Archive of Our Own ^beta

"We're gonna find you a family, squirt. That's what you need. Somewhere safe where Robotnik can't find you."

"Remember, keep an eye on your brother!"

Tails's ears twitched as he looked up from the spring rocker he was sitting beside at the playground, screwdriver in hand as he experimented on it. The airplane-shaped rocker hid him from most of the park-goers, save for the grassy picnic area behind him, but it wasn't the season for picnics yet, so aside from Sonic, there wasn't anyone over there. Sonic didn't even really count since he was taking a nap under the shade of a tree.

Peeking out from under the wing of the spring rocker, Tails saw a ferret mobian mother with two children walking up the park path. She was heading to a bench with a book in hand while her kids had their eyes set on the playground.

"I will," the taller of the two called back to his mom, then looked at the younger ferret. "C'mon! Race ya to the swings!"

"Bet I can swing higher than you this time!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Fine, but if I swing higher, then I get all your desserts for a month," the older ferret cackled, then took off in a sprint while the younger scrambled to catch up.

Tails watched them run past the rocker, staying low to the ground just in case, tails tucked close, but they didn't even notice him. Scooting across the sand, Tails inched his way to the other end of the spring rocker so he could get a better view of the swings. The older brother was already standing on one of the seats, telling the little one to hurry up already. He tried to climb up onto the swing next to him all by himself, but he ended up flopping over the seat on his tummy. The older brother laughed at him, but he still hopped down to help him when he asked. 

Tails stroked one of his tails, casting a glance over his shoulder to make sure Sonic was still sleeping. His ears rose high when he realized he was sitting up and stretching, but Sonic wasn't looking his way just yet. His eyes were on the mother, though his gaze was dull and indifferent to her presence. Yawning lazily, he scooched back down into the grass and settled on his back, hands linked over his stomach as his eyes closed again.

Even though Sonic was a kid, he always paid more attention to the grown-ups around them than the other kids—unless they were giving Tails trouble. Sometimes they came across kids that looked like they might've been Sonic's age, but he never really stopped to play with them. Sure, he'd kick a soccer ball back to them if it came his way or he'd show off on the basketball courts by dribbling too fast for the other kids to see, but he didn't ever join in. He didn't play with Tails on the playground equipment either, which was funny because they'd roughhouse and race whenever they weren't in towns or around people. He wasn't sure what the difference was, aside from other people being around to see. 

Sensing eyes on him, Tails turned back towards the mother ferret on the bench. She was looking at him over the top of her paperback book. When their eyes met, she smiled at him. Tails knew it was only because she couldn't see his second tail from where she sat.

"Are you here by yourself?" she called out to him, like so many other grown-ups did whenever they saw him playing alone at the park.

Tails shook his head quickly, then picked up his screwdriver. So much for increasing the speed and range of motion for the spring rocker. Maybe they'd come back and he could continue his work another day. Both tails coiled around one another, trying to look more like one. He got to his feet and scurried out of the sand, running over to the trees and the picnic benches.

The mother eventually went back to reading her book, looking up only occasionally to check on her kids. Tails still waited a little bit longer before sneaking back over to Sonic and the backpack. He put the screwdriver away in one of the pockets, flicking his gaze over to Sonic. On the surface, he looked like he'd fallen back asleep, but one finger was tapping out an idle rhythm against the back of his other hand.

Feeling a bit mischievous, Tails wiggled with an idea. He also wiggled with the urge to pounce.

Sonic caught him before he landed on his belly, trapping him in a headlock. "Nice try, squirt. Heard you coming from miles away."

"I wasn't miles away!" Tails laughed, then let out a playful growl as he squirmed and kicked his way out of his hold. "Sonic!"

"Ya gonna try and pounce me again?"

"No," Tails lied, grinning when Sonic released his hold. 

He waited five seconds before he tried again. But once again, Sonic was faster. He didn't really expect anything else, but the thrill and danger that came along with the tantalizing chance that he could take him by surprise kept him coming back. Even if he had to suffer the occasional noogie for it.

"Lemme go!" Tails kicked his feet, trying to make contact with Sonic.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice—plegh!" He got a mouthful of fur when one of his tails smacked him.

"Shame on your face!" Tails giggled.

"Shame on your face!" Sonic smushed his cheeks between his hands, mussing up the fluff around his muzzle and narrowly missing a sharp nip at his thumb. "Hey! Watch it, pal," he warned, but he was grinning as Tails rolled away from him and flew up into the trees.

"I'm free!" he chirped, swinging onto a branch.

"Congratulations." Sonic shook his head, then flopped back down. "Sometimes I think you're more bird than fox."

Tails stuck his tongue out at him, but Sonic just closed his eyes again. Waiting for a minute in case he was trying to lull him into a false sense of security, Tails watched from his perch, tails swishing and ready to take him higher. Two minutes passed, then three. It didn't look like Sonic was up for chasing him. He might've even fallen back asleep. 

Tails hopped down to a lower branch. "Sonic?"

"Tails?" He mimicked his exact questioning tone.

Tails giggled and sat down on the branch, kicking his legs back and forth while twin tails wagged. "Are you done napping yet?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On if you're gonna keep asking me questions." Sonic cracked open an eye to peer up at him, muzzle quirking up despite himself the second those two tails started spinning in giddy circles.

"Oh," Tails laughed. "Sorry, Sonic. I'll leave you alone so you can keep sleeping."

"It's fine, squirt." Sonic wiggled against the grass to get more comfortable, kicking one leg up over the other. "Ya got something on your mind?"

"Kinda," Tails hummed, "but it can wait. It's not a big deal or anything."

"Well, now I just gotta know." Both eyes closed once more, Sonic pointed a finger gun in Tails's approximate direction. "Lay it on me, little guy."

"Oh! Um, I guess I was just wondering… how come we never go see your family?"

A startled snort escaped him and he blinked up. "What?"

"Well, even though you're bigger than me, you're still a kid, too, aren't ya?" Tails asked, still watching him closely from his tree branch.

"Try a whole lot bigger, keed. You're looking at a guy well into his double digits," he scoffed. He was eleven, still several months shy of twelve. "But what's that gotta do with a family?"

"I was just noticing that lots of kids in the towns we pass through have families they go home to, and it was the same in Emerald Hill Zone, so it got me wondering how come we never go see your family?"

"We never go see your family either," Sonic pointed out.

"That's 'cuz I don't have one," he replied simply. "At least not one that's around."

"Well then there's your answer." Sonic pillowed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes again. "Don't have one or they're not around. Take your pick. Besides, do I look like the kinda guy who's got time for something like a family?"

Tails frowned to himself as he considered that. "I dunno. What does someone who doesn't have time for a family look like?"

Sonic lifted one hand to jab his thumb at the center of his own chest. "Me. Add it to your mental encyclopedia, keed."

"Do you wish you had time for one?" Tails asked.

"Pfft. No," Sonic snorted again. "Trust me, squirt. Me and families don't mix. I don't exactly fit the traditional, nuclear family mold everyone's so keen on, and I'm not looking to start hacking off bits of myself just to try and squeeze into it. I live my own life, my own way, by my own rules and I don't have time for anyone that can't deal with that."

"Do you ever wish someone could?"

A frown set itself on Sonic's face even as his eyes stayed shut. "Look, Tails, I don't bother wishing for things that I don't have a chance of changing on my own. It's not up to me whether or not someone out there could deal with the way I live my life. A wish isn't gonna change that. That's just how it is."

"Oh."

"That it? You good?"

"Yeah." Tails's voice was too soft though, so Sonic sighed before craning his neck back to find him. 

"If that's what you call good, I can only imagine what so-so sounds like."

"It's okay. I'll stop bothering you."

Sonic leveled a look at him. "If you were bothering me, I wouldn't still be lying here listening to you."

Tails cocked his head to one side. "Really?"

With a tsk, Sonic patted the grass beside him, tired of having to look up. Spinning his little tails, Tails landed next to him with a soft bounce. He sat down, knocking his shoes together and fiddling with his hand-me-down gloves.

