Chapter Text
The air was crisp and cool around Victory Garden. Bean and Bark eyed the growing fruits and vegetables longingly.
“You sure we can’t sneak a tomato for ourselves?” Bean asked.
“I thought you two said you were done with stealing stuff!” Tangle laughed.
“No one will miss one tomato!”
“They’re not ripe yet anyway,” Whisper chastised, “They won’t taste good.”
Bean frowned, “Then why bring us to a garden in the first place?”
“It’s just the easiest way to get into HQ,” Tangle shrugged.
Bean and Bark gave her a confused look. The entire town around them was nothing but ruins. Tangle and Whisper chuckled knowingly and beckoned them into a shed on the far end of the garden.
Inside, the tool shed looked about what Bean and Bark expected a tool shed to look like.
“This doesn’t seem like that impressive of a setup,” Bean said, “The way you two talked about it, I expected-”
Tangle pulled on a trowel sitting on a hook. Bean and Bark nearly lost their balance as the floor under them began to lower. Their confusion only furthered, as the walls of the tool shed went further and further away.
Soon, the surprise elevator stopped with a *kachunk* and a door opened near Tangle and Whisper.
“Sorry for the surprising entrance,” Tangle chuckled.
“Front way in’s a little packed right now,” Whisper smirked.
Bean and Bark glanced at each other before following the girls out of the elevator. They walked through a couple of dark and mostly empty hallways.
“Gotta be honest,” Bean sweated, “This isn’t giving me ‘relief provider’ vibes. This reminds me more of Everhold Prison.”
Tangle chuckled, “You haven’t even seen the main lobby dude!”
Tangle and Whisper stopped and stood on either side of an entryway at the end of the hall. A much friendlier glow emanated from behind them. Bean and Bark couldn’t make anything out beyond the girls. The smiles on their faces gave away what they wanted. Bean and Bark slowly walked forward, into the light of the next room.
Their eyes widened at the sight. Sunlight shone through an array of windows far above them. Glass fences enclosed small forests of palm trees and other beautiful greenery. There were windows of shops and small restaurants everywhere. It was like they were in a mall and a subway station at the same time.
“Welcome to Restoration HQ!” Tangle announced proudly.
“This is your guys’ setup?!” Bean gawked.
“Impressive, ain’t it?” Tangle said.
Bean and Bark just went back to observing their surroundings. Tangle and Whisper walked past them and beckoned them to follow.
“We’ll give you the full tour later,” Tangle said, “First we gotta get a few things set in stone.”
“Like what?” Bean asked.
“Your rooms,” Whisper said, “And your place on our team.”
“Woah, hey now!” Bean chuckled, “I thought you didn’t want to overwhelm us with that kinda talk!”
“That was before we destroyed the ship,” Whisper reminded, “Are you saying you still can’t handle more than one thought at a time?”
Bean just stuck his tongue out at her. She replicated the gesture.
**********
Lanolin sipped her mug of coffee calmly in the Restoration’s Cafe. Tangle and Whisper’s mission had been a rousing success. She was a little ticked they never relayed any information to her, like they were supposed to do, but outright destroying the ship themselves was a fine substitute.
Her eyes caught a lemur bounding towards her, followed by a biscotti wolf, and…
Tangle stopped in front of Lanolin with a big grin on her face.
“Hey boss!” she beamed.
Lanolin didn’t respond. She was looking past Tangle, shocked. Tangle followed her gaze to see it was fixed on Bean and Bark.
“Oh! Yeah!” Tangle chuckled, “This is-”
“I know exactly who they are,” Lanolin said grimly, getting up from her seat, “Why are they here?”
Bean scoffed, “Talk about a warm welcome.”
Bark elbowed him in the side as Tangle nervously cleared her throat.
“Well, they actually worked with us to blow up Eggman’s ship!” Tangle said excitedly, “We met them at the base we found information on the ship in. They’re excellent fighters, and they work really well with me and Whisper!”
Whisper nodded, “Their skills would be an excellent addition to the Diamond Cutters.”
Lanolin stared at her teammates with the utmost bewilderment. The sheep took a deep breath, and recomposed herself.
“Absolutely not,” she finally said.
“What do you mean?!” Tangle cried.
“What do I mean? What do you mean?!” the sheep pointed furiously, “You can’t just waltz up to me and expect me to agree to let criminals onto our team!”
“Hey! We’ve been the goodest of goody goodies for years now!” Bean protested.
Lanolin was about to rebuttal, but stopped herself and considered.
“That’s true enough,” she admitted, “You two haven’t been reported as having done any crimes with that hunter for a long time. But you also never paid for the crimes you did commit.”
“Well that’s what we want to make up for here!” Bean huffed, “Aren’t you people all about forgiveness and new leaves?!”
“Sonic is all about that, to an unhealthy degree,” Lanolin gritted, “But the Restoration is much less lenient. We don’t allow criminals here, and definitely not on our rapid response team.”
Bean and Bark looked solemnly down. Tangle could hardly take it all. Whisper, who had been glaring at Lanolin the whole time, just pointed across the room towards a green tenrec talking to Amy Rose. Everyone looked in silence for a moment before Lanolin sighed.
