I'm so happy that this is going well so far for you readers. Idling ISL mentioned a heart transplant, and while that wasn't what actually happened last chapter it gives me an idea for the future. And now for a little less Infinite and a little more Everyone Else.

For the next six days Gadget felt like he was living a secret double life. Resistance member by day, fraternising with the enemy by night. Well, that wasn't literally the case, sometimes situations came up where he was required with the resistance at night and he would sometimes spend time with Infinite during the day but it was the principle. He hadn't told anyone that he'd nominated himself to look after Infinite but he nervously wondered about what would happen if (when) the others found out. They were already none too pleased to find out that Infinite wasn't dead or hadn't somehow sucked himself into his own void upon being defeated. It was a harsh thing to wish on someone but there was a lingering atmosphere of apprehension about dealing with a villain who had been so daunting to defeat.

That's why Knuckles had demanded the core resistance members have a meeting at HQ to figure out what to do with him. Gadget walked through the doors of the secret bunker feeling the same way he had when he'd arrived the first time as a rookie. It had such a large door and a high ceiling that made him feel small. He was apparently the last one there because once inside it was already full of familiar faces gathered around the main console with grim appearances. Gadget thought they all seemed exhausted as well. Taking on Infinite had been an overwhelming ordeal and the aftermath phase was intensive; naturally no one wanted to risk having to face him again.

"Good, everyone's here," Knuckles said, effectively beginning the meeting. "I shouldn't need to tell you all by now but just so we're clear on what we're talking about: Silver, Gadget, and Rouge came back from a mission with a report that Infinite is still alive and kicking."

"Actually, he wasn't kicking that much," Silver interjected, "he was more kinda... fainting."

"At the time," Rouge added with a tone of warning.

"Do you think there's a chance he could get his old powers back?" Amy asked.

"He didn't have the ruby," Silver replied.

"But that doesn't mean he doesn't have any other means," Vector pointed out. "That guy is a menace! He could be plotting another way to take over the world."

"Those are Dr Eggman's priorities," Tails said with a shake of his head.

"Infinite was helping with those priorities. He must get some kind of kick out of it. A way more sick and twisted kick, if you ask me."

"I still don't agree that Infinite is necessarily motivated to take over the world but you're right about one thing. Infinite is motivated to do evil for some reason."

"He's a chaotic element in the restoration efforts," Espio said, "especially when he's still so mysterious to us after all this time. We need to contain him in some way so we can keep an eye on him without exposing the world to further danger by his hands."

"That's what I was hoping to hear," Knuckles said. "Solutions. Arguing about what we do and don't know won't get us anywhere. Besides, I've already got a plan in action to deal with the information issue."

"Really? What is it?" Charmy gushed, way too excited about something so serious. As usual.

"We know where Silver left him so I've got an operative on the inside to keep tabs on him and get as much intel as possible. But that's all I can say. The details of the plan are on a need to know basis."

Gadget's blood went cold with dread. Knuckles didn't think that was him, did he? Then again, it wasn't Knuckles' style to put someone in a position they didn't know about. However, that only gave him cause to be concerned that there was someone inside the hospital feeding information to the resistance. Did they know about his regular visits?

"Rouge is spying on him?" Charmy guessed. "That's a really good idea."

"I didn't say it was Rouge!"

"It is obviously Rouge," Omega said. "Among you she has superior intelligence gathering skills and intelligence generally."

Rouge snickered while Knuckles roared at the robot in offence. "I'm the leader here! That requires a lot of intelligence!"

"Self-appointed titles do not grant you the traits that you lack."

Knuckles charged at him, spewing threats but Silver held him back with his powers.

"Stop it, Knuckles!" Amy entreated. "Having personal squabbles isn't going to solve anything. Espio mentioned containing him, so let's go with that. What's the best way to go about it?"

"We don't really have the resources to keep someone locked up ourselves," Tails said, "especially if they're potentially powered."

"Why don't we just hand him over to G.U.N.?" Vector suggested.

