"He can't what?!" blurted Chuck, ripped away from his stove top labor of love.
Manic felt himself tense up at the sight of a cop acting alarmed, knowing deep down that it could mean all sorts of trouble. The fact that this man was his uncle kept Manic from becoming openly defensive, something that was easier to remember since Chuck had left his police hat on the family room table, which consequently left the rest of his uniform mostly covered by his leather jacket and gave him the appearance of a somewhat typical relative, save for the weapon on his hip...
"He woke up not knowing where he was or who we were, but he seems to recognize small things, like the cookies from last night when we mentioned them," Sonic reiterated as calmly as he could.
Manic considered the fact that Sonic was between him and their cop uncle, and decided to use that to his advantage, in case Chuck attempted something and he needed to flee.
Sonia quickly joined in.
"We're doing our best to help him!" she assured their uncle.
Chuck turned his attention to Manic, who had relocated himself to a corner near the exit, and as calmly as he could, asked, "Manic, what exactly do you remember?"
His nephew nervously replied, "Well I remember...I remember the cookies, but you also seem familiar."
"Anything else?" Chuck asked.
This was beginning to feel like an interrogation. Manic went with the only other thing he had a solid enough grip on: "I remember...Robotnik getting mad...when I burned toast."
Looking at the pieces of blackened toast the green hedgehog was still carrying, and noticing the fear creeping into his features, Chuck began to understand what the boy was experiencing, having dealt with victims of abuse and kidnapping in the past. He didn't know whether to punch a hole in the wall because of this new problem, or to feel relieved that Manic seemed to be reversing it, so he decided to wait and see what happened. Closing the distance between himself and his nephew, he placed his hand on Manic's shoulder and told him, "Not sure if you remember me at all, but know that I'll never ever let anything happen to you."
Manic released the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He was still figuring things out, but something about a cop flipping his lid put him on edge; not necessarily because of his occupation, but more so the damage he appeared capable of inflicting. It was also that much more of a relief to be promised safety by that same man.
"Thank you," he exhaled.
"So what do we do now?" asked Sonia, leaning back against the island countertop.
"Well, I guess for now, we continue cooking as planned," Chuck replied, getting back to the aforementioned job in front of him.
"And bring it up to mom and dad, afterward," added Sonic.
"I'm not so sure about that," countered Chuck, still focusing on the food, "With what Manic's going through, breakfast in bed might not be the best time for your parents to find out he can't remember them."
That was a good point- more than Sonic cared to admit.
"I...guess so," he agreed, sheepishly.
"We'll make the goodies, have em ready for when the rest of the gang comes down, but we should tell them before then," suggested Chuck.
Everyone agreed.
Sonic hoped Manic wasn't taking it too hard, but it was difficult to tell from looking at him, since he appeared to be bottling up his emotions inside. Might be best to ask him, since letting issues fester under the surface would only cause problems.
"You doing alright?" Sonic asked him simply.
His green twin appeared somewhat surprised by the question, but not offended like he was expecting, and told him "yes".
Everyone resumed cooking, but the mood was significantly more sober with everyone wondering how mom and dad would take this new problem after waiting 5 years to get their son back. To finally get him back, and then lose half of him the next day was heartbreaking just to think about. Nobody felt like talking, but they knew Manic needed their support.
"You're doing better than expected, I could never fry eggs that good," pointed out Chuck, noticing the near over-easies Manic just slid onto a plate.
Manic shrugged and said, "It didn't seem that hard. They told me to let them solidify in the pan and then turn em over, so I did. Looked ready enough."
The older man smiled and said, "You're doing quite well in spite of everything."
Sonic wanted to ask if there was a chance of getting his brother back, but felt like this was an inappropriate time to ask, and kept his mouth shut.
"Does that mean he'll recover?" blurted out Sonia.
So much for timing.
"Compared to past cases I've witnessed, he has a good chance of recalling a few things before long," Chuck replied.
