Chapter Text
Between the howling winds outside, the desperate rattling of the door in it's hinges and the increasing fever with which a piece of wood knocked against the old window somewhere in the house above them, Surge has had enough of it.
Enough of this mission that required her to drive to chaos knows where on an island and live in an abandoned old shack,
Alongside Kit and... those two.
Frustrated, she opened her eyes, tired of false facade of sleep that clearly had abandoned her to the hair-raising reality that stared back at her.
Or would have stared back at her, if they weren't sleeping so adorably frustratingly soundly in the bag next to her's.
Whisper's orange hair went into a wield cascade all around next to them them both, and the Tenrec couldn't even imagine how warm and snug she and Tangle both felt with redundant addition of all the wrapping tail turning a sleeping arrangement that was already far too comfortable than it had any right to be into a truly sickening sight.
She fumed as, adding insult to injury, one of the two seemed to be snoring softly.
"Ma'am." Kit whispered down to her from the wooden bed.
"...Yeah?" Surge whispered back, the attempt leaving a foreign feeling in her throat. She turned around and looked up into the red eyes that seemed to quietly and cold glow in the darkness around them.
If she was imagining the glow or not, she couldn't say, only that sometimes she was really glad she didn't remember everything _he_ did to them and... where.
Where...
Where were they again?
-----
"Are you kidding me? You're sending us on an island to man a goddamn Lighthouse the middle of nowhere?"
"The Lighthouse and the island around is a highly versatile watchpoint when it comes to spying on eggman and the movement of his supply lines. If you and the rest of your team managed to successfully secure it, then-"
"That wasn't an invitation to lay the speech on me again."
Whisper watched the two bicker in silence, cup of hot beverage in hand.
"All I'm saying is, you're protesting too much~ it's gonna be fun, me, you, Whisper and Kit all living together for a week or two, maybe destroying a few badnicks or just making our escape if the island is rigged to explode or something. Can you imagine?!"
"Urgh." Surge groans, despite Tangle the Lemur being 100% correct in her assessment that did sound exciting, and yet... "That sounds like something..." Shudder. "Nevermind."
Tangle's expression widens in realisation before laughing.
"Trust me. Staying cooped up, surrounded by nothing but water on all sides?" She let's the question hang in the air while stepping over to the counter the sniper was content to lean on, watching the conversation going on in quiet, absentminded enjoyment.
Absentminded, but thoughtful.
She watched them. But not only that. She was really looking at them. Both of them.
Tangle, the spring in her step while talking to the grumpy tenrec. The way she lit up while exchanging banter over such a menial topic.
The Wolf couldn't help a small smile grace her lips.
A small act of the subconscious that would only become noticeable a lot later when the untrained muscles would ache in protest.
Surge, the mechanical maniac who decided to stay and live not just among them, but... with them. The process full of ups and downs... but the effort was there.
On both sides. From all of the Diamond Cutters, much to Whisper's surprise.
The way she herself began to want to see the Tenrec succeed, inspite of everything she had done, and continued to do to make the Wolf despise her. Despise being around her.
She could not.
They would not.
Surge, the mechanical maniac, grimaced knowing she'd been caught. Turning away she let out a scoff before catching Whisper's gaze in her own.
Radiant blue eyes narrowed in a defiant, a little petulant scowl.
"What the hell are you looking at, Squinty?!"
Tangle reached across the kitchen counter, grabbing the utensils necessary to make a cup or two of her own. The lemur's tail gently brushed against Whisper's leg in silent acknowledgment.
Whisper looked back down into her cup, wondering when the last time she felt like this was.
And she found there wasn't anything she could compare this to.
"... just lost in my own thoughts."
"Yeah that was obvious, just don't fucking look at me like that..."
Looking up, she wondered and asked in the same breath, "Like what?"
"Ahh..." stunned like at the sight of a cliff on the other side of a forest's treeline, no answer came out for a few vast moments in which both the Veteran and the Speedster could have done a terrible amount of things to fill that void of words with intense action.
A part of Whisper almost expected something to explode.
But the only heat came from Surge's cheeks.
Quickly, she turned marched away, seemingly making a point not to use her superspeed.
The door slammed shut.
Tangle giggled next to her, a beautiful sound in the Wolf's ears. The tail's brushing continued as humming and the machine's working stutter filled kitchen where Surge the Tenrec had been moments ago...
It almost felt like a loss, in a way. Why had she left so early?
Lupine eyes closed momentarily...
"Before you go after her, Kit..."
This time, Whisper did reaccess the situation. She had been too comfortable, not noticing Kit watching them from one of the nearby walk-in closets he used to eat alone.
Caught right inbetween said closet and the door Surge had escaped through, he turned around, Slowly.
Kit the Fennec watched them.
The gap between them all had lessened considerably, but that didn't mean that Kit got any more social, territorial or trusting.
Or worse at blending into the background and avoiding attention, when he deemed it fit to do so.
"What do you want?"
Tangle turned around too, cup of steaming liquid in hand.
A part of Whisper wanted to reach out and stop Tangle, wanted to ask her if she was sure. An irrational, fearful part of her, she knew. Logically she knew, Kit wouldn't do anything to hurt the lemur for annoying him. He was too in control for that, too reasonable, despite what the intense red eyes looking at them said about it.
But in that moment, she was just scared of the hot beverage extended in friendly gesture spilling over, soaking through the gloves and leaving a shattered pile of shards on the floor.
She remained silent. She remained still. She remained watchful. She couldn't rush in, nomatter how badly she might want to. She had to stay back. She had to stay watchful. She had to-
"Do you want a cup? This brand was brought in new a couple of days ago."
Kit looked at the offering. Then back up at Tangle.
"How did you know I was there?"
The question caught Whisper off guard, but not Tangle.
"Because of all places, I knew where you wouldn't be, and that's far away from her."
The Fennec seemed to digest that information in his mind before slowly reaching out...
And taking the offered mug in his hands. He held the cup up to his face and the warm steam and the strong, sweet smell sent a shiver down his muzzle, bristling his fur.
He mouthed something. A 'thank you' maybe?
And then he turned around, opened the door, and he was gone too. Speed greater than he seemed capable of on the surface, managing to spill not a single drop.