Instincts (UNDER EDITING)

by CGMayra

Amy Rose is triggered into a powerful state called Instincts, ancient reflexes in the body that've evolved to adapt uncontrolled Others. Sonic's takes his freedom against his will, Shadow's is bioengineered to be clever, and Silver's too evolved to even notice his Instincts! All are triggered by Amy's perfect scent.(SonamyShadamySilvamy)CONTAINS: NO MATING/VULGAR,CLOTHES ON,KISSING

2. Chapter 2

Instincts

Ch. 2

By: Cutegirlmayra (Ugh, sorry for putting this off for so long… Hw is killing me T-T Anyway, I'm starting to grow confident in continuing this... that's a lie, I'm still so nervous! –Sees views keep doubling and reviews are STILL coming in- Uhh… maybe I can make them forget about this story by posting other chapters on my other stories! –doesn't work, there's not NEARLY enough views nor reviews to keep me going on that- T-T Fine, you leave me no choice. –begins writing this chapter while silently crying- why did I make this story again? Edited note: What comes next indeed. Stick around for when edits are done for the premiere of Season 2! Also, I'm not nearly as nervous as I used to be about all this xD It's more innocent than most things, and it's mostly about Animal behaviors anyway lol enjoy the edited remakes~)

"Is she..?" Sonic stared a moment into her eyes, taking side-glances at Tails when the stillness never waned. Patiently, her eyes would wander with alertness towards Sonic, then Tails. A small whimper escaped her lips, her head lowering every now and then as she continued to seek understanding but to no avail.

"Can't you tell?" Tails stated, breaking from his tense stance and trying to relax. He thought Sonic should know just by her eyes alone, but maybe he still needed time to fully connect back with his body.

"Well, y-yeah but…"

"Quick, let's get her to my lab. I'll try and find out more about her instinct when I charge up my MilesElectric." He picked the device up from the stairs and plopped it into the other hand, turning back to Sonic with a smile on his face before seeing his friend looking strange.

"Sonic..? You alright?"

Even though recently released from being imprisoned inside his mind, Sonic felt a strange stirring as he stared at Amy's whimpering body.

It was the strangest sensation to make his way over to her, try and comfort her with calming words, kneeling just outside the nest.

But he resisted the urgings, before feeling his body slam him down to his feet and hands, an electric jolt coursing through him. It came all the way into his mind, exciting him. Without an outlet, Sonic's body shook and his quills spiked from the energy increase, and that's when her scent became apparent again.

He plugged his nose, "Alright." Sonic clearly wasn't, but Tails knew by his response that he needed a minute. Sonic then turned his head a little, still trying to regain himself, and noticed the device in Tails's hands. Sonic's body recalled the first-time Tails tried to 'investigate' what was happening to him before, and a reflex made him pull away at the sight of it.

He tried to take deep breaths, even with Amy's scent being just as powerful as before. It must have dulled when he wasn't fully reconnected with his body, but now that he was...

A panic that he didn't understand tugged at his chest. He knew his Instincts wanted to protect Amy now and was probably reacting to Tails's words. Tails knew better than to enact the same 'tests' he did on Sonic, so he trusted him, but that didn't mean his body was going to calm down any time soon.

Still trying to master himself again, he decided it was best to get Amy out the door. At least then, the scent would diffuse into the surrounding air, and he'd be able to freely breathe a bit easier then. Even with the threat of young males shifting at her scent, tracking her down and trying to find her, Sonic knew that as long as Tails monitored his and Amy's interaction—they should be fine. "Amy,…uh…" He removed the hand covering his mouth, getting upright again. She seemed to look curiously up to him, recognizing the name he spoke, but only somewhat. It just seemed a natural response to having a creature look at you, and then say a familiar sound you've only heard by ear. She wondered why she knew the sound, but didn't question it further when he started to approach. "C-come here." He patted the side of his leg, moving forward. He wasn't sure if calling her like this was the best way to go about it, but at this moment she was an animal.

"Sonic!"

"What?" Sonic took his eyes off Amy, bending down somewhat and holding his hand out, rubbing his two fingers together to try and bring her closer to him. "She's animalistic now, right? This should coax her out." He looked back at her, trying to forget the moment before and focus on the now. Amy needed to be studied and helped, hopefully, avoiding the trauma his instincts had to endure.

"It's still demeaning… but I guess we have no choice." He sighed, "Animals do react better to certain kinds of vocal tones-Ah!" Tails gained an idea, completely separate from what he was saying. He ignored finishing the line and quickly rushed over to the kitchen. Stopping all other thought, he immediately went to enact his idea at once. Sonic watched as Amy's head shot upward, looking off to where he'd gone and shifting her ears about to try and hear what the odd creature was doing. "Here girl." Tails wandered back in with something plump and red in his hands.

A delicious strawberry.

When Amy saw the food, her nose sniffed the air, whiffing its unique signature out of every other scent. She got up with her tail straight out, seeming to still be cautious, but with Sonic nearby, not spooked enough to avoid investigating.

Tails saw her get up to her fours again and winked to Sonic, bending down to lure Amy out of her comforting nest. "Females tend to forge around this time," he whispered, crouching down next to Sonic. "Preparing for nesting and… well, other stuff." he purposefully dodged the fact, seeing Sonic lower his eyelids and look to him with annoyance, then back to Amy. "So we can lure her out with this." He waved the strawberry around her nose and then walked backwards towards the door. "Come on... follow the food..."

Amy sniffed with cute flicks of her nose, slowly moving out of the nest. She only paused when presented with the door's metal step, looking down at the shiny material before pawing the ground below it. Once she found it was safe to tread over, she followed him out the door.

"See? And no dog calling." Tails looked at Sonic, smirking like a know-it-all.

"Oh what? That makes you cooler than me? Cause that's what a woman wants. And what would the 'proper' way be to handle her in this state, you may ask? Here girl?" Sonic did the bunny ears with his fingers and looked a bit offended as he defended himself. "How is that any less demeaning?" he spread out his arms, clearly mocking Tails's 'expertise' on the situation.

Tails pouted, having his body sulk down a minute as Amy kept trying to pace around his hand, wanting to find a way to get to the strawberry. "Okay, so we're both bad at this. What else do you have to prove now?"

"That this is insane." Sonic stepped out, folding his arms as he looked to Amy, shaking his head. "I just... can't imagine we're all still afflicted by ancient impulses."

"It's a necessity we have to bear." Tails concluded, "Well, not me yet. But you. You two. Yeah. You bear it." He mocked, motioning his finger between Amy and Sonic and then lifting his hand higher to get Amy to hop a little for the treat.

"Yeah. Demeaning." Sonic kept pushing, but Tails just laughed, thinking it kinda funny.

The two were able to get Amy to follow them all the way back to Tails' house, not giving her the strawberry until Tails flew in and made sure she was inside the house first. She continued to jump for it, snapping at it in the air which finally made Sonic laugh, seeing the charm that Tails had mentioned before. Tails tossed the alluring snack down to her once Sonic closed the door and they were all successfully inside.

"There you are! Who's a good girl!" Tails ruffled his hands over her head, making her look up to him after getting the strawberry and smile. Her tail tossed a moment, she lifted her paw up and turned her body a bit, a submissive sign that she liked the action.

"...Really?"

Tails flinched at Sonic's words.

"Oh yeah, and I'm the one who gets scolded." Sonic was leaning on the back of the door's frame, still looking a bit peeved.

"Heh... heh…" Tails sweated a little, quickly regaining himself as he straightened up from bending down and doting on her. "It's kinda hard when she's acting this way..." he muttered before clearing his throat, holding a closed-hand in front of his mouth as he did so. "Obviously, I'm showing a bit of dominance over her too. Stating I'm someone to trust, and petting her is just a reward for good behavior." he tried to justify himself, but Sonic just rolled his eyes. "She's still in her instincts and doesn't quite know me yet,… so it's best to befriend her through positive reinforcement like this instead." Tails walked, or rather marched, confidently and without shame over to his advanced computer. Bigger in size and clearly able to pack more data into itself, it was the little fox's go-to computer for calculating and data-searching. It was this beloved computer that he had previously been working on while on the phone with Amy.

"You're really proud of that little speech, aren't ya? But it's not gonna save ya from judgment." Sonic swayed his legs out as he tiredly made his way to the couch, falling onto it with a face-plant.

"Alright, alright! So I fell into the trap too... But when she remembers all of this, I want her to look back at me in the best of light." He teased, talking back to Sonic without really removing his eyes from the monitor.

Sonic huffed, turning his head and looking wide-eyed at Amy's head staring straight back at him.

"Yaah!" he flailed up and picked his feet up onto the couch, pressing himself as far back against the couch as he could. He relaxed when he saw her look up and scoot back, tilting her head in confusion. "Ugh... how long did my first shift last, Tails?" He rubbed his face. After they continued to converse and ignore her, Amy decided to look around her new surroundings.

She noticed something that smelled interesting, perhaps food, and began to investigate it.

"But honestly, good girl? You think she'd forgive you on that?" Sonic smirked, clearly just wanting to poke fun at his friend now, but as Tails turned to rebuke him they both heard a rather large shriek.

A large object was heard wobbling in an animated frenzy before rolling to a bouncy halt. Amy squeaked from the garage.

Sonic's ears picked up instantly on it and his head immediately turned to the sound. His whole body lunged forward towards it, as though it was a cry for help.

"Aah! I left the garage door open!" Tails was about to get up, his hands spread out as if pleading for no other massive sounds of mayhem to be heard again.

"It's alright, Tails. I got this." Sonic motioned for him to sit back down, calming him and getting up to take care of it. "Besides, don't you have some research to do?"

"W-well I-" Tails felt like Sonic was right but there was still a twinge of fear that hung over him. His garage was neat and organized, well... for him anyway. He didn't like other people touching his belongings without his knowledge of it. "But what if your Instincts..?" his mind then turned to more problematic conclusions...

Sonic paused, letting his foot fall with a light pat to the side of him, just outside the linking door between the garage and small home.

"…You got anything that smells real bad?" he asked.

"Uhh… No. Not unless you want a dirty Sock on your nose." Tails joked and walked over to a piece of cloth in the kitchen. Rubbing an air freshener on it, he then tossed the piece of fabric back to Sonic. "Here, you can keep it around your neck if you like. If her smell gets really bad, just put it up to your nose."

Sonic fashioned it around his neck like a bandanna and smelled it, smiling. "Perfect! This'll do nicely." He then walked to the garage.

"Amy?"

Squeak!

Again, more electric pulses of panic seemed to propel Sonic towards the high-pitched cry. He felt his body grow antsy, vigorously searching around in fast spurts of speedy lunges and halts to search for her.

Amy had gotten her head stuck in one of the X-tornado's spare tunnel tubes. Instinct made her want to go through it, like burrowing into a dark tunnel in the wild, but sadly… she was just to big for it.

Humorously, she kicked her feet, causing the tube to tumble somewhat and leave her squeaking for reinforcements again.

"Woah! Hahahaha!" Sonic spent a moment clutching his stomach. The sight was genuinely funny to him, but the constant squeaks of fright lead his laughter to be short-lived. "Okay, okay, hold on..." he moved over to her quickly, examining the tight predicament and making sure to keep a hand on the tire. He didn't want it rolling over her or worse, falling down on her. "Just like old times, huh?" he kid, referring to their numerous encounters where he had to rush in and save her life. Grabbing her waist, he secured a good grip on her, making her flinch at the sudden touch. "Calm down now, I'm not gonna hurt ya." He tugged gently, wiggling her body in a certain way that would slowly free her head from the awkward placement. She could feel the light touches from his hands that would encourage her to move this way or that and began feeling her head start to dip back out of the wheel. Growing excited at the prospect of renewed freedom, she grew anxious and started to flail a bit. "Hang on, don't flip out now." Sonic tugged a couple more times, still rolling her body and trying to convince her to move that way. '...Was her waist always this thin?' His mind was suddenly distracted, looking down at her small waist and wondering if she was eating properly.