"Like what?" asked Manic.
"Well hopefully, your mom and dad, for one thing," said Chuck, "and your brother and sister, best case scenario."
"Anything that might speed it up?" Sonic asked, desperately hoping his uncle would have all the answers, and doing his best not to sound anxious.
"Breakfast couldn't hurt his chances," the cop pointed out.
Nobody could refute that, especially on empty stomachs, so they continued cooking the eggs, bacon, and pancakes. As they were preparing the morning bounty, Manic thought about what he had learned from the conversations he'd had with everyone, and noticed that he felt a strange sense of familiarity with the whole thing that suggested he'd been through this before, though he could not recall it specifically. He didn't know these people, and yet, he felt as if he did. His memory was there, but something was holding it back. While everyone was aware that this wasn't normal, it couldn't hurt to share that minor detail with them, in case they knew something he didn't.
"It's kinda weird, but I feel like I should be remembering the things that I don't," said Manic as he stirred the next set of eggs in front of him.
"We all got that feeling a while ago," grumbled Sonia, not looking up from her own work.
Manic fought the urge to sigh, and clarified himself: "I mean that I feel like I almost remember, but something is in the way."
That seemed to get everyone's attention, though even after explaining his problem further, no one seemed to know what to do about it, besides continuing with their original plan. They finished cooking and divided the bounty up into six plates- four for them, two for their parents- and sat down together with their share.
Determined to break the somber atmosphere that had settled over the Hedgethorn household since Manic's memory broke, Sonic carried on his own routine as positively as he could. Putting his hands together and closing his eyes, he quietly thanked God for his many blessings and asked him to continue to bless the family through the bounty they were about to receive, especially Manic. Everyone else concluded it with an "Amen".
"May he bless the entire family," whispered Chuck under his breath as thoughts of distant relatives in Hawaii filled his mind.
"Even Ashura," added Sonia a bit less quietly.
Manic froze, and looked up from his full plate that only a second before had drawn in all of his attention. Now, the only thing on his mind was that name.
"Who'd you say?" he asked, visibly startled.
"Ashura?" Sonia half asked, an eyebrow raised at her brother.
"Is this really the best time to be bringing him up?" Sonic sighed.
Manic wracked his brain to help remember the name, though his attempts proved futile- a trend that was becoming more frustrating by the minute, but this time, it was different. The name Ashura felt more familiar than anything else he'd heard of that morning, and could almost visualize a person he'd encountered at some point.
"What? Manic doesn't know," his sister protested.
"So don't bring him up, then," Chuck clarified.
Manic's frustration grew as he dug through every memory that wasn't there, keenly aware that he had known someone named Ash in the past, but unable to recall the exact circumstances or events. The more he tried to remember, the more his head began to ache.
"I mean he won't care, it's just a name," pointed out Sonia.
Everyone went silent when they noticed Manic holding his head and breathing heavily.
"You okay?" asked Chuck.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Manic groaned while shaking his head that he was still holding, then his breathing quickened. Everyone else got out of their seats to assist, just in time to catch the green hedgehog as he slumped out of his chair, blacking out from the intensity of the headache.
"Give me some space!" ordered Chuck, lowering Manic to the floor.
"What are you gonna do?" asked Sonia, backing away.
"Gonna try to revive him," replied Chuck, who began to administer CPR.
"Shouldn't we call the doctor?" questioned Sonia, seriously doubting a coma victim could be brought back that easily.
"It's okay, people who go comatose sometimes regain consciousness after about a minute. If that don't work, then we'll call 911," Sonic informed his sister.
"Anything we should do?" Sonia asked, nearly panicking.
His mind too boggled by this latest development, Chuck didn't have a coherent plan at the moment and told her to wait a minute, then went back to breathing into, and pumping Manic's unconscious form.
Not content to stand around when her long lost brother was potentially dying, Sonia turned and ran for the stairs to inform their parents of the situation, but before she was halfway up, she heard Manic coughing, and nearly had a heart attack, herself. Preferring to see what was happening, she then rushed to her brother's side.
