Eggman watched Tails get caught, and was glad he didn't say anything stupid, until he saw the people loading the missile. He saw Tails try to get away, and ran out the exit. He heard the explosion, and went to Sonic saying,

"Sonic you have to hurry!"

"Huh?"

"It's Tails! He's in danger!"

"Danger?!"

"Yes!"

"That explosion..."

"You'd better hurry, or he wont stand a chance!"

"Show me where he is."

"Down the hall, in the room that's on fire."

"Fire?!" Cream yelled.

In the blink of an eye, Sonic was gone, and they watched his dust slowly fall in silence.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sonic ran in the room that was so hot and smokey HE wanted to pass out, and suddenly heard,

"SONIC!" then 3 coughs. "Sonic, help me!"

He ran to Tails, quickly untying his hands and ankles and grabbed his wrist pulling him out of the fire and into the clean air. He leaned Tails' back against a wall so he could breathe easier and looked at his half open eyes. Tails stared coughing for a while and Sonic pat him on the shoulder until he resolved to panting.

"It's okay, Tails... Breathe... I got 'cha, buddy, you're going to be safe, now... you're gonna be okay..." Sonic soothed, while gently rubbing Tails' ear.

Tails slowly caught his breath, then passed out. Sonic sighed and carried the kit to Cream, Amy, and Eggo.

"Is he okay?!" Cream asked

"He passed out. He'll be fine, though." Sonic turned to Eggo "Is there any safe spot we can hold him?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, I have a hospital ward. Follow me."

They followed Eggman to a door that required a pass code, and Eggman typed it in. It beeped, and revealed what looked like a single hospital room, complete with a bed and everything. Sonic gently placed Tails on the bed, and Eggman attached him to the medical gear, then pulled a blanket over him, and said,

"There." as he finished putting on the Oxygen and IV.

"Why do you have this in your lair?" Amy asked.

"Sometimes, I get badly injured during our little duels. I am only human, you know."

"Who takes care of you?" Eggman held up a finger, whistled, and a robot came in.

"Betty, take care of Mr. Prower for us."

"Yes, Master Robotnik."

"Alright, Tails is in good hands. Let's give him some time to recover."

Everybody nodded, and left. Eggman locked the door, and Sonic said,

"Why do you suddenly want to help us?"

"Payback."

"For?"

"The men in black. I'm getting them back and I can't do it on my own. However, when this is over, have no fear. Your chaos emeralds will be mine." Sonic glared, and Eggo gave a sigh, looking down and scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Besides it's my fault any of this even happened to him." Eggman finished.

"What did you do?"

"I chose him as a partner. He almost died about 3 times, this being one of them."

"Why'd you need him?"

"Well.." Eggman told his version of the story thus far, and finished with,

"... So I kinda owe it to the kid to make sure he doesn't die."

"You owe him more than that! He risked his life for you, did whatever you said, let you go, everything, and you think that just making sure he lives to tell the tale is enough?! You owe him an apology, and that's just minimal."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Don't abuse my best friend."

"I'm saving his life!"

"Because you almost lost it!"

"GUYS!" Amy yelled. They looked at her, and she said, "This'll only last one day, so why don't we try to make the best of it, okay?"

Sonic and Eggo looked at each other then turned away in disgust, immaturely.

"Whatever." they synchronized.

"Good, now let's finish what we started, stop the men in black and get out of here."

"Right."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep...

Tails slowly opened his eyes to the sound. He looked around and saw he was under the blanket of a hospital bed. There were Oxygen tubes in his nose, an IV needle in his arm, a Pulsox on his finger, and other hospital equipment attached to his body. He looked up and saw a black screen with a jumping red line on it and ahead of him was a locked door with a small square window in it. 'Am I in a hospital? How'd I get HERE..." he wondered. Suddenly a robot came in and said,

"Please do not sit up, Mr. Prower. Please lay down and try to relax."

"Where am I?" Tails asked, laying down.

"You are in Master Robotnik's home hospital, here is some water."

"Thank you." Tails took the water, and when the robot left, he sniffed the water and drank it. He put the cup down, and tried to piece together what had happened when suddenly he felt like somebody was choking him and doubled over coughing. The robot came to him and pat him on the back until he could breathe.

"Wh-what happened?! Why am I here?" Tails choked out.

"Master Robotnik told me to take care of you. I know not more."

"Oh."

"Mr. Prower, please lay down and try to Relax." The robot said, pushing him down.

"How long am I here for?"

"Until master Robotnik declares you healthy enough to leave." The robot said, and left.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sonic, Amy and Cream went killing the men in black, while Eggo looked to see if the mad scientist had made it out alive. Suddenly he saw the mad scientist had been watching him the entire time. Eggo pulled out a gun, and the scientist said,

"I've been following you for a while. So, whet heppened to your sidekick?"

"Sidekick?"

"Tails..."

"Hey! That's MY sidekick!" Sonic yelled, punching a man in the face. The scientist chuckled.

"You must be Sonic... he wez talking about you a lot." Eggo turned the safety off of his gun and said,

"Get out of my lair."

"Pushy are we?"

"Leave, now."

"Why?"

"I said, NOW!" Eggo roared. The scientist laughed.

"Where's your sidekick?"

