-several days later-

Mephiles sat quietly in the hotel room after finishing up with his job, now he was just sitting back practicing his abilities as the hoglet slept peacefully on his chest, Sonic had just calmed down and now he was busy dreaming while Mephiles kept an eye on him in case of any nightmares.

Getting a bit bored he reached out his hand to the bottle of milk on the nightstand where he pulled the shadow from it and watched as it went into his hand, ears twitching back a bit he focused his power on the shadow he just absorbed a minute later a new bottle of milk appeared in his hand making a smirk play across his face.

"Looks like I got the hang of my power again." Mephiles chuckled darkly. "Though I will have to get tiny's opinion."

Almost on cue Sonic stirred and started to whimper a bit as he awoke from his nap.

Mephiles stared at the hoglet and watched quietly as it yawned, making Mephiles look away trying to avoid the overwhelming cuteness of the tiny infant.

"Alright Sonic dinner time." Mephiles told him.

Sonic's ears perked up a bit at that and he let out a slight chirp.

After making sure it was safe he tried to feed the hoglet with the bottle again but it still refused to drink from the bottle, with a sigh he dipped his finger in the milk and brought it to the hoglet's mouth.

Sonic put his paw on the finger and started sucking on the claw getting as much milk as he could.

"Good to know you approve." Mephiles mused, giving the hoglet some more. "But you need to learn to drink from a bottle sooner or later."

As if to respond to that, Sonic kicked Mephiles' hand though it had no effect, just a bit of a tap making the gray hedgehog chuckle in amusement.

"You may disagree but you can't avoid it forever." Mephiles informed the hoglet who only held on a bit tighter. "I am not having you chew on my finger while you're teething."

Clawing the finger a bit Sonic started to lick the claw, his tiny tongue licking up the rest of the milk.

Mephiles gently rubbed Sonic's cheek with a different finger so as to not disrupt the hoglet that was sucking on the claw again.

"You are so small it is a wonder you are alive." Mephiles thought aloud, watching the hoglet intently. "Or how you got so attached to me in just a few short days."

The hoglet paused and pulled his mouth away, his ears going back a bit as he lifted his head but what surprised Mephiles next was the tiny things eyelids slowly opened to reveal two vibrant green eyes that glinted in the dim light.

"Well that is unexpected, but I was expecting the unexpected so it doesn't count." Mephiles shrugged, staring into the hoglet's curious eyes. "Though now you are probably going to be afraid of me."

Sonic stared up at him for a minute before squirming a bit and relaxing again now on his side nuzzling the older hedgehog who just watched him do so in slight shock.

"I guess that is a no." Mephiles smiled slightly, putting his hand over the small form to give it more warmth as it slowly fell back to sleep. "Well then, sleep tight Sonic."

-morning-

Mephiles set the hoglet down on the bed next to him and watched quietly as Sonic awoke and opened his eyes to look for the gray hedgehog who was sitting right next to him.

Sonic's ears perked up a bit and he reached out a hand to the adult with his typical babyish giggle.

Mephiles stared at him for a minute and slowly brought a claw to the hoglet who took it with a tender grasp in its tiny hand.

"Hmm, I wonder how strong you really are." Mephiles thought aloud, gently stroking the hoglets back with his opposite hand. "It is a mystery how an infant can swat a bottle right out of my hand with no issue."

Sonic giggled a bit more like it was funny.

Mephiles' ears pinned flat against his head and he wrapped his fingers around the hoglet's tiny form before lifting him up and bringing it close to his face where they stared at each other.

"So you think that is funny?" Mephiles asked, his eyes narrowing.

Sonic tilted his head slightly and with a small giggle he put his tiny paw on the tip of Mephiles' muzzle making the adult hedgehog pause and just stare at him in surprise.

"You just keep getting cuter and cuter don't you?" Mephiles mumbled, staring into the hoglet's green eyes that sparked with curiosity.

Sonic giggled a bit more before letting out a yawn and slowly lowered his paw as his eyes drifted shut.

Mephiles chuckled slightly and laid the hoglet on his chest as he gently stroked its quills.

Sonic curled against the white chest fur and slowly fell asleep as he started sucking on his own paw.

Mephiles watched the tiny thing sleep for a little while till it was time to go back to work, with a sigh he carefully stood up and was about to put the hoglet down so he could get his job done but Sonic quickly latched himself on digging his tiny claws into Mephiles' chest and burying his face into the fluffy white patch of fur as he cried hard.

"Would you cut it out?" Mephiles snarled, staring at the hoglet who only clung tighter. "You are not going to sway me into bringing you with."

Sonic only cried harder soaking the adult hedgehog's fur with his tears that seemed to have no end.

Irritated, Mephiles put a hand to the hoglets head and was about to push him into slumber but he paused feeling the infant's mind.

'Don't leave me! Please don't leave! Please! I need you!'

Mephiles almost immediately pulled away at that, completely shocked at how attached the hoglet had become in such a short time. "Need me? No one needs me." Mephiles muttered, ears pinning flat against his head.

Sonic gripped the gray fur like it was a lifeline and he would die if he let go, and with tears running down his cheeks he looked up at Mephiles pleadingly, his eyes growing ever so big like a begging puppy.

"No, you are not coming." Mephiles snapped slightly, getting rather annoyed with Sonic's constant crying.

Sonic's eyes filled with even more tears as he buried his face into Mephiles' chest fur again, his body trembling violently from sobbing so hard.

"You are overreacting and your crying does not help anything." Mephiles growled, grabbing the hoglet around its waist before pulling trying to get it off of him but he strangely couldn't, the tiny things grip was like iron and it wasn't lighting up anytime soon. "Let go now or I will knock you out for a whole month!"

