Disclaimer: See the first chapter.

Old Friends

Whisper stared at Shadow's cold eyes. There were no lights on that Whisper could see, but the night vision on her mask was just as good.

She felt herself tense up, the hard look on the hedgehog's face mirroring that of the same that killed her team. They weren't the same, she knew that, but still, staring into it was just like biting at a scab, the feeling so powerful it had to be done.

Shadow's eyes softened a moment later. "Whisper?" he asked. He visibly relaxed, letting the tension leave him. He turned around, walking back in. "Come on in," he said softly.

"You kick 'em what for?" Whisper heard Belle's voice call out. It was hoarse and slightly hollow sounding, a lot more than it had been in Whisper's memory, but still noticeably her. There was a slight ring of a generator far off in the corner. Whisper did as Shadow suggested, taking a good look at the Restoration...or what was left of it.

Most everything had been taken out. Before there had been desks and papers everywhere, small tools being left out. Posters on the wall of various places that they'd helped out, or checked out. It had been a living, breathing place that showed the life within it.

There was none of that, now. The desks had been taken out, either having rotten away or thrown into a fire. The papers were in tall columns, looking as if no one had looked at them in ages, browning softly on the sides. They looked rather preserved asides from that, as if someone was taking care of the place.

But the plants disproved it. The only thing that remained from her time were those, slowly growing green throughout the entire place. Some of them had grown so large they left their pot, the sunlight coming in from the upper windows allowing them to survive.

"It's Whisper," Shadow called back. "What are you doing here?" he asked, turning around. He hadn't aged a day in Whisper's mind, looking exactly the same as he had from when she'd left.

"...I don't know anymore," Whisper answered.

"Fair," Shadow responded. "It's movie night. Belle managed to get a Webflicks account running. I didn't ask how," he finished.

"...Webflicks?"

Shadow raised an eyebrow at her. "Belle, I think we'll have to cancel tonight. Turn on the lights," he said.

"Fine, but you owe me! Wait, did you say Whisper?" Belle's voice called out. Whisper barely had the time to take off the mask into the darkness just as the light turned on. They were a soft glowing orange, but still Whisper winced.

"Yes. Whisper was at the door," Shadow answered. "Couch is over here," he said, luring her further into the forgotten Restoration. The colors were muted now from the brightness from her time, and she saw the cracks in the paint that she couldn't see from the night vision.

The Restoration looked, for a word, simply old. Weathered and forgotten.

Shadow led her to the Commander's Hall, where Whisper half expected to see Jewel behind a tall desk, barely able to keep three sentences together. Instead she saw only a worn couch with an old style projector, the sound of a generator much louder now, with the wooden puppet figure of Belle sitting on the far side. The projector was still on, with a small 'Webflicks!' sign occasionally bouncing around the corner.

Belle looked old and worn, with her joints covered in sawdust. The wood in her face had been weathering away from time, but she still had her usual honking nose, and there was a small cable that led to the wall. Around the corner, Whisper could see the generator that made the noise, and probably powered the entire building.

"By the gears, you are here..." Belle said as she hopped up, her knee joints creaking as she forced weight on them. "We all...we all thought you were dead..." she said.

"Apparently whatever it is Tangle and I found at that outpost of Eggman's, it transported me through time. Twenty three years, according to the bank statements," Whisper answered.

Shadow walked over to a computer system, promptly typing in a few things. It was newer than she was used to, but it still looked old and dusty. "I'm bringing up the report that Lanolin gave. Tangle wanted to stay there and wait," Shadow said. "If I remember that one right."

"Hard to forget. Tangle almost up and quit that day when Lanolin forced her to come back," Belle explained. "But through time...I suppose it's a good thing Eggman didn't get his hand on that when he could have."

Whisper reached down and pulled out the worn clock. "I brought it back. Unpowered, so nothing should happen," Whisper said, handing it over to Belle.

The puppet grabbed it easily. "Hmm...it's hard to tell. This look Babylonian to you?" she asked Shadow. "My translator can't find it, but Tails stopped updating Babylonian once the Rogues left."

