A/N: *cautiously peeks out from behind her giant sketchbook* So... Yeah. Sorry this took so long. I don't have any excuses that don't sound stupid or irresponsible. Credit to Nerd of Camelot for her help with getting the coming chapters written. I haven't had very much time to mess with this or Izaya II so I've just told her what I wanted and she, despite having homework and her own stories to attend to, has helped me get them done. I don't know if you'll be able to see a significant difference between the bits I wrote and the bits she wrote, but both of us have worked on these chapters.

This chapter was written almost exclusively by Nerd of Camelot.

Chapter 5: Memories and Promises

Tails messed with the end of his scarf nervously. It was beginning to grow tattered from that habit. Sonic chuckled.

"You shouldn't mess with that so much." He advised, "You'll tear it up."

Tails nodded and stopped. He didn't know why he was so nervous. Was it because he knew Fiona was around? And that she didn't want him.
"Maybe I shouldn't wear it." Tails said softly, "It's just gonna get messed up."

"Nah, bro, I got it for you. Don't worry about it." He patted his shoulder, "It'll be fine."

Sonic sighed, looking around Tails' workshop. It was cluttered, as usual - Tails didn't really clean up often -, and a variety of things were scattered about. Tails himself was working busily on some new invention, muttering excitedly to himself. The young fox had been so distant lately… For some reason that hurt Sonic's pride.

Scourge and Fiona were still hanging around nearby - Tails had given dubious consent for them to enter his workshop and watch him work. Sonic watched them for a moment.

For the most part, Scourge watched Tails, while Fiona wandered around looking at his inventions. Both seemed impressed, and a small twinge of pride went through both Tails and Sonic as one Sonic because his little brother was building things good enough that they were impressed, and Tails because even though he no longer wanted her, he'd managed to impress Fiona..

Sonic's gaze levelled at Scourge after another glance around. Why was he here? How had he even gotten out of jail? Why weren't the Zone cops looking for him? And why was Fiona even being seen anywhere near him? So many questions, but nothing he was going to get an answer to.

Scourge, knowing someone was looking at him, glanced around. The fact that Sonic was the one staring at him didn't really surprise him. Sonic, despite his carefree attitude and all his bravado, was not above silently judging others. The only difference between Scourge and Sonic in that particular area was that Scourge didn't bother to judge silently - he spoke his mind.

Sonic stared at him for a couple more minutes, then looked away and stared out one of the few windows. Something seemed off about him recently - ever since the incident on Angel Island.

Tails shivered, rubbing his gloved hands together. It was freezing here. He looked at Sonic.

Sonic was unbothered by the drop in temperature as he stretched his arms out in front of him. "Helps if you stretch, 'lil buddy." He said with a slight strain to his voice. A small clicking noise followed after a moment. "Ahh…" He sighed almost happily. "Finally got it to pop." He dropped his arm and looked at Tails. "You ok? You know, aside from freezing your butt off?"

Tails laughed, quietly, still shivering, and thought about the question for a moment. Was he ok? He wasn't entirely sure. His face still stung a bit from earlier, but aside from that he felt numb and cold.

"I… I dunno." He finally answered with a dubious shrug. "My face still stings a little, but otherwise…"

"Otherwise you don't really feel much?" Sonic suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. How…?"

Sonic's eyebrow dropped back down, and the smile that had graced his face disappeared. "Because I feel the same way."

The stood in silence for a few minutes. The air around them grew colder and colder as the sun began to set, until Tails could hear his teeth chattering.

"Hey, 'lil buddy?" Sonic asked softly, glancing over at him.

"Yeah?" Tails looked at him curiously, and somehow spoke through the clicking of his teeth.

Sonic opened his mouth and uttered a promise.

Tails still remembered that promise like it was yesterday. He remembered the events leading up to it as well. Thinking about it caused his face to sting and a cold chill to wrack his body.

It had been a couple of years since then, but it still kind of hurt him to think about. He looked over at the corner of the room, where a scarf identical to the one he had been wearing was hanging. In fact, it was the same scarf. It had frayed at the edges where he had constantly rubbed the material between his fingers nervously.

It seemed so childish now, to have been so nervous about everything. So easily upset.

He went back to work, and fell back into his mind as he did so.

"Let's never fall in love again." Sonic looked at him, "Ok, little buddy?"

"But what about you and Sally?" Tails canted his head to the side, "You guys are together now, right?"

"Yeah." Sonic nodded, "We are." He looked away and sighed, "And I love her, but not… Not like that, y'know? She's just a great friend. But to be honest…" He sighed again and tried to find the words he needed, "If being with her helps me out… I mean, if it benefits me…" He trailed off, still unsure of the words he sought.

"If you get something from being with her, it's worth not being in love?" Tails suggested, his head slowly tilting further.

Sonic nodded, almost sadly. "Yeah."

"Oh." Tails twiddled his fingers.

Sonic let out a weary sound and let his head drop against the railing in front of them, hands still bracing him on it for a moment before going lax. He slowly let himself sink down onto his knees, and soon had dropped down below the rail. He let go of the rail suddenly and slammed his fists against the ground with an aggravated sound, then began to shake.

