkin?"

"For running away when I should've tried to save you. I'm sorry."

There was a catch in Bunnie's voice as she said, "Now you listen here, sugar, an' you listen good: you ain't got nuthin' to apologise for. This weren't nobody's fault. I'm all right, an' you're … gonna be fine." Her smile was thin. "Sure y'are."

The air was thick with tension. Sally had not yet reprimanded Knuckles beyond a few curt words, which indicated the full extent of her fury. When she was angry Sally clammed up, and her silence created a vacuum into which all other conversation sank without trace. The arrival of Tails and Antoine put further strain on the little craft as it wended its way to the border, strangely unmolested and limping away from what should've been a simple recon mission.

They abandoned the SWATpod on the edge of the Great Forest, unwilling to take the chance that Robotnik could follow it back to Knothole and promising to return later and clean up. After fighting Robotnik's pollution for so long it would be ironic for them to bring garbage out with them and dump it themselves.

It was a sorry bunch who finally shambled back into the village. Nobody was there to meet them, but lights flicked on as they passed and various beasts emerged to help.

"What on Mobius - "

"Here, let me carry the little guy."

"Do you want some help?"

"You're bleeding!"

"I'll get some bandages!"

"But I thought this was one of the safe missions…"

Tails was spirited away by Rosie and Cornelius, a duck who'd once been a doctor until the robiticisation of his family fractured his mind into multiple personalities. Sally was loath to release Tails into his care, but Rosie convinced her Cornelius knew what he was doing, and Sonic promised to stay with 'the Big Guy' to make sure. There was an artificial quality to Sonic's confidence that made Sally extra worried as he walked away with Tails in his arms. Despite his earlier bravado, Tails whimpered softly.

"Mission debrief in my hut," Sally rasped.

"Sally-girl -"

"Now."

Bunnie hated arguments. Fighting she could handled so long as it was physical – when it was just a case of punching and kicking there was a tranquillity of mind she could get behind – but raised voices and jagged, angry words cut across her like a serrated knife.

"I told you," Sally gritted, "to stay in the pod. You deliberately disobeyed my orders, damaged the SWATpod and revealed it to Robotnik so we can never use it again, nearly got yourself and Sonic killed, and for what?"

Knuckles glared at her, a deeper glare than usual. Bunnie had never seen him look at Sally that way before. It scared her a little.

"I know you were trying to help Bunnie," Sally went on, "but that's no excuse for running of without a plan. Going up against Robotnik's forces isn't as easy as just whacking a few heads – do you know how far behind we are now? Robotnik knows we're interested in his factories and he know you're working with us."

"I'm fully aware of that." It was the first thing Knuckles had said in the whole dressing-down. "Don't think I'm not conscious of what I jeopardised in trying to play hero."

Bunnie was shocked when he turned his glare on her. Was he trying to imply that it was her fault he'd revealed himself to Buttnik? She felt guilty that caring for her had spurred him into making a mistake, but she wouldn't accept all the blame. Knuckles had promised to stay in the pod and then broken his promise. It was touching he'd done it for her, but he'd broken his word and no amount of rationalisation would change that.

However, Knuckles turned away before she could say anything, and because Bunnie hated arguments she didn't bother retaliating after all. Her head hurt where she'd been struck, and the ice-pack one of the villagers had provided was doing little to assuage her thumping headache.

Antoine and Rotor sat back in their seats, obviously uncomfortable. At last Rotor leaned forward and said, "Sally, it wasn't totally Knuckles's fault."

"He's right, Sally-girl. If I hadn't been so plumb stupid an' fallen, none of this would've happened." Bunnie felt wretched. If only she'd checked to make sure the ropes were secure they would've gotten away clean, Tails would be all right, and she wouldn't be watching her best friend and beloved fighting like ferals over a carcass. There'd been no word of Tails's condition, but the longer it went on, the more she became convinced of the worst and the more terrible she felt.

"At least we are getting our information on Robotnik's operations, ne sommes-nous pas, my princess?" Antoine tried.

"It's a small consolation compared to what we stand to lose over this," Sally replied.

