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Chapter Text

The triplets were twelve. 

It was when Robotropolis came to him that Sonic knew he was nearing the end of his time to run free of responsibilities. Free of the world he was born into. When Swatbots rolled into the villages the pollution and tyranny started to creep far beyond the borders of the Eggman Empire and expand and Sonic knew that he’d have to stop running soon. 

Sonic’s life was a carefully balanced ruse, a delicate line of public appearances as a wandering singer and vigilante work done so quickly that no one could see it. His little brother, Tails, ran both his sound mixing and was his ‘guy in the chair’ as he helped people. And for years, since Sonic fled the city, that had been life. 

It worked, and worked really well. The persona Sonic presented as Sonic the Rockstar was airtight. He was twelve, and the songs he’d written so far seemed to be received well as he sang and played them on street corners and in little venues. And when he wasn’t doing that, he had Tails in an ear comm, sunglasses over his eyes and he did as much as he could to stall Robotnik’s expansion.

It wasn’t enough, though. The universe was apparently bent on dragging him back to the one place he didn’t want to be.  

It had been a completely normal night. They’d set up their RV, roasted marshmallows over the fire, Sonic had tried to tell a scary story that would be just scary enough for his nine year old brother. Which of course, Tails swore wasn’t scary at all, and then ended up crawling up into Sonic’s bunk after he was certain Sonic was asleep (he wasn’t).

Mission failed, Sonic supposed, draping his arm over Tail’s already sleeping form. At least the kid was still small enough to fit in the bed comfortably. Foxes ran tall, though, and Sonic had a bad feeling he'd be outgrown eventually. 

Sonic stared up at the bottom of the second bunk, thumbing his finger over the medallion around his neck. As always, a quiet melodic humming filled his chest in answer, almost immediately pulling him into sleep. 

What was weird was that Sonic knew the moment he was asleep. He could still feel his body trapped beneath the pile of autumn colored fur that was his little brother, but mentally he found himself standing in an upscale, almost fantasy style throne room. The throne sat at the top of brightly carpeted stairs, and sunlight filtered in through elaborate stained glass. This was a palace. This was a place Sonic had never been, and yet it was perfect in all its details. 

Sonic took an astral step, getting used to the feeling of moving while still being able to sense his sleeping body, towards the windows. Beyond the colored glass he could see a city, bright and full of life. Lush plant life wound around buildings. A clear sky.

This wasn't anywhere he could remember being before. And again, why was he so aware of the fact that he was dreaming?

“Welcome,” a gentle voice said, from the throne side of the room. Sonic turned, surprised but not on edge somehow. A young mobian woman stood next to the throne. She looked kind of like a hedgehog, but Sonic couldn't see visible ears, with orange fur and bright blue eyes. She was dressed simply, in a skirt and white shirt, with sandals. A band wrapped around her head a bit like a crown and her quills fell in dreadlocks to frame her face.

She seemed warm and kind, bringing a sense of peace to the room. She smiled at Sonic fondly and started to descend the stairs. “It is good to see you, Sonic. You've grown,” she said.

Sonic blinked at her. “Am I supposed to know what's going on here?” he began, rocking back on his heels and trying to reach for his typical nonchalant attitude despite being a bit off kilter. “Or did I just eat one too many chili dogs before bed?”

The newcomer only smiled brighter. “No, I suppose not,” she said. “I am Tikal, I speak the will of Chaos. You, Sonic, who are Chaos Touched, are nearing the age where you must return to Mobotropolis.”

And just like that, the good feelings were gone. Sonic's expression fell flat. “Dunno if you keep up with current events, it's Robotropolis now. And there ain't no way I'm headed back there,” he sniffed, angling his body away from her in what he hoped would put her off. “Think Robotnik’s taken enough from me for a lifetime, don't you?”

Tikal didn't falter, though her smile became a bit pitying and Sonic didn't appreciate that much. He didn’t want people's pity, their apologies. There was a reason he’d kept his life story vague for even Tails. Still, Tikal leveled him with her stare. “You know who you are.” 

It wasn't a question. 

Sonic grit his teeth. “Pretty sure being a prince doesn't mean much when the ruling party is Buttnik,” he answered. “I'm not really a prince anyways, that's just who my parents were. I'm just me, and I'm fine with that. I’m a guy who loves to sing, loves to run and I help people.”

Tikal still wasn't phased, instead coming closer to him and reaching her hand out. “You do and you do it well,” she said. “But I can see through you, Sonic, and you know as well as I that you were meant for more.” Her fingertips brushed against Sonic's medallion and for just a moment Sonic could see them. Feel them.

A brother. Scrappy and wild, living somewhere in the city slums. A trouble maker. But he was warm and genuine, and everyone he encountered liked him.

A sister. Stubborn and regal, in the towers reaching high into the sky. Dancing her way through life, but the flame inside her stifled. Holding herself rigidly to what she’d been taught to be.

A mother, still alive despite what he'd thought. Despite what the country had been told. Somewhere hidden away, trapped. But still burning with hope in her chest.  

Sonic jerked away from Tikal, grabbing at his chest, at his heart. It was pounding against his palm. “How did… What was that?! Was that… real? Are they real?”

Tikal nodded, her hands clasping in front of her. “You are the eldest, and you must go to the city and find them. Unite under the cause of freedom and save your mother to save the kingdom, and the world. The gifts that Chaos has granted you were for this, Sonic,” she said steadily. “Your life was saved for this.”

Sonic gripped the medallion again, mentally reaching for that feeling. He wanted it back. It had only been a few seconds, and he wanted it back. It felt like when he'd been small, with Uncle Chuck reading him bedtime stories. It felt like nights with Tails in his arms, tucked under the stars and laughing.

It felt like home.  

Gears started turning in Sonic's head. He pointed at Tikal, a grin making its way onto her face. “Alright, fine,” he said. “I'll go back, but I'm doing it my way. Got it?”

Tikal surprised him by laughing, the sound soft and musical. “I would not expect you to do it any other way, Sonic. I will send your family your way in time,” she said, and a teasing smile found its way onto her face. “If you do not find them first, that is. Good luck, my prince.”

Sonic woke up gripping his medallion so tightly that it left marks on his fingers.

It was time for Robotropolis to get rockin’, and Sonic had a plan. 

The triplets were seventeen.

Amy Rose walked down the alleyway, swinging a gift bag stuffed full of tissue paper at her side. She hummed a song that was stuck in her head- one of the first ones Sonic the Hedgehog had put out when he appeared in Robotropolis around five years ago. 

He'd come out of nowhere, but quickly had pulled in a following. Something about him lifted the people of the city, and without doing anything to get himself arrested he was still bringing hope of a better future to everyone who stopped to listen. Amy included; Escape From the City was absolutely one of her faves, and considering the gift she was on her way to deliver, it was appropriate. 

Sonic toured often. But he always came back to Robotropolis, never away for long. Timing had worked out, Amy's savings had come together and she was on her way to see her best friend and hopefully cheer him up. 

She knocked on the hidden door, tucked carefully behind a dumpster, before turning the hidden knob the certain way she knew she had to to get it to open. The door swung open and she slid easily inside. “It's me!” she called down the hallway. 

Farrell the scarab's home was eclectic and piecemail, but it always felt safe, hidden away from prying eyes and Robotnik's people. She’d lived here for a while, when her parents were first taken. Even after she’d moved out, it was still a home. 

She took off her Mary Jane shoes and set them by the door, next to Manic’s red high top boots that he insisted were still in style. 

Farrell appeared at the end of the hall, coming out of his study. “Amy! Good to see you dear,” he said, opening his arms. Amy met him halfway for a hug, beaming. “How's business? You're not getting into trouble without your bouncer, right?”

Amy waved her hand. “Of course not, no,” she answered. “I've been hanging out on the fancy side of town since he's been out, even the rich folks like hearing about their futures. Some of them seem to like it more, honestly. And they tip nicely. How's he doing?”

Farrell hummed. “Got the last of his baby quills out two days ago. The new ones are coming in, and he's been an absolute delight about it,” he drawled, starting to walk Amy over to the door to Manics room. 

Amy stuck her tongue out. “Quilling’s the worst. I'm not looking forward to my turn for the big drop,” she said sympathetically. “Doing it in little batches is annoying enough.” 

“Don't let him bite your head off, alright? He got me when I made him take a bath..” Farrell warned, knocking on the door. “Manic! Amy's here to see you!”

Amy had to hide a giggle when they only got incoherent grumbling in response. Farrell sighed wearily and opened the door for Amy. She winked at him. “Don't worry, I'll perk him up. I've got just the thing.”

Farrell scratched his chin and let her go. Amy shoved Manics' air board aside with her foot. “Good evening, mister grouch,” she announced. “I come bearing gifts!” 

Manic peeked out from under the blanket, squinting at the light filtering in from the hallway. He stared at Amy with dark circled eyes, bleary and tired. Then he groaned and yanked the blanket over his head again. “Don’t look at me, I look stupid,” he grumped, burrowing back into his pillows. 

Quilling was a lifelong experience, old quills would fall out and new ones would come in. Usually it was just a little annoying, but when hedgehogs hit the tail end of puberty, they'd get adult quills. And that meant all the baby ones had to go. And that they had to grow in a whole new set of spines.

Unpleasant was a good word for it. 

Amy walked closer, plopping down on the side of the bed. “Every hedgehog looks stupid during this, it’s a feature. You’re not special,” she said, intentionally leaning her weight against him to annoy him into emerging again. She shook the bag at him, like she was coaxing a nervous cat out with treats. “C’mon, I brought stuff for you. Don’t you wanna open it?”

A whisper of curiosity brushed against Amy’s mind. Manic’s empath abilities got a little squirrely when he wasn’t feeling well, normally he held his feelings more closely to his chest, and didn’t read into everyone else's feelings too much. Amy was used to him, though. She’d known him since she was a little girl. It didn’t bother her.

Manic peered out from under the blanket. His bright pink eyes searched over the gift bag. He was right, he looked a bit stupid and small without his quills. The ones that were coming in were sparse so far, giving him a weird scruffy look. Almost like a sad pincushion. “Stuff?” he asked, watching her. 

Amy very carefully schooled herself, beating down any amusement in her chest. She wasn’t about to make him feel bad. Or worse, she supposed. “Stuff, for you. You just have to come out of the blankets to get it.”

Manic let out a prolonged groan and sat up, shoving the blanket out of the way and nearly pushing Amy off the bed to annoy her back. “Alright, lemme have it,” he said, holding out his hands expectantly. 

Amy rolled her eyes and dropped the bag into his lap. “A lot of hedgehog families give gifts for this,” she said warmly. “Since it's kinda your big step into adulthood.”

Manic was already yanking the tissue paper out, barely listening. Amy smiled fondly, watching him throw the paper onto the floor. Immediately she was rewarded with a broad grin. “You made my favorite cookies!” Manic said, pulling out the container that was decorated with a little bow. He didn't hesitate to yank the container open and start devouring a cookie.

Amy took the container from him and set it on the bed stand. “Don't blast through them too fast, okay?” 

“Mhm,” Manic said around his cookie, already digging into the bag again. Next came a large bag of oatmeal bath mix. It was the fancy kind, all the hedgehog ladies at the store swore by it. “Ohhhh heck yeah,” Manic grinned, chocolate smeared on his cheek now. “We were running out!”

Amy nodded. “Farrell told me you bit him the first time he made you take a bath,” she said flatly. 

Manic's face reddened guiltily. “He's dramatic,” he said immediately, plopping the bag on the bed next to his leg. Amy sat patiently as he went through the rest of the contents of her gift bag- quilling lotion, heat pads, a tiny set of bath bombs, new nail polish.

Manic looked up at her. “You're spoiling me,” he said, setting the stuff aside. “Thank you. Really. This makes the whole thing suck a lot less.”

Amy laughed. “As your best friend, I think it's my job to make things suck less,” she answered. She held up the bag and shook it again. “But you missed the best part.”

Confusion crossed his face and he peered into the bag again. At the bottom of the bag sat an envelope that he fished out. He turned it over, his eyebrow quirking up. “What'd you do, Amy?”

She could barely contain her excitement. “Go on. Open it.”

Manic smirked and used a claw to rip open the envelope and slide the two slips of paper out. His brow crinkled and he flipped it over to see what they were, then his face split into a wild grin. “Brooooo, no way?” He began, his eyes flicking up to her and back down to the tickets. “Are you serious?”

“I'm so serious,” Amy said, leaning forward conspiratorially. “You and me. On your birthday. You will be turning eighteen to the fantastic rock sound of Sonic the Hedgehog live. You won't even look stupid by then.”

Manic didn't even flinch, his eyes bright. Excited-shocked-touched leaked out of him, soaking into Amy’s chest. “YEAH! Everything should be grown back in a month- Amyyyy, you- how did you do this?!” He asked, his lip wobbling a little. 

Amy squeezed his hand. “I saved up,” she said. “I wanted to make this birthday special. That's what we're supposed to do for this one.”

Manic was staring at the tickets again, his eyes flitting over the text. “These are in the front row.”

“Yes,” Amy said, laughing. “It's gonna be the best night ever.”

“Amy, why, how -”

Amy laughed, bright and cheerful. “I saved! I felt like this was the thing to do, I thought really hard about this, I did readings, this is what you get,” she said. “Just don't make fun of the fortune telling that went into it and say thank you.”

Manic shook his head incredulously. “I can't even make fun of it if it got me Sonic tickets,” he said. He snorted at her. “We can do that tomorrow.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Sounds like a plan, dummy. Now you keep resting and don't get crumbs in your bed.”

Manic cackled, grabbed another cookie, and flopped back, holding the tickets aloft and staring at them like they were his reason to live. “You can't tell me what to do,” he replied, biting into his second treat. 

Which, by now, Amy knew was true. She told him goodbye and went home for the night. What she did not tell him was the incredibly vivid dream she'd had of an echidna, telling her to buy those tickets, right down to the seat numbers. The woman had been kind, gentle and very clear.

Manic needed to be at that show. 

But Manic didn't believe in that stuff. Dreams, her oracle cards, her palm reading. He teased her endlessly about it, in fact, the way she harassed him for pickpocketing people. It was their running script, the thing they fell back on. It was easy, comfortable.

It didn't help anything that every reading she'd ever done for him came up the exact same. Warnings of life overturned and dramatic destinies, hidden pasts and grandeur futures. Of loss, of gain, of adventure and revelations. Her fortunes never ran like that, they were usually about little things. Tiny crumbs of hope for the people of Robotropolis.

It was very weird, and after the 12th reading that said the exact same thing Manic had put his hands up and shook his head, telling her she didn't need to convince him of anything. 

But Amy tried it again every now and again. It always, always , came up the same. She didn’t even read it to him anymore, she just stared quietly as she pulled cards that told her the same things.

Amy kept that to herself, now. But she stayed close. Because pulling cards for herself, she had a feeling she would be pulled into that future and she wasn't about to let Manic do it alone. 

The triplets were nineteen.

Sonia had the most beautiful birthday parties. She knew this well, seeing as her parents spared no expense. All the aristocrats came, and they danced the night away under the lights of the city where the smog was thinnest. If you looked hard enough, you could make out the barest twinkle of stars in the sky. 

It had been a glorious affair. Fancy drinks, mocktails (seeing as most of the guests were underage still), dancing, music. Sonia’s courtship had come to an exciting new place as Bart got down on one knee and proposed to her on the stage just after everyone sang to her. 

Her mother had gifted her a new grand piano. And Bart had gifted her, along with a gorgeous ring, a new motorcycle that the two of them swore no one would ever find out about, hidden at his house. She could ride it whenever she wanted, as long as her mother didn't catch her.

Everything had been perfect. 

Sonia was stepping out of the shower, fresh and clean, wrapping her quills up on a towel and sitting down at her mirror to go through her skincare routine before bed. It was later than usual, but she couldn't neglect her skin lest she start getting wrinkles before thirty. 

She hummed a song quietly to herself as she went about it, and once she was done, tied her quills up in her bonnet and slipped into her nightgown. Sonia knew she'd be able to sleep in, she didn't have any plans tomorrow. Everything was absolutely perfect.

At least, until she got into bed and immediately heard someone or something tap distinctly on the glass of her balcony door. Sonia slid her eye mask back and slid a look at the doors. They were mostly glass, and through the curtains she could see a woman, a mobian, standing there with an unimpressed look on her muzzle. 

She'd never seen this woman in life before. The only memory she had of the echidna were dreams. Weird dreams that she always woke up and brushed off. 

Sonia stood slowly, grabbing her silk robe and wrapping it around herself before making her way across the plush carpet to the arched doorway. She pulled the curtain the rest of the way to the side and sized up the echidna– she was almost certain she called herself Tikal? 

Tikal did not look pleased. She waited until Sonia cracked the door slightly open to speak. “Princess, I do believe we are overdue,” she said, her gentle voice just the tiniest bit clipped. “You do remember our past meetings when you wake, don't you?”

Sonia stared at her, her muzzle wrinkling. “Is this like, a reality TV thing? I don’t think I’ve told anyone about those dreams, so this is like, majorly creepy,” she said, glancing around the balcony. She couldn’t see anything weird, other than the woman straight out of her dream journal. “How… did you even get up here?”

Tikal stepped into her space, eyes wide. “You are deluding yourself, Princess,” she said severely. “Time has run short for us to allow you to stall any longer. Answer the question, do you recall what I have told you?”

Sonia put her hands up and took a step back, despite the fact that she was much stronger than Tikal physically. Stronger than just about anyone, really. It was a feature “The dreams where you say I’m the lost princess of Mobius and I need to find my imaginary brothers? That I’m Chaos Touched and I’m supposed to do something about that? Those dreams? What, did you expect me to actually do something with dreams? ” 

Dreams that were tempting, sure but still, just dreams. Sonia wasn’t about to cause problems for her family, draw attention, get them in trouble with the government, over dreams. That was not her role. She was to be the perfect daughter, the way her parents raised her. To eventually work her way into politics, the way her father did. To marry her perfect fiance and move into a perfect highrise apartment. Go to university, make the connections she needed to thrive.

Sonia’s life had been planned out for years. This was a fact, and Sonia did not dare walk outside the lines. 

Tikal tilted her head to the side. “Your brother did,” she said quietly. “The eldest. And the younger was easily influenced into place. Only you remain, and your absence prevents them from truly having the power to begin dismantling Robotnik's empire.”

Sonia’s quills bristled and she lunged forward to attempt to cover Tikals mouth. “Shush shush shush! Get– Get in here!” she sputtered, yanking the woman inside and slamming the door behind them just a touch too hard. She gaped at Tikal as she brushed her clothes off. “You can’t just say things like that! Someone will hear and they’ll think my family is involved in the whole rebellion mess!”

Tikal continued to look immensely unimpressed. “Your family is involved, just not this one,” she said. “They need you. This life you are living is sustained by trampling on those less fortunate than you. And you know that, don’t you?”

Sonia clenched her fists. “This is the way that it is,” she said instead. Everyone knew that. And Sonia did her very best not to think about it.

“It does not have to be this way,” Tikal answered. “Time has run short. I would have liked it better if you’d chosen to leave all this on your own, but we cannot wait anymore. Without the full range of your abilities, the rebellion will fail.”

Sonia shook her head, covered her ears. “La la la, I can’t hear you, you’re imaginary,” she sang. “This is just another dreaaaaaammmm, I’m going to wake up and realize I ate too much cake.”

Tikal gripped Sonia’s wrists and wrenched them away from her ears, forcing her to lock eyes. “This is a warning. Your final warning, Sonia. Your brothers are coming for you, and they will not take no for an answer.” As she spoke she reached forward and took Sonia’s piano shaped pendant in her fingers, and a jolt rushed through Sonia’s body. 

A pair of brothers, somewhere in the city. Working to dismantle the government.

A mother, a queen that was supposedly dead. 

Sonia felt her throat close up a bit as she stared at Tikal. Quietly, softly, the echidna faded from her sight right where she stood, and Sonia’s pendant fell against her chest again. 

She backed up and sank onto her plush bed, her heart pounding, and she waited for her body to wake up. 

But the sun was now rising, and Sonia was already awake. 

Chapter Text

The triplets were twelve. 

Sonic was an early riser, he had been since living with Chuck and getting up early to do chores. Tails was still young enough that he got up fairly early naturally so this worked out. Hopefully by the time it didn't work as well, Tails wouldn't be crawling into Sonic's bunk to lay directly on top of him and sleep, or they would be having problems. Light filtered in through the skylights, and fresh air blew through the cracked open windows.

As Sonic woke to the quiet and peaceful sounds of birds chirping and the forest coming back to life from nighttime, he blew softly into Tails ear. He was immediately rewarded with a silly, frantic ear flicker and Tails squinting up at him with only mild irritation on his face. Sonic grinned, watching the kit's nose scrunch. “Morning, bud!” he announced. Tails' face groaned softly and buried his face back in Sonic’s shoulder. Sonic laughed quietly. “C’mon, I gotta get up and start breakfast. Move your butt.”

Tails scrambled and squirmed over Sonic into the side of the bunk against the wall as Sonic laughed and extricated himself from the bed. It would be another twenty minutes before Tails was actually up, which gave Sonic time to rifle around in the kitchenette and get a couple bowls of instant oatmeal going. 

He sang under his breath as he went, the gears in his mind turning far too fast for the time of morning it was. When he closed his eyes, he could still see Tikal in his mind, smiling with just a hint of mischief. 

Sonic had not been to the city since he was a kid. Well, a smaller kid. Based on what info he’d gotten just drifting around with Tails, Robotnik either thought the royal family was dead or didn’t care to figure out who or where they were if they were alive. He seemed happy with running and expanding his kingdom, and that was apparently a full time gig with rumblings of rebellion stirring up here and there. 

There was whispers of some group called the Freedom Fighters starting to form. Sonic likely wouldn’t be working alone on this project, even after collecting his siblings. 

Which meant, if Sonic played his cards right, he could get involved much in the same way he was currently involved- quietly so that it didn’t interfere with his freedom and music. He’d done well so far keeping those things separate, ideally he could keep doing that and that would satisfy Chaos and Tikal. 

It was a bit convoluted but he’d already spent years building himself an image. Those who knew him in any glancing sense saw an arrogant, head in the clouds musician. He played music, people liked it, that was as far as it got. The face he gave to the general public was a carefully cultivated mask, hiding everything real about him. 

And with how fast he moved, he could do his actual good deeds in the blink of an eye and a blue blur. Nobody was the wiser. Carefully, he could do this on a larger scale. Sure, he’d have to pick a few more people to trust with his real face, but that was just how it went. 

He’d suss that out later.

Tails shuffled over, his fur stuck up with bedhead. Sonic smiled as Tails plopped into his seat, and slid his bowl over. “So, got a pitch for ya,” he began excitedly, sitting down across from Tails. 

Tails yawned and nodded, stirring his cereal. He eyed Sonic with a bleary gaze, still blinking the sleep out of his eyes. “What’s got you all… extra awake today?” he asked, taking a bite and perking up a little bit. 

“What do you think of moving our homebase?” Sonic began, digging into his own breakfast enthusiastically. “Ya know, again.”

Tails shrugged, leaning his head on his hand. “Guess we’re due, yeah,” he agreed. They didn’t tend to stay put for too long, Sonic would get antsy after a few weeks. That was why they had an RV instead of a house. “Got a place in mind or are we winging it?”

Sonic knew this was about where Tails would catch that something was up. He didn't really wanna dance around it, drumming his hands on the table before just blurting it out. “Robotropolis?”

Tails spat his oatmeal out on the table. “ Huh?!” Sonic winced and slid him a washcloth. “What’re you talking about?! You said we don't go there, like. Ever .”

“Yeah and I also said it's full of slowmos and there's no sun and the air tastes like used grease but unfortunately for us, I kinda think we gotta go there,” Sonic said while Tails cleaned up his mess. Tails balked at him, his head cooked to the side. Sonic let out a long, long, sigh. He knew this was a sudden flip for Tails. He knew he owed the kid some answers. “There's some… background stuff I gotta explain.”

“No kidding,” Tails groused. 

Sonic just sighed again, sat back in his chair, and started talking. He stared at the ceiling, the sink, anywhere but Tails face as he spoke the story of his childhood for the first time in his life. 

He'd never told Tails any of this. He didn't like revisiting it. But he told Tails all about Uncle Chuck, his dad's best friend who he'd been left with when the coup left his mother alone and afraid. He told Tails how he was one of a set of three, and how those three were actually the heirs to Aleena and Jules thrones. He told Tails, the first person ever he'd told any of this, about how when Chuck started pushing Robotnik's buttons, Swatbots appeared at the cottage and Sonic was sent away in the Tornado as the house burned, with Chuck inside as far as he knew. 

Then he recited the dream from last night. Too real and too bright in his mind, more like a memory than any dream Sonic had ever had. 

Tails sat there and listened. He didn't try to force eye contact, he quietly fiddled with the wash rag and nodded here and there instead. And when Sonic finished, the kid, wise and kind beyond his years, smiled hard at Sonic and thanked him for telling him the truth. 

Slowly, a feeling of new determination settled over the RV. Tails leaned forward with the beginnings of a spark in his eyes and asked what Sonic’s plan was. 

The triplets were fourteen.

Amy Rose had never known a world with blue skies or clear air, but her parents told her about them before bed each night. Talked aimlessly about leaving the city someday, but they didn’t have much and it would be a really tricky thing to pull off. It was a pipe dream, something to keep them going. So it never happened. 

Amy wished they’d done it, as they sat in the back of one of the vans that people went into and never came out of. Amy was a child, she didn’t know why she and her parents had been grabbed in this particular raid. She probably never would, at this rate.

Her mother was at her side, gripping her hand and her dad was using his body to shield both of his girls from the rest of the van. Nobody was moving. Nobody spoke. Amy could just hear the sound of quiet sniffling, labored breathing, and the engine turning. 

If the rumors were to be believed, they’d be robots by dawn. 

Suddenly, and with little warning, the van rumbled to a rough stop. Amy’s dad braced to keep Amy on her feet as she stumbled into him. “What… what’s happening, Dad?” she whispered, looking around. The rest of the prisoners stirred as well, whispering and shuffling around a little. 

Amy’s dad gripped her slight shoulders. She could barely see his face in the dim light, but she could tell his eyes were shining. “Amy, listen,” he breathed. “When the door opens, run. Don’t look back, don’t stop, you’re going to run as far and as fast as you can, until you’re outta this. Understand?”

Amy blinked, shaking her head and lurching forward to grab her arms around his neck. “No? What about you guys? I can’t just- I can’t Papa, I can’t do that–”

Her mom gently ran her hand down Amy’s quills. “You can do it,” she said, her voice small and cracking. “We’ll make sure you get away. You can do it, Amy, you’re strong. You can get away.”

Amy shook her head harder. Something clicked, like the door was getting ready to open. Her dad glanced over his shoulder. “You get out, and you go find Manic, okay?” he told her fiercely. Metal ground against metal as gears turned. Amy glanced at the door and then tried to bury her face in his shoulder but he stopped her, prying her off and looking her in the eyes. “Amelia Rose, this isn’t up for debate.”

Amy grabbed his arms. “NO!” 

Her mom swept her into a hug, smashed between her parents. For just a moment, she was whole. Held tightly, kept safe, like something precious. “If you make it, we make it,” Amy’s mom said. “Get ready.”

Amy did not have time to get ready. The door was opening and the silhouette of Swatbots filled the doorway. Amy’s dad was on his feet, breaking the embrace and shattering Amy’s little sanctuary.

And then it was pure, unadulterated chaos. 

The other grown ups must have understood the intention; Amy was the only child in that van. And suddenly every grown up was rushing the bots. There was screaming, and fists flying and Amy didn’t stick around to hear what else.

She was a good girl and she listened to the last thing her parents ever told her to do.

Amy scrambled between the legs of the scuffle, getting kneed in the face a few times, and once she was clear of the mob she ran as hard as she could. She tried to ignore the way her face stung as hot tears started to stream down her cheeks.

As she sprinted, she slowly realized she didn’t really know where she was. This wasn’t her side of the city. This wasn’t a place she’d been before, this looked like it was close to the palace. She had no idea how to get back to where Manic lived– the grimy side of town that wasn’t far from her own house.

Amy was so distracted in trying to figure out where she was that she didn’t realize she was on track to run right into the waiting arms of a guard bot until it was about 3 seconds too late to stop herself. She didn’t even have time to think as she sized up the bot and tried to stop her momentum when suddenly something collided with her and she was going the opposite direction. 

She was going the opposite direction, away from danger, watching the bot fade from view as a small body slammed into hers and carried her off her feet faster than she had ever moved before. Arms were wrapped around her waist, and she was slung over a shoulder, whipping around corners and moving further and further away from the palace. 

Amy grabbed onto whoever this was with a vice tight grip, her tears blowing away in the wind as she was rushed away from danger. 

When she could no longer see the spires of the castle, hidden by the towering buildings of Robotropolis proper, her rescuer finally came to a stop. Amy had squeezed her eyes shut at some point. Her arms were still coiled around the neck of this poor creature. She hated to admit it, but she was shaking. 

She didn’t even realize they’d stopped moving until hands appeared against her back, moved up to her shoulders to try and pry her off. “Hey uh- I gotta get going,” said a soft voice. He sounded young, not too terribly much older than Amy. “Kinda in a hurry.”

Amy took a shaking breath and started to lean back, but she didn’t let go. The hands on her shoulders suddenly stopped her from moving further back. “Don’t look, just go,” he told her, his voice low. “I’m not supposed to be seen.”

Well, that was just too tempting now. That wasn’t fair. Also, a welcome distraction from thinking about literally everything else that was happening right now. “Why not?” Amy asked, her voice small.

In truth, Amy could tell she was stronger than this guy. She’d always been stronger than most kids she met. She could look if she wanted, but she waited for him to answer. “‘Cause I’m workin’,” he told her, sounding a little annoyed. “And doin’ kinda illegal stuff, so it’s… ya know.”

Amy lurched back, she wanted to see who saved her. She was met with wide green eyes and blue quills swept back in spikes. The boy glared at her indignantly. “What did I just say!?” 

“Thank you for helping me get out of there,” Amy said sincerely, her jaw set. “I won’t tell anyone.”

He sighed wearily, rubbing his forehead and releasing her now that she’d already seen his face. “You better be real good at keeping secrets,” he breathed out, taking a step away from her. Red shoes came into view, worn well by the looks of it. He tapped his foot. “You got somewhere safe to go?”

Amy nodded, then glanced back towards the palace. “Can you get my parents out?”

His brow pinched and he shook his head. “Not yet,” he said grimly. Then he straightened up a bit, and the light caught against the medallion that sat against his chest as he puffed it out. The boy put on a wolfish smile for her, cocking his head to the side. “But we’re gonna get them and everyone else out, eventually.”

Amy wasn’t sure why she believed him. Amy had no reason to believe this random hedgehog, she didn’t know him, she didn’t know anything about him. Her parents were gone, and people were being grabbed just like them every day. Her heart ached, and it definitely wouldn’t stop for a long, long time. But something about him, standing there in the low light of the morning and grinning determinedly at her, settled the anxiety and fear in her chest enough to wipe the rest of the tears off her cheeks and give him a wobbly smile. Something about him whispered that things would be okay, somehow, someday. She believed him, right down to her bones.  

So, she reached out and took his gloved hand in her smaller ones and looked him in the eyes intensely. “I will not tell a single soul about you,” she swore to him. “I promise.”

She must have been convincing, because he visibly warmed. He gave her hand a squeeze. “Get to your safe place,” he told her. “See ya round.” 

And then with a wink, and at a speed too fast for her to place, he was gone with a gust of wind. 

The triplets were eighteen.

Manic had never been to a concert before. It was a bit of a risk, considering all the warrants he had out for his arrest, but it was impressive what Amy could do with some makeup and hair ties. And the AI that Buttnik used to scan faces was easily fooled if you knew the right tricks, which Farrell prided himself on knowing and selling. 

And so far, it’d totally been worth it. Perhaps Manic had gotten just a bit too excited- feeding off the hype of that many people and then sending his own excitement back out in a near endless loop of raw, pure happiness was making everyone a bit riled up. Enthralled-hopeful-extatic pounded against Manic’s skull on repeat. Amy had nearly broken his arm; he was pretty sure, from  how hard she’d been gripping it when Sonic first appeared on the stage. 

Sonic sure put on a show, and he seemed to notice the amplified energy. He kept looking at Manic and Amy, but they were in the front row so that was probably normal. At least, that was what Manic assumed. More than once he’d walked past them and grinned, or winked, pointed at them as they all sang together. This was basically the best birthday Manic had ever had.

Sonic was known for being a one-man-band, armed with only a guitar and a mic. The rest of the tracks were pre-recorded but that didn’t do a single thing to bring Sonic’s showmanship down. Someone very good at their job must have been in charge of keeping up with him. 

Unfortunately, they were nearing the end of the show. Sonic held up his hands as the crowd screamed and clapped at him again, and he waited until things quieted a few decibels. “Have we had a fun night!? You've been an awesome crowd, I've loved singing with you!” Sonic called out, pacing a bit on the stage and sweeping his gaze over the crowd. The audience proceeded to lose it again, and Sonic just stood there grinning smugly and waited for them to quiet down enough for him to continue. 

Once again, seeing as they were in the front row, his eyes landed on Manic and Amy. Manic could feel Amy tense next to him every time. Sure, they both loved Sonic and his music, but the feelings coming off of Amy quickly turned so sweet it made Manics teeth hurt when it came to the rockstar. It’d never been as loud as it was tonight, but to be fair to Amy the guy was literally standing right in front of her. 

Manic knew what crushes tasted like. Really only because of having felt it through other folks. 

Sonic paused, and then plucked out a couple chords on his guitar idly, light catching the gloss of the finish as he moved. “I wasn't gonna say anything, but it's my birthday,” he said casually, and waited again as people cheered, shrieks of happy birthday and I love you ringing out across the stadium. Manic felt his heart leap into his throat. 

It was Manic's birthday too. That was so cool . He shared a birthday with Sonic, one of the few people Manic would put the title of hero on. Sonic did something with his music that the people of this city badly needed and Manic knew it better than most. He brought hope. 

It was the second strongest feeling at the show that night. Raw, desperate hope. Embers of it that had been stoked into flames as they all crowded around the stage and Sonic sang out about brighter days and better futures. 

And Manic loved it. 

“You guys made it special and you didn't even know!” Sonic went on with his pacing. “Whaddya say we finish this out with a bang?”

Of course, everyone was on board with that. Sonic just grinned wildly and with some cue that was invisible to Manic the track started again in perfect sync with Sonic beginning to play his guitar. 

What I'm Made Of had an easily identified opening. Manic threw his arms up again and sang along as Sonic belted it out the words. When the drums started Manic once again began tapping along perfectly against the railing that kept the front row from getting too close to the stage. Amy was bouncing along, looking like she might just float off into the sky. 

The hopeful, happy feeling in the venue was swelling. And Manic wanted to engrave that moment, that feeling, into his mind forever. 

Alas, things couldn't last all night. After an encore. And then a second encore. And then a third, Sonic finally dropped into a deep bow and said that he was done for real this time, and to please get home safely. 

Pinned in the center seats of the front row, Manic and Amy just flopped back into their chairs to wait for things to empty out a bit. Amy looked over at Manic, covered in sweat and her straightened quills flying away in the humidity, and she just beamed at him. “Good birthday gift?”

Manic barked a laugh, reclining as far as he could and still drinking in the generally overwhelming positive vibes of the arena. “Best birthday gift,” he replied, breathless and happy and light as air. “I don't think you'll ever top this, Rosie.”

Amy looked proud, tossing her messed up hair back and smoothing out the concert tee she'd yanked on over her dress. “Well, at least I did good then,” she said. “I'm sure I'll think of something by next year, but this will be pretty hard to beat.”

Manic nodded quickly, staring up at the black, starless sky. It was more sky than he was used to seeing, but it was still, well, a sort of a building. It didn’t bother him too much, but it did make him feel a bit small. He looked back at Amy, noticing that her eyeliner was all smudged. His own must have been bad too, then. “Wanna sleep over tonight?” he asked, instead of bringing up their likely destroyed makeup.

“Obviously, I'm not walking home alone this late,” Amy replied. “But we are for real going straight to bed.”

Manic pouted his lip at her, playful and silly with no real conviction behind it. “What, no mani pedis?”