While he was distracted, she finally pulled herself out, bashing him back from the force and landing on him as her quills gently graced by his nose.

She moved slightly up and huffed, shaking her head before looking excitedly down at him.

His face showed the struggle as his nose flicked in a violent rhythm, ready to sneeze at the immense in-take of her powerful aroma.

"Ah…" He felt it. His eyes began to flicker thin and round, his body heating up, and the desire of his instincts to overtake him increasingly growing more and more prominent. He hadn't felt it this strongly before, the urge of his body's instinct to free itself, especially after having let it loose just a little while ago. He quickly pushed her off of him, not meaning to make it as forceful as it was, but completely distracted as he clutched his head and tried to keep himself there. Around. Present. In control.

She rocked on her back and looked in total shock, crooking her arms into a cute bend at being launched back so abruptly. Her quills had cushioned her fall, but since Amy made a habit of shaving the quills on her back, she still felt the aching soreness from her spine. But her head was relatively unharmed. Tilting her head, she still couldn't interrupt the behavior because he wasn't acting like a normal hedgehog.

Sonic quickly put the piece of clothing over his nose, smelling the moist rag and soaking in the air freshener's scent like an oxygen mask. When he could feel his body stop trembling and gripping in tenseness at the ground, he knew he was back in control.

Relieved, he sighed heavily and lowered his head to the ground he was currently crawling over. 'Still in control.' he reminded himself. 'I can't lose it. Not here. Not in front of Amy...'

"Alright." he cleared his throat, moving to his knees and raising his arms up, tightening a bow around the back of his muzzle to keep the fabric in place over his nose and mouth. "Ahem,... you okay?" Sonic turned back to her, looking to make sure she wasn't hurt. "Let's take a look at your neck-"

Her face was inches from his, she nipped at the fabric, pulling it down, and licked his nose in a thank you.

There was a fraction of a second where silent hung in the large, echoing room...

"GE-YAH!"

But then it was broken and done.

Sonic sprung back, curling up in an instinctive reaction of defense and bouncing into some stacked shelves that came crashing down on him when he uncurled. He flailed at the avalanche of random mechanical items that scattered and poured over him, covering him completely in metals and wires. The only thing left visible was his kicking legs, trying to get out of all the stuff that fell over him, causing him to tumble back with his feet in the air. "Ouch…" his legs finally crunched up, then hung down in pain.

Amy squeaked in fright, but this time, not for her own sake. She bounced in a miniature hop that spread her feet and hands out wider than normal, showing distress and shock at the new development. She then charged over to him, coming on all fours to the rescue, digging through the wreckage.

When she moved a pan and a tool to the side with her muzzle, she sniffed and smiled with a wag of her tail, seeing his scrunched up and hurt expression. He had one eye bent down but blinked it open when the harsh, industrial light of the garage came back down into his view. "Well, it's about time." He frowned, jokingly as he looked up to her. "You come to save me, too?"

Amy stared for a moment, then grunted with eager joy, moving her face towards his own as she climbed into the hole she had created to get to him.

"U..u-u-uh! Wait! Hold on! Get off! AMY!" his eyes widened when he saw her coming closer and closer, causing him to swing his arms backwards as though swimming away from her. He kept sinking further and further down into Tails's garbage of random junk, trying desperately to escape her curious but playful face as it kept climbing further and further down towards him. Finally, the pile thinned from all the thrashing, having Sonic's arm hit the floor beneath him and end his noble crusade through the piled up junk until Amy came crashing down on him.

"Offph!" came a muffled sound from below.

Amy yoinked her head up from the technical trash, licking her arm from any scratches she might have gotten as she pursued her alpha, and then rubbed her head with the same arm in an attempt to clean the awful tasting black gunk off herself. (Author's note: The original text literally said, "She made a sound effect while pulling her head out" and I was like- ...Yoink? Lololol)

Sonic groaned, rolling out of his buried entrapment to lay on his belly, pulling out little odd and end screws and bolts from under his stomach. He felt like this was going to be a loooong spring. "Why can't you and I just… both stay out of trouble?" Sonic asked, looking over to her in defeat.

Her big emerald green eyes matched his stare, absolutely enthralled he wasn't dead from the heavy objects that attacked him from the walled sky. She smiled gently to him, submitting with her ears back and lightly moving her nose closer to his. She seemed to not care about understanding him anymore. His actions had spoken louder than any other communicative medium.

He had protected her from a scary situation, and in her mind, she had done the same.

"…You don't even understand a word I'm saying… do you?" He felt softer looking into her innocent but foreign eyes... She was Amy... but wasn't Amy at the same time. Lowering his eyelids in tiredness and fondness towards her, he couldn't help but feel a kinship. She was just as trapped in this as he was. What was she thinking? And what was her instinct supposing?

It was a-

Amy let out a breathy puff of noise, smiling widely and hovering over him as he shifted to his back, trying to get up.

He felt his heart tell him to smile back and willingly did so, leaning on his elbows to keep him somewhat off the dirty ground.

-beautiful mystery.

"I couldn't figure you out before… and now, heh…" he let his head dip down, causing her to grow worried at the suddenness of it's fall. She lowered herself and came closer, turning her head in a ridiculous angle to try and look up to see him. When he rose it up again, she happily wagged at her tail at seeing he was still safe and alright.

"It's just ten times harder when you're being all.. primitive." He motioned to all of her with big movements of his hands, pushing them off as he did so, getting up in the process of his emoting gesture. "Can you just… change back already?"

"Sonic! I heard a crash!" Tails came running to the door, gripping the side of it to yank him into a swift turn after swinging it open.

"It's alright, just a little accident. Nothing to fret about," Sonic stated, then felt bad, looking around at the dented equipment and cluttered engineering supplies. "Sorry about the mess, buddy." He scratched the back of his head, guilty and feeling sorry about causing his friend so much trouble.

"Just a couple of wreckless kids." Sonic joked, crafting the pun and trying to make light of the situation as he kept an arm out to guard and push Amy back. She worriedly rushed up to his face, wanting to clean off the black smudges, not knowing they were oil from the items having not been cleaned or used in a long time.

"Ah, no… that's alright, I-... Phew." Tails breathed out a sigh of relief. "I thought maybe you fell into instincts and you two were fighting again." He admitted his fears as he drooped his head down. "Glad it wasn't anything but my supplies dropping. I can clean that up later."

"Again, sorry bud. I know how you are with your tools." Sonic moved the rest of the junk away, lifting his chin up and bending an eyelid down as Amy finally found her way through his shielding arm. She licked his chin, getting right to work but he tucked his hand under her smothering, making her lick it instead. Annoyed at the blocking gesture, she changed tactics and smelled for his scent. However, without being in Instinct form, it wasn't really strong enough to catch her attention. It was already weak to begin with, her senses not really attracted strongly to it anyway, so now she became even less interested and went to explore other things. "But we're fine-ah, Hey..! Lay off, Amy..." After a farewell rub, leaning against him and mutely purring a goodbye, Amy took off in a sprint towards the other fun things she could do in the room. She tripped over a can and barked, ruffing in frustration and attacking it like a cat would a ball of yarn.

"Haha! Even in Instinct form, the heart doesn't forget. Eh? Sonic?~" Tails winked in good humor.

"That's not funny, Tails." He glared annoyedly back, wiping the saliva from his face.

Tails stuck his tongue at him, "Don't enjoy all the time you get alone together now~ Hehe..." he was about to close the door, when Sonic made his last remark, biting down on his teeth.

"Just wait til it's your turn, bud."

Tails felt a shiver down his spine, the door pausing and moving back open on his way out.

It took Tails a second before he shook himself out of it and made an uncomfortable sound while doing so, and then carrying on his way. He trusted Sonic, and he knew there wasn't much they could do besides monitor Amy while Tails figured out her instinctual patterns. All they hope for now was that Amy would shift back, but all the doting on Sonic made Tails wonder...

Why would a submissive female bare her fangs?

"Should he really be making jokes like that at a time like this?" Sonic muttered out angrily, turning back around and noticing his hand had begun to rub Amy's head, "Wha... where'd you come from?" He lifted the hand, realizing she had wandered back to him after getting bored. She moved her head around to have him scratch it on certain parts behind her ears and such, but when he moved it away, she dipped her head to the ground and rolled onto her back, rubbing the ground in her happy wiggles of pleasure at the attention she was getting.

"Ah..." She made a rather irresistible noise, gazing up at him with seductive eyes.

He stared back at her... his body soaring with heat again.

"...UW-AH!" He scurried away from her and once again began breathing hard. "What the-?" He clutched his head, feeling the instinct begin to rise up in a second wind, but shook it off. "Oh no. Not now. I promised Tails… I can't..." he took the cloth and put it up to his nose again, taking a deep breath in through his nose. "Ahhh! It's no use! Her smells to strong." He took the bandanna off and threw it to the side. "Augh! I'll have to make due without it… After all, it's just Amy. If I keep thinking that way, maybe-"

He suddenly saw her roll upright again, hyper-fixated on the thrown object. Racing for it, she pounced when it almost hit the ground an waited a moment, checking to make sure the nice smelling thing was dead. Then, sniffing to discover it wasn't a creature, she picked it up with her teeth. She immediately looked around, scurrying around the room and grunting frantically before rushing to a corner and spinning in a circle. She laid down, placing the fabric on her side, panting. She whimpered as she looked around her, sniffing the ground and not seeing whatever it was that she searching for, causing her to freak out. She placed her head on the floor, desperate, but for what? She closed her eyes after they looked unceasingly for the answer, staying troubled at not seeing whatever it was. Sonic thought that she may be retreating to sleep as a way to escape her endless seeking, but wasn't sure.

He narrowed his eyes a moment, looking at the fabric, and then turning his head up to think.

The fabric did smell good, but she wasn't after the smell.

It triggered something in her, probably another instinctual reflex, but what?

He could see the physical manifestation of her energy spike, so it had to be something she perceived was of great importance.

...Did she need to hunt..?

Then it clicked.

"Ohhh… you must be looking for a safe spot like your nest to rest in, right?" Sonic felt bad he didn't realize it at first. They had just taken her out of her home, the only real location she knew outside of Amy's knowledge... He thought a moment. "Tails did say you found comfort in that… hey! There's an idea." He smiled, getting up and rushing inside with a grin on his face.

"H-hey! What are you doing!?"

Tails swiveled in his chair.

"Amy's still in instinct form, I'm gonna make a bed for her."

"With my pillows and my cushions?!" he emphasized.

"She needs a nest to feel safe. Right, Tails?"

He stopped his busy work to raise the question to him, looking at Tails from under his armpit and cocking a charming eyebrow up at him.

"You already wrecked my garage." Tails flopped himself lower into the chair, swinging an arm up in acceptance, knowing he couldn't win even if he tried.

Sonic moved his lowered head out from under his slightly raised arm and smiled his signature look. He came rushing back to Amy with some blankets and other fluffy things he could find lying around Tails' main living room, flopping them all down in front of her.

"They'll get dirty…" Tails whined from inside, peering from the side of the door to see what he was doing.

"Ah, stop being a baby! It's for the greater good." He bent down, knowing Tails wasn't too upset about it and spoke sweetly to her. "Here you go. Now you'll feel safe and sound here." He slowly pushed the objects toward Amy, who blinked her now subsided eyes open, scanning the plush objects presented to her. Blinking her eyes up to him, her ears bent back.