Knuckles thumped the table. Everyone jumped, including Sally. "I admit to my own foolishness, Sally, but I won't stand for you taking your frustration at yourself out on me. I am not responsible for the fox cub's injuries, and despite how you're obviously blaming yourself, neither are you. Things didn't go according to plan, now accept it and move on."

Sally's mouth opened and shut, but no sound cam out. After a few moments she slumped backwards into her chair and put her head in her hands. "It is my fault," she said softly. "I let Tails come along. I didn't want to, but he pestered and pestered, and I let him convince me he was ready…"

Bunnie had seen her friend feel helpless many times, but progressively fewer as they got older. The brittle façade that was Princess Sally, Freedom Fighter cracked only infrequently to reveal Sally Acorn, teenager, who lived underneath, so it was disquieting to see it happen now – and so publicly. Sally held her feelings close to her chest, and sometimes Bunnie felt that she was only truly herself when she was alone with Sonic, or in the few brief moments when she forgot about Robotnik and their desperate struggle. Sally was a lot more fragile than she liked to admit.

"It wasn't your fault, Sally-girl," Bunnie soothed. "If I'd just driven the pitons further in -"

"Non," Antoine broke in, "it was being my rope that did this. It was being my responsibleness to be checking my own equipments."

"Will you two stop it?" Sally snapped.

Sonic's absence was acute as they all sat there, nobody sure what to say. Sonic always knew what to say, even when he didn't.

They were almost grateful when someone knocked the door. Rotor sprang to his feet and pulled it open for Rosie to enter, followed by Cornelius Quack. From outside came a strange keening, like that of an animal in pain.

"What the hoo-hah is that racket?" Bunnie asked.

"The young terrapod," Cornelius informed her. "It parked itself outside my hut and hasn't moved since."

"Why is it bewailing and bemoaning like that?" Antoine wanted to know.

"Perhaps it senses what I've come to tell you."

"Now Cornelius," Rosie interrupted, "we said we'd break it gently."

"Break what gently?" Sally's tone was sharp, her eyes sharper. "It's bad news isn't it? Where's Sonic?"

"He's still with Tails, dear," Rosie said in the voice she used to use when telling them their families had felt no pain as they were roboticised. "We all thought it was best."

A fresh surge of wretchedness sluiced through Bunnie. All at once she wanted Knuckles to hold her in his arms, but he was cold and distant. "I done thought … I mean, I'd hoped all the damage to Tails's face was superficial." She sounded weak and pathetic and she knew it, but she felt so responsible for what had happened that the implications made her feel sick to her stomach.

Cornelius gave a rough laugh. "Superficial! Ha!"

"Cornelius -" said Rosie.

"He's lucky to have got away with only one eyeball punctured."

Sally's hands flew to her mouth and Bunnie's grip on the ice-pack tightened so hard her metal fingers broke through. Ice-cubes clattered onto the tabletop and floor. Antoine muttered something in French, while Rotor dropped his gaze.

Only Knuckles seemed unaffected, and suddenly Bunnie felt disproportionately angry with him. It wasn't his fault what'd happened, it wasn't anybody's fault really, but the sight of him not reacting in the slightest made her horribly aware of her own melodramatics and she hated herself for thinking of that when poor Tails was contemplating a life with only one eye and –

"Can he see outta t'other?" she demanded. If Tails had been completely blinded on her watch she'd never forgive herself.

"He'll regain full sight in his right eye eventually," Cornelius said briskly. "But I'd recommend resting both eyes for the time being. The scarring won't be too extensive, but I'd like to keep it covered for a few days so I can treat it without risking infection."

"Scarring?" Bunnie said in a small voice. Tails was only ten. Even she'd been fourteen before their war left her with visible reminders, and there was a chance she'd be healed back to normal one day. For Tails there wouldn't be that chance.

"Je ne peux pas le croire," Antoine muttered. "He is too much youngling. C'est trop affreux."

"It was only supposed to be reconnaissance," said Sally. "How could I have got it so wrong?"

Knuckles abruptly rose from the table and marched out of the hut. As he banged the door shut behind him they could hear Baby T's wails, sounding like a banshee from one of the ancient legends.