"Sometimes…" Tails stopped himself, then sucked in a deep breath and puffed his chest out with all the bravery he could muster. "Sometimes strangers ask me where my family is and I point at you."

Sonic stared at him. "You do, huh."

"Yeah." Tails squirmed under his scrutiny and grabbed onto one of his tails. "Partly 'cuz I don't want them to think I'm somewhere I'm not supposed to be and I don't wanna get in trouble or chased away."

"Okay… That makes sense," he acknowledged. "What's the other part?"

Tails dropped his gaze to his own lap. "Because I kinda maybe sorta… sometimes pretend like you're my big brother. Just for pretend!" he said quickly, hunching up his shoulders and almost curling right up into a ball to hide. "I know it wouldn't ever be for real. Me and families don't mix either."

Sonic rolled onto his side and pushed himself up, the crease in his forehead deepening. "Hey, you're too little to know something like that for sure."

Tails peeked up at him. "You do."

"Yeah, and as we just established, I'm way older than you and have been around the block enough times to know that for a fact."

"Well, I'm pretty sure." Tails straightened up some, twisting his tail in his paws. "I've got good evidence."

Sonic scoffed. "What evidence? A village full of lame brains that wouldn't know what's cool if it fell out of a tree and knocked them on the head—which is exactly how I met you by the way."

Tails's nose wrinkled. "But you said you met me when I was fixing your plane on the beach."

"Not the point here, Tails."

"What is the point?"

Sonic pointed at him and made the little guy go cross-eyed for a second as he followed his finger. "The point is you have shoddy evidence. You can't build a solid case with that. The foundation would be all crooked and anything you try to stack on top of it is just gonna come toppling down like a house of cards in a hurricane."

Tails looked at him thoughtfully. "You just mixed at least three metaphors."

"Anyway, back to the point. It's too soon for you to call it quits on family. Especially if you're going around pretending like you have a big brother." There was a playful glint in his eyes, showing that while he didn't necessarily mind it, it wasn't something he was just going to ignore. "I just know there's a family out there that'll fit ya. Y'know, something with a mom, dad, and a picket fence. And maybe even a big brother to boot."

Tails hid his face in one of his tails, voice muffled as he argued, "I don't pretend 'cuz I want a family." 

Sonic laughed, but he ruffled the fur between his ears in the way Tails had grown to like, so he wasn't embarrassed for too long. "Sure, keed. Whatever you say."

It was true. The point of pretending wasn't to feel like he had any old family to belong to, but he had a feeling that wasn't something Sonic wanted to know. Not when he didn't want to be anyone's family anyway.

That was probably part of why he left him less than a month later.

He was supposed to wait for Sonic in the woods, just like he'd told him to, but Tails never liked waiting in the woods for too long. It made him itchy and his chest would get all tight, even when Sonic gave him his red watch so he could watch the time. When the second hand has gone around the watch twenty times, I'll be back.

Sonic always came back just before he'd said he would. There was only one time where he hadn't, back before they talked to one another, and he'd been really sorry about it. He brought him extra mint candies to make up for it, so Tails didn't let it upset him for too long. He didn't want to make Sonic feel bad.

Which was exactly what he did when he wandered far enough away that Robotnik's dumb bots, Scratch and Grounder, tracked him down and chased him even farther away from where he was supposed to be waiting.

They pinned his tails for once, finally figuring out that if they wanted to slow him down, they needed to take away his ability to fly. "Stay still, you little brat!" Scratch, the tall clucker robot, squawked at him as he attempted to tie a knot in the rope.

"Yeah! We need you as bait for part of our plan to catch Sonic," Grounder, his shorter and sharper counterpart, added.

Tails rolled his eyes, trying to untangle his bindings. "Gee. I never woulda guessed. I thought you guys were gonna take me out for ice cream." 

Grounder genuinely believed him. "Why would we do that?"

Scratch bonked him on the head with his fist. "He's being sarcastic, stupid. Trying to play us for suckers like that hedgehog always does!"

"He is?"

"I don't have to try," Tails pointed out. "You play yourselves just fine without my help."

"That does it!" Scratch yanked him up by the scruff and tossed him in a prison egg, sealing him in. "If you're lucky, you'll get to be the power supply for Dr. Robotnik's newest line of badniks."

"If you're lucky, you won't be a pile of scrap metal by the time Sonic's done with you," he replied, then yelped when Grounder banged on the prison with one of his drills. He covered his ears as the clang reverberated around him, but stuck his tongue out when the dumb bots laughed at him. 

Prison eggs were usually reserved for collecting smaller animals. Tails had never seen mobians like himself crammed inside one. He was still small enough that he fit okay, but there wasn't much space to move around in. If he'd had his screwdriver with him or some other sort of tool, he'd have been able to dismantle the prison egg from the inside out, but all he had on him was Sonic's wristwatch. 

He wasn't going to let that stop him from trying to escape though. Tails tucked up into a little ball, the way he'd been practicing with Sonic, then tried spindashing at the metal wall. He crashed against it, then dropped to the floor of his cage to clutch at his aching head, the robots still laughing at him.

"Why don't you try that again, fuzz face? Maybe this time it'll work," Scratch taunted.

Tails glared at them through the little window and his tails would've lashed in agitation if they hadn't been tied together. "Just you wait 'til Sonic gets here!" 

"That's what we're counting on, brat! Get with the program!"

"Scratch, quick! Here he comes!"

Tails quickly huddled against the small window to try and catch a glimpse of Sonic. But Scratch pressed a button on the remote in his hand, activating the jet boosters at the base of the prison egg. Tails gasped, wobbling as the metal capsule shuddered around him, and braced himself against the glass.

"Sonic!" he called out, the capsule already rising into the air.

He didn't know if Sonic could hear him, but he'd at least noticed the prison egg taking off as he skidded to a stop right where the badniks wanted him. "What do you two ding bots think you're doing?" Sonic sneered, hands on his hips as he tapped his foot in annoyance. "Pick on somebody your own size!"

"That's exactly what we're doing!" Scratch cawed with glee, then pointed at his cohort. "Grounder! Activate the Super Sonic Smash and Basher!"

"Activating Super Sonic Smash and Basher!" Grounder confirmed, his treads squeaking as he took his position at the controls.

Armed with similar jets as the prison egg, a crude replica of Robotnik's Egg Wrecker—complete with a ball and chain—rose out from within the forest, ready to smash Sonic where he stood.

"Really? That's the best you got? I've seen better repeats on Saturday morning cartoons, and I don't even have cable! Been there, done that." Sonic rolled his eyes and waved off the threat. "Think I'll just fast forward to the part where I save my little buddy and we can call it a day."

Sonic flicked his gaze up to the egg prison's window, assuring Tails that he knew he was there. The little fox perked up as Sonic sent him a smile and a wink. His bound tails gave a jerky wag. With Sonic here, everything was going to be okay.

He trusted him.

Sonic avoided the swinging ball as it crashed down where he'd been standing. Easily side-stepping it, he exaggerated a yawn for Tails's benefit, grinning up at him as if he could hear his giggles before he dodged another blow. Scratch and Grounder weren't a threat, not a serious one anyway, so Sonic let them try to get a few good hits in. 

But the prison egg was on the move, high in the sky with its autopilot set to Robotnik's West Side Island base of operations in Metropolis. Tails wasn't nervous, but he was wary of how far he was getting from Sonic. How high. The prison egg had already cleared the treetops around them, set on a steady course towards a rocky canyon. His hands pressed against the glass as he watched him zip around the ball and chain, encouraging it to swing wildly.

"Sonic," he called out again—not because he was worried—just in case Sonic forgot he was there.

But he'd had his fun. Sonic jumped onto the ball on its next downward swing, holding onto the chain as it swung back up, higher than before. He used it to fling himself up into the air, level with the prison egg. Curling into a spindash, he rocketed into the release button at the top of the capsule. He bounced effortlessly off it as it popped open, then Sonic dropped back down to the ground to finish dealing with Scratch and Grounder.

