Chapter Text
Knuckles entered the yellow-lit hallway and barely registered the dust-covered walls while he muffled a yawn. The rundown hospital was being renovated as the Resistance's first official medical center, and though Knuckles knew it had a ways to go, he'd come to check on its progress.
Or well, that had been the plan up till he got caught in an Eggman invasion. He had smashed everything the mad scientist threw at him, but now it was late, nearing midnight, and all he wanted was a nice cot to lay in.
So despite the resistance base not being too far off, and knowing a bed waited for him there, Knuckles decided the hospital would do while he scrubbed his bleary eyes. He really was at the edge of his mental limit. Therefore, he should be forgiven for not noticing the sonic boom outside the hospital window. And for missing the blue blur careening towards him until it was a foot away.
Sonic skidded to a stop, gasping, "Knuckles!"
The echidna started violently, fist flying at the hedgehog's nose.
Sonic leapt back to dodge it, and without missing a beat as he landed, sighed with a relieved smile. "Oh, good, you're here! Mind doing me a favor?"
Knuckles opened his mouth to tell off the hedgehog for appearing out of nowhere, especially after disappearing weeks ago and ignoring every attempt to contact him until recently. However, the words died on his tongue when he finally got a good look at the hedgehog. Specifically, at the squirming bundle in his arms.
"Put me down, rodent!"
Knuckles stared at the glowering kit Sonic held in a crushing embrace. Tails was kicking out and writhing like a worm, but Sonic's arms engulfed him in a manner Knuckles would have labeled protectively a month ago. Now, it just seemed desperate.
"Sonic," Knuckles gaped, "What are you doing?" he demanded, voice rising. "Tails—"
"I got him away from the fight," Sonic cut in, grinning a little too wide. "Now we can see what Eggman did to his head and figure out how to fix it—"
"For the last time!" Tails growled, straining his neck away from the hedgehog. "I am not being mind-controlled, you—mmph!"
Sonic tucked Tails' face back against his chest, but it seemed an unconscious move as Sonic's gaze never left Knuckles while he asked, "The CAT scan machine is up and running, right? So just call one of the medics and we can see what's wrong with Tails."
Knuckles' eyes narrowed. "Sonic—"
"I know it's late, but it won't take too long, right?"
Knuckles paused, finally noticing a thrum of wrongness in Sonic's voice. Slowly he looked over the hedgehog, and frowned at what he saw.
Sonic’s eyes were unnaturally big, like he'd been awake so long he needed to keep them wide to stop them from closing. His fur was disheveled, quills half-risen and his foot twitching less with impatience and more like he was nervous—anxious.
Tails thrashed against his chest, but Sonic didn't seem to notice while his hand gently ran down the back of Tails' head. Though it was the manic desperation within his green eyes that really screamed something was wrong.
"Come on, Knucklehead," Sonic leaned forward eagerly. "We don't have all day!" he drawled as if joking, but his smile was strained.
The echidna’s mouth tightened. Sonic was a wreck—had been a wreck for the past month since he woke up from his near-drowning. He'd run off on his own for three weeks after Angel Island fell, but came back when Eggman's robot army started attacking and even dominating entire cities.
Still, Sonic had been quieter lately. His quips had all but vanished from the battlefield, and when they did make an appearance, they were half-hearted at best.
And he always looked tired, his face drawn no matter how much the hedgehog claimed to have been lazing around on the days he wasn't saving a city.
So the echidna reined in the lecture that wanted to spill out, closed his eyes, and released a heavy sigh before opening them.
"Fine, hedgehog." Sonic looked up hopefully, some of the desperation ebbing from his expression. "I will see if anyone can operate the CAT scan machine and we'll find out what Eggman has done to the fox."
Sonic nodded eagerly. "I knew I could count on you!" He looked down at Tails. "Don't worry, buddy, we'll fix—"
Tails' fist shot free of Sonic's hold. The preteen's eyes widened as it clipped his chin.
"Woah!" Sonic leaned away from a second punch and quickly adjusted his hold to recapture the kit in his arms.
Tails growled into Sonic’s chest, glaring murder up at the hedgehog.
Knuckles cocked an eye. "Do you need me to hold him—"
"No."
Knuckles tensed at Sonic's vehement look, his quills shooting straight up. For a second, the echidna wondered if Sonic would actually attack him.
However, Sonic's eyes widened and he suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing. Hastily, his quills laid flat. "I mean," his gaze darted aside, "I can handle him."
Sonic frowned down at the glaring kit. "Don't worry, pal, I know we can fix this," he said softly.
Knuckles' expression tightened, but he said nothing while the hedgehog carried the struggling kit into the hospital room. He knew they wouldn’t find anything abnormal with Tails’ brain, having seen for himself how the fox willingly left Sonic to die. However, Sonic had been in denial for far too long, and maybe seeing physical results was exactly what the hedgehog needed to accept the truth.
Though really, Knuckles would try just about anything if it took that broken look off of Sonic's face.
Even if it meant breaking the hedgehog’s heart all over again.
"When I get out of here, you're going to wish you drowned!"
Tails bucked against the cloth straps tying him to the examination table, his teeth clenching as he struggled to lift his head under the band holding it down. The CT machine whirred above him while the table slid through the tan circular tube as it took x-rays of his brain.
Yet Knuckles hardly noticed from behind the viewing window, too busy glaring at the hedgehog who matched his look with a scowl.
