Hope you're all enjoying reading this so far! Sorry if it's a little jumpy or moves too fast here; pacing is so difficult.

I've started writing the next chapter and hopefully that'll be up soon-ish. My goal is to get a chapter uploaded each week, but sorry in advance if that falls apart really quick, I'm so bad at sticking to schedules! If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, please let me know; I sort of edited this in a half-paying-attention haze.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope to see you all next week!

~Fortune

Chapter One

"What?"

Sonic stared at the rings in Knuckles' hands, frowning. The rings looked slightly off, not perfectly circular but more oval shaped. This was because they were "open." They almost looked to be made out of frosted glass, and he could see intricate silver lines, with rounded contacts, along the inside of them. They were a deep crimson colour, swirled with slightly lighter ribbons. Despite the colour, he immediately decided he did not like them. At all.

He outright refused to wear them.

"Clearly, your energy is out of control," Knuckles said. "We think it's time you got inhibitors, like Shadow."

Sonic couldn't help but notice the way Tails was avoiding eye contact with him. Or the way he winced when Knuckles said "we." It did not appear that this conclusion was agreed upon by both of them. Was this what Knuckles had spoken to Tails about back at Eggman's base three days ago?

"My energy is not out of control," Sonic hissed.

Knuckles gave him a look that screamed "are you sure?" and Sonic wanted to punch him in the face. It was one time. One. He'd gotten really good at managing his Chaos energy, and his super forms. He messed up once. For the first time in years. How was this fair?

"Don't fight this, bro, please?" Tails mumbled. "It won't be that bad. Shadow manages just fine."

"Shadow is Shadow," Sonic grumbled, trying his hardest not to snap at his brother.

He kept his arms folded tightly at his chest. Perhaps if Knuckles couldn't get to his wrists he'd give up and Sonic wouldn't have to wear them. It was silly to think that would work for long, but he would put this off as much as possible. They all knew Knuckles was physically stronger than Sonic. If he got frustrated enough, it wouldn't take much to tackle Sonic to the ground and force them onto his wrists.

Of course, he'd have to catch Sonic first.

And he was seriously thinking of booking it right now. It was alarmingly easy to piss off Knuckles sometimes. Sonic had gotten his fair share of bruises from making Knuckles angry over the years. And a couple broken bones. Not to mention that scar under his chin from when they first met; those spikes on Knuckles' fists were no joke. Granted, Knuckles did hold back more when they got into their occasional scuffles these days. Sonic hadn't received a scar like that from him for a while.

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "I know that look, hedgehog. Don't bother trying, I already had Tails lock all the doors and windows."

Sonic eyed Tails, trying to gauge how accurate that was.

"Sorry, Sonic…" Tails mumbled, still not meeting his eye.

Sonic huffed, keeping his arms folded. He sank further into the dark settee. They had ambushed him while he was napping. They must have locked everything while he was dead to the world. Sonic wondered how he hadn't heard them doing that; he was generally a light sleeper. Perhaps he hadn't slept as well as he'd thought last night.

Knuckles sighed. "Come on Sonic, don't be difficult."

Sonic continued to glare past him, arms folded. Knuckles shook his head and passed the inhibitors to Tails, who took them hesitantly. Sonic saw this exchange in the corner of his eye and growled under his breath. Knuckles was such an asshole. He was going to make Tails do it because he knew Sonic would not lay a finger on his little brother. He couldn't.

Sonic closed his eyes and let out a puff of air as Tails stepped closer. His tails were flicking and he still couldn't meet his eye. Sonic opened his eyes and stared at the inhibitors. He could just take them off later anyway, right? When they were both gone, he could just slip them off, "accidentally" lose them, and they'd never have to speak about this again. After a moment, Sonic unfolded his arms and held out his wrists like he was about to be put in handcuffs. Though, he supposed they kind of were like handcuffs.

He watched Tails slip the first one around his wrist and snap it closed. He moved his hand to look at it closer as Tails put the other one on. He couldn't even see the seam where the two halves joined. He twisted his hand around a few times, taking in the way they caught the light. They weren't nearly as heavy as they looked, which he found to be a relief. Not that he'd be wearing them long, of course.