He hadn't known his tails were tied together. He'd assumed he'd fly himself to safety once he was freed. He hadn't known that Tails would just fall.

It was okay though. Tails didn't blame him. It wasn't his fault. 

Tails didn't remember hitting his head, but he figured that must've been what happened when he didn't wake up right away. When he did, his head hurt really, really bad. Enough that it made him sick to his stomach.

"I think it's a concussion, kid," Sonic told him, voice strangely quiet so it wouldn't aggravate his headache. "Sometimes they make you sick like that. But it'll pass."

"I don't feel good," he whimpered, curling up on the forest floor to quell the dizzying throbbing behind his eyes. "Sonic, it hurts."

"I know, Tails." Sonic placed a cool, damp compress over his eyes to help with the headache. "It's gonna be okay. I'm not gonna let anything like this happen to you again. I promise."

If Tails had known making that promise meant leaving him behind, he would've asked Sonic to take it back. He didn't mind getting hurt sometimes if it meant he could stay with Sonic forever. 

Apparently "sometimes" was just too many times for Sonic. 

When they first started traveling together, Tails had been familiar enough with Emerald Hill Zone that he was able to navigate the jungle and coast with ease. He knew all the best places to hide and get the drop on badniks from above. He thought, maybe, he'd been a little bit of a help to Sonic, in addition to helping fix his plane. A good sidekick.

Chemical Plant Zone hadn't had too many issues either. Though it had been harder to keep up and there were so many things to look at, he and Sonic both still made it through Robotnik's factory relatively unscathed. Relatively.

But in Aquatic Ruin Zone, that was where things started to get a bit tricky. They were there for a while, the whole place like a labyrinthine maze filled with dangerous traps set by the ancient civilization who'd once lived there and Robotnik alike. Tails got scratched by an arrow and they both nearly got crushed by fallen pillars. They tried to stay up in the trees to avoid most of the traps, but hoards of badniks had been lying in wait and chased them onto unstable platforms. They broke beneath their feet and dropped them down into the murky water below. 

Sonic had almost drowned. He'd gotten stuck underwater. Tails didn't see what he got caught on, but when he paddled back down to check on him, Sonic had been losing air fast. By the time Tails dragged him up and out of the water, he'd been unconscious. He pushed on his chest, trying to get the water out of his lungs. Eventually Sonic coughed it up and blinked blearily up at him, baffled by the fact that Tails was sobbing his name and clinging to him like a big baby.

He remembered, later that night while camping out in the ruins, Sonic had asked why he'd been so upset. Tails told him it was because Sonic was his best friend in the whole world, and he didn't want to lose him. It was the truth. He thought that might've made Sonic feel good—knowing that he was cared about so much—but instead he just rolled over and went to sleep.

Then they'd gotten separated for a bit and Tails hadn't been sure he was ever going to find Sonic again. He figured maybe Sonic had wondered the same thing, because he'd started talking right after that. The two were connected somehow, even if Tails didn't really know how.

In Casino Night Zone, Sonic left Tails in their hotel room while he went to handle Robotnik, but he'd ended up kidnapped by housekeeping—who were actually badniks because the hotel slash casino was of course owned by Robotnik. It seemed he'd figured out Tails was a permanent tagalong by this point and that Sonic actually cared about what happened to him. It had only been a matter of time before he started targeting him. He sent his Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad after them to slow them down while they traveled between zones and searched for Chaos Emeralds, with Tails being the easiest of the two to hurt or kidnap or threaten.

He was only four years old.

"You'll be safe here," Sonic told him, as someone called a social worker led him up to the front door of a small, suburban house just outside Casino Night Zone. "This is a nice family. They'll look after you and make sure there's no chance that Robotnik'll ever find you."

"Okay. But you'll be back soon, right Sonic?" Tails asked while Sonic strapped the familiar red watch to his wrist, his way of silently promising he'd always come back for him.

Sonic's smile didn't reach his eyes as he ruffled his fur. "I'll see you 'round, keed."

It wasn't a "soon," but it wasn't goodbye forever either. Then again, Sonic didn't like when he cried and a "goodbye forever" definitely would've made him cry at least a little. Not a lot, because he was "one tough kid," but he had to admit it was easier to be tough when Sonic was there.

This was something Sonic really wanted for him though, and Tails knew from experience it was better to do what someone wanted, even if it wasn't what he wanted. Sonic believed there was a family out there for him. A place where he still had a chance of fitting. Tails had wanted that place to be with Sonic, but if finding him a family was that important to him, then Tails was going to do his best to make him happy. He wanted that most of all.

So he didn't cry when Sonic walked him up the front steps to his new home. He didn't cry when he attached the watch to his wrist. He didn't cry when Sonic ruffled his fur one more time before speeding away. He didn't cry once. 

At least not until Sonic was long gone. After he watched the watch for more minutes than Sonic had ever left him before. The second hand just went around and around and around. So did the minute hand. And the hour.

But Tails trusted Sonic. Even if it might be longer than he was used to, that didn't mean he'd be gone forever. He had to believe that. If he just waited here, like Sonic told him to, then he'd come back.

He hadn't meant to get kicked out for biting.

The foster parents might've been nice people like Sonic and the social worker who placed him there said, but they had a lot of kids. Five were there already with Tails making it six. He had to sleep in a room with three bigger, rowdy boys, while the only girl and a baby slept in the room across the hall from them. The house was noisy, messy, and cramped. It was chaos.

The bathroom they all shared flooded on a regular basis because some of the kids weren't being groomed properly. Their fur clogged up the drains in the sink and bathtub. The parents were bird mobians, cranes, and they didn't fully understand the different needs of their foster kids' various fur types or how much they'd shed.

The smoke alarm constantly went off in the kitchen because the parents kept getting distracted by the kids breaking something or fighting in the middle of cooking dinner. It was a good thing certified foster homes were required to have fire extinguishers in the house, because they went through two canisters in the week that he lived with them. It might've salvaged things like the stove and counters, but it couldn't save the food. Everything was either burnt or underdone and they never had chili dogs. 

Then the pilot light for the gas furnace went out. The foster dad—who said to call him George—at least let him come down into the basement to watch him fix it, but he didn't let him touch any of his tools or even turn the gas valve. "If you're not careful, gas can leak into the air and even the slightest spark can spell disaster!"

"I'll be careful," Tails huffed. "I can do it, just watch!"

"Maybe one day when you're older, sport," the crane mobian chuckled, and Tails was relieved he hadn't called him "bud" or "squirt" or "pal." Those were too special, and someone who didn't even trust him to do something as simple as turning a gas valve didn't deserve to say them.

There was one silver lining to not being allowed to help. Since the foster dad did all the work himself, he'd been too distracted to notice Tails swipe a flathead screwdriver and some pliers from the tool box. Stealing was wrong, but he'd intended to put them back eventually. He just wanted something to tinker with while he hid from the other kids. The foster parents wouldn't let him borrow any tools when he asked. They didn't believe him when he said he knew how to use all sorts of them from when he performed regular maintenance on a biplane.

"Doesn't he just have the most wonderful imagination, George?" the foster mom cooed.

"He sure does," the foster dad chuckled.

 The electrical wiring in the house was shoddy, too. When the foster mom plugged in a hairdryer to dry Tails's fur after a bath, the whole house short-circuited. Apparently it couldn't handle being on at the same time as the vacuum. The foster dad had been using it to clean up the reason Tails needed a bath in the first place; spilled potting soil from a houseplant that the other kids "accidentally" tipped over on him. They were without power for the rest of the day and all the food in the fridge spoiled. Tails tried to fix it with his borrowed tools, but he got scolded for "messing around with expensive appliances" and was put in time out.