Whisper shuddered. While it was bad she couldn't read it, it was good that she wouldn't have to deal with the Rogues. Jet still hadn't forgiven her the one time Cyan had stolen his chimichanga, among other things. Hadn't she also stolen his wallet while he hadn't been looking, or had that been another incident?

"Hand it here," Shadow said, holding out one hand as his other hand kept typing. "Tangle didn't get a good look at it because she, in her words 'decided to be stupid and turn the darned thing on'," Shadow read as the proper file popped up.

"You found it quick," Whisper said, sitting down on the couch. It didn't just look like the same couch from her time, which before had been out in the main lobby, it was the same couch. She could see the small scratches from when Sonic had been forced to sleep on it rather than in Tails' lab, or the small furs from everyone's shedded hair.

"Supposed to. Restoration isn't active anymore, but they still want someone here to work the system," Shadow answered. "And we flagged all files that ended up with a lost member."

"How did that happen?" Whisper asked. "The Restoration, I mean."

Belle gave a quick whistle. "That's a long story. Short of it, people got old. They wanted to settle down. Amy finally got Sonic to slow down. Jewel wanted to go back to her museum. We'd done everything we could after Eggman died, there just wasn't any need for us," she explained.

"Amy finally got Sonic?" Whisper asked. Darn, that was a thing she'd have to owe Tangle. Depending on the date...

"Yeah. They have two kids right now, over in Green Hill. Faker never wanted to explain why he wanted to move back," Shadow said. "And they're looking after Tails' kids too."

"Full house, that," Belle said.

Whisper stared. "Why would they...?" she asked. She almost didn't want the answer. If Tails' was...if Tails' was dead, then she might as well just get used to this new time. But he'd been only...he would've had to die extremely young. But that couldn't be!

"Ah. Sorry. Tails is...missing, at the moment," Shadow explained. "And his wife's...indisposed, last we heard. If you were hoping on using his smarts to get back...he'd probably find a way, but we don't have a way to reach him."

Belle nodded. "Not for lack of trying though. By the starters, we'd try everything. Including smoke signals, that one time."

"That was a desperate attempt, and you said you'd never bring it up."

"Only in polite company. But this is Whisper! Who's she gonna tell, the wisps?" Belle grinned.

"That's a good question. Whisper, do you still...?" Shadow started. Whisper nodded, subtly moving her arm to show off the canisters. "Good. And yes, this is Babylonian. I'll have to run the translators on it, see if we can't decipher it," he answered.

"Cyan can probably imbue it, if you begged her. I told her not to," Whisper said.

"Not a good idea until we know what it is and why it does what it does," Shadow answered. "But that's a good thing to keep in our back pocket."

"Tails is married? What happened to everyone? Tangle? Lanolin?" Whisper said, quickly adding another name.

"Well, let's see...Tangle disappeared shortly before Tails did. We actually think they were on the same assignment. Lanolin retired into a small village, she has a boyfriend I think," Belle started.

She kept going. "Jewel went back to her museum, she's by herself I think, you might want to check with her to see about Tangle, Amy and Sonic finally got together, Shadow is here, I'm here, Knuckles is still by himself. Rouge..." she whispered off.

"Rouge ended up in a heist that went bad, and even she couldn't get out of it," Shadow explained. "It was in one of the final pushes against Eggman. She never made it out. Neither did Omega." Whisper felt her hand at her mouth. "The worst part is I told them not to go," he finished.

"You couldn't expect them not to. If they hadn't succeeded..." Belle reaffirmed.

"I know. Shouldn't think like that," Shadow answered. "Still hurts. Same with Maria. Tails got married, has two kids which are both at the Faker's...Cream's a lawyer now, it's strange to hear it but that's true..."

"Vanilla and Vector got together. They got married a half dozen years ago, moved to a house on the outskirts of Central City," Belle put up. "Espio's taken over the agency. Charmy has a wife and a few kids of his own."

