just so its clear this is set in SatAM ! early on so theyre young dumb and full a hurt/comfort baybee

shout out to sky for lookin over this bich

{Originally posted to AO3 on 2022-02-05 for Febuwhump 2022}

"Let me see."

The voice caused Sonic to pause in his stride and look over to the princess. "Huh?"

"You're injured," Sally said, her arms crossed and eye ridges furrowed. "Let me see."

Sonic looked around. The forest of Knothole was quiet around them. The night stars were only just visible past the trees and the thin layer of smog. As close as they were to the remains of the Kingdom of Acorn, even being in an untouched forest didn't completely shield them from the environmental devastation that was Dr. Robotnik.

Sonic mirrored her stance. His arms crossed over his chest and leaned forward with a thin smirk. "Me? Injured? Yeah right," he laughed, "haven't we been through this already? I'm the best of the best!" He gave a toothy grin and shoved his thumb into his own chest. "I don't get injured."

Sally's stance did not falter. Instead, her anger only pushed down the lines of her face more. "Fine," she huffed after a pause. "You're not injured." She put her hands on her hips.

Sonic smiled triumphantly at that and was ready to continue on with his night. However, he only had a split second before movement caught the corner of his eye.

Sally swiped her leg towards the blue speedster, causing Sonic to jump back and away. He landed a good foot from her with a skid. The pain that shot up his right leg and throughout his body caused him to grimace. He bit his tongue, not wanting to let out the pained sound he could feel in his chest. He quickly shifted to take some of the pressure off his foot.

"I knew it!" Sally hissed out, throwing an accusing finger at him.

Sonic flinched back at the outburst.

Sally stomped over to him and grabbed his wrist, pulling him into her hut. Ignoring his protests as she tugged.

Once they were inside she shoved him into the direction of the bed and closed the door. She crossed her arms and glared angrily at him.

Sonic opened his mouth in hopes to pull something to get him out of this mess, only to snap it back closed when Sally called out, "Nicole, scan Sonic for injuries."

"Scanning, Sally," the robotic voice chirped out. Sonic looked over in the direction of the small handheld on the table as the blue light washed over him.

"It's nothin', Sal. It's just a-"

"A stable oblique fracture near the bottom of his right tibia," Nicole interrupted him.

Sonic snapped to look over at her, confused and shocked.

Sally snapped to look at Sonic angrily.

"A what?" They both hissed out in unison.

Sonic looked to sally.

"I swear I thought it was just a sprain!" Sonic cried, lifting his hands in self defense. "A fracture is a bad thing right?" he mumbled to Nicole's direction.

"Yes!" Sally yelled out, throwing her arms forward. Sonic snapped to stand straight and look at her again. "Sonic, your ankle is broken."

"Bro-"

"How long has it been hurting?"

"Wh-"

"Sonic." Her voice came out venomous. "How long."

His shoulders came up as he looked away from the livid princess. "Like," he fidgeted with his fingers, "Two weeks?" he mumbled out with a shrug.

"Two weeks!" Sally shouted.

Sonic flinched at the tone. If Bunnie wasn't awake before, he was sure she definitely was now by all the shouting beside her hut.

"Sonic Hedgehog, you mean to tell me you have been running on a broken ankle for two weeks without telling anyone!"

"I didn't think it was broken!" he hissed back at her. "I thought it was fine! 'S not like I haven't run around with worse!"

"Sonic," she groaned out. She pressed her hands into her face and pulled in a large breath. She held it in for a moment before pushing it back out as an aggravated sigh. "You could have shattered your bone like that! All It would have taken was one wrong step or fall and you'd be down completely!"

The blue teen frowned at that. He really hadn't known. His form fell with shame as he frowned down to his feet. Stupid ankle bone.

"Sit," Sally finally spoke up again. This time with much less anger in her voice. Though now, with the fire quelled she sounded more tired than anything else.

Sonic looked up at her. She looked just as tired as she sounded. She pointed towards her bed and Sonic did as he was told.

Sally grabbed her pillow and put it down beside him. "Put your ankle on this."

He again followed her instructions.

Very gently, Sally ran her hand against the ankle. Just enough to push the fur out of the way and get a good look at the swelling.

