~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Eleven

"So this is where you two have been."

I spin around to see Amadeus standing there, clad only in tall brown boots and his eyepatch. His thick, longish hair makes him look a lot younger than he is, as long as you don't look him in the eye.

Which Tails is doing right now.

The blood drains from my face. No. Not here. Not now.

"Dad." His voice is very, very quiet. I can barely hear him and I'm sitting right next to him. "Dad, go. Please."

Amadeus takes a breath and levels his gaze at his son. It's one of those looks that parents give you that peels you open from the inside out.

"What's going on here? You just disappeared off the face of the planet… son, tell me what's going on. Let me help you."

I see a spark come into his eyes, a spark I haven't seen since we started this.

It's hope. Tails might be smart for his age, but he's still just a kid. He still believes that parents can fix things.

"Dr Eggman is sick, dad. I don't know what's wrong, so Sonic's gathering the Chaos Emeralds and we're going to put them into the device I'm building. We're hoping it will save Eggman." His voice is eager and he leans forwards excitedly, anticipating his dad's approval and ready to add his dad's ideas to the mix.

Amadeus looks at me incredulously, his eyebrows going up and his body tensing. "You've got him building a machine to save Julian? That's why Amy was so upset… why Knuckles is so angry… "

"You don't understand." My voice is strong and clear, but I know I will never convince him. Not this soldier, this general, who in a previous life had his hard-fought freedom and family taken by the man dying behind me.

A long time ago, the day Tails was born, Amadeus saw Robotnik experiment with the roboticizer on somebody else. Amadeus nearly stopped the whole thing then and there, but was captured by a swatbot and roboticised himself. I know that Amadeus will never help me save a man who took from him the first ten years of his only son's life.

"Explain it to me." He stands patiently now, arms folded into each other, but not crossed.

"I… I can't."

"You can't." His voice is nearly sarcastic. The fingers on his right hand smooth down the fur on the opposite arm, over and over.

"I just… it's something I have to do. It's… it's…" I don't know what to tell him. I don't think there is anything I can tell him. He can be a reasonable guy, but only after you argue with him for a very long time, and I don't have that long.

"Fine." Amadeus crosses the room, heading for Tails, who is looking at the floor beside himself. "You can do whatever you like. But keep Miles out of it. He's not going to be a part of your crusade."

I step in front of him, and my heart is in my throat. I can't believe I'm doing this.

"No. He can make his own decisions."

Amadeus looks at me from beneath one raised eyebrow.

"Then why don't you let him?"

I turn a little to look behind me, and Tails is looking at his dad with the worst expression on his face. Like he's tearing himself apart over what to do.

I step aside, but not too far.

"Miles?"

Tails looks at the floor. He's twisting his fingers together, hard.

"I… I want to stay, dad. I want to help Sonic."

A shadow falls over Amadeus's face and he closes his eye for a minute. Then he takes a breath, thins his mouth, and nods.

"Very well. I can respect that."

I can see the relief washing over Tails. Thank you, Amadeus. Thank you.

"But I don't respect your cause. I can't see how you are able to justify risking everything to save the life of this… monster. I'm sorry, but I don't understand." His jaw clenches and his brows come together.

Again I remember the day Tails was born. The day Amadeus was roboticized.

I don't blame the guy.

"That's fine." I clench and unclench my fist, hoping he'll leave soon. I'm not convinced Tails won't go with him. From the corner of my eye I can see the look of horror still etched into Tails's face, and his eyes go wide and fill with tears.

"Sonic…"

I turn to look at him fully as Amadeus's boots clack firmly against the metal floor. "What is it, bud?"

"Dad… he…"

"What?" I'm missing something.

Tails picks up something and hides it in his hand.

"S-stay here, Sonic. Please."

I feel cold fear worm its way into my guts as Tails crosses the room, quickly to catch up with his dad. I should stop him, I know I should stop him. If only I knew what he was doing. Damn it. I should never have done this. His dad is so precious to him, and now I'm forcing him to betray what he at one point could only dream of.

"Dad?"

His voice is so broken and wavery that Amadeus stops in his tracks and turns around quickly to face Tails. His face tightens for a moment in apprehension, and I know just how he feels. Ready to face all the evil in the world just to make Tails stop crying.

"What is it, son?"

Tails wraps his arms around his dad as my peripheral vision picks up a flashing light from where he was kneeling.

From what he was looking at.

It's his handheld.

"Dad, I'm sorry."

His voice is so small and faint that I can barely hear it, and my body hurts from the tension. Oh Tails, what are you doing?

"For what?" Amadeus is the very picture of concern, holding his son tightly and looking down at him as if he's had a nightmare Amadeus can explain away. "You've done nothing wrong."

Tails steps back as something flashes across Amadeus's face.

"Yes I have."

He steps back as his dad falls to the floor, and he steps back when he sees the shock of betrayal in his dad's eye.

"I'm sorry," Tails whispers, and he falls on the floor too, onto his knees, and he starts crying. I swallow hard and walk over to Amadeus.

He does have the Emerald.

I feel so dirty as I take it from him, given what was lost to pay for it. I fight back the lump in my throat as I move his limp body to a dark corner of the room.

Then I move towards Tails, who is rocking back and forth and whimpering into his knees.

"Tails…"

He looks up at me, sadness filling his eyes and emptying in great streams, over and over. "Sonic… he knows I meant no harm, doesn't he? He said he respected my decision… won't he respect this one, once it's all over and I can explain it to him properly?"

I swallow hard, but I can't look at him.

"You know he will, Tails. He's your dad."

"I meant to use it on Eggman… if he woke up and tried to hurt me and you were gone… "

"It's okay, Tails." I try to be soothing but I'm not even convincing myself. "He'll come around. He always does."

Please forgive him, I plead silently with the dark shape in the corner. Hate me. Pin the blame on me. Just don't make him feel any worse about what he's had to do.

Please don't make him hate himself, Amadeus.

The world freezes around me and my legs feel shaky. I stumble back against the wall and brace my arms against it, letting myself slide down to the floor. I'm so tired. I'm so tired of all this, of everything, and I just want it to go away. It's too much for me now. Please, just everything go away.