Bunnie jumped up and ran after him. "Knuckles! Knuckles, wait!"

He didn't even slow down.

"Knuckles!" She caught up and planted herself in front of him, but he stepped around her and kept going towards the bridge and the path out of Knothole. "Knuckles, what the hip-hop are you after doin'? You just gonna walk outta here?"

He grunted.

"It ain't like you to run away. Knuckles, you stop your tail right this minute."

He rounded on her and for the second time that day Bunnie was surprised at the fury in his eyes, and doubly surprised that it was focussed on her. "I wish I'd had the forethought to do that back in Robotropolis."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Forget it." He started walking again.

Too stunned to move, Bunnie watched him go and became aware that he was favouring his left leg. He must've been injured in the fight, or when he fell into the pit with Sonic. Concern replaced surprise. She shook her head and ran after him again. After years of dedicating herself to fighting Robotnik's evil, she was nothing if not tenacious. "You're hurt."

"I heal quickly."

"Siddown a minute an' let me take a gander at it -"

"I don't want to sit down. I don't want you to look at it. I just want to get the hell out of here before anything else happens."

"Nuthin' else is after happenin'. We're safe in Knothole. Knuckles, honey -"

"No! No 'honey', no 'sugar', no more sickly pet names. Do you understand what I risked back there? I ran into a fight against enemies that could kill me, and I wasn't even doing it to protect the Master Emerald! I risked my life, risked leaving the Emerald without a Guardian, and I didn't even consider the consequences until afterwards."

"You were tryin' to save me -"

"I know that!" Knuckles roared. He stopped at the edge of the bridge and let out a huge breath.

Bunnie stopped only centimetres behind. She could see his chest go in and out and practically feel the heat coming off him, but she was suddenly reluctant to touch him in case he went off like a powder keg. This was a new side of Knuckles she was seeing – an unsettling rage that made her fur prickle like static before a thunderstorm. She didn't know how to react to it, or to him.

"I know that," Knuckles said again, softer this time. "I … I wasn't thinking about the Emerald, or my duty, or anything except the thought that I might lose you. That thought made me take a terrible risk, one which may have far-reaching consequences for the Emerald now that Robotnik knows of me. I exposed myself, my sacred responsibility and the legacy of my ancestors, all for you. I risked everything because … because I love you."

Bunnie felt like she'd swallowed something too big for her throat. She didn't know where this was leading. "Knuckles…"

"I don't know how to deal with how you make me feel, Bunnie – the things you make me do. Inviting you to live on Angel Island, staying away from the Emerald while in Knothole, going down to see if I can help creatures I don't even know – I never would've done any of that before. And I'm not sure it's appropriate for a Guardian to act that way. A Guardian's sole purpose should be devotion to the Master Emerald; that's the way it's always been. Nothing else is supposed to come first."

"What're you sayin'?"

"I'm saying…" He let out another huge breath. "I'm saying I can't trust my own actions when I'm around you. I can't trust myself to make the right decisions for the Emerald and my duty. Tonight just made obvious what I've been worried about for some time now. When I'm around you, Bunnie, I stop thinking like a Guardian. I make rash choices, I act recklessly, and even I can't predict my own feelings. I become weak."

"That don't make you weak! That makes you Mobian!"

"I'm a Guardian -"

"That don't mean squat! You're still mortal, you still got emotions. You ain't some robot or a … a human like Robotnik an' Snively."

"Guardians can't be weak!" Knuckles snapped. "They've kept the Master Emerald safe for generations, and I can't be the one to break that chain!"

"You ain't broken it!"

"But I might! You don't understand what kind of position this puts me in, because I know that if I had to do tonight over again, I'd do exactly the same thing! How can I be true to my role as Guardian if I know I'd willingly put myself in danger for you?"

"Knuckles-"

"Bunnie, what I'm saying is … perhaps after what happened tonight I should spend some time away from you. I need to … get my head together."

Bunnie was staggered. His words seemed to corrode a hole in her stomach like acid. "But Robotnik – if he finds Angel island you'd need me there to help you…"

"I've faced threats of invasions before and survived. At least it'd be in the name of the Emerald."