Sonic couldn't see her face very well from this angle, but he saw the way her shoulders slumped. He watched as she moved away and over to her drawers, rummaging around till she found her first aid equipment. She pulled out gauze and began wrapping up his injury.

Sonic bit harder into his cheek. All the jostling of his leg was only shooting up more pain. He knew she was trying to be gentle but it still hurt.

"Does it hurt even when you're not on it?" She asked.

"No," he lied without a beat.

"Sonic."

"... Only a little," he admitted. "I don't really notice it as bad mid running. It's just when I'm walkin' or standin' on it."

Sally nodded. "Nicole said it was a stable fracture. That means it's broken but still stayed in place. Hopefully it won't take too long to heal." Once Sally was done she put away the equipment and turned back to the bed. "Here scoot over," she said as she sat down beside him and grabbed her pillow back.

Sonic scooted closer to the wall, giving her room to put the pillow behind them both and lay back on it. The cot was hardly big enough for a single adult. Even two young teens were still too big for it. To make up for this, Sally scooted her side a little under Sonic's arm while her knees rested over his uninjured leg.

"I can walk back to my own room, you know," Sonic protested with no actual indication of wanting to do so. As if the words were only meant to let off the last few sparks of rebellion that stuck to him.

"Not with that ankle you don't." Sally shook her head. "Besides, knowing you, you'd just run off somewhere or do something equally as stupid." She moved to grab something off her side table.

Sonic crossed his arms with a huff before looking towards what she had grabbed. It was a book. It looked old and worn.

"What's that?" he asked.

"A book. What? Can't read?" she jokingly bit with a smirk,

"I can read!" Sonic bit back. "And I know it's a book."

Sally chuckled. She turned the book to show him the cover.

"The Grand Kingdom Stories and Legends," he read.

"It's one of the books my father used to read to me," Sally explained. "He would read to me almost every night." Her smile faded as she put the book back into her lap. She gently ran her fingers over the cover, feeling the indents of the lettering.

Sonic watched her fingers move with a strange intensity that he didn't particularly understand.

"I know you don't really care about the resistance," she mumbled, not looking up at him.

Sonic looked from her hands to her face. An unreadable, yet unmistakably upset emotion knitted into her features. "Huh?"

"You just want to find your Uncle. That's why you even came back with Tails. I'm not stupid, Sonic." The last sentence came out harsher than she had intended. Her hands closed into fists.

"I care!" Sonic argued.

She looked up at him, surprise and doubt edging into the way her lips pushed together in a thin line.

"I did come back 'cause of my Uncle, yeah. But." He pulled at the blanket under himself lightly as he tried to get his thoughts in order. Why was talking so hard sometimes? As he got older, it got easier. Fun even at times. However, some words he still struggled to pull out. "But I do care about the Kingdoms. Honest! I just." He looked down to his lap. His gaze went over to the bandaged ankle. The white gauze only caused him anger. If he'd just been more careful… He sighed. "I just feel… alone." His head fell at the admission. "Without him I mean."

"But, you're not alone."

He looked up to her as she placed a hand on his leg, meeting his eyes. Her gaze was as serious as always. Her words held no room for doubt or argument. So sure of everything she said. He sort of envied it, if he was being honest.

"Everyone here cares about you. Even if you don't wanna be a freedom fighter, you're still their friend. And you have your siblings and," Sally smiled at him, "me too."

Something pulled at Sonic's chest. He hadn't ever really felt anything like it before. He pulled at the blanket beneath him again to keep from pulling at the fur on his chest. He finally took his gaze away from Sally's smile. Something about it was making his face warm. But he wasn't angry? He decided to ignore it for now.

"You too," he mumbled in reply.

Sally tilted her head in question at him, moving to try and meet his gaze again.

He turned back to her finally with his own grin. "You're not alone, either, Sal! We'll find our families!" His grin widened and he gave her a thumbs up. "Promise!"

Sally smiled fondly at the childish show. "Yeah," she agreed with a nod, allowing even the smallest feeling of hope to blossom along with the warmth in her own chest. She let herself lean more into his side as she opened up her book. "We will."

thank yall sm for reading and pls pls pls leave a comment ! n come find me on twitter n tumblr HeroicToonz !