"C'mon! Wakey, wakey!" instructed Sonic, gently smacking Manic's cheek as he came to.
He took a moment to fully regain composure, then sat up looking positively shell-shocked while Sonic fell back on his butt, overcome with relief.
"You alright?" Sonia asked him.
For a moment, Manic sat there staring into space. Sonia couldn't tell if he was dazed or deep in thought, but she was beginning to worry again. Turning his focus to Sonic, he said something none of them expected: "You told Sonia I couldn't remember anything!"
If anyone did have words, they lost the ability to speak them.
"I told you not to tell her!" Manic hissed.
Forcing himself back to Earth, Sonic told him, "That was last night! Don't you remember?"
The green hedgehog took a moment to ponder that, then realization splashed across his face.
"Oh, right..."
"Does that mean...you remember?" Chuck asked nervously.
Manic's features relaxed and he even smiled a bit.
"You guys brought me home yesterday, and we had cookies together. I remember all of it, now."
Sonia's own expression was considerably less pleased; her mouth was bigger than most of her head, and one eye was half the size of the other. To put it in english, she was shocked beyond words.
"How could you just forget all of that and then suddenly remember it again?" she asked incredulously.
Strange as it sounded, the events of the previous day all came back to him after waking from the coma he'd fallen into, just a minute before.
"And what was that about not remembering anything last night?" Chuck demanded.
'I really need to watch my words more carefully,' Sonic lamented in his mind, before replying, "Manic couldn't actually remember anything when he woke up in the hospital, yesterday."
"Why are you telling him?" demanded his green twin indignantly.
"He kind of already knows at this point since you forgot everything a second time, so we might as well come clean with it, seeing as how we'll need everyone's help in getting through this," Sonic pointed out, scooting over and sitting against the wall after all that the morning's events had taken out of him.
Manic shrugged, not having an argument against that, on top of the fact that he was beginning to feel burnt out from all the confusion.
"If he couldn't remember, then why did he act like he could?" Chuck asked.
"He told me when we were alone together, so I agreed to help him keep the ruse going while getting him used to being home again," the blue hedgehog 'splained.
"Anything else you want to confess?" sighed Chuck, equally juiced out, but also frustrated that they were keeping secrets from him.
"That about covers it," shrugged Sonic.
"We weren't sure how mom and dad would handle it, so we weren't ready to tell them," Sonia pointed out.
"But now it looks like telling them is all you can do," mused their uncle.
"Exactly," confirmed Sonic.
"So how are we gonna do this?" Sonia asked.
Chuck replied, "We were already prepared to help Manic recover, so all we need to do is lessen the shock your parents will experience when they learn how much recovering Manic has to do, so first we'll go up and tell them so we can get the unpleasantness out of the way, then we'll let them enjoy breakfast down here so they'll be in a better mood afterward."
"We just...tell them?" asked Manic, now able to remember how afraid he was about them finding out, as recently as last night.
"I believe that's the best decision at this point, all things considered," Chuck confirmed.
"You think we should tell them about Manic forgetting a second time?" asked Sonia.
Their uncle replied, "It might be better to leave out that detail since it would confuse them further. We'll keep it simple by informing them of Manic's condition prior to this morning. That way, if he forgets everything again, they'll be sufficiently prepared to deal with it."
"Alright, let's get it over with," said Sonic, getting up and walking toward the stairs as if he were simply going upstairs to grab his jacket.
"You think they'll be mad at me?" Manic asked in a hushed voice that Chuck would have expected from a puppy that just made a mess on the rug. Thinking back to Manic's near seizure over burnt toast, he realized the boy needed every assurance that he wasn't about to revisit whatever Robotnik had done to him, so he bluntly told him, "It's very likely, with how worried they've been about you after all this time, but that's only because they're scared to death of losing you, and the worst they might do is tell you not to do it again since they were expecting you to be worse off than you currently are, so all things considered, this could be a minor issue that we'll all joke about in a year or two."