"G.U.N. was pretty badly taken down during Eggman's takeover," Rouge told them. "As far as I can tell it's been working in factions but even I don't know what their status is."

"So handing them a powered prisoner to 'contain' would just cause factional conflict," Tails concluded.

"Oh, I'm sure there'll still be factional conflict. Having Infinite in the mix will just make it worse."

"He can't be that bad without the Phantom Ruby," Silver argued. "We could just set up a cage here and put him in it."

"Like a pet dog?" Amy spat in disgust. "I know he tried to take over the world, but he's still a person. That's undignifying!"

"A guy like him doesn't deserve dignity!" Vector shouted.

"We shouldn't approach this from a position of vengeance," Espio said sensibly.

"He's right," Rouge nodded. "If we do that it'll just make him want to retaliate."

"We could commandeer the facilities in the Eggman bases we're clearing out," Charmy suggested.

"Yeah," Tails agreed eagerly. "That's a great idea! Dr Eggman must have a bunch of pris—uh, containment facilities within his bases designed to hold So—er, people with superpowers who annoy him a lot. We could salvage parts and tech to build a cell for Infinite that we could use to monitor him without fearing that he may have a trick to regain his powers and bust out of it."

"How do we know Eggman hasn't left any tricks or traps in his stuff?" Amy asked.

"Destruction is the only certain method of removing the threat of Infinite," Omega said. "I propose immediate elimination."

"That option isn't on the table!" Knuckles yelled at him.

"It should be."

Gadget looked back and forth as the previously quiet room became a cacophony of voices angrily arguing and shouting over the top of each other. Different suggestions jockeyed for consideration but barely made progress as each had their supporters and dissenters. Despite declaring himself leader, Knuckles had already lost control and him shouting for everyone to shut up wasn't doing any good. Gadget couldn't keep up with the discussion anymore. He was having a hard time working out who was saying what when as his gaze darted from face to face.

"Dump him on Prison Island," Shadow piped up brusquely.

The room quietened abruptly. They all turned to the black hedgehog leaning against a wall away from the main group with his arms folded and a surly expression.

"You want to put him in your old cell?" Rouge questioned. Gadget's ears pricked upon hearing that. Shadow had been to prison? He didn't know much about Shadow but the more he learned the more terrifying the black hedgehog became.

"If G.U.N. is as fractured as you say it is they've likely abandoned Prison Island too," he justified. "Security is mostly automated and nearly impenetrable and it's impossible for the prisoner to escape without outside help. He won't even feel the years going by."

"You're suggesting we imprison him indefinitely," Knuckles realised.

"Out of sight, out of mind," Shadow shrugged. "It renders this entire argument redundant."

"It's not fair to do that to someone without a trial at least," Amy protested.

"It would be an open-shut case," Rouge countered.

Knuckles hummed, deep in thought. "This could work."

"You can't be serious!" Amy cried.

"Hear me out!" he snapped at her. "Infinite is making our job harder while we repair the world. We don't need to lock him up for life yet, we just need him out of the way while the world gets back on its feet. Then we can come back for him and go through all the fair processes properly."

"Hmph," Shadow scoffed. "You tell yourself that." He lifted himself off the wall and sauntered to the exit.

"Where are you going?!"

Shadow turned to Knuckles. "We have a solution. The meeting is over, so I'm leaving."

Gadget stumbled out of his way, realising that Shadow wasn't going to stop or walk around him. They all stared in stunned silence as the doors opened and then closed behind him.

"That arrogant...!" Amy fumed, balling her fists.

"This is far from over!" Vector yelled. Even if Shadow could hear him, he likely didn't care.

"Maybe Shadow has the right idea," Silver interjected. "We came up with a lot of ideas, maybe we just need to sleep on them before the best idea becomes apparent."

Knuckles growled. "As much as I don't want to give that jerk the satisfaction, Silver might be on to something. We were all just fighting for the most part. So, this meeting is over. Try to get a good rest tonight."

