Sonic Haven Season 2 – Episode 14

Back in Haven, there weren't many smiling faces. After the news about what Robotnik did, moving troops out of the city through the tunnel, spread through the group, it seemed that the collective mood was at an all-time low. It turned out that Robotnik had left shortly after Mighty had come through the portal and before Sonic had made it back. So now Robotnik was out there commanding his robot forces in yet another takeover.

Blaze and her team didn't really seem to be affected by the news. If anything, they were relieved to be away from a place where even the rain wanted them dead. Scourge especially seemed to be taking it in stride, continuing to be a constant annoyance to everyone in the base.

Right now he was running his mouth around Nicole, probably hoping to impress her with his story that had been going on for the last half-hour at least.

"So I jumped over its head and used my strength to blast through the side of the building ahead of me so that I could catch my breath." He was saying. "But I knew that I didn't have long, so I waited for him to come to me."

"You can stop now." Nicole said in an attempt to silence the green windbag, but her voice was too small to make a difference. He continued undeterred. She tried to stop him again. "No, really. Please stop." She felt too awkward to put any kind of force in her voice. And yet again, it had no effect.

Tyler stepped around the corner and crossed his arms as he addressed his fellow green hedgehog. "I think you should stop before you make somebody mad."

Scourge paused his story to reply. "I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to her."

Tyler took a step closer to Scourge and tried to make himself look as intimidating as possible. "Maybe," he said, "but I'm talking to you."

Scourge's smirk turned into a frown as he turned to face Tyler. "You got a problem?"

Tyler scoffed. "This is too easy! Yes, I have a problem. Say it with me..." Scourge copied Tyler's words as they left his mouth. "My problem is you."

"What's your deal anyway?" Scourge asked in an impatient tone.

Tyler cooled his tone a little but kept the serious edge in it as best he could. "You know Scourge, you think that maybe since everyone but you has a problem that maybe the problem is you? You drive everyone nuts because you're so full of yourself that there's no room for anybody else's input in that thick skull of yours!"

Scourge stepped up to Tyler as if to challenge and intimidate him. Tyler didn't back down even an inch. Instead, after looking Scourge eye to eye for a few seconds, he turned, back straight and head held high, and walked over to Nicole. He put his arm around her shoulders and led her away from Scourge.

He walked her into the conference room and shut the door behind them so that the quiet but constant conversational hum was cut off and the room became comfortably quiet.

Nicole stepped out from under Tyler's arm slowly and turned to face him, her arms crossed over her chest showing her obvious discomfort. But it was also obvious that she was slowly starting to decompress from the stress of dealing with Scourge. "Thanks for that." She said quietly.

He put a hand on her shoulder gently and smiled. "Anytime. He's just a jerk anyway. If he bothers you again just let me know."

She smiled a nervous smile. "You know, just because I can't handle him doesn't mean you have to get involved."

"Yes, it does." Tyler said with no hint of doubt in his voice.

"Why?" She asked.

Tyler sighed, weighing his words very carefully in his head before finally speaking. "Because I could never allow someone to hurt you Nikki."

She felt her breath catch in her throat as she listened. To be honest, she had no idea what else to do but listen.

"You mean a lot to me. And if someone hurt you, either physically or emotionally, I..." He stopped talking to swallow his nerves, then took a deep breath. "I haven't had many friends in my life since I got put in that computer so many years ago. So your friendship means more to me than anything. But, I... I think I see you as more than just a friend now."

Nicole panicked! It felt like her tongue was receding down her throat in fear while her heart came up her chest to meet it half way. And she wasn't sure, but it felt like her guts were too busy doing loop-de-loops to even give her the chance to throw up! But she didn't care. Because, in spite of all of her nervous energy that flowed through her veins like lightning, she was excited like she'd never been excited before! She lost track of her thoughts as they raced away from her and she started to move purely on instinct.

Her feet fell in time with her racing heart as she floated forward and put her hands on his shoulders. He looked at her in confusion, not knowing what she was thinking, though he didn't have to think about it for too long.

She pulled him toward her and pressed her lips to his in a kiss. It wasn't perfect, and it was quick, quicker than she wanted it to be. She pulled away quickly when she realized what she'd done, then scanned his face for a response of any kind. She was hoping that she hadn't inadvertently crossed some kind of line.

He looked at her, the blood having run completely out of his face, turning the parts of it that weren't covered in fur quite pale. But he didn't run away, nor did he chastise her for even thinking about doing something like that. Instead, he pulled his hand to his mouth and took a breath before hiding the biggest, brightest smile she'd ever seen behind his hand. His pale face suddenly went to red hot as he blushed and chuckled slightly.

She giggled herself and felt the heat rising to her own cheeks. "What are you, six?" She asked jokingly.

"I uh..." His voice was shaky and he stuttered as he continued to force out a response. "I don't know what to say Nikki."

"Then tell me what you feel." She said softly.

"I feel..." He thought about his response, but not for long. "I feel good. I've been meaning to get that off my chest for a while. Now I'm wishing I'd done it earlier."

"You and me both." She said.

Tyler kept the happy expression on his face as he started to panic slightly. What now? He knew that he liked her and that she liked him. But, other than that, what else had just changed? Did that kiss mean that the two of them were now in a relationship? Or that she was now or wanted to be his girlfriend?

His head started spinning. But he took a deep breath and tried to relax. Honestly, he was glad she kissed him. I mean, why wouldn't he be? She was beautiful, smart, and sensitive in all the right ways. He simply felt more relaxed when he was around her; happier too. He just needed to find a way to convey that to her.

He held his hand out toward her, inviting her to take it. As she grabbed it, he said: "So does this mean I get to be your boyfriend now?"

She laughed as they walked out of the room. "Of course silly."

"Great. I always wanted to be one of those." He said with a smirk.

She just laughed again as they stepped back out of the room, now ready to face whatever came their way; be it Scourge or Robotnik or alternate dimensions or whatever, together.