The taxi they'd found dropped them off at the address Infinite had specified. Gadget paid the fare and the two of them got out to spend a moment standing and staring at the building before them while the taxi drove off. Gadget was gawking once again, amazed by this unexpected development. It was a regular suburban house shadowed to almost a silhouette by the fading daylight. It was in terrible shape like every other building in the city was but this area was particularly bad. Gadget remembered fighting giant robots in this area. They'd trampled houses flat as they moved through the suburbs firing lasers into the pockets of resistance forces either trying to evacuate the citizens or fend off the smaller robots in the streets. While this house still stood its condition was a testament to the futility of avoiding the chaos. From their perspective, the entire left side of the house had been demolished by crashing debris from explosions further afield. There was a skip bin in the yard filled with some of that debris and unsalvageable bits of broken wood, plaster, and brick but there was still a large pile of it that wouldn't fit in the current load.
Gadget's ear twitched in Infinite's direction as he let out a breathy sigh before walking up the path to the front door. He followed the jackal like a shadow. At the doorstep Infinite went to bend down but hissed in pain.
"Whoa, don't do that," Gadget warned a bit too late. Infinite straightened up again on shaky legs.
"The key..." Infinite said with a pained rasp.
"Why do we have to worry about the key? The lights are on inside, so someone must be home." Gadget reached for the doorbell.
"Wait—"
Too late. An electronic chime rang out into the house. After a few seconds someone inside responded: "Coming!"
Gadget turned to Infinite with a smile, cocky about having been right but it fell upon seeing the glare Infinite shot at him. But the door opened before the standoff could get too uncomfortable and Gadget gladly looked away. Facing the wild dog at the door wasn't the mood lifter he'd hoped it'd be. The man stared at them with his mouth agape in shock and his ears folded back.
"Y-you...?!" the wild dog stammered, looking specifically at Infinite.
"Hi!" Gadget greeted despite not being addressed. "I'm a friend of Infinite here. He was just in hospital and he said he wanted to come here afterwards. So, how do you two know each other?"
The dog glanced at Gadget's huge forced grin and then turned back to Infinite. His eyes narrowed and he growled. "Infinite, huh? I knew it was you!"
"I can explain..." Infinite muttered. Of all the pathetic things Gadget had heard him say over the past week, that sounded the most pathetic.
"Oh, now you can explain? You couldn't have bothered explaining before you disappeared for ten months after telling me you were just on a job that would 'take a while'?" the dog griped, making air quotes. "No letter, no phone call, no explanation that something had come up and you were gonna be a while longer. Still though, ten months?! I thought you were dead after just three! Then Dr Eggman takes over and his jackal lackey looks oddly familiar but I can't be sure because he's wearing that dumb mask and the Egghead calls him Infinite. Who is apparently you! What gave you the gumption to come back here after all that?"
Gadget clutched the medical bag, holding his spine rigid. Only his eyes moved, darting from Infinite to the dog. Just what had he walked into here?
Infinite sighed, lowering his muzzle to hide his mouth in his scarf. "Just let me inside and we can talk."
"As if I'm going to let you inside! You know, everything about you makes sense now—how you just flit in and out casually, never appreciate the things I do, all this secrecy about this 'work' that you supposedly do. You are such an asshole!"
A new voice struck through the conversation like an arrow: "Babe, you okay out there? Who is it?"
Eyes widened on Infinite and the wild dog while Gadget attempted to look past the guy in the door, confused.
"Nobody important!" the dog answered. "They were just leaving."
He attempted to slam the door shut but Infinite stuck his foot in the door. He kicked it open, startling the wild dog who had stepped away the moment he'd thought he'd shut them out. Through the wide open door the visitors finally spotted the newcomer: a tall, lanky-limbed mane wolf watching from the end of the entryway bemusedly.
Infinite snarled. "You sure didn't waste any time."
"The only time I wasted was every second I waited for you!" the wild dog retorted. "You were gone almost a year! And in that time you evidently replaced me too."
He gestured at Gadget, who started at being referred to after being ignored the whole time. "Wait, what?"
"Is that what you came around for?"
"You think I'm with this dipshit?" Infinite snapped. "I wouldn't let this wimp lick my boots but he's so thick he won't stop following me."
"Hey!" Gadget exclaimed in offence.