There were a lot of time outs. There was fighting all the time and not in the way Tails was used to. Raised voices that raised his hackles. Crowded rooms were avoided at all costs. He flinched anytime someone came near him, and that only encouraged the other kids to pick on him more. He was still an easy target. 

Honestly, he'd probably be safer living with Robotnik.

Tails tried to be tough and stand his ground against the other foster kids, but he was the second youngest at only four and a half and very easy to knock down. When they crowded around him, cornered him in the hallway where the foster parents couldn't see them, his little heart sped up fast even though he wasn't moving and his chest felt tight. It was just like Emerald Hill Zone.

"Still waiting for Sonic?"

"Uh-huh." Tails curled his paws into fists and held them up the way Sonic showed him when he taught him how to throw a punch. "He'll be here any minute, you'll see."

He was shoved into the wall and fell. "He's not coming back for you. They never do. No way anyone would care about a freak like you."

Freak. There was that word again. They were still on West Side Island, so it shouldn't have come as such a surprise to him that the kids in the foster home would call him that. He'd just gotten used to being around someone who didn't.

"Sonic's not like that!" Tails defended, fur puffed up, trying to make himself seem as big and tough as the other kids. Big and tough like Sonic. "Sonic's my best friend!"

"You don't have a best friend. You don't have anyone."

He was pushed back down, pinned to the ground. They tugged on his tails. Their laughter ringing in his ears alongside the echoes of memories from Emerald Hill. He told them to stop. He asked them nicely, but then they stepped on Sonic's watch and broke it and he didn't mean to bite—

Whenever he accidentally bit Sonic, Sonic didn't send him away or get mad. He knew it probably didn't feel good, but he'd just wave off his apologies with a grin, always acting like it'd been his fault for startling him or getting him too riled up when they played. The second Tails accidentally bit one of the foster kids, the foster parents muzzled him and put him in a corner until a strange, new social worker came and took him away.

He'd never worn a muzzle before. The straps were too tight and the inside of his cheek hurt from where he accidentally bit it when they forced it on him. He couldn't talk at all with it on, which wouldn't be a problem if the grown-ups around him knew sign language, but they didn't. Nobody answered him when he was asked what was going on.

While Tails sat in the corner and listened to the foster parents fret about how dangerous he was—a safety hazard, feral, high needs, not a good fit with their other kids—he examined what was left of Sonic's watch and let each criticism slough off his shoulders. It didn't matter to him what these people thought of him, but he didn't want Sonic to be upset that he'd messed things up so badly after only a few days. The glass that covered the watch's face had cracked, dozens of fractures splitting from one another from one single point of impact. Tails touched it gingerly and a tiny shard came away, caught in the fabric of his borrowed gloves. It was quiet, no longer steadily ticking along, more broken than when Sonic first let him hold onto it. He'd been dragged away from the other kids before he could pick up all the broken pieces of the gear train off the ground.

He had bruises from being held down by the other kids. His tails were sore. The tight straps of the muzzle dug into his face. But none of that hurt as much as the sight of the broken watch. He didn't know if he could fix it without all the right pieces. He couldn't imagine Sonic would want it back like this; worse off than when he'd first gotten it.

"Are you gonna tell Sonic I'm going somewhere else?" he asked the new social worker after the muzzle came off—when he was securely strapped into the backseat of a car.

"Sonic? You mean Sonic the Hedgehog?" When Tails nodded, the social worker shook his head. "Kid, where you end up's not his concern anymore. You're the system's problem now."

Tails didn't know what "the system" was, but he didn't like this guy's tone, so he didn't ask. Besides, Sonic didn't think he was a problem, right? 

Well, he wasn't around anymore, so maybe he did.

Sonic was a hero; he needed to be able to stop Robotnik from taking over West Side Island and help people when they needed it. He couldn't be slowed down by looking after some little kid. Sonic had so many more important things to do. Which was why Tails was trying so hard to be a good sidekick. Like in the comics! Heroes always had sidekicks, and Tails figured that must've been why Sonic brought him along with him in the first place.

Except he did have to keep rescuing him; make sure he stayed out of trouble. More big brother than best friend—and more babysitter than big brother, seeing as he didn't even want a family in the first place.

The second home Tails was sent to was on the other side of town. There weren't any other kids in this home, just Tails and the two foster parents. But he wasn't what they wanted. 

They wanted an affectionate child. They didn't like that he didn't let them hug him or that he flinched when they just wanted to give him a pat on the head. He told them only Sonic was allowed to give him pats and hugs because he knew he wouldn't hurt him.

After three days, he was sent to a third home. 

They were retired military, a pair of Dobermans who seemed like a good fit on paper. There weren't other kids in this home and they didn't expect him to be affectionate like the second one had. They offered stability and structure instead of the chaos of the first home. 

Everything happened on a schedule. 

If he didn't eat at the allotted half hour for meal time, then he had to wait until the next meal was served. No second helpings, no snacks. Definitely no sugar in case it made him "act out." No tinkering. No flying. Bedtime at 7:30 PM sharp, even if he wasn't tired. One bedtime story and it had to be less than a five minute read. 

When he tripped and scraped his knee, he had to tough it out and dress the wound himself. When he wasn't sure he liked what was for dinner, he had to eat everything on his plate or go to bed hungry. When he tried to fix Sonic's watch with the tools he took from the first foster home, they were confiscated and locked up in the highest cabinet where he couldn't reach unless he flew. 

When he flew, he got spanked. When he talked back, they put soap in his mouth. When he cried, they locked him in his room so he could "get it out of his system."

They told him it would all build character.

It was in this third home that he realized Sonic wouldn't know if he left. He could be happy thinking Tails was still with the first family he dropped him off with. Living happily ever after, loved and safe and everything a kid should be. Sonic didn't have to know that Tails felt just as unloved and alone as he had before he'd ever met him. Even if he didn't want him around anymore, Tails thought that'd still make him pretty sad to hear.

Tails left in the middle of the night and no one came looking for him. 

Before sneaking out, he picked the lock of the cabinet to get back his tools and watch, using the screwdriver to dismantle the alarm system. While the foster parents slept, Tails slipped right out his bedroom window. He found some shelter in the woods and stayed there for a few days, trying to figure out his next move. 

He didn't want to go back to Emerald Hill, but he wasn't sure where else he could go. He'd grown accustomed to sleeping outside in strange places over the past six months; maybe he could still travel around and go anywhere he wanted, like Sonic. Even if he didn't have all the nice things Sonic had gotten for him, it was still better than any of the foster homes. After striking out with all three, he was more convinced than ever that he didn't fit any family.

There was a clearing with a tree stump he found himself drawn to after a few days of wandering. It seemed like a good place to rest. To wait; though he wasn’t entirely sure what he was waiting for. 

Sitting on the tree stump, Tails fiddled with the broken watch. He tried to find scraps to replace the pieces of the gear train he was missing, but nothing fit. Still, he made an attempt to cobble together something that both resembled the old watch while new enough to actually function properly, but the insides of watches were delicate. Not just anything could fix it. 

His ears perked up as a familiar rush of fast footsteps zipped through the trees. Hope flickered in his chest before guilt snuffed it out in a single breath. Had the foster people called Sonic to tell on him after all? Was he in trouble?

Was he going to be sent back?

The footsteps stopped. Tails listened. He could hear Sonic's fast breathing a few feet away, but he didn't say anything.

Tails slowly lifted his head and looked over. His tails started wagging just at the sight of him. Oh, he hadn't really realized how much he'd missed him, and he'd already been pretty sure he'd never missed anyone or anything so much in his whole life.

But then Tails's mouth parted in a small "o" as he took in the expression on Sonic's face. He didn't look mad, but he did look upset. His eyes were wide and quills raised up, though they relaxed at the sight of him, like that was enough to reassure him that there wasn't any danger. His chest heaved as if he couldn't get enough air, unable to catch his breath even when their eyes locked on one another.

He looked like he didn't know if Tails was happy to see him.