Amy shoved him lightly. “We can do that in the morning. If we try painting nails when we're so tired we can barely see straight we'll end up doing it all wrong and you know it.”

Manic did know it. He waved a hand in the air anyways. “You doubt my skills.”

“Your skills?? I'm the one who does all the painting. ”

“Excuse me, you two.” Manic did not startle. He super did not forget that other people were there. There was an armadillo standing on the stage with a t-shirt that read security , looking down directly at them.

Amy's hand found his immediately. “Can we help you?” she asked politely as Manic ducked his head a little and prayed they weren't about to get arrested. That would put a major bad vibe on this whole birthday. 

The armadillo jabbed a finger in the direction of the stage. “I need you two to come with me,” he said casually. 

Amy's grip tightened. “Gosh, we're already late getting home,” she said, standing up. “Is something wrong?”

Manic tapped out a code to her against her wrist as he stood up alongside her. He didnt wanna stick around and hear this guy's explanation, it was too risky. Bail?

Amy tapped back a confirmation as fast as she could. The armadillo hadn't moved and he did have the stage, a fence and at least 5 feet between him and Manic and Amy. The crowd had cleared considerably. 

They could get out of this. 

Manic gathered up his own panicked feelings he was going to bomb the guy with– fear-flight-run – and before the security guard could say another word he was scrambling backwards so fast he fell on his butt. Amy and Manic didn't waste time watching the rest of his reaction, Amy's hand closed around Manic's wrist and he locked his hand around hers and they vaulted over the seats for a few rows before running towards the aisles. 

The guard was getting back up. They didn’t have long to lose him. Manic heard him shout but he kept running after Amy, who had dove into the remaining crowd and was liberally using her elbows to part the sea of bodies. Manic tried to radiate calm, not wanting to cause the rest of the folks left in the venue to panic. The more chill everyone was, the more likely he and Amy could lose the guard. 

Amy slowed when they were surrounded on all sides by other concert-goers and Manic followed her lead as they drifted out the doors and into the parking lot. They hadn't driven, and running would look weird now that the crowd was even more dispersed as people went to their cars. 

Amy hadn't let go of Manic. He didn't let go of her. He tugged gently and nodded in the direction of home. “Keep walking,” he breathed out as they started across the parking lot. “If someone grabs me, get outta here.”

“I'm not leaving you, cabbage patch, don't start,” Amy hissed back. Her grip on him was tight and Amy was strong . There was no way he'd be getting her off until she let go herself.

“I can bust myself outta freakin’ concert jail, Rosie. I’ll be fine.”

“We’re not testing that theory.” 

They walked across the parking lot as casually as they could, watching cars pull out and drive past. They were almost to the gate. They could do this. They'd be home drinking hot chocolate and falling asleep talking about the concert in no time. 

There was a security booth right by the gate. Manic swallowed and kept walking. They were walking past the thing when someone called out from inside. “Hey, you two, sorry for the scare. I just wanna talk,” said the stranger, the light in the booth not on so Manic couldn’t immediately see the owner of the voice. But it was a small, tired thing, like it hurt a bit to talk. 

Amy whipped her head around to glare daggers at the supposed security guard stationed there but immediately she froze. Manic was forced to stop as well, and he kept his head ducked behind Amy. “Amy, what're you doing?!” he demanded under his breath. 

Amy didn't move, her body locked in place. Confusion-awe-conflicted poured off her. Manic gave in at that, and leaned around her to see what had her so worked up and his mouth fell wide open. 

Because the guy sitting in the booth wasn't security. It was Sonic, leaned back in a chair with his red, heavy soled boots on the desk like he'd been waiting there for them for a while. 

Manic swore and Amy rammed her elbow into his ribs so hard he doubled over for a moment. “We can talk,” she blurted, releasing Manics wrist so she could clasp her hands together in front of her, trying to make herself look less like she was ready to punch him out. Manic wanted to die, just a little right then. 

They were going to get arrested because Amy had a crush on Sonic the hedgehog. Cool.

Amy plowed on, though. “What's up?”

Sonic just dropped his feet off the desk with a thunk and stood himself up. “Not here. Cmon.”

And Amy was walking after him before Manic could ask why they should trust him. 

He was shorter up close. Sonic was never seen in person except when he was on stage, and there were things Manic was noticing now that he was standing right up next to the guy. The boots he wore didn't seem like they were very comfortable, for one, the soles thick enough to almost make him tall as Manic. 

The jacket he always wore was well loved, with patches of repair work here and there. The medallion that hung around his neck felt weirdly familiar, and not just because Manic had seen it on magazine covers. 

His fingers ghosted over the front of his shirt where his own medallion was tucked beneath the fabric, a little cold against the fur of his chest. Thrumming, buzzing softly like the nerves in Manics stomach. He fidgeted as they walked back into the arena, and then back past the armadillo. Sonic gave the guy a slightly goofy salute. “Thanks for trying, Mighty.”

Mighty just waved him backstage, rolling his eyes good naturedly. “Didn't tell me they were flight risks,” he shot back as they passed him. 

Manic swiped a handful of fancy looking candies off a catered table as they went by and pocketed them. Sonic finally stopped at a door and opened it, beckoning for them to go inside. 

Amy, once again, did not hesitate to listen to him despite everything they knew to maybe not go into closed rooms with strangers. Even famous strangers that you had crushes on. Manic let out a slightly exasperated sound and followed her in. Someone had to keep an eye on her, even if this was a trap. 

It was a dressing room, by the looks of it. Sonic stepped inside after them and shut the door, flicking the lights on. He took a deep breath and then turned to face Manic and Amy. 

Amy had an unending feeling of butterflies and nerves coming off her. Sonic was much harder to get a read on, for whatever reason. Manic probed a bit harder, squinting at the blue hedgehog. He didn’t dare push against Sonic’s feelings too hard, when he did that people tended to notice something was weird. Still vague, but he could tell the guy was a touch nervous as well.

Well, Manic supposed that made three of them. Manic crossed his arms. “So, what’s this about?” he asked, his voice a little more tense than he’d wanted it to come out. “You don’t usually do meet n’ greets.”

Sonic immediately put his hands up. “Well first off, I’m not arresting you,” he began, which was a terrifying way to start, walking across the room to the vanity and plopping into it. He yanked his leather jacket off and slung it across the back of the chair. There were a couple faint, very faint scars across Sonic’s upper shoulders, along his back. “But, just for starters, this is you, right? Manic Hedgehog?” 

Sonic held up a tablet without looking back and Manic’s quills immediately bristled as his own mugshot came into view. It had been taken before Manic had gotten a second shade of green along the tops of where his quills naturally parted into sections. There was info along the side of the picture, a list of reasons he was wanted for arrest and rewards for bringing him in dead or alive.

Amy even flinched at that, the fluttery feelings stumbling to a halt. “If it was… what do you want about it?” she hedged, trying to keep her tone light. She drifted closer to Manic again, guilt suddenly starting to build in her.

Sonic set the tablet back down and took out one of his earrings. “You guys can sit, you know. This is all very chill, try and relax. ,” he said, grabbing a wipe and swiping it over his face to remove a lot more makeup than Manic had really realized he was wearing. Not just eyeliner, but apparently heavy eyeshadow to darken his eye sockets and even some contouring. It was more than Amy ever wore, that was for sure. He even leaned forward and plucked contacts out of his eyes, the almost unnaturally light baby blue that he was known for vanishing into a case. Sonic set the makeup soaked wipe aside when he was done and then spun the chair around with a bare, much younger looking, face and with another wipe started cleaning the dark navy off the ends of his spikes. He smiled disarmingly at Manic, since apparently this was about Manic and not really Amy. “Got a crazy story to tell you, but I don’t really like going the long way around so I’m gonna start with the big reveal and work backwards. Cool?”

Manic worked his jaw up and down a few times, watching as Sonic unmade himself. Apparently the guy covered his real quill color- it was lighter blue at the ends. His eyelids weren’t dark either. His eyes were emerald green, nearly the color of Manic’s fur. Now that Manic was really staring at him, he could tell the black of his claws was just nail polish- they were probably plain ole’ bone color like Manic’s. There was nothing about his appearance that was real, apparently, other than being blue.

Amy was sweating . She managed to grab Manic’s arm again, guilt and concern bubbling to the surface. She glanced at the door. “I don’t– I don’t know what you think you’re doing here but this is really weird and I would like to take my friend and go now. Thanks for chatting.”

“So we’re brothers,” Sonic plowed on. “And I’ve been lookin’ for you.”

Manic didn’t really hear Amy’s gasp. He didn’t hear anything for a long, long moment, his head ringing as he turned those words over and over in his head. That was– that was a lot. That was a lot to say the least. Manic knew he was adopted- duh. His dad was a bug. Far as he knew, Farrell picked him up off the streets– Farrell held the underworld to standards and stealing kids wasn’t allowed. Someone had supposedly shown up with a kid in the market and Farrell had stepped in. He didn’t really know the details and he hadn’t really wanted to ask. 

He’d been scared of the idea that he’d been thrown out. Thrown away. Unwanted, unloved. Trash. Just like the words the loyalists spat at him. 

But this–

He had a brother ?

His brother had been looking for him? Wanted to find him?

Wanted him? 

His brother was Sonic the Hedgehog?

“Manic.” 

Oh that was Amy. Manic blinked a few times. When had he sat on the plush couch that was tucked against the wall of the dressing room? Amy knelt in front of him, grasping his hands. He couldn’t really breathe. Amy’s quills were raised up enough for him to know he was sharing some of the panic attack he was fending off, and he dragged it back into his own body. Amy didn’t say anything about it. “Manic, are you there?”

He managed to hum out an affirmative. Sonic hovered behind Amy, who was bodily blocking him from getting any closer. She turned and glared at Sonic. “This isn’t funny. Who put you up to this? Why are you doing this? You’re not– anything like I thought you’d be, I thought you were nice and kind and– Why are you doing this to him?!”

Sonic tapped his foot rapidly, impatiently. “It’s not a joke, he’s my brother. We’re twins- triplets, actually. C’mon, we have like, basically the same face, look at us,” he rambled, gesturing at Manic past Amy and wow, now that he wasn’t wearing all that makeup, yeah. Yeah. Blue fur where Manic was used to seeing green, but the face was familiar in the way he’d seen it in the mirror every day of his life. That was absolutely wild. Sonic didn’t have Manic’s scars. His chipped tooth, his notched ear from one of his earrings getting pulled out in a fight. 

But he did have Manic’s nose. Manic’s eyeline. Even the shape of his jaw. 

Amy didn’t move though, glaring daggers at the guy she was only ten minutes ago all mushy for. Nobody could claim Amy wasn’t his best friend, that was for sure. “Manic, let’s get outta here, he can’t stop us,” she said harshly. “I’ll punch him if he tries.”

Sonic made an offended sound, putting a hand to his chest. Then he looked down and grinned like a lightbulb had gone off in his head, reaching behind his neck and unclasping his necklace. “Look,” he said, holding it out over Amy’s head to Manic. “You got one too, right? The gal who sent me said we all have one.”

Manic stared at it. The thoughts in his mind started moving more like a stream than mud, and he put his hand out to accept it. “I do,” he breathed out. Amy finally scooted aside and sat next to him, grasping at his arm protectively still. 

The metal dropped into his waiting palm and suddenly, just for a moment, he and Sonic were alone. Sonic was this much more relaxed version of himself, right down to the way he held his shoulders. Manic blinked a few times at the wide empty space, noticing that in the distance there appeared to be bright walls and colorful windows. “Is this real?” 

Sonic shrugged. “It’s weird, chaos touched, magical triplet junk,” he answered. “You got a good friend there, she looked like she really would fight me. I like that, loyal friends are good to have.”

Manic nodded belatedly. “She would,” he murmured, trying not to get choked up on his own feelings. And now that they were… wherever this was, Sonic’s emotions radiated freely off him, like a connection  had been established that wasn’t there before. Like walls  had come down. He was welcomed, even if Sonic didn’t know Manic could read him like that yet.

Sincere-hope-love.

Manic clenched his jaw, and tried to swallow around the lump in his throat. “I didn’t… think I had a family that wanted me. Other than the one I found,” he forced out. “I– I found a good home, and I’m grateful but I– I thought they threw me out.” 

Sonic looked a bit pained at that. “I didn’t know for sure if you were alive. I didn’t know how to find you, and I left the city for a long while,” he said honestly. “But, when I found out you were here for sure? I came back, and I have been trying to find you for years now.”

Manic looked down at the medallion in his palm, shaped like a two armed guitar. He could tell it was cut from the same material his own was, which he fished out from under his tank top. Sonic brightened at that, stepping closer. “Last time I was… kinda here, I could feel you,” Sonic told him. “And our sister, and our Mom.”

“Mom?” Manic echoed, feeling small and raw. Sonic nodded seriously. 

He reached out and set his hand over Manic’s. “I know this is a lot,” he said quietly. “And I will explain everything, I swear, I just need to know if you believe me first.”

The space they were in warped suddenly, snapping back to reality. Sonic was standing there, their fingertips both against the medallion he’d begun to place in Manic’s hand. Manic looked up at him, his heart pounding. Amy was exactly where they’d left her, like no time had passed. 

For just a moment, it had been Manic and his brother, connecting on a level he’d never felt before. The closest he knew was Amy, and his dad. 

This was different. 

Manic looked up at Sonic and his face split into a bright grin.

“I believe you.”

The triplets were nineteen. 

It had been a few days since Sonia had the weird… not-quite-a-dream, vision, visit thing, and nothing had happened. Nothing was out of the ordinary. And she’d been watching, very closely. Waiting for whatever Tikal had warned would happen. Tense and not sleeping well.

And yet, nothing. Everything was normal.

Rouge was coming by to pick her up for a late birthday surprise- she’d been out of town on the day Sonia had her party. Sonia tossed her hair back and finished putting on her mascara just as the wait staff knocked on her bedroom door. “Miss Sonia, your guest has arrived,” he announced. 

Sonia stood and headed for the door, grabbing her purse. She thanked the staff on her way past and went down the stairs where Rouge was waiting in the foyer, dressed nicely and inspecting her nails. The older girl looked up when she heard Sonia approach and grinned. “Darling! Happy birthday!” she called with a light wave.

Sonia beamed and hurried her way across the room to hug her. Rouge had been a couple grades ahead of her back in school, but they’d become close friends. Rouge had been like an older sister now for years. She closed her arms around Sonia and gave her a squeeze. “Looking lovely as always, sweetheart,” she said, and leaned back to take a look at Sonia’s hand. “Let me see, let me see.”

“Alright alright, just dont swipe it,” Sonia laughed, holding her hand out to show Rouge the ring Bart had given her. It was an elegant thing, just big enough to be impressive. Rouge’s eyes sparked as she looked at it.

She smirked at Sonia. “He did good,” she said approvingly. “Marvelous. Alright, let’s go! Car’s waiting and time’s wasting.”

And just like that Sonia was dragged out of the house by Rouge, down to her car and plopped into the passenger seat. Rouge slid into her side and set off. They chatted idly about the latest fashion, what Sonia’s ideas for the wedding were, and little scraps of information that Rouge could tell Sonia about work lately. 

It wasn’t entirely clear what Rouge did for work, actually. Something espionage-y, Sonia was pretty sure, which explained why she couldn’t say much about it. But Sonia had long accepted that. She didn’t care, just was just happy to have her friend around and they had plenty else to talk about together. 

Rouge seemed to be driving her towards the edge of town. Sonia watched out the window as the building's quality and upkeep began to plummet. “Um, where are we going?”

Rouge waved her  hand. “I told you it was a surprise, Sonia,” she said, pulling into a sketchy looking parking lot. “I’m not about to ruin the surprise.”

Sonia stared at the warehouse that looked like it had not been inhabited since before Robotnik came into power. She turned to see Rouge already getting out of the car, her heels clicking against the pavement. “And the surprise is…. Here??”

Rouge came around and opened the door. “Sure is, baby,” she said, gesturing meaningfully for Sonia to get out. Slowly, Sonia stood up out of the car and smoothed out her skirt. “Aaaaalright. Close your eyes!” sang Rouge, grabbing Sonia’s wrist. 

Sonia rolled her eyes, but closed them and placed a hand over her face. “This better be good,” she grumbled as Rouge pulled her across the parking lot. She heard the door screech rustily as it opened and felt the cold of the empty(?) warehouse press in around her as they stepped inside. The door shut behind them. 

Rouge let go of her and stopped. “Surprise!” Rouge announced, and Sonia opened her eyes. She was standing in front of a pair of hedgehogs, one green and one blue. She knew them, they were that band that everyone in the city liked and sure Sonia liked them too but this was a bit of a weird place for a meet n’ greet–

“Family reunion orchestrated, pay up, Blue.” Sonia stopped. There was too much to unpack here to even begin. She didn’t know what she was seeing as Rouge stalked across the floor with her hand out and the blue one placed an envelope in her hand. “Thank you. I’ll be outside,  have a good talk!”

And just like that, Rouge left her with her… surprise. Sonia stared after Rouge, at the door. “Family… reunion?” she echoed. 

This was not a meet and greet. This was what she’d been warned about. This meant everything was real.

Blue just smiled warmly, easily. “Do you know who we are?”

Sonia tried not to make a face, but she did stick her nose up at them a little. She had to at least try to put up a fight if this was really going to happen. “Am I supposed to believe you’re the brothers I’ve been having weird dreams about?”

Green was sizing her up, Sonia could feel his gaze on her with no small amount of judgement and disdain. Blue at least had the wherewithal to look neutral. He started to walk forward but Green grabbed his arm and leaned forward to stage-whisper. “ Dude. Not to be a drag but are you sure it’s her? She looks like she was picked right outta Buttnik’s courts.”

Sonia’s mouth fell open. Blue just rolled his eyes. “No, I’m sure. That’s her.”

Green crossed his arms, and Sonia noticed his tacky spiked glove cuffs. “Cowabummer,” he muttered, side eyeing Sonia hard.

“Excuse me?!” Sonia demanded, offended. She moved forward, ready to give these two a piece of her mind, but Blue was in front of her suddenly, faster than she could blink. She barely stopped herself from running over him. “I didn’t even wanna come down here, you brought me here.”

He had his hands up placatingly. “What our brother means to say is… well, we weren’t sure what to expect,” he said. “I’m Sonic. That’s Manic. It’s nice to meet you finally.”

Sonia glared at him as hard as she could. “Who do you think you are? Dragging me down here- using my friend to get to me? I should have you arrested or something!”

“You’re gonna arrest your brothers?” Manic just let out a long scoff and turned to Sonic. “She’s a total loyalist! This sucks, man!” 

“I am not a loyalist!” Sonia snapped back. “I just- I’m lucky! That’s all!”

Sonic put his face in his hands. Clearly this wasn’t going how he’d hoped, but it wasn’t going how Sonia had hoped either. She was supposed to be eating creme brulee in a fancy restaurant right now, not in some warehouse talking to these guys with fashion senses five years out of date. “Guys,” Sonic groaned. “C’mon. Manic, quit it. We’re trying to make connections  here.”

“With someone who wants to get us arrested, apparently,” Manic added, crossing his arms. 

“With our sister, and she’s not gonna get us arrested,” Sonic said confidently, and Sonia wasn’t sure how he could be that positive she wouldn’t arrest him. Sister or not, they’d just met her. They didn’t know her. But Sonic just went on, mellow and relaxed. “She’s just a little freaked. This is a lot. Remember how this was a lot?”

Manic just groaned, but he untensed a bit and looked Sonia up and down again. His expression softened a lot and he sighed. “That’s fair,” he mumbled. “Hi. You got a name?”

It was then that Sonia noticed the matching pendants hanging from each boy's neck. Just like the one she had at home in her jewelry box, though each was differently shaped. Looking at them produced the same, strange warm feeling. Calm. Connection. 

Oh dang it, they really were her brothers. She’d figured the dreams were something , but all of them being real? Oh boy.

Sonia swallowed hard. “I’m Sonia,” she answered, unclenching her fists. She dropped her gaze to the pavement under their feet, a bit defeated. “You are here because of those dreams I’ve had, aren’t you? Tikal sent you.”

Manic’s face scrunched. “Dreams?” 

Sonic just nodded along. “Yeah, you got it. Don’t gotta give you the whole rundown then? You actually do know who we are?”

Sonia shook her head, feeling a bit defeated. “No. I know the deal. You’re my brothers,” she mumbled. “But I– I can’t just leave home, I can’t just–”

“Wait, what dreams?!” Manic demanded. “I didn’t have any dreams!”

“I had yours for you,” said an amused voice from the corner. Sonia whirled to see who else was here. Another hedgehog was perched on a crate, shuffling through a deck of cards. She was a lighter pink than Sonia herself, her quills kept about halfway down her back, heart shaped tips on the end of each spine. She stared at Sonia unwaveringly, looking like she was enjoying the show. “Since you’re such a skeptic, Tikal didn’t even try with you, Manic.”

Manic threw his hands up. “That’s not even fair,” he groaned. “I wanna have words with this Tikal lady.”

Sonic just snickered, as did the girl, though she hid it behind her cards. “I’m sure you’ll get your chance,” Sonic said, waving Manic off. “Anyways, focus. Sonia, I know it's scary but–”

“It’s not just scary!” Sonia snapped. “It’s impossible! If I start running around trying to do illegal stuff my family will be in trouble. I’ll go to jail or something! Or my family will! Bad things happen to people who cross Robotnik!”

“Jail’s not that bad!” Manic interjected. 

“Look,” Sonic said, putting his hands up in surrender. “I’m not going to ask you to put your family in huge danger if we don’t have to. But, fact is, we need you to make this work. Tikal made that super clear last time we talked. We’ve done as much as we can without you, there’s stuff we can only do as a complete set… I won’t force you. None of us will. I mean, it’s not like we could anyways. But I’m not sure the universe won’t force you.”

Sonia did not like the way he phrased that at all. Her quills raised up just a bit, unbidden. “What’re you saying?”

Manic turned his gaze away at that, his expression going sullen all the sudden. Sonic swallowed. “I’m saying,” he began carefully. “That we are meant to liberate this city, our city . That Chaos is willing it. If you don’t start doin’ stuff on your terms, Chaos will find another way to drag you in. Also it’s kinda the right thing to do.”

Sonia swallowed hard. There was a pit of nerves in her stomach. Chaos had already found a way to drag her in, she was here, meeting these brothers that she had been too scared to hope she actually had, let alone seek out. They were real. They were standing in front of her, with pleading and encouraging faces that looked so much like her own. “I’m not leaving my family,” she said stubbornly. She couldn’t. “But… I guess we can work something out.”

Sonic brightened at that, stepping into her space with a hand extended. “We can make something up,” he said. “Thanks, sis.”

Sonia did her absolute best to not show that that word, that one word, made her chest get tight and warm. Manic stared at her for a long moment, like he was looking right into her soul with bright pink eyes that almost matched her fur, and then he fully relaxed and grabbed her other hand. “Cool,” he seemed to decide. “Then let’s do it to it.”

Chapter Text

The triplets were twelve.

Moving was usually a light, mellow affair. Wandering after packing up the RV and looking for somewhere new to settle for a while. No real plan, just vibes. It was fun, it was an adventure. Sonic put on the radio and he and Tails would belt out the words together until one of them broke down laughing. Sonic wouldn’t try to sing well. He’d sing as badly as he could manage, because then he’d win the game.

Moving this time felt somber, and if Sonic was being honest with himself, frightening. He hadn't been back to the city, not even close, since the night Uncle Chuck got snatched. Now he was barreling right towards it, with his new family in tow. 

They'd be there soon, the shape of the city loomed in the distance and they were steadily moving towards it. It put unfamiliar knots in Sonic's stomach. Tails was perched in the passenger seat, tinkering with their comms systems- devices kind of like watches that he’d built from scratch. Something about boosting the signal so they'd always be able to reach each other even in the sprawling city. He was always trying to improve his work, and Sonic was endlessly impressed by it.

Sonic drummed his thumbs against the steering wheel. “I wanna run an idea by you,” he began, and waited for Tails to finish whatever part he was on and look at him. “So the double life thing. I think we should make it bigger.”

Tails brow scrunched and he tilted his head to the side. “Bigger how?”

“I'm thinking we try and top the charts,” Sonic said faux brightly. He hoped it was convincing enough for Tails. “I have those songs I've started on, we could record. Get 'em out there, really ham it up.”

Tails squinted at him. “So not just the side gig thing we've been doing before?”

Sonic tried to ignore the sign stating they were entering Robotropolis- the city towered in the distance, growing larger as they got closer. They had quite a bit of ground to make up still, miles of disgusting polluted forest to drive through. 

They wouldn't even go to the city tonight. Sonic figured no one would be at Chuck's old place, it'd work as a start of a home base while they got settled. Or until they found something better.

“I want to be so big they'll never think to look my way till it's too late,” Sonic continued, speeding up the rate at which his thumbs tapped against the wheel. “It'll get us connected with people and… maybe I can give them some hope.”

Tails seemed to mull it over, scratching his chin. “You'd have to totally go in on it. Completely different persona,” he mused. “Probably need some sort of disguise too.”

Sonic already knew that. “Basically create someone who's a golden boy. Wouldn't ever break the law, just a singer,” he hummed. He glanced at Tails. “Think it's too much?”

Tails nodded, a smirk on his face. “Kinda, yeah. But then you'd be able to go around without your face being on wanted posters, huh? Cause you'll do your hero work too fast to catch and being a rockstar can be your cover. Not to mention, if it works our money problems would be solved indefinitely.”

Sonic grinned at him. “Yeah, you get it! And maybe if we plaster my face up enough places we can find our sibs easier. Get them to come to us.”

Tails warmed at that, his tails swishing happily for a moment before stilling. He looked down at the comms in his lap. He let out a quiet, nervous little sigh. “I hope… they like me…”

Sonic reached over and gently smacked Tails on the shoulder. “Shut up, they'll love you,” he said. “And if they somehow don't, which I think you’d probably call a statistical impossibility, it doesn't matter. We're a package deal, bud, you and me.”

Tails nodded a bit, smiling despite the apparent nerves. Sonic gave his shoulder a quick squeeze before turning off the main road. “Buckle up, we're going off road for a bit.”

-x- 

Sonic wasn't exactly sure what he'd expected to find upon returning. The cottage was burnt out, parts of the structure sticking out of blackened lumber like exposed bones. It was kind of hard to look at, but Sonic just kept his jaw locked and let the RV roll up the dirt driveway. Tails was quiet as well, but it didn’t escape Sonic’s notice that he chose to stand in the space next to the driver's seat, his hand lightly on Sonic’s shoulder. 

The headlights in the dark of the forest made the whole thing look a lot spookier than it really was, and deep down Sonic knew that and tried to brush off the haunted feeling it caused. Sonic quietly hit the brakes and put the RV in park. They’d set up the camper later, let the rooms expand and make their beds up.

“Welp,” he said, not really sure what else to say. “This is it.”

Tails nodded, his bright, curious eyes roving over the scene past the windshield. “Think there’s anything left in there?” he asked quietly. 

Sonic shrugged, and tried to mean it. “Worth a look, I guess,” he allowed. “Some of the canned food might’ve survived, we could restock without going into the city.”

Tails didn’t need any more permission than that to be heading out the door. He was already hovering across the burned out building by the time Sonic drifted after him. Usually Tails had to work to keep up with Sonic- today he felt like he was moving through wet sand. His thoughts were slow and stalled as he surveyed the area. 

His stomach hurt.

Tails was digging around now, dislodging ash covered bits of house and moving them around with a great deal of care. Despite his burning curiosity, Sonic could tell he was trying to be gentle with what was left of the house. “Anything?” he heard himself ask. 

Tails' ears twitched and he pulled up a burnt binder from under the remains of a bookshelf. “This doesn’t look too bad!” he chirped. 

“That’s not food,” Sonic answered flatly, watching Tails fly back his way with the binder. He recognized that binder– Tails was already opening it and offering it to Sonic. The plastic was warped and the edges of the photos were singed black, but they were still decent enough to make out. 

Sonic robotically took the binder and lowered himself to the ground, tucking it into his lap so he could delicately thumb through the pages. 

Uncle Chuck had been pretty good at taking pictures. Most of them were of Sonic doing whatever, but there were shots here and there with the two of them together. Sonic perched on the wing of the plane as Chuck worked. Sonic leaned over the edge of the nearby pond to look at the fish. Sonic tucked into his bed, his little fingers wound tight around his medallion. The snapshots went on and on, and Sonic let himself have this moment of quiet with the memories he’d tried so very hard to bury.

Tails had vanished at some point as Sonic flipped pages. 

That was why, when Tails suddenly shouted for Sonic, he was so far away. 

Sonic immediately snapped back to reality, on his feet and bristling before he saw what caused the yell. The binder clattered to the ground at his feet.

Sonic liked to think they weren’t easy to sneak up on, but there were four figures coming out of the trees. They didn’t look too happy. Tails was scurrying back to Sonic’s side as he took in the newcomers, his eyes sharp. There was a chipmunk, a rabbit, a walrus, and a coyote- they looked to be not too much older than Sonic. No humans, at least. The mobians were armed, and coming closer. 

If it was just Sonic and Tails they could bail quickly, but they’d literally parked their house here and Sonic wasn’t about to abandon that- not after all the work Tails had done on it. Sonic was silently cursing himself for not coming here to scout first. He’d thought about it. He should’ve done it. 

“Who are you!?” shouted the chipmunk, her voice authoritative and firm as she brandished a blaster at them. “What’re you doing here?!”

Sonic put a protective arm in front of Tails. “Could ask you the same question, this is my property!” he answered, keeping his voice even. It was a technicality but it was probably true. 

The chipmunk scoffed at him, apparently not buying it. “This house hasn’t been lived in in years, don’t lie,” she said, not stopping in her advance. 

Okay, it was just four mobians. Sonic could take them, and they could get outta here and try and set up somewhere else. “Back off or you’re gonna get hurt,” he began, changing tactics. “We’ll leave, this ain’t worth fighting over.”

Tails grabbed at Sonic’s wrist. “This is your house though!” he protested. 

“It's fine,” Sonic whispered. “It’s not worth it.”

When the chipmunk got close enough to step into the light of the headlamps though, she stopped and stared. She tilted her head to the side, disbelief painting her expression sour. “This is your house?”

Sonic waved his hands dismissively. “I mean– it was, sure, but we can go,” he said lightly. He didn’t like the house that much- not as it was now anyways. “I’m serious, I don’t wanna hurt anyone over a pile of ash, you guys can keep it. Just let us pack up and we’ll high tail it back the way we came.”

“ Sonic?”

Sonic stilled at that, his expression falling off his face. He squinted at the chipmunk, who had lowered her gun and was blinking rapidly at him. He felt Tails shrink against his side. “How do you…”

“You’re Chuck's kid!” the girl exclaimed, closing the last of the distance between them and reaching for him. Sonic flinched away, taking Tails with him. “Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you since we were kids!” 

Sonic looked her up and down, trying to remember who she was. “You’re still a kid,” he said plainly. “And I don’t remember any bossy chipmunks hanging around my house.”

He was rewarded with a scowl, and hilariously, that did ring a bell. “Sally. My name’s Sally– everyone thought you died or got taken with Chuck, what’re you… what’re you doing here? Where have you been?”

Sonic wasn’t about to lay all his cards out, even if he did have blurry memories of this girl. He crossed his arms and frowned at her. “Well, what’re you doing here? You like hangin’ around my Uncle's wrecked house or something?”

Sally, to her credit, seemed willing to play the game at least. “We’re doing what Chuck left us to do,” she answered. “You know what that is?” Tails looked between the two, his expression twisting into confusion as they passed remarks. He looked like he wanted to ask, but he held his tongue and waited. 

Sonic liked that answer at least. He knew what Chuck had done to get himself grabbed, and apparently so did Sally. “Sure do,” he said. “S’what I’m back here for.”

The coyote that had hung back by the treeline coughed quietly, then spoke up. “Eh, Sally? Are you sure this is actually Charles’ ward?” he asked, his voice lightly accented. 

Sally crossed her arms and tilted her head at Sonic. “You are Sonic, right? What’re the chances another blue hedgehog shows up with that around his neck,” she said confidently, eyeing his medallion. “You’re Sonic, and you’re back to finish what your uncle started.”

Sonic smirked back at her. “So does that mean I can park here or…?” he asked, tongue in cheek. 

“We got a better place to park if you’re interested in working on Chuck’s project,” the walrus spoke up as he approached. He was tall, and had a friendly, warm face. “We’re always looking for new folks, right Sal?”

“We are,” Sally sighed. “We’re getting started again, but since your uncle disappeared it’s been kinda slow… so, yeah we could really use you two.”

Sonic cocked his head up, flashing her a grin with just enough mischief to make her nervous. “I bet I can help speed things along.”

The triplets were eighteen. 

Manic had not slept at all the night he got home from the concert. Ferrell had already been asleep when they’d gotten home, so he hadn’t had to explain anything. Instead, he'd laid in bed and listened to Amy breathing, her head heavy against his hip as she slept. Thoughts turning and turning in his head as he stared up at the ceiling and replayed the events of the night.

He was regretting that a bit now, as he walked back to the concert venue to meet with Sonic again. Like he'd asked. Because Sonic the Hedgehog had asked him to come back and wasn’t that a little crazy? Like they were friends? Or, even crazier, family?

Apparently Sonic was an early riser, despite how late the show had run the night before. The sun was barely painting the sky a muddy red as he walked around the building, following the instructions Sonic had given him until suddenly he was grabbed from behind. 

Manic had grown up on the streets, a pickpocket, in the part of town where people would get physical to get what they want. He had reflexes and reactions drilled into him by a father who worried a reasonable amount considering where they lived. He had his hands gripping an arm and hefting his poor victim over his shoulder and to the ground before he could fully process what he was doing. 

Sonic stared up at him, his green eyes wide. “So, not a morning person?” he quipped, trying and failing not to sound like he'd had the breath knocked out of him. 

Manic scrambled forward to help Sonic back up, dropping his fists that he’d been prepared to start swinging. “Dude! You can't just sneak up on me like that, my fight or flight is completely broken!” he sputtered, dragging Sonic back to his feet. 

This morning Sonic was devoid of his rockstar attire- he had sports tape wrapped haphazardly around his ankles, just barely peeking out of the red sneakers he wore, and white gloves that actually covered his entire hands. No makeup, no fake coloring on the tips of his quills. Only one earring. He was shorter, as well. The boots he wore for shows added more height than Manic had expected. Still, he seemed light and airy, like the leather jacket from last night had a great weight to it and he was finally free of it. 

In fact, once he got back to his feet he just laughed. “Not a lot of people can throw me like that,” he praised Manic, slapping him on the shoulder. He got an almost dangerous spark in his bright eyes as he spoke. “Won't happen again, bud. Now, c'mon. We got a whole lot to talk about!”

Manic wasn't entirely sure what to make of that , but he trailed after Sonic as he moved further behind the building. Parked in the field in the back was an old RV. The thing was pretty tricked out, actually, in good shape despite its apparent age. Manic whistled lowly, eyes roving over the mobile home analytically. “Daaaaang, aren't RV’s supposed to be lame?” he asked, craning his neck to see the antennae, solar panels and satellite dishes bolted to the roof. 

Sonic laughed lightly, the sound carrying into Manic’s sixth sense with genuine happiness and pride. “It was when we started,” he replied good naturedly. “My little brother’s put in a ton of work on it- I think he’s basically replaced everything we started with at this point.” He all but hopped up the steps as he spoke, knocked twice and then pulled the door open. “C’mon in. Tails! I’m back!”

Manic’s ears perked up a little at that, curious to see if he could catch this apparent additional brother he had. He caught the door that Sonic dropped as he climbed up after him. Stretching out a little bit mentally, he caught a whiff of apprehension and nerves, radiating off someone further back in the RV. 

It was still fancy looking inside, Manic noted. There were guitars tucked against one of the walls, alongside a set of drums, a keyboard, and a rather intense looking computer setup and recording equipment. Manic’s fingers twitched to snatch up the truly fancy looking drumsticks that were laid along the desk but he restrained himself and stuffed a hand into his jacket pocket instead. He needed to be on good behavior if he wanted these guys to like him, after all.