"No need to ask my permission. Go on." He stood up from his kneeling position and kicked a couch cushion lightly toward her. "Take it." he smiled and began to walk off.

Once again, his actions were more like a caring alpha, providing for his pack...

She looked after him and lowered her head, wondering what this could mean...

He looked back at her fondly, tilting his head. "Still don't get it…?" he sighed, "Alright fine." he seemed much more at ease. He had gotten control of himself by distracting his mind, but what he didn't realize... was that his instincts were influencing him more than he thought... little by little, he was slowly and unknowingly giving in to them.

He got down, pretending he was in instinct form, making her head shot up in surprise as he bit the cushion. He arched his head over her own and flopped the cushion over her head, draping its loose fabric to the sides of her complexion. He grinned, not letting the cushion go just yet, and wanting to make his point even clearer. Remembering his instincts and its thoughts, he moved his ears forward, showing authority. "Thwere, nwow wits ywours." He said through his teeth as he finally let the cushion go, taking another one and resting it on her body, moving it the exact same way he did the first. "Heh, and I guess you can keep the old scented rag too."

Amy saw the kind gesture again. He was starting to win her own, this new alpha of hers.

She looked up at him. "You really do want me apart of your pack... don't you?" when he didn't respond to her grunting, she smiled to him, submitting. "You're a weird alpha... but I'll be your pack." And with that, she accepted his gift and started to rapidly move all the objects into a circle, tucking them under her and building a vastly smaller nest than before. She didn't create a rim on this one... instead, she left it open, resting on her new little nest like a hen on an egg.

Sonic watched from outside what he supposed was the ring of the nest, although it looked different, he figured it was because she had a lot fewer items to work with than before. He felt a weird sense of accomplishment, leaning back and sitting down in front of her. She batted her eyes in contentment, smiling a goofy grin of comfort before shifting her gaze back up at him sweetly, wondering if he'd do anything more...

He didn't think or focus too much on her eyes or what they could be saying, it was more a... strange possession that he felt. Like… he needed to watch over her as she rested to ensure that she was safe and felt that way because of his presence.

"…T-Tails?" He slightly whispered, not wanting to wake her as he got up, moving back inside the house.

"Hmm?" Tails chimed in from the other side.

"Is there a-uh… ehem." He cleared his throat, being embarrassed about this question. He clapped his hands together and looked away shyly, letting his nervous energy be his guide. "Is there an instinct for males about being protective?"

"Hmm? I don't think so. Once the female's impregnated they usually leave her be." Tails stated bluntly as Sonic's quills rose on end at the insensitivity Tails was showing. He felt himself scrunch up, his hands and feet, everything flexing inward at the horrible creation Tails had spun in his mind.

Glancing over his way, Tails saw him grow silent and immediately felt bad, "Uhh...Sorry, I mean, no." he stated as he noticed Sonic's expression and his eyes shrinking at his words from a reflected image on his computer screen. "I've been looking up research journals and entries from scientific studies done recently." He scratched his head apologetically, "I keep reading all this stuff… and I guess I just got numbed to it." He got off the computer and creaked the door more open to the garage.

"It could just be you, wanting to keep her safe while she's in this weakened state, not necessarily an instinct."

"...How do you know?" Sonic looked down, seriously thinking about it, and not being convinced. He glanced up to Tails, kicking his feet out a moment and then looking away again, uncertain.

"Well, since most males just mate and take off soon after." Tails stated, "Why? You think the only reason you would do a nice gesture towards Amy is due to instincts?" Tails huffed, disappointed in his friend as he walked to the side of him. "You gotta give yourself more credit than that, Sonic." As he came closer, trying to give Sonic a literal pat on the back, he noticed something missing. He looked over Sonic to try and find it, "Hey,... where's that scented cloth I gave you?" he asked curiously.

"Hmm?" Sonic's mind was elsewhere, scratching the back of his neck before he understood what Tails had just asked, processing it quickly. "Oh, that. Amy got a hold of it and it's in her nest now." He turned away, folding his arms, and feeling slightly bad about thinking it was his instinct that made him want to protect and keep her safe… but that feeling of owning still slightly stirred in him. Was Tails sure that wasn't apart of it?

"…She… took the scent?" Tails looked a bit like he had heard something incorrect.

"Huh? Well, yeah. Why? Is there something wrong with that?" Sonic turned back to his friend, not sure what he was getting at.

"How did she get it? Did you wear it for a while or put your scent on it?" Tails pointed to his neck but held eye-contact, deducing something...

"She kinda just… lunged for it once I disregarded it." Sonic furrowed his brow. "Is everything okay, Tails? Did I do something wrong?" Tails looked conflicted.

Tails froze a moment.

"...You discarded it!? Well, gee, thanks Sonic." Tails joked a moment, before looking out the door again... was he masking something?

"It wasn't like that." Sonic knew he was kidding and elbowed him a little to joke back. "But what's so wrong with that?"

"…It's just..." Tails looked concerningly off towards Amy's restful body, moving up and down in her quiet breathing pattern as she slept. "…The fact that..." he seemed to be having a hard time saying it, "She brought that smell so quickly into her nest… a place that's supposed to be her haven from now on until the end of spring... or whenever her kids would be old enough to leave. Then again, times have changed. Studies show that some people retain more primal instinct than others… Some have quickly evolved away from it... it just depends on individual genetic makeup. There may be more instinctual things that came about when we all evolved into higher beings… Like your protectiveness, for example."

"Possession. I think they're different." Sonic interjected but Tails just shrugged. They were both looking at Amy from afar now...

"All I'm saying is that, theoretically, our instincts could have evolved with us as well." Tails pointed out, then moved on. "Taking on sentient life... having our bodily needs literally take over our cognitive mind... because we too often reject those urges that give most feral animals meaning to their lives."

Sonic remained silent, then spoke up as he looked away, avoiding eye-contact but genuinely asking a question he seemed shy about admitting he had. "Like what?"

"Having a family." Tails's eyes arched, shrugging as he spoke the words out, but then continued his soft but melancholy tone on his theory. "It's an ancient longing. Having our genes spread and producing heirs for a future we created. Someone that can live on through what we left behind..."

The two boys remained silent before Tails decided to speak his thoughts again.

"But making a love nest isn't really an 'evolved' sentiment." he took a second, giving Sonic time to process before continuing on with his ramblings, "The things you stated could be just what normal ancient hedgehogs did… but those websites do mention variations..." he walked off in thought as Sonic continued to stare at Amy's frame, rising and lowering, showing the signs of life.

"I guess I could look more into that. After all, you can't all have the exact instincts. Amy seems to be genetically heightened for her age. Highly submissive is usually grounds for a desirable female, but I can't get over that Amy bore her teeth... she fought back, even while submitting... could that be something evolved? Even though Amy's pretty instinctual and slightly more inclined to animalistic impulses. Her mood swings, for instance, but..." Tails noticed Sonic leaning back into the garage slowly, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Sonic..?" He slowly followed as Sonic bent down, turning his head back to him quickly.

A threat apparent within his diamond eyes.

"Oh, Sonic…" Tails breathed out heavily, saddened at how long Sonic must have been fighting his own instincts... He stopped to see Sonic start walking into the garage, clearly not wanting to be followed. "Heh, and here I am, talking about Amy's instincts when it's still yours we haven't fully deciphered yet either." He watched as Sonic's Instincts paused and stared, wondering what Tails would do. "...I'm sorry." Tails stated, "You were probably asking more about your own instincts, and I didn't realize you wanted an explanation for yourself, not for Amy's sake." His instinct just kept staring, and Tails looked down in shame. "I shouldn't have opened the garage again… the scent must be stronger than I imagined." When Tails looked up again, Sonic was already next to Amy's backside, moving over to where her head was.

Since this nest was so much smaller than the one at her home, he laid his head gently down beside hers. She was slightly curled up, so he just kept his head near hers, not wanting to disturb her peaceful slumber.

"I'm here..."

He grunted something, and Tails for a moment was just taken in by the touching moment till he suddenly jolted. "My language translator!" he shouted in a whisper as he jumped back and got his charged up device, racing back over to the door and turning it on.

Tails's—still poorly working—translator:

"...I protect you."

"Shoot! I missed it!" Tails slightly banged his head on the device and looked up, seeing Sonic rub his head on her own. "Ah... is he... still scenting her?" He thought back at what Sonic had said. "...Huh, I haven't read it before but... maybe Hedgehogs do have more possessive tendencies... it could just be an evolved instinct thing too." he lightly hit the top of his head with his fist, scolding himself, "But that's still just a theory. Instincts have carried many different instinctual behaviors over time, adopting more and more from other species, dating back to our ancient tribal years... Maybe that's why they're not acting fully like hedgehogs or just one kind of animal anymore. Maybe... even in the body, there's a sense of growing humanity." He touched his heart. It may have been just a hypothesis, but he truly wondered if the body and soul were growing closer to creating a bridge to the heart for anthropomorphic kind. Slowly, maybe they would become more human than animal, but even still...

They were still evolving.

Sonic continued to gently rub his head against her own, a continual circling motion of affection. He especially made sure that the scent glands under his chin, now producing their needed power, were grazing her head and cheek on the rounds of his devotion. Showing ownership of her and saturating her in his scent. Lovingly and carefully, he made sure to do this without waking her.

Tails sighed, "At first, I thought it was instant kinship." He stated, remembering their first encounter at Amy's home. He moved the device down from in front of him and leaning his head up, "But I was wrong…" he looked back to Amy and Sonic as he sat at the foot of the door, observing Sonic begin to fall asleep next to her and looking at the moment like a stilled painting of harmony.

"…It was love at first sight…"

Later that night, Amy woke up, her eyes going back to normal ovals again. She yawned, not sure why her arms were tucked under herself, but pulled them one out to rub her eyes. "Hmm..? What? Where am I?" She looked around. The room she was in was a dark and old, steely place. Her pillow felt heavy on her back, and she didn't move at first, just adjusted her bare shoulder blades under its weight.

There was a shadow of something... a plane that matched the X-tornado's silhouette through the beamed lights from little windows slanted at the top of what appeared to be a large workspace. The moon shown in, dipping itself into her vision as she was forced to squint her eyes at its sudden appearance through murky, hazed clouds of grey...

"I'm… not at my house?" She tried to remember what happened till something shifted next to her in its sleep...

She froze, having almost gone to move herself up, the other being next to her grumbled and rolled slightly off of her. It certainly was not an inanimate pillow-cushion.

Her eyes slowly made their way to the shadow next to her as it moved its head up against her arm, grunting more. "Go back to sleeeeep~"

She held in a scream, sitting up onto her arms and pushing up in spooked shock. Something was with her!

"S..Sonic?" she breathed out, seeing a restful blue tint in the dark vision she had as her memories slowly began to return...

Along with a splitting headache.

"Ahh.. ohh... ouch... Umm… uh… Okay, you got me out with a strawberry. Clever. Ah! Ohhh, that hurts, that hurts! Uhh... But before that… before that… Ah! You bit me! Mean…" She clutched her head, trying to think harder through the pain, but seeing the images and memory coming back to her in the deep obsidian night. "And… um…"

She remembered the look he gave her, about her not understanding his words, and the gentle touch of his hand on her head. She remembered how he gave her the cushions to make another fort for herself—or nest, as they were calling it—and how he grunted something to her…

"What did he say?" She tried to think more about it, recalling the memory to her mind, but the pain was unbearably deafening now. However, a sudden deep grunt was heard again.

"What are you pawing at?"

She looked over, seeing a pair of almost glowing green eyes in the moonlight staring right up at her, neutrally studying her actions.

He grunted again, "Amy?" but she couldn't understand a word of it.