The hoglet shuddered a bit at the threat but his fear won this round and he screamed at the top of his lungs causing Mephiles to let go and cover his ears from the desperate ear piercing scream.

Getting very frustrated now Mephiles reached down and put a claw under the hoglet's chin forcing its mouth shut. "Enough!" he shouted, glaring menacingly at the infant who looked up at him still sniffling and it seemed to have gotten hiccups. "You may not like being alone but you are gonna have to suck it up because I'm not taking you with me!"

-later-

Mephiles dusted the shelves in the lobby, it was almost dinner time and he was just finishing up the last touches before stopping for the day, once done with that he put the stuff back on the shelves but accidentally knocked a book on the floor, ears pinning flat against his head he bent down and picked it up but paused feeling something shift, setting the book back on the shelf he looked down at the little hoglet that clung on tight to his chest as he slept peacefully besides an occasional twitch here and there.

"Babysitting?" Amy's voice interrupted the silence.

Mephiles' ears flicked a bit and he looked over at the pink hedgehog. "What do you want?"

"You know you're not really allowed to bring a child to janitor, let alone a baby." Amy pointed out.

"I have no choice but to." Mephiles growled slightly, looking down at the hoglet who was rubbing his head up against his chest. "And you do not want to know why."

"Do I?" Amy tried, hands now on her hips.

Mephiles turned back to glare at her but she wasn't backing down. "Fine but don't blame me if your customers get upset."

With that he pulled the sleeping hoglet off himself and held it out far enough away that it awoke and started to cry much harder then either were expecting, Mephiles then pulled it back towards him and the hoglet automatically stopped crying and lay peacefully in his arms till he did it again causing the tiny thing to cry even harder this time, ears flicking back a bit he brought Sonic back and allowed the blue hoglet to cling to his chest again.

"Aww, that's so sweet." Amy giggled. "He's so attached to you it's adorable!"

"Whatever." Mephiles snarled a bit, holding the hoglet close to his chest. "I couldn't get him off of me this morning so I just brought him with."

"Well I guess if he is that desperate but I will have to inform my brother." Amy nodded slightly, understanding the dilemma. "But you can take time off early today if you'd like."

"Alright, I will finish up here." Mephiles agreed, giving her a short nod.

Amy smiled slightly at the adorable sight of the hoglet clinging to the gray hedgehog's chest, she then turned and walked away allowing them to finish up.

"You are very annoying." Mephiles muttered, staring at Sonic who seemed quite content where he clung. "You're lucky I like that."

As if to answer, Sonic pressed up against him a bit more as he let out a small yawn.

Mephiles smiled slightly and gently stroked the hoglets blue quills before getting back to work, when he finished he went back up to his room and after cleaning himself up he sat down on the bed, with a sigh he held out a hand and stared at the mist surrounding it as he focused his power and a minute later a bottle formed in his hand.

"Alright Sonic time to eat." Mephiles said, maneuvering the hoglet to where he was laying down in his arms so he could eat.

Sonic looked up at him and watched curiously as Mephiles brought the bottle to his mouth but the hoglet did something else unexpected, he hissed at the bottle like it was going to bite him.

"You're the pickiest baby ever, but also the strongest." Mephiles mused, using his claw instead and almost immediately Sonic accepted it. "Well at least you're eating."

Sonic's back feet kicked a bit as he sucked on the claw again, he was quite content in this position as he filled his belly, though Mephiles was still disturbed with the hoglet's scars knowing it was probably very traumatizing for someone so young to go through that much pain it was heartbreaking really and for some reason Mephiles felt sorry for the poor thing and even though he knew Sonic was safe he couldn't help but feel protective of the tiny hoglet that was practically defenseless.

-night-

Mephiles suddenly awoke by an ear piercing scream causing him to quickly sit up and look around only to find a small blue form laying curled up on the bed next to him but it was crying hard.

Ears twitching a bit he slid his hand under the hoglet and lifted it up to his chest where the tiny thing reached for the comfort of his chest fur.

"What is the matter this time?" Mephiles asked, staring at the hoglet who sobbed into his fur. "Did you have another nightmare?"

Sonic quivered a bit and held tighter as tears continued to slip down his cheeks.

Mephiles nodded slightly knowing the answer was yes so with a sigh he put a hand on the hoglet's head before searching for what was troubling it so.

Sonic awoke to find he was alone in the room, no one was around and the uneasy feeling made the hoglet shudder and start to cry, he crawled over to the side of the bed and sounded a distress call at seeing water all around him that was still rising.

Panicked Sonic scrambled back away from the water as he cried out for the only one he trusted but he was nowhere to be found. He was alone and his worst fear was coming to get him, the most horrible thing on the planet to him; water.

Suddenly the water made a tidal wave that was coming at him making the hoglet scream in utter terror, and right as the water crashed into him Sonic awoke.

Mephiles stared at the hoglet for a minute unsure how to react to that but his anger only grew and with a slight growl he pulled the nightmare from Sonic's mind and savagely destroyed it.

Sonic slowly calmed due to no longer remembering what had caused his fright, with tears in his eyes he looked up at Mephiles and pulled at his fur a bit wanting up.

Mephiles smiled slightly at how quickly the hoglet recovered and he brought Sonic up to his shoulder where the blue hoglet struggled over to where he was pressing up against Mephiles' neck.

Sonic then curled up a bit as Mephiles held him up making sure he wouldn't fall as the hoglet slowly fell back to sleep feeling the comfort it desperately needed.

"Don't worry little one, I will never leave you." Mephiles whispered, gently rubbing its back in a comforting manner.