“Y’know what, Whisper? That is an excellent point.” she conceded.
“Who’s that?” Bean whispered to Tangle.
“Surge,” Tangle answered, “Remember me telling you about her?”
Bean nodded and turned his attention back to Lanolin.
“Okay, okay,” the sheep rubbed her temples, “Maybe I’m being unfair…But I’m going to need a lot more context as to why you two think they’d be a good addition, alright?”
**********
“…and then I said ‘Hello, Fat Face!’ ” Surge finished with a smirk.
Amy giggled, “You’re horrible!”
“I thought you liked that about me~”
Surge’s last line fell on deaf ears. At least she assumed so, as Amy’s eyes were stuck on something else across the room. Surge followed her gaze to see the Diamond Dorks standing in front of a small bird and a big polar bear.
“Y'alright, pinky?” Surge asked.
Amy’s expression changed from one of shock, to one of absolute glee. She bolted over to the group, much to Surge’s shock and chagrin.
“Where the hell are you going?!” she demanded.
“…so really, they’re the whole reason we were even able to take down the ship in the first place!” Tangle explained.
Lanolin nodded thoughtfully, and looked between the bear and the bird. Their expressions were nervous, and a little pleading.
“That certainly makes a lot more sense,” she said, “But I’m still not sure.”
“Come on, Lan!” Tangle frowned.
“You made a very good case,” Lanolin clarified, “But I’d just like to have one more opinion on the matter.”
At that moment, a pink hedgehog practically crashed into Bark, pulling him into a big hug.
“BARK!!!” Amy squealed happily.
Bark’s face went red in an instant, while Bean started laughing uncontrollably.
“It’s so good to see you again! How have you been?! Are you looking to join the Restoration?! I knew you would one day!”
The rest of the girls watched the interaction in shock. Tangle and Whisper turned back to Lanolin, two smug grins on their faces. Lanolin nodded sheepishly, and cleared her throat to get Amy’s attention.
“Ms. Rose,” Lanolin began, “I take it you know Tangle and Whisper’s new friend here?”
“Of course!” Amy gushed, “Bark is an old friend of mine!”
“And…you are aware of what he’d done in the past, right?”
“Oh, Bark was never a bad guy!” Amy smiled, “He just hung out with a bad crowd!”
“Hey, I’ll have you know I’m fantastic company!” Bean said.
“Well…” Amy smirked, “I happened to notice you didn’t bring Fang along.”
Bean snickered. Amy turned her attention to Tangle and Whisper.
“How did you two meet them?” she asked.
“Well…” Tangle began.
**********
Surge watched the conversation from afar with the most jealousy she’d ever felt in her life. She was so fixated on it, she didn’t notice Sonic run up beside her.
“You good?” he asked.
Surge jumped, but then scowled at him.
“The fuck do you want?!”
Sonic just shrugged, and looked over to the conversation Surge was fuming at. His jaw dropped.
“No way,” he muttered, and dashed over.
Surge scoffed, “What the hell is so interesting about those two?!”
**********
“That’s amazing!” Amy gasped.
“Ain’t it?” Tangle smiled.
“So you two are going to join the Diamond Cutters?!”
Tangle, Whisper, Bean, and Bark all turned to Lanolin. She sighed, but smiled.
“I was wanting a second opinion on the idea, and I think yours has convinced me, Ms. Rose.”
Before Amy could reply, Sonic zipped up next to Bean and Bark.
“Hey there, you two!” he smirked, “Long time no see. Though I’m honestly surprised one of you hadn’t blown himself to bits yet.”
He turned specifically to Bean at the last part. The bird just rolled his eyes.
“Could say the same to you, mister ‘I’m gonna throw myself at machines until they explode!’ ”
Sonic laughed, “Fair point. What are you two doing here anyways?”
“They helped us take down Eggman’s ship,” Whisper said.
“Really?” Sonic asked, “You gotta give me the deets!”
“Later,” Tangle chuckled, “I think if I explain it one more time my throat’ll give out.”
“Besides, we have to get them settled here,” Lanolin said, turning to the boys, “Let’s go talk to Director Jewel. She’ll get you situated.”
Lanolin guided Bean and Bark away from the group. They all exchanged goodbyes as they went.
“Would you two like to share a room, or separate rooms?” Lanolin asked as she walked out of view.
“Sharing is caring!” Bean squawked, “With bunks if you got ‘em.”
With that settled, Tangle and Whisper excused themselves to go rest, so it was just Sonic and Amy left.
“Gosh…” Amy sighed, “I’m so happy they’re here. I’ve been worrying about Bark for ages.”
“Yeah…we never saw him or Bean when Fang was on Northstar island, did we?”
Amy shook her head. The hedgehogs stood in silence for a moment.
“You know…” Amy said, “Maybe we could bring in another old friend of ours to the Restoration.”
Sonic smiled knowingly. “Maybe we could…”
“You said Tails was in the Machine Shop earlier, right? I’m gonna go ask him something. Bye Sonic!”
Amy rushed off in an instant. Sonic sniffed happily, then rubbed his forehead.
“Yeah…some old friends…”
He walked away, with a lot on his mind.