Once they were both on, Sonic felt something shift inside him. His ear flicked, but he did not allow the grimace to show on his face. He wasn't quite sure what he was feeling inside, but he knew he didn't like them. And he wanted them off.

Sonic grasped one of the inhibitors and ran his fingers along its smooth surface. How exactly did he take them off? Was there a button somewhere? A tiny crack in the material he could use to pry them open? He tried to play it off as simply checking them out, but he began to get panicked when he couldn't feel anything along the inhibitor.

"How do I take them off?" he said, trying to keep his voice level.

"You don't," Knuckles responded simply.

Sonic folded his ears back and stood from the settee. Tails' ears were similarly lowered and he was staring at the carpet.

"Very funny, Knux," Sonic grumbled. "Seriously, Tails. How do I take them off?"

Tails would not look at him. He still would not look at him. He expected the fox to laugh, to show him what to do, to assure him he still had a choice in this. But he didn't.

"Tails… please tell me there's a way to take these off."

Tails finally looked up at him. His eyes were wide, apologetic, guilty. Sonic suddenly felt sick.

"There is. But Knuckles made me promise not to tell you," the fox whispered.

Sonic growled lowly.

Tails flinched.

Suddenly, the blue hedgehog swung around and punched Knuckles in the face. The echidna staggered from the blow, stunned. Knuckles took a few steps back and his leg knocked the coffee table, spilling a mug of tea that had gone cold an hour ago. Sonic turned and launched himself through the living room window, uncaring of how the glass cut up his arms as he shielded himself. He didn't care about anything but getting as far away from the house as possible.

He was no longer in the mood for company.

Tails called his name but he did not stop.

Though, he did feel bad about the window. They had given him no other choice. They'd locked the house up. He was not waiting around for Tails to produce the key, he needed to move. Now. Before he snapped and did something worse than punch Knuckles. The echidna would get over it, deserved it really. He hadn't punched that hard anyway.

He hoped.

His anger had replaced his panic. He hadn't really meant to lash out at Knuckles. Even if he deserved it.

Sonic watched the world fly by beneath his feet. The green blur of grass was replaced by the brownish-red of leaf-litter. Gold, brown and red took the place of the blue sky above him. Sonic began to slow until he was standing in a clearing. Around him, bordering the clearing, were the tall trunks of various trees. The colours of their leaves were all so bright and, ordinarily, he'd find them pretty.

Sonic realised that he could not find the trees of autumn pretty at the moment. He always though the trees in the surrounding forest were gorgeous, no matter the time of year. But autumn always made them so interesting and varied.

He found no joy in looking at them today.

The panic, the anger, the betrayal were all still present just below the surface, but he was rather… numb right now. He stood in the clearing, the wind ruffling his fur, singing through the trees. There was an oppressive ache through his body. He felt heavy, but his head was light. He was finding it hard to concentrate on any one feeling, so he focused on none.

Sonic sat down in the centre of the clearing and just stared at the leaves by his feet. The forest floor was slightly damp from the light rain this morning. Sonic found that he didn't care about that either.

Tails stared at the glass on the cream coloured carpet. Most of it ended up outside, but a few shards had fallen inside the house. They still hadn't cleaned it up. He felt awful.

Sonic had been gone for hours.

They'd tried searching for him. It was starting to get dark now. Through the broken window, Tails could see the stars, still struggling to be seen through the sun's light. The sky was a pale purple. It would soon give way to navy blue, to black, and the stars would be able to shine.

Tails had come back to the house with Knuckles ten minutes ago.

Knuckles had said if Sonic didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be. Tails knew he was right, but it still hurt like a splinter of glass in his heart all the same. He hated being the reason Sonic was upset, the reason he wouldn't come home. Knuckles was so sure he'd come back once night fell, but Tails knew better. Sonic would be gone for as long as he was angry. And it was always hard to tell how long that would be with Sonic.

