Chapter Text
Infinite slowly blinked open his eyes. As his eyes adjusted, he realized that he didn’t know where he was. He sat up and looked around, but flinched in pain as he moved his body. Infinite looked down and noticed bandages wrapped around his torso. He heard the door begin to open and sat up straight, looking over at the door. He wasn’t sure who he was going to see, but was surprised when he saw Tails walking into the room. The young fox’s eyes seemed to widen slightly as he saw Infinite staring back at him.
“You’re finally awake,” he commented. “That’s good, we were starting to worry.”
“You were… starting to worry?” Infinite questioned as Tails walked over to check on Infinite’s vital signs on the nearby computer.
“Of course we were,” Tails replied. “You were in pretty rough condition.”
Infinite looked down at his bandages again. Tails seemed to take notice of this.
“That battery Eggman attached to your back did some damage after we removed it,” Tails explained. “But at least you won’t have to worry about it shocking you anymore.”
Infinite was quiet. He barely remembered what happened. He knew that Eggman had been trying to control him, but his memory was still vague. He barely even remembered the battery on his back.
After he finished checking Infinite’s vitals, Tails walked back over to the door.
“Everyone! He’s awake now!” he called.
Infinite was caught off guard as he saw the other resistance members rush into the room. They all seemed glad to see him and he was still unsure how to feel about that.
“Alright, give him some space,” Gadget said, pushing his friends aside. He looked over at Infinite and smiled. Infinite just stared at Gadget, not knowing what to say to him. “How are you feeling?” Gadget asked.
“I…” Infinite went quiet again. Suddenly, he pulled the wolf into a hug and held him tight. Gadget was completely caught off guard, but after taking some time to process, he returned the hug, being careful not to hurt Infinite’s injury.
Sonic looked at the others and gestured for them to leave and give the two of them some space. They nodded and all quietly left the room, closing the door behind them.
“Thank you…” Infinite finally whispered, still holding onto Gadget.
“Hey, I’m a hero, it’s what I do,” Gadget replied.
Infinite finally let go of Gadget and stared at him again.
“Why… why didn’t you give up on me?” Infinite asked. “This whole time you never gave up on me.”
“We’ve been over this Infinite,” Gadget replied. “I couldn’t just leave you on your own when you needed help. And I knew that Eggman was using mind control on you. You weren’t actually on his side.”
Infinite looked away. “He was able to capture me so easily…” he grumbled.
“We don’t need to focus on that right now,” Gadget assured, putting a hand on Infinite’s shoulder. “The point is you’re back and Eggman can’t use you for his evil schemes anymore.”
“Good.”
The two of them sat quietly for a moment before Infinite looked at Gadget again.
“I know you said that you helped me because that’s just what you do,” he said, “but you could have easily let Eggman use me. Wouldn’t things be easier for you if I remained an enemy?”
Gadget thought for a moment. “You know,” he finally replied, “I have seen you as an enemy for a long time. Even when I first started helping you, I didn’t really trust you. But… things change. I couldn’t go back to seeing you as an enemy… because I love you Infinite.”
Infinite made no response at first. He tensed up slightly and looked away, wanting to avoid eye contact. “I’ve… gone a long time without loving anyone…” Infinite admitted. He looked down at Gadget’s hand before gently placing his own hand on top. “I think I’m willing to change that.”
Gadget blushed. He gave Infinite a soft smile and Infinite smiled back at him.
“So… is this a new start for me?” Infinite asked.
“If you want it to be,” Gadget replied. “You get to decide who you want to be.”
Infinite let out a small chuckle. “I like the sound of that.”