Sonic was drifting further back into the cabin. This looked to be the main living area that had been converted mostly into a music room- a couch that probably turned into a bed was along the other wall. It transitioned into a kitchenette that had a sink full of dishes and a smattering of wrappers on the counter. Everywhere that had room there were tools, nick nacks, and sticky notes. A half finished project sat on the desk to the side of the keyboard. Next there was a door to one side that was probably a bathroom. And further back looked to be where the main beds were.

Sonic went just past the threshold of where the bunks were and knocked again, this time on the bedframe. “Bud! Come out and meet Manic!” he said brightly. 

There was shuffling and the sound of a book shutting. “Sorry, I just wanted to finish my page,” said a younger voice. Manic could guess a mid-teens aged kid, then. 

Sonic backed up to make room for the yellow-orange fox that came out of the back of the RV. He was all arms and legs, taller than both Sonic and Manic and sporting not one but two very fluffy tails. He had his hair swept back into a low ponytail and bangs that were broken up by the goggles perched on his head. His gloves were tipped in metal, from what Manic could tell, and he had a fully stocked tool belt and knee pads. 

Mechanic, Manic noted. The little brother that’d worked on the RV. Adopted, seeing as he was a fox and not a hedgehog. Younger than Sonic, but not by too much. And despite the confident way he held himself, Manic could taste the anxiety coming off the kid. 

He decided to break the tension first, and put conscious effort into seeming nonthreatening as he stuck his hand out. “Nice to meet you, kid,” he began. “I’m Manic.”

If he was put off by Manic’s claws, it didn’t show. The kid took his hand and shook it firmly. The metal tipped fingers of his gloves were cold against Manic’s fur, where his fingerless gloves didn’t cover. “Call me Tails,” he answered politely. “Sorry about last night, I should’ve had us go about all that differently. Didn’t mean to scare you.” Manic gave him a funny look and that seemed to prompt him to keep talking well enough. “Well I mean- I’m the one that found your records. Should’ve known you’d bolt with a security guard coming to get you.”

Manic made a sound of understanding. “Ahhhh, yeah, that was admittedly not my fave,” he agreed. “I’m surprised you found me though, we’re usually pretty good at throwing off the facial recognition stuff.”

Tails’ nerves seemed to dissipate a bit. “Well, sure. Robotnik's facial recognition algorithm sucks,” he said flippantly. “Not to mention that people are always intentionally feeding it bugs and leaving holes. You couldn’t get past my work the same way though, you’d have to try much harder.”

Manic quickly decided he liked this kid, the anxiety melting off of him as he got the chance to drag Robotnik. Sonic snorted and smacked Tails on the shoulder. “Tails is our local genius,” he told Manic proudly, in both voice and feeling. “In just about everything. He does all my soundtrack work, all our tech support, all the building, all the coding, all the… basically everything.”

Manic’s felt his expression fall off his face. “You’re the- you his soundtrack work? The other instruments?”

Tails put his hands up. “I mean, yeah,” he admitted, looking a bit more bashful about that than he had about bugging Robotnik’s tech. “We needed to fill in the tracks, I’m a fast learner, so we made it work. It’s not a big deal–”

Manic couldn’t stop the spike of excitement that slipped out of his body, his face cracking into a grin. “That’s insane! That’s crazy, dude! Why aren’t you on stage with him!? You’re really good? You can play all these?! ” Manic gestured meaningfully at the drums, the bass, the keyboard.

Tails waved his hands around, fluffing up embarrassedly. “Yeah but- it’s just for fun! I’m just helping, it’s not a big deal,” he repeated frantically. “I don’t wanna be up there, I’m just doing it to help Sonic. That’s all.”

Sonic snickered. “You enjoy it, dude,” he prodded. 

“Okay, well, yeah , but I don’t wanna be up there, that’s terrifying, ” Tails rambled. “I like playing, it’s cool. It’s fun, it’s like a puzzle, but I’m good with staying behind the scenes. Really. I’m better at machines anyways–”

“That’s a crazy thing to say when all the music you guys have put out is amazing,” Manic said, crossing his arms. “That’s seriously impressive.” 

Sonic nodded wisely. “The crazier thing is that he’s right. He’s good at music, but he’s better at machines,” he agreed, patting Tails’ shoulder. Tails seemed to deflate with the concession, relaxing again. “We’ll show you later, he’s got some great stuff he’s cooking up– he’s gonna cure robotization someday, just you wait.”

“That’s a tall order there, bro,” Manic observed. Tails didn’t flinch at that one though. Interesting. The kid was very confident in his technical skills with machinery, programming, building, but much less when it came to music. If Manic had to guess, music was fun but tech was his passion. 

Tails just puffed out his chest and grinned fiercely. “I’ll do it,” he said. “Just you wait. I need like, a bunch more information but I’ve got a ton of theory going already and–” The kid almost seemed to start speaking a new language. Manic waited and listened, but he wasn’t really understanding and that was okay. Talking seemed to be putting Tails more at ease. Manic was a pro at making people feel comfortable around him, it had a ton of benefits. Sonic just grinned as Tails rambled, gesturing with his hands and clear excitement rolling off of him that Manic didn’t need to be an empath to read. 

Finally, Tails seemed to notice he was dominating the conversation and scratched the back of his head. “In theory, at least,” he concluded. “That’s how it’ll work. Which, segue, we wanted to talk to you about Robotnik.”

And just like that the air seemed to leave Manic’s lungs. Tails was already talking again, tablet in hand with Manic’s mug shot from last night. He looked to Sonic who hastily put his hands up. Apparently his face had enough panic on it to convey his meaning without words. “Hey, hey! Remember what I said yesterday? I’m not gonna get you in trouble, neither is Tails,” Sonic said quickly. “There’s no real comfortable way to bring all this up, it makes everyone twitchy but we were hoping we could maybe get your help with some… less than legal stuff. Since it kinda looks like you’re… good at that?”

Manic untensed a little bit, looking between the two. Sure, Sonic was his brother but he’d just met the guy last night. That didn’t mean much and with how carefully guarded Sonic held his feelings he was a harder read. On the surface level, at least, he still seemed sincere. 

Tails wasn’t as hard to unpack, his face was clearly sheepish and apologetic. “Sorry,” he began, scratching the back of his head. “We’re not usually the guys who contact anyone on the black market.” That was a weird thing to say, but Manic wasn’t going to unpick it. 

“You can’t prove I’m involved with any of that,” Manic said almost automatically, turning his gaze to Tails.

Tails looked back at his tablet. “I mean… we can read between the charges, Manic,” he sighed, and looked helplessly at Sonic. And Sonic just gestured for him to keep talking, and so Tails sighed even harder and went on. “Also, some of our guys kinda know you already.”

Sonic was suddenly gone from Manic’s side, in the kitchenette digging around in the pantry. Manic didn’t actually know when he’d moved. “We’re really bad at this,” Sonic grumbled to himself, rising with a container of cookies. “Look, let’s start from the top. Point one, we’re brothers. We got that one already right?”

Sonic was back in his space, too fast to have seen move. Manic looked between where he’d been and where he was now, offering up a cookie to Manic. Slowly, bewilderedly, he took the cookie from Sonic. “Yeah, got that one,” he echoed, letting himself be herded to the couch and sitting down.

Tails settled next to him, not close enough to touch. Sonic remained standing, tapping his foot like he was too full of energy to sit. “Okay, next up? We’re not squeaky clean either. We’ve been with the Freedom Fighters since I was thirteen,” Sonic went on. “Which means we’ve also been working with black market folks for ages. We knew about you , but I tend to stick to stealth stuff so I can keep up this whole charade. So I’d never seen your face until you were at the show last night, and then Tails found you and we realized we’d had you do work for us before.”

Manic worked his jaw up and down a few times. There were so many things to unpack. “...Charade?”

“Well, I mean,” Sonic backtracked, still moving and starting to pace a little. Too much energy, Manic noted in his mind, his brother was a busy body. “I like doing music, don’t get me wrong. But the way I’m doing it? Absolutely a distraction. A way to funnel money to the rebellion. A way to look for you and our sister.”

“The rebellion?”

“Have you heard about the Blue Blur?” Tails asked in a hushed voice, leaning into Manic’s eyeline. 

The last puzzle pieces were all laid in front of him then. They fit together, and the picture they made was so absurd it shouldn’t have worked. Manic’s eyes widened and he pointed at Sonic. “ You? ” 

And Sonic just grinned at him, like he was delighted to be sharing his secret. The feeling oozed off him, smug and proud. “Me,” he confirmed, tapping his feet on the ground again in a thrilled little dance. “Whenever I’m not doing rockstar stuff, I’m running missions for the Freedom Fighters so fast no one can catch me.”

Manic put his hand to his forehead. “Are you kidding me?” he breathed out. “That’s… You’d have to be going like, faster than sound to pull that off! That’s- that shouldn’t be possible!”

Sonic just grinned harder at that and nodded aggressively. “ That’s the gift I got from Chaos,” he said. “I’m the fastest thing alive, and I’ll prove it later when we’re out of the city.” 

Manic suddenly felt a bit like things were spinning out of control, so he put his hand up. This was a lot. This was a ton of information he hadn’t even had to weasel out of them and  now he knew the secret behind one of Robotnik’s most hated enemies. The cards were looking a bit stacked in Manic’s favor and that made him suspicious. “What is it exactly you want from me, then?”

Sonic paused at that, and had the decency to look a little sheepish. “Well, first of all we didn’t know all this stuff lined up when we talked last night. But we were hoping maybe uh… since you already work down there, ya know?”

Manic frowned. “Yeah?”

“We wanna talk to Ferrell,” Tails said, his tone and body language shifting back into nervous territory. “We’ve talked to a lot of his people, but never to him directly. If we could maybe get him on our side, that’d have a big pull on a lot of the people in the black market supporting us. The more people we get from there the easier it’ll be when we move to overthrow Robotnik for good.”

That wasn’t a surprising request, all things considered. Manic’s real relationship with Ferrell was carefully guarded, a secret, but he’d still earned a place next to the King of Thieves. A lot of folks ended up labeling him the court jester, but he didn’t really mind. In many ways, that kind of title gave him the advantage of being underestimated and that was a great thing to be down there. 

Apparently it was known by the members of the rebellion he’d worked for here and there. Jobs were jobs, and they’d do what they were asked if they were paid. 

That said, not many people got to talk directly to Ferrell about business. And he had strict rules about involvement with active rebellion. He’d happily barge through the laws to get paid and get people what they needed, but he didn’t want an even bigger target on his back (or Manic’s back). Ferrell made sure the black market walked the delicate line between assisting rebellion and making sure everyone else also had what they needed.

Manic swallowed, thumbing at his medallion. “And if I say I can’t get you to Ferrell? You gonna toss me out? This whole triplets thing is kinda sounding a bit too convenient all the sudden, guys,” he began. “I’m not a road to Ferrell, I just work for the guy.”

Sonic’s smile didn’t waver at all, nor did his sincerity. “Then that’s alright, we just figured we’d ask,” he said easily. “I didn’t go looking for you to get to him. I came here looking for you ‘cause I found out you were alive. The fact that you have skills that can help us is a bonus. These pulled us together, you know?” He pointed to his medallion, and as weird as that was as a reason, Manic felt the same tug against his heart. “We’re supposed to all be together, Chaos wants the band back together. I think that’s so we can help each other, find our mom, and maybe save the rest of the city.”

Manic squinted at Sonic. He already helped the city, in his own way. So did Sonic. And Sonic wanted his help? “That is… a whole lot of optimism.”

“Mhm!” Sonic said, and didn’t flinch when Manic did give in and push at his mental barrier a little. Still, there was nothing there to indicate he was lying. He was being real. He’d already given Manic enough information to ruin him for life, if he wanted. Send him directly to prison, or worse. That was a lot of risks Sonic had taken in a row, all to convince Manic that he was… what? Important? Trusted?

That math didn’t add up. And Manic wasn’t really used to having relationships that weren’t at least a little bit business. So he steepled his fingers after putting the rest of his cookie in his mouth. If they were willing to let it be somewhat business, Manic would take it. “I guess we could work something out, yeah,” he allowed. “And… you guys seem like you could be cool to hang with.” 

Sonic seemed overly satisfied with that answer, and plopped himself next to Manic to sling an arm around his shoulder with the familiarity of someone who had not just met Manic last night. “Sick! You can pump the breaks whenever you want, alright? You’re drivin’ this thing,” he said brightly. “We can go slow, and you can decide when you wanna go all in.”

Tails snorted. “Hold onto that, he never says we can go slow,” he piped in. Sonic shot a playful glare over Manic’s head at the fox.

Manic had been raised to be naturally suspicious of things that seemed too good to be true. It was a feature of where he grew up. But something about Sonic made him want to believe him. To help. 

There was no harm in getting to know the guy and taking a few jobs for him, anyways. 

The triplets were nineteen.

Sonia drove herself to her next meet up with her… brothers. Bart was covering for her, they'd told her parents she'd be having dinner at his house and she'd taken the motorcycle she'd been gifted and headed to the address she'd been forced to memorize because both boys had been insistent that she not write it anywhere. She'd assumed that meant it was a base or something important. But the place she rolled up to was yet another warehouse, this time on her end of the city. 

The longer she looked at it as she parked her bike and slid her helmet off, it might’ve been a factory. Sonia wasn't that familiar with these kinds of places. That wasn't her job or her interest. 

She set her helmet down and when she looked up, there was Sonic slipping out of a doorway. Decked out like before in what he usually wore for shows or photoshoots, he strode across the pavement towards her with steady confidence. “Hey! Good to see you, you're the sweepstakes winner, right?” he called, louder than might be really necessary. 

Sonia was sharp, at least. She smiled easily and started towards him. “That's me! Gosh, this is so cool,” she twittered, putting a bit of a skip in her step. “It’s amazing to meet you!”

If Sonic was surprised she went along with it, it didn't show at all. He just held out a hand and didn't flinch when she gripped it a little too hard in a shake, and then told her to come inside. 

Once the door fell shut his mask fell right off, which was funny to see since the costume was still in place. He shook his hand out, groaning in pain. “Dude, what is that grip? You're worse than Amy!” he exclaimed, side eyeing her from under his overly shadowed eyelids. Up close, it was clear the makeup was heavy handed. Sonia supposed that made sense for stage makeup.

“We can call it a reminder that I'm still not happy to be here,” Sonia snarked at him, crossing her arms over her chest and primly following him down the hallway. She'd been right, it was a factory. Apparently the one where all Sonics band merchandise got made based on what she could see on the belts and tables. 

It was late though. No workers. Nobody immediately apparent as Sonic speed walked down the halls in his chunky platform boots. They came to an office and Sonic opened the door for Sonia. “Tails, wanna hit the track?” he called as he let Sonia go ahead of him. 

A young voice called back an affirmative and something a lot like white noise started playing. Manic was seated on the couch with the owner of the new voice- a tall teenaged fox with an extra tail. Tails, she assumed. And Manic wasn't dressed up today- apparently the blue streaks in his quills were fake because today they were green and more green. His clothes were even rattier than they'd been the other day- at least Sonic's leather jacket looked weathered in a classy way. 

Sonia stalked over and sat on top of the desk that was on the other side of the room. She wanted to maintain some level of control and this was a start. Manic was wrinkling his nose at her already. She beat him to whatever he was preparing to say. “Got a problem?” 

Manic’s expression smoothed out immediately. “Nah, just getting used to your vibe,” he said, like that made a shred of sense. Neither of the other two seemed bothered by that response, but something about it irritated Sonia.

She tried to let it go anyways, watching as Sonic chose a place to lean against the wall. “Thanks for coming, sis,” he began. “We put some stuff together for you to do some easy jobs for us.”

The implied for now didn’t go unnoticed by Sonia. She knew she was opening a door, stepping onto a slippery slope. Her days living at home were numbered and she was brilliantly aware of that fact. She’d need to start preparing. “What am I doing?”

Tails stood up and came over to her with a small box. “So, this is your comms system,” he began, pulling what looked like a wrist watch out of the box. “This is off the public network, private to only us, but try to keep usage to a minimum.” He held it out to her and waited for her to take it. 

It wasn’t the ugliest thing she’d ever seen- it was even a dark purple like her favorite skirt. “Alright,” Sonia said stiffly, and noticed each one of them had one- even Sonic had one tucked under the sleeve of his jacket. Manic’s butted up against the spiked cuffs he wore. Tails was neatly folded under the cuff of his own gloves. “Does it just go to you guys?”

Tails showed her some of  the buttons. “Channel one is just us. Well, and Amy,” he explained. He pointed to a button along the side of the watch. “This is your panic button. Something bad happens? Hit that and we’re on our way to your location. Don’t worry about the other channels for now.” 

That made Sonia want to worry about the other channels, but she could do that later. Tails was already pulling out another thing- a baggie of tiny black tacks? He set it in her hand. “We just want you to put these anywhere you think they could hear useful info,” he said. “No setup, just stick ‘em where you want them to be and they’re good to go. Try to be sneaky about placement.”

Sonia held the baggie up to her eyes to look closer. “Bugs?” she asked.

“Bugs,” Sonic confirmed. “You’ve got access to places we can’t even think of. Your family’s fancy, and you’re already known to be getting into politics. Can you do it?”

That question was out of courtesy and she knew it. Sonia stuffed the bag into her purse and slapped the watch on her wrist before slipping it under her own long gloves. “I got it,” she grumbled. 

Oddly, despite her desire to be upset about all this, she found her feelings smoothing out and the tension in her shoulders releasing. She ghosted her hand over the watch under the fabric of her gloves, and then up to the medallion she’d dug out of her jewelry box. Manic was smiling at her when she looked up. “You’re helping us a lot,” he said, his voice small and gentle in a way that she hadn’t heard yet. “Thank you.”

Sonia blinked at him a few times, and still found that she couldn’t muster up annoyance anymore. “You’re welcome,” she said, equally soft. “I… I’ll help how I can.”

Sonic came over and handed her a plastic shopping bag. “We know,” he said warmly. “Under that grumpy exterior, you’re good. We can tell.”

Sonia took the bag, shooting a glare at her brother. “Oh gee, thanks,” she said, the weird fuzzy feeling receding a bit. She looked into the bag and found a slew of Underground merchandise. She stared at it. “How… How can you tell? You don’t know me. I could’ve gone straight home and called the cops the last time we met.”

“But you didn’t!” Sonic chirped, leaning into her space. “And we knew you wouldn’t. Manic’s great at… reading people.”

Manic smiled at her again, leaning further into the couch like he was getting more comfortable. “Guilty,” he laughed. “Comes with the territory.”

Sonia tilted her head to the side. “The territory?” she asked, before she could think better of it.

“Grew up in the black market, sis,” he answered lightly. Like it wasn’t a big deal. “Gotta be good at sussing people out or you get stabbed in the back.”

Sonic nodded sagely. “And I mostly grew up out of the city, but I met a lot of folks. Got decent at telling which ones would be trouble when we were roaming,” he said, like that was normal. 

Sonia looked between the two of them. “You guys didn’t have homes…?”

Manic scoffed, looking truly offended. “I had a home, it just wasn’t a big fancy mansion,” he said sharply. “That’s a Sonia exclusive.”

Sonia didn’t really like the way that set a pit in her stomach, so she hopped off the desk with her bag of merch. “Thanks for the prizes,” she said flatly, gripping the bag. “But I should probably get back to where my parents think I am.”

Sonic nodded understandingly. “We’ll ring ya if we need something,” he said, motioning to his wrist. “Keep that on you, you don’t want the wrong person picking it up.”

That felt like an understatement, but Sonia just nodded wearily and allowed herself to be led back to the front of the building. As they left, the white noise sound disappeared, and Sonic fell back into the public facing persona as he opened the door to the parking lot for her.

“Real cool meeting you, darling,” he said airly. “Hope you enjoy the grab bag!”

Sonia stared at him, at the way he entirely shifted the way he held himself and became the guy everyone thought he was. “I will,” she said. “You’re one of my favorite bands.”

She was pleasantly surprised to see genuine shock cross his face at that, for just a split second, before he smoothed out the edges and resumed his act. “Goodnight. Keep shining!”

Sonia gripped the bag of merch a little tighter as she walked back to her bike. 

Planting bugs was an easy job. 

And she knew that wasn’t where it would end. 

Chapter Text

The triplets were thirteen.

The first year back in Robotropolis was a blur. It was Sonic running missions at high speeds, winding his way around where he knew cameras were hiding- memorized under duress from Sally. It was late nights scribbling down lyrics and fractured bits of chords and melody with Tails. It was keeping his head down in Knothole, because Sonic was allowed to be a member of the Freedom Fighters but only those at the top knew what he was capable of- and he wanted to keep it that way as long as he could because he knew it wouldn’t last. 

It was Tails settling in easily, thriving with a steady place to live and return to each night. Impressing the adults with the way he could just fix things . It was books and old recordings and scraps brought back from missions for the fox. He was showered in attention and praise, and he soaked it up like a sponge. Sonic loved seeing it, but he loved more that despite it all he could tell his compliments still meant the most to the kid.

It was Sonic and Tails getting to record their first album. Four songs, Escape from the City, Reach for the Stars, Endless Possibility and Open Your Heart. They took forever nailing them down until they were perfect. Tails took easily to the music, learning instruments in a way he probably shouldn’t have been able. The kid was just that smart, and that let Sonic do whatever he wanted as he led the way on the project. 

The album took off, and for the first time in their lives together, Sonic and Tails could stop worrying about money.

It was Sonic running as far as he could away from the city, letting the burn creep its way up his legs and into his lungs, knowing he'd had to turn back. 

It was Sally Acorn peeking into his and Tails RV and asking for a moment with Sonic. 

Sonic tossed his notebook aside and strode over to the doorway, leaning against the frame. “Whatcha need?”

Sally shook her head. “My father wants to see you,” she said plainly, all authority and no hints. “Cmon.”

Sonic heard Tails hoot at that from the back of the RV. “Oooooh, you're in troubleeee,” called the kid, sitting on his bed and kicking his feet. 

Sonic scoffed at his little brother. “As if, no way,” he shot back as he descended the stairs. “Probably just wants to tell me what a great job I did yesterday.”

Sally didn't rise to either hook, instead starting to walk away already without waiting for Sonic. He sighed. The girl was no fun, most of the time. She'd occasionally go along with his attempts to start banter, but usually she just shrugged him off with her nose in the air. Sonic planned to keep at it until he wore her down.

Sonic trailed after her through camp to where Nigel Acorn had his own maze of tents set up, dragging his feet as much as possible to annoy Sally and put off dealing with the authority figure. Nigel’s tent was the place for debrief, meetings, plans and generally where the higher up folks of the rebellion gathered. Sonic was quite happy with where he'd parked the RV, as far from the center of camp as possible, right on the edge of the chao garden that he was keeping to himself and Tails. He’d keep it that way. It kept him mostly out of sight and he was just fine with that. 

Sally pushed the tent door in and motioned Sonic inside. She didn't follow him in, and that actually did make Sonic just a touch uneasy. 

His eyes adjusted quickly to the dim light inside the large military style tent. Nigel was seated at the table with some folders spread out around him, thumbing through them with intense focus. He looked up when Sonic cleared his throat. “Ah, good,” he said, motioning Sonic further in. “Have a seat.”

Begrudgingly, Sonic took the seat Acorn clearly wanted him in, leaning forward on the table with his head in his hands lazily. “So what's up? New mission? Something even Sal's not allowed to know, apparently?”

Acorn was a lot like his daughter. He didn't rise to Sonic's prods, he just went about things the way he wanted. They were both steady and Sonic found that equal parts reassuring and irritating. Acorn slid the folder over, filled with gritty old papers that looked like they might have been fished out of a river or maybe a sewer. “Look familiar?”

Sonic stared down at the pages, because, yes. It did. It was concept drawings of Sonic's medallion, and the other two that matched the set with notations on who and what they were for. Sonic felt his stomach sink and he bared his teeth in an ugly grimace. “Eough… so we're doing this?”

“When were you intending on telling us you were the crown prince?” That tone probably worked really well on kids that grew up with parents. Sonic just shoved the papers back at Nigel as carelessly as he could. 

“Probably when it was relevant?” he drawled, crossing his arms. “It doesn't mean anything now, I'm just another guy sticking it to Robotnik just like anyone else here. Don’t make a big deal outta nothin’.”

Nigel pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling loudly. “Except it is relevant. Knowing that we have the royal family on our side would lift everyone's morale, give them hope,” he said. “This fight isn't a sprint, it's a marathon and we need all the encouragement we can get. Not to mention that you should be more involved–”

“Buh-buh-buh! Gonna stop ya there, Nige-ol’-pal,” Sonic said forcefully. “If you'll turn your attention to the drawings you so proudly showed me, you'll see there's supposed to be three of us.”

“But–”

“Which means, I'm not doing jack without my sibs,” Sonic pressed on. “I got a plan in motion here, man, but according to all the things that brought me here, I need them both before all this magic junk even works.”

Nigel looked frustrated, to say the very least. “You need to be learning to lead,” he grit out. 

Sonic nodded. “Sure do. And I am,” he said haughtily. “Watching you and the mission leaders real close . Unless you're suggesting you put a kid in charge.” Sonie raised an eyebrow, watching Nigel now with half lidded eyes. Because that was a good argument and Sonic knew it.

Nigel let out the longest sigh, staring at the ceiling of the tent as if asking it for answers. Sonic just grinned at him, crossing his arms and waiting. “Of course not,” Nigel allowed. “I just… want to make sure you're prepared.”

Sonic nodded again, humming in agreement. “No, for sure. But I don't think adding more moving parts to what I've got going on is the best move for us right now,” he said. “I've got a plan, remember?”

Nigel looked so tired. “ The secret Rockstar thing?”

“Bingo! And when that totally works and I find my sibs, we can talk about all this again,” Sonic said. He didn't wait to be dismissed, jumping down from the chair. “Trust me,” he added, looking at the older squirrel. “My plan’s gonna work. And in the meantime, I'm lifting spirits anyway!”

Nigel clearly hated to say it but- “That's true, I suppose. Fine,” he groused. “Status quo can remain for now, Sonic. But you can't run from this forever.”

Sonic tossed his most charming smile over his shoulder for the old General. “Who's runnin?”

The triplets were eighteen.

Amy Rose would describe herself as a few things. Beautiful, insightful, strong, but probably not patient. 

Amy Rose woke up the night after the concert alone in her bestie's bedroom. Nestled on the floor amongst pillows and blankets. A sticky note stuck to her forehead. She grouched quietly and pulled it off, flipping it over so she could read Manic's horrible handwriting. Went to meet bro. Be back soon .

Amy sat up immediately, ignoring the way she could feel that her quills were sticking up everywhere. He went? Alone? Without her??

Her quills were smashed to her head on one side and her makeup was sticky on her face because they'd all but collapsed when they'd finally made him home, but she didn't care. She scrambled across the room and yanked the bedroom door open.

Manic's high tops were gone. His extreme gear was still leaning against the wall by the front door, so apparently he didn't take the board, but he was likely gone. Amy huffed quietly and turned down the hall.

Maybe she could catch up, if she knew how long ago he’d left. Down the hall she could hear Ferrell talking, probably (hopefully) on the phone, in his office. 

She padded across the carpet in her socks and leaned against the door to listen- she and Manic were welcome in his space when he wasn't on business. Phone calls were usually business, but it was worth a check before she interrupted him.

His voice was too low to really make out. She squinted, pricking her ear up. “ ...if you don't, you're going to… on time, or else…”

Amy sighed and leaned back from the door. It always made her feel weird when she was faced with the truth of what Ferrell was up to. The scarab had rules. A code of honor that he held the black market he ran to, whatever the cost. The rules were good- no selling people. No selling kids, especially. No selling drugs to kids, no snitching on locations, no selling out to Robotnik. Amy didn't know all of them, honestly, and she didn't want to. 

She knew enough to judge that despite the blood on his hands, Ferrell was good– or at least, he was doing his best. He had to be, to some extent, for him to have raised Manic. 

And while Manic wasn't exactly clean either, he had his own rules. Rules that didn't stop him from sneaking money out of people's pockets or rings off of fingers, but still, he had something. Some sort of code. For all she harassed him for stealing, Manic was also doing  his best.

Amy owed a lot of her life to the two of them, so she mostly ignored it. Once her parents had gotten grabbed, she'd ended up in Ferrell's care. He’d made sure they didn't go hungry, they had clothes and shoes, and kept them safe under his roof. Ferrell would do anything to keep her and Manic safe. Even if that concept scared Amy sometimes. 

She leaned against the door again. Ferrell wasn't talking anymore so she knocked twice. “Come in!” called the bug, his voice still rough but having lost all hints of danger. Amy pushed the door open and Ferrell smiled at her, warm and bright. “Good morning, looks like you two had a crazy night,” he said, looking her up and down. 

Amy was still in her clothes from yesterday, she realized, looking down at her concert shirt. She just laughed lightly. “You have no idea. Did you hear when Manic left?” she asked, leaning against the door frame. “He ditched me.”

Ferrell tutted, flipping through a stack of papers and clicking a few things on one of the three laptops he had on his desk. “Well that was rude,” he said offhandedly. “I didn't, but he'll be back.”

Ferrell didn't really keep track of Manic anymore, not the way he used to. Amy knew enough to understand it was so that ties between Ferrell and his son were kept minimal- it was bad enough Manic had a reputation for being a favorite of the King of Thieves. They did a ridiculous amount of song and dance to not let people know that Ferrell was Manic’s father.

The Court Jester didn't need extra targets on his back.

“So no phone?” Amy asked. 

Ferrell shook his head. “Didn't come get one before heading out, no,” he said. “I'll find him if he doesn't check in before noon- he’s usually going to bed around then.”

Amy let out a sigh, dropping her head against the wall. “Fiiiine. I'm borrowing the shower,” she said, slinking back down the hall and letting the door to Ferrell's Crime Office fall closed. Maybe Manic would be back by the time she was done. 

Amy was shutting off the water when she heard the front door's heavy lock disengage. “ It's me!” Manic shouted, customary for entering because despite the door being hidden and the lock being nearly impossible to pick, both he and Ferrell were wanted criminals with people who'd like them to be dead. It was best to make sure everyone inside knew you weren’t an intruder.

Amy started hustling through getting dressed again, drying her quills and yanking on the clothes she'd stolen from Manics dresser. She threw the door open with a bit more force than she needed to, startling Manic as he neared Ferrell's office. She pointed accusatorially at him. “You! You left me!”

Manic already had his hands up in surrender as she reached him. “You looked so comfy and sleepy, Amy,” he protested. His expression turned smarmy. “Mad I went to see your crush without you?

Amy punched his shoulder, making him yelp. “You don't even know if this thing is real and you went all alone- what if something happened?! What if they decided to turn you in? You can't just- you're so stupid,” she settled on, crushing Manic in a hug. He tensed for just a moment before returning it intensely, ever careful with his claws. 

“I'm fine,” he told her softly. “I'm alright. I'm figuring out if he's legit. I'm a good judge of character-”

“You told me last night that you couldn't read him that well,” Amy interrupted, releasing him from her arms so she could properly side eye him.

Manic waved her off. “Which is why I'm feeling it out!” He finished. “Taking it slow is fine, I’ll still be able to read him eventually.” He leaned over and knocked on Ferrell's door as he spoke. “Yo, Dad! Got a minute?”

“Come in!”

Manic shot finger guns at Amy and sauntered into the office. Amy just let out a long groan and trailed after him. Ferrell was typing away on the laptop now, but he looked up and smiled at Manic. “Mornin’, kid.”

“Mornin, Pop! Got a new lead,” Manic said, hopping up to sit on Ferrell's desk. He disturbed some of the paperwork there and fished his drumsticks out of his fanny pack to start tapping against the edge of the desk. “We got any requests from those Freedom Fighter guys?”

Though he’d come in pretty casual, and now that Amy was paying attention, he was even projecting a sense of calm, Ferrell was staring at him like he’d just suggested walking into traffic. Manic didn’t flinch under the gaze, tip tapping the space of the desk between his legs and swinging his feet. “Manic,” Ferrell said, closing his computer. 

Manic did grimace a little then, but he tried to abort the expression. “You have other guys take ‘em on, don’t you?”

“If we take their requests at all,” Ferrell said, watching his son fidget. “You know we’re not trying to get too far onto Robotnik’s bad side.” Manic shrugged a little and Ferrell sighed deeply, sweeping a hand over his head as if he had hair to push back instead of antenna. “What’s this actually about?”

Manic bit his lip and looked at Amy. She sighed a little bit and came the rest of the way into the room, taking the chair that sat on the opposite side of Ferrell's desk. “Something happened at the concert,” she began for him, shooting him an intentional look to prompt him to pick it up again. 

Manic scratched at his quills. “We kinda got to meet Sonic,” he said, his voice slowly pitching up at the end like it was a question. Ferrell raised an eyebrow. Manic’s drumsticks slipped into one hand and the other found his pendant, turning it over and over. “He uh, he grabbed us on our way out. He… says he’s my brother?”

Ferrell stared at him. And for a moment, no one spoke. Ferrell just looked at his son, his jaw working up and down a few times before quirking into a weird shape and awkwardly laughing. “What?”

To Manic’s credit, he didn’t seem put off. “I know, right? That’s what we said,” Manic said, gesturing to Amy. “Amy was gonna fight him–” Amy still might fight him, honestly– “but I… checked? More or less? And I think he’s telling the truth.”

Ferrell shook his head, incredulous. “Manic, what’re you talking about?”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Amy said. “We have no way of proving or checking that, Manic!”

Manic tapped his chest. “Except this,” he said, pointing at his medallion. “He’s got one too and I can feel it, it's like my powers but stronger. Brother or not, we’re connected somehow. And I’m not just gonna haul off and tell him everything, thank you very much. You trust my judgement to go out and work for you, work with people. This is the same.”

Ferrell looked stressed, to say the least. “Well, yes,” he began stiffly. “I just… Sometimes people will take weird angles to get what they want.” 

“I know that, I’m not new at this Pop,” Manic said steadily. “I don’t think he’s doing that.”

Amy shrugged when Ferrell looked questioningly at her. “I’m suspicious but I’ll give him a chance,” she said. “I’ll keep an eye on it, if that helps.”

Ferrell did not look less stressed but he deflated. “You’re technically an adult,” he muttered grudgingly. Manic lit up as Ferrell started digging through his files and pulled out a datastick. “I expect you to keep me posted and in the loop. This is what I have on the Freedom Fighters.”

Manic grinned at him and lunged across the desk to get a hug, scattering things on his way over. “You’re the best, Dad!” 

“Hey hey– watch it!” Ferrell fussed, trying to keep things from falling off the desk. He still hugged Manic back, looking only mildly irritated as he did. He gave Manic’s quills a slightly rougher than necessary ruffle and Manic just laughed. 

Manic beamed up at him and hopped off the desk. Over his shoulder he grinned, and Amy knew he was being just a little extra dramatic for effect but even she wasn’t ready for what he said next. “And I got you some new intel. Call it leverage for if this goes south- Sonic’s the Blue Blur.”

That was when Amy fell out of her chair.

The triplets were nineteen.

Sonia went back to Barts and told him that her ride had been nice. She did not tell him where she’d gone, and he blessedly didn’t ask. She’d hidden the stuff she’d been given in the bottom of her purse and had dinner and called it a nice evening. 

And over the next week, she started leaving the bugs in the couple places she could think of. In one of the offices at the library on campus. In a classroom. Stuck to the inside of a student's textbook that she was pretty sure had important parents. 

It only took a week for her to get a message from them. A little blinking envelope on the projected screen of her new comm, that when she poked, told her that she needed to put the bugs somewhere actually important. 

The message was from Amy. That was that girl that had watched her meet her brothers like it was a show, playing with ornate looking cards and hiding her smile behind them. Sonia hadn’t decided how she felt about the girl yet, but she wasn’t off to a great start.

Sonia groaned into her hands, pulled her glove back over the watch, and flopped onto her bed.  “Actually important.” That could mean a lot of things, but all of them scared Sonia. She had access to Robotnik’s municipal buildings- she was probably going to be interning at them if she stayed on her college course. Which she likely wouldn’t. She could probably get at the palace itself if she made up a good enough excuse. 

It wouldn’t be that weird for her to go walking through most places, but the concept scared her nonetheless.

Someone knocked on her balcony doors and Sonia sat up to glare at Tikal if she was back but it was Rouge this time. Hovering there and holding a bag of takeout and smirking at her like she hadn’t happily dragged Sonia into this mess. Sonia did not drop her glare, but she did stomp over and pull the door open. 