"That retarded twin tailed twit is NOT my sidekick!"

"But he is your partner. Where is he?"

"None of your business."

"Tell me where he is, and I'll pack up and leave." Eggo paused.

"Don't do it!" Amy yelled.

"He'd better not do it..." Sonic hissed.

Eggo bit his lip, them he shot the guy twice in the chest, and at first he stumbled back in shock, but then he opened his lab suit and revealed a bulletproof vest.

"Nice try." He said. Sonic got pissed and bolted to the man, beating the ever loving crap out of him. He beat him up until the only time the scientist moved was when Sonic punched him and before the scientist lost consciousness, Sonic said,

"Never mess with Tails." then the scientist's eyes slowly closed.

Sonic was exhausted because his adrenaline rush was now gone and Eggman chuckled.

"I forgot how protective Sonic was over his pet..." he muttered putting his gun away.

"I heard that!" Sonic yelled. Cream and Amy went to his side and said,

"Wanna check on him?" Sonic nodded.

They went to the hospital chamber, and Eggo punched in a code that opened the door. They went in, and saw Tails sleeping on his side, peacefully. Betty went to them.

"How is he?" Eggman asked

"Subject 'Mr.Prower' woke up at 12:59 and fell back asleep at fell back asleep."

"Anything wrong with him?"

"He's recovering well, doctor. His lungs are still packed with smoke, but he is able to breathe beyond it. The only problems are that he's constantly coughing and choking, and his heart skips occasional beats." Sonic gasped.

"Relax Sonic. Its from the smoke." Eggman said.

"Can I see him?" Sonic asked. Eggo nodded and stepped aside.

Sonic walked to the hospital bed, and looked at his sleeping companion. He gently rubbed Tais' ear, and smiled in relief of Tails being okay. Tails slowly opened his eyes, and looked at Sonic.he reached out for him and Betty yelled,

"Mr. Prower! Please get off the IV!" He sighed, and moved his arm from under his body.

"How's it going, bro?" Sonic asked.

"S-sonic..." Tails said, weakly. Sonic noticed his face looked pale and Tails said, "I feel sick."

Betty came pushing Sonic out of the way and taking a large bowl from her stomach. Tails threw up and she wiped his mouth, and left to throw it away. Eggman stood next to Sonic and Tails said,

"What happened?"

"You were caught in the explosion." Eggo said.

"Huh?" Eggo explained what had happened, and Tails gasped.

"We have to stop the scient–"

"Shh! Don't get worked up. Your body can't handle it. Don't worry, Sonic handled it." Tails smiled at Sonic and said,

"Missile launcher?"

"Destroyed."

"Man in black?"

"Dead." Tails sat up in excitement and said,

"Yes! We are SO out of here!" Betty, Eggo and Sonic gently pushed him down and Betty said,

"Mr. Prower, please lay down and try to relax."

"I feel fine! Please, Sonic? Can we go home?" Tails asked, giving him a cute begging look.

"Sorry Tails."

"What?!"

"Shh... you're just not ready, yet."

"When will I be?"

"Calm down."

"I'm sorry, Sonic."

"You'll be ready when you're better. But until then, you're going to be here."

"A-are you gonna leave me, Sonic?"

"Depends on how long it takes."

"And... you trust Eggo?" Sonic shrugged.

"You did." Tails coughed a little and said

"Ye-yeah. I guess you're right."

"I know." Sonic rubbed Tails' head soothingly again, and said,

"You should get some sleep, bro."

The beeps on Tails' heart machine started going faster, and Tails said,

"You aren't going to leave me, are you?!"

"Sorry, but I have to."

"How come?"

"Because you need rest. And this is a pretty safe place for you to have it. Eggman's been taking pretty good care of you, so far. Just page me if you need me." Tails looked at Eggo, nervously, like he was ready to cry.

"Sonic..."

"Tails, just page me, and I'll be here in a Sonic Second."

"Relax, Tails. I wont hurt you..." Eggo said. Tails looked at Sonic desperately then sighed.

"Fine." he said, and folded his arms on his pillow, resting his head on them. Sonic put the blanket over Tails' shoulders and saw a tear slowly trickle down his cheek. Sonic pushed his chin up and looked him in the eye.

"Tails, I swear I wont forget about you. You just need medical attention, and this is a good place for it. I wont forget about you. I promise. Just try to relax, okay?" Tails looked down and nodded.

"Alright, now get some sleep. You gotta take it easy or you'll never get out of here." Tails nodded, quietly. Sonic knew he was getting tired from all this talk about sleep and looked at Eggman.

"Let's go." Eggman said, as though reading Sonic's mind. Eggo left with Amy and Cream and Sonic stalled for a minute debating whether or not he should actually trust Eggman then left with everybody else.

"Come back in a day. We'll see how much better he is, then." Eggo said.

"Can I visit him tomorrow–er– today?" Sonic asked.

"He'll most likely be asleep all day."

"What time should I come."

"Late afternoon to night."

"Right."

Eggman showed him the way out of his lair, and before he left Sonic said,

"Don't do anything to him. Don't harm him in anyway or it WILL be war. You hear me?!" Eggo smiled and said

"Loud and clear."

Sonic stared at him curiously, then ran after Cream and Amy