"What...what about Silver?" Whisper asked. Silver was Whisper's alternate plan to get back to the past. If anyone had done it, it would be the other time traveler.

Shadow shrugged. "Hasn't been seen for a long time. I think the last time he went back to the future, that's where he stayed. That was...a few years after Eggman died right?"

"Yes. Right after Dr. Quacker wanted to try his hand at the world domination thing. Sonic shut him real quick," Belle said, nodding. "And then...well," she finished.

"Surge went Surge," Shadow explained. "If she hadn't though I would have," Shadow said.

Whisper stared out. Silver was out, and Tails was out. Two opportunities...and not a single answer. Where...where did she go from here?

Plans formed in her mind and were thrown out just as quick. She was a sniper, and that meant she had a plan. She needed to plan. If Tails was missing, option A was to go look for him. Which meant finding Tangle, which she was definitely in favor of. Then that required meeting Jewel.

Option B was to deliberately cause a life-altering problem for Silver to show up. Considering the time-traveler's power though, Whisper didn't want to be on that side of him. And that was if he even showed up at all. An option, but not a good one.

Option C was to stay here, in this time. But...it wasn't her time. It wasn't her timeline. An option, but not a good one.

Option D was to go out searching her own way, which would probably require these two anyway. Shadow especially; considering he didn't look like he'd aged a day in the twenty three years she was gone.

Option E was to do more research on the clock thing, and the Babylonians. That meant finding their ruins, which would probably require Knuckles help, seeing as how he was a treasure hunter in his off time.

"I forgot how much of a treat it was to watch you think," Belle offered from her side. Whisper turned and stared, tilting her head lightly. "Your eyes move very, very slightly as you think."

That was...odd. Did she do that? That didn't seem like something she'd do. It was even odder to see Belle of all people remark on it. The badnik usually didn't pay that much attention to people.

"What are you thinking?" Shadow asked. "You have a few options-"

"Find Tails, or find the Babylonians. Those are the best I've thought of," Whisper admitted. "Leaning towards trying to find Tangle and Tails."

"You'll have plenty of help here," Shadow said. "Belle, would you be-"

"I'll be fine Shadow. You know that. Worst comes to worst I can just put myself in sleep mode except for repairs," Belle answered, waving a wooden hand.

The black hedgehog nodded, and slowly rose up. "Don't forget the emeralds, though," Belle reminded.

"I hadn't," Shadow said. Whisper said nothing, wondering what this byplay was all about. Shadow must have seen the confusion on her face. "I'm going with you. For one, I'm still recognized as a government agent and a Restoration member. For another, it's quite likely you'll need my power."

Whisper doubted that. Not that she wouldn't need more firepower, but rather that she would need his. She could still remember the stare he'd given her as he'd opened the door, his eyes and face the same as the shadow-bots-

"So while Shadow's going to get those rascally things he has to guard, why don't you let me know what your plan is? I don't actually plan on turning myself off, I got plenty of things to do here. If it comes to it there's always Webflicks," Belle said with a smile.

"What is Webflicks?"

"It's a movie service. Basically you know how the internet was just coming in, and it was basically Tails and a half dozen others? It's gotten better now. Even we have a cable! But I have to fight with the utility companies to not shut us off. It's not as if we don't pay..." Belle grumbled, "but basically it delivers movies through the internet! No real downloading required, it plays as it downloads!"

That was crazy. She knew that some places could do that, but to do that for something like movies? "Oh, and they have TV shows too. Shadow doesn't like them, so maybe now I can catch up on those hospital shows..." Belle finished.

"Please do, I don't want to hear more ominous beeping when I'm trying to work," Shadow said as he walked in, a small black bag on his back. Whisper could see the small glow coming from the open pocket.

"You know you like them. I see you pay more attention than I do!"

"That's because of the ominous beeping! Also the one with the daydream guy is not...the worst."

"Uniforms? Yeah I like that one!" Belle smiled. Whisper just tilted her head, their conversation long having escaped her thoughts. "Whisper? Plan? You were going to tell me before I got distracted."