"Ah…ahhhh!" She started getting scared, crawling back and pointing. "D-diamond star eyes! You're... You're-!" he gripped her head and pulled her two matching side quills down in front of her, remembering everything now. "You're in instinct form! Should I run!? Should I flee!? T…Tails!?" she breathed out in fright as she tossed herself left and right, stomping her feet down in a pitter-pattering of nerves. "Ah, I should stand up." she slammed her hands to the side of her, gaining some sanity and began to stand up.

Sonic growled, "Don't walk like one of them." he warned, not liking it. He was slowly realizing she had shifted into her other form and he grew angry at that. "Turn back." he growled more loudly this time, keeping a constant tone of vibrated annoyance in his snarl.

She stopped, freezing in spot as she gulped. "There,... there, there now, Sonic..." She held her hands out, but he didn't attempt to come closer to her. She decided to risk it, seeing if he might shift back. The headache was gone, but the memories now remained. She checked her ear real fast, it had healed pretty quickly.

"It's me... It's Amy." she steadily made her way towards him.

His ears twitched at the sound. He knew it, but only through his other's ears... and his other hated knowing he was around to listen in on his world. But Sonic would never share it with him, he refused him of everything. But not this female... he wouldn't keep him from her...

He rose up slightly from laying down, having already rolled to his stomach, but she was ignoring his threats. "I don't want her other." he glared, not liking her boldness.

She tried to reach his head, to pat it and try and calm him down. He licked his upper teeth, preparing in case she tried, still showing his teeth.

When she didn't flinch her hand back, still cooing to try and calm him, he gave up the bluffing threat and alternated his eyes back and forth over her frame, side to side.

"Its me, Sonic... shift back... okay?" she lightly petted his head.

He growled, but not as forcefully as before. "Stop it..." but he couldn't hurt her, he had already claimed her as his pack. He was sworn to protect her as his own life, so his threats were meaningless.

Amy flinched back her hand after a few scratches, realizing he wasn't letting up from his angry stance.

"Y-…you did it to me! So there!" she rubbed his head down, hoping to slow him down if he pursued, and started to take off. "EEEEEkkkk!" she panicked, knowing she couldn't outrun the fastest thing a-

He pounced on her, biting at her dress and dragging her back to the nest. "AH! TAILS! HELP ME!" He pushed her head down into the nest and got her back in it, forcing her under him and grunting more. "Stay. You're such a hassle. Touch me more." he nudged her hand to his head, wanting more attention. But the complete switch from aggressive to forcibly nudging her into one spot didn't communicate well for Amy Rose. "H-hey!" She shook her head and he stayed out of the nest, his ears flicking around as if he was standing as a sentry over her, guarding something precious to him.

"L-let me go, you brute!" she kicked, but he wasn't even holding her, and he let her kick him too. "Ohh! I'm not your property so there-Ah!" She covered her mouth, remembering the words he spoke to her… and what she spoke to him… while in Instinct form…

It was something that happened while Tails wasn't able to translate, but also the details he missed while trying to fix it...

-The flashback of Amy's Memories-

They were back in Amy's Home. She was moving her hand to his, slightly nudging her head under his.

You… you seem strong… you can… take me, if you so desired.

Instinct Sonic didn't say anything, only watched her and studied her movements and listened to what she was saying.

You could have anything you desired, couldn't you, alpha?"

In Amy's memories, the words were so clear, even if they were just noises, better than Tails's machine ever could have translated.

"Why should I take you?"

Sonic's sounds were masculine but calm and discreet. Although grunts, it was strangely attractive to her in her memory...

Moving away a bit from her rubbing against his scent glands, he folded his arms across the other and hung on the couch, regally watching...

He was trying to further prove her newfound loyalty.

You're just interesting. Where are your fangs?

He almost said this with a bit of dark humor in it, as if toying with her.

"I do love new things…we both do…"

"Both?" Her head tilted, still gazing up at him and trying to find a way onto the couch. Her instincts pulled her closer to him, but Amy remembered watching in horror.

He growled low, dipping his head to her but the growl was a seductive one. Amy didn't know how she knew that, but she could remember what the sound did throughout her body. It left her instincts fixated on him, wanting more and more attention from him...

"You've crossed my area of comfort, little rebel. Stay back."

It was only a gentle warning, but Amy remembered her other self not giving it any heed, allured by his tactics. She wanted to fight, so she purred and rubbed the back of her spiky quills up closer to him.

"I like you too. Dominant, but with a heart."

He pulled away from her, getting up slightly and keeping the high ground, staring down at her.

"Don't twist my own words against me… Amy."

She had her back towards him, so he knew her spiking him was just friendly play. She trusted him enough to face her back to him, another complete shift from her once aggressive stance. She fascinated, even Amy's instincts could tell that, and it made her bolder. She found a way up and nestled her way into his chest, burying more of her scent into him as he allowed her to do as she pleased, still observing her but keeping an eye out for Tails... She nipped at his chin playfully, showing submission again, like a child to its father. This made him frown, but he didn't threaten her away…

He wasn't after that kind of relationship... Although, an alpha was looked at as a father figure.

...How did Amy know this? Was it her instinct translating his actions to her?

-Tails's Workshop-

Amy remembered his voice being so endearing when he spoke her name that it made her slightly blush as she thought about it. She covered her face, strangely happy but not knowing why. She shouldn't be happy with how his 'body'—so to speak—was calling out to her like... That was supposed to be weird... right?

Seeing the Sonic in modern time move around to lay behind her—his back to her—suggesting he trusted her as well. But how come she knew this? She only knew what it meant because she felt her instinct suggest it was so. She tried to recall more of the moment… not wanting to get distracted, but somehow...

Knowing Sonic's instincts eyes were on her, piercing her backside made her squirm a moment.

Why did it feel like high tension? What was she to be so nervous about?

Yes, he was making sure she didn't leave the pillowed area. But there was something oddly... pleasing about it.

Was she really getting turned on by all this?!

She covered her face again, crying out a high pitch sound of nerves as Sonic's Instinct reacted at once, jumping up and sniffing her.

"Nooo! Go away, go away, go away!" she felt wrong feeling that way and fanned her hands out to smack him back.

He huffed as he hopped away from her swatting attack. "Hmph, females..." he shook his head to the side, knowing females were standoffish but never experiencing it before. He just wandered back to his lookout post, playing watchdog as he laid down and his ears rolled like sonar, listening for threats. "Either shift back and become interesting again... or I'll get bored waiting for you to sleep." he huffed out a few grumbles, Amy wondering what he was saying under his breath.

She ignored it and turned around, pulling her legs up onto the nest in a fetal position and lowering her head down into the gap it created. Trying to further recall...

A lot had happened, wow.

Her eyes narrowed as a natural reaction to thinking hard about something...

Instinct drew Instinct Sonic's eyes to her exposed back... following the crook of her spine down to the pronounced and thinly lined muscle that helped her curl into the ball his species were famous for. He felt himself wanting to get up, move back over her, examine her back further... but she wasn't his Amy... He huffed, shifting back down and trying to get comfortable on the hard, garage ground.

Besides... he wasn't in the mood to put up a fight...

-Back to Amy's memories-

"What do you mean by… both?"

Sonic moved over her, giving her no response. And so? She pushed him off the couch.

Jumbled by that maneuver, he jumped back on the couch and shoved her off too, completely ignoring her then and moving to the other side.

"Hey! Oh, you play that way do you, Sonic?"

She seemed upset by the rejection, patting her feet into the couch in a playful outlet of her pent-up energy. She got right back up too, not giving up.

"I can play too! See!"

She bounced over to him and bit at his ear, trying to get him to fight again.

Now her childish play was annoying him. He didn't want a hoglet. He wanted a...

"Am I not interesting? Come! Play with me! Then you will have me."

Amy remembered him shaking his head, patting at it with striking hits as though something was hurting him.

"He grows mad at my amusement towards you. It's hurting my head. Go away."

He shook his head again and laid down, avoiding her. Amy pondered what he meant... was the real Sonic trying to somehow control him in that moment?

"Ah! You tease and play me! You don't want a pack, you want nothing!"

She rushed like a puppy away, and then back, showing her enthusiasm but jumping back on the couch again, thinking he might chase her. When he didn't, his ears showing his discomfort, he jumped off and trotted away.

"Look! I am young and light!"

He finally responded to her, laying down somewhere else.

"Full of annoying energy…" he flopped down by the television, seeing as Tails was thinking to himself and only making slight noises on occasion. He decided to rest a minute...

"Look! My scent! Is it nice? Take me with yours!"

She raced over to him, presenting her chin.

"He grows angry, and your charming, my sweet."

For a moment he smiled at her, showing some fondness as he submitted, demonstrating he wasn't purposefully trying to ignore her.

"But he shouts too loudly." He looked away, "I must obey... no matter how tempting you are." he turned back and nuzzled his nose into her scent, having a double motive in mind. Although wonderful to smell, it kept Sonic's Instinct in power, and he wanted desperately to hold onto his control.

He frowned deeply in a matter of seconds though, placing his head back down and growling.

"He hates how good you smell..."

"Then fight me!" She pounded the ground, a sign of dominance. "I'll claim you!"

"You still don't understand..."

When Tails distracted him, causing him to rear up in an outburst, Instinct Amy still continued to wonder what this 'He' was that he spoke of.

"Quiet! You pathetically curious and weak intruder!"

Instinct Sonic barked to Tails.

"Oh! A new friend? Something interesting?"

Amy's head rose up and she grinned excitedly, rushing over to investigate when Sonic stopped her.

"Stop! It's danger!" He blocked her from Tails, turning serious all of a sudden.

She looked back at the small fox boy, "But... you just called him weak."

"He brings imprisonment. Stay back. If you are mine, then obey me, your alpha... and stay safe." He looked back and growled to Tails, but tenderly looked at Amy, pleading she'd keep her distance.

Amy's instinct tilted her head, thinking, 'My… Alpha? So you really are then?" She was glad to hear him confirm it, seeing as he was avoiding her reluctantly, and still not fully sure why.

-Back to Tails's Workshop-

Currently, Amy looked back behind her at Sonic, who slept where he first laid down. She wondered what being alpha even meant. Did it mean having control over her? That she was his to own? She didn't quite get it.

"...Is it an... animal... thing?" She didn't want to say what she was really feeling out loud, admitting it herself would have been too much.

Being absorbed back in her thoughts of this morning, she remembered him huffing to Tails and moving her back.

-Back to Amy's Returning Memories-

Alright, fine. I shall play. But don't entice me. He becomes more of a nuisance when I try to seek more about you." He poked at her belly with his head, something Amy thought hedgehogs do to investigate each other but felt awkward about it as she gripped her stomach, remembering how that felt.

She patted at his head, trying to initiate play but his quills we're sticking up, an indirect sign of protecting himself against her and showing more authority in his actions to keep her away from the Fox.

"Don't investigate me then! Play!" she moved away, continuing her fast-paced swatting as Sonic kept his head down, not letting her budge anywhere near the fox ahead of them.

"Fine, I shall attack!" Sonic playfully charged her and they started to roll around. If they could laugh or giggle, they probably would have been. They began to bond more through this play, causing Instinct Amy to adore her new alpha more and more...

-End flashback-

"Good thing Tails was there to stop us… we might have grown too close or something…" She thought, feeling her body turn towards Sonic without her really thinking about it. "...I wonder if my Sonic's in there..." She slightly stoked his quills as he slept, worried she might wake him, and keeping it barely a touch as she strummed through the many quills on his head like guitar strings. She was remembering his kindness to her... when he helped her out of the tire and stifled a chuckle. "Oh Sonic… why does it have to be like this? Why can't we be… I don't know… normal, like humans are." She sighed, seeming sad by the fact of her instincts seemed to be keeping them even more apart than before... and yet, closer than ever as well. Was she doomed to have a great relationship with his instinct, but not with the man she loved himself?