So Tails didn't hesitate. Even if he was only there to drag him back to one of the foster homes, there was one thing Sonic needed from him right then. The bits of broken watch fell to the grass, all but forgotten as he hopped off the tree stump and ran to him.

"Sonic! You're back!" Tails beamed at him, smiling as bright as he could. "Time to jam and juice?"

And Sonic smiled back; the breath he'd been holding sounded more like a laugh. "Yeah, keed. I think it's high time we blow this popsicle stand."

At the mention of popsicles, Tails was immediately reminded of how hungry he was and how little he'd eaten in the past few days, even before he left the last house. "Where's the popsicles? Can we get one? I'm hungry."

Sonic laughed harder, holding out his hand for Tails to take. "I'll bet! Say no more, little buddy. We'll get you squared away pronto."

Tails eagerly placed his paw in Sonic's. It was the first touch he'd experienced in days—since being muzzled and held down in the first foster home. His grip tightened. Sonic's fingers flexed in his grasp, then quickly squeezed back.

Sonic sped them to the nearest popsicle vendor. "Pick anything you want," he told him as he checked his wallet.

"What are you gonna get?" Tails asked.

Sonic hummed as he pulled a single mobium out of his wallet, then closed it and waved his wrist flippantly. "Eh, I'm not really in the mood. I'll pass, but you pick out whatever you feel like."

Tails blinked at him, then looked at the menu on the freezer cart. "Can I have an orange double popsicle, please?" he asked, pointing to the picture of the popsicle with two sticks.

The vendor handed one to him and Sonic paid with the last of his money. While he put his wallet back, Tails broke apart the double popsicle into two individual ones.

"Sonic?" he called out, waiting until he had his full attention before he offered one of the halves to him. "I just realized it's too much for me. Can we share?"

Sonic stared at him, a complicated look passing over his face that Tails didn't really understand. It was a little sad and a little happy and a little…

Lonely.

Like he'd been lonely the whole time he'd been away.

But it was gone before Tails could blink and Sonic took the offered popsicle with a wink. "If you insist, pal."

"Say," the vendor interrupted before they sped off once again, "aren't you that kid from the billboard?"

"They're making billboards of me now?" Sonic tsked as he took a lick of his popsicle. "Guess it was only a matter of time, but that seems kinda tacky."

"Not you. The little one."

Sonic and Tails blinked at the vendor. He was looking right at Tails, but the fox kit still glanced at Sonic just in case before pointing to himself. "Who me?"

"What billboard?" Sonic asked, eyes narrowed.

The vendor told them it was right at the edge of town; you couldn't miss it if you were heading towards the highway. Holding onto Tails's wrist, Sonic raced over to check it out. Sure enough, mounted on the side of the road, there stood a blown-up image of what looked like a toddler-version of Tails.

Have you seen our son? was painted in bold, red lettering. Young fox kit with two tails has gone missing. His loving parents miss him dearly and are prepared to offer a reward to anyone with knowledge on his whereabouts. Contact Casino Night Zone PD for more information. 

Sonic's grip on him tightened to the point that it hurt, but Tails didn't say so. "Sonic, how come I'm on that billboard?"

"Guess it's 'cuz someone's looking for ya, kid," he replied, but he didn't sound happy about it. "Your parents."

"Like the foster parents?" Tails's ears flattened. "I don't wanna go back to them, Sonic. Please? I promise I'll be good and I'll listen to whatever you say and I won't wander off or get hurt or pretend we're a family ever again! I won't even complain about bedtime or brushing my teeth or anything—!"

"Hey, hey, hey." Sonic let go of him, making the shape of a T with his hands and his popsicle. "Time out, bud. That's not—" He wrestled for the right words to say. "You didn't do anything wrong, Tails. That's not why I wanted to find you a home."

"It's 'cuz you wanted me to be safe, I know," Tails mumbled, ears and tails drooping.

Sonic's frown twisted to one side of his muzzle. "Gee. Don't look so happy about that, little guy."

"Sorry." Tails took a sad lick of his popsicle; it was starting to melt and he was still hungry.

Shifting his gaze to his half of the treat, Sonic took a large bite right off the top to buy himself some time to come up with something to say. "Look, I'm sorry those families didn't work out for ya, squirt."

"I'm not," Tails scoffed, licking up the melting droplets of his popsicle before they stained his gloves.

Sonic shot him a crooked smile. "Yeah, well… I still feel bad if I got your hopes up or anything."

Tails blinked up at him. "Whaddya mean?"

Sonic squirmed under the scrutiny and quickly looked away, scratching at his cheek. "I dunno. Nevermind. It's nothing, keed. Just forget about it. But back to your question, no this isn't like the foster parents. Looks to me like this is from your biological parents. Y'know, your real mom and dad."

Tails's mouth twisted into a pensive frown. "But I don't have parents. I haven't had them for my whole life."

"Well, you had to have 'em at some point. Everyone does. Guess yours just… lost you."

Brow furrowing, Tails shook his head. "I don't think that's right."

Sonic crouched down to be at his level, a hand on his shoulder. "Do you remember anything about them? Anything at all?"

He remembered a boat. He remembered a clearing in the woods. He remembered little blue boots and he remembered…

Waiting.

Tails shook his head. "I don't think so. I only remember my name. People said it, but I don't remember who. Just that I didn't like it."

"Yeah, you've mentioned that," Sonic hummed, finger tapping a fast rhythm on Tails's shoulder.

"Whenever anyone said it, it always sounded like I was in trouble."

Sonic's fidgeting stopped and he forced a smile, trying to make light of it. "Heh, of course you were a little troublemaker before you could even walk, huh?"

Tails didn't smile back. "I guess. But I don't think I meant to be." When Sonic's face fell, he perked up and pivoted. "I don't really remember though! I think I was too little. Maybe my name wasn't so bad and I'm just remembering wrong."

Sonic rose out of his crouch and his hand came to rest on top of Tails's head. He gently mussed up his fur, then tapped the backs of his knuckles against his forehead. His heart swelled up so big and so suddenly, Tails felt like he had to hold his breath just to contain it all inside him, so it wouldn't escape. It felt like so much—too much—and he didn't want it to scare Sonic away. Not when he'd just got him back. Not when he didn't know how much longer he had him back for.

"I gotta go see them, huh?" It wasn't really a question.

Sonic tapped his foot, hand going to his chin. "If you are their missing kid… we kinda owe it to them to at least look into it."

"Is it the right thing to do?" Tails asked.

Sonic grimaced, gaze drawn back to the billboard. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

Tails looked down at his sneakers, the sticky remains of his popsicle dripping onto the white parts. "Okay."

"'Okay?'" Sonic echoed.

"I'll go."

"You sure?"

He wasn't, but if he wanted to be a good sidekick, then it was important that he always choose the right thing to do. "Yeah. I'm sure," he answered bravely, then looked up to meet Sonic's gaze. "But will you come with me?"

"Aw, bud…" Sonic slung his arm around his shoulder. "Wouldn't dream of doing anything else."

They lived on 113 Mobius View Drive. Casino Night Zone PD gave them directions, confirming that a fox couple had put in the request to have a billboard put up as a last resort in tracking down their long-lost child. It was a two-story home closer to the countryside than the bustling city. There was plenty of room for an active kid like Tails to run around and play; it even had a treehouse already built into the backyard. A bitter taste filled Sonic's mouth as the thought never even occurred to him that Tails's birth parents might've had other kids. That he had real siblings. 

The word "Idyll" was molded out of the wrought iron gate set in a perfect, white picket fence that surrounded the front garden. Pristine sunflowers lined the fence, all of them facing the stone path up to the front steps. It truly looked like an idyllic home, the place where the perfect nuclear family unit would love to settle down and raise their two-point-five kids.

Yet Tails still held onto Sonic's hand, both heels digging into the ground as he was dragged through the gate. "It's gonna be okay, Tails," Sonic assured him, "this won't be like those other foster parents. These guys'll know how to take care of you."

"How?" Tails wondered, eyeing the front door dubiously. "I don't even remember them."