"Sonic…?" Tails inquired uneasily.

"I'm just like him." Sonic said, his voice shaking almost as much as his body.

"…What?" Tails blinked in confusion.

"Scourge." Sonic snapped, then growled, "Dammit. Sorry Tails. I didn't mean to…" He laughed softly, suddenly, "I'm just like him. I'm using a woman for her resources and I treat the closest thing I have to family like shit."

"Well, you're only using one woman, and you're not treating me like…" Tails shook his head, "You're kind of like him, yeah, but that's to be expected. You're the same person put in different circumstances. As things get worse, you'll get more like him." Tails stopped to consider his own words, "And, contrary wise, as things get better, he'll become more like you."

"… One bad day…" Sonic uttered, then chuckled softly.

Scourge glanced at Tails again. It still bothered him how serious the young fox had become, but he wasn't sure why. Sure, he'd made jokes about it, said he was becoming more like Miles, but in all honesty it hadn't really been a joke. He was serious. And for some reason, the fact that he could honestly say Tails was like Miles greatly unnerved him.

Of course, while his mind was on the subject of foxes…

He glanced at Fiona. It had surprised him when she had graciously allowed him into her new home once he'd gotten back out of prison. He had thought she would slam the door in his face or punch him. Something. But she'd invited him in instead. Let him stay with her.

It was confusing. He thought she hated him now, but it seemed as if she'd put everything behind her. Like she'd moved on.

He didn't like it.

He caught her stealing a glance at him as well, then one at Sonic. Scourge got the strangest feeling that she was comparing them. Sonic did too, the moment he felt her eyes on his back.

He peeked briefly at her, seeing what looked like a thoughtful expression. He'd seen that expression many times. It was the look of someone trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Why someone had changed so much.

He could only assume, like Scourge, that she was comparing him to the other. Trying to figure out when he'd changed for the worse. Wracking her brain in an attempt to figure out what exactly about him had changed, what part of him had become more like Scourge.

"Tails?" Sonic asked, his breath coming out in puffs.

"Y-yeah?" Tails was shivering.

They always came here when something had gone horribly wrong. When they needed to 'cool down'. It was a little too literal for Tails' tastes, but it worked. Coming here always cleared their heads and made them feel better - aside from the snow slowly melting in their socks and the chill seeping into their bones.

Not that Sonic minded the cold. "How much more of this do you think I'll have to go through before… You know." He made a vague hand gesture.

Tails knew what he meant. How much more of this would Sonic have to go through before it was too much. Before he basically became Scourge.

"I'm not sure." Tails answered honestly, rubbing his arms to warm them, "But if I'm honest, it probably won't take much more."

Sonic nodded, almost in a resigned way. "… Alright."

They were silent for a while, Tails looked around almost in wonderment. No matter how cold this area was, it was beautiful. It always was, but this was the first time they'd come here at night, and something about that made it seem even more beautiful. The moon was beginning to sink below the horizon, but the silver light still bounced gracefully off the icicles and made the snow sparkle. Above them the stars were shining dimly, none of them quite able to overcome the pale light of a full moon.

Tails sighed. He was glad this place was still here. Nothing could quite calm him down like the gentle sound of the wind whispering across the snow and the way the sky would turn a startling orange and the clouds would tint pink;

The sun peeking up over the horizon and a yawn escaping from Tails' cold lips was what finally snapped Sonic out of what was something like a waking nightmare. A daydream had long since taken over his mind and not even the piercing cold had drawn him from it.

"Let's head home, little buddy." Sonic said.

A request bubbled up in his throat as Tails nodded and said "Alright."

They turned to leave, and Tails gave his namesakes a little shake to knock the frost off of them. Sonic watched, almost sadly.

"Hey, Tails?" He asked when Tails was satisfied with the state of his tails.

"Yeah?" He looked at him, blue eyes trusting and innocent.

"If I do turn out like Scourge…" Sonic trailed off, then continued with a distinct tremble to his voice, "Please… Please get rid of me."

Tails looked at him for a moment. His blue eyes turned piercing, with a cold, hard edge to them. His gaze was suddenly unnerving to Sonic. He couldn't remember ever feeling so scared of the young fox. In fact, he couldn't remember a time when he'd ever been scared of him in the first place.

"Alright." Tails finally said, with a note of finality in his voice, "I will. But if I end up like Miles… Promise you'll do the same for me."

Sonic was, to say the least, shocked by the request. Tails had never once showed any sign that he was scared to become like his counterpart. Never acted like he even considered it a possibility. But Sonic knew by the look on his face that he wasn't kidding. He was entirely serious and he was obviously not expecting Sonic to deny him.

Sonic couldn't help it. He knew the terrifying feeling of feeling like you were going to just snap one day. Just suddenly become so jaded and angry that you see no purpose for other people except to use them.

With a look that matched Tails', Sonic softly said, "I promise."

A/N: Please, review. It would make both me and Allie (Nerd of Camelot) very happy.