Manic perked up a little, but he still didn't want to do anything that might turn his parents against him.
"So there's no other way?" he asked limply.
"Not unless you want to keep pretending to remember everything while they wonder what's wrong with you," grumbled Sonia.
Chuck and Sonic would have corrected her, but neither could think up a reason to since she had a point they couldn't deny.
Manic didn't have a response, either, so he merely got up on his feet and walked to the stairs like Sonic had, while his blue twin resumed his own pace, the two now side by side, and Chuck and Sonia close behind. All the way to his parents' room, he tossed the outcomes around in his head, pondering likely outcomes and preparing himself for any possibility, all the while praying they wouldn't be too angry at him for the deception that now seemed less necessary than it did the day before.
Opening the door to Jules and Aleena's room, Manic felt both warm inside at the sight of his parents sleeping peacefully in front of him after being separated from them for so long, and dread at the thought of them not wanting him anymore.
"You sure this is necessary?" he whispered.
Chuck whispered back, "I understand you're worried about what they'll think, but if anything, they'll probably be more concerned about how well you're doing, rather than get mad at you for clamming up about an experience few would willingly open up about."
That gave Manic the assurance he needed. He inhaled deeply, then walked over to his mother's side and gently shook her awake while Sonia and Sonic did the same for their dad.
(...)
Somewhere in a distant dark dimension, Aleena drifted from one sensation to another- feeling, but never fully aware of anything, until she heard a familiar voice calling to her: "Mom?"
She knew that voice, but who it belonged to eluded her. Someone close to her.
"Mom."
Someone who brought joy. Someone green.
"Mom!"
She began to notice something pushing at her, gently rocking her back and forth, disturbing the black nirvana that stubbornly held onto her. The continued effect gave way to self awareness and she noticed she was lying on her back. Realizing her eyes were closed, she mustered enough strength to open them, though it still took a moment for them to adjust to the light and colors of the world around her. She then looked up at the green furred young man she had searched and waited for, for so long, and who now stood by her bedside waking her up.
"Maurice!" she whispered, suddenly launching herself at him and pulling him a tight hug she'd been waiting to give him.
She did indeed know that voice.
Manic was caught completely off guard and found himself unable to break free of Aleena's grip, which was a problem because she'd pulled him on top of herself so she wouldn't have to sit up.
"...you can let go now," he croaked, unable to breathe as easily.
All she said in reply was, "Nu!"
She seemed pretty determined to keep him close while she slept in, and as if that wasn't bad enough, the green hedgie felt someone else glomp him from behind.
"We'll never let go again," promised Jules, who had joined in the mini group hug his wife had started.
Manic heard both of his twins snickering and would have been annoyed if he wasn't preoccupied with getting air into his lungs.
"Can I breathe now?" he whispered, barely audible.
Both parents quickly apologized and released their grip on the emerald fuzzball, allowing him to rebound to his feet while they sat up.
"Feeling better, today?" Jules asked.
"I guess," Manic meekly replied.
"You guess?" inquired Aleena, looking very puzzled, as did Jules.
Manic looked at his sibs, who were sitting on their dad's side of the bed, then back at Chuck, and finally returned his gaze to his parents and told them, "I have something to tell you."
They waited anxiously for his response.
"...I..."
"Might as well just tell them," Sonia broke in, further confusing their parents.
"What do you want to tell us?" Jules asked calmly, while concealing the increasing unease he felt.
Not wanting to drag this out any longer, Manic inhaled one last time and told them about his amnesia, about not remembering them when he first woke up in the hospital, and playing the part of their son because he read a news clipping about the boy, and fully intending to continue impersonating a traumatized child returning to his family, until he discovered that's what he really was when they'd mentioned the DNA testing. He told them every detail he could recall and got so caught up in it that he let slip one detail too many.