Rouge was undeterred by the nasty look, swooping into the room. “Awww, what's with the scary eyes, baby? You mad I didn't bring you two orders of fries?” she cooed, dropping gracefully onto Sonia's bed and digging around in the bag. 

She was already holding out the container of steaming hot fries by the time Sonia came back over. “You know why I'm mad,” she snapped, snatching the fries. “You sold me out!”

“It was just a job, sweetie, it wasn't personal,” Rouge said, crossing her legs and getting out her own food. “Thought you'd be happy to see them, honestly.”

Sonia groaned, but she sat down on the bed next to her friend anyways. “It's complicated, you should've known that,” she groused. Rouge just smirked, watching her dig into her fries. 

“I've actually done quite a bit of work for them,” Rouge said after a pause. “They're good people. They catch you up on everything?”

Sonia frowned at her fries. “Define ‘everything’.”

Rouge hummed softly. “Where you came from, darling,” she said, more gently than before. Sonia felt herself bristle just a bit, unbidden. 

She swallowed hard. “I already knew,” Sonia mumbled. “I was… avoiding getting involved.”

Rouge's lips formed an o shape and she put a hand to her chest. “You knew?” She asked, genuinely surprised. 

Sonia turned away, her face burning. “Yeah, I just… things are good for me, you know? Mother has worked so hard to make sure things would be good for me,” she floundered. “I didn’t… wanna mess that up.”

Rouge nodded, biting into her sandwich and reclining a bit on the bed. “I get it, kiddo,” she said a bit grimly. “There’s a reason I don’t talk to my family anymore. In my line of work, it’s safer.” Sonia didn’t like the way that made her feel- she had a point. She stuffed another fry into her mouth and tried to ignore Rouge's eyes on her. Rouge let it hang, eating quietly. 

Finally, Sonia managed to find her voice again. “Is… that what I should do?”

Rouge sat up and patted Sonia’s shoulder. “I think it’s something you should think about,” she said lightly. “You’re nineteen, it’s not that weird for you to think about moving out about now anyways.”

Sonia groaned, setting aside her empty container. “This is not how I imagined this year panning out,” she mumbled. 

Rouge shrugged. “Those boys would’ve found you with or without me,” she offered. “I’m not much for spiritual stuff- I just like the idea of the emeralds since they're beautiful . But if the universe is trying to steer you to your hooligan brothers, maybe you should see why.”

Which, annoyingly, was kind of what Sonia thought too. The anger and frustration she wanted to feel about all this was getting hard to hold onto, even only meeting them twice. And despite the apparently useless places she’d placed the bugs, she had kind of liked feeling like she helped with the whole rebellion thing.

Giving in and diving in felt like not only a betrayal of the government, but of her family. But it also felt right. Thinking about all the things that could be made better if she and her brothers pushed Robotnik out made her excited and that was downright terrifying. 

She wanted this. She didn’t want this at all. She wanted it so bad it ached. She wanted to run and call the cops and be done with it. 

She wanted to know those boys who said they were her brothers and see if they filled the void she’d had in her heart for her entire life. 

Sonia huffed mopily and fiddled with her glove so she could pull it down and push the button on her watch that started up the scrambling sound Tails had programmed into it. In case. Just in case her room happened to be bugged by Robotnik. Rouge didn’t comment, she just waited until the white noise started before grinning at her. “They gave you a friendship bracelet and everything! How cute.”

“They have me putting bugs around,” Sonia replied, her lips pulling into a grimace. “But… I don’t really know where to put them.” 

Rouge’s eyes lit up and she leaned in conspiratorially, genuine excitement brightening her features. Sonia had never seen her look so mischievous and that was saying something. “Oh, I can help with that,” Rouge purred, and Sonia wondered if she’d just made a big mistake.

Chapter Text

The triplets were fourteen.

It had been one week since Amy showed up in the part of town where she usually hung out with Manic, out of breath and radiating such deep sadness and panic and pain that it had drawn Manic out of the house to find her. The boy had run through the empty dark streets with Ferrel hot on his heels to find her, colliding with her at nearly full speed before bundling her into a tight hug. Everything had been a blur after that. 

When she’d managed to tell them what happened, Ferrell had scooped both her and Manic under his coat and herded them back to his house, trying to be subtle as he hurried them along. Ferrell didn’t go out much, people would definitely notice if they saw him. So Amy hadn’t fought being picked up like a small child– she felt like one today. She held onto Manic and let Ferrell take her back to the alleyway where Manic always appeared.

She vaguely knew this was where he lived, but Amy had never seen the door before– Manic had brought her in with a blindfold each time because that was what Ferrell asked him to do. No sense in giving Amy information that could get her in trouble. 

But this time, Ferrell had shown her exactly how to open the door, let her inside, and told her to go wash up. Manic had hastily shoved a set of his comfiest pajamas into her hands and shuffled her off to the bathroom. 

The water ran hot, at least. Amy stood under the spray and tried to pretend that all the hot wetness on her face was just the shower. By the time she’d finished, Manic had dragged all the extra blankets and pillows into the main room and made a nest. Ferrell had flopped down on one side and turned on the TV, wordlessly putting on one of the magical girl shows he knew Amy liked. Manic had slotted himself between Ferrell and Amy and taken his post holding Amy close again. Amy had fallen asleep with Manic’s arms loosely draped around her like a shield. Warmth and care radiating off of him both physically and emotionally.

He’d made it so easy to sleep. 

Amy was grateful for that, among many, many other things. 

Now, in the early morning light, she and Manic were leaving the hidden home. Manic had an empty bag slung over his shoulder, and intense purpose in his step, as he led the way back to the neighborhood where Amy's house stood empty. Had been empty for a week.

This was the soonest Ferrell had let them go back for her things. He hadn't known who else to send but Manic but it had been clear he hadn't liked the idea of his kid marching into a freshly swatbot raided area. Ferrell couldn't think up an excuse to send any of his other people. Manic was it. The personal nature of the entire situation had sealed Manic as her escort as they walked back up the driveway.

And despite the early hour and her friend being nearly nocturnal due to his work, he was alert and focused. Amy was once again grateful, because her head felt like it was floating away from her body. Like she was dragging herself through a thick fog of not wanting to be here doing this. The streets were empty. Amy wasn't sure if her neighbors were still here. Amy didn't even know why she and her family had been taken. 

Manic knelt at the front door and pulled his lockpicking tools out of his fanny pack. “Stand in front of me so no one can see what I'm doin’,” he told her quietly. Like this wasn't her house. Like the streets weren’t void of life. Amy wanted to tell him that the back door had been kicked in. She couldn't find her voice. She stood with her back to him, staring down the street she'd grown up on.

It wasn't fancy. It wasn't even pretty. It was just like every other middle class street in Robotropolis. But it was everything she'd ever known.

“Got it,” Manic whispered to her, straightening up and pushing the door in. “C'mon.”

Amy turned away from the street and slipped into the house with Manic. 

Things were exactly as they had been that night. Dinner was still on the table, though after a week the smell was getting bad. Had they lived anywhere with wild animals they probably would have found their way inside by now, but all there was to see from the door being left open were some cockroaches that scattered as Amy trailed into the dining room towards the back of the house. 

She brushed her fingers against the chair that had been thrown over as her papa had been trying to get up to defend them. Manic hovered in the doorway. Discomfort radiated off her friend, sadness and fear. He was slowly getting a better grip on keeping his feelings to himself, but really, Amy wasn’t sure where his feelings stopped and hers started with all this. Amy turned to him, her brow pinched. Manic still found a small smile for her and held up his arms. 

Once she was bundled in his hug he pressed his cheek to her forehead. Whatever feelings he was projecting drifted away, and Amy knew then he wasn’t slipping up as bad as she’d thought. It was her feelings, her own raw, painful feelings. “It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered. “It's gonna be okay. I’ve got you. Let’s go get your stuff.”

Amy nodded against him, but she waited another few moments before letting go and turning her back on the trashed dining room. Manic led her up the stairs of the little townhome towards her bedroom. He’d spent plenty of evenings here. He knew this house as well as his own. He’d eaten dinner at the table and slept on Amy’s floor and known her parents well. In a lot of ways this was his home too.

Amy let herself be guided into her bedroom and Manic started digging around for a bag. “We can probably bring most of your clothes,” Manic told her, holding out a bright pink duffle bag that he’d found in the closet. “So I’ll do that. You go get the other stuff you wanna keep.”

Manic set the bag in her hands and got to work, pulling out another bag and setting it aside. He pulled open the dresser and started collecting things. He was all business about this, and though that made Amy want to be upset, she couldn’t. She knew this wasn’t really safe. They needed to get in and out as fast as they could. 

Pack up her whole life as quickly as she could. 

No big deal. 

Amy gripped the bag in one hand and started grabbing things. A stuffie her father had won for her at the fair last year. A framed picture of her and her parents. Her journal, her favorite sparkle pens. Next she shoved into the bathroom she and her parents shared and grabbed her toothbrush and favorite headbands and ribbons. 

“Don’t need to bring soap or anything,” Manic called. “We got that stuff.”

“Okay,” Amy replied, but still grabbed some of the sweet smelling flower shaped bar soaps that her mom would buy and use when she wanted to feel pretty. That she’d let Amy use for the same reasons. She also threw in some of her moms perfume bottles. She’d never been allowed to use those– she was too young, her mother would say. 

It didn’t matter now. 

She also took the entire jewelry box. It wasn’t big by any means. But it had her mothers beautiful, few pairs of earrings, and rings that she would add to her outfits when she’d go out and do fortune telling in her little shop. 

Amy didn't hesitate to grab her fathers wraps, either. He’d carefully wind them around each fist before going boxing. He’d been an instructor at a gym. Amy wondered quietly if they’d noticed he was missing yet. 

“I’m going to my parents room,” Amy said to Manic as she passed by the door. He was kneeling on the floor now, carefully rolling and packing her clothes into the bag. Her little dresses were laid carefully around him, and he was wasting as little space as he could as he forced the frills and pleats to fit around one another. The bag didn’t look big enough to fit everything, but Amy let him continue.

Amy pushed her parents door open quietly, feeling a bit like she was intruding in a place she shouldn’t be in with no one home. But no one was going to be coming home. So she pressed on, her shoes leaving faint marks on the carpet where she’d never worn them before. The bed was still made. The lamp was still on.

The two of them had been wearing their rings when they’d been taken. Amy kind of wished they hadn’t been– but that was a selfish thought that she brushed away quickly. They deserved to have their rings with them… wherever they were now.

Amy silently collected the photos off the nightstands. A picture of her mother holding a newborn Amy in the hospital. Their wedding photo. Her mothers journal as well, though she didn’t dare open it. She couldn’t leave it. But she didn’t intend to read it. It would remain closed, and Amy would protect it with her life. A time capsule, a snapshot of her family before it was taken away.

As she turned away from the bedside table, her mothers deck of oracle cards caught her gaze. Sitting innocently on the dresser, placed neatly on a pretty little silk scarf. Calling quietly to Amy in her heart. 

So, Amy wandered over and carefully wrapped the cards in the scarf, and then tucked them delicately into the bag with the other mementos of her life before it had changed forever. 

-x-

Manic had shuffled everything around in his bedroom. He’d run a shower curtain through the middle of it and was in the process of hanging a series of curtains that cut the room in half, perched on a chair. A newly acquired mattress sat on the floor on the bare side of the room, and Amy’s bags laid next to it. 

Manic hummed a tune as he worked. Occasionally, the humming turned into singing, and Amy relaxed into the normalcy of it. This was a lot like their sleepovers. Just a lot more… long term. This was okay. Manic had promised they could string up fairy lights next. Amy knew he’d stolen them. She didn’t care today.

There wasn’t much for Amy to do, so she started carefully unpacking her trinkets and trying to decorate a touch. Just enough to make things feel less weird. She laid her favorite blanket that she’d brought from home over the bed. She fluffed the pillows. She set her stuffie against the wall, on the bed. She tucked her journal under her pillow. “Manic, do you have tape?” she asked, taking the pictures out of her bag. 

Manic leaned out from behind the curtain. “We got nails,” he offered. “We can just put holes in the wall, Pop won’t mind.”

Amy nodded wearily, and started setting her pictures along the wall where she wanted to hang them. She found the deck next, as she unpacked. She could remember her mom teaching her some of how to read it, but she wasn’t nearly as practiced. She could remember her mom sitting comfily on the couch, pulling cards and making faces at them. 

Amy unwrapped the cards and laid them on the bed, crossing her legs as she stared down at them. She ran her fingers across them, fanning them across the silk bandana and staring down at the intricate little designs on the backs of each card. 

Manic hopped off the chair, having finished hanging the curtains– it was a combo of some shower curtains and various drapes as far as Amy could tell. “Those’re your moms cards!” he said, shuffling over and kneeling in front of her. Amy looked up at him as he made himself comfortable on the floor just beside the mattress. “I’m glad you found them. If you forgot anything we can try again another day.”

Amy idly pulled a card out of the deck and flipped it over towards herself. “Yeah,” she murmured. “I guess. I think we got it all though.” She stared at the writing on the card, labeling which one it was. The Fool.

Manic noseily leaned forward to peek at it as well, his pink eyes flitting over the art and words. His nose crinkled. “Well that’s kinda rude,” he said flatly. 

Amy sighed, setting the card to the side. “It’s not calling me a fool,” she said with an eye roll. “It’s telling me to embrace my new beginning. Take this leap of faith and move forward.” 

Manic didn’t look impressed but he shrugged. “If you say so,” he said airily. “Your mom tried doing cards for me before, it seemed like a lot of guessing and generalizing.”

Amy just sighed again. “It’s more than that,” she said defensively. She knew her basics, she’d been learning from her mother for years. These were her mom’s cards, if there was any way to have an idea of what her mom would tell her now, this was it. “I thought you were glad I found these, why’re you being rude?”

Manic just smirked, picking at his gloves. “The deck started it,” he said offhandedly. “Wanna try? Maybe you can read people their cards like your mom did. She made money like that, didn’t she?”

Amy thought about this for a moment. That was true. And while Ferrell would take care of her, she didn’t intend to make him do that forever. She’d need to find some way to pull her weight. Manic had been running missions and jobs for Ferrell since he was ten. 

Amy put The Fool back into the deck and gave it a confident shuffle– the thing she’d had the most practice doing. “Alright,” she said. “Let’s try it then.”

Amy knew how to do a three card spread well enough. She’d have to figure out how to do more. For now though, this would do. She fanned the cards across the silk again, and looked at Manic. “Pick three,” she told him, and as he pointed to each she pulled them out and set them down in front of him. 

Manic was listening at least, though his leg was bouncing and his hand was searching in his fanny pack for something to fidget with. A little bag appeared in his hand that he began unfolding and tipping into his palm, random trinkets falling out. 

Amy flipped the first card over and quietly looked at it, biting her lip a little as she thought. She swallowed quietly. “The Hermit,” she began, almost rehearsed from her memory. “Reversed. Your past is a bit lonely or lost. Maybe you’re lost.” When she looked up at him Manic had a sour look on his face. She winced a little bit. “Sorry,” she tacked on. “It’s just what that one means.”

Manic just started fiddling with his stolen nonsense again. “Alright well, it's general for a reason,” he hedged, rolling his eyes. 

Amy pouted. “You asked me to do this!”

“I offered to let you practice.”

Amy just groaned and flipped the next card over. Another major arcana was a bit much to pull twice. And it was The Fool again. Manic stared down at it, but Amy just went on. “The Fool, upright, means you’re a free spirit. Which is appropriate for you. It can also represent innocence but I know what you do for work.”

“That’s hurtful,” Manic told her, unimpressed. 

“Last but not least,” Amy pressed on, flipping the last card. A third major arcana card stared up at her and something inside Amy’s stomach sank. She took a breath. “This is The Tower,” she told him. “The future will have some sort of upheaval, some disaster.”

Manic just shrugged it off, though. “I mean, don’t most people's futures have some of that?” he said, standing up and brushing off his legs. “Your mom talked a lot more about what those cards meant for each bit, maybe work on that. You’ll be good at this in no time, though.”

Amy sighed, trying to shake off the cold feeling that gripped her shoulders and lungs. “How can you tell?”

Manic busied himself with continuing to fix their room. “I’m an expert at telling things about people, remember?” he said, not looking at her as he continued to condense his clothing and socks into one of the two bits of furniture he had. A dresser and a nightstand. He’d decided he could work with just the nightstands’ two drawers.

 Amy stared down at the three arcana cards, wondering how she’d shuffled so badly that he’d managed to snag three of them. “I guess,” she said halfheartedly. 

Manic tossed something aside. “One question though,” he added without turning. “How’d you pick out the same cards your mom gave me? That’s pretty good up close magic.”

Amy stared at the back of Manic’s head, her eyes widening. A chill made her shudder before she was able to answer.

“I didn’t.”

The triplets were eighteen.

Manic was apparently, evidently, not a morning person. That suited Sonic alright, it let him do work for the Freedom Fighters in the mornings. Run. Rehearse in the afternoons. 

Manic would roll around about four in the afternoon, usually wandering into their RV like he lived there and indiscriminately helping himself to their food. It hadn’t taken him long to start pushing the boundaries– at least, that was what Sonic thought he was doing? 

It had only been a week. 

In that time, Manic had informed Sonic that he was now their black market contact, stolen at least three pairs of Sonic’s socks (he was certain it was Manic because no one else had been through the RV), and blown through a box and a half of Tails’ favorite cereal. He’d stolen the entire box of protein bars. The can opener was gone. A lightbulb from the bathroom– just one. The entire collection of condiment packets from the junk drawer. Random things, mildly inconvenient things.

Sonic was unphased. Manic was pushing the boundaries. He was testing something. So, Sonic let it happen. 

His little brother's past was almost entirely unknown to Sonic and Tails, but based on what they could gather, the kid had probably grown up alone on the streets. He’d been in and out of jail– how he got out was unclear but Sonic was pretty sure, based on the warrants, that he hadn’t gotten out legally. He’d probably not had a solid roof over his head for a while. Sonic felt a bit like he was rehabbing a stray alley cat, and he knew that asking too many questions up front would make the kids walls go up and he’d go back to the amount of skittish he’d been on the first night.

That said, Sonic did have questions. A lot of questions, actually. The one that burned in his chest though was the question of why he’d been left to fend for himself while Sonic had been with Chuck. Why hadn’t Manic been with him? Why hadn’t he been with a family? Why hadn’t someone been taking care of him?

Sonic had just enough restraint not to bombard Manic with those questions. 

It was Friday now– Sonic would do another show tomorrow night, still in the city. He had a few more shows in Robotropolis, before he had to start juggling having shows in the surrounding villages again. Rehearsal had just finished up and he was expecting Manic to roll up any minute as he headed back towards the RV.

Manic was already standing by the door, picking at his claws. Something that also caught Sonic's interest, because most mobians kept their claws covered up. Exposed claws were unspoken threats, typically. Sonic wore fingerless gloves with his rockstar getup, but it was exclusively for the look. Manic bore his like readied weapons; they'd even caught Sonic's skin the first time Manic had visited and thrown him over his shoulder. Sonic hadn’t mentioned it. But it did make Sonic wonder what had happened to make Manic feel like he needed to have his claws ready at all times.

Today though, the girl that had been with Manic the night of the concert was standing alongside him. Her quills were down, hanging around her waist in thick heavy sections that were each tipped with a dark pink marking in the shape of a heart. She was in a cute little red dress trimmed in white, and a shawl with a hood sat on her shoulders. She chattered animatedly at Manic, but Sonic couldn’t quite hear what she was saying just yet. Sonic smiled to himself. How funny, she looked so sweet. Cute even. 

She'd been so ready to punch him out the other night. Looks could be deceiving. Sonic knew that better than most. 

Sonic put his hand up as he approached, the thick, heavy boots he wore to remember to move slowly chafing at his ankles. “Yo! Manic!” 

Manic turned to see Sonic, all wild quills and dirt smudged on his cheek. It had only been a week, but the sight made Sonic’s chest warm. It hadn’t taken long for him to feel like this about Tails either. “Hey man! I brought a friend!” he said, gesturing to the girl. 

Sonic closed the space between himself and his guests. The girl was probably the same height as him. When he wasn't wearing the platform boots. “Nice to see you again,” he told her. “I never asked, did you like the show the other night?”

She looked down her nose at him after straightening up to meet his eyes. “I came to make sure you're not taking advantage of my friend,” she said bluntly. 

Manic sighed, rubbing his forehead. “This is Amy,” he told Sonic, gesturing to the girl. “She's a bit protective but she's my best friend.”

Sonic just smiled at her as disarmingly as he could and opened the door. “Any friend of yours is a friend of mine,” he chirped. “Besides, she already knows this whole thing is fake, so I don’t have to keep the mask on. C'mon in!”

As they climbed up the steps behind him Sonic was already pulling off his fingerless gloves and leather jacket. People who weren't in on the whole thing went to rehearsal, so Sonic had to put the whole costume on every single time. “Tails! We got company!” He shouted as he tossed his jacket onto the driver's seat. Tails didn't answer so he must've been out doing something. Sonic dropped down onto the couch while their guests milled in.

Amy stood there near the doorway for a moment, just looking around. If she was looking for something, she didn't find it. Manic however, plowed into the space like he owned it and started opening the pantry. Amy lurched forward with no small amount of panic. “What are you doing?!”

“Lookin’ for a snack,” Manic answered flippantly, rifling around. Sonic started unlacing his boots, watching Amy hurry across the living room area and grab Manics arm. “Hey!”

“You didn't even ask!” Amy protested, her voice low. The space was too small to save her from Sonic hearing, though. “This isn't your house, you can't just take stuff without asking!”

“You let me take your snacks without asking,” Manic whined at her. “It's fine, right Sonic?”

Sonic raised an eyebrow, sliding his gaze over and trying to pretend he hadn’t been listening. “Sure,” he said easily. “If you're hungry, eat. We can get more.”

Manic leveled Amy with a haughty stare and went back to his task. He didn’t need to say the told you so, Sonic could hear it without Manic speaking a word. Amy deflated a little bit, her ears flicking annoyedly. Sonic watched her cross her arms at Manic but stepped back and allowed him to continue his search. “We can pick up snacks you like, you know,” Sonic added airily. “If you want.”

That made Manic go still. He leaned back out of the pantry to stare at Sonic and Sonic prayed he hadn’t misstepped. Manic’s expression was difficult to read. “You're gonna stock your house with snacks I like? ”

Amy groaned and put her face in her hands. “I do that. That's a thing you do for people you care about, Manic,” she scolded lightly. But Sonic just chuckled, trying to keep it casual. 

“Yeah, man, we can get snacks you like. It'll be easier than replacing the protein bars every two days, just tell me what you want and it's done,” Sonic told his little brother (because yes, they were triplets but he was almost certain he was older than Manic). Sure, Manic was taller but that didn't mean much. Tails was taller than him now. Manic was the little brother. This wasn’t up for debate.

Even with the tank top Manic wore, though, he could tell he was skinny. He could use more food. Sonic was happy to provide it for him. 

Manic's eyes warmed a bit and Sonic was pretty sure he’d said the right thing. “Alright, sure,” he said, finally settling on a bag of chips and returning to the couch. Amy trailed after him and sat close enough to Manic that their legs touched. 

She was scowling at him as he popped the bag open and started munching away. “And here I was all worried he was taking advantage of you, here you are. Stealing their food–”

“Is it really stealing if they watched me do it and didn't stop me?”

“That's implying that they saw everything you took,” Amy grumbled. And well, yeah. Sonic knew he was taking stuff. He hadn't figured out how or when he'd done it yet, but Manic was definitely pocketing things in his time here. Bags of trail mix. The protein bars. Tails entire stash of paperclips for some reason Sonic couldn't imagine. Amy smoothed out her red dress and looked at Sonic. 

Her green eyed gaze ran up and down him and Sonic just sat there and let her size him up. He kicked off the heavy boots. “Gonna go get this stuff off my face,” he informed Amy and Manic. He winked and did not miss the flash of blush that colored Amy's muzzle. “Back in a flash!”

And then he was gone, zipping into the little compact bathroom to take off his makeup as fast as he could. Which, of course, for Sonic, was only a matter of seconds. He was back on the couch moments later, changed into his comfiest socks and white gloves, his face and quills all natural and reclining into the back of the cushions with a yawn. 

The movement startled both Amy and Manic, the latter less so. He was getting used to it, as far as Sonic could tell. Sonic was trying to ease him into being used to it. 

Amy cleared her throat. “So, you're the Blur,” she prompted, and Sonic peeled open an eye to give her a lazy glance. He hadn't said it to her like that. But he hadn't hidden it either, moving around like that. 

Manic trusted her. That would have to do for now. “Yeah?” Sonic answered nonchalantly. 

Amy shifted forward to look at him harder. “How long?” She asked, her fingers wrapping around the hem of her dress.

Sonic made a show of thinking about it, biting his lip and counting on fingers. “Bouuuut… eight years?” he offered up vaguely. 

Amy's expression seemed to light up wholly at that. She leaned into his space, her eyes wide and bright. “It was you,” she said, her voice small. Quiet enough that Manic either didn't hear or chose to ignore it. “It was you, and I kept your secret.”

Suddenly Sonic was small and new to the job again. Suddenly he was racing the streets with a little pink hedgehog, crying in his arms and gripping his neck so hard he thought she’d choke him. She was staring him in the eyes with bright green eyes as he promised he'd fix this city, and she promised to keep quiet so he could do it. 

Suddenly she was familiar, and he found himself grinning at her. “I knew you would,” he breathed back. 

He could trust Amy. He already had for years. And apparently she'd been looking out for his brother for ages. The world was small, and Chaos was moving the pieces together. 

Amy looked satisfied with that and leaned back out of Sonics space, grabbing her bag. “So,” she announced, pulling out a silk wrap. “I brought my cards, I thought it might be fun.”

Cards? Whatever they were, they had Manic groaning and flopping back on the couch. “I thought I told you not to bring those,” he said, dragging out the words dramatically as he practically melted over the furniture. 

Amy stuck her tongue out at him, and untied to silk to reveal well worn cards carefully and lovingly kept inside. “You're getting to know him,” she said. “I'm not getting left out.”

“Those don't do anything,” Manic protested. “Just talk to him or something, like a normal person! Anything but this!”

“Oh yeah, cause stealing his socks is so normal, Manic ,” Amy hissed back at him. Sonic was quickly deciding he liked this girl. She could hang anytime. She was funny. She made Manic more relaxed. She was trustworthy enough that despite knowing his secret, she’d kept silent.

Sonic broke up the string of banter with a light chuckle. “It’s alright,” Sonic said. “She can try it on me, I don’t mind.”

Manic rolled his eyes, exaggeratedly stretching himself out on the couch and effectively putting himself in Amy’s lap. Sonic watched as she idly scratched his ears– were they friends? More? Unclear. But Amy just laid the cards in front of her and Manic on the footrest that doubled as a coffee table in front of them. 

Once they were fanned out she looked up at Sonic through her bangs. “Pick one! Let’s see what you pull,” she said brightly, ignoring Manic as he flipped himself over so that he dangled his head and arms off the couch. Sometime when Sonic hadn’t noticed he’d pulled a long chain of paperclips out of his fanny pack and apparently that was what he was doing with Tails paperclips. He started idly adding more, but Sonic could tell by the way his ears moved that he was still paying attention to them. 

Sonic pointed at a card around the middle, crossing his legs up onto the couch and getting more comfortable. Amy pulled the card from the deck and held it up. 

She stiffened slightly, her face coloring again as she laid the card down. Sonic peered down at it once she placed it down. The Lovers?

But Amy just smiled forcedly. “So this one means you’re starting a new partnership!” she chirped, the words a bit rushed. “Probably talking about you finding Manic and getting to know him- it’s not really about romance or anything it’s just a symbol and–”

“Oh my gosh, Amy did you pull that stupid Lovers card–” 

“Manic, shut up!” Amy wailed. Her face was even redder now, somehow. “It really isn’t always about romance, I swear! You’re making new connections, you’re reaching for unity and balance with your new people! That’s it, that’s the whole thing!”

Sonic prayed that the heat he could feel in his face wasn’t visible. He’d seen her at the show. It wasn’t a stretch to assume that she was a fangirl. He just waved her off, though, wanting to put her back at ease. “It’s fine, Amy, I believe you,” he said. “What do we do now?”

Amy aggressively stuffed the card back into the deck. “We pretend that didn’t happen,” she breathed so quietly that Sonic was certain he wasn’t meant to hear it. She beamed up at him and tapped the fanned out cards again. “We can be done, if you want,” she said. “Or I could do a three card spread?”

Manic didn’t interject that time, just continuing to fiddle with his paperclips. Sonic shrugged. What was the harm? “Sure,” he obliged. “After that I promised Manic a sneak peek at my next song, you wanna hang around?”

Amy brightened again at that, and the tenseness from the last pull seemed to leave her completely. “That sounds cool!” she said eagerly. She gestured at her cards once more. “Go ahead and pick three!”

Sonic looked down at the cards and pointed randomly at three, each of which she pulled and set in front of him. She put away the rest of the cards and set them aside. “So, these represent your past, present and future,” she told Sonic, gesturing. 

“Simple enough,” Sonic said, watching her flip the past card over. She visibly paused, her expression turning thoughtful before she spoke again.

“The Hermit,” she began quietly. “Reversed.” 

Manic stilled, the tiny sounds of the paperclips being connected going silent. His ear flicked. Amy swallowed. “You don’t know much about your past,” she said gently. “Or perhaps it feels a bit lonely. You have a lot of questions you don’t have answers for yet.”

Sonic tilted his head to the side. That was pretty spot on, actually, but he didn’t like how sad it made him sound. “I guess,” he allowed. “Been a bit of a loner for a while. Other than Tails.”

Amy hummed softly and looked up at him. “We can pull another one or we can go to the next card,” she said gently. Sonic gestured for her to go on. 

She smiled at the next card as she flipped it over. “The Magician,” she announced. Manic’s ear twitched again. “Upright. Your present is full of creation. You’re manifesting the things you want and have the skill to chase it down. You’ve got incredible willpower and ambition. Your singing career has been going well since it started, as far as I can tell, so this one makes a lot of sense.” 

Sonic did preen a bit under the indirect praise. He grinned at Amy. “Thanks,” he said proudly. “I like to think I’m doing pretty good.”

Amy giggled lightly. She flipped over the next card and let out a sigh at it. Manic’s attention was on them more intently now. Sonic could almost feel the curiosity. “The Tower,” Amy murmured. 

Manic sat up. “Yeah, okay, sure,” he groused. “She pulls the same card for me every single time we try this.”

“Manic, you’re gonna knock my deck on the floor!” Amy protested, leaning to catch the cards.

Sonic frowned at the card. “She didn’t pull it for me, I picked it,” he pointed out. 

Amy flicked Manic’s ear. “Normally you wouldn’t get three major arcana cards in one reading,” she explained. “There’s only twenty two of them in this whole deck. But every time I read for Manic I pull the same three major arcana cards. If we remove those, I pull the next most similar cards. It’s really really weird.”

Sonic cocked his head to the side. “What’s this one mean, then?” he asked, gesturing to the Tower card. 

Manic sat up, shoving Amy back lightly. “Disaster!” he proclaimed dramatically, clutching his chest. “Impending doom!”

“Manic!” Amy scolded.

“The world as you know it is gonna crumble and you’ll be left standing in the rubble–”

“Manic Hedgehog!” 

Manic just laughed as Amy stuffed him to the side, even though that shove looked like it was strong. She scooped up the cards and shot Manic a dirty look. Sonic had to admit, he kind of felt like he needed to be popping popcorn next time these two came over together. They got along and bickered in much the same way Tails and he did– familiarity ran so deep that boundaries were nearly nonexistent. Amy was a fixture, he figured. She was part of the package deal for Manic, along with the food hoarding and klepto stuff.

The reading had been fun, he supposed, but Sonic's mind was quickly moving on to other things as he watched Amy and Manic scuffle lightly. Sonic just hoped he could get Manic’s trust, the way Amy clearly had it. 

He had time, at least. 

The triplets were nineteen.

The message showed up late. Sonia had almost been asleep when she felt the watch gently buzz against her wrist. She flipped herself over enough to hold up her arm and project the message– they were color coded instead of named. Amy Rose’s messages were a delicate pink and a message from her floated in the air above Sonia. 

It was simple and to the point, just like every message she’d gotten from the girl so far. This time it was an address, a time late the next morning and two words: girls brunch?

Sonia quirked an eyebrow up. She’d hidden the bugs with Rouge’s help a few weeks ago now. No complaints. She’d even gotten a few pings that she’d done a good job. 

So was this work? Was this a real request or something that she’d be dragged to even if she said no? Sonia projected the keyboard and tapped out a reply. Sure.

The address was a little bakery closer to the nice side of town. What harm would it do? She could at the very least get some fresh air and a warm breakfast.

Sonia went to bed and dreamed of fresh baked pastries. The next morning she ate a light breakfast, put on her makeup and a casual chic outfit and took her car out to the bakery. She told her parents she was going to meet a friend. It was… somewhat true.

When Sonia entered the cafe, the door jingled cheerily at her. She had to stand in the doorway for a moment, scanning the little shop, before she found Amy sitting in the back. Today her quills were pulled all up in a messy bun, the occasional one escaping giving her an effortlessly beautiful look that Sonia had to admit she was a touch jealous of. 

The girl was shuffling those cards she’d had the night Sonia had met her brothers, looking rather intensely at the ones she occasionally pulled from the middle of the deck. Sonia chose not to wait for her to be finished, rolling up to the table with projected confidence and pulling out her chair. “Morning,” she said.

Amy looked up, her expression losing some harshness. She smiled, pulling a menu out from under her own and holding it out to Sonia. “Morning! I’m so glad you came!” chirped the girl. Sonia sank into her seat, taking the menu. “I haven’t had the chance to really meet you properly, I’m so excited we can get to know each other.”

Sonia watched Amy deftly shuffle the deck again, barely watching her hands. She looked down at her menu. “So like… who are you exactly?” Sonia found  herself asking before she could decide if that was a rude question.

It must not have been too bad because Amy just beamed at her. “I grew up with Manic! He’s my best friend,” she said. “Now I live with him and the other boys. Helping out, ya know?” That was a loaded statement and Sonia immediately caught on. So, she was deep in the rebellion mess, trailing after Sonia’s little brother. Deeply attached, evidently. 

Sonia just nodded along. “Gotcha, gotcha,” she said quietly, looking at her menu again. A beat of silence passed, filled only with the sounds floating out from the kitchen. Sonia coughed softly. “Do you… have any favorites here?”

Amy leaned forward across the table to point at a picture of fancy french toast absolutely loaded with strawberries and whipped cream. Sonia had to stop and look at all the rings Amy wore– several on each hand. Some were stacked. They were all beautiful, but the gold was tarnished like it hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. But it looked real… “This one reminds me of strawberry shortcake,” Amy gushed, not noticing Sonia’s appraising look over her jewelry. “But we get to pretend it’s a healthy breakfast. My favorite.”

Sonia laughed a little at that. “Breakfast is for fancy fruits and pastries, we’re not pretending,” she said, relaxing a little despite herself. 

Amy nodded excitedly, her bangs bouncing cheerfully. “You get it! The boys are all protein bars and running out the door,” she said exasperatedly. “I’m the only girl living there right now, they’re great but they’re such boys . I lived with Manic for a while a few years ago, so I’m used to it at least.”

Sonia had already gotten that impression from the last couple times seeing her brothers. A waitress strolled up to the table, setting a couple cups of water down and taking their orders. Amy thanked the girl as she walked off again, then turned back to Sonia. “Can I read your fortune for you?” she asked abruptly, shuffling the cards again.

Oh, so that’s what those were for. Amy Rose fancied herself a fortune teller. That was interesting– at some of the fancy parties Sonia’s friends had thrown they’d hired someone to do that. Sonia had done it a few times, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t anything serious.

She did seem to pull the same cards every time she did it, and Sonia wasn’t sure if that made it more or less legit. 

“Yeah sure,” Sonia agreed. “I can ask questions, right?”

Amy was beaming again. Her smile was infectious, honestly. “Absolutely! This is usually meant to be fun,” she said. “Some folks take it pretty seriously, but I try to keep it light. We all need hope for a brighter future, right?”