When Sonic was upset, he usually didn't like to be around others, didn't want them to see. He was never really great with emotions. Especially not sharing them. And that's what scared Tails. He'd argued with his brother many times, but never had he done anything to break the trust between them. He was afraid that in giving in to Knuckles' demands, he'd severed that trust forever.

He just wanted to apologise.

The yellow fox pulled his gaze from the window and looked around the living room. The walls, which were painted a pale blue like his room upstairs, were covered in framed photographs. There were photos of all their friends from all sorts of occasions, but the ones of just Tails and his brother stood out the most. It was one in particular that caught Tails' eye.

It was from Sonic's birthday a few years back.

Generally, Sonic didn't like to celebrate his birthday. He didn't really enjoy big parties, but he usually endured them for his friends. He hated people making a big deal of his own birthday, so often it was just Sonic and Tails acknowledging the day. Tails was sure half their friends didn't even know when Sonic's birthday was anyway.

But that birthday had been special. The previous year, Sonic had officially given Tails the Tornado. And earlier in the same year that photo was taken, the old biplane had been heavily damaged during an Eggman attack. In the days leading up to Sonic's birthday, Tails had spent so much time fixing up the plane. He'd had to replace so many pieces of it that the brothers often joked if it was still technically considered the same plane.

For that birthday, Tails had asked Sonic if he'd wanted to help him re-paint the Tornado. They'd had so much fun together that day. They'd stuck with the red and white paintjob, but it had been wonderful to hang out, just the two of them. They'd gotten paint all over themselves. Some of it was accidental, but some was definitely purposeful. Later they'd gotten chili dogs – extra cheese for Tails, jalapeños for Sonic – and sat together watching some action movie. Tails couldn't quite recall what it was, but it hadn't mattered; they'd fallen asleep together on the settee halfway through.

The picture was the one they had taken with the biplane after they'd finished painting it. Sonic was somewhere in between happy and surprised on the right side of the frame. Tails, on the left, was laughing as he was wiping yellow paint on Sonic's cheek. Between them, the side of the plane where they'd painted TORNADO in big white letters stood centre frame. Under the name of the plane were two handprints side by side. One was slightly bigger than the other. The smaller handprint on the left was yellow; the bigger one on the right was blue.

Tails smiled softly at the memory for a moment. Then he sighed and ran a hand through the fur on his head. They hadn't really done much for his birthday this year, and while Sonic probably didn't care, Tails felt guilty. Next year, Tails really needed to do something special like that again. Sonic always accepted presents when Tails gave them to him, but the fox knew Sonic wasn't really a material person. He had a box in his room of memorabilia that was special to him, but he hardly ever bought himself anything.

Tails knew one of his old wrenches was in that box.

He sighed. Sonic's birthday was still so far away. It was autumn, but it would be getting a lot colder soon; winter was on the way. Sonic's birthday was in June. He'd just have to plan something sooner. Maybe he could cheer Sonic up? If he'd even talk to him again, that is.

The tv was on, but Tails was taking none of it in. He could hear Knuckles running the tap in the kitchen; the echidna was getting them both a glass of water. Tails wasn't sure he'd actually drink it, but it would give him something to focus on. He couldn't bring himself to tinker with any of his gadgets. When Knuckles handed him the glass, Tails paused before he took it. The glass was Sonic's favourite. It wasn't particularly interesting, nor was there a real reason for its value to Sonic. It was just a plain glass with a very slight red tint, and a tiny chip in its thick base. But all the same, it was Sonic's glass. Tails wondered if Knuckles had chosen it on purpose.

"He'll be back soon," Knuckles said, placing a large hand on Tails' shoulder.

While he appreciated the gesture, Tails knew in his heart that wasn't true. He slouched in his seat, ears flat. Knuckles sighed beside him.

"I'm sorry, Tails. I really am. But you know this is as much for his benefit as it is for ours. He just doesn't see it yet."

Tails leaned against the echidna, hands still locked around the glass. He still had not taken a sip, and he was sure Knuckles had noticed.