Suddenly her head ached again and she groaned in pain as a memory resurfaced once more.

-Another Memory-

"Amy…"

What memory was this one? Sonic's charming voice resonated in her mind as she remembered her body resting in the nest she was now currently in, him climbing in after her while Tails seemed to panic by his door. Her ear twitched slightly at his alluring voice, tempting her to wake up, but her instinct didn't stir. She liked being asleep, wanting to rest from the play of the day. Even if her version of Sonic had returned, she wasn't willing to greet him when she felt so comfortable.

His eyelids lowered gently as he laid near her and rubbed his head with hers. She opened hers briefly, looking to him before closing them again so he couldn't see she was slightly awake.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer…" This Sonic was strange to Amy, but for some reason... she didn't mind him at all. She felt herself grip her legs tighter, pulling them closer to her body as she allowed herself to remember more without interruption. His head smoothly moving against hers,... his breath in light, pleasing grunts as he softly poked at her cheeks and behind her hair... a feeling of great worth swept over her. She could feel it rush like a gentle wave and found herself emoting with an 'Hmm~' in real time at the memory of the pleasant sensation, lifting her head back to let it consume her a moment. "He is wary of me, fears I may harm you. But I only do what is right. You… you've charmed me. And it seems, though he will not admit it, that your other has charmed him as well. I like you too, and I like having met you. He feels the need to protect and have you, that is not of me, but I accept it." He spoke the last line with a smirk on his face, keeping his eyes closed as he finally shifted from just rubbing his face against her quills to smearing his scent on her, gently, and lovingly with large strokes.

Amy opened her eyes, looking straight up at the ceiling. Did that mean... her Sonic..?

I'd like to have you… I think I would. But I can't. Don't worry, I won't let him take you from me though. Now that I've met you... now that we're a pack, I shall protect you…"

Then a slight whisper before he drifted off to sleep, lowering his head to rest on her upper back, just lightly leaning onto her head...

"Always. As he has done before. I can sense it. When you sense your other too, you will understand. Both will be the one, and the one will be both. But for now, I am he that defies me. And he is me that defies myself."

What does that mean?

"Goodnight. And I hope you may defy her till the moment you become one in and of the same. Then... I shall claim you. More than just my female,... I shall make you..."

Amy's eyes lowered, suddenly recalling something that made her head hurt again, gripping it as confusion between mixed emotions caught hold upon her heart and body.

"My-"

-End of memory flashback but the beginning of another extreme headache-

"Something isn't right... I can't remember... what he..." she felt her body giving into exhaustion. Whatever conflict was going on in her, she clearly was losing on both sides.

"Amy! Amy, are you okay?"

"H..huh?" Amy woke up, noticing she was still in Tails's garage, her memory fully restored to her. That memory... she had drifted to sleep before she could hear the end of it...

What was it his Instincts had tried to say..?

"Oh good." Tails sighed, seeing an angry Instinct Sonic glare and growl at him threateningly. "Hey! You're the one that brought her to me! So stop acting so… so…" Tails bent his ears slowly, surrendering at once when seeing Sonic lean forward, his ears directed at him. Realizing that yelling at Sonic's Instincts would only grant him a death wish, he just turned away and continued to address Amy. "A-anyway… she's not in instinct form. I-I mean, you're not in instinct form." Tails was speaking to Sonic, but corrected himself, seeing as Amy understood him now instead of Sonic.

"I… I was remembering," Amy stated, feeling weak as her head still throbbed with pain.

"Y-yeah… Sonic was rolling in his sleep the first time too. I'm afraid it will hurt for a bit longer till you're able to communicate with your instinct better…"

"Communicate?" she looked up at him, confused but feeling like the room was spinning around her. Sonic's instinct paced around the two, huffing in anger at Tails being around her.

"You said this would help her.", 'She's in pain. Let him handle this.', "You're going to take her away from me!" he chomped the air, looking over his shoulder as if speaking to the thoughts in his head directly. 'I don't need to speak to you. Just stay back, or else.' Sonic threatened from within the compounds of his mind. Instinct Sonic huffed and reared his head, "I am in control now! You don't control me!", 'I control what needs controlling! One wrong move like before and I'll make sure you never come out again!'. Instinct Sonic pfft'ed, "That cannot happen. I'm you. You're me. We cannot exist apart..." He seemed annoyed at that fact, still pacing nonstop around the two, checking every now and then to make sure Tails wasn't hurting Amy. 'She's already in pain, we've been there before.' Sonic's voice within his mind grew just as annoyed but remained calm even in his frustrations.

Instinct Sonic shook his head violently, "Get lost." he seemed to mimic a phrase Sonic had once said to him. He looked worriedly back at Amy, his facial expression changing to worry and deep care. '... I care about her well-being too.' Sonic insisted, but his instinct ignored him and moved on. "You only care about me." he protested, stopping his pacing and looking away from the two.

"Yes. You see, once you and your instinct combine-" Tails went straight into explaining it for her, lifting his two index fingers up to represent Amy and then her instincts. "As in… well… hmm… how do I put this… The ultimate goal right now is to control it, but one day, you'll be able to summon your instinct and be one with it." he entangled his two fingers together, twisting them into a strong hold and smiled at his demonstration. "Does that make any sense? Like, you can choose to turn into instinct form and still be yourself without having to fight against your body. It's you, after all, so you'll just... fade into each other…" he tried his best, "You'll also get super strong, have all your senses heightened, and basically become the ultimate you! Isn't that kinda exciting? Maybe even worth it?" He knew Sonic didn't care, just wanted it rid of, but he hoped Amy would understand.

"...heightened senses?" She looked kinda amazed by that, and Tails felt proud to have hooked her on something to look forward too. "Yeah! Touch is mainly a body thing anyway, but it should help you with-!... uh... future events... down the line too." he put a tight lid on that one, not wanting to scare her out of her good mood. But while Tails was helping Amy up, Instinct Sonic barked, causing Tails to quickly hand Amy over to him Sonic. He spread his arms out like he didn't do anything, worried about getting attacked somehow...

Sonic whimpered, looking her over and then holding her with his arm pulling her to his chest. Never once did he use his hand like it had a thumb attached to it, which Amy felt awkward about.

She decided to ask, "He... doesn't know he can use his hands or..?" It was mostly his arm pulling her close anyway, growling at Tails to stay away.

He squeaked weakly, and poked his head to hers, not wanting her to give Tails any more attention.

"That's just because Sonic hasn't let him into his consciousness yet. He doesn't realize his full potential yet... but boy, he was really worried about you…" Tails scratched behind his head. The movement made Sonic growl up at him again, turning fierce as Tails decided to take a couple steps back, just to show he meant no harm. "It's pretty obvious he doesn't like me, but since he didn't know what to do, he must of felt like I did. Probably had Sonic talk him into it but I'm not sure. I'll have to ask later." Tails concluded, keeping some distance between them.

"So… Sonic, he… he can speak with it?" Amy looked at Tails.

"Haha, so will you! That was your first time ever shifting into your instincts. And as far as I know, from what Sonic said, it's the roughest time too. It'll get easier each spring, as it comes around and all." Tails moved away towards the door, making sure to keep his arms out in case Sonic really did charge him. "Eh-heh... easy there, bud..." he sweated nervously, but got to the door.

Suddenly, there was a sniffing noise outside Tails' front door. Then some scratch noises as something seemed to want in...

"Huh? What's that?" Tails got up but Sonic bit his glove and pulled him down. "AWH! Hey! What are you-?" Tails was scared at first but noticed how careful Sonic was at only biting the gloved wrist, not his actual hand.

Sonic yanked as hard as he could, throwing Tails towards Amy, throwing him towards her. He nodded as if giving her over to Tails's care who wobbled once being released from Sonic's terrifying grip. Sonic growled and hunched down towards the garage's linking open door... though it was the front door where the noise was coming from, Sonic's instincts could only smell what it was... not exactly where it was coming from directly...

"...Sonic… what's out there?" Tails suddenly knew Sonic was standing guard, protecting what he thought was his territory. Tails wondered what danger could be at his door to cause Sonic to act in such a way...

Sonic huffed and looked off from the first door, his ears bending back in a disturbing manner.

Whatever it was, it was now sniffing along the garage door... moving back to the front of the house.

The second Tails heard grunting outside, he couldn't move. "…No.. it can't be…" Tails immediately got up, moving over to Amy. "Amy, listen to me! Can you walk?"

"...S...Sort of…" She weakly put her feet the right way on the ground, "Tails... what's happening?"

"You have too! Come on!" he took her hand immediately moving her into the house as Sonic watched them go, his mouth forming a deadly snarl as his quills stood up on end like a cat's fur. "You have to get somewhere safe! And I think I know where!"

"What are you talking about?!" Amy looked to see Sonic slightly following them but keeping his front to the door at all times.

Tails looked upstairs, "No… it's to easy to get too… Ah!" He ran back to the garage and flew up to the cockpit of the X-tornado. "In here, where your scent can't escape!"

"What?" Amy was placed down in the cockpit, Tails flying down to pick her up and do so.

"Amy… Don't be alarmed but-" A crash was heard, something was broken and fighting snarls and other chaotic clashing sounds were heard tumbling and destroying Tails's living room.

"He broke down the door!" Tails exclaimed, his eyes growing wide.

"Who did!? Tails, what's happening?!" Amy felt an odd shaking at the core of her being. Was it exhaustion? Or was her body trying to warn her of the danger happening outside? Tails quickly lowered the shield that covered the plane's back cockpit, pulling it down and clicked it into place. "Tails!" Amy cried out, placing her hands on the window of the shielding. Tails stared directly at her, a look of fear tracing courage in his eye. With a pit of despair in his stomach, he stated-

"Another man."

A whine of pain was heard.

"Oh no! Sonic!" Tails flew out of the garage as Amy placed her hands over her mouth, on the verge of tears.

"…I… Did I… Oh no,... is it my smell? This is just like Sonic said! It can reach almost as far as the wind can take it! But…" Her eyes watered, the fear of Sonic getting hurt because of her. It didn't matter to her in that moment which Sonic she called out too, she knew that he had to be okay. "SONIC!" She started pounding on the glass. "This is all my fault! Stupid behaviors! Stupid scent! Stupid spring! Sonic's getting hurt and it's all because of me and my STUPID-" she stopped herself, breathing hard and gripping her head. Something was snapping... she wanted to say what was on her mind but... "No… I can't..." she moved one of her hands through her hair, trying to calm herself down as the world went silent for a moment.

"I promised Vanilla I wouldn't curse it. The gift… This…" she looked at her hands and glared, tightening them into balls of fury.

Amy lowered her tightly bundled hands, turning away and not wanting to look anymore. She released the tension in them out of weariness, hearing the noises of battle outside. It only made her feel weaker and more at fault as she could imagine the trouble her instincts were causing for her friend and... for Sonic. She dipped her head down, laying more on the seat than sitting, drifting down into the dark fuzzy fabric of the shadowed cockpit. She had never felt so bad in all her life, curling up slightly and beginning to slowly show tears in her eyes.

Would she ever be able to control it? Her instincts? and what about Sonic?

Time went by as Amy plugged her ears, the fighting getting more intense outside.

Sonic jumped off the other hedgehog as he shook his head and growled. His ears flicked forward, a clear sign of a threat as his eyes locked to his. A challenge?

Instinct Sonic knew that in order to protect his newly claimed pack, he'd have to fight. He first demonstrated his dominance by ramming into a nearby bookcase, biting the falling books and tossing them around. This aggressive act was meant to veer off challengers, but the other hedgehog looked unimpressed.

Growing agitated that the other hedgehog wasn't respecting his turf, he did another display and started bucking around the room.