Discontented rumblings murmured throughout the group but they respected Knuckles' leadership regardless. They all began to vacate the room, with the Chaotix being the first to go. They were really busy right now; Gadget recalled there were a ton of people calling their detective agency and asking them to take cases on lost friends and family. Omega marched out after them followed by Rouge. As they passed him, Rouge shot him a knowing glance and a smirk. The red wolf paled. She knew. Oh, she definitely knew. Knuckles and Silver left with Amy a couple of feet behind them. She paused at the doorway to look back into the room. Gadget followed her gaze.

The other hedgehog in the room hadn't spoken once during the entire meeting. Even now that it was officially adjourned he remained where he had been leaning against the wall at the opposite end of the room to Shadow, legs and arms crossed and a troubled expression on his face. Tails approached him carefully. He reached out as if he was going to touch the blue hedgehog but then seemed to think better of it.

"Sonic..." he asked quietly, "are you okay?"

Sonic looked up. His expression wiped away immediately, replaced by a bright grin. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Need something, little buddy?"

Tails' ears drooped. "No... you just seemed upset. I tried to be sensitive but..."

"That's sweet, Tails," Sonic said, ruffling the fluffy hair between his ears, "but you don't have to worry about me. Eggbutt taking over most of the world didn't keep us from defeating him, so I'm over it."

Tails didn't reply but he looked down at their feet. "If you say so."

"I do. C'mon, let's go see if Chilli Dog Dane has his cart up and running again." He patted Tails on the back and began to walk out, looking back briefly to make sure Tails was following. Gadget was still standing near the door as they passed. Sonic gave him that megawatt grin. "Hey, Rookie! Wanna get chilli dogs with us?

Gadget hesitated to respond because he wasn't immediately sure if he wanted to or not. Before he could form an answer, a cute tune beeped out of his headset, the one he still wore as his main communication device since he had thus far been unable to locate his phone after the war. He gave the pair an apologetic smile and turned away to answer the call.

"Hi, this is Gadget... Really? That's great!... This afternoon? You want me to come?... No, no! I'll come... Yeah, see you then."

The caller hung up on the other side. Gadget turned back to his original direction, surprised to find Sonic and Tails waiting for him to finish. Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Who was that?"

Gadget's heart skipped a beat. He got that cold feeling again, the one that caused him to sweat. "It was, uh... a person calling..."

"Yeah, obviously," Sonic said impatiently. "What about?"

"About? It was about, uh... my... hot... water!" Gadget exclaimed.

"Hot water?" Tails asked.

"Yes, my hot water!" Gadget confirmed. "It was broken, because of the war. The person calling is... er, they're going to fix it. This afternoon. I have to be there to let them into my apartment."

"So they're a plumber," Sonic said. His eyes narrowed a little and his grin turned into a smirk, like he was suspicious but amused about it.

"Yes," Gadget lied. "They're a plumber."

Tails narrowed his eyes too but he was frowning. "Do you think we're dumb? You're a terrible liar."

Gadget stammered. Getting caught out by a little kid was more than a little bit humiliating. But he was proud of his story, he needed to keep it up. However, before he could think up an excuse for his defence, Sonic interjected:

"Come on, Tails, give him the benefit of the doubt, would ya? Having cold showers all week must have been awful. He's just stuttering 'cause he's excited about it. Am I readin' you right, Rookie?"

Sonic looked at him, still wearing that suspicious-amused expression that had Gadget unsettled. He nodded.

"In that case, I'm happy for you," Sonic added. "Now, back to the real important question: chilli dog or no?"

Maybe it was because he thought seeming game would soften their suspicion. He had no opinion on chilli dogs whatsoever and wasn't particularly hungry but he nodded nonetheless. Sonic cheered his decision and grabbed him by the arm to drag him out of the base, nattering on about how Dane the Dog's chilli dogs were absolutely the best. The entire time, Tails glared at Gadget, unable to let his suspicion go when their newest friend was apparently hiding something from them.