It was supposed to be for Sonic's benefit. Tails knew he hated it when he lost control. It had only ever happened a handful of times that he could remember, but every time Sonic would get quieter for a few days afterwards. Perhaps they should have given him more time. Perhaps they should have talked to him about it instead of making the inhibitors behind his back. Perhaps they shouldn't have forced it on him.

No. Not perhaps. They should have never forced the inhibitors on Sonic.

"Do you think we made a mistake?" Tails asked.

Knuckles was quiet for a moment. Tails looked up at the echidna, frowning at the pensive look on his face.

"In our approach, maybe," the echidna finally said. "But this is what he needs. He'll come around."

Tails wasn't convinced. "Hopefully…"

"Eventually."

When had the sky gotten so dark? Where had the time gone? He'd left the house at midday, he was sure of it. So why could he now see stars through the bronze leaves of the trees?

It was like he had emptied his head and slept with his eyes open for hours. But he hadn't slept. He knew he hadn't.

Sonic rubbed his face, pausing only when he felt an inhibitor brush against his cheek. He huffed, staring at the red rings, noticing for the first time that there was a faint glow to them. Had that been there before he'd put them on? Shadow's inhibitors didn't glow, did they? Not that he remembered. Though, they were made by different people, he supposed. Tails' design was probably a lot different.

He took a moment to really focus on his energy. What felt different? The best way to describe it was… confused. His energy felt confused. It was like having something stuck in your throat but you could still breathe. It was like feeling the need to vomit when nothing would come up. He felt sick, but he was perfectly healthy. Because it was his energy that really felt sick. The energy of Super and Hyper, he noticed, were blocked off from him, like there was a wall between them. His own energy was clouded and hard to reach.

It felt wrong. Really, really wrong.

He felt around one of the inhibitors again, hoping to find something he'd missed before. He wasn't sure why he tried. He wouldn't find anything. Knowing Tails, he needed some tiny key, or a remote that would open them.

He'd seen Shadow remove his inhibitors a few times when he needed unrestricted access to his Chaos energy. Shadow could probably kill himself doing that if he wasn't careful. As Sonic understood it, Shadow's energy was unstable when he took off his inhibitors.

Sonic's energy was not unstable, but he wasn't given the option to remove them whenever he liked? How would he used the Chaos Emeralds and go Super? How would he practice the Chaos techniques he'd started trying to teach himself after watching Shadow preform them?

How would he function reliably?

Looking at the sky again, Sonic realised he needed to come to a decision about what he'd do tonight. He couldn't exactly go home. He wasn't ready to face his brother and closest friend yet. That was if Knuckles was still even there… The chance of him staying behind for Tails was too high for Sonic to go back now. He could forgive his brother, perhaps not quite yet, but he could. He would, because he simply had to. He couldn't live without his brother, he just needed time to process some things. Knuckles had to have been the one to suggest the inhibitors in the first place. That was why he couldn't face Knuckles yet. He hadn't trusted him enough to simply speak to him first, to discus the inhibitors or alternative ways of managing his darker forms. Perhaps if they had spoken to him, he could have agreed to the inhibitors, saw their side.

But they hadn't even tried. And that's what was so agonising.

No. He couldn't go back. He had to sleep out here tonight. Not that it would be an issue. He was used to camping out under the stars. He'd had to when he was younger because he had no home, no choice. But often now he would choose to sleep in the trees, or on the roof, on clear nights. But that was different, because it was his choice.

He liked having his own choice.

He stood up and stretched his numb legs for a moment before assessing the trees around him. Trees were always safer than camping out on the forest floor; he'd learnt that the hard way after he was woken by a badnik when he was six. After he walked around several trees, he settled on one with a decent height and bright crimson leaves on its boughs. He always was drawn to red. Sonic pulled himself up into the branches of the tree. He found a particularly thick and sturdy branch and sat with his back to the trunk. Sonic watched the sky until the silver moon slid into view, then he slid down the trunk until he was curled up on the branch.

And that's where he fell asleep, under the watchful eyes of thousands of flickering stars.