Again, the other hedgehog wasn't having it, moving in an odd crawl to the side where he kept his body towards Sonic, but his feet and arms shifted under the other to keep circling him and not get too close. Once Sonic's actions weren't deemed 'threatening' enough for him, he charged in.

Tails flew up to the counter, having been chased there by both hedgehogs in their pursuit for dominance and claiming the area. "But this is my home..." he looked defeated at seeing Sonic trash his bookcase, the pillows and seats already stripped from Tails's couch for Amy's nest. This was a whirlwind for sure... but he just glad Amy was safe. He couldn't tell if her scent was strong anymore, since putting her in the cockpit was supposed to limit that, but the hedgehogs could still smell where she had been... Finally, the two resulted to head-butting, where their heads would clash against the others, pushing the other back to show off strength.

This was usually done in the presence of the female being fought for... but since she wasn't there, it was all about claiming the area she was in. Sonic couldn't lose...

Finally fed-up with it all, Sonic shoved the other hedgehog's head upward, driving his teeth into his neck and flinging him back towards the door. He wasn't done then, though. He leaped back to roll and scratch and gnaw at the hedgehog as he kicked and squirmed to try and escape. Finally, Sonic rolled enough to kick and slam the hedgehog against the door, launching the intruder out of the house and having him unable to truly get up. Limping... the hedgehog looked back at Sonic.

"Wherever that female is... she's safe from me." he lowered his head, showing some submissive acceptance that this area was Sonic's. Sonic carefully walked to the edge of Tails's door, puffing up his chest and keeping his ears forward. He wasn't going to let his guard down until the other hedgehog's was gone completely.

"But you should know... I won't be the only one..." The hedgehog growled out, annoyed at his loss, and took off into the jungles near Tails's home.

Sonic huffed, "Yeah, you better run!" he then barked a quick warning, "She's mine! Let them come! I'm her Alpha!" he growled out and walked back inside...

Then collapsed.

"Sonic!" Tails flew down, moving over to Sonic as he whined out a sharp bit of pain.

His side wasn't looking so good... but he growled to Tails, "Stay away... pathetic fox." as he lifted his head up to see him bending down to him.

Amy heard the fighting stop, turning to look up and see if anyone was coming out.

Getting to his feet, at last, Sonic hobbled a little on his fours and walked back into the garage with Tails staying behind him. Tails saw him looking around for Amy, trying to smell her scent but it was all just places where she once was. He spun back to Tails, looking just as aggressive as he was with the other hedgehog, "Where is she!?" he snapped, bearing his fangs as Tails patted the air in front of him.

"W-woah! Calm down! She's just up there. I'll go get her, okay?" Seeing his body language, Tails quickly and nervously pointed to the cockpit and flew up there, coming back to Amy and opening the cockpit. "Are you okay, Amy?" he asked, looking down at her with worry stringed along his eye line. It was clear he was still frightened from the fight he just witnessed, even he wasn't fully accustomed to seeing Sonic go full animal on anyone before.

She sniffled as she looked back up at him with fresh, tear-stricken eyes still streaming down her muzzle. "Is… Is Sonic, okay?"

"I'm fine."

Sonic's voice echoed the room, getting up from being on all fours, and having his eyes shaped normally again. He gripped his head, "Ouch... why do I feel like I've been hit by a semi truck?"

"Sonic!" Amy jumped out to lean over the edge of the plane, looking down to see Sonic pretty beat up, holding his arm and keeping one eye closed. He glanced up as well, smiling with a winked from his good eye.'She's not up there cause of me... I don't know how I know that but...' he felt a headache coming, remembered trying to get a rein on his instincts, but to no real avail. He lifted his good arm to give her a thumbs up,

"I took him down, no problem. He won't be coming back anytime soon."

All he wanted was to comfort her. He couldn't imagine what she may be feeling... but seeing those tears in her eyes... he knew she must have been frightened. And for good reason too... but Sonic wasn't going to let her dwell on that for long-

"For both your sakes, he better not be." Tails admitted as Amy breathed out a sigh of relief, and then began to climb down. Tails was shocked to see her going down on her own, "Hey! H-hold on! I've got ya!" He lightly helped her descend with a few twirls from his spinning tails, letting her go to rush into Sonic's arms, hugging him desperately.

"I'm sorry..." she breathed out, "None of this would be happening if I hadn't... if I didn't..." she buried her head deeper into his chest, letting the tears smear against his short fur and matt them together a bit.

It was slightly uncomfortable... feeling her tears wet his chest...

"Ah! Ou-… I-it's not your fault, Amy…Easy now..." he tried to bite down on his teeth, mask the pain a bit to ease her, but having her embrace him so tightly made him flinch. His side was pretty badly hurt... but he didn't want to concern her with it any further. "Apparently, this is just what we have to go through until... well, until the time comes for one of us. I suppose..." he scratched the tip of his ear, looking away from her shyly and turning to Tails.

Tails nodded briefly to confirming that Sonic's thinking was right. Once they actually were mature enough to... well, 'get married to someone, someday' this won't be leaving them anytime soon. Sometimes, you can master it, called Merging. But Tails wasn't sure how that process really worked... he still needed to study that more.

"How could that hedgehog have done this?" Amy removed her arms from around him and placed them daintily upon his chest, moving away from his soggy chest fur. "You're Sonic the hedgehog! Couldn't you have just… sped around him?" Amy moved her face up to look at him, tracing her hands down to his arms and near his shoulders, seeming confused why he couldn't have just used his speed to quickly win the match.

"Yeah, but his instincts don't know that." Tails stated, pitching in as he noticed Sonic's eyes shift slightly from her touch, and move away from her more, looking away to avoid her seeing it. "Sonic keeps a lot of his mind closed off from his Instinct form. I told him not too, but he just doesn't want his instincts poking around at who Sonic is… apparently." Tails looked to Sonic judgingly, as if not understanding his thinking.

It wasn't just him he didn't want his instincts knowing about...

"My reasons are my own." Was all he could state. "But besides that," he shook his head. "We need to find a better way to keep Amy safe and keep our instincts at bay. Under control." He gave a serious look to Tails, showing him how his hands were still on Amy's lower arm... was he still being influenced? Even after shifting?

How hard was Sonic fighting, anyway?! Was his instincts possessive side still affecting him..?

"That's like asking me to stop time and disturb the order of nature! It's out of my hands!" Tails admitted, flinging his arms out in front of him. "What way do you suggest?!"

Sonic looked away, knowing that answer wouldn't come to them that easily…

"Well, that doesn't matter right now," Amy admitted, shying away from Sonic and glancing down to the side of herself.

"Doesn't matter?" Sonic looked back at her, a bit uneasy but also upset she could say such a thing so lightly. "Then what does?!" he followed-up, moving his good hand out to gesture for her to answer him.

"You do!" She stated, looking back to him in passionate love for his safety, "We need to treat that arm! And your eye… and-" she moved toward him more, gently grazing her hand against his face before he reflexed out of panic, feeling the sensation stir his instincts again and rudely smacked her hand away.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled out, ashamed he would do such a thing.

His eyes widened, stepping away. "I... I can't... I'm-" he looked apologetic, but his eyes never made contact with hers, just kept shifting left and right upon the dirty, stained ground of Tails's garage...

"...You need to go home and be on house arrest." Sonic stated, his eyes shifting to a plan rather than fear. "I'll guard from the outside, making sure your scent doesn't leak out… and keeping any guys away from it. Tails can get you groceries or whatever you need till the end of this spring." his plan was forming quickly as he made it up on the spot.

Amy looked hurt by his actions, holding her smacked hand and looking as though he had dipped the entirety of her soul into pitch-black sorrow. "You'd never order me around..." she admitted, turning away from him and facing him with her back.

In instinct form, this would mean trust, but to evolved civilization... this was rejection.

She closed her eyes, holding her hand close to her. "I've done everything wrong... haven't I?"

"...Again, it isn't you." Sonic held back the pain from his heart spiking his aggression. It was out of care for her... but it was coming out the wrong way.

"But isn't it!?" She flung herself back around, her red dress flopping with the motion. "If my instincts hadn't triggered yesterday... you... me... none of us would be going through this!"

"It's necessary, Amy." Tails tried to intervene, but Sonic's hand swiped out in front of himself, showing Tails that he shouldn't interfere. It wasn't his fight to face...

"Y-you mean… I can never see Sonic until the end of spring?" her voice shook, and it was the first time he ever heard such deep sadness from her.

"That's what's necessary?"

By his words, he had pushed her back, and by his own hand, he had blocked her affections.

"Say something! You can't possibly think I'm safer without you!"

Taking a breath in and letting it slowly out, He clamped his hand to his nose and looked away from her. This would not only send the message of complete denial, but also one of absolute fairness to her own reaction.

A sharp inhale showed Amy's shock at his actions. He was disregarding her feelings on the matter entirely...

"Amy…" Tails slowly took her hand and walked her out of the garage, and because her entire world was falling down around her, she let him lead her out... her eyes never left Sonic's back though. It stung and it bruised... but she never stopped looking in his direction. "You're not the only one that's scared." Tails continued, looking down as Sonic slightly turned his head to look over his shoulder at Tails. "He can't control his instincts yet either, Amy. So he can't stay around you very much. You understand that, don't you? He doesn't want to hurt you."

'But he could never hurt me...' she thought to herself, but the words never came out.

"I'll help you two out till the end of spring, and then everything can go back to normal, I promise." Tails turned around once they were in the living room, and placed his hand on top of the one he was holding, "I know it's hard, Amy but... can you be strong for us? We not only need to fight this but well… Nurture it too. Teach it what it can and can't do, and we can't do that if you're being jumped by every hormone crazed hedgehog that gets a scent of you! It's terrifying to think of what could-" Tails stopped himself, shaking his head and not wanting to think of that kind of situation. "We care about you, Amy. That's honestly why we're doing these outrageous things. You're our dear friend, and we want to protect you. Keeping you away from Sonic and the outside world might just be what's best for you two." He waited for her reply, but she only nodded her head to him.

'...What might be best... for us...' She felt her body grow limp, her head sink down and her chin touch her chest. 'What they think is best...' She would miss him more than anything... but it was her fault.

She liked his instincts. Maybe it was a part of Sonic, his body anyway, but she did love Sonic more.

This was punishment for such thinking. She would agree to Sonic's conditions, no matter how awful they were to her.

Tails sighed and looked back to Sonic, who was listening but his head was forward and to the opposite direction of them; However, he too nodded at Tails's words.

'Just hang in there... Amy.' Sonic thought, taking his thumb's tip and tugging on the glove part of it. 'Just hang on... till I'm strong enough to beat this thing.' he cursed silently to himself.

"Then it's settled! We'll get you back home and cleaned up!" Tails tried to lighten the mood, throwing a positive fist up in the air. "Let's do it!"

After a few months, Amy's moping nature suddenly turned into whining.

She sat on her couch, eating ice cream as she looked outside, seeing a blue blur pass by her window.

Spring was almost over and she was confined to her home on such a nice day... trapped inside... missing everything.

"This isn't gonna end… is it?" she complained, leaning back on the sofa as her face fell to the back of it, rolling to squish her deflated cheek down in boredom.

"Amy, you know it will." Tails came out of the kitchen, squishing up empty plastic bags he had just gotten from the grocery store. "Now, I put all the things you asked for in their proper places. Anything else you need that I can take care of? Or... can I take off?" Tails put the bags down on her coffee table and closed his eyes to turn happily towards her pitiful state, ignoring it for the hundredth time that week.