"But I live up on the island now."

"I know. Can you … could you stay in Knothole? Just for the time being. You'd be closer to the fox cub – Tails – and the rest. The Freedom Fighters need you right now. Just like you said they needed you before for this mission." He didn't sound bitter or mocking, but Bunnie injected the emotions in her head.

She drew herself up, hurt and bewildered. "You can't blame me for findin' out you got emotions."

Knuckles turned and looked at her, eyes luminous in the near-dark. "Please, Bunnie."

There was that word again.

Bunnie felt something crumble inside. "If'n that's what you want."

"It is."

She nodded. "Fine. Sally-girl ain't put nobody in my hut, so I'll stay there until you've," she licked her lips, which were suddenly dry, "until you've got your head together."

Then Knuckles said something that meant she couldn't hate him the way she possibly should've. "Thank you."

The crumbling inside Bunnie collapsed completely. "Knuckles hon- um, Knuckles?"

"Yes?"

"I … I love you too."

He stared at her for a long moment. The world around them seemed to grind to a halt, and Bunnie was aware of every hair-root, every whisker, every particle of her being and its relation to him. She wanted to run into his arms, hold his hand, kiss him like the first time they kissed when he came to see her after she nearly died. She'd never thought she would find someone to love her before Knuckles came along. The other Freedom Fighters were her friends and family, and anyone new who met her saw her roboticised arm and legs first, the rest of her second. She'd resigned herself to an unromantic life until the day Sally led a strange red creature she'd never seen before into Knothole, and part of her couldn't bear to go back to that now, after she'd experienced love. Yet a bigger part rooted her to the spot.

"That's the problem," Knuckles said, breaking the spell.

And then he was gone.

Bunnie stood on her side of the bridge for a long time. Perhaps she expected him to come back. Perhaps she just didn't want to go back to Sally's hut and face the music of what they were supposed to do next. Whatever the reason, she stayed where she was, until her resolve broke and the tears came. Then she sat down and cried until she thought she'd burst.

She cried for herself, for Tails, for the entire rotten evening and a tomorrow that would bring only consequences. She cried so much that she didn't hear anyone approach until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jerked her head up.

"It's all right, dear, it's only me." Rosie's smile was sympathetic and kind.

All at once Bunnie felt five years old again, just as lonely and devastated as she'd been when they first fled to Knothole. "Oh, Rosie…"

"Shh, dear, you just let it all out. No good ever comes from bottling things up." Rosie let her bury her face in her shoulder, even though it must've been jarring for her old bones. The consummate motherly type, despite not having any children of her own, Rosie always put her 'younglings' first and now was no exception.

"D-did you hear?"

"No, but I can guess from your reaction that it isn't good news."

"He thinks I'm bad for him. He thinks he can't be the Guardian when he's around me, and that's all he's ever been, so he … he says he can't be around me no more."

"Oh, poppet."

"I ain't got a plum clue what to do, Rosie. I didn't see this comin'."

"No doubt you didn't. Did he say if he'll be back?"

Bunnie sniffed. "No, but he done said this'd just be for the time bein'."

"Then I suggest you just give him his space, dear. I'll admit I don't know your Knuckles fellow as well as I do other beasts, but I do know that he's made an awful lot of big decisions lately. Maybe he just needs time to catch his breath. He's male, and males are funny – they need breathing room sometimes, and all you can do is keep your distance until they're ready to talk again."

"But what if he don't come back? What if he decides bein' the Guardian is more important than what we got together? Rosie, I ain't never felt this way before about nobeast. On top of what happened to Tails, I reckon my heart'd just about break in two if'n Knuckles decided Guardianship's all he got room for in his life."

"Does he love you?"

"He said he does."

"Then trust him to make the right decision. The more important issue right now is whether you love him."

"My stars, of course I do!"

"But do you love him enough to let him make his decision?"

"I … yes. I do."

"Well then, there you are, dear."

Bunnie stared over the bridge to the Great Forest and hoped with all her might that Rosie was right.

To Be Continued…