"But they'll remember you. And trust me, keed, you're kinda hard to forget." Sonic went to ring the doorbell, but his arm froze midway through the motion. 

He cleared his throat, shot Tails a weak smile, then forced his finger to make contact on the second try. Both of their ears perked up as they heard it chime on the other side of the sturdy, oak door. Tails shuffled closer to Sonic, prompting him to glance over at him and offer a gentler smile to help steady him. It didn't work.

"Yes? Can I help you?" The gentle drawl greeted them as a female fox mobian opened the door.

"Uh, hi." Sonic cleared his throat when his words got stuck in it. "We saw your billboard over in town. Said you were looking for your kid and, well…"

He stepped away from Tails to let her get a full view of him—particularly both tails that were nervously winding around him. The older fox gasped, both paws covering her mouth as she stared at him in disbelief. The lump in Sonic's throat grew as she quickly turned away, calling into the house.

"Honey, come quick!"

"What is it? Who's at the door?" a deeper voice answered, growing louder as he approached.

The female fox turned to face them again, hands clutching at her heart. "Our son."

A male fox joined her in the doorway, though in Sonic's opinion he looked more like someone's grandfather from the lines stitched around his eyes and the old-timey suspenders he wore to hold up a pair of trousers. A baggy, purple cardigan hung over his shoulders, practically swallowing him. The female fox was also dressed a bit homely, her long, pink dress shapeless and washed out. It looked more like a nightgown. Her fur was a bit frazzled and frayed at the edges, streaks of gray threaded through her orange fur. Though Sonic supposed it was fair that they both looked a bit tired and worn. They had lost a child, after all. They likely spent countless nights consumed with worry for the son they'd feared they'd never see again. That'd age anyone.

"Chaos," the male fox exhaled, gripping the door frame to steady himself. "After all this time…?"

"I told you the billboard would work! It's him, it has to be. I'd know those two tails anywhere." Placing her hand on her husband's chest, she nudged him back inside. "Please, come in. Welcome to our—welcome home."

Sonic exchanged a glance with Tails, then jerked his head in the direction of the door. Taking a deep breath, Tails stepped over the threshold and followed the two foxes into their living room. He glanced back over his shoulder to make sure Sonic came, too, relaxing a little as he shut the door behind them with a thumbs up. You're doing great, kiddo.

Swallowing his nerves, Tails looked back to the mobians that were apparently his parents. "Hi…"

"Hi, sweetheart," his mother sighed, voice filled with the kind of maternal warmth anyone would expect to hear from someone who cared deeply for their child.

"Let's take a look at you." His father gave him a onceover, radiating the kind of pride that made Sonic's quills itch. "There's no doubt about it. That's our little boy."

"Oh, I missed this sweet, baby face." Tails's mom went to cup his cheeks with both hands, but he stumbled back into Sonic before she could reach. "I'm sorry, this must be so overwhelming for you."

Tails shook his head, but his eyes never left her as his instincts told him she was the more immediate threat of the two. Sonic placed his hand on Tails's shoulder, leaving it there as he answered for him. "He doesn't remember much before I found him. Just bits and pieces."

"I remember I was alone," Tails added softly. "For a really long time."

"Of course you do." His mom clasped her hands together. "I'm so sorry we lost you. Not a day's gone by where we haven't thought of you."

"He just wandered away," Tails's dad explained to them. "And we looked everywhere for him! He was too young to remember us or his address, but we always held onto the hope that someone decent found him and took him under their wing. Never would've guessed it'd be Sonic the Hedgehog bringing our little boy back to us!"

"We kept your room exactly like it was, sweetheart." His mom went to smooth his bangs down, but Tails ducked away from her touch again, this time hiding behind Sonic. "Oh…"

"He just needs a little warning before you do stuff like that," Sonic told her, something twisting in his chest as he let Tails use him as a security blanket for what was maybe the last time.

"That's alright. Of course it'll be an adjustment for all of us. We'll work on it." Tails's mom smiled, her voice syrupy sweet, but there was a stiffness in her shoulders that had them both wondering if it really was as alright as she said. "You're so big now. I can't believe how much you've grown."

"Thanks for looking after him, Sonic," Tails's dad cut in, thumbing at the straps of his suspenders. "And for doing the right thing by bringing him back to us. It's what's best for Tails."

Sonic nodded vaguely, the words going fuzzy as he dropped his gaze to stare at an armchair in the corner of the room instead of the fox in front of him. It was better to take apart the house than search this guy's face for any resemblance to the kit huddled against him. There was a hand-knit throw draped over the arm of the chair with a matching homemade pillow; a basket of knitting and sewing supplies sat on the floor next to it, stuffed to the brim with orange fabric. That corner of the living room looked like a cozy spot for Tails's mom to bundle him up in her lap while she read to him—or let him read to her with how good he was at it. 

Tails would be safe there. Safe and loved and—

Sonic's brow furrowed as the uncomfortable thing writhing in his chest clenched around his heart. "Sorry, what was that?" he asked, finally fixing his gaze on the face of Tails's father.

"I was just thanking you for doing what's best for Tails," he repeated. "For understanding that he belongs with his family."

"Right…" Sonic tapped his foot while he discreetly slipped his hand into Tails's. "That's what I thought you said."

"Is something the matter, dear?" Tails's mom asked.

"Just wondering how you heard he was called Tails," Sonic said simply, quills bristling as two blank stares settled on him. "Y'know, considering the fact that's not what you named him."

"Well, we heard you call him that when you first got here. If he likes going by another name, that's more than fine with us. We're just happy to have him home," the mother recovered quickly, and Sonic was almost impressed.

Almost.

"Good to know. I gotta say, I am curious though. How'd you come up with it in the first place?"

She didn't blink. "What do you mean?"

"His name. The one you gave him. The one that you obviously filed a missing persons report under with the police, yeah?" Sonic arched a brow as he waited for their respective nods. Strike two. "Just wondering what the inspiration behind it was is all."

"Right. Of course. Well, we just liked the sound of it, I suppose."

"You liked the sound of it, huh?"

The father straightened his shoulders, his posture as rigid as if an inflexible iron rod was acting as his spinal column. "I don't appreciate your tone. Our son's name is none of your concern."

"But we'll gladly call you Tails if that's what you're most comfortable with, dear," the mother assured Tails, who'd slowly come out from hiding, curiosity and an idea of his own alight in his eyes.

"Gee, that's really nice of you," Tails said sweetly. "But maybe I'd like my old name more if I heard you say it again."

"That's a great idea, Tails." Sonic grinned sharply at the two adult foxes. "Go on. Say his name, Mr. and Mrs…. Aw, shoot. What was it you said your last name was again? I don't think I caught it."

"Fox," the father answered tightly, and Sonic and Tails could quite literally hear the grinding of his gears.

Strike three.

"Whoops. Sorry, that's incorrect. But I'm feeling generous today, so I'll give ya two more guesses. Maybe even a hint." Sonic winked. "Would you like to phone a friend or ask the audience?"

The father picked up what appeared to be a remote for the television and pressed a button in the center. "I think I'll phone a friend. And while I'm at it…" He pressed another button and sheets of metal encased the entire house, the room suddenly cast in shadow as even the windows were sealed off. "Let's up the stakes to sudden death."

"I was hoping you'd say that!" Sonic laughed, but there was a serrated edge to it, ready to cut. 

"Dr. Robotnik, they're onto us," the father said into the remote.

 "What?" Robotnik's indignant voice crackled through the intercom. "Then what are you idiots waiting for? Capture them!"

The mother shot out a retractable arm at Tails. Her claws nearly snagged on his fur, but he ducked down, then spindashed out of her reach. He rolled across the living room floor, right into the kitchen. 

The father blasted at Sonic with a weapon built into his hand. It struck the coffee table instead, cracking it in two. Sonic appeared behind him and drove the heel of his sneaker into the back of his mechanical knees. He hit the floor with a resounding, metallic clang. 