"-and when I woke up this morning, I couldn't remember anything at all!"
"Oh crap," Chuck mumbled.
"Hold on, are you saying you forgot everything?" Jules broke in.
"You weren't supposed to tell them that," Sonia said flatly.
Manic's ears drooped when he realized his mistake.
Aleena finally processed everything her son had told her and tried not to burst into tears when it dawned on her just how messed up her baby boy was from what he'd been subjected to, and pulled him back into her protective embrace, both to comfort him and herself.
Jules also wanted to help his son, but first he needed to know what was going on, so he repeated the question, this time directing it at his own brother, Chuck.
"What's wrong with my son?" he demanded, hopping out of bed. His entire family had been through hell for long enough and he wasn't about to let anything happen to them- not through outside attacks, and certainly not through negligence.
Sonic and Sonia tended to their mother and brother while Chuck, realizing he had to control this situation before it got chaotic, took a step back and explained, "Manic forgot everything about himself when he woke up- he didn't remember who he was, who we were, or anything from before this morning- so they told me everything after I woke up, including the part about him not knowing he was Manic yesterday, which was just as shocking to me! We all agreed to get him back on his feet, see if getting him back into the old routine would jog his memory a bit, before telling you and Aleena about it, because you've both been through a lot and we didn't want to just up and wreck the recovery everyone was sharing after worrying about Manic for so long, and it apparently worked, because he eventually did remember what happened yesterday, so he's back to the way he was when he went to bed last night."
Jules calmed down a bit and turned his attention back to Manic who was still being hugged by a teary eyed Aleena. Part of him felt shocked and angry that someone would try to impersonate their missing son, no matter their reason for doing so, but at the same time, anyone with a basic grasp of psychology could see that the child had chosen Manic's identity because he subconsciously knew it was his own.
"I suppose it's a miracle you came back at all despite the memory loss. Perhaps we should be thankful you didn't turn out worse than this." he said calmly, hoping to put everyone else at ease.
"No matter what happens," Aleena murmured, "We'll always be there for you. No one will hurt you ever again."
Jules joined in and closed his own arms around everyone else already group hugging Manic. If anyone wanted to hurt him, it wouldn't be his own family.
"You've been through things that changed you, but you're still our son. Nothing will ever change that."
Manic hid his face in his mother's shoulder and let his own tears flow, releasing his fear and grief along with them. Even after learning of his deception, his parents still accepted him, which meant the final barrier between them was gone. How good it was to truly be back.
Chuck let himself relax. Even if this whole mess had created friction between him and Jules, at least the situation was resolving itself.
At least he hoped it was.
(In a van 1 mile away...)
"Not good. NOT GOOD!" panicked D, tossing away the headphones.
"Hrmm?" mumbled Sleet, forcing his eyes open.
"You rememba the doc's plan about the kid's amnesia?" asked the dingo, turning from the radio to his partner.
"Erf...what about it?" Sleet asked groggily as he sat up in his sleeping bag.
"I don' think it's wuh'kin," D continued.
Now wide awake, Sleet noticed the helpless expression on D's normally casual face, while his hands hung limp between his thighs as he sat on the stool- sure signs that he wasn't lying.
"I need details," the wolf demanded in a calm but authoritative tone, not wanting to send his visibly nervous partner into full blown hysterics.
Inhaling deeply, D recounted everything to him: "Ah woke up a few minutes ago and huh'd the kids talkin with their uncle, and they was tellin him that Manic couldn't remember anything-"
Sleet cut him off by telling him, "That's part of the plan, remember?"
It had little effect on the nervous doggy.
"Yah, but then Manic started to remember everything that happened yesterday!"
Sleet's blood ran cold.
"Move over!" he ordered, sitting himself on the stool as soon as D got off of it. He put on another set of headphones connected to a laptop that was hooked up to the radio and played back the entire conversation from that morning, right up to the part where Manic confessed everything to his parents.