Sonia’s chest warmed a bit at that. “Yeah,” she said. “We do.” Amy shuffled once more and then held out the cards. Sonia hummed quietly and pointed to one. “How is my wedding going to go?” she asked Amy as she pulled the chosen card out. 

Amy stopped and looked up at Sonia. “You’re engaged?!” Sonia nodded enthusiastically, showing Amy the beautiful ring. Amy squealed appropriately, pressing the card to her chest. “Ohhhh how romantic! That’s beautiful, Sonia! I want something like that someday…”

Sonia wiggled her eyebrows at Amy. “Anyone specific in mind?”

Amy’s face reddened and instead of answering she laid the card out on the table. Sonia peered down at it, curious and a little excited. The Lovers stared back up at her. 

She smiled a little harder and looked up to Amy, but found that the girl wasn’t smiling back. Amy swallowed. “So, this isn’t an exact science,” she began. “Do you want to hear it if it’s not nice?”

Sonia frowned at that, looking at the card again. “This isn’t nice?”

Amy bit her lip. “So it’s upside down,” she explained. “Which means a loss of balance or harmony. Since you asked about your wedding, it could mean there’s conflict coming about it. But I mean, weddings stress everyone out. Maybe you won’t agree on catering or something?” The idea felt a bit tacked on, but it eased Sonia’s mind a bit. She shrugged a bit and let Amy put the card back. 

“Hopefully it’s just a little thing,” Sonia agreed. “Weddings really are so stressful…”

Amy nodded, shuffling her cards again. “Let’s do a past-present-future,” she suggested. “I’ve done these for both of your brothers, I want to see how they line up.” She fanned the cards out again and had Sonia choose three, then laid them in front of her on the table. 

“What’d my brothers get?” Sonia asked. 

“They both get Towers, every single time,” Amy replied, flipping over the first card. “This is your past.”

Sonia looked down at it. “The Empress,” she filled in. “It’s like. Mommy issues, right?”

Amy raised an eyebrow. “Have you gotten this one before?” Sonia nodded patiently. “That can be a way to interpret it, yes. Reversed like this, it’s a lot of smothered feelings, emptiness, and dependance. So yeah, it could be mommy issues. Do you… have mommy issues?”

Sonia sighed a bit wearily. “I mean,” she mumbled. “I guess?” Amy smiled kindly and flipped the next card, not waiting for Sonia to elaborate. Sonia frowned at it. “Is that bad?”

Amy shook her head. “Death doesn’t mean you’re dying,” she said. “Here, it probably means you're afraid of the changes happening around you. I mean, look at you. Fancy girl, grew up on the rich side of town. Suddenly you got two brothers kicking down your door and forcing you to get involved in their lives. You’re hanging on to every single part of your old life that you can. Change is scary, Sonia.”

“You’re telling me,” Sonia agreed weakly. “It doesn’t help that I don’t know if they’re actually here for me, or because their project won’t work without me.”

Amy just nodded patiently, setting a hand over Sonia’s. “I can confidently say it’s both,” she said. “I don’t know if that’s what you want to hear. But knowing them the way I do, they want you around because you’re their sister. They’re forcing you in before you’re ready because they need you . Right now. Otherwise, they’d be taking a gentler approach.” Sonia wasn’t sure if that made her feel better, but she appreciated the honesty. Amy squeezed her hand. “They do care, Sonia. A lot. They’re some of the best people I’ve ever known, and if you give them a chance you’ll find there’s a lot more to them than they present.”

Sonia nodded a little, and found herself smiling faintly. Maybe that answer did help her feel a bit better. “So what does the future hold, Amy?”

Amy flipped the last card with her free hand. Her expression fell away, blank and unsurprised. “The Tower,” Amy said. 

Sonia had already been read a three card spread by someone at a party. She already knew The Tower. 

What scared her was that each of her siblings were promised their worlds crumbling around them in each of their readings. The three of them together. 

And The Tower, looming in the distance. 

Chapter Text

The triplets were sixteen.

Things were going way past bad.

Sonic could tell by the way the team came back to camp– much later than he'd expected them. It'd been a solid plan. Someone on the black market had sold them info about a Chaos emerald potentially being moved. Which meant there was an opportunity to snatch one. A lot of what kept Robotnik in power was the abilities of the gems, in theory. Some people didn't even believe in them. When it came to the emeralds, things were muddled and hushed, but the people who were older than Robotnik’s reign swore they existed. Sonic had a gut feeling that was the truth, they were real, and likely indeed the key to getting ‘ole Buttnik off the thone.

Anyways, with the report they'd gotten, whatever was being moved would be worth stealing. If it was an emerald, that’d be a huge win. If it was just some other power source, that’d be a slightly smaller win, but still a win. Sonic's part was always simple, sneak into the air field and disable all the locks ahead of the main team. 

If he slowed down and started to do more, he'd be seen. So this was typical for him. He cleared pathways and opened doors, made notes of where the team would want to avoid and took out any unfortunate Swatbots and Badniks that happened to be too far in his path. Then he got out of the way. Most of the time. By then, with the help of the codes Tails provided, everything would be ready to let the Freedom Fighters in, under the radar and with no alarms set off. 

Sometimes Sonic would stick around and help out, always careful to not be seen and occasionally getting yelled at by higher ups who knew what his role was. They didn’t trust him to keep his pretty face out of the reports, but he couldn't blow the surprise just yet. Not without his family. This time though, there'd been too much at stake. And with what they were stealing, there'd been too much security for Sonic to chance it. 

He'd sped out of the air field hours ago. Nigel's team had rolled in afterwards, Sally and her friends (that might’ve been turning into his friends) in tow. Sally was now hesitantly called a friend. She was still all business, but she'd started teasing Sonic back when he prompted banter. She had quite a bit of sass to her once he got her going. Rotor was always welcome around Sonic and Tails part of camp, tinkering with Tails and trading build ideas. Bunnie would come by and bring Vanilla, her younger sister, and she and Sonic would sit around and chat while Cream and Tails played. She was steady and kind, and Cream was sweet in a way that Sonic knew was worth protecting. She brought out the kid in Tails, dragging him along towards the chao garden with Cheese on her heels and rambling about making flower crowns. It was nice to see Tails get to do kid stuff, once in a while. And then there was Antoine, who was slowly becoming a more permanent feature of Sally being around. The coyote did a great impression of a love sick puppy dog, even though he was a bit skittish. Sonic could see burgeoning bravery in the guy, so he didn't push. Antoine would grow into it with time.

All of Sonic and Tails' friends and more were missing from camp, except for Cream who was perched in the RV with Tails while he worked on something or other to keep his mind busy. Sonic had started that way, but now he was standing atop the RV, keeping an eye on the camp entrance and waiting. 

It was getting dark. They should have been back by now. Sonic himself wanted to go to bed, and he knew that Cream and Tails would be tired too. They were ten and twelve now, old enough to not be passing out just yet but they’d definitely be cranky in the morning at this rate.

Sonic let out a long breath, concern that wanted to bloom into outright anxiety worrying away at his mind. He tapped his foot against the roof of the RV, but he refused to pace. To take his eyes off the greenery covered archway felt like it was inviting disaster.

Finally, after what felt like decades, someone shouted out that the team was back. Without a second thought, Sonic banged on the roof of the RV three times to tell Tails and then jumped off and started jogging towards the entrance. Fast enough to get there quickly, but not so fast as to draw unneeded attention to himself. 

Sonic pushed his way through the slowly gathering crowd, listening as peoples voices quickly hushed as Sally led… far too few people through the archway, holding a lantern that had been the first thing Sonic saw. Sally’s tired gaze swept the crowd, quickly locking eyes with Sonic. She took a breath, then kept moving. “It… it was a trap,” she managed, her voice thin. “It was a trap. We’re all that’s left.”

The rolling gasp was short-lived, because Cream had flown in over the crowd with Tails and as soon as her feet touched the ground she was rushing past Sally. “BUNNIE?!” 

Rotor quickly separated himself from the small group of survivors, and he had a familiar bundle of brownish red fur in his arms. “She’s here, Cream!” he called out to her. Sonic had to stop himself from physically recoiling when Rotor brought her out into the marginally better light of camp. 

Cream, to her credit, didn’t stop. She reached up and Rotor knelt down, giving Sonic a better view of what had happened. Tails stilled at his side. The rabbit that had left camp in one piece was sporting robotic limbs now. Her legs, and one of her arms. Her pretty jumpsuit was torn to make space for the mechanics that seemed to have been aggressively fused to her body. Replacing her flesh. Changed on a molecular level.

Tails covered his mouth. “That’s…” he breathed. “That’s roboticization.” Silence blanketed the crowd at that, watching this moment that probably should have been private. 

Cream dropped down next to Bunnie and shook her remaining organic shoulder. “Bunnie! Bunnie…” Cream cried out, her voice choked. “Are you… is she?”

Rotor shook his head earnestly. “She’s still herself,” he assured her. “We made sure before we brought her home.” Cream’s lip wobbled and she lunged forward to hug Bunnie’s middle, trying to stifle any sound she made like she was suddenly aware of how many people were watching this play out.

Sally looked hopelessly at Sonic, her expression tight. Sonic took a breath through the nose. “Alright guys, that’s enough, scatter,” he said loudly. “We’ll get the debrief later. Give everyone some space.” Tails broke from his side and rushed over next to Cream as the crowd began to hesitantly disperse. 

Sonic didn’t have to listen close to hear people already whispering to each other. Questions that he wasn’t sure he had answers for. What will we do now? They saw us coming, how can we keep going? Who’s going to be in charge now? 

Tails was checking over Bunnie now, his eyes wild. He said something to Rotor and Cream that Sonic didn’t catch and then they were moving again, rushing Bunnie off towards the med team. Sonic started to go after them but a hand caught his wrist.

He turned back to see Sally gripping his arm. “We need to talk,” she said urgently. “Now.”

Sonic wanted to follow Tails. He wanted to know what was going on with Bunnie. But Sally’s face was teartracked and dirty and he couldn’t say no to her, not like this. “Alright,” he said, letting her drag him off towards Nigel’s tent. She walked in that way where Sonic could tell she wanted to run, but she was too tired. Was she hurt? Sonic scanned her over as they went, but he couldn’t see anything obvious.

No sooner had the tent door fallen shut was she grabbing his other hand and yanking him into looking him in the face. “Why did my father say you were the key to our victory? That you should replace him?” she demanded, her voice all cracks and strain.

Sonic grimaced hard, both at the comment and at how hard Sally was holding onto his hands. “I ain’t replacing anyone, Sal,” he said, trying to pull his hands free. “Let’s get that straight first–”

“ Sonic, he’s gone,” Sally choked out, and that perfect mask of composure and strength slipped. Tears welled up in her eyes and she scrubbed desperately at her face. “He’s gone and that was– that was what he made sure I knew. Why?!”

Sonic pulled her closer, till she was pressed against his chest as she shook apart and tried to stop crying. His hands rested against her back, holding her together while her world fell apart. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry this happened. I should have seen it was a trap…”

“You couldn’t have,” Sally mumbled against him. “We didn’t see it until we were so far in there it was too late… you couldn't have… all the adults– my Dad, they gave themselves up to get us out of there. We barely got Bunnie out before they finished with her… How are we supposed to… how do we keep going like this?”

Sonic held her, staring at the wall of the tent as he chose his next words very carefully. By the time he’d strung together a sentence Sally was taking a deep breath, steadied and pulling away from him as she put her mask back on. Well that was good, he could look her in the eyes. “I’m one of the lost heirs,” Sonic began. Sally stilled and stared at him. “That’s what your dad was talking about.”

“You…?” she whispered disbelievingly, her eyes widening.

Sonic smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, me,” he said, scratching at the back of his head. “But I’m really… not supposed to do anything like leading without my siblings.” A technicality but Sonic was pretty sure that was how it worked, why he couldn’t just toss Robotnik over on his own. “That’s why you’re gonna be in charge.”

“Wh– why me!?” Sally demanded. “You're the prince , why not you?”

Sonic shook his head and put his hands up. “I need my siblings,” he said again. “And you've been shadowing your dad for years. You're the obvious choice. I'll back you up but I'm not ready to lead… I have to find my family if we're gonna win this thing, Sal. Trust me.”

Sally deflated a little bit. “So if I say the plan is to stay the course,” she said softly. “Even without the leadership we just lost. You'll back me up?”

Sonic nodded steadily, giving her his best smile. “You got it,” he replied. “Behind you all the way, captain.”

The triplets were eighteen.

Manic liked to think he understood people pretty well. He was experienced in behaviors and he had a cheat sheet of everyone's feelings. He expected to get called out for all his random petty theft within three weeks of his beginning testing Sonic. Maybe it wasn't the smartest way to suss Sonic and Tails out, but with how many cards Sonic had gleefully stuffed into Manics hands, he felt safe doing it like this. 

If things went sideways, Manic had an obscene amount of leverage and a very scary father who wasn't afraid to use that leverage. Ferrell had made people disappear for making trouble for Manic in the past. He had no doubt he'd make Sonic go bye bye if he had to. 

So, Manic expected to get called out for stealing soon, perhaps kicked out and asked not to come back. Maybe they’d cash in on the reward on his head, or try to use him to get black market secrets for the Freedom Fighters. They’d opened with requests to see Ferrell, and in Manic’s eyes that was playing hardball, so he started playing hardball right back. 

But, Sonic kept surprising him. After Amy's first visit, he'd hesitantly offered up some things he liked to snack on and the stuff he'd mentioned appeared in abundance. Sonic and Tails pantry now held bags of pistachios, gummy worms and even instant cups of mac and cheese with a new bottle of hot sauce. The stash of protein bars and cereal doubled to account for what Manic was taking.

After he’d made off with most of Sonic’s socks, new ones filled the drawer he’d been nicking them from and Sonic casually tossed him a package of them. Winked and told him to let him know if he needed anything else. Manic didn’t know what to say to that. Especially not with genuine warmth and love poured readily off Sonic. Not a hint of annoyance. Tails at least had a touch of irritation as Manic disrupted his daily life, but Sonic? Nothing. He was taking it all in stride and that was actually getting under Manic’s skin.

So instead of addressing all that, he stuffed all their hand towels and Sonic’s toothbrush into his fanny pack that night before he went  home. Dumped them and the new package of socks on Ferrell's desk and sat heavily on his dad’s lounge chair, radiating confused, frustrated feelings until Ferrell finally was able to hang up his phone call. The scarab crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, eyeing the pile of towels, paperclips, a toothbrush and socks. “Am I going to be getting an explanation for this?”

“Something’s wrong with this guy,” Manic began heatedly. “He not even bothered by me taking their stuff. I checked! He gave me new stuff?!”

Ferrell poked at the unopened package of socks curiously, then picked up the red toothbrush and gave Manic a side eyed look. “So… you stole his toothbrush?” 

“He made me do it!” Manic wailed, throwing himself back on the couch dramatically. “He’s gotta snap eventually! They opened asking to see you, there’s gotta be an angle here and I’m gonna find it! He’s trying to butter me up so I’ll change my mind! It’s not gonna work, nope! I just don’t get how he’s feeding me the wrong feelings, why would he even know to do that?”

Ferrell just chuckled, watching Manic simmer in his frustration on the couch. “I know I’ve said otherwise a lot, but sometimes we get lucky and find people who don’t have an angle,” he said patiently. Manic rolled his head to the side to squint at Ferrell.  “Amy never had one.”

“Sonic isn’t Amy!” Manic argued immediately. “No one’s Amy!”

“Margo doesn’t have an angle.”

“Margo is crazy ,” Manic shot back, sitting back up to gesture at Ferrell. “You said it yourself, this whole thing is sketchy. You said people take weird paths to get their angles. Some guy shows up, already works with the black market, wants to meet you, and happens to be my brother? What’re the odds?”

Ferrell nodded in agreement, leaning against his desk and steepling his fingers. “You said you believed him, though,” he pointed out. Ever patient, unwavering while Manic’s feelings filled the space with electric, nervous energy. Ferrell was just used to it by now. 

Manic fidgeted with his spiked cuffs, frowning deeply. “I do,” he found himself saying. The medallion against his chest, tucked under the neckline of his tanktop sang its approval to his heart and Manic grimaced to himself. “I do believe him about being my brother, I just… what if he’s just trying to get close so I can get him and Tails what they want? What if they don’t actually care… about… ”

Ferrell nodded a bit after letting Manic trail off. “I won’t meet them,” he said. “You already told them that, and I ain’t about to change my mind. Now you’re takin’ their stuff and causing them problems on purpose, but they’ve kept you around.” Manic agreed quietly, staring at the ceiling. “They have you do any jobs yet?”

“Just basic stuff. Security codes, shipment routes, monthly rotations on the supply chains,” Manic said easily. “Same stuff you had your other guy doing for them, they’re just doing it through me now. They don’t even try to negotiate prices, they’ve paid me double twice in a row. Called it a tip. Were they tipping Crash?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” Ferrell seemed to think about this for a long moment. “Maybe they really do just like you,” he suggested. “I wouldn’t usually say that.”

“I know.”

“But that medallion’s the only thing we got about your birth family,” Ferrell continued. “You found a match? Maybe relax a little bit and see what happens. If they bring me up again, we can address that when it happens.” Manic chewed on the inside of his cheek and looked over at Ferrell. His dad just looked back at him, an easy smile on his face. “I trust your gut, Manic. Could be you’re not seein’ an angle because there isn’t one to find this time.”

And that concept made Manic’s chest ache . Because that was what he wanted . More than anything, what he wanted, so bad it made him scared. More family? People like Sonic and Tails as his own? Answers to questions that had burned in his chest for years? Sonic had even mentioned their Mom and that–

It was more than Manic even dared to hope for, because if he was wrong and this flipped around on him he’d be crushed in the fallout. That vision from the night he’d met Sonic would only string him along so far. “You think that’s a safe way to keep going?” he asked, instead of voicing any of those other feelings. 

Ferrell gave a little shrug. “I think you’re smart,” he said. “And I trust my son to make smart choices. Stay the course for a bit, enjoy it. If you need to jump ship, you’ll know when to.”

That really wasn’t the easy out he’d wanted from his dad, but he should’ve known Ferrell wouldn’t give that to him. That wasn’t his dad’s style. So he stood up, let Ferrell ruffle his quills and collected most of his weird prizes from the desk. He’d go see Sonic again soon.

And he prayed, just a little bit, that he’d get kicked out. Because that would be a whole lot less complicated than going forward and facing the tangle of feelings he had in his chest.

The triplets were nineteen.

Sonia was long used to preparing for galas. Though this one felt a bit more intimidating than one had in a long time as Rouge helped her fix a mic in her hair and an ear bud disguised as an earring. Rouge tugged at her updo, fussing with her quills. “You're going to do so great, darling,” she cooed, pinching Sonia's cheek. “Just be your regular charming self and you'll get everything your brothers need.”

Sonia smiled weakly at the compliment, fiddling with her engagement ring. She still hadn't told Bart anything. She didn't know how she could. “You know I usually talk about fashion and gossip, right?”

“ Yeah, but you told us you were getting ready to go to school for political stuff, didn't ya?” Sonic’s voice crackled in her ear. “ I'm sure the change of interest won't be weird if you include that tidbit.”

“It was for public administration,” Sonia sighed through her nose, correcting him again. “You can't chatter in my ear all night if you want me to stay under the radar.”

“ No promises, princess,” Manic teased. He made a grunting sound as Sonic apparently shoved him away from the mic. 

“ I'll make sure kid klepto behaves, we’ll keep it quiet,” he told Sonia. And boy did that have a lot of implications. She heard Manic begin to argue with him but the mic cut him off. 

She wanted to laugh, the interaction making her feel a bit warm. But they were listening and she wasn't about to let them know they were growing on her in the few meetings they'd had. It’d only been four months since turning nineteen and she already wanted them to be around more. Be in her life more. Learn more about them, because despite all these weeks she still didn’t know much. They said they were keeping her on a need-to-know basis to keep her risk low. Sonia didn’t know how to say she wanted to take just a bit more risk if it meant knowing her brothers. If it meant getting close the way Manic, Tails, Amy and Sonic were. That she was jealous and wanted to be included.

Rouge dropped a gaudy necklace around her neck. “There you are,” she said, leaning down to fix her own hair in the mirror next to Sonia. “Radiant. We’re ready to go.”

Sonia stared at herself in the mirror. Perfect hair, perfect makeup, perfect everything. Just the way her mother raised her, except the jewelry was all borrowed listening devices from Rouge. “Thank you,” she murmured, standing up. “Let’s do this, then.” Rouge smoothed out her own dress and flashed her a grin. 

The earring crackled again and Sonia heard both her brothers sing song at her. “ Break a leg, sis!” And that brought her smile back just a little too easily.

Sonia drifted the party on Bart’s arm, as usual. It almost felt normal, if not for the occasional voice in her ear and Rouge appearing at random intervals to drag her off to chat someone important up. If Bart thought the questions she asked were weird, he didn’t say anything. 

He just let her go on, laughing lightly and needling Robotnik’s important aristocrats for details in a roundabout way. Getting tips and hints for Sonic and Manic in her ear. Rouge helped a lot, much more practiced at getting drunk stuffy old folks to tell her exactly what she wanted to know. Every secret stolen and new lead earned her a hushed cheer in her ear. 

As the night began to wind down and the music started to lag, Sonia found herself on one of the balconies with Bart, watching from above as Rouge wove between bodies on her way towards the gardens. 

She'd already made a big show of heavily sighing and handing her disguised listening tools to Rouge, acting like her ears were getting sore from the weight of the extravagant jewelry and besides they were borrowed anyways. Rouge would hang onto that gear until it was needed next. It was safer with her anyways. 

Bart leaned against the railing, yawning a little bit. “Well that was… different,” he said. “She's not usually such a third wheel.”

Sonia had to pop herself back into the moment. “Hm? Oh, Rouge? She's just being friendly,” she covered. “She'll probably be my maid of honor for the wedding, you know.”

Bart made a face, glancing out in the direction Rouge had gone. “Really, dear?”

Sonia frowned at him. “Is that a problem?”

Bart grimaced, and made a show of looking at his gloves. “There's just a lot of rumors about her, Sonia,” he said. “I don't want her reputation to ruin our night, that's all.”

Ah. Sonia sighed softly. “She's my oldest friend,” she defended, picking at some lint on her gown. “I don't want to have the wedding without her.”

Bart nodded along, placating and serene. “Of course not, love, I just don't think it would be prudent to put her in the spotlight,” he said smoothly. “People who get close to her tend to end up on Robotnik’s bad side, and we don't need to start our future together like that, do we?”

Sonia gave him a strained smile and nodded. “Of course not,” she said evenly, turning her attention back to the ballroom. They silently watched the people below sway to the slowing music as the city outside began to glow with the night lights. 

Bart's hand dropped onto the small of her back and he pulled her close. “I didn't make you sad, did I?” Sonia shook her head, a little numb. “I just want to keep us safe…”

“I know,” Sonia said, looking up at him. “I've just got a lot on my mind. University will start soon. I have to learn so much about the ins and outs of admin, of the government, so I can serve the people…” A half truth. A slanted lie. Sonia committed to it though. 

Bart didn't like her hanging out around Rouge due to rumors that the bat may be a spy. He would have a cow if he knew what Sonia had been up to.

She didn't know how to address that. She didn't know what to do, to tell him, anything. All she could do at this point was keep going forward and trust whatever strange power had brought her brothers to her.

All she could do was stay the course.

Chapter Text

It took only two weeks for Sally Acorn to call Sonic and demand if his brother was the infamous Jester of the Court of Thieves. The conversation had been terse and short, and Sonic had been put in charge of handling giving the resistance’s jobs to Manic. That had been four weeks ago. 

Sonic had immediately started pulling from his personal account and matching the payments the rebels gave Manic. Based on how much the kid ate and the things he stole, he needed the money. He had also started leaving extra things out for Manic to take, when he didn’t outright hand things to the kid that he’d previously taken, new and unopened.

The first time he’d done it Manic had looked absolutely lost as to what to do with that– Sonic could have sworn he literally felt the confusion radiating off the kid. He’d taken the socks and stared at Sonic like he’d grown a second head.

And then Sonic’s toothbrush had vanished. 

That was fine. Maybe Manic needed more than he thought– surely he had his own toothbrush? Then again, Sonic still wasn’t even sure he had a place to live.

Then there was the whole… Jester thing. 

After Sally’s conversation with him a month ago, he’d gone straight to Tails and asked for everything he could find about the Court of Theives– especially Manic. Sonic knew the basics about the black market and Court, like most folks, but not the specifics even though he’d gone himself a tiny handful of times. So Tails had sent him a zipped up file on his communication watch and Sonic had laid in bed with it projecting a screen on the wall while the city dumped vaguely acidic rain on the roof.

First up was the one he knew the most about- Ferrell. Everyone called him the King of Thieves, the big bad mob boss of the underground black market. The scarab was hardly seen. There were no photographs. According to people Sonic had talked to down in the black market, seeing him out and about was almost like an omen. A death sentence for someone, and pray it wasn’t you. A badger had told him in a hushed voice a story about how the sound of a single baby wailing years ago had made him appear almost out of thin air, murder a man, and vanish again. The people he didn’t kill himself were taken care of by other members of his inner circle. Crossing him got you killed if you pissed him off enough. Luckily, few people got the chance to talk to him face to face, so chances of doing that were lowered.

Ferrell was a delegator. He was a man playing chess with real people as the pieces. He led the people in the market with only a handful of rules and the folks down there stuck to them out of fear, respect or both. He was a leader and the rebellion had been trying to get him on their side for years. That was the one thing he didn’t budge on. 

There wasn’t much on the Queen, next. Some of the records questioned her very existence. Once again, no photos. Tails had a second folder labeled “rumor” and upon skimming them Sonic understood why– tellings of a crowbar with a skull for a face made little to no sense and Sonic got bored quickly after that. 

Next in the pecking order was their Knight. Kurt no-last-name-listed appeared to be a mangy raccoon from the blurry pictures Sonic got to see. It didn’t appear this guy had been in jail, because there was no accompanying mugshot. But even with the poor quality of the photos he had, he could tell the guy was spattered in scars. The trail of murders and missing people that were blamed on this guy was lengthy and made Sonic a touch nervous. The records of statements on him even had several people referring to him outright as an assassin.

Manic was close with these people…?

Sonic swallowed his nerves and opened the Jester file. Right on top, grinning viciously at the camera and holding a jail intake board, was a younger Manic, soaked to the bone and showing off the blood on his teeth. Sonic would guess he'd been about fourteen when this was taken. The image told a story Sonic wasn't sure he wanted the specifics of. 

Instead he went ahead and started flipping through the mugshots. There were twelve of his brother, at various stages of life, some as young looking as maybe eight or nine if Sonic's guessing was on track. In each one the kid was grinning, proud and smug, even if he sported blood or bruises in most of them. Perhaps because he didn't stay in jail? Because he knew he'd slip away soon? Who knew. 

There weren't any of him past the age of sixteen though. Apparently it'd been a while since he’d gotten caught. Sonic started reading the history document. The Court Jester showed up in the underworld about ten years ago, best anyone could guess. He'd been dragged to pickpocket boot camp by Ferrell himself?

Sonic bit his lip. Rumor, and apparently widely accepted story, was that he stole the big guy's wallet. Well wasn't that a terrifying concept, Manic, maybe nine years old, snaking the most dangerous man in the underworld’s wallet?

How did he even do that? How did he survive?

Sonic kept on reading. Apparently Manic was very good at what he did because his age didn't hinder his climbing the ranks at an unprecedented rate. At the age of sixteen he became the youngest member of Ferrell's inner circle. 

People told stories of the kid, apparently deeply charming (Sonic knew that already) and more than willing to use that charm to get whatever he was after (Sonic also knew that already). He didn't have much problem getting people to relax and start laughing so he could rob them blind. Between that and his apparently quickly earned seal of approval from Ferrell, he'd become the Courts Jester, drifting through the market with the attitude if not the bells to match. People claimed he was the King's favorite. Members of the market said so with either respect or undisguised vitriol.

People claimed he was hiding a lot of things beneath his veneer of smiles and laughs. Sonic suspected that was true. He could see the walls Manic had built up around himself and those could take time to wear down. Sonic had time. He wasn’t particularly patient, but he was doing his best.

Sonic flipped to the next page and his stomach sank. Another picture of Manic was on this document, this time pinning a cougar to the cement, his fist raised mid swing as he bore his teeth at the cat. The photo was blurry and clearly taken while trying to flee or perhaps a screenshot from a video. But the action was clear enough. The blood on Manics hands, on the cement– on his face.

This page spoke of people vanishing after crossing Manic. This page claimed that he, like the Knight, had a trail of blood. 

Sonic had shut down his watch then, feeling sick. 

He took a shaking breath, glad that the RV was empty. Tails was out running some errands for Sally. He let the breath out slowly and gripped his necklace medallion in his bare hands. 

Why? 

Why had his little brother spent his life running around the streets, struggling to survive and growing up in places where he felt like killing and stealing were the ways to solve things? That didn’t even seem right, either. Manic didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d just kill someone, but the list of people who were missing attached to him would haunt Sonic’s thoughts just a bit.

He had too many questions about Manic, and far too few answers.  And he knew that if he pushed, Manic would run. He’d bolt and he’d never see him again. So Sonic had to swallow this bitter pill and let it sit, because eventually Manic would answer more questions and he could figure stuff out. At least, that was the plan.

He sort of thought he’d gotten into the rhythm with Manic, but then week seven rolled around and Manic threw a hitch in the beat that Sonic hadn’t really expected. The kid showed up at the RV early, pounding on the door a lot harder than he ever had in the past. Tails was lurching up from his desk, reaching for the gun he kept in the hidden top drawer, and Sonic was already at the door as Tails drew the weapon and leveled it on the door.

Sonic motioned for Tails to hold as he peered out the slits between the blinds, making sure it wasn’t someone they needed to fight. Which was probably for the best because Sonic felt himself bristle a bit when he saw Manic standing on the little doormat they threw on the pavement, one hand pressed against the RV like it was all that was keeping him up. His palm left a smear of blood on the RV’s paint. 

“It’s Manic,” Sonic shot to Tails. “Get the med kit, he’s bleeding.” Tails stiffened and tossed the gun back into its hiding place before scrambling to the bathroom while Sonic unlocked the door. He pushed it forward carefully, not wanting to knock Manic off his feet.

Manic didn’t look up as the door opened and as Sonic came down the steps. As Sonic closed the space, he did a quick once over of his brother. Blood slicked each of Manic’s hands, grimy and coating his claws. His nose looked to be bleeding, though sluggishly. A black eye was definitely developing on the kid's left side, and his clothes were muddied with both dirt and blood. His ears were pinned and he drew breaths through clenched teeth. Poor guy was a mess. A shaking, scuffed up mess with scraped knees and raw knuckles. 

Sonic intentionally leaned forward into Manic’s field of vision, trying to school his own expression into something neutral and nonthreatening. “Hey, bud? Can ya hear me?”

Manic’s empty gaze twitched up to Sonic’s. His dark pink eyes had never looked off to Sonic before but framed with blood they were a bit unsettling. Manic let out a shaking breath and then gave the tiniest, stiffest nod. Sonic gave him a smile for that. “Can I touch?” he asked, telegraphing his movements for Manic. Another tiny nod. “Great, let’s go inside.”

Sonic gripped each of his arms carefully, just above the elbow on each side, and pulled him forward, leading him up the steps. Manic went along, pliant but still stutter stepping as he brought each foot up like the boots–the boots that had blood spattered on their white toes– were made of cement. 

Tails stopped in the hallway, Sonic heard his footsteps still. “What the heck happened!?” Tails demanded. 

“I don’t know yet,” Sonic said evenly, letting the door swing shut. “He’s a bit checked out.” He led Manic over to the couch where Tails had hastily draped a towel over the upholstery. Sonic gently coaxed Manic into sitting on the towel while Tails busted open the first aid kit and started pulling things out of it. Sonic knelt down in front of Manic, still moving slowly and clearly because his little brother did indeed have wicked claws and evidently he would use them if he felt like he needed to. “Hey, Manic? Can you tell us what happened?”

Manic’s gaze flickered towards Sonic for a moment and his face scrunched a little bit. He swallowed hard and his lip wobbled a little. “F… fight,” he managed to force out, and Sonic found himself freezing up a bit. Not because of Manic confirming what Sonic figured, but because for just a moment, a split second, his chest tightened unbidden. His fur stood on end, his heart pounded against his ribs. Bone chilling fear gripped him, pouring ice down his spine.

The moment seemed to stretch in Sonic’s mind, but he snapped back to himself as Tails reached over and stuffed a bottle of hand sanitizer into his hands. Sonic ghosted a hand over his chest as his body settled. He forced his own breath to steady out. Manic was staring at him when he looked up again and his brother's face crumpled a bit. “Sorry,” he whispered, like he knew . Like it was his fault. “I– they hit my head, I think.”

Tails didn’t seem to have noticed, because he was tearing open alcohol wipes. “Do you remember how that happened?” he asked, grabbing a flashlight and handing it to Sonic. 

Manic swallowed again, and as his gaze roamed around his surroundings the panicked feeling started to crawl up Sonic’s back again, making his quills bristle and stand on end. This time Tails also stilled, and Sonic could see his fur fluffing up, his tails doubling in size as he apparently felt the same icy fear–

And then as quickly as it came on, it was gone, Manic grabbing at his forehead and groaning painfully. “Sorry,” he said again, a tiny shake in his voice. “Sorry, I’m– It’s all kinda a blur. It’s usually a blur.”

Tails was staring at Manic now, his gaze sharp and calculating. “What’s happening, Manic?” he asked evenly. There wasn’t accusation in his tone, but Manic still winced at it. He took a breath, gripping his scraped knees tight.

Sonic shot a look at Tails. Manic gasped another breath and suddenly he was lurching forward. “Sorry,” he blurted again, trying to shamble to his feet.. “I shouldn’t– I dunno why I came here, I shoulda gone home. I’ll get outta your fur, I can handle this myself–” As he spoke his words started to run together, his voice pitching upward and cracking like he was nearing tears.

Tails' hand was wrapped around his wrist and Sonic had his shoulder immediately, stopping his motion in its tracks. “Whoa, dude, no way you’re leaving like this,” Sonic began, and almost instantly the hand he had on Manic’s shoulder had to become supportive as Manic started to slump. “Hey! Manic, sit down, sit,” Sonic fussed, grabbing Manic and maneuvering him back down onto the couch. 

Licks of fear, of panic, continued to ebb and push against Sonic’s mind, setting him on edge and making his skin crawl. Tails looked uncomfortable as well, but he set his jaw and held tight onto Manic’s wrist. “We can’t help if we don’t understand what’s going on,” said the fox, sounding so old and steady. Sonic could feel proud of him for that later, when he didn’t feel so weird.

Now though, Manic stared up at Tails and for a moment he looked so small and scared. Manic didn’t fight either of them though, sinking back on the couch and dropping his gaze to his blood spattered shoes. Anxiety, familiar and spiraling, opening up in Sonic’s stomach, but it didn’t feel like his own. “Feelings,” he mumbled, like he was divulging something terrible. “I can read feelings… and make other people feel mine.”

Sonic’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but Tails somehow managed to just nod evenly and pat Manic’s leg. “Alright,” he said, sounding unsurprised and nonchalant. “How can we help?”

Manic suddenly scrubbed at his eyes, leaving blood on his cheeks as he took a gasping, wobbling breath. “Amy,” he managed to choke out, and then the dam broke. He let out a shuddering sob and dropped his head forward into his hands, shaking hard. 

Sonic was close before he even realized he’d moved, looping his arm around Manic’s slight shoulders and pulling him close. He expected some sort of resistance but Manic practically melted into his arms, pressing his dirty face against Sonic’s chest and only crying harder. Sonic gave Tails a surprised look and Tails nodded a little helplessly. “I’m gonna call Amy,” Tails told Sonic, his voice only as loud as it needed to be. “Get him calmed down and then we can deal with whatever's bleeding, I don’t… actually think most of this is his.”

Sonic, unfortunately, agreed with that assessment. He held Manic up, trying to be steady for him. “Phones in my bunk,” he told Tails, and let Tails hurry off. 