"Distracted she says-"

"Find Tails. You said that it's thought that Tails and Tangle were working on the same assignment when they disappeared, which means that we would have the best luck finding Jewel," Whisper explained. "First, find Jewel. Belle, work on translating the clock?"

The puppet badnik made a salute. "Can do Whisper! By the way, I am glad to have you back."

Whisper nodded. "Alright," Shadow said. "To Spiral Hill City. Easiest way would be to catch a flight to Green Hills before heading to Spiral Hill."

"Why?" Whisper asked. "Spiral Hill isn't far from here."

"Airplanes. Emeraldville is too small to have a direct connection, and it would take around three days of driving to get there. By plane, probably ten hours."

Ten hours versus three days? She'll take that. Whisper nodded. Shadow went back to the desk, quickly doing a few things that Whisper couldn't see. "Best tickets on short notice are only four hundred."

"That's expensive," Belle whistled. "What if you make a second pit stop? That might lower things a bit."

"It's fine. I'll pay," Whisper said. Shadow blinked in obvious confusion at her before understanding dawned on his face.

"I get it. You were listed as just MIA, missing in action. You were still getting paid, Jewel never took you off the payroll," he said.

Belle turned to her. "What!? You actually got paid!? Darn it, why couldn't I get paid..." she mumbled, withdrawing to herself.

"Because you spent everything on equipment for the Restoration, even when Jewel specifically told you to go to Bob in Accounting," Shadow snarked. "On the other hand, you have Webflicks now and don't have to pay for rent or mortgage."

"Oh yeah!" Belle cheered up instantly. "By gears, you're right!"

Bob in Accounting...that was a name that she hadn't heard in a longtime. He was a bobcat, liked wearing ties around the Restoration. He wasn't the best accountant, but considering his help with everything Jewel wasn't going to just let him go, and he'd proven himself worth the job towards the end. Her end, not the end of the Restoration.

"Layover of a few hours. We can fit in going to Sonic and Amy's if you'd like," Shadow said. Whisper shook her head.

"No. I'd prefer to just head back," Whisper said. Shadow nodded.

"Understandable."

Whisper stared at him, tilting her head. "What happened to you? You used to be much more surly."

"Oh that's just time!" Belle answered for the hedgehog. "See, he got even worse after...well, after Rouge and Omega died. But then Eggman died, and suddenly he had nothing to do. Sonic's constant attempts to needle him eventually wore him down, and now he's like this!"

"You can only ignore the Faker for so long," Shadow answered. "Not to mention I was at their wedding. I tried to get out of it."

"I dragged him back in!" Belle said with a large grin. "Got him in a suit and everything, I'm sure we have pictures somewhere."

"I'm sure we don't. I burned them."

"I'm sure you tried," Belle answered back. "There's always more you don't know about. Besides, if you go to Sonic's, you might be able to talk him into borrowing the Tornado!"

Oh right, Tails' plane. Whisper had honestly forgotten that was a thing that existed. The fox hadn't used it in ages during her time, and was constantly fiddling with other bits and bobs. No wonder she forgot about it.

"I can't fly it," Whisper answered. Cyan could probably imbue it, mixed with Green and Orange, to act as if she could though.

"That's fine. I can," Shadow answered. "Tickets bought. We're due in four hours. We'll head to the Faker's. They may want us to stay for dinner. Try not to."

"Why? Sonic's a great cook!"

"When visitors are over, Amy does."

Belle turned to Whisper. "Right. Try not to stay for dinner," she repeated conspiratorially. Whisper tilted her head. Amy wasn't that bad of a cook in her mind...she wasn't the best, no, but it was kind of hard to beat Lanolin...or Whisper herself.

Tangle though...Tangle was an 'avoid eating at all costs' person.

"How do we get out of here? Same way?" Whisper asked. Shadow shook his head, the small gems clanking together in his bag. With a roll of his eyes, he went and fixed it up, zipping it up with ease.

"No, there's a front door. It's just layered with traps from the outside. If you come out from the inside there's no problems," Belle explained.

"Why...?" Whisper asked.