"Please don't go, Tails..!" Amy moved over the coffee table towards him. She took his hand as he opened his arms, startled to see her so desperately clinging onto him with bubbling eyes full of building tears. "I'm so lonely! I try to open the window to talk to Sonic and he just jumps up and closes it! Looking at me with such an intense glare that I'd swear he thinks I was trying to betray him!" the desperation in her voice made Tails feel such pity for her, but there was nothing he could do.

"I'm sorry, Amy. I have things to do today. And opening a window could let your scent out. It's best you just-" She pulled him forward, making him sweat in nerves as her face turned intense then...

"I'm tired of living like a criminal!" She sat up and shouted while her head leaned back to really carry the sound, absolutely distressed. "Tell Sonic I won't stay another minute in here!" she let go of his hand, being rebellious now as she wiped her tears over her folded arms.

"Amy… please don't." Tails almost whimpered out, knowing she was just going to fight him on this. She stood up, walking precisely over to the door, and looked back at him.

"Amy… d-don't do it! It's really windy today and-!" Tails suddenly noticed her cabin-fever had made her go haywire.

She reached for the knob.

"You know why you're in here! Why are you complaining?!" Tails reached over the couch, still attempting to reason with her.

What he didn't know was her instinct was growing just as restless as she was. She hadn't shifted, mostly just did little odd and end things here and there that resulted from her instincts... it was waiting patiently to burst out, but it needed something to motivate that... something to trigger its comeback.

Amy couldn't recognize this, but her hormones were slipping back to normal levels, and this was the last time her instincts would have control over her for a while. It was as if her body knew this and created a scene on the hopes of one more stand. At least, until next spring.

She twisted the knob...

"Okay! Okay! I'll tell Sonic to cover his nose and put up with it! He'll be right in, I swear! Just please, please don't open that door!" Tails panicked, rushing over the couch and falling onto the ground, quickly getting up to stand a few feet away from her. "But springs almost over Amy... can't you wait to see Sonic when-NO! OKAY! I GET IT! LOVE COMES FIRST OR WHATEVER! I'm going! I'm going..!" he held his hands out, not liking her threatening him, but he seemed to have no choice. If she got out, chaos might ensue, so it was better if Sonic just calmed her down. He had faith in his friend but... he frowned at her attitude, moving to the back door. "But you could be more considerate… we're just trying to protect you. This'll be hard on, Sonic too, you know."

"I'm through being protected! If something happens, I can protect myself!" Amy sounded like a spoiled brat, stomping her foot to the ground, but something was off with her aggressive tactics...

Tails couldn't tell she was being influenced, much like not seeing how Sonic was drawn to providing for Amy and protecting her at all cost. But his eye wasn't trained for such things yet, and he ended up just going with it.

Unaware how strong instincts can persist... even this close to the end of spring, they would fight and entice. Instincts needed time to express themselves, bottling them up only resulted in these kinds of behaviors. But to the inexperienced little gang, this was just a hopeless situation of flared tempers. But the frustrations were directly from other pent-up feelings entirely...

"Hide in the closet and I'll open the door and get Sonic…"

"You promise?" Amy moved to the closet, shuffling things away from her feet and poking her head out to make sure Tails wasn't fooling her. "I really can see him again?"

"…Yes…" Tails sighed, knowing Sonic would be upset with him. He lowered his eyelids down in remorse, gripping his face and pulling it down slightly. "But you better behave yourself..."

Amy grinned and excitedly entered into the closet. 'Finally! I'll finally be seeing my darling Sonic again! I've been trying so hard to make sure my instincts never came out that I'm sure I can handle it! Ah! I'll be around Sonic again! Besides, his scent isn't that strong, I can do this!' she enthusiastically thought, hoping all would end nicely after her little visit with Sonic!

Tails moved up to Sonic, who was playing guard on the road outside Amy's home. He looked very uncomfortable with having to ask his friend this favor... but Amy was acting recklessly and carelessly...

He knew it was the only way to appease her.

"…Sonic?" Tails began, chiming up as Sonic turned his head slightly to see him.

"Hmm? What is it, Tails?"

Tails moved a finger up, then down as his eyes glanced away, then up again with an open mouth this time. But sadly,... nothing came out and he just withdrew his finger inside it, not sure what to say.

"It's Amy…" He finally admitted, looking apologetic. "She's lost it."

"And..?" Sonic lifted an eyebrow. "You got her more food, right? That usually keeps her subdued."

"Yeah but... she's…"

"She's what?"

"Kinda hysterical now... like..." Tails rubbed the back of his neck, keeping his head down and trying to avoid Sonic's judgments.

"Spit it out, Tails." Sonic put his hands to his hips, looking a bit frustrated at how long this was taking. "Get to the point, already. I know it's hard for Amy, but..." his face seemed to turn to one of sympathy as if really thinking about her a moment before...

"…She's lonely…" He looked up to him and bent down, hunching himself as his ears reflexed to a submissive stance, afraid of his reaction.

"…Annnnnnd let me guess." he turned his body fully towards Tails, looking unamused. "She bribed with her sweet, innocent eyes?"

"The usual act." Tails admitted, "But with... one... more thing." he swallowed hard.

"What? To ask you to make me come in and entertain her? Oh, and with sparkling conversation over a nicely and conveniently arranged dinner she just so happened to prepare, is that it?" Sonic didn't look very sympathetic anymore...

"Actually… she threatened to come outside…" Tails admitted, nervously sweating as he tugged on his chest fur as though it was a neck collar... "You told me you were getting stronger with your instinct... that you two were working together more, right?"

"That was a long time ago." Sonic turned away, folding his arms again. "That was before..." he jammed his jaw tightly shut. 'Before Amy came into the picture...'

Tails seemed to know what he was about to say and looked sorry for his friend's predicament. But he wasn't going to fail Amy, either. He had been feeling bad for her for too long! He silently hoped Sonic would have what it took to just sit and talk with her for a minute, just long enough to sway Amy to wait just a bit longer...

"Just walk away and let her throw her tantrum." Sonic went back to being a sentry. "I need to run in a few minutes." He started stretching. "I can't stay here for too long, you know that. She'll need you to watch over her."

Tails sighed and slapped his hand to his own face.

"Yeah, but I swore to her. I made a promise." Tails admitted.

"What?!" Sonic jumped a little in place, shifting his body back to him and bent his ears at this news. He shook his head at him, disappointed how he could be so foolish. "Tails, come on… really? How could you? Don't you know it's-"

"Dangerous? Of course, I do! But I feel bad for her, Sonic! I had too! She would have come out here, strutting with the wind in her hair and then a herd of men would have been crashing down on her door or worse! On you! Since you're her 'alpha' now!" he pointed directly to him.

Sonic reared his head, his teeth showing, "Don't call me that!" His anger was a direct result of the same thing affecting Amy... he was trying so hard to hold back any leak or crack his instinct could use to take over him... with all that careful watching... it was waning on his mental spirit...

"Sonic..." Tails felt bad but kept up with his stance on this situation. "Think about it. She's been in that house for months! If all that built up scent came out—all at once—you'd have your work cut out for you!" Tails explained in an overly animated way, but his point was what mattered...

Sonic calmed down a bit and knew he was right, but didn't like it.

"But… you're going away, Tails… what if… what if I-" Tails stopped Sonic from speaking further by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Go in there, talk to her for a moment, and then get out as quick as possible." Tails smiled, showing his confidence in him. "You won't do anything to hurt Amy. I know it. I know he wouldn't either,... not on purpose anyway, and not to truly injure her in, anyway." Tails then winked, "You're Sonic The Hedgehog! Since when do you worry?"

"…Right." Sonic nodded his head, and scratched the top it, feeling slightly excited now that he was going to see her again, but deeply nervous. I have time too when my friends are at stake... but..." he looked at his hands, "He's... been rather quiet lately..." He gripped them into fist smiling. "Yeah! I can make Amy smile for a bit, not a problem! Just… pop in, say hi, and bail. Heh, easy." He tried to psyche himself into it, but something in him zapped and zipped around like little bursts of energy bubbling through different sections of his body. "But, you should still stick around, just in case- Ah! Tails!" he turned and saw that Tails was already flying off, not wanting to discuss this any further now that Sonic seemed onboard.

"That's the spirit! Good luck! Haha!" he waved.

"…Lousy… and I thought you were my friend!" Sonic called back but knew Tails was already late for something important as it were and walked to the door of Amy's house... or rather, pausing a moment as he grew suddenly shy in front of it.

"Come on, Sonic... it's just Amy."...

"What could happen?"...

"Well,... nothing... worse."...

"Take a breath, Sonic."

He told himself, stopping to stand up straight and let his arms mime out pushing his nerves down.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

'Now… you listen here, Instincts. I don't care what jurisdiction you state you have over myself, but I swear…'

He gritted his teeth.

'You come out now, and I'll make sure that every spring you are as far away from her as possible. I'll make sure you never come out again. Even if I have to leave and never return until I get you sorted out. I won't let you threaten my friend, nor will I have you hurt me either. I know you want control,… well too bad. This is my body, my life, and She's my-!'

"Sonic!"

Amy opened the door, having stepped out of the closet to peek through the window and make sure Tails's words were sincere. When she saw Sonic at the door, she was overwhelmed by her feelings and just leaped out to him, almost forgetting about everything that had happened. The world just... blurred away.

Sonic was surprised, to say the least, it all had happened so fast. He should be used to this by now, but it had been so long since he interacted with Amy that he had almost forgotten what she was like, and who she could be.

His nose first took in her scent unexpectantly, having the wind knocked out of him once he caught her in her jump. His arms instinctively wrapped around her, but he quickly flung them to the sides, not sure about the strange electricity that sparked their movements to keep her tightly against him... There was a warmth in his chest and his common sense failed him as he was overcome by his body's rebound. He found his head lowering willingly down to her shoulder... It just smelled so good,… so delightful. It would make another want to just lean forward, hold her in their arms, and keep their nose right at the tip of their forehead, or just behind the back of her neck... never letting them go.

His hands twitched slightly as his arms were so tempted to hold her again, and closer than ever before.

A moment passed and Sonic suddenly remembered the sad and terrifying truth. His eyes shot open wide as he pushed Amy inside, looking around for other hedgehogs as Amy stumbled backwards with a shriek of shock. Holding one arm against her, he forced her tighter and closer to him as he raced in with his super speed, letting her body cup his own as he quickly shut the door behind him. Leaning on it, he was unaware of his possessive action, looking out the window and protectively side-kicking it in. He was making sure it was shut good and tight. No one was smelling Amy's scent for long. No one... but...

He was glaring out the window when he realized his actions and thoughts.

He waited, mentally focusing himself on what could have happened. Her scent was exposed... he just hoped the moment didn't last long enough for dudes to pick up on any trail. But the moment seemed like an eternity in his head, and he didn't like it. Not one bit.

"Are you trying to get yourself-" he pivoted to look down at her, seeing her cutely angle her face up at him, innocent as a rose…

His eyes lowered as he realized how much he actually missed her, without realizing it…

The touch of her... his hands flinched as he realized it almost acted on its own, moving from her bare back to her scrunched up, mid-section of her dress...

He knew what that meant. When his body acted on its own...

He looked away, gritting his teeth as he didn't say anything, but knew this was bad...

"...Hello," she stated, softly, never taking her big emerald eyes off of him. She smiled kindly, the gentle curl of her lips heightening the engrossment of his eyes towards that focal point. He leaned his head up slightly. The precious moment was lost quickly, seeing as Sonic wasn't acting the way he usually did when she tackled him and began to try and distance himself from her in an awkward manner.

'I have to stay away from her. I can't let myself get overtaken like that again!' his will was strong, and he was able to back away, but he knew that if his Instinct was a part of him... then that meant it had an unbreakable will too...