Alone, he gave Manic all his attention. Fractured snapshots of Manic’s muddled feelings flashed in Sonic’s mind as he held tight. There were so many conflicting emotions, but overwhelmingly there was just raw, vulnerable fear. There wasn’t really much for Sonic to do but ride out the breakdown with his brother, so he did exactly that. He held him together and mushed his face into Manic’s shoulder right back.

After a while Sonic carefully smoothed Manic’s quills down, trying to give him something else to focus on. “Hey Manic? Can we take a breath?” Sonic asked softly. He felt more than saw Manic nod, and the green hedgehog dragged a breath into his lungs like it physically hurt. Sonic patted his back. The feelings ebbed and flowed, a bit like a tide going in and out. “Great,” Sonic praised. “Let it out, and do it again.”

Manic just nodded again, rapid and stilted. “Wh– Why are you–” he tried to ask, between choked sounds. Sonic just tutted softly.

“Breathe,” he reminded him quietly. “Just breathe.” 

Manic sat there for what felt like a long time. Truth be told, anything longer than a minute felt long to Sonic, but he was in no rush to get Manic off of him. Over however long, Manic managed to school himself into breathing more normally, and the crying had tapered off into something more quiet and contained. The projected feelings fell away as well, leaving Sonic feeling a bit weird and empty. 

But finally Manic’s deathgrip on his shoulders eased up and he pulled away from Sonic. He had ugly, stark tear tracks through his dirty fur now, and his eyes were red and puffy– the bruising one rapidly looking worse for wear. 

He turned and that was when Sonic realized that Tails had returned. When had he gotten here? Tails stepped forward slowly and knelt down in front of the couch. “Head injuries mess with your powers,” he said simply. “Can I check you for a concussion real quick?”

Manic stared down at the fox, looking weary and tired. He nodded slowly, and Sonic hovered nearby as Tails ran through the tests that the field medics had drilled into both of them. Manic failed most of them and Tails nodded like it was unsurprising. “You definitely hit your head pretty good,” Tails said. 

Manic huffed a joyless laugh. “No kidding,” he agreed, his voice small and strained. “I’m fine. Amy’s coming?”

“Yeah,” Tails said. “She kinda screamed at me. You’re probably next.”

Manic just nodded numbly. “She can take me home, I’ll deal with all this there.”

Sonic scoffed loudly. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “Cause I’m gonna let you walk home like this.” Manic looked at him, his expression turning shameful and guilty again. Sonic ignored him willfully, pulling his own gloves off and slathering his paws in hand sanitizer before simply reaching across Manic’s lap and grabbing one of the wipes that Tails had opened. 

Nobody spoke as Sonic slid off the couch onto the floor and started dabbing at Manic’s scraped up knee, patting blood and dirt off his fur and skin. Manic stared openly as Sonic got his first knee cleaned up. Tails followed him quickly, crouching next to Sonic and starting to unlace Manic’s boots. He didn’t wait to be told what to do, he simply loosened the laces until he could pull his shoes off so gently that Manic looked like he might start crying again. 

The boots were set aside and Tails cleaned his hands to start on Manic’s other knee, and Sonic gently picked up Manic’s hand that was closest to him and started unclipping his spiked cuff to get his glove off. Panic licked at Sonic’s mind again, like a sparking bonfire. He looked at Manic immediately, stopping. 

Immediately Tails had stopped as well, his hand resting over Manic’s knee with a wad of gauze. Sonic held Manic’s gaze as well as he could. “You don’t have to be scared,” Sonic decided to say. “It’s over, and you’re still kickin’. You’re gonna be fine.”

Manic shook his head, and his brow pinched. “I don’t understand,” he said hoarsely. “I don’t understand– what’re you trying to– what’re you trying to get from me!?”

Tails looked at Sonic with wide blue eyes, and then at Manic. “We’re not trying to do anything,” he said softly. He chanced giving Manic a tiny grin. “Well, other than getting all this blood off you.”

Manic all but snarled at Tails. “You know what I mean,” he hissed through his bloodied teeth. “You know what I mean. You guys know all about me, you grabbed me– you asked about Ferrell, I know you’ve got an angle–”

“We asked because you happened to be close to him,” Tails said evenly, unphased by Manic’s sudden anger. “I asked , and that was bad timing. I’m sorry about that. But that is not why we wanted to get in touch, right Sonic?”

Sonic nodded eagerly, but Manic yanked his hand out of Sonic’s grip. “You are using me to get what you want just like every single person in this disgusting city–” he snapped at Sonic. Whatever grip Manic had on his powers was working at the moment, because Sonic didn’t feel the emotional outburst any more than Manic’s words. 

That was good, because his words stung enough. “You just– show up? Suddenly? And I’m supposed to just trust you? Where were you for eighteen years, Sonic? Where were you while I was here, scraping by?”

Sonic’s stomach flipped. Manic wasn’t done though, glaring at him. “You were off doing Chaos knows what, picking up new little brothers–” Tails visibly flinched– “and living it up as a rockstar?! While I was getting beat up in back alleys and picking pockets to survive? No one just comes back after all that time– No one just treats me like this, not without wanting something!”

Sonic let him yell, and took it quietly with his ears drooping. He took a breath when Manic stopped, watching both his brothers sit there, waiting. “I ran,” he said plainly after he was sure Manic was done. “I ran for a long time, Manic.”

Manic’s jaw worked up and down. “I don’t–”

“I ran away from this city because it took my family and I didn’t think I had any left,” Sonic went on. “It’s not a good excuse. I’ve been kicking myself about you for weeks. I wish I’d known you were here, I would’ve taken you with me… I wouldn’t have even come back if I didn’t know you were here.”

Manic swallowed and it sounded a bit like it hurt. “You wanted to– you wanted me to help you with the rebellion–” he accused. 

“I did, I do,” Sonic said evenly, trying to remain steady for Manic as he sailed his sea of warring emotions. “But I came to find you because you’re my brother. I came back here because Chaos told me I had family here. Got that? Everything else is secondary.”

Manic sniffled. “I’m not– I’m not like him,” he said, gesturing again at Tails. “I’m not some safe cute little kid. My hands aren’t clean. You know that, don’t you?”

Sonic simply nodded, thinking back to those files. To that picture that he no longer needed, because Manic was sitting here in front of him in all his bloodstained glory. “I know,” he said. “You don’t gotta keep doing that, though, Manic, you could stay–”

“No,” Manic said immediately, harshly. “I– No.”

“We’re not scared of you,” Tails piped up, and quietly went back to cleaning Manic’s knee. “Whatever you’ve done, we don’t care. You stole our stuff and you keep eating all my favorite snacks. We don’t care. We just want you to be okay… When are you gonna get that?”

Sonic smiled gratefully at Tails. “Exactly,” he agreed. And Manic must have felt that somewhere inside of himself because he crumbled again, curling forward into his hands and heaving out a heavy wet sigh. Sonic set his hand against Manic’s trembling shoulders. 

“You’re stuck with us, bro,” Tails said to Manic in the same way he stated scientific facts.

Manic just shook his head without looking up. “You’re both insane,” he warbled. 

Sonic calmly took Manic’s hand that he’d been working on and finished unclipping his cuff and glove to set aside. “I’ve been told,” he said lightly. He smiled at Manic when he looked up at Sonic through his bangs. He tried to push warmth, safety, sincerity, love at Manic in his heart. He didn’t really know if it worked that way. But Manic’s expression softened considerably and he handed over his other hand when Sonic gestured for it. 

Manic was quiet then, as Sonic stripped off his other glove and bracelet and Tails slathered antibiotic gel over each of his knees and stuck bandages over the scrapes. Sonic turned Manics' paws over a couple times, frowning at the claw that apparently had gotten pulled on a bit hard in whatever scrap he'd been in. His pawpads were stained red, otherwise they’d have been the same soft pink as Sonic’s. Sonic clicked his tongue after a moment. “Think this'll be easier to clean off in the sink, okay?” Sonic said, but it was more a warning than a suggestion because then he was dragging Manic to his feet.

As they crossed the floor whispers of bewilderment-apprehension-love brushed through Sonic's mind, making his chest feel lighter and his steps a touch bolder. That had to mean he was doing something right, he hoped. He made sure Manic was steady on his feet before having him stand by the sink and letting the water get warm.

While it ran, Sonic cupped Manic's jaw in one hand and used another wipe to dab the blood off from under his nose. “Looks like you can take a hit, at least,” Sonic tried to joke. “You’re a tough guy, huh, lil brother?”

That seemed to prod Manic into something a touch more normal because he gave Sonic a face as Sonic moved to clean the blood off his forehead and face. “You said we were triplets,” he mumbled in light protest. 

Sonic hummed, pushing Manic's bangs out of the way to work. Tails piped up, snickering. “There would still be an order with triplets.”

Sonic threw the dirty wipes aside. “Mmmhm, and as the eldest, I'm telling you that you are absolutely the baby,” he informed Manic as he gently guided his hands under the stream of warmed water. He gently started rubbing his little brother's paws, watching the water turn red as he scrubbed the fur and pads clean. 

Manic watched him intensely, a snarky reply visibly dying on his tongue as Sonic did his best to be gentle, especially with the snagged claw. He rubbed Manics red soaked pawpads until they were clean, and his fur was no longer a saturated, crunchy burgundy. The claw– Manics left index finger– kept bleeding sluggishly even after all the rest of the blood was gone. 

“Tails, can you bring the gauze and tape over?” Sonic asked as he studied the pulled claw. 

Manic swallowed. Once again, more feelings whispered into Sonic’s head space– guilt and shame and still more care and hesitant love. Sonic smiled at Manic as Tails came over with the requested supplies. “Can't tell you how many times Tails has had to patch me up,” he said easily. “It's nice to get to play the doctor for once.”

Tails snorted. “You're an awful patient,” he said, leaning into their space to look at the nail. The polish on his nails was all but wrecked, but Tails just tutted and bumped his shoulder against Manic’s. “Man, I hate snagged claws. When I was younger I hated cutting mine down and I'd get stuck on the blankets at night. Totally sucked.”

Sonic expertly pressed gauze over the claw, feeling Manic's hand flinch in his, and then started taping it down as a bandage. “We had to do this a lot,” he tacked on. “Took way longer than it should have for Tails to decide this wasn't worth it.”

Manic nodded belatedly. Tails parted his quills with the confidence of someone who knew how to avoid the sharps and squinted down at the head wound on Manics crown. “This isn't bad, by the way,” he told Manic. “Bled a ton but it's not big. I'm gonna put one of these butterfly bandages on it but it should heal fine.”

Manic's hands trembled in Sonics a little as Tails did exactly that, and Sonic held his hands tight. “You look tired, Manic,” he said once Tails was done. 

Manic's shoulders sagged like he was carrying the weight of the entire underworld on his back. “Yeah,” he breathed out. “I am…”

Sonic took that as permission, and dragged Manic back into the very back of the RV. Behind the privacy blackout curtain and into his and Tails bedroom. “I'll let Amy in when she gets here,” Tails called out as he started to clean up the mess they’d left behind. 

Sonic gave him a thumbs up and kicked off his shoes. “Thanks, bud!” he said, pulling the curtain shut again so that it would be darker in the back. He herded Manic into sitting on the bottom bunk. “Your head hurt?”

Manic nodded a little. “It's not bad, though,” he mumbled. 

Sonic looked unimpressed at that and in a blink he was holding out a cup of water and some pills. Manic hesitated, his brow pinching. “C'mon, Manic, you haven't been shy about taking our stuff before,” Sonic teased. Manic sighed at that, nodded a little, and took the meds. 

Sonic grinned and plopped down next to Manic on the bed. “You said you usually don't remember fights too well?” Sonic prompted. And boy did he want to ask more about that, but instead he pressed on to the only important question. “Can you remember any less than usual?”

Manic thought for a moment, picking idly at the gauze wrapped finger. “I don't think so,” he decided. “Seems normal, just have a killer headache.”

Sonic gave him a gentle quill ruffle on the side of his head that wasn't messed up. “Then, as your impromptu doctor, I prescribe sleep,” he said. “I can leave or I can stay.”

Manic's feelings resurfaced again. Vulnerable and small and raw, he swallowed and looked at Sonic’s socks instead of his face. “Please stay,” he said so quietly Sonic almost missed it. 

So, Sonic stayed. 

The triplets were eighteen. 

Amy ran across the city. She'd been working her booth when Sonic's name had lit up her phone, and her heart had dropped into her stomach when Tails started asking questions about Manic’s powers and explaining that Manic had shown up covered in blood and all shaken up.

That happened sometimes. Manic didn't handle fights well, his fight response was a bit extreme in his desperation to protect himself. Usually after, he'd have a panic attack or a meltdown. He never remembered what happened during the fights. He stonewalled everything coming in and out of his senses, protecting himself from the pain he was inflicting on his enemies and protecting everyone else from the panic attack he was stuffing down until he was safe.

He had a concussion. That meant that even though Sonic and Tails weren't used to him the way Amy was, they should be able to handle the backlash. It’d be muddled and not nearly as strong as it usually was when Manic projected. Hopefully they could handle helping Manic with the actual meltdown. 

She needed to get there. Why had he gone there instead of going home to Ferrell, where he would run through their well known steps and get him what he needed, was beyond Amy. 

It didn't matter. What mattered was getting to Manic and helping smooth over whatever had gone down as soon as possible. Amy scrambled across the parking lot the RV was parked in, hidden behind the concert hall. There was a vaguely hand shaped smear of blood on the RV, next to the door. She knocked once before simply pulling the door open and hurrying up the stairs.

Tails had his hands up, halfway to the door. “Amy!”

Amy braced her hands against her knees, panting. “Where's–”

“He's fine,” Tails interrupted, coming closer. “Do you want some water?”

Amy looked up at him, trying to catch her breath. “Y…yeah,” she admitted. “Where's Manic?”

Tails pointed towards the back of the RV and meandered over to the kitchenette to get her a glass of water. Amy hurried past him and shoved the curtain back, only to immediately be shushed by Sonic as light flooded the bedroom space. She froze immediately, surprised by what she found.

Manic. Tucked into Sonic's bottom bunk, his arms wound tight around Sonic's waist and his head in his brother's lap. Latched on tight, much like he would do at home with her or Ferrell when he got overwhelmed or clingy. His face relaxed into something peaceful and a smattering of bandages stuck to his body. His fur messed up like it was freshly cleaned and his gloves and shoes were set to the side of the bed, drying but clean.

Amy slowly approached, her expression softening. “Is he alright?” She whispered to Sonic. She knew how hard Manic slept, and she knew how quiet she needed to be.

Sonic looked up at her, his bare paws idly combing through Manics quills and scratching his scalp behind the ears. “He’s fine,” Sonic replied lowly. “He had a good cry, we cleaned him up and got him some painkillers, and then he fell asleep on top of me.”

Amy let out a shaky sigh of relief. “And he didn’t… share too much?” She asked, reaching out and starting to unclasp Manics earrings. 

Sonic shrugged a little. “A bit,” he admitted. “It was pretty garbled though, he definitely got a good wack to the head. Any idea who picked a fight with him?”

Amy set his earrings on the side shelf. “Probably somebody from the market,” she mumbled. “He staked a claim on the Freedom Fighters, and he’s a high ranking member of the Court so that claim means something to most people down there. And some folks are gonna be mad about that, since he’s taking all those jobs now…”

Sonic’s expression soured. The hand on Manic’s back tensed incrementally, like he could protect Manic from all that. “Do we need to do something about that?”

Amy shook her head, carding a hand through Manic's ruffled bangs and inspecting the gash on his brow.. “No, we don’t,” she murmured. One of Ferrell's people almost certainly already knew. If Manic hadn’t already unintentionally dealt with the problem, Kurt or Ferrell would. Speaking of which—

“Can I grab a picture of him? For his uh…” she trailed off for a moment and Sonic just waited as she floundered for the words. She bit her lip. “Um. His roommate. Is worried about him. Or will be.”

Sonic raised an eyebrow skeptically. Amy swallowed. “He has a roommate?”

“...Yes.”

Sonic did not look like he believed her in the slightest but he turned his head away. “Don’t get my face in it,” he said shortly. “And don’t wake him up.”

Amy smiled faintly, noting the way Sonic’s free hand trailed along Manic’s quills idly still. He was almost as fidgety as Manic usually was. “Alright,” she agreed easily, stepping back and snapping a picture on her phone. She even took a moment and scribbled over what could be seen of Sonic’s face with the editing app for good measure before turning it around to make sure it was alright to send. “Is that okay?”

Sonic looked down his nose at it and then made himself more comfortable, slotting Manic against his side and giving her a thumbs up. “Yeah, that’s fine,” he said, tucking one arm behind his head. “I’m gonna grab a nap while I’m here. You’re welcome to hang out till he wakes up.”

Amy snorted a bit at that but backed out of the room and shut the curtains so the light was cut out. Sonic had no idea what he was offering– this was the middle of the night for Manic. He’d sleep happily until 5 or 6 at night if they let him. But that was fine. Amy would be able to take him home after he’d slept and Ferrell wouldn’t freak out.

Tails looked up as she walked towards their couch. He held out a glass of water that Amy gratefully took. “All good?” he asked, typing away on his computer. 

Amy nodded, sinking down on the couch and taking her mary janes off. “I’m gonna stay until he’s up and about,” she said. “Make sure he gets home safe.”

Tails hummed in agreement. “You’re free to the pantry,” he said. Then he snickered and added, “Manic hasn’t cleaned us out just yet.”

Amy giggled and tucked her legs under herself and sent the photo to Ferrell. Almost instantly the typing dots appeared on her screen and in quick succession four messages appeared.

F: Where is he??  

F: Is he okay?

F: Who is that?

F: Do you know what happened?

Amy smiled at her phone and started typing back. 

A: He got into another fight :( I don’t have details yet, he’s sleeping. That’s his brother, we’re at his place

F: I got something about a scuffle on my radar, they didn’t say it was him though.

F: I’ll handle it. Keep me posted on him please.

A: I will. He’s just sleeping rn  

F: Thank you Amy.

Amy sent him back a smiley face and set her phone down to glance over at Tails. She tilted her head to the side, watching as he stared intensely at his computer screen. “What’re you doing?” 

Tails looked up like he was surprised she was speaking to him. His ears lowered a bit. “Oh– I’m uh… you’ll think it’s crazy,” he said quietly, scratching his cheek and looking away. 

Well now Amy was interested though. “Try me,” she nudged, leaning forward a little. 

Tails shrugged. “I’m trying to work out how to undo roboticization,” he said slowly, fiddling with his keyboard. “Right now I’m just doing a lot of math and stuff though. Small steps.”

Amy’s eyebrows raised. “You can do that?” she asked quietly. 

Tails just grinned at her, and for a split second the expression looked so much like Sonic that Amy had to double take. “Won’t know if I don't try, right?” he answered, smiling so hard that his canines showed. 

Manic had said Tails was Sonic’s little brother. Amy hadn’t really seen it before, but in this split second where he was looking at her she saw all the same hope and optimism she’d seen in Sonic the first time she’d met him.

She smiled back at him. “Let me know if I can help at all,” she found herself offering. Tails gave her a thumbs up and went back to his keyboard. 

Amy spent all day at the RV, occasionally coming to peer over Tails shoulder as he worked. He drifted from project to project, going from the de-roboticization theory to audio mixing new tracks to writing codes to hack into Robotnik’s security measures. The kid was crazy, Amy decided, and she was glad he was on their side. 

The sun started to dip behind the clouds as it began to gently rain outside. The sound was soothing, and Amy found herself dozing to the noise. The spell was broken by Manic shuffling out of the back and flopping down on Amy’s lap. Sonic snickered quietly as he drifted in as well, going to collect something from the kitchenette.

Manic yawned and made himself comfortable against Amy. “Hey,” he said. “You didn’t have to wait for me…”

Amy tutted. “I don’t think there's a single person here who was going to let you walk home by yourself Mr. Head Injury,” she said as she reached up and started smoothing out his bed head. “We should probably get that checked out.”

Sonic appeared by the couch, stuffing water and some pills into Manic’s paws. “Definitely should if you’ve got someone who can,” he agreed. “Or we got some medics in camp, if you need.”

Manic tossed the pills back and swallowed them. “Nah,” he said lightly. “I got a doctor.”

Amy could tell by the way Sonic’s face scrunched that he wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but instead of brushing it off this time he gently set his hand on Manic’s arm and leveled him with an openly concerned look. “Can I ask a few questions?” he began, only sounding slightly hesitant. Manic made a hesitant face and Sonic quickly added on– “You can answer as vaguely as you want, I won’t pry.”

Manic looked up at Amy, looking unsure. Amy squeezed his hand and nodded a little, encouragingly. Sonic hadn’t done anything wrong in all the time they’d known him so far. He probably deserved a few answers. Manic swallowed and looked back at Sonic. “Alright,” he allowed hesitantly.

Sonic grinned so hard at him it must have hurt his cheeks and Manic relaxed a touch. “Do you actually have a doctor?”

Whatever Manic had been expecting, it wasn’t that, because he snorted and untensed the rest of the way. “Yeah, she knows what she’s doing,” he answered easily. And while Amy could nitpick that Margo Crobar was not technically a real doctor, she did know what she was doing so she stayed quiet.

Sonic seemed more satisfied with that. “Alright. And a place to stay?”

Manic picked at his claws– Amy only now noticed the bandaged one. His nail polish was totally ruined too. She could fix that later tonight, Manic would certainly not be going out.

“Yeah,” Manic said. “Got a house and everything, dude. Did you think I… didn’t have a place to stay?”

Sonic looked sheepish and pressed forward. “A safe place?”

“As safe as it gets,” Manic assured. “Seriously– I’m one of the inner circle of the black market’s Court, did you think I didn’t have a place to live…?”

Sonic looked a bit like he knew it was a little silly now that it was said out loud, and Manic guffawed a bit, but let him move on. “Are you safe? You got beat up over us…”

Manic’s expression sobered a bit. “I’m in no more danger than I was previously,” he offered up, picking at his claws again. Amy looked down at them with him, frowning. “The job I’m in is just like this sometimes. I’m used to it. I’ll be fine.”

Amy took his hand, focusing on his chipped nails instead of thinking about All That because she hated it and she could tell Sonic wasn’t a fan either. “Are you… involved with the whole court thing because you want to be?” Sonic asked, his voice getting a bit softer.

Manic let Amy turn his hands over and over. Amy thought about what color she should paint them when they got him home. Maybe blue, but lighter than the navy he usually went for. Maybe with some gold or pink. Manic gave Sonic a look, and the head injury must have been messing with him because whispers of feelings pressed against Amy’s brain even if they might have only been for Sonic. Reassurance, steadiness. “I worked hard for my spot,” he began evenly. “I’m there cause I wanna be, and the other court members have my back. You don’t gotta worry about that stuff, okay?”

Unfortunately that didn’t smooth Sonic’s slightly ruffled quills. “They’re the black market Court– can you even trust them?”

Manic sighed a little, patient but weary. “I trust them,” he said. “Just like you trust me.”

Amy watched the gears in Sonic’s head turn at that. He relaxed and nodded acceptingly. “Alright,” he conceded. “Alright. I trust you, Manic. Just… tell me if you need help, okay?”

Manic snorted a little bit. “You don't wanna help me with that junk,” he said quickly.

Sonic shook his head earnestly. “I do, actually,” he said. “If I can help you fill orders for the Freedom Fighters then I want to.”

Manic tilted his head disbelievingly. “Nah man, it's dangerous–”

“So is everything else I do,” Sonic pressed. “If you’re gonna stick your neck out for us, I wanna be right next to you.” Amy searched his face, her eyes wide. He was… he was serious. He was really serious.

Manic must have felt it, too. Because his apprehension faded completely. “Alright,” he said after a moment. “Sure. I'll let you know.”

Sonic just beamed at him. Amy wasn’t sure Manic was even seriously considering it, but it was enough for Sonic. He wanted to help Manic, and that won him more points in Amy’s mind. Like Sonic needed help winning points from Amy. 

Everything he did just endeared him to her more and more. He was amazing, and Amy couldn’t believe she got to know both him and Manic. How lucky was she? 

The triplets were nineteen.

The final straw came in the form of everyone blabbering in the group channel about plans that didn’t involve her, or the resistance. Sonia stared up at the projected screen, frowning hard as messages pinged along about how apparently Sonic, Manic, Tails and Amy were going camping in a chao garden tonight. Somewhere away from the city, if Sonia had to guess.

Something about making smores ran by on the screen and Sonia leaned forward and hit call. Sonic picked up immediately but she didn’t give him a chance to talk. “Is there a reason you're doing all this right where I can read it? Are you trying to make me feel bad?” She demanded, not bothering to open with a greeting.

Manic snickered in the background. “Told ya it'd work,” he said smugly. 

“My idea, you don't get to take the credit–” Amy chimed in. Laughing lightly. Was it funny? To make her feel bad? 

Sonic laughed along, making Sonia’s stomach sink. “Cause you're invited, if you wanna come,” he told her. 

Which slammed the brakes on in Sonia's mind. Her spiral halting abruptly as she was forced to switch gears. “Wh– what?”

“You're invited, princess,” Manic repeated. “It's not at camp, so you can come. It's a garden one of our friends found and we wanna visit. You wanna come?”

Sonia stared at the call, watching it count the seconds of silence. “...why?”

“Cause you've been feeling left out and we want you around,” Manic answered with the utmost certainty. Like it was obvious. And while he was right, Sonia wasn't sure how she felt about him just slapping labels on her feelings like that.

Who did he think he was, just telling her how she felt? But again, he was right. And accepting this meant she didn't have to work for their attention or make demands. She could just go along and get what she wanted. 

So, Sonia swallowed her pride. “So we're camping?” She asked. “I've never been camping.”

“That's alright,” Amy chirped. “We'll make sure it's fun. See you tonight!”

And so apparently that was decided. Sonia agreed quietly and they bid her goodbye before hanging up. So camping. Apparently Sonia was going camping.

Sonia hadn't really known what to pack, but she'd done her best to think of everything she’d need before taking off in her car to the address her brothers sent her. Another warehouse on the fringes of town where she parked her car and got out to wait. While she waited she pulled her three bags out of the trunk and dropped them on the pavement, looking around in the dying light for a car or a bike or…

“Hey sis!” 

Sonia barely smothered her scream as she whipped around and tried to punch whoever was suddenly behind her. It was a blessing that her fist met nothing but air, and Sonic was staring owlishly at her with his hands up, just out of her reach. 

He was missing the rockstar fit today, instead sporting red sneakers and sunglasses. No makeup made him look a lot younger. 

Sonia glared at him. “That wasn't funny!” she snapped, gesturing wildly. “I could have hurt you!”

Sonic kept his hands up in surrender as he approached. “You'd have to catch me first,” he snarked right back. He gestured at her bags. “Is this everything?”

Sonia looked around for his car or whatever, frowning. “I mean, yeah but–” And before she could finish speaking her things and her brother were gone. Her eyes widened as she peered around the parking lot. “Uh… Sonic?”

No answer. Apparently not a trick. She didn’t see him anywhere and then suddenly he was back in front of her with a gust of wind. He just grinned at her as her mouth fell open, preening at the reaction. “You’re… fast,” she breathed out, not sure what else to say. 

Sonic swiped a finger under his nose and smirked. “Fastest there is, actually,” he said proudly. “I’ll be your chauffeur tonight, mi’lady. Allow me!” And before she could blink Sonic was in her space, hooking his arms under her knees and shoulders and hauling her off her feet. Sonia latched onto his shoulders, trying not to squeeze too tight. The world blurred around her too quickly for her to process– she wondered immediately how on earth Sonic kept track of anything moving this fast. 

But again, almost before she could even finish the thought, the world came back into focus and the sound returned to her ears. Sonia’s eyes widened as she looked around at where Sonic had taken her– far from the city, apparently. 

Because this was a forest . Sonia had never seen a forest before, in real life. But there were trees– more beautiful than the struggling ones that lined the streets in the rich part of town, and grass and wildflowers and a tiny pond and–

And Chao.

Wild Chao, wandering around the area as they got together in little groups and bunched up grass to make comfy places to sleep for the night. Much like the group of mobians huddled around a tiny campfire, having dragged lawn chairs and sleeping bags around to relax. A couple Chao waddled up and investigated as they talked, babbling at them.

It was Tails, Manic, and Amy, chattering quietly as Amy fussed with one of the two tents that was set up along the roots of the larger trees. She looked up as Sonic set Sonia back on her feet and waved. “Sonic! Sonia!” she chirped, scurrying over and grabbing Sonia’s hands enthusiastically. “You made it! I’m so happy you came!”

Sonia felt her face warm as Sonic patted her back and drifted past to plop down between Manic and Tails on the sleeping bag and kick up his feet. “I tossed your stuff in the tent,” he said. “You’re bunkin with Amy and Manic, if that’s okay.” Manic waved at her as well, immediately scooting against Sonic and looking up at the sky. Sonic looked at him. “You still feelin’ a lil weird, bud?”

Manic stared at the stars as Sonia and Amy walked over to the campfire and Amy plopped down on a lawnchair. The boldest Chao dared to get closer and start climbing into his lap, and  that brought him back to looking down. Sonia hadn’t seen the green hedgehog look anything but aloof around her so far, so the mildly tense expression on his face was new. He whispered something to Sonic and Sonic just squeezed his shoulders. “Trees can be kinda like buildings if you don’t think about it too hard?” he offered up. 

That pulled a tiny laugh out of Manic and he dropped his gaze back to the fire. “Sure,” he allowed as he pet the Chao that was fiddling with one of his bracelets where it sat. He looked at Sonia again and for the first time he didn’t grimace at her when she met his gaze. “Glad you came,” he said to her, crossing his legs and visibly trying to relax. 

Sonia found herself smiling back at him, hoping to put him at ease. “Me too,” she said. “We’re long overdue for something fun, with all the espionage I’ve been doing.”

Tails laughed a bit. “You’ve been doing good at that, by the way,” he praised, his tails wagging. “Thanks for all the info. It’s been really helpful!”

Sonia’s face warmed a bit more. “Really?” she asked as she sat down in the free chair.

Tails nodded and tossed a thumbs up her way. “Really! Keep it up!”

“We do nails on Thursdays,” Amy offered up suddenly, reaching across to the bag and pulling out a bag of marshmallows. Manic’s companion Chao immediately abandoned him to go beg for snacks at Amy’s ankles. “You should join us.”

Manic grinned at that. “You should!” he said, his eyes on Sonia. “It’ll be fun, we’ve got all the good polish. We could find a place, right?”

Sonic waved his hand airily, leaning back against a backpack. “Sure, man,” he said. “We got plenty of safehouses we could use for that.” The confusion must have shown on Sonia’s face because then he was tapping Manic’s arm. “Go show her,” he prompted.

Manic was on his feet immediately, jauntily making his way over and shoving his paws into Sonia’s hands. Sonia had noticed the fingerless gloves previously, but she hadn’t noticed that his claws were actually… really well done. They were left sharp, which was a bit taboo if you were going to have them out, but they were also painted a midnight blue with metallic gold at the tips. She turned his hands gently in the dim firelight, her eyes widening slightly. “Who did these?” 

“That’d be me,” Amy chimed in as she held the marshmallow bag out of their intruding Chao’s reach. “I’ve been doing his since we were kids. He does mine, usually, but since we started doing Sonic’s too we kinda rotate. It’s fun.”

Sonia let Manic take his hands back. “They look really good,” she said. “You… all do your nails?”

Sonic nodded, picking at his gloves. “Mine are only out for stage time,” he said. “They’ve usually just been black, but Amy’s been doing some fun stuff. Our manager loves her.”

Amy made a silly bashful sound. “Its just fun,” she said. “I’m glad she likes it though.”

Manic blew a raspberry at her as he passed on his way back to Sonic’s side. “You act like you’re not doing great work,” he scolded lightly. “Your wardrobe ideas have been awesome.”

Amy giggled, waving the comment off and getting distracted enough that the Chao stole a marshmallow. “It’s not a big deal, it’s just fun to get to play with that stuff,” she twittered, trying to brush it off.

Sonia laughed quietly, tucking a strand of hair back. “I feel like I’m just… catching up,” she said softly. “Could we maybe do something like… an icebreaker?”

“Me breaking the sound barrier with you in my arms wasn’t enough of an icebreaker?”

“You did not break the sound barrier,” Tails scoffed, giving Sonic a light shove. 

Sonic just laughed and shrugged a little. “I was close,” he said. “I was being subtle.”

Manic just ignored them both, watching Sonia. “Yeah, we can do an icebreaker. Whatcha got in mind?”

Oh, Sonia hadn’t expected to be put on the spot like that, even if it was her idea. She bit her lip. “I dunno, we don’t need to make it complicated,” she said. “Can we just trade questions?”

“What, like 20 Questions?” asked Tails. 

“Isn’t that the one where you’re trying to guess something?” Manic interjected. “I’m good at that one.”

Sonic barked a laugh at that, looking unsurprised. Sonia shrugged weakly. “I just feel like there's a lot we don’t know about each other,"  she explained, trying not to feel too pathetic about it. Manic had been a little too right, she was feeling left out. “Like, how long have you all known each other? You seem so close.”

Manic piped up first, eager to share. “I’ve been here for about a year,” he said. “On our birthday last year I went to Sonic’s concert and he picked me out of the crowd.”

Amy grinned. “I was with him,” she said proudly. “The tickets were a gift. I met Manic though when we were little, I think I was seven? Some kids were picking on him at the park and I told them off.”

“Amy, you punched them–”

“And then I took him home. We’ve been besties ever since,” Amy finished happily, crossing her legs as she stuck a marshmallow on a stick. 

Sonic snorted, shaking his head. Tails raised his hand before he started talking. “Sonic picked me up outside my village,” he said. “I was four, so it’s been eleven years now.”

Sonia squinted at them. “You… kidnapped him?” she asked slowly.

Tails wheezed a little bit. Sonic just shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t think it’s kidnapping if they kicked him out,” he said bluntly, making Tails just cackle a little harder. “They haven't asked for him back. Their loss!”

Sonic slung an arm around Tails and dragged him lower to ruffle his ears. The size difference made it easy for Tails to shove him off, but he still beamed like he’d won something and Sonia felt her heart clench a bit. “Who kicks out a four year old?” she whispered. Tails tutted quietly, shaking a finger at her, but looking unbothered by the question. 

“It’s one of our turns,” he said. “Anyone got one for Sonia?”

Sonic leaned forward immediately, gently shooing the marshmallow thief Chao away. “I got one! You know anything about fighting?”

That was a weird question but Sonia just smiled awkwardly. “I took martial arts as a kid, yeah,” she said. “I haven’t been in any real fights… It was good for me though. Learned a lot of discipline and self control.”

Manic nodded wisely. “I’ve gotten into fights,” he said. “They’re not very fun.” Amy just shook her head at that like he was underselling something. “Learned on the fly and from a friend, though.”

“I learned from my Papa,” Amy added. 

“Learned on the go,” Sonic repeated. “And taught Tails. Now it’s your turn again.”

Sonia just sighed. “Alright um,” she said. “Amy mentioned her Father, what do your parents do? Do they know what you’re all doing? Are they Freedom Fighters too?”

A silence settled uncomfortably over the campsite and Manic looked away most obviously. Sonic visibly grimaced. “You’re uh,” he began, and swallowed. “The only one who’s still got parents.”

Sonia’s stomach dropped and she felt herself leaning forward before she knew what she was doing, reaching for them like she could do something about that. “What ha– I’m so sorry,” she stuttered. “I’m so so sorry…”

Amy shrugged a little bit. “It’s alright,” she said as she roasted her marshmallow. “They’ve all been taken by Robotnik at one point or another. We haven’t given up on them though, Tails is working on a way to reverse roboticization. We’re gonna fix it.”

Tails smiled faintly at that, patting Manic’s shoulder from across Sonic’s lap. Manic shot Tails a weak smile and whatever Sonia had done seemed to fade as Manic put on some sort of mask and the smile grew brighter. That was interesting… 

Amy leaned forward. “It’s our turn again,” she said. “Tell us about the fiance.”

“ Fiance? ” Manic sputtered, whipping around to look at Sonia. “You’re engaged!?” Sonia sighed and held up her hand with the ring on it. Manic shook his head. “I didn’t think that meant anythingggg,” he wailed. “You’re so young, why?!”

Sonia found herself snickering at his alarm. “It’s really common in the upper class,” she said. “The engagement’s still on for like, two years, don’t stress too much. His name is Bart Montclaire.”

