Chapter Text
“Are you sure you don’t wanna play?” Sonic asks for the fourth time. Leaning against his bat, he’s still wearing his batting helmet because he decided to detour his stride to home plate and talk to Tails instead.
Tails tries not to look past him at the neighborhood kids, but he can’t help himself. They’re getting irritated, glaring and whispering and complaining. If Sonic is aware of the jeering, he doesn’t seem to mind.
“I’m sure,” Tails insists, waving his concerns away. “I like playing when it’s only us, anyway.”
Sitting out during a sandlot game hadn’t been his choice, if you can believe it. The neighborhood kids invited them to play, but after the teams were picked, Tails found himself standing alone before the older kids. But while Sonic and Knuckles tried to plead for him, he realized how little he actually wanted to join. Baseball isn’t even in his Top 10 Favorite Things to Do if Tom and Maddie aren’t involved.
“Then let’s bail,” Sonic says, reaching to take his helmet off. “We can find better things to—”
“No, that’s okay.” He speaks quickly, just managing to stop Sonic in the act. “You don’t have to do that.” The idea of him quitting for Tails when he was clearly enjoying himself ten minutes ago feels wrong. “I’m fine on my own.”
Sonic eyes him. “Is this because of last time?”
Tails’s cheeks burn. “No,” he grits out, averting his gaze. “This is not because of last time.”
Halfway through their previous game, the pitch knocked Tails in the temple of his helmet. He’d gone down immediately. Sonic and Knuckles raced across the field, the former catching Tails around the waist before he could hit the ground. A moment later, Knuckles tore the helmet off.
“Hey–whoa.” Sonic had begun to move in front of Tails, but he staggered as soon as he lost the support. Hands grabbed his elbows and held him steady. “Tails, buddy, you okay?”
He remembered how badly his head pounded. He thought the sunlight was making it worse, so he squeezed his eyes shut. But, that only made him more dizzy.
When he opened his eyes again, he looked from Sonic’s concerned face to the catcher awkwardly wringing his hands inches away to the pitcher tapping his foot impatiently on the mound. There had been resistance from some of the other boys at the start, complaints about letting a little kid play with them. Sonic and Knuckles said they were a package deal, so if Tails didn’t play, none of them would.
Now, that little kid was holding up their game.
“Tails,” Sonic said again, squeezing his arms.
“I’m fine,” Tails replied. His head really hurt, and his vision wasn’t as sharp as it had been, but he’d say anything to get off that field. “I’m gonna sit down, though.”
His friends helped him to the sideline. Tails could walk well enough, but if the trees began to tip to one side, he refused to reach for support. Not when he could feel eyes digging into his back.
After reassuring them that he was fine—yes, really —Sonic and Knuckles returned to their positions. They didn’t see the way the other boys looked at them, but Tails did. The shared looks of disbelief, the fake smiles, the eye rolls. Tails could practically hear their thoughts.
This is why little kids shouldn’t play with the big kids.
He swore he wouldn’t do it again.
Now, Tails shrugs off the memory. “I’m fine on my own.”
“Yeah, but… You don’t have to be alone, you know,” Sonic reminds him, his tone soft and his eyes all-knowing.
He’s been saying that a lot, reminding him and Knuckles how not alone they are now. At first, it was comforting. Neither knew what it was like to be in a family. Tails doesn’t have to face thunderstorms alone anymore. He doesn’t have to worry about where his next meal will come from or whether his home will be warm enough to sleep at night. Living with Sonic and the Wachowskis has been amazing.
But—Sonic has been saying it a lot . He says it so much that it’s become less comforting and more patronizing. Yes, Tails was alone before he came to Earth. Yes, he grew up without a family. That doesn’t mean he’s incapable of being on his own sometimes. In fact, he enjoys solitude sometimes.
Instead of arguing that point, Tails pretends he didn’t hear that part at all. “Besides,” he adds and points toward the outfield, “Knuckles seems really into the game already.”
Even from here, the unwavering concentration on Knuckles’s face is clear. He’s ready and willing to plow anyone down in order to catch the ball—even his own teammates.
“Yo, hedgehog!” the pitcher calls from his mound. “Are you playing or what?”
“Just go,” Tails urges, pushing Sonic toward the field. “I’m fine. Promise.”
Sonic chuckles. “Okay, okay.”
Tails finds a comfortable spot under a tree near home plate. He brought a portable generator along with a backpack full of his latest projects. From here, he can still see and cheer on his friends. And he doesn’t even have to be in the sun to do it.
Sonic’s team wins by one. A few of the other boys storm off, too angry to face their victors. Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles are in the middle of their team, swarmed with triumph. Tails watches from his tree, a faint smile on his face. Does he wish he was there, surrounded by friendly faces and basking in the glory? Yeah, maybe. But, he gets to go home with Sonic and Knuckles. Those kids may have won the game, but who’s the real victor here?
CRASH!
Tails’s generator collides with the tree trunk and shatters on impact.
“Hey!” he cries, jumping to his feet. HIs heart is in his throat as he turns to the culprit Michael, the fifteen-year-old pitcher who towers over him.
