Sonic paced in the hallway outside of Dad's hospital room - waiting.

It'd been a long twelve hours, to say the least.

A veeeerrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-
you get the picture.

Emotions were still high and tension was at an all new level. Knuckles, while he could put his emotions aside for the greater good, was still really mad at Sonic for breaking their oath and using the master emerald for sin. Sonic was pissed that Knuckles was pissed. It's not like he did it for evil! He did it to stop Shadow and the Robotniks. Maybe Knuckles didn't mean what he said? Sonic paced in the hallway, his mind still racing. He could hear Mom and Knuckles talking quickly, with Mom attempting to soothe the growing wound between her boys, and Knuckles refusing to see her reasons.

Sonic paced some more.

A few minutes later, Tails' quiet voice chirped up and the arguing stopped abruptly. Sonic pressed his ear to the glass as Dad woke up for the third time that day. He asked where Sonic was and the arguing began again. Knuckles was adamant about holding a grudge for Sonic's "oath break". Mom argued that it was a necessity and that sometimes people break promises to help them. Dad spoke up quietly in favour of Mom and Knuckles slowed in his arguing.

Sonic began pacing again, not really listening, but not ignoring either. Knuckles and Mom began yelling at each other shortly after that, with Dad yelling in the middle, demanding one of them left for peace. Mom stayed, and that's how Sonic and Knuckles ended up glaring each other down in the hospital hallway, fists ignited with electrical bolts. "Oathbreaker." Knuckles hissed, and Sonic was too exhausted, physically and mentally, to fight him. "So what?" He egged on. "I did what I had to do." Knuckles growled. His gloves creaked from being squeezed. "You broke our sacred oath, Hedgehog. That is treason in my tribe." Knuckles hissed. Sonic ground his teeth. "We're not in your tribe. We're in Mom and Dad's." Knuckles stepped back for a brief second, shock enveloping his features.

Then he ran.

Sonic grunted as he hit the ground, immediately throwing a charged punch into the side of Knuckles' head. The echidna went down immediately, groaning softly. Sonic panted, hands on his head, knees up to his chin, trying to ward off the panic attack. Knuckles growled on the ground. "Hedgehog, if we weren't in this civilian infirmary, I would gladly put you in your place." He hissed, making a move to stand. Sonic snorted in disbelief. "You see the wall, right? That's you." He gestured to the vaguely Sonic-shaped hole in the wall. Knuckles nodded to the ground. "And that's your fault."

Sonic stood up, fists charged again, even as his head swam. Knuckles dropped into a defensive stance. "You don't get to tell me that you'll "put me in my place" Knuckles. In case you forget, this planet is safe because I broke our oath. Because I, not you, not Mom, not Dad, I went up to the Eclipse Cannon. I did it." Knuckles chuckled darkly. "And look how well that went. Our father is injured, because of you. You said so yourself."

Sonic's breath froze in his lungs. "No, Dad went out and got caught by Shadow. I didn't do anything." He argued. His heartate started to pick up, thudding in his throat. "You angered him. You drove him to attack our family! This is your fault!" Knuckles yelled, readying to charge again.

"I didn't ask for this!" He screeched. Knuckles gave pause, freezing in his tracks. People glanced over, but Sonic was in too deep to care. Sonic fisted his hair, pulling harshly. "I didn't ask for Dad to get hurt! Or- or Shadow to die! Or Tails to hurt himself trying to save me!" Tears leaked from his eyes as he paced hysterically. "I didn't ask for any of this!" Knuckles remained frozen in the hall. Sonic paced, crying like a fucking baby, because that's what he was, right? A little immature baby who broke promises and cried when he got caught.

"None of us did."

Sonic gasped, ready to defend himself again. Knuckles slowly walked over, sliding down the wall and onto the ground. Sonic kept pacing, trying to stop his heart's escape attempt. "None of us asked for this burden, this... responsibility." Knuckles continued. "We wanted to prove ourselves, not take the weight of the world." Sonic glanced over, suddenly feeling very thirsty. "What?" He hissed. Knuckle sighed deeply. "My father used to say that those who seek power will get it, and hurt one hundred people. Those who have power and seek to remove it will hurt a million." Sonic blinked at the echidna, unsure of his motive. "He was right. We hurt countless people in our quest to protect the million."

Sonic slid down the wall, resting his head on his knees. Knuckles huffed quietly. "I am sorry, Hedgehog. I allowed my emotions to take control. You did an honourable thing, breaking our oath and risking your life to protect the world. I am indebted to you."