Manic made a worse face at that. “MontClair of Dresdin?” he asked slowly. 

Sonia frowned. “Why do you know that?”

Manic groaned. “I just know a couple things about their family,” he said quickly after Sonic elbowed him. “Do you like this guy?”

“I’m engaged to him, Manic.”

Sonic rolled his eyes at Manic’s disgusted expression. “Then he can’t be that bad,” he said. “Maybe we can meet him sometime.” Manic didn’t look convinced, but he smiled awkwardly and nodded along. 

Tails just snickered and waved at Sonia that it was her turn again. She sighed. “Do you guys like, do anything for work? Other than the singing?”

Manic grinned. “Yeah, I’m in the family business,” he said brightly, a touch of a chuckle in his voice. “We move stuff. Mighta seen our work around.”

Sonia started to ask a follow up question but Sonic immediately elbowed him again and Manic squawked. “Quit teasing her,” Sonic scolded. 

Manic whined at his attacker. “Ouch, dude, that’s uncalled for,” he fussed back. Sonic just gave him a flat look and nodded in Sonia’s direction. Manic looked at Sonia again and sighed. “I was part of the Court of Thieves."

Even as high up in the world as Sonia was she knew that name. Her expression fell off her face a bit. “Court of… really?”

Manic grinned at her, cocking his head to the side. “Ah, see? Even the rich folks know us!” He crooned happily. Like that wasn't because of wanted posters and arrest warrants and robberies. “Jester at your service–”

“That's you?!” Sonia gawked. Now that it was said aloud, she'd seen his face passingly on those posters. Her dirty little brother grinning viciously at the camera with rewards promised for his arrest. 

Manic just beamed harder. “Nice to see my rep is still intact even with the Court in shambles,” he said. “Anyways– that was my full time gig before I joined the band. S'why we have the mask, the makeup.”

Sonia couldn't believe that was working but people were blinded by star power, apparently. Amy took that opportunity to pipe up. “I used to run a fortune telling stall,” she said. “Manic would hang around and keep me safe. I still do it for the Freedom Fighters who ask…”

“I do odd jobs around camp but I've put out several patents that help run money back to the resistance,” Tails offered up. “Passive income, other than the music royalties we get.”

Sonia latched immediately onto the change of subject. “You must get a lot of those,” she said. 

Sonic shrugged. “We have what we need,” he said. “The rest goes to the resistance.”

They were pouring so much of themselves into that. It made Sonia feel like she wasn't doing enough, but…

Manic watched her, his expression crinkling in that way it often did when he was watching her. She groaned. “Why do you looking at me like that?”

“Cause ya taste sour,” Manic answered bluntly, without missing a beat. “Relax,” he added while she sputtered in retaliation. “We like you. You wouldn't be here if we didn't."

And Sonic just laughed, like that answer made any sense. He shot Sonia a knowing look that she didn't understand. “My turn again,” he said. “What do you play?”

Sonia let the weird moment slide and smirked at Sonic. “How do you know I do?”

Sonic picked at his cuffs. “Intuition,” he replied. “So spill it, sis. Best I can guess from your medallion is you play the rainbow.”

Sonia grabbed at her necklace. “It's a keyboard, you dork,” she shot back. “I play the piano. Mother mostly had me learn classical but…”

Manic's eyes were bright as he leaned closer to prod her. “Buuuut?”

Sonia felt her face burning as she sighed and offered up an olive branch. “I like… freestyling… to your guys' tracks.”

Sonic’s attention snapped back to her immediately, his eyes lighting up to match Manics. “Do you? Wait, you weren’t kidding when you said you listened to our stuff?” Sonic demanded, unable to play it cool this time. This was the most obviously excited Sonia had seen him so far. 

She smiled sheepishly. “No, I really listen to it,” she said quietly. “I like it. I play along…”

Manic flapped his hands, unable to contain his wiggles. “I did the same thing before I met Sonic!” he all but squealed. “We’ve been playing together already!”

Sonic laughed. “We kinda have, haven’t we!” he agreed. He winked at Sonia. “We should play together for real!”

Tails nodded immediately. “Yes! You guys definitely should– I bet it’d be so good!”

Sonia felt her face warming again. “You haven’t even heard me play, you have no idea if I’m any–”

Sonic just shushed her. “You’re good. I know it,” he said confidently. “So we’re gonna play together, Sonia. Next week, okay?”

Manic looked absolutely thrilled while Sonia waved her hands around. “Wait what?!”

“This is gonna rock!” Manic yelled, throwing his arms up so hard he nearly tipped back. 

Tails was already typing into his watch comm, and a notification dinged on all their phones. “That’ll be our jam session. The RV will be set up at that address,” he told everyone. “We’ll be there all week, you can drop by anytime.”

Amy patted her hand happily. “Please do! It’ll be nice to have another girl around.”

Immediately Manic started protesting, something about not being good enough for her, but Sonia didn’t quite hear it over the internal cocktail of delight and nerves that was brewing in her stomach.

Brothers or not, suddenly one of her favorite bands was demanding she play music with them. That was a little terrifying.

And just a little bit too exciting.

Chapter Text

The triplets were eighteen.

Sonic ended up going with Manic to see his doctor, who wasn't a legal doctor but operated out of an old warehouse turned into a cross between a clinic and a home. The pine marten running the place introduced herself airily as Margo, then ran through some tests before saying Manic should go home and sleep as much as he could. 

She didn’t make a great impression, her clothing was ill fitting and spattered with bleach stains. But Margo spoke with certainty as she held Manic’s jaw in her paws and moved a pen light around in his vision. She declared it minor, pinched Manic’s cheek and sent him on his way. She nearly ignored Sonic, if he was being honest. He was alright with that.

And that was that. Amy took Manic and they parted ways outside the warehouse. Some part of Sonic wanted to tail them, to make sure that Manic actually had somewhere safe to stay, but his brother had already said he did. And Sonic wanted to trust him. 

So instead, he waved goodbye and headed back home. He figured he wouldn’t hear from Manic again for a few days at the least. That gave him a chance to check in with Sally and give her a real update ever since sort of ghosting her after their tense phone call about Manic’s day job.

That night he had Tails set up the full security, making extra sure that anything said in the RV was impossible to trace or eavesdrop on. He sat down at Tail’s computer and let Tails dial up the Freedom Fighters camp. He fixed his quills in the camera as the loading tone sang at him, and he was checking his teeth in the camera view when Sally answered.

He grinned. “Hey, Sal!” he greeted her, leaning back in the chair again. 

Sally Acorn looked tired and annoyed, so mostly normal. Her hair was styled into easily kept bangs and the sporty clothes she wore to keep herself ready to move at any time were a light blue today. She sighed, leaning against her desk. “Sonic,” she replied, unimpressed with his most disarming smile. “Are we breaking the radio silence to have a real check in?”

Sonic just laughed as Tails passed behind him with a cup of tea. “I’m here for a real check in. Aren’t you happy about that? Why don’t you seem happy to see me?” he asked, pouting a bit and batting his eyes at her. 

Sally just frowned at him with a heavy sigh. “Get on with it, Sonic, I have a lot to do. Shuffling things for your brother has been a nightmare.” 

Sonic barked another laugh and settled down in his chair. “Well, I’m makin’ great progress on my end,” he said. “Manic got in a bit of trouble though, so I’m gonna probably start helping him on our errands where I can.”

Sally looked deeply displeased with that. “You think the Court Jester needs your help?”

Sonic shrugged loosely. “I think it can’t hurt,” he said evenly, pulling off a glove to study his nails. He leaned back to glance at Tails. “Yo Tails, grab me the polish. Gotta clean this up for tomorrow night.”

Sally groaned at him, raking her hand down her face. “It’s bad enough he’s claimed all our jobs, that’s thrown our entire order of operations out the window,” she said. “Now you want to complicate it more? Let him work, he’s a professional.”

“I don’t see how me helping him get stuff done makes it more complicated,” Sonic protested as Tails swung by and set the nail polish on the desk. “Have we gotten anything to you guys late?”

“...No,” grumbled Sally begrudgingly. “I just… a lot of the guys back at camp aren’t happy that their connections got messed up.”

Sonic sighed and uncapped the polish. “I get it,” he said evenly. “But you’re good at smoothing ruffled feathers, Sal. You’ll handle it. So keep sending the jobs my way, and I’ll help Manic get stuff done. We’ll keep things rolling.”

Sally let out the longest, tiredest sound. “Fine,” she groused. “Fine, sure. Don’t be seen being too stupid.”

Sonic put a hand to his chest. “You know I don’t go out with my pretty face on unless I’m singing, Sal. Nobody cares about regular ole Sonic.”

Sally glared at him. “I’m serious, Sonic. Be careful. Be safe. Acorn out.”

Sonic beamed and waved enthusiastically at her before she could hang up on him. Tails coughed from where he’d sunk into the couch with his cup of tea to watch the call. “I think that went pretty good,” he said supportively. 

Sonic spun the chair around, going and touching up the nail polish that was chipped on his claws. “Right? She didn’t even yell this time!”

“Better than last time,” Tails beamed back, sipping on his tea. “So I'll be running comms for you guys if you’re gonna help him with stuff, right?”

Sonic nodded. “Of course!” he said immediately. Tails had been his guy in the chair for years now. Hopefully Manic would like the help. “I bet we’ll be able to help things run smoothly. Or hopefully at least keep him from getting in any more fights if we’re around…”

Tails nodded in agreement, humming quietly. He’d spent the time Sonic was gone cleaning up the bloodied towel and everything else that had gotten soiled. Manic’s clothes were drying in the dryer now, the bloodstains mostly removed. “I hope so,” he mumbled. “He doesn’t seem to handle fights well. We gotta keep him outta those where we can.”

Sonic frowned at his claws as he painted them. “I’d have thought he’d be used to fights, honestly,” he mused quietly. “I’m sure we’ll find out why eventually… when he’s ready.”

“He told us a lot today, though,” Tails added.

“He did!” Sonic said, perking back up. “He’s opening up. We must be doing something right… I guess we’ll really see what happens when he comes back.”

“If he’s anything like you he’ll be back soon enough,” said Tails. “You can’t sit still and I don’t think I’ve seen him stop moving unless he was asleep.”

Sonic snorted. “Yeah,” he allowed. “Yeah, probably…”

The triplets were eighteen.

Manic laid at home in his dad's bed for two days, sleeping as much as he could like he had been instructed. Ferrell came in every few hours with food that he nudged Manic into eating before going back to sleep. Amy dropped by every couple days to check in. Manic prayed that the concussion didn’t trigger one of the migraines that his powers seemed to bring on. 

Manic's bruises faded and his scrapes healed. His headache slowly dissipated over the course of a couple weeks, and he got lucky and it remained manageable. He'd always bounced back from this kind of thing fast, as long as there were no complications. And Margo had readily praised the cleanup job Sonic and Tails had done on the few visible injuries he had. 

Ferrell had already let him go out on a couple easy jobs. But what Manic was really itching to do, to his surprise and mild joy, was go visit Sonic again. He hadn't gotten to see his brother since… well.

Manic had had a lot of time to lay in bed and think. Fights involving him didn't happen too much, since he had a reputation for getting too rough really fast. People didn't want to pick fights with someone who was on a hair trigger, not the way Manic was. People didn’t want to be hospitalized fighting the Court Jester.

But when it did happen, there was a routine. Manic would go home. Straight home. Inevitable panic attack stalled, stuffed into the smallest ball he could manage, and let it out when he was safe. Safe at home, Ferrell washing his fur off over the bath and perhaps babying him a bit much but that's what Dads did. Manic could let the meltdown play out in the quiet of his home, settled in the middle of enough abandoned buildings that it wouldn't be a drag on any unsuspecting people. And Ferrell was long used to the brunt of Manic's empath abilities, he took it well enough. 

Then, Manic had not followed the script. For some reason, while checked out and white knuckling a panic attack, he'd made his way to Sonic and Tails instead. Manic had spent weeks needling them, being intentionally annoying, stealing from their home, but this was different. This wasn't controlled. This was too much, too vulnerable, not a part of his master plan to figure out their intentions.

But Sonic had barely been phased. Tails had made a place for him and they'd just gone about cleaning up the bloody mess like it was… normal. Common. Not a problem for them at all, that he showed up covered in blood on their door step. 

They'd handled him so gently, even when, despite his best efforts, his grip on his mask slipped. When he broke down and yelled and cried at them. He’d never been so grateful to be concussed, that was all that kept them from getting the full emotional projection experience from him. 

For all of Manic's testing and prodding, he hadn't been sure of them. But even with his powers muddled, he could feel their sincerity. How genuine they were as they spoke to him. Love in their hearts, ringing through their actions.

How easily Sonic pulled him into his arms, into his own bed, despite Manic barely touching him in all the weeks prior. Manic loved cuddles. And Sonic just happily bundled him against his side and held him. He slotted right in with his brothers, like he belonged there. The gentle joy and mild thrill rolling off of Sonic as Manic settled against him was delightful, telling Manic that he really was wanted there.

Margo dropped by two weeks after that incident, shined a light in Manic's eyes and declared he was good to go. Manic grinned at her, collected his things and told his dad he was going to see his brothers.

Manic leaned back on his extreme gear board, drifting to a stop behind Tails. The fox was waist deep bent over in the RVs engine, music playing from a nearby speaker as his twin tails swished to the beat.

Manic hopped off his board and scooped it up against his side, trying to approach loudly enough so that he wouldn't startle Tails too bad. Still, he ended up having to knock on the side of the RV to get the kids attention. 

Tails popped out from under the hood and grinned brightly at Manic. “Hey! Music, down,” he called out to the music, and the speaker dropped its volume. 

Manic waved a bit, setting his board against the side of the RV. “Hey man! Hope I'm not interrupting too much,” he began carefully. Wait a second, were those… nerves? In Manic's stomach? All this time trying to get them to not like him and now he’s suddenly worried they don’t?

Tails swiped at his brow, shoving his goggles up onto his forehead and leaving a smear of grime across his fur. “No way! I'm so happy you're back, Manic!” he chirped. “Feeling better?”

Manic laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. “Yeah– it was only minor, my doctor cleared me today. What– whatcha doing?” 

Tails reached out casually and pat Manic's shoulder. The physical contact left the spot warm, his fur a little buzzy even though he was sure Tails had left some grease from the engine on him. “That's good, I’m glad you’re okay,” he said. “We were worried about you but Amy brought us updates. I'm just doing a tune up. We're gonna have to get back on the road but we'll set up one of the safe houses and come back whenever you want to hang.”

Manic's stomach sank. “You're leaving?”

Tails sighed a little, his feelings turning hesitant and reluctant. “We don't want to, but if we're gonna keep up with Sonic's tour schedule we have to. We’ve been kinda stalling… Sonic’s manager isn’t happy about it,” he told Manic. The sour feeling radiating off the fox turned sweeter suddenly and Tails’ face lit up. “But, I made you something to help with that. It's inside--I can get it for ya when I'm finished up here!”

Tails turned and grabbed a wrench and Manic sidled up next to him. “Do you want help?” he asked, peering under the hood. 

Tails' ears twitched and he looked at Manic. Genuinely surprised. “You wanna help?” he repeated. He squinted suspiciously. “Is it gonna be like… Sonic-help?”

Manic raised an eyebrow as he fished one of his extra large and thick hair ties out of his fanny pack. “Sonic-help? What did he do to earn that?”

Tails snickered while Manic pulled his quills back into a high ponytail. “He doesn't mean to, he's just not very good at detail oriented… slow…” Tails trailed off with a wince. “He's too impatient for this kind of thing, that's all.” 

Manic chuckled and shoved his ex-gear gloves away in his fanny pack. “Nah, I get it,” he said, grabbing up a flashlight. “I like doing this kind of work, though. Promise I won't be in the way.” 

Tails smiled slowly and held out the wrench. “Alright, let's see what you've got.”

Tails and Manic spent the next two hours working together, chatting about engines and ex-gear and music while they changed the oil and tightened a few things up. Tails offered up mildly embarrassing and silly stories about Sonic, and himself, as he worked, shoved between banter about machines and tinkering. Manic got the sense that his approach to machine work bewildered Tails, but Tails never seemed to have a poor opinion of it. He'd lean over and ask about his thought process instead, curiosity rolling off of him. 

Manic would laugh and tell him it was mostly trial and error, and that he was largely self taught. Tails even seemed a touch impressed by that. 

By the time they were finishing up, Sonic was walking up to the RV in his makeup and jacket fresh off of rehearsal, Manic was hunched over his ex-board with Tails, both boys covered in filth and grease, as Manic proudly showed Tails how he'd practically rebuilt the thing from scratch. “It was basically trash when I found it,” Manic said. “The hull is the closest to original, the rest I had to rebuild. I used what was left in there as a sort of blueprint and puzzled the rest of it out. Took months to scrape together all the parts… it still shakes a bit if I go left too hard, do you have any ideas on what's causing that?”

Tails jiggled a couple wires, frowning at the board. “Might just be the age, honestly,” he mused. “Usually gear like this is built to last, if it was thrown out it was probably totaled. It's really incredible that you got it moving again at all.”

Manic laughed, waving his greasy paw at Tails. “Nahhh, it wasn't that bad,” he said. “I like having stuff to fix. Problems to solve.”

Tails grinned at him. “Ever build anything from scratch?” Manic shook his head, going and starting to close up the board. Tails smirked a bit. “We could build you a new one.”

Manic felt his heart leap and he looked up at Tails. “Really?” 

Tails just nodded, smiling a little harder. His hand trailed up to his chest fluff, leaving smears of black on the white fur. “Yeah– I was gonna ask if you’d like that but I think I can… I can feel it,” he said quietly. 

Sonic coughed, grabbing their attention. “I feel it too,” he said brightly, crouching next to his brothers. His hand brushed against his own chest, smiling. “That’s you, right?’

Manic felt his face warm and reeled it back in as fast as he could. “Sorry! Sorry, I…” he fumbled. He could feel his ears burning and he hastily went back to screwing the panel back on his board and avoiding eye contact. “I slipped. I don't usually do that outside of my house...”

“I don’t mind,” Sonic shrugged flippantly. “You don’t gotta mask around us, dude. We don’t care.” Tails hummed in agreement, passing Manic the next screw. There was a pause where Manic just quietly screwed the next bit in. Sonic coughed. “Have you been reading us too…?”

Manic winced. He hadn’t told anyone about his empath ability since Amy. And she’d been there when his powers had come in all those years ago, so she’d adjusted quickly and plowed forward. He’d never had to explain it from scratch to anyone before. Ferrell and Margo had figured it out. Amy had always been there. 

He started screwing in the last screw. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “It’s kinda… passive? Most of the time?” Tails watched him intently. Sonic made a noise like he understood. Neither of them had anger on them, just curiosity… So Manic swallowed his own fear and went forward. “I can focus on it, push it if I want… It’s really helpful when I’m trying to figure people out, honestly. I can shut it off but it’s harder, my brain doesn’t like being isolated like that long term…”

Manic braced for them to get angry. But Tails just smiled, leaning into Manic’s space, curious, unbothered and unafraid. “That’s so cool!” he said. “What’s it like?”

“It’s uh…” he hummed, scratching his chin and definitely leaving dirty smears of engine grease on his face. “It’s hard to describe, I guess? It’s been here for a while… it’s a lot like just… feeling your own feelings, they’re just everyone else's? Sometimes they’re kind of like tastes, honestly. It’s not mind reading, though. It’s just feelings…”

Sonic poked him suddenly, making Manic look up. “Hey,” he said lightly. “Relax. We’re not mad, we were just curious. It’s cool.”

Manic stared at him. “It’s cool?” he repeated. 

Sonic nodded. “If going fast is cool, so’s this,” he said brightly. “And if it helped you decide to trust us, I’m all for it.” Tails agreed with Sonic as he stood up and offered Manic his hand. 

They all shuffled inside after that, Manic helping Tails haul his tools to one of the side compartments and putting them away. Sonic went ahead of them to get his makeup off and shower, and Tails and Manic trailed in after him. Sonic's bright red stage boots were discarded by the door, and Manic went to scoot them to the side but the amount of resistance he was met with had him stopping and picking one up.

Tails had already gone to the kitchen to start cleaning his fur off, discarding his gloves into the laundry basket. “What is it?” He asked as Manic held up the boots with a puzzled expression.

“These are so heavy,” Manic said. They were like weights– the soles thick and solid. “How can he even walk in these?”

Tails snorted, scrubbing his paws in the sink. “We worked those out after he moved a bit too fast on stage once. He gets a little too excited sometimes,” he said lightly. “He can still get going in them but he's gotta work for it. Helps remind him not to blow his cover.”

Manic grimaced. “Geez. No wonder he always has sore ankles whenever he's done with em,” he muttered, setting them aside. 

Tails' ear flicked and he looked over at Manic. “He does?” Manic stilled. What was he doing? He needed to stop saying things that would freak people out. But Tails was already standing up and coming over to look at the boots. “We weighted these ourselves years ago. Maybe I can work out better support for him so they don’t hurt him… he shouldn’t be hurting himself, just slowing down…”

Manic clenched his fists. “Sorry, I’m not…”

“Why are you sorry?” Tails asked genuinely, his gaze flicking up to Manic. “That’s helpful. And Sonic’s not about to tell me. Better than him screwing up his legs, right?.”

Which was why Manic felt weird about saying anything about it but he just smiled awkwardly and unlaced his own boots. “Right,” he said, setting them by the door and padding over to the couch. 

As always, the drum set caught his gaze. Sitting in the corner all polished and pristine. Tails walked past as Manic ogled the set, drumming his fingers against the couch. Sonic suddenly appeared next to Manic again, scrubbing at his damp quills with a towel. “You wanna shower?” he asked, gesturing to the smears of grey and black all over his fur. 

Manic managed not to startle. “Oh– yeah, sure. I'll take you up on that,” he laughed, looking at his greasy paws, arms and shirt. That would hypothetically give him a moment to get a grip on whatever he was doing, too. “You got a spare shirt?”

Tails coughed. “You can borrow one of mine,” he offered up. His expression turned mischievous before he went on. “Sonic’s probably a size smaller than you.”

Sonic squawked indignantly. “He is not that much taller than me!”

Tails cackled as Manic stood up and headed to their bathroom. “Thanks guys!” he called as they devolved into lighthearted bickering and roughhousing. Manic slid the door shut and shucked his stained clothes, leaving his hair up and out of the way because if he washed his hair he’d be in there for three hours. He didn’t want to use up too much of their hot water, so he hurried, scrubbing his fur clean and waiting for the water to turn clear again. 

He got out after giving himself a good shake and then helping himself to one of their towels to dry his fur the rest of the way. Manic draped the towel around his shoulders and stepped back out with his dirty laundry in his arms. Sonic swooped by, grabbing the clothes and tossing them into their hamper and stuffing a shirt in Manic’s hands. “We’ll wash your stuff with our next batch,” Sonic told him. “You want some gloves?”

Manic pulled the shirt on– a well worn black t-shirt that looked to be from one of Sonic’s early tours– and waved his hand. “Nah, I’m good,” he said. “I never wear fingered gloves anymore, it feels weird now. I'll take some socks though?”

Socks appeared in Manic's hands in a blue flash. “Surprised you even asked for those,” Sonic smirked. “Are we past the petty theft then?” Manic snorted a little, bending over and yanking the socks on. 

“C'mon already, you guys, I'm waiting,” Tails whined suddenly, swinging his legs as he sat on the couch with a small box. He radiated erratic, barely contained anticipation. “You guys are so slow!”

Sonic scoffed, slinging an arm around Manic as he dragged him back over to the couch. “You hear this kid? Calling me slow?”

Tails rolled his eyes, bouncing a bit. “C’mon, c’mon!” He said, ignoring Sonic with excitement rolling off him in little nerve tinted waves. Manic settled next to the fox and the box was promptly shoved into his hands. “This is for you! I hope you like it, its–”

“Tails don't spoil it,” scolded Sonic lightly, a broad grin on his face as he cuffed Tails over the ear. Tails zipped his mouth shut and waited, his twin tails wiggling happily.

Manic looked down at the box. Another gift, but this one felt different. The vibes on Tails and Sonic were different than previous times he'd been handed things at their house. He used a claw to rip the tape and popped the box open. 

It was a watch. It had Tails' little logo on one side and a holo projector at the top, above a small screen with just a few buttons. It was a deep crimson color, a lot like Manics favorite shirt and his red boots. The same shape and size as the one that Tails always wore, and Manic saw Sonic wearing sometimes. 

Manic picked it up out of the box. It was shiny and new and the pride radiating off Tails was absolutely adorable. “These are off network,” Tails began. “Anything you send or search is untraceable. And you can talk to us anytime. It’s kinda like a phone on steroids.”

Manic turned it over, his eyes widening. That was really impressive– almost everything and everyone's digital information was traced these days. That was why he and Ferrell ran through burner phones like crazy. Sonic reached over and showed him how to turn it on. “We're on channel one,” he told Manic. “So now, even after we have to move the RV and start doing shows in other areas, we can still talk and I can come get you, or we can come right to you. Anytime.”

Manic looked up at them. Their expressions all earnest and kind and sincere, making his heart feel fragile. “You can just… come back?”

Sonic nodded seriously. “Anytime. It's hardly even a trip for me,” he said firmly. “We’re not leaving the continent, so you're always just a quick jog away.”

Manic felt his chest lurch a bit. He turned the watch over and unclipped it so he could put it on. “I can just… call you up? And you'll come running?”

Tails nodded wisely. “It's kind of his thing,” he said. “And if you don't call enough he'll just show up anyways.”

Manic laughed faintly, trying not to get weird and emotional about this. What was with him today? “Alright,” he managed to agree, without his voice sounding too small. “Alright, sounds sick.”

Sonic grinned. “I wanna help with your jobs too, remember?”

Manic sighed. “I'll see what I could use a hand with,” he hedged. 

He was learning things about Sonic as he went. Sonic evidently liked to be needed. It was an endearing character trait to say the least. Tails shared that trait, but every time Sonic felt like he'd done something helpful for Manic, Amy or Tails he practically glowed on Manic’s happy-radar. Like he did now, as Manic gave in just a bit to the idea of letting Sonic tag along. 

His speed would certainly be helpful in places. He could probably use him, since he was insisting.

Manic fixed Tails with a grateful look. “Thank you,” he said. “This is really awesome. I'm probably never gonna take it off again.”

Tails wiggled happily. “It is waterproof,” he added. “Let me know if you need anything else, okay?”

Manic snorted, carefully slipping the watch down so that once he got his cuffs back on they'd mostly cover it up. His gaze trailed back to the drums. “Actually…” he said slowly. “Can I ask for something kinda dumb?”

Tails followed his gaze, his mouth quirking into a knowing smirk. “You've been staring at those since the day you first hung out with us,” he said. “You're sneaky about a lot of stuff, but that one was obvious.”

Sonic nodded, grabbing Manics arm and yanking him forward before he could even actually ask the question. He was unceremoniously shoved onto the stool in the center of the set. “Music runs in the family, bro,” he said proudly. “Just don't get sad if it doesn't click right away, okay?”

Manic blinked belatedly. Oh. oops. He'd never mentioned playing. He'd never brought it up, and he'd been too busy pushing buttons and pressing limits to wedge that in there. Most people didn't know he played– his own drums at home cobbled together from parts he had found or stolen over the years.

Nothing like this set, all matching and shiny and beautiful and probably really expensive. Tails drifted over after Sonic backed off and held out the drumsticks that Manic had seen on his desk the first day he'd shown up. The ones he'd honestly wanted to steal, many times over, but hadn't felt right even touching. Now they were being offered up. Slowly he reached out and took them in his hands. 

They were solid, heavier than any set Manic had owned. The balance felt so nice. He turned them over a couple times, his eyes wide. “What are these made of?”

“They’re oak,” Tails supplied, pulling himself up on his desk and crossing his legs. That explained it. Real wood was fancy for sure since trees no longer grew anywhere near the city– every set Manic had ever used was metal or plastic. 

Manic whistled quietly. “Nice,” he said, setting one in each hand and looking more intently at the set up. It wasn’t laid out exactly the same as his set at home– seeing as they were actually a matched set– but he set his feet on the pedals and took a deep breath. 

Sonic leaned forward, his eyes wide. Manic felt his own quills stand on end in Tails and Sonic’s compounding anticipation and curiosity. Their jitters were almost worse than his, but he knew once he started that would change real fast.  Manic closed his eyes, raised his hands up, and started running through his usual warm up beats. 

He adjusted quickly to the arrangement of the drums, a smile making its way across his face as he progressed through the warmup. The sound was a lot more unified than his set at home, probably because the parts weren’t fished out of the dump or stolen. Manic looked up as he kept going, to find Sonic’s eyes bigger than dinner plates. Tails mouth was open in a wide grin, his tails wiggling. 

Manic barked a laugh at their faces. “These are nice!” he called out, transitioning to a more complicated warmup to try out some other sounds and make sure he had the set down. He could feel his own tail thumping against the stool, excitement leeching out of him and feeding back in from his brothers. “You record on this set?”

Tails nodded eagerly. “Yeah! We’ve never had them on stage though, since I don’t go out there,” he answered. “You like ‘em?”

Manic grinned hard enough that his face hurt. “These are sick,” he shouted. Finally Sonic lurched back to life.

“You didn't tell us you could play?” He demanded, pointing accusatorially at Manic. “Why did you not tell us!?”

Manic smirked at his brother. “You didn't ask,” he shot back and smoothly transitioned into the opening of Live and Learn. Somehow that got his brothers even more excited, the elated feeling that was spinning between the three beginning to feel dizzying. He’d hoped they’d like it but it seemed to rile Sonic up the most.

Sonic made a delighted sound of recognition and with a flurry of motion he suddenly had one of his guitars off the wall and plugged in. “Keep going!” he all but ordered, focusing in and tapping his foot to count. Two measures later he started playing along, the sound reverberating right into Manic’s bones.

Manic had thought it might be like when he was at the show, watching Sonic weeks ago. But this felt different. It was almost too much, electric and swelling as they progressed through the song. Sonic started singing about halfway through the first verse, picking up in time with when Manic had started. 

The sound, his brother's voice, broke straight through Manic's mental barriers, twisting down through his body and winding tight around his heart. Connection sparked, stronger and clearer than any mental link up Manic had ever done. Powerful and bright. It felt like embers bursting into brilliant white flames. Sonic must have felt it too, because his voice wavered a moment before he went on with more power and passion, less intentional control or worry about sounding perfect.

Manic wanted to sing with him, honestly, but he didn’t dare try to steal that from Sonic. He found himself humming along instead, vocalizing just quietly enough that it got lost in the drums and guitar. It was enough.

For a moment it felt like that first night, in the white space with Sonic, reaching for each other with more than hands or words. With their very souls, with Chaos singing along with them. A flash of hot pink quills appeared in Manic's mind, a whisper of a stubborn personality and strong will. 

“Hangin’ on the edge of tomorrow–”

Manic felt his heart pounding against his ribs.

“From the works of yesterday–”

Tails was howling the words along as he slammed the beat out against his desk, piling his excitement and love onto Manic's shoulders with the blaze he felt in his chest.

“You will never find your way!”

Sonic finished in perfect time with Manic, playing the final notes as Manic slammed out a few extra flourishes of sound that felt like they shook the RV.

The feeling, the connection, lingered as silence settled over the brothers. Their breathing was slowly falling back out of sync, heavy and deep and gently exhausted from how much energy they’d poured into the performance. Slowly, Manic lowered his hands, and his gaze drifted over to Tails and then Sonic.

Manic’s face felt a little wet. Sonic let his guitar hang on its strap around his shoulders and drifted over into Manic’s space. Manic looked up at him and felt the wetness trail down one of his cheeks. He swallowed hard. “Did you see her?” Manic whispered, his voice trembling a touch.

Sonic swiped his finger under Manic’s eye. “We gotta do that again,” he said as an answer. 

The triplets were nineteen.

Sonia had played dozens of shows before. Mostly recital type things, fancy events with everyone dressed to the nines and elegant stage settings. A grand piano, and Sonia with her quills tied into delicate updos and braids, glittering under a spotlight. Draped in silk and chiffon, or whatever her stylist had put together for her, with gems carefully hung around her throat and from her ears.

Slow, rolling songs with swelling melodies and Sonia's lone voice drifting through the audience. Lady Windermere's secret songbird, saved for the wealthy and elite of the city. Polite applause and deep bows. Nothing like what her brothers had, what Sonia secretly longed for. The screams of the fans, the packed stadiums. Sonia could not even lie to herself to say she didn’t daydream of performing the way they did.

Sonia had not seen where her brothers lived as of yet, but she was certain it wasn't some sort of concert hall like she was used to playing in. They'd mentioned it being an RV, so in many ways Sonia was prepared for it to be some run down camper. Manic was always making comments about how rich she was– was this place going to be overrun with bugs? Falling apart? Who knew!

There was so much to be nervous about, but the day and time rolled around where Sonia was meant to go and see her brothers again, for fun. Not any sort of secret jobs. Just fun.

Sonia told her parents she was going to visit Rogue, who had already sworn she'd cover for her if her parents came asking, and got into her car to head to the address Tails had sent her. It was evening, the sun setting over the soggy cityscape, as she pulled up to a huge RV that was in far better shape than she'd been expecting. Which is to say, it looked incredibly fancy. 

The thing wasn't mobian sized, either. This was one of the human oriented models, with a whole lot of upgrades tacked and bolted onto it. It looked well taken care of too. And there were four extreme gear boards set against the outside of the door, along the side. 

Sonia had always wanted to try ex-gear. The motorcycle was already pushing it though, so she'd never touched the stuff. 

The lights inside the RV were warm, and danced with the gentle indication that bodies were moving about inside but the parking lot was silent. Sonia took a deep breath and stepped up on one of the stairs to knock. It took no time at all for Sonic to be at the door, swinging it outwards and grinning at her. Sound drifted out of the RV, loud and percussive. 

Manic was apparently back there somewhere, slamming out bars on the drumset. A bass guitar was being plucked along with Manic’s beat, and Sonic had his own guitar slung across his back. “Sonia’s here!” he shouted, and the playing trailed off. “Come on in, sis!”

Sonia smiled weakly, plodding up the steps as Sonic stepped back to let her in. “I couldn’t hear you guys at all outside,” she commented quietly.

“Oh yeah,” Sonic told her. “Tails super soundproofed this thing. We can be as loud as we want and no one can hear us if we’re in here. We also do all our recording here!”

Sonic was more dressed down than Sonia had really seen, wearing socks and athletic tape around his ankles, his quills a windblown mess and his usual jacket nowhere to be seen. Manic was dressed comfortably as well, cozy jammy pants and no earrings. Amy was there as well, perched happily on the couch with a bag of chips and in her own silk jammies. Finally Tails was sitting in a wheely chair, his leg tucked up to support the bass guitar he was holding. Sonia almost wished they’d told her it was so casual, now feeling quite overdressed in her nice clothes.

She drifted in Sonic’s steps as he led the way in. The whole space was lived in, but clean enough. The four of them must have been all living there, with how much stuff there was. Instruments crowded the front living area, making it a bit tight but with how the RV expanded it was open enough. There was a keyboard– electric model but high end– tucked into the space next to the couch. Sonic’s guitars hung on the wall just behind the driver's seat and the drum set sat next to that space with Manic happily sitting in the middle of the set, fidgeting and tapping out an idle rhythm as quietly as he could. Like he just couldn't hold still. Which as far as Sonia had observed, was accurate.

Manic's face lit up when he noticed her, and he hopped up to give her a side hug. “Hey! Don't be nervous,” he said brightly, throwing Sonia for a bit of a loop because she'd been sure she'd looked neutral at worst. But Manic just plowed on, gently herding her towards the keyboard. “I'm so hyped to hear you play, you're gonna be great.”

Sonia found herself sitting at the keyboard now, perched on a foldout stool. Sonic had taken his place by his guitar's speakers, and was fiddling with the volume with his back to Sonia and Manic. She squinted at Manic, who was hovering in her space with a warm smile. “Why do you think I'm nervous?” she asked, trying to inject as much confidence into her voice as possible. “I've played plenty of shows, I don't get nervous anymore.”

Manic winked at her. “Hard not to be,” he said lowly, like it was a secret. “I listened to him for years before we played together. I still get nervous sometimes that he'll want the whole spotlight back or I won't be good enough for him. He was my idol, so it’s kinda terrifying sometimes to stand next to him and play.”