D waited for a response as his partner slowly removed the headphones and set them down, and he continued to wait for what must have been two whole minutes before he broke the silence and asked, "So what do we-"
"I'm thinking!" Sleet broke in.
He resumed his frantic meditation for a few moments, then told D the last thing he expected to hear: "We have to signal Ashura!"
The dingo was taken aback at the very idea.
"It's too early fo that!" he protested.
"I know," replied Sleet, "but I heard the parents planning another trip to the doctor's to see what's wrong with Manic who is already overcoming the amnesia earlier than planned, and Robotnik specifically said not to call him again for at least another week. That means we're out of time, so we'll have to improvise."
D pondered that for a moment, then asked the wolf, "You absolutely sure we can't report this to the doctor?"
Sleet leaned back against the van wall on the stool and calmly replied, "When was the last time Robotnik changed his mind on anything? Not only does he not like having his plans questioned- since that would mean questioning his brilliance- but he also doesn't like being defied outright. At least this way, we'll be giving him what he wants, just not in the way he expects it."
"You mean, like, a surprise?" D asked, perking up a bit.
"Exactly!" smiled Sleet, feeling more confident as he opened a hidden program on the laptop.
"At least if this call gets picked up by anyone, they won't trace it back to the doctor, and we can always relocate."
(Afghanistan- 10:21 pm, local time)
The door to a hospital room opened and a bat walked in. She strolled over to a bed, upon which lay a green and black hedgehog whose form was almost entirely concealed by bandages and casts. Even his lower face was hidden by gauze wrap, and only his left arm- the one facing the exit- was without a cast. He was a very pitiful sight, but he was far from harmless, as anyone who knew him could attest. The bat noticed no movement coming from him, and his eyes were shut, so he appeared to be asleep- another assumption fueled by ignorance.
Placing the palm of her hand against his own, the hedgehog's clawed fingers closed around hers like a venus fly trap catching a careless fly, but his grip was gentle, for he recognized the touch that belonged to one of the few people he felt he could trust. His eyelids opened to reveal blood red irises with a predatory quality that belied the gentle look he gave her. A real life monster that she knew would never harm her, like something out of a fairy tale, and equally unlikely for anyone who hadn't done as much to earn his trust as she had.
And that was in spite of her near lack of any fighting skill to speak of. On the contrary, the bat girl's wings were what made her so useful, as well as providing medical assistance, be it physical or mental- the latter being what got her so well acquainted with the Devil Dog of Afghanistan. Countless times she'd been there to help him heal, and this was one of those occasions.
"Ash," she began, sensing a change within the man beneath her as soon as she spoke, "You might be surprised to know that one of the phones we recovered got a message telling us that your brother, Maurice Hedgethorn, was found."
The hedgehog's breathing quickened while his eyes fixed themselves on a folder in her other arm. Sensing this, the bat girl took her hand from him, opened said folder, and handed the picture inside to Ashura. All he saw was a hospital parking lot, but upon closer inspection he noticed a familiar looking family walking toward a car, and among them was someone he thought he'd never see again. He looked back up at his partner who could almost hear him pleading. She produced a cell phone from her pocket and told him, "That was one of the pictures sent to the phone via text message. Whoever sent the message also gave us the phone number to call the Hedgethorns. I typed it in for you."
While the bat wasn't sure who would send that kind of information through a cell phone taken from the enemy, she felt he had at least earned the right to hear Manic's voice one last time.
Ashura was hesitant, knowing the bad blood that existed between him and pretty much everyone he'd ever known before enlisting, but while he would likely never leave Afghanistan alive, he hoped to go to his grave knowing that his long lost brother was safe again after worrying about him for half a decade. Knowing that he might find out it was a lie, or worse, get rejected by the only relatives he still cared about was too horrible to consider, but he desperately needed closure with the condition he was in.
Pulling the gauze off of his torn up mouth, he pressed the call button, placed the phone to his ear, and waited for the ring...