"No," Knuckles seethed, getting in the hedgehog's face. He shoved his finger into Sonic's chest. "We are not doing another brain scan! You're wasting the medic's time—"
"As if!" Sonic scoffed, tossing up his nose, though there was something dangerous flickering in his gaze. "Barely any patients are here—"
"And there's barely enough medics to cover the few that are," Knuckles' hands curled his gloves, "So get it through your thick skull, hedgehog. Tails is not being controlled—"
Sonic was already shaking his head, and Knuckles gnashed his teeth, reaching to grab the tufts of fur on Sonic's chest. The hedgehog hissed in surprise while he pulled him in close.
"Tails is not under mind-control," Knuckles said lowly, his violet slicing into Sonic's green. "There is nothing wrong with his brain."
Sonic's shock morphed into a glower, but Knuckles was unfazed as he shoved Sonic back. The hedgehog stumbled a step, yet quickly grounded himself and glared while Knuckles crossed his arms.
"He has chosen to team up with Eggman of his own free will. You need to accept—"
"I can't!" Sonic snapped, but his eyes were bright and wild with grief.
Knuckles paused, brow knitting together. Sonic went to say more, yet his mouth shut and he turned, shaking his head.
The echidna's anger faded and he frowned. "Look," he said gruffly, but not unkindly.
He waited for the hedgehog's eyes to meet his, wariness burning within them, and said, "I will get the medic to run another scan if you can answer one question."
Sonic frowned, ears pointed straight up and quills half-raised while his hands flexed anxiously. However, he wasn't so far gone as to attack a friend over a question, so he simply straightened and smirked.
"Ask away," he said, but his smile showed too many teeth.
Knuckles' eyes narrowed. "What will you do if Tails is helping Eggman of his own free will?"
Sonic quickly went to protest, yet Knuckles snapped, "I said if, not that he is." Sonic stopped, taken aback. "So if you are convinced that Tails is willingly helping Eggman, what will you do?"
The hedgehog's face went blank. His mouth twitched, and he swallowed audibly. Knuckles shifted his stance into something less hostile, allowing him time to think.
After a minute, which was agonizingly long by Sonic's usual standards, the hedgehog turned to the floor. His eyes narrowed, but his expression was hidden while he quietly said, "Then I'll never forgive myself for pushing him away…”
Knuckles' face softened just the slightest at the vulnerability in the hedgehog’s voice and he shook his head. "Tails' choice is his own, not yours—"
"I'm his big brother." Sonic looked up with a glare, though something fragile shook his voice. "I am responsible for him, I was supposed to protect him." His face fell. "But I abandoned him…"
Knuckles was going to respond when he noticed gray in the corner of his eye. He turned to the viewing window and he jolted, mouth dropping.
Sonic's face wrinkled in confusion. "Knuckles—"
"Tails is escaping!"
Sonic gasped and whirled around while the echidna rushed to the door and grabbed the handle. The knob didn't turn and Knuckles growled in frustration. He could break down the door, but that might destroy the machine and the Resistance couldn’t spare even one.
He looked back at the window and saw Tails aiming up a green laser, having likely made it from the pieces of the CT machine scattered on the ground. The laser was cutting a crude hole in the ceiling, smoke wafting off of the outline, and it was now he figured out the kit must have used it to melt the door knob.
Knuckles turned to Sonic, but stopped as the hero threw himself into a spinning ball and bounced straight at the window. The glass shattered and he raised his hands to shield himself from the fragments while Sonic leapt out of his curl and touched down beside the fox in a crouch.
"Tails!" Sonic shouted, reaching for him.
A loud crack resounded above them and Tails flew up to the side as the hole in the roof dropped. Sonic turned to it, but was too surprised to move while the concrete plummeted towards his head.
Knuckles leapt over the jagged windowsill and rammed his fist into the falling concrete with a battle cry. It smashed apart to dust, only a few larger pieces surviving and crashing into the walls.
Knuckles coughed a bit from the dust cloud as he landed, but quickly turned to Sonic. "Are you alright—"
"He's gone." Sonic stared wide-eyed at the hole in the ceiling, and Knuckles turned to the moonlight shining through the hole while a yellow dot swiftly disappeared into the starry sky.
Rage welled inside the echidna. Now the enemy knew their location!
He spun around with teeth bared, but he stopped. His mouth fell open.
Sonic's eyes were shiny, his ears curled and breath hitching.
Shock colored Knuckles' gaze as the hedgehog whispered, "He left me again…”
He bowed his head and Knuckles’ breath caught in his chest at how young he looked. Young, lost, and appearing so much like the twelve-year old kid he actually was, the echidna’s rage swiftly turned into concern.
Knuckles' mouth pressed together. Now…now wasn't the time for anger and arguments. So he shoved the remnants of his irritation down and reached for Sonic.
"You'll see him again." Knuckles turned up to the sky while his hand found the hedgehog's shoulder and held it steady.
Sonic was quiet, yet he didn't push him away and the echidna inwardly sighed as his face hardened. Undoubtedly, Sonic would see Tails again, the two always drawn to each other like magnets. Perhaps it was fate, coincidence, or the tattered remains of their bond keeping them together. Whatever it was, Knuckles couldn't stop it.
But something was going to give eventually. Knuckles only hoped Sonic could put himself back together once the lies fell away.