Sonia’s face fell at that, and she stared up at her younger brother. “Have you not heard the way he talks about you in interviews?” She whispered back. “He loves playing with you.”

Manic blushed, and he scratched at the back of his head. “I guess,” he said reluctantly. Then his smile returned, brighter and more eager. “It's just jitters. Get warmed up and we'll all feel better.”

And with that he straightened up and all but skipped back to his drums, dropping onto the stool with a goofy kick of a leg.  He was so much looser and sillier when he wasn’t on stage or out at events where he hid halfway behind Sonic. The shy act he presented to the world was convincing, as was Sonic’s. She still was working on finding what differences Sonic had in real life versus on stage. 

Speaking of which, he clamored up on the arm of the couch with his instrument and set it across his lap. “You know any of our songs well enough to play ‘em?” he asked, starting to pluck at his guitar aimlessly.

Sonia turned her back to them, by nature of the fact that she had to face the keyboard and reached over to turn it on. “Uh,” she said, unsure what to say. “Yeah, I think so?”

Sonic’s band never put out sheet music. And it didn’t have a piano to begin with, usually. She added her parts, inventing them as she listened. She wasn’t even sure she improved the same way each time, she wasn’t writing it down. “I can keep up,” she decided to add, resting her hands on the keys. 

She heard Manic flail a little bit, a skittering of light drum sounds ringing out. “You had to learn it by ear,” he said excitedly. “I did too.”

“Which is insane,” Sonic interjected. Tails and Amy both hummed an agreement. 

“Did what I had to do, man,” Manic shrugged. “She’s makin’ stuff up. Think that’s way crazier, personally.”

Sonic paused. “Oh yeah, you are, aren’t you,” he said. Sonia peeked over his shoulder to see him eyeing her. “That’s cool. I’m excited to hear it!”

Sonia laughed a little bit. “Yeah,” she said lightly, trying not to think too hard about it. “Yeah, for sure. Let me uh…” She swallowed hard, pressed down a couple keys and flicked her ear. “Warm up.”

“For sure,” Tails said. “Take your time. We can pick a song when you’re ready.”

Amy giggled softly. “It’s like my own personal concert,” she said, lightly clapping her hands. 

Manic continued to tap out sounds, overall just constantly being in motion. “I feel like I remember you complaining about me playing when we lived together,” he said.

Amy groaned at him. “I don’t think drums on their own is a concert,” she groused. Manic stuck his tongue out at her. Sonia found herself chuckling as she started playing through scales. They were cute. Was Amy his girlfriend? She’d have to ask about them later, they seemed close.

While she played through her scales, and then her favorite classical warmup, she thought hard about what song she should suggest. There were quite a few. Older ones that Sonia knew well, new ones that had only come out in the last year with Manic. There was Fist Bump that had dropped when Manic first appeared on stage with Sonic. There was Endless Possibility and Escape from the City, both of which Sonia loved and had a lot of fun playing along to. There were a lot of choices, and this felt so much more important than it probably was.

They were all quiet-ish as she finished playing. She wrapped up, letting the final notes trail off. Sonia turned to peek over her shoulder again, feeling slightly less nervous but wanting to see the room. She felt a bit at a disadvantage, facing the wall. 

“Hang on,” she said, standing up and stepping back. There was room for the piano at least for now, so she leaned over and picked it up before setting it in the space in the hallway, making her part of the general circle. Sonic just grinned, watching as she resettled herself. 

Manic beamed at her when she looked up again. “You pick?” he asked. 

Sonia swallowed again. Oh wow, she really was nervous. Maybe she should have just stayed facing the wall. “Yeah uh,” she stammered. “Do– Is it okay if I sing too?”

Sonic waved her off. “Please, sis,” he said. “If I didn’t want anyone else to sing with me I would’a shut Manic down ages ago.”

Tails rolled his eyes. “That’s Sonic for yes,” he added. “I won’t sing, but Manic and Sonic do, and Amy sings along too sometimes. We’re having fun, not performing.”

Manic winked. “So when Sonic sounds crazy, don’t worry about it,” he cackled. Sonic just stuck his tongue out in his green brother's direction, making himself more comfortable. 

“What’re we playing, Sonia?”

“Can we do Reach for the Stars?” she decided to ask. Sonic grinned at her again and threw up a thumbs up. 

Manic let out a delighted yell and readjusted himself. “That one's fun!” He added. Oh right– that one was a bit crazy on the drums, but Manic just seemed thrilled with the choice.

Sonia laughed at him, grateful she wasn't putting him out. “Alright,” she said. “...okay if I start?”

Manic readied himself. “I'll hop in when I get it down,” he said, usually the one who did the opening bars of this song. 

Sonia hadn't expected them to agree so easily. But she swallowed and set her fingers on the keys, and before she could think too hard and mess it up, started playing the rolling melody that was typically done on some sort of synth instrument. Manic watched her intently, his eyes bright and enchanted. It only took two rounds of the melody for him to start playing along, drumming quick and steady.

The sound had always made Sonia feel like she was flying. Running. Going somewhere exciting as fast as she could. 

Once Sonic had the pace and the arrangement down he joined in as well, and with the first chords he struck on his guitar Sonia felt something. She heard herself gasp, somehow staying in time with her brothers. Tails joined in as well, plucking out the bass line happily.

It felt electric. It felt like hanging onto a live wire with both hands, Sonia's fingers flying across the keys as she distantly heard Sonic start to sing. He was through the first verse and into the pre-chorus before Sonia remembered that she'd wanted to sing too. Manic was harmonizing so well, too.

It was a lot to measure up to but Sonia had been singing as long as she could remember. She couldn't keep the shake out of her voice as she started singing along. Amy might have also been singing. Sonia wasn't sure. The moment their voices came together Sonia's vision spun. 

Her chest felt like it might burst. 

“I'm gonna find my own way–”

Manic's voice strained. Sonia could feel him, felt tears that weren't her own pricking her eyes. Felt Manic, exposed and full of love and so excited.

“And take a chance on today–”

Sonic sounded so raw, so genuine. Fulfillment poured off him, like he'd finally found the thing he'd been looking for all his life. It resonated in her brothers. It filled her up with more affection than she'd thought possible. 

“The sky with stars so bright!

 The colors feel so right!

I've never felt like this,

I'll keep on running!”

Sonia's vision went white. The world around her and her brothers faded as they played, her medallion against her heart buzzing and singing along. 

In that moment, despite feeling her body continue to sing and play the song, she wasn't with it in any way except for the feeling of it. Manic and Sonic remained in her vision, but a fourth being was coming into focus. Centered between the triplets, surrounded by them, a lilac hedgehog stood resolutely. She was thin- her fur dingy and her quills lifeless, but she was still the most incredible thing Sonia had ever seen. Around her neck hung a medallion, shaped like a harp, that she grasped in thin fingers. 

The newcomer didn't know the words to their song. She sang anyways, simply vocalizing along and reaching for harmonies with the triplets. As soon as she was in focus she turned to each of them for a moment. Heartbreak and hope sang through whatever connection they were sharing. Love, protectiveness, guilt. 

Aleena beheld her children for the first time in nineteen years at that moment, and her children knew her for the very first time. She only had a little time. She wouldn’t have another chance at this. She knew that. 

She clutched her necklace and pushed as much encouragement and pride into that connection as she could. She spoke only two words. 

“I'm here.”

Chapter Text

The triplets were eighteen. 

Sonic was delighted to discover that with the addition of playing music together as an activity option, Manic was almost a constant. Between that and whatever wall had broken down in the last few weeks, Sonic found that more often than not Manic would not only come around most days, but he’d be looking to be touching him or Tails whenever possible. A lot like how Sonic had seen him act when Amy was around, he clearly liked to hang onto the people he cared about. Especially when Amy didn’t tag along, he was clinging to Sonic’s side.

Amy was also more consistently tagging along with Manic, bringing her cards to do fortunes for them all (except for Manic) and bags of snacks and various kinds of cookies that she baked at home. She was getting more comfortable the more Manic got comfortable. Any tension that had been left over between her and Sonic vanished and he caught her eyeing him before turning her face away as fast as she could, more than once. Sonic didn’t think much of it. Now that he wasn’t a threat, he was probably somewhat back to being a rockstar in her eyes. He was used to that, that reaction was something he could navigate.

The week after their first jam session, Sonic brought Manic out to the safe house that they’d decided would be his and Manic’s meetup spot while Sonic was doing shows out of the capital. Rolling up on the building tucked in the middle of random apartments towards the docks, Manic had grinned and told him that this wasn’t too far from his place. Sonic had taken that as a good thing and proceeded to move their drums to the little living space. For Manic, because he clearly loved playing them and Sonic and Tails certainly weren’t using them.

Most of the resistance safe houses came with beds, a kitchen, and a small living area. Leaving the drums and a guitar in there wasn’t a big deal, especially if it gave them chances to get more glimpses of their mysterious third triplet. She’d occasionally be humming along to whatever they played when they reached for her, but she never really reached back. This made it hard to get a good look at her, but Sonic and Manic were feeding details to Tails as they went in and out, trying to see if they could ID this girl.

Tails, of course, was amazing and patient despite the few details they were able to give. So far they knew she had hot magenta quills and fur, blue eyes, and a similar facial structure to the boys. Manic insisted she was upper class, stubborn, and sheltered. Sonic wasn’t really sure how he made that assessment but he also figured Manic could sense things about her that Sonic couldn’t with his powers. With all that, Tails started pulling potential matches for pink hedgehogs on the upper side of the city, but it would still take time. While he searched, the boys made time to hang out whenever they could.

Which brought them to this night. Sonic had finished his show, Tails had packed them a night bag, and Manic had been told to turn the oven on for when they got there with the frozen pizza. Bag strapped on, RV locked up tight, Sonic and Tails, who clung to Sonic’s back, sped off towards the city.

Tails was dropped at the grocery store, while Sonic ran ahead to drop their things at the house. Manic looked up when he heard the door open, and his face split into a wide grin that showed off his tooth gap. Happiness— a feeling that practically oozed off Manic almost all of the time, and as such easy to identify— pressed against Sonic’s chest as he dropped his bag on the couch.

Manic straightened up from the coffee table, where he’d spread out the bits of the extreme gear board he and Tails had started to build, and threw his arms around Sonic. The kid gave great hugs, and Sonic squeezed him back as hard as he could, having figured out that Manic loved to be squished with the hints he got off of Manic’s broadcasted feelings. “Hey bud! Good to see you,” he said, throwing in a pat on Manics back before he pulled away.

Manic turned back to his project and sank back down to the floor. “Good to see you too, dude,” he said warmly. “Tails is grabbing the food?”

Sonic nodded, flopping down on the couch so he could watch Manic tinker. “Yep! Figured we could do a movie night, a jam sesh, whatever, after you two are done working on this for the night,” he said, leaning over to yank his shoes off. His ankles ached a bit, but nothing a little lazy time wouldn’t fix. “We don’t gotta be back at the RV till tomorrow night, so we’ve got a ton of time.” 

Manic’s eyes lit up, and the warm feeling that he radiated off of him got warmer. “You’re gonna stay the night?” He asked, looking up from his board parts. Sonic nodded, kicking his shoes off to the side. “Sick! I don’t have any jobs tonight, can I stay too?”

Sonic perked up a bit at that as well. “You wanna?” He asked. Manic had hung out pretty late, but he’d never stayed overnight before. “I’m gonna have to call in to HQ later for a check in, do you mind that?”

That did give Manic pause, he picked at his claws for a moment as he thought. He seemed to be a little more conscious of his powers all the sudden, because Sonic felt him retreat mentally. Manic hummed a little bit before shrugging. “Nah,” he said. “I’m used to those guys enough, I think. Used to work with em here and there, before we started running all the jobs through you and Tails. Depending on the jobs.”

Sonic was pretty sure Manic had never interacted with Sally before, but that wasn’t gonna stop him. They’d have to meet eventually if Manic ever actually joined the resistance. “Alright, cool,” he agreed easily. “Your uh, roommate gonna be okay without you?”

Manic barked a laugh, fishing a beat up phone out of his fanny pack. Every phone Sonic had seen him with was different, and he’d yet to see the same phone twice. “Yeah, he’ll be fine as long as I let him know not to expect me back,” he said, flipping open the ancient looking device and starting to type. “I sleep over at Amy’s all the time, he’s used to it.”

Sonic nodded along, watching Manic type. He and Tails were quietly arguing about if Manic and Amy were dating, and Tails was certain they were. This would add points to his theory. Sonic was less sure, but the way they acted it wouldn’t be all that surprising. They’d find a time to ask at some point. When it wouldn’t be too random to bring up.

 “Alright, cool,” Sonic said, leaning back on the couch and getting more comfortable. “We ever gonna get to meet this guy? You live with him long?”

Manic just shrugged, making a noncommittal noise. “Oh, like, forever. And, maybe,” he said, and the way he said it made Sonic think it was just a polite way to say no. Then Manic went on. “He’s kinda reclusive. I’ll let you know if he’d ever be down to meet you guys… I think he’d like you.”

That sounded like it was important to Manic. The gently affectionate feeling that came with the statement told him that this wasn’t just some roommate, but Sonic didn’t feel the need to push the subject. If it was important, he’d find out later.

The boys lapsed into comfortable near-quiet, with Sonic humming and Manic joining in here and there while he worked on the components of his project. Time passed, and eventually the sound of Tails turning the deadbolt got both boys moving again. Sonic hopped up to open the door the rest of the way, Tails bustling in with his arms full of bags. 

“Didja get the goods?” Sonic teased, snatching a couple bags to lighten the load. Tails laughed along, using one of his tails to push the door shut again. 

Manic wandered over as well and took one of the bags. Tails grinned at him as Manic bumped his shoulder. “Got all the best snacks,” Tails said. “And I grabbed a copy of that Knight of the Wind movie!”

Manic looked down into the bag. “Knight of the Wind?”

Sonic chuckled, herding both of the boys towards the kitchen. “Yeah, I got to do a song for this new blockbuster,” he explained. “It’s finally on DVD. Thought it could be a fun watch.”

Manic snorted, dropping his bag on the counter. Sonic could hear the telltale sound of several bags of cheap candy crinkling within. They'd offered more than once to buy nicer stuff for Manic, they had the money, but Manic insisted he liked the cheapest brands. Manic tended to ask for the bare minimum, even prefer it, most of the time. It was what he was used to.

Except with— “Here ya go,” Tails said, pressing a small container of fancy ice cream into Manic’s hands. “And I got the good pizza. Stuffed crust, all the meats. Oven ready?” 

Manic was already tearing open his container. Pistachio ice cream with chocolate swirls, little chocolate mixed in and actual pistachios. The kid's taste was weird, but at least he didn’t have to fight to keep his treat to himself. “Oven’s been ready,” he said to Tails, digging in the drawers for a spoon. 

Sonic tutted. “You’re going to spoil your dinner,” he pointed out, mostly for the bit. 

Manic went right along, sticking his tongue out at Sonic. “You’re not my boss,” he sniped right back, taking a bite of his treat. He made an exaggerated sound of delight, making a show of not listening to Sonic.

Tails just rolled his eyes, taking the pizzas out of the bags and sliding them across the counter to Sonic. While he finished unloading the grocery run, Sonic unboxed the pizzas and threw them into the oven. It looked like Tails had gone a little crazy, little pints of fancy ice cream for both him and Sonic as well, bags of candy, popcorn, pizza. It felt like prep for a party, even if it was just meant to be the three of them. Which made Sonic all the more eager to get his work out of the way. 

So, Sonic clapped his hands together. “I’m gonna call Sal,” he announced. “Once I’m done updating her we’re free to do whatever we want all night.”

Tails threw him a thumbs up from where he was sticking the side of wings he’d gotten in the oven next to the pizzas. Manic gave off the tiniest strain of nerves that he hastily covered. “Sounds like a plan,” he said easily. “Where uh… where do you want me?”

Sonic just shrugged. “You can just hang out back here, if you want,” he offered, trying to give him an out. “You don’t have to say anything, but I’m not gonna kick you out for this. I trust you.”

Whatever anxiety Manic had was smoothed away just like that. He smiled again, letting Sonic see his tooth gap. “I’ll lurk around, then,” he said, following Sonic back to the couch and happily plopping down next to him so that their legs were touching. 

Sonic took that as permission to throw his leg over top of Manics, scooting closer. Manic just beamed at the physical contact, settling back into the couch while Sonic tapped at his watch. Sonic flipped the channel over to three, the one that they used for Resistance Leadership stuff. It looked like Sally was already waiting for him, too.

”Alright,” he said, giving Manic one last chance to dip. “Here we go.” Manic didn’t move, just giving him a quick nod.

The watch chimed at them as Sonic entered the video channel, projecting a little screen up in the air. Sonic made sure they were centered nicely and smiled pleasantly as Sally hit the answer button. 

Sally Acorn, as always, looked like she was one minor inconvenience away from losing her final marble. Perhaps this would be the day, because she stared at the camera with double the amount of hedgehogs she’d been expecting and her brow furrowed. “This is a secure channel, Sonic,” she said after a moment. 

Sonic just smiled serenely. “Sure is, Sal,” he agreed. “Have you met my brother?”

Manic waved a bit shyly from where he was tucked against Sonic’s side. Sally stiffened a bit. “Court Jester,” she greeted, giving him a polite nod. “I haven’t formally met you, but you’ve done a lot of work for me and my people. You do very well.”

Manic must have felt Sonic snickering internally because he relaxed significantly.  “Well I do like having happy clients,” he purred, easily slipping into an almost customer service voice. Sonic hadn’t seen how he was when he was really working— but based on what he’d heard about Manic’s black market persona this was unsurprising. “Sonic and Tails have been pleasures to work with as well. And your jobs are always interesting, I hope you’ll keep em comin’.”

Sally didn’t look like she knew exactly what to do next, smiling awkwardly at the camera and nodding. Sonic let the silence hang for a moment longer before saving her. “So, check in?” He prompted. Sally glanced between him and Manic, looking alarmed. But Sonic plowed on. “We got all the supplies delivered at our current concert location. Sister branch is doing well, Jewel told me to tell you hi for her. They’re holding their ground for now, but Robotnik is pushing for city expansion, as usual. I’m gonna see about disabling some of their teardown bots before we move to the next city in two days.”

Sally had begun to motion for Sonic to stop before giving up about fifteen seconds in. Her expression settled into resigned acceptance, breathing a sigh through her nose as Sonic spoke. She pinched her brow, rubbing it like she was trying to chase off a migraine. “Don’t be too obvious,” she muttered. 

Sonic snorted. “Don’t treat me like an amateur,” he shot back. “I know the drill. I’ll make sure it all looks like accidents, don’t worry. And maybe Manic will have something I can help him with soon!”

Manic looked surprised to be pulled back into the call. He glanced at Sonic. “I’ve been looking for spots to slot you in, man, but most of the time I can do the jobs just fine on my own,” he admitted. “And Slick hasn’t bugged me since last time. I’m good for now, but I’ll call you when I need backup. You’ll come running, right?”

Sonic’s heart warmed at that, and he nodded eagerly. “That’s what I do,” he said, patting Manic’s knee. He looked back at Sal. “Anything you need to pass to Jewel?”

Sally just sighed again. “I’ll send you a file I’d like passed over to her,” she said. “Otherwise, no. Thank you for checking in.”

Sonic winked at her. “You got it,” he said brightly. “I’ll see you later. Maybe try and take a hot shower or something, you look stressed—“

He didn’t get to finish the statement before Sally hung up on him. He wheezed a bit, looking over at Manic, who looked a bit more uncomfortable with how that had gone down. Sonic just smacked his shoulder playfully. “It’s fine, man, relax,” he interjected before Manic could spiral too far. “She’s always like that. She seriously needs a spa day, a vacation, a drink… something. She’s fine.”

Manic didn’t look super convinced. “Who exactly is she?” He asked. 

“She’s the leader of the Freedom Fighters,” Tails provided, coming into the room and perching on the arm of the couch. “But seriously, don’t worry about her. She’s tense a lot but she’s actually really great. She’ll warm up to you with time. I don’t think Sonic warned her she’d have a guest.”

Sonic shrugged nonchalantly. “I knew she’d be weird either way,” he excused. “At least this way she didn’t have to stress about it beforehand.”

Manic shook his head. “Well, hopefully she doesn’t like… hate me now,” he muttered. 

Sonic shook his head right back, ruffling Manic’s quills up a bit. “If she hates anyone, it's me,” he assured his brother. “But only because I try to make her have fun once in a while.”

Tails peered over the board parts that were laid out appraisingly. “She needs someone to remind her,” he added. “It’s good for her. And she actually loves Sonic, he’s just a little too wild for her sometimes.”

Manic threw a glance at his blue brother, one that told Sonic he didn’t believe it. His face crinkled. “She’s gonna be nuts for me then,” he sighed. “I didn’t think you were all that wild.”

Sonic barked a laugh at that. “That’s because you haven’t been out to work with me,” he argued. It was reasonable, Sonic knew he was pretty mellow when they were just hanging out, but... “Just you wait. I’m the best guy you can get when it comes to quick thinking.”

”And all that improv is what stresses Sal out. Also, have you ever tried keeping him in one place for more than a day?” Tails asked, sliding off the couch to fiddle with Manic’s board. “If he’s told he can’t just up and run he turns into a total menace.” Sonic made a loud offended sound, sticking his tongue out at Tails, who just waved him off. “It’s the truth and you know it.”

That was true. It was all true. Sonic just sighed dramatically, draping himself on Manic’s shoulder. “I’m under attack,” he whined, throwing his arm over his eyes. “From my own baby brother. Cruel world.”

“I’ve been on a boat with you,” Tails bit out, glaring at Sonic with no real intention behind it. Manic snorted when Sonic gasped, clutching his chest. 

Things only devolved from there, with Tails and Sonic teasing each other and Manic occasionally piling on to one side or the other. It went on like that until the pizza timer went off and Sonic sped off into the kitchen to get the food while Tails and Manic went about piling their progress into the crate they were keeping all the parts in. Sonic set the pizzas on their trays, sliced them up, and divvied up the wings on plates. 

”Ready?” He called from the kitchen. His brothers called back affirmatives, so Sonic set pizza slices on each plate and ran them to the coffee table before taking another lap to drop cans of soda in front of each of them. He also grabbed the DVD and popped it in the player, flipping on the TV as fast as it could react. 

Manic grinned, scooping up the soda immediately. “This smells soooo good,” he said, eyeing his pizza as Sonic sat down and tossed Tails the remote. 

Sonic snickered quietly, watching as the movie menu came up, playing the instrumental version of the song he and Tails had done for it. “Then dig in,” he encouraged, grabbing his own slice as Tails hit play. “Let’s see if this thing’s any good…”

The three of them sat through the rather rough exposition, eating their dinners and making quiet comments to each other. As the plot started to pick up, Sonic put the plates in the dishwasher and Manic and Tails moved the coffee table out of the way so they could pile all the blankets and pillows they had on the floor in front of the TV.

They made themselves comfortable, broke into the candy and popped popcorn. Manic squinted at the TV as the movie played out. He didn’t look impressed, but Sonic wasn’t either. It was… not great.

Eventually the scene with the song Sonic had done rolled around, and it became clear that they'd blown their entire budget and all their effort on that single scene. It was admittedly epic, even if getting to it had been a touch painful, and Tails had already dozed off face down in the pillows. 

Manic shot a look to Sonic when Tails draped his twin tails over Manic’s legs in his sleep. Sonic smiled hard at that. “Means he likes you,” he whispered to Manic, making himself more comfortable. They’d apparently be sleeping there, if Manic was getting Tails acting like a blanket. 

Manic visibly warmed at that, and dared to gently run his hand over the tails. “I like him too,” he murmured. He also leaned back in the blanket pile, settling as much as he could. “Dunno if I'll be able to sleep, this is normally when I'm awake.”

Sonic snickered softly as Tails made himself more tangled with Manic's legs and arm. “I don't think you're allowed to move,” he told Manic solemnly. 

Manic just shook his head, chuckling under his breath. “Definitely not,” he agreed easily. “Just turn something else on when the movie's over and I'll cope.”

Sonic agreed easily, grabbing one of the blankets and draping it over both Manic and Tails. Manic eventually put his arm around Tails, around the time the movie was ending, and Sonic had to resist the urge to snap a photo on his phone. If Manic hadn’t still been awake, he would’ve. Instead he made himself useful by flipping channels for Manic until they found something new to watch, and Sonic settled in on Manic’s other side to try and sleep as well.

Sonic must have fallen asleep at some point. The last thing he remembered was watching some really cheesy kids show that Manic claimed to have watched when he was a kid and then he was waking up to hushed, smothered sounds of pain. That sounded like Tails. That brought awareness quickly back to his mind as he lurched upright, squinting into the dark to try and figure out what was happening. 

“It’s alright, it’s fine, it’s really just a scratch—“

”I’m so sorry— I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean—“

”I know, it’s fine—“

”Just–I’m sorry— quit wiggling, it’s bleeding—“

”It’s not that bad, Manic—“

”What happened?” Sonic blurted, trying to see with the dim light that the television was providing. As his eyes adjusted, he could see Manic fussing with a little wad of paper towels that he was trying to keep pressed to Tails’ forearm. There was nothing obviously wrong, but they wouldn’t be awake and hissing under their breaths at each other if everything was peachy.

Manic didn’t answer right away, finally getting a hold on Tails and getting decent pressure on whatever had happened. Tails looked over at Sonic, his expression softening and his ears falling slightly. “Everything’s fine, we were trying not to wake you up,” he whispered. “Manic had a nightmare.”

Manic grumbled quietly, his own ears pinned back. “You startled me, man,” he said breathlessly. Now that Sonic looked, Manic’s paws were trembling as he handled Tails’ arm carefully. Actually, his whole frame was trembling. Sonic took that as permission to get moving. 

He pressed into their space carefully. “Can I do that for you?” Sonic asked, gesturing at the wad of paper towels. Manic looked up, his face crumbling, and somehow his ears dropped back further. He removed his hands and let Sonic take over. “What happened?” Sonic asked again, softer this time.

Manic swallowed hard and Tails scooped his hand up with his free one. “I tried to wake him up,” he explained quietly, though he didn't bother whispering anymore. “He was having some sort of nightmare and when I touched him he, he reacted kinda… Does that happen a lot?”

Manic grimaced visibly, and the hot embarrassment that whispered through the air pounded against Sonic’s skull. “My da— My roommate… has thick skin,” he said faintly. “I didn’t think I swung that hard in my sleep.”

It wasn’t really an answer, but it did enough. And the slip was interesting, but this wasn’t the time to press. They’d meet the roommate eventually, if it was important. Sonic hummed quietly, peeling back the paper towel to squint at the claw marks. They really weren't bad, actually. Tails smiled sleepily. “It startled me more than anything,” he assured both hedgehogs gently. “It’ll be fine. Don’t even worry about it.”

Sonic had to agree, patting Tails on the arm. It had already stopped bleeding anyways. So he turned and pulled Manic closer, into a hug that he yanked Tails into as well. Now that they were holding him, it was clear Manic was shaking still. He burrowed into Sonic’s shoulder easily, letting out a breath. “I’m sorry,” he said again, his voice small. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

Tails just flicked his ear gently. “You didn’t mean to, it’s fine,” he whispered back. “We know now. We’ll be more careful if that happens again.”

Manic let out another heavy sigh, slumping against both Sonic and Tails now. “Don’t try and wake me up if that’s happening,” he said instead. 

Sonic tutted at him and flicked his other ear. “Nah, man,” he said. “We’ll just be careful. We’re not just gonna leave you to have crappy dreams.”

Especially if it had been bad enough to wake Tails up. To make him decide to disturb Manic’s troubled sleep. Sonic had nightmares, occasionally. Far too vivid dreams of falling from the sky and plunging into cold water. Nothing bad enough that Tails knew, though. 

Yet another stark reminder that Sonic really didn’t know what kind of life Manic had had to this point. He held his brother just a little tighter, smoothing down his quills that were bristled up from the stress. “M’sorry,” Manic mumbled against Sonic’s shoulder. Tails just patted his back, gave him a tighter squeeze as well. 

“Sonic’s stabbed me in his sleep more times than I can count,” Tails said, instead of trying to keep saying it was okay. It had its intended effect, because Manic snorted weakly. Encouraged, Tails curled his namesakes around his brothers. “It’s just part of sleeping next to hedgehogs, and I’ve been sleeping in Sonic’s space since I was a kit. Sometimes stuff happens.”

Manic leaned back enough to give Tails a wobbly smile. “Alright… if you’re sure,” he said faintly. “Thank you for… all this. Sonic picked a good little brother.”

That dragged a long, delighted purr out of Tails as he pulled Manic into his own hug. Sonic just smiled, draping himself around them both and holding them. 

It was almost perfect. They just needed to find their sister.

The triplets were eighteen.

Despite the little nightmare incident, and to Manic’s great surprise, Manic’s brothers kept inviting him back. They had more sleepovers, with Tails and Manic hunched over the new ex-board that was slowly coming together. With long jam sessions, listening to Sonic sing and Manic just barely daring to sing along. Sometimes. Quietly. 

Some nights Manic would go to the safehouse by himself to slam out his own song ideas on the drums that they’d left there for him. He felt a little bad for cheating on his drumset at home, but he couldn’t resist. Sonic’s set was so nice, he was a little obsessed and they’d said he could play them whenever he wanted. Life went on, weeks went by, and Manic found himself happier than he’d ever been. 

Work was even going well, though he still hadn’t found anything that he really needed any help from Sonic with. He and Tails kept the jobs coming, kept tipping him, and Manic reminded the people in the market what happened to people who tried to rough up the King's favorite Jester. Things ran smoothly, but then Ferrell sent him a message mid job. Even though they used burner phones, all their messages were coded anyway. Manic was hunched behind a crate in a shipping yard when it came through and he frowned hard at his banged up phone. 

The tech he was there to lift had gotten intercepted. It was on its way to Robotnik’s factory already. Manic swore under his breath and started backtracking his way out of the shipping yard towards the hole in security he’d used to get in. Getting materials after they went to the factories wasn’t impossible, but it was a lot more dangerous and tricky. 

Something that… being super fast could potentially make easier. Manic swore again, sent a silent plea to whoever was listening that involving Sonic wouldn't make things messier, and slipped his spiked cuff out of the way of his wrist watch. Detaching the tiny ear bud and dialing Sonic at the same time as he set it inside his ear, he started jogging towards the safe house. 

Sonic answered immediately. “Hey, you know it's like… 5am, right?” Sonic asked brightly. Though, he didn't sound like he'd just woken up. Manic was still trying to nail down Sonic's sleep pattern. 

“Yeah, sorry,” Manic answered quickly. “Uh. Do you still want to help me with… work?”

There was a flurry of sound on the other side of the line. “Mission time? Heck yeah, dude,” Sonic replied eagerly. “When?”

Manic took a breath, hoping this wasn’t actually the final straw for Sonic liking him. “Like, now?” He offered up sheepishly. “That tech grab for your boss went sideways. Need a little improv.” And speed…

“Yeah, be right there,” said Sonic casually , like Manic wasn't asking him to sprint across the continent at 5AM to help him steal things for a job that he'd given him. What had Manic done to deserve that? Before he could say anything else he heard Tails in the background asking what was going on. “Manic needs a hand. Op in 10,” he heard Sonic say. Manic winced.

“You don't gotta get Tails up,” he began to protest but Sonic just shushed him.

“He's my guy in the chair,” Sonic replied. “It's always nice to have backup. Just in case.”

Manic never ran these things with backup. Best he had was hoping he could fire off an SOS text to Ferrell if things got really messy. And he rarely did that anyways, usually handling things himself. Sometimes that ended in messy fights and holes in Manic’s memory, but it was the way he did stuff.

But things were already in motion, and getting Sonic to stop was trying to step in front of a speeding train. Manic let out a breath. “Alright sure,” he said quietly as he approached the safehouse. “Just hurry or our mark’s gonna get stuck on the assembly line before we can snatch it.”

There was pointed silence on the other end of the phone line. “Did you just tell me to hurry?”

Manic groaned into his hands. “Sonic, man, I'm working here. C'mon," he begged. 

Sonic snickered. “Be there in three. You home?”

Home. The safehouse. “Yeah,” Manic said, stopping in front of the building. “Out front.”

“Great. See you in three,” Sonic said again, and the line went quiet for a moment. 

Manic let out a breath. He was used to his jobs being fairly straightforward, even if there were hoops to jump through. Adding Sonic added a level of unpredictable variables that Manic wasn't certain he was ready for. But if he wanted to get those raw materials for the Freedom Fighters, he'd need a hand. 

He took a moment to text Ferrell the update, shoving the flip phone away before Ferrell could text back. Manic didn’t really want to get into it, and he knew that while Ferrell was starting to like Sonic since Manic talked about him enough, he’d probably not want Manic dragging Sonic along on missions. 

Problems for later. 

Almost three minutes on the dot, Sonic jogged up to him. He had a pair of sunglasses on, despite it being still dark, and a bandana pulled up around his face enough to obscure anything that would make him easy to identify. This was the first time Manic had seen Sonic outside with his natural quill color, though. He had his red running shoes on too, his ankles bundled tight in athletic tape. 

Sonic threw an arm around Manic in a quick hug before stepping back. “Where to, boss?” he asked. 

Manic had never had Sonic run with him before, come to think of it. He knew he carried Tails when they came to visit, but he hadn’t considered what that was like. But, well, no time to worry about that now, not if they wanted to get their stuff in time.  “We’re going to the south side factory,” Manic started to say. “We’ll wanna be–”

And then he was moving. Sonic’s arms bundled around him, holding him tight against Sonic’s body as the world spun into a blur of senseless colors and motion. Manic clung back, not exactly sure what else to do but trusting that he’d end up where he needed to be. And trying not to dig his claws into Sonic’s skin.

Not even a full minute later Sonic was setting him down by the fence, and Manic was staring at the factory. Manic just blinked a few times and readjusted his plans. He glanced at Sonic. “I was gonna say on the southeast side,” he finished, looking around.

Sonic just grinned at him. “This is southeast side,” he replied as Manic realized that was correct. Sonic put a finger to one ear. “Feed look good, Tails?”

Manic had forgotten he was wearing an earbud, but Tails voice sounded in his ear. “Yep! Looking good. Based on the cameras I’m in you guys are in a good blind spot, too,” said the kid, and Manic could hear him tapping away at his keyboard for a moment before the sound cut off again. He was right, too, Sonic had stopped them just a few feet off from the terminal that Manic knew how to break into. Manic turned and gave Sonic a slow smile. 

“Alright, sweet,” he said. “Stay close and give me a sec to open the door. Then we’ll wanna head down to the shipping intake.” He pulled a couple things out of his fanny pack and plugged them into the terminal. Once the screen told him the code type (today it was type three) Manic started going through the numbers in his head and punching them in. Sonic didn’t hover, thank Chaos, and Manic knew he wouldn’t have to explain his hacking methods today. 

Sonic instead waited silently, his back to Manic to keep watch. The feeling of him being there was different from his usual missions; Manic usually had to watch his own back when he was working. But now his brother was there in his shadow, zeroed in on their task and scanning for swatbots or guards. 

Luckily Manic knew how to pick entrances. He knew where the majority of the guards would be on a given day at any time. The factories all ran almost exactly the same. And Manic knew those schedule and layouts off the top of his head, memorized ages ago. Punching in the final numbers, the terminal turned green and buzzed and Manic yanked his device back out. 

“We’re in,” he whispered to Sonic and Tails, pushing the gate open and slipping inside. Sonic perked up and hustled after him, and Manic let the gate swing mostly shut, having shoved a scrap of junk metal in the way. Sonic moved like he was gonna sprint again but Manic quickly shook his head. “Hold on, planning,” he whispered. “I’m gonna hack into the crate. You’re gonna grab the stuff and move it out here. Then we split. Got it?”

Sonic nodded along, smiling the whole time. “Sounds solid to me,” he said easily. “Anything else I should know?”

”Yeah, we got about five minutes before this gate being left open trips an alarm,” Manic said. “Happen to know where shipping intake is?”

Sonic pointed off in a direction. “They’re all laid out basically the same, right? Tails, you got a map?” he asked, surprising Manic. 