"…I um… I feared that we would never be the same as we were… back before all of…" She paused, fiddling with her fingers as she moved out of his grasp, "This." it was a sad statement, but she truly looked glad to see him, peering up from her nervous joy. She walked to the side of the stairs, letting her fingers trace the railing as she slowly turned around again, "How have you been..!" She faked giggled, mostly to get her nervousness out. She was so excited to see him, but at what cost?

'This was so selfish.' he thought to himself, staring at her as though none of this even occurred. As if it was just him and silly ol'Amy again. '...I'm being selfish.' his eyes lowered, realizing he had allowed himself to be talked into it. Just how much had he secretly peered into Amy's abode? Watching her and wondering what she was doing... he would dart away and do his thing, but his thoughts annoyingly remained on what Amy Rose was doing. He couldn't stop it, but he distracted himself constantly from it.

She looked so lonely… so fear stricken and helpless. She didn't want to lose Sonic because they couldn't control their instincts around each other. It hurt her to think that this would be their relationship from now on. Constantly holding back because of a 'what if..?' that had entered their lives, their relationship...

Fear and Misery…

Mystery and the unknown that could tear them apart.

Sonic could not only see the emotions she was portraying, but he could feel them as well as if he could relate to them somehow. It was stirring within him... or maybe it was instinct, pulling and driving him to somehow connect with her on an emotional level as this.

He moved a step to her, hand slightly reaching, before pulling himself back.

He had to keep it together, he had to remain in control…

He took a deep breath.

'Ack! No good!'

His eyes shot open and he tried to compose himself, he couldn't lose it, not now! Not ever again!

But again, a crashing wave tugged Sonic closer to her. The scent was like addicting and compelled his every being towards her.

"Sonic..?" She turned back to him, stepping down towards him and holding a hand out, having seen him reach for her too. "Are you... is it too strong... again?" her eyes bent to unexplainable sorrows, and Sonic couldn't bear to look at them anymore. Knowing he was the cause... feeling...

Feeling like he wasn't strong enough anymore for her. He wasn't safe. He had to-!

"I'm sorry, Amy. I… ehem, didn't mean to make you feel that way." He hadn't been around her smell in a long time, he wasn't as used to it as when she was in Tails' garage. And even then, when Tails opened the door, he woke up as if in a daydream inside his mind, trapped again as his body went wild once more. Why did this have to happen? Why? Neither one of them deserved this kind of … test of nature! This... whatever it was! He just hoped he could get this over with soon, he didn't want to hurt her anymore. That look... it infruitated him to think that the girl who loved his presence so much was now being affected because he couldn't keep it together. 'It's me, Amy... not you.' he could dash out now, nothing he could regret would have time to happen, but Amy's sorrowful and yearning expression would be carved inside his thoughts forever.

"It won't always be like this, Amy. I know it won't."

They both drew the courage to look into the other's eyes again... only Amy couldn't read Sonic's look as well as he could her own.

"I swear it."

It was impulsive, but since she didn't respond, he quickly said more to assure her. 'Please believe me. I'm still Sonic.' he pleaded in his mind. 'I can still be your hero.'

"You swear… but you don't ever show it." Amy's mood swing was due to her chemical imbalance, she had gotten just one whiff of his light scent and suddenly became too emotional to even breathe and speak. But she forced herself too, she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to hear his voice... she didn't care if he showed up... she just wanted Sonic. And she wanted him to want her voice-no... to want her too. "I just…" she put her hand up to her heart, feeling it race with envy. Why envy? Was it her... was she here? "I want to be close to you again, Sonic! I miss you… so much." she suddenly grew afraid, she didn't want her to come out. Not now. Not when this was supposed to be her and Sonic! She didn't want any more interruptions!

She shook her head, "Sonic..." The desperate plea made him twitch, feeling weaker to her as he had to step away while she came slowly closer, moving down the stairs she had once gone up. He tightened his fist, leaned back, and pushed himself against the wall near the door as she never broke her stride towards him.

"…Sonic…" Amy felt like she was monster compared to how Sonic was reacting. His whole frame was shaking as he tried to hold in his breath, not taking any chances. She felt the tears of regret flow into her eyes, turning around and holding her hands to her chest. "Sorry... I'm being so selfish, aren't I?" she gripped them for comfort, one hand in the other, trembling as she tried to hold her desire to jump into his arms again. To remain close... to feel him and him feeling her there as well.

"But I can't say I feel wrong about wanting to see you. You're precious to me... is it that wrong to be selfish sometimes?" She wanted some kind of touch that could hold her since no one else was going to give her the same kindness...

Her thoughts wandered to Instinct Sonic, but she shook her head. "Okay... maybe some thoughts are selfish."

"...Maybe some." Sonic stiffened up, feeling his instinct roaring to break free. He could barely mutter the words, straining his eyes to stay alert and awake.

She turned to see him struggling, forcing himself back against the wall and sweating to stay back. That's when she knew what she was doing was awful, not the other way around.

"Nevermind... Just go! Get out of here!" she yelled, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at him, summoning her hammer and attempting to throw it at the window. "Get away from me! Save yourself! Because love in any form is going to drive us apart, is that it!? That instincts are just devils that overtake us! That nothing good can come of any of this!" she felt Vanilla's words again and shooed them aside. Racing to the closet, she swung the door open wide. "Just get out and don't worry about me! I'm nothing compared to what fears you have! My fears mean nothing! Why do my fears mean nothing to you!?"

Sonic covered his mouth, "Amy…" he was suffocating in her scent now, unable to bear watching her fall apart but also holding back everything from tackling her to the floor. It was terrifying. "Trust me... my fears... urk... There much worse than just not seeing each other for awhile!" he felt like he would throw up, mentally and physically keeping everything inside him from ripping through his defenses and taking Amy to the ground. He could feel his control slipping but he couldn't leave her like this. He was so mad at himself, at his inability to control his instincts that he couldn't even comfort..! He couldn't even..! 'What kind of hero am I? Where I can't even help those I care about the most?!'

He dashed forward, grabbing her from behind. "You think I don't understand how you feel!?"

Amy froze.

The room grew silent as Sonic breathed heavily for air... but her smell was all that consumed him. The door opened out in front of her, her hand having come off of it the second she felt his strong hold on her. Her eyes shook from the tears forming just beginning to spill over.

"You don't… you don't think this is hard on me too? That I feel so incompetent to protect you… to be there for you… I'm selfish, Amy. Not you."

He straddled and adjusted himself right up next to her, letting the scent afflict him, refusing to let his instincts override him. "I'm not worth the light of day if I can't keep you smiling, Amy… If I can't keep you feeling safe... even when we're both in trouble... I can't let you feel that way."

Amy's quills were extra sensitive at this point, his breath upon them caused a weird trembling sensation in them that vibrated off her head, spreading energy through her muscles and storing it... but for what?

"I… I don't know what to do. It's killing me. Gnawing at my core... I want to be free of it! Of instincts... but apparently, there are some things you have to endure in this life. So you might as well grin and bear it."

Sonic felt his fur against her bare back, the dress's creases bending to his form as he breathed and his body against hers moved them...

"...I'm so mad, Amy. I'm so... frustrated! I can't help what I'm feeling, cause I can't stop it either. When I'm around you... he wants you. But I can't let him crave you like this... I'm so angry, Amy. ...Cause I'm the only thing I have to protect you from..." he swallowed, his mouth growing dry from how long he kept it open. How much it wanted to inhale her scent... "And for the longest time I never thought that could be possible... That I could be something that could hurt you..." He didn't even notice his body moving on its own, caressing a quill as his hand moved up the side of her body, and not even noticing his eyes slightly closing to feel his teeth skim against the soft side of it... letting its shaking self spike his lips every now and then. "I spent half my life resisting you, Amy... since I first triggered, I figured it would never be this bad... You were still young, and I- heh... I was getting older,... fast..." She felt his arm wrap gently around her stomach, but it coaxed her back into him... now her dress folded up in front of her as they were fur to fur, skin to skin...

"Sonic..." It was an airy warning. She wanted this so badly... but she knew it was wrong. She knew he couldn't tell what he was doing. Hypnotized by the aroma that told him to come closer... knowing the real Sonic was slipping away into another part of himself he never showed her. But was that why? Was his instincts the reason why he was also so distant from her?

"And I've... done a pretty good job of keeping myself away from you too…" he continued, but his voice was deeper, moanful and breathy as he twisted his nose deeper into her quills... Fire spread into her ears and she felt her head lean up, blocking him slightly from his desires. "But now… now I feel like I'm forced to push away from you." He fought a little, clearly out of his senses as his instinct began to overtake him. Without fully shifting, he was inching his nose deeper in, forcing it through the barrcade of her sharp quills.

Her breathing acellerated. She knew it was in her instinct for females to fight against a pressing male, but everything in her wanted him to fight for her. That's when she started to try and step forward, make sounds of discomfort, strain against him. 'For Sonic's sake... I can't give in. I can't allow us to do something that we don't want. Not like this... not having a choice..!' she let her tears drop against the hand that was wrapping around her, and his eyes opened more as he felt something other than complete oppression from his body's senses...

"I did everything I could to keep you away. From me. From him. The very thing that gave you so much joy from being around,... the thing you love the most, is the very thing that could take you away from me. One wrong move... one second of letting go... and I'll have lost you. I never quite understood how you could feel so strongly about me... Amy..." He wasn't back just yet, though she was trying to snap him out of it. He gripped her arm with the hand that was once holding the quill up for him to move his nose towards her head, but now he moved back and tried to turn her towards him. "How you could still run to me... Like all you needed was me... to be near me. To be something to me... for you to be completely satisfied and at peace so long as I carried you along for the ride. I never understood… but I knew it was just truth. But now… now I…"

Amy moved her hand up to his own, stopping its seize on her movement, but it curled to her neck. His arm just held there, no threat, no persistence... she cried softly as she listened, hanging her head down as she realized what Sonic's true fear was about being around her...

"...Now I need to keep you safe…" he pulled away from her, coming to and having won the fight over who reigned over his actions. He started marching towards the door.

"...No…" Amy breathed out, looking to him moving away, trying to speed walk to the door with a grim look on his face. "...No." His eyes shadowed out by the dusk coming and the sun fading past the horizon. "No..." With his teeth clenched, swiftly trying to avoid what he knew was coming.

She grabbed his arm, stopping him and having him twist back to her. "NO!"

Worry and fear held in his eyes as he couldn't last much longer now. Not when being so close to her, saying all those things and fighting so hard to prove a point nearly ended him. It jump-started his Instincts, he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. "Let go of me..." His words came out harsher than the soft drumming of rhythm he held before. But that's what happens when you speak through gritted teeth..!

"I don't care anymore! I don't care what could happen! I just want to be you! I just want to be happy!"

Sonic looked at her with disbelief, not understanding how she could say such a thing but amazed that she could. He didn't know why he felt so touched by it... then realized the literal touch she had on his arm...

"You don't know what you're saying!" he pulled away, freeing his arm with a powerful yank from her hand. "You don't realize what he could do to you!"

Then, anger flared through him as he could feel the instinct raging in him to come out, to be released, to defy and rebel against earlier warnings and take what was rightfully his.

Amy lost her grip of him, her hands covering her mouth at realizing what she just blurted out. It was unthinkable. What was... "What's happening to us..?" she was snapping out of it for a moment, but he was just getting sucked in...

He faced her, grabbing her arms and holding her in front of him, looking her dead in the eyes. She could see his eyes flickering in and out of instinct form as he fought it back with all his might and tried to at least hang on. 'Just a bit longer..!' he blared out inside his mind.

"I care."

He declared.

"I…CARE."

(Emotions run high as this gets up to Sonic's Arc and climax! Then another hedgehog lad we all know so well will step in to fill his shoes for some time. Stay tuned! And please do comment on what you thought about this chapter of Instincts! :D)