"Too many people took ding dong ditching us to a new art. So we put a few traps in the way. None of them harmful, until they actually get in. Even then, it's mostly because of these," Shadow said, hoisting up the bag. "We need to keep these safe at all costs."

Whisper nodded. The Chaos Emeralds, most likely. Seven gems of mystical power, capable of granting an immense amount of power and energy to any holder of all seven. Tails had, at one point, made several of his machines that could use even one of them for a battery.

"Is that all seven?" Whisper asked.

Shadow shook his head. "No, it's only four of them. One is with Faker, one with Tails wherever that is, and one is here. It's what Belle uses to charge," he said.

Belle nodded, pointing to the generator. "The only reason we have that hunk of junk is because we can't find Tails' notes on making a chaos converter. And the one we use for me isn't capable of generating regular electricity."

"How...how do we know that Tails is alive?" Whisper asked after a moment. If he did have a chaos emerald with him, it was...she didn't want to think of that-

"His biometrics are still going. After you disappeared, Jewel made sure that all major operatives had a small chip that would transfer back regular biometric data. Heart rate, brain activity, that's it. No location data. No one chose not to take it," Shadow explained.

"Why not location?"

"Invasion of privacy," Belle explained. "I mean, I'm basically stuck here, so I don't mind everyone knowing where I am, but I know Sonic pitched a fit about it."

"He thought Amy would use it to track him," Shadow explained.

"Silly Sonic, Amy didn't need a tracker for that. She already had one," Belle said. "She called it her Sonic tracker too."

Whisper could bet that Sonic definitely appreciated knowing that information later. Although it appears that Amy managed to get him anyways...

"Would the Tornado be faster than another plane?" Whisper asked.

"Much," Shadow answered. "And I suppose there is the Chaos Control, but considering how chaos energy works against wisps, I'd suggest against it."

Whisper nodded. They must have figured out something in the last twenty three years that she didn't. As far as she knew, chaos energy and wisps got along nicely. Shadow's words hinted that they probably didn't. Too much energy for the energy beings, maybe? Whisper wasn't sure.

She didn't want to really wait four hours just to get to Green Hill, but she doubted that another four hours would do much. Tangle had lived for twenty three years, four hours wouldn't do anything.

Shadow led her down to the garage on the basement floor. It was obvious that Belle had taken care of it over the last few years, along with maybe Shadow. There were a half dozen motorcycles along the edge, with a few other dozen pickup trucks and vans on the other side. Each one wasn't new, but free from rust and dust. Most of them were covered with white cloth sheets, but Shadow tore them off of two of the motorcycles.

They looked almost identical to the ones that Whisper knew from before. "Belle and I kept these ones in good condition. Never knew when we might need them. We'll have to re-energize them before we go," he explained, grabbing a long cord out of the wall.

"How long will that take?"

"Not as long as you think," Shadow said, plugging one in. Whisper noted that the lights dimmed a bit, but only for an instant. There was a Chaos Emerald being used for the energy after all, wasn't there? The sudden draw would explain the dimness, but the Chaos Emeralds were basically infinite in power.

In less than five minutes Shadow had plugged in the other one. "That'll give us a two thousand miles charge," he stated simply.

Whisper stopped herself from gawking. Using electricity or chaos energy wasn't new in her time, but that large of a range, however? That was. Most of these cycles in her time would barely be able to break three hundred miles. And even that was considered good!

"We did some upgrading," Shadow smirked as he seemingly read her face. "And any of your wisps can probably imbue them. We kept that feature."

In another five minutes, the garage door was open, and Shadow was riding out with a scowl on his face. A moment later, Whisper followed, trying to readjust to how these ones worked. They were a bit different than the ones she was used to.

Much like everything else in this world, it seemed. They weren't the same, just a bit different. It was nice though...to be with people she knew. People that she recognized, people that hadn't really changed.

Even if one was Shadow the Hedgehog.

How long does it for Shadow the Hedgehog to not be an ass? About twenty three years, apparently!

Until Next Time!