"But if that's the way you're going to be," Infinite said, going back to pretending Gadget wasn't there, "then consider me gone. Don't bother trying to call! Oh, and I'm taking this back."
He breached the doorstep into the house. Gadget reached out in a lame attempt to stop him just as the wild dog put his hands out to push him away if need be. He only went as far as a few steps, just far enough to pull a black leather jacket off a coat rack.
"Hang on," Gadget interrupted. "You can't just walk into other people's houses and take their stuff."
"It's mine," Infinite growled back as he put it on. Seeing him wearing it, that point was hard to argue. The jacket was a perfect fit and just his style with its sharp lapels, shiny silver zippers, and studded shoulder straps. It was hard to imagine it on the other two canids, the wild dog was so short and the mane wolf was so tall Gadget couldn't fathom it fitting either of them. Infinite then reached into one of the pockets and pulled out a set of keys. "This is mine too, and I'm also taking it back."
"Oh, is that why the bike's been there?" the mane wolf mumbled, an observation that went almost entirely unnoticed. "I thought it was odd since neither of us can drive one."
"You're a lunatic!" the wild dog yelled. "How can you... what gives you the right... some of those are for the house!"
Infinite fiddled with the key rings during a loaded silence. Once most of the keys were free, he threw them on the floor and pushed past the wild dog to the entranceway's garage door. Desperate to salvage the situation, the wild dog grabbed the doorknob, holding the garage door shut in front of Infinite.
"You can't take it! I've got someone who wants to buy it!"
"Now they can't," Infinite seethed, "because the owner who definitely isn't dead came back for it."
"Oh, no, I'm not letting you waltz in and ruin things like you think you run the place!"
The wild dog lunged and Infinite bared his teeth, ready to attack. Both the mane wolf and Gadget jumped to intervene but Gadget got there quicker, using his grappling gun to drive a line between them and slide himself into the middle as a sturdier barrier.
"I'm sorry to cause further damage to your house but I can't let this continue," he explained quickly. "Heart surgery and all."
"You're not seriously defending a thief?" the wild dog barked.
"It's not thievery if you own it," Infinite countered. The garage door was on his side of the divide so he opened it, once again moving purposefully with the intention of leaving Gadget behind.
"Wait! Sorry, gotta go! Nice meeting you somewhat and good luck on your house and relationship!" Gadget rushed out before yanking his hook from the wall and squeezing through the doorway so Infinite couldn't close it on him.
Infinite slammed the door shut, clenching his teeth hard. Gadget's ears folded back, wary of another lip curl from the jackal. Instead he got Infinite closing his eyes and wheezing in pain. He leaned forward, a white-knuckled grip on the door handle being the only thing keeping him on his feet. Throwing out inhibitions, both Infinite's and his own, Gadget put a hand on a trembling shoulder.
"You need some rest," Gadget said firmly, as a fact and a command. "And some painkillers."
Infinite opened his eyes just a smidge to glance at him. "Turn on the light and open the door. I'm getting out of here."
"Exactly how are you going to do that?" Gadget muttered, looking at him sceptically.
"Turn on the light! It's dark in here."
"Geez, what happened to magic words?" Gadget griped. "I'm not going to do what you say until you tell me what your plan is."
"It doesn't involve you."
"Yes it does. I'm taking care of you, remember?"
"You pest," Infinite hissed under his breath. "I'm getting my bike and leaving."
"You have a bike?" Gadget asked, curious enough that he began to search the wall for a light switch out of his own interest.
The fluorescent white tube light blinked to life crankily, revealing the rather tidy garage. It hosted only set of shelves, a couple of push bikes, one small red car, and the alleged bike in question covered with a sheet. Infinite let go of the doorknob and stumbled straight into the bike, burning with so much pain his hands felt numb as he yanked the sheet off. It went bit by bit, Infinite not having the strength to pull it off in one shot. Gadget gawked in awe, circling around to get a glimpse of each part of the motorcycle as it was revealed - the headlights, the handlebars, the engine, the low saddle, the fenders. It was all in black and any part of it that wasn't black glinted like silver with a few flecks of rust in the hard to reach places betraying its likely age and extent of use. It even had his insignia on both sides.
"This is so cool!" Gadget gushed in awe.