Sonic tsked and shook his head. "Badniks. You guys just make it too easy."

"Oh, good! It's a gas stove!" Tails chirped from the kitchen.

"Now, Tails, what've I told you about playing with stoves?" Sonic called out, backflipping over the mother's arm when she struck at him next.

"Um… nothing," Tails called back.

"Oh." Sonic paused, then looked over at the kitchen doorway as Tails poked his head around the corner. He shrugged and gave him a thumbs up. "Okay, then have at it!" 

Beaming, Tails answered with his own thumbs up, then gasped and pointed. "Sonic, look out!"

Sonic didn't even blink as he sidestepped the next blast. It seared a blackened, smoking hole in the carpet. Sonic let out a low whistle as he paused to inspect it. 

"Sure hope ol' 'buttnik got you guys some decent home insurance," he said, then zipped up the wall to avoid the blasts aimed at his heels.

A "home sweet home" cross-stitch fell off its hook and cracked, followed by a second one bearing "live laugh love." Sonic scooped it up and tossed it like a frisbee at the robot fox dad's head. The robot mother grabbed it out of the air with her extended claws. 

"You're grounded!" She slammed the sign on top of his head, forcing his body into the carpet. 

Sonic hissed at the rug burn on his belly as he was dragged across it, right onto the edge of a round floor rug. Static crackled in the air around him. Quills standing on end, he immediately tucked up into a ball and rolled off the rug. Electricity continued to sizzle in the carpet fibers.

"Drat!" A familiar voice squawked from the hallway. "We almost had him that time!"

Sonic rolled his eyes as he hopped onto an end table. Of course Scratch and Grounder were part of this. The bumbling badniks came barreling into the room, knocking into one another in an attempt to be the first one through. They shoved at each other until Scratch tripped over a floor lamp and crashed onto the ground. 

The lampshade flew off and landed on his head. "Ack! Who turned out the lights?"

"You did!" Grounder accused, leaving him there as he turned his focus to the remote balanced between his drills. 

Why they kept putting the badnik without hands in charge of pressing time sensitive buttons was beyond Sonic, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Not when the pseudo fox parents were far more serious threats. Sonic jumped over another laser blast from the father's arm cannon. A startled yip sounded behind him. Sonic whipped around to see Tails had come back out of the kitchen and just barely ducked out of the laser's path. 

Whilst distracted, the mother's claws sank into Sonic's chest and shoved him into the wall. The plaster cracked and fake photographs of the two foxes and a baby Tails crashed to the ground around him. 

"Jeez, the egghead really went all out, didn't he?" Grunting, Sonic squirmed to escape her sharp grip. "How'd he even know Tails doesn’t know his parents?"

"Easy, hedgehog," Scratch answered, still tugging at the lampshade stuck on his head. "He got a tip you dumped him off at some foster placement after you got sick of babysitting. We figured the little freak wouldn’t last with anyone long, so put together this trap to bait you into coming back for him!"

"Yeah! And you sure fell for it! You're here way sooner than we expected!" Grounder taunted, totally missing the fact that Sonic hadn’t been baited in the slightest.

But his muzzle still curled into a snarl, glare burning holes into the badniks’ metal casing. "Watch it, slow-mos," he hissed, struggling harder to free himself as the claws cut into his sides. 

The mother easily held him in place while the father aimed his arm cannon at his head. "Sonic!" Tails cried out.

"Wait, that's not what's supposed to happen!" Grounder frantically pressed different buttons on the remote and the crackling in the air grew louder. "Hold your fire! Dr. Robotnik wants to be the one to defeat Sonic personally!"

"I don't take orders from you," the father said and charged his next laser blast.

Then Tails landed on his shoulders and drove his flathead screwdriver into his eye. The robot stumbled back, arm jerking up and blowing a hole in the ceiling. The pendant light fixture in the center of the room swung back and forth until the tubing snapped. Scratch finally managed to free his head from the lampshade with a triumphant caw, cut off prematurely when the pendant light smashed into his face and knocked him flat on his back.

Sonic used the distraction to shove his sneaker between him and the mother's claws, prying her off him even as she took some of his fur with her. The scratches she left behind sang a searing tune along his nerves, but he ignored it as he spindashed right through her shoulder joint and sliced off her extendable arm. He rolled along the wall over the fireplace mantel, doing a full circle of the room to swing back around and cut through her other arm in seconds.

Tails, meanwhile, was still twisting the screwdriver into the father's face. Sparks were flying out of his skull as he clawed at Tails, trying to rip him off and away, but the fox kit's legs were locked tight around his neck. He leaned his whole body towards the kitchen, using the handle of the screwdriver like a steering stick. The badnik stumbled over himself, tripped, and fell right towards the electrified rug.

Sonic bristled. He zipped over it and snatched Tails away before a current of electricity zapped through the robot's body. It twisted and contorted, trapped against the magnetic fibers of the carpet as more sparks burst from his joints and the hole in his head.

Tails tilted his head thoughtfully. "Well, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but I can work with this." Tails looked up at Sonic, already anticipating his question. "I turned on the gas flow for all the burners on the stove and now it's filling up the kitchen. It's probably gonna reach here in about fifteen seconds."

Sonic glanced over at the sparks still flying from the badnik trapped in the rug's electrical current. He could put two and two together. Apparently Grounder could, too.

"Scratch, how do I shut it off?" Grounder cried, smashing several buttons at once with his drill.

Scratch couldn't help him, his head was completely encased in the glass globe of the pendant light. All the doors and windows were still sealed. The whole place was going up in a matter of seconds.

Sonic's eyes darted to the fireplace and his grip on Tails tightened. "Keep your arms and legs tucked in at all times and be sure to watch your kids," he said in a mock-announcer's voice, giving Tails a wink. "We're up, over, and gone!"

Curling up for a spindash, Sonic shot them at the fireplace and rolled right up the flu. He broke through the chimney cap, tucked tightly around Tails as they rolled down the roof. He landed on a patch of sunflowers; their metallic crunch not something he would've expected for a normal, idyllic garden, but it certainly screamed Robotnik. There wasn't time for further inspection though, Sonic spindashing out of the garden and right through the picket fence.

The house exploded in a burst of flames and smoke. Burning pieces of stucco and scraps of metal scattered into the sky. Sonic bounced as the ground quaked from the force of it, tumbling out of his roll. He kept Tails pressed close though, guarding him from the shrapnel with as much of his body as he could. Tails tried to get a peek over his shoulder, but Sonic covered his head with his hand as a flaming throw pillow sailed right over their heads.

When the rumbling quieted and bits of house stopped raining down around them, Sonic finally let Tails up. They both looked back at the wreckage. There was a smoking crater where the house once stood, exposed pipes and metal tubing protruding from the blackened soil. The once white picket fence was completely shattered, the slats that survived driven into the ground like burning stakes. 

A lone sunflower landed in the dirt beside them. Sonic picked it up. There was a cracked, black lens tucked behind the petals. Hidden cameras. Should've figured.

"Wow," Tails breathed, marveling at the remains. "Guess it really does spell disaster." He looked down at the screwdriver he still clutched in his fist. "Thanks, first foster dad."

Sonic blinked at him. "Your first foster dad taught you how to blow up a house with a gas line?"

"Yep!" Tails chirped, brandishing his screwdriver in front of him like a sword.

"Huh. Go figure." Sonic looked back at the collapsing bits of foundation still struggling to hold on, and the melting wrought iron gate. Idyll. "Can't believe Robotnik would stoop so low by trying to impersonate your family," Sonic huffed, then immediately considered what he'd just said. "Nevermind. Actually, I can."

"It's okay, Sonic. They didn't have us fooled for long!" Tails pumped his fists in the air, smiling up at him.

"Yeah. It's more the principle of the thing, little guy." Sonic placed his hand on top of his head. "You okay?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah. I didn't get hurt or anything."