“What?” Michael mocks. “Something wrong?” He kicks the generator again, this time right at Tails. It smashes into his shin, sending painful jolts up his leg. Tails falls to his other knee, his hands wrapping around the injured area at once.
“You’re being a sore loser!” he accuses, glaring up at him.
Michael’s face twists in anger. “What was that?” he hisses. He storms forward, hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. Instinctively, Tails shrinks away. Blue eyes dart to the grass. He can’t muster the courage to search for Sonic or Knuckles, the fear of being caught too paralyzing. He doesn’t even know who or what he’s more afraid of.
“I–I said I’m sorry.”
Michael stops and laughs cruelly. “That’s what I thought.”
Blood rushing through his ears, shin throbbing beneath his fingers, tears pricking his eyes, Tails watches the bully disappear into the bush. He leaves nothing but destruction in his wake.
A quick glance at his shin, and he sees his fur slick with blood. He’ll need to clean that as soon as he gets back to the house. If he can wait until Sonic and Knuckles are inside, maybe he can steal the first-aid kit from the garage and fix this without anyone knowing. He should leave now, get a head start—
“Hey, Tails!” Sonic waves as he and Knuckles walk over. “You ready to go home? Mom has dinner!”
Using his tails to lift him off the ground, he gives them his best smile. “Yeah, I’m starving!”
Before they can reach him, Tails makes quick work of his broken generator, dumping the pieces into his bag and ignoring how his heart sinks deeper and deeper with every hollow clang.
Shrugging it onto his shoulders, he looks back at his friends. “Race ya!” he calls. Before either can react, he’s gone.
Despite his head start, Sonic races past moments later. Then, Knuckles. Their laughter echoes through the forest.
Neither seem to notice that Tails is falling behind.
There are already four pieces gone from the extra large cheese pizza when they get home. Knuckles doesn’t notice, Tails is too polite to say anything, but Sonic looks between Maddie and the dog a few times before tentatively asking, “Uh… How was your day, Mom?”
Maddies give him a long, blank look before she laughs. “Long. Busy. Francesca Pratt brought her dog in wondering why she’s pregnant again but still refuses to pay for neutering.”
Francesca Pratt has become a household name between all of the encounters both Maddie and Tom have had with her in the past year. Tails hasn’t met the woman, but he’s seen her a few times before.
He slips behind Maddie and heads for the garage.
“If it helps,” he hears Sonic say around a mouthful of pizza, “we beat her son in a baseball game today.”
Maddie grins. “That does help a little, actually.”
Quietly, Tails pushes the door closed. Finally alone, he releases a heavy breath.
The pain in his leg is still prominent, worse now after the flight home. To the right of the door, on the second to bottom shelf, a red first-aid bag sits. Maddie had recently moved it to an easy-to-reach location for those days they were left alone, “just in case”. Tails sits on the ground and unzips it.
Though the layout and supply names are different, this routine is nothing new. While Tails dabs his cut with alcohol, he can’t help thinking of his old home on Mobius. It was similar to this garage, actually: quiet, cold, and dusty. Has anything really changed?
The door opens, and Sonic pokes his head out. A piece of pizza is hanging out of his mouth, one comically long string of cheese dangling past his chin. “Hey,” he says. Green eyes look him over once before they narrow. He steps fully onto the landing, pushes the door shut with his foot, then walks over.
Once he swallows his food, he asks, “What happened?”
“I fell earlier.”
“You didn’t say anything.”
Sonic lowers to the ground, careful to keep hold of his pizza. Scooting closer, he spreads his legs so Tails is sitting in the V and he can investigate the cut better.
Tails shrugs. “It’s not a big deal. See?” Fortunately, the blood is gone. That wouldn’t have helped much.
“Hm. Hold this,” Sonic says, handing off the half eaten pizza. Tails blinks, then he takes it. Hands now free, Sonic grabs the roller bandage.
“Wait, I can—You don’t need to do that.”
“Don't worry about it. Maddie showed me how.”
She showed me how, too, is on the tip of his tongue. But, he can't say that.
“First the baseball, now this?” Sonic teases, tearing off the bandage. “We need to get you some bubble wrap, dude.”
Tails jerks his leg away. Sonic freezes. Words jumble in Tails’s throat. Weak excuses, sickening memories. Those were both accidents but maybe you’re more trouble than you’re worth. Those were both attacks but maybe that kid is onto something, you freak.
Sonic recovers a moment later, reaching for Tails’s leg again. “Sorry,” he says. “Was that too tight?”
He shuffles backward, far out of Sonic’s reach. “I–I… I don’t want your help.”
A blur of emotions flash across Sonic’s face: shock, confusion, hurt, defense.
“What?”
“I didn’t ask for your help,” Tails clarifies. He hopes the tremor in his voice isn't obvious. “I can take care of myself.”
A part of him can’t believe he just said that to Sonic the Hedgehog.
But a larger part of him just wants out.
“… Okay.” Sonic throws his hands up in surrender. “Sorry.”
Scrambling to his feet, Tails races out of the garage. Maddie and Knuckles are still in the kitchen. Maddie gives him a smile, which he tentatively returns. She begins to ask what they were doing out there. Tails doesn't hear anything beyond the lock clicking on the door, the knob turning, the blood rushing through his ears again…
He bolts.