"Stop flapping your mouth like a fish," Infinite huffed, leaning over the seat to breath. That only hurt more so he pushed himself up and held onto one of the handlebars like a crutch, "and open that garage door so I can leave."
"Only one problem with that," Gadget said. Infinite glared at him, not liking that smug smirk. The wolf snatched the keys hanging from his fingers. "You can't drive, doctor's orders."
Infinite stared at him like he'd just done a magic trick. Then he scowled.
"You're not a quick learner, huh?" Gadget joked, going over to a button at the front of the garage that he guessed was the manual control for the door. He guessed right. The door squeaked and rumbled as it opened. "Your empty words aren't going to get rid of me that easily. Now, where are the helmets."
Infinite stubbornly didn't answer. Gadget remained undeterred. He put the hospital package down by the motorcycle to go snooping around the back of the garage, finding a pair of helmets on the second to bottom shelf of the shelves for the garden tools and vehicle care products. They were still in useable condition but much dustier and with cobwebs clinging to their sides after all this time without use. Gadget wiped the visor of one and brought it over to Infinite.
"This one must be yours," he chuckled, sweeping dust off a red infinity symbol on the side of the black helmet, as if the amount of ear allowance wasn't enough of a giveaway. He put it over Infinite's head, only to get Infinite feebly swatting his hands away. Gadget let him clip it up himself and fetched the second helmet, coming across a bit of a problem when it barely squeezed over his ears. "Wow, your ex has a pretty small head."
"Can you please not say anything about what you think that guy is to me."
Gadget wordlessly put the helmet down and went back to the bike. He got astride the driver's seat, a move that made Infinite stare at him incredulously.
"This is my bike."
"You're not allowed to drive," Gadget pointed out. "You wouldn't be able to in this condition anyway."
"Don't you underestimate me! Have you ever driven across the Sand Hill zone with a bullet wound to the thigh and malaria coursing through your veins?!"
"That sounds like the worst," Gadget said, wide-eyed. "But you don't have to do painful things like that this time because I'm here." He leaned down to pick up the package. He held it out to Infinite. "Hold your drugs, Mr Macho, you can crash at my place."
Infinite wanted to argue but his body cried for the attention. His legs shuddered, begging him to take the backseat if only so that he could get off his feet. Gadget was patient as Infinite toed the passenger foot peg down and crawled up onto the passenger seat.
"Do you even know how to ride?" he grumbled, taking the medical supplies and securing the package between them with his arms around Gadget's waist.
"Yeah. Most of the vehicles the resistance had were motorbikes. Cars were considered too cumbersome."
"Not even for weapon transport?"
Gadget raised the kickstand and started the engine as he replied. "The only weapons we deemed necessary were the Wispons. They're pretty lightweight."
The engine rumbled under them and the exhaust roared as the cruiser kicked off, driving onto the suburban street. It was fully dark by now but the stars made no appearance. Between the lingering smog from Eggman's factories and the lights that were already back on in the cities the sky above looked like an expansive void. Infinite gazed at it ponderously as they made their way down suburban streets at a slow speed.
"I thought a goody two-shoes like you wouldn't do something so risky," he said. The helmetless driver in front of him laughed.
"Hey, 'risky' is my middle name. Did you even see me charging into the damn sun?"
Even Infinite had to concede a smirk to that. It was pretty hardcore.
They entered into a freeway where Gadget finally sped up. With the wind whipping loudly around them there could be no more conversation but the peace wasn't completely welcome. He watched the road with a deeply pensive expression, thoroughly uncomfortable with what he had witnessed earlier. It was too personal, not to mention weird. Gadget hadn't really imagined that Infinite had some form of normal life—he must have, since nobody was born built for purpose—but it didn't occur to him until that evening that he'd never considered Infinite as having the full range of experiences. He was probably a criminal, had a family that Gadget's mind gave no identity to, was certainly the kind of guy who would own a leather jacket and a motorbike, but Gadget always assumed there was a lot missing, mostly in the intimacy department. He wasn't ready to get that deep and more importantly realised that he had picked up this duty without appreciating the full extent of its responsibility. Infinite had been an asshole before he was an omnipotent sadist and so far an asshole afterwards. There might not be any reward at the end of all of this.
A stray thought randomly came to him and he mentally kicked himself for being so distracted by the drama that he missed the chance to find out what Infinite's real name was.