"I mean more like…" Sonic cringed, hand waffling as he forced the words out. "Do you wanna talk about what just happened?"

"Oh." Tails glanced back at the smoking remains of the house. "You mean like about how we thought we found my parents, but then they turned out to not be my parents?"

"Yeah. That exactly." Sonic rubbed the back of his quills.

Tails shrugged. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Sonic leaned back sharply. "What? Why would I need to talk about it? This isn't about me."

Mouth twisting to one side, Tails didn't push and instead took stock of his own feelings. "Well, this was more fun than any of the other foster families I had to stay with. I got to blow up a whole house!"

A fond smile tugged at Sonic's muzzle. "Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the foster care system."

"I'd definitely rather live with badniks pretending to be my mom and dad," Tails giggled, and Sonic's heart broke a little more for him.

How could three separate homes have failed this incredible kid?

Their ears swiveled back as sirens approached from the road, the fire brigade on its way. Sonic hopped to his feet and dusted himself off, Tails following suit and shaking the debris from his tails. 

Offering his hand, Sonic jerked his head towards the hills in the distance. "Think that's our cue to juice, little buddy."

"And jam!" Tails agreed, latching onto his hand.

They left the scene of the crime in a blur of blue, wind rushing through the rubble. Since no one was hurt—permanently hurt, as what remained of Scratch and Grounder would be recalled and repaired, surely—and the land hadn't been permitted to have a house built on it anyway, there was really no harm done overall. Except to the hand-knit blankets and cross-stitch Robotnik inherited from his grandmother. There were some things that just couldn't be replaced.

Sonic and Tails made camp in the foothills where they got a good view of the sunset over the valley and Casino Night Zone in the distance. They'd be heading towards Hill Top Zone next, continuing their search for the rest of the Chaos Emeralds. Robotnik had most certainly set his sights back on West Side Island after his failure to weaponize Little Planet; so Sonic would, too.

The lights of the far off casinos began to twinkle as dusk settled around them. The campfire crackled along with the hum of insects while dinner cooked. Canned chili boiled in the pot hanging over the flames, Tails's stomach already growling as the familiar scent filled the air.

"I missed chili dogs," he sighed, kicking his feet back and forth, using a log for a bench.

Sonic took out their bowls from his backpack. "'Fraid it's just the chili tonight, keed. I'll do a grocery run tomorrow. Didn't really have time between coming back for you and then that whole deal with your 'parents.'" He made air quotes as he rolled his eyes.

Tails sat up straight, ears and tails suddenly at attention as he remembered the way Sonic had looked in his wallet earlier before deciding against a popsicle for himself. "That's okay, Sonic! Chili by itself is good, too! Thank you for letting me have some."

That got a funny look out of Sonic. "Yeah… 'course. You can have as much as you want, bud. I made plenty."

The polite thing might've been to ask if he was sure, but Tails was so hungry, he took Sonic at his word and eagerly tucked into his first of three bowls once it was handed to him. For a few minutes, neither said anything as they ate, both too focused on filling their bellies. By the time Sonic spooned seconds into Tails's bowl, a different thought consumed them both, though neither knew exactly how to broach it. 

As Tails watched his bowl fill for the third time, he decided to be the one to break the silence. "Sonic?"

"Tails?" Sonic handed him back his bowl, looking at him expectantly.

Tails considered his third helping for a minute, kicking his feet back and forth as the thought simmered in his mind, much like their pot of chili on the fire. "Are you still gonna try to find me another family?"

Sonic looked down into his own bowl, scraping the sides for any lingering remnants of chili. "Do you want me to?"

"Do you want me to want you to?" Tails asked back.

Sonic finally glanced at him again, the look on his face a bland one. "Tails."

"You started it," he defended. "You answered a question with a question first."

Sonic huffed and flicked Tails's ear. "Well, sorry for trying to take what you want into consideration. If you want me to make the call, I will, but then you don't get to complain about it when—"

"I don't wanna go to another foster family," Tails interrupted, ears falling flat. "But if it'd make you happier if I did… that's more important. I don't want you to feel like you gotta take care of me 'cuz no one else will. I just want you to be happy. More than anything."

Sonic inhaled sharply. "Tails…"

"But this time can you leave me in the woods instead of with a foster family if you don't want me?" Tails turned pleading eyes on him. "Please?"

Sonic stared helplessly at him. For a second, Tails worried that he'd broken him, like how the watch had been broken. Like Tails might as well have crunched him under his heel and cracked his heart right open. Slowly, Sonic shook his head. It was Tails's heart's turn to break. 

But then he was dragged onto Sonic's lap, both of their bowls cast aside to make room. "You kidding? M'not just gonna leave my best little buddy on his own in the woods. What kinda big brother would that make me? And I clearly can't trust any ol' slow-mo to look after you, so I think it's best for both of us if ya stick with me, keed."

Tails jerked his head back to stare up at him. "Did you say big brother?"

Sonic shrugged and rubbed at his nose. "I just figured… if I was ever gonna call anyone my family, I can't think of anyone who fits the bill better than you. So, if it's still something you kinda maybe sorta want, I'm willing to drop the playing pretend part of being your brother if you are."

Tails's heart swelled, his tails already spinning. "You really want me to be your family for real?"

"It might've taken me a minute, but I got there eventually." Sonic forced himself to meet Tails's wide-eyed stare, smile crooked and wobbling at the edges. "Think this might be one of those rare cases where you outpaced me, little buddy. Just don't let it go to your head—woah!"

Tails threw both arms around him in the biggest hug he could muster and nearly knocked them both off the log. He squished their cheeks together, purrs rumbling from his chest and tails spinning fast enough to lift him right out of Sonic's lap if he hadn't banded an arm around his waist to keep him grounded.

"Easy there, keed," he laughed. "So I'll take that as a yes?"

"I didn't pretend because I wanted any old family," Tails told him and Sonic's hand settled against the small of his back as he listened. "I wanted my family to be you."

"Tails…"

"Because you're already all of it." Tails leaned back, still holding onto his shoulders as he beamed at him. "My mom, dad, and picket fence. You're everything."

Sonic blinked fast, then pointedly looked away. "Watch it with the mushy stuff, will ya, keed," he said, voice thick.

"You started it," Tails accused.

"No I didn't."

"Did so."

"Did not."

"Did so!"

"Did—" Sonic stopped himself, realization blossoming across his face while Tails grinned at him. Then he snorted, a burst of laughter escaping as he ruffled Tails's fur with both hands. "You did that on purpose!"

"You have no proof!" Tails giggled, squirming off his lap and away from him to try and smooth his fluff back down.

"You kidding? I got all the proof I need!" Sonic leaned back, flashing him a grin and a wink. "It's textbook little brother behavior."

Tails lit up, his smile glowing brighter than their campfire. Sonic patted the log next to him, jerking his head to coax him back over. Tails hopped back up, settling right beside him, right where he belonged.

"I do my best," he replied. "Gotta be the kind of little brother you deserve."

"You don't gotta worry about that, keed." Sonic caught his eye and gave him a wink. "You're already miles above 'em all."

Tails preened, chest puffed out happily and twin tails swishing until it fully registered what he'd said. "Wait… was that…?" When Sonic's grin only grew, Tails huffed and tried to shove him off the log. "You're the worst!"

"Big brother privileges!" Sonic called out, laughing as he held his ground and barely budged. "It comes with the territory, keed. Take it or leave it."

Oh, he'd take it. He'd take everything that came with having Sonic for a family—the good, the bad, and the puns. The terrible, terrible puns. 

But that didn't mean he wouldn't complain about them. It was his right as a little brother, after all. "You gotta get some new material," Tails told him, leaning heavily into his side when he tired of trying to wrestle him off the log.

"Sure. I'll get right on that," Sonic chuckled, draping an arm around his shoulder so he could comfortably fit against him, "little bro."

Their family might not have been conventional by most standards, but they were no strangers to breaking the mold when moments called for it. After all, life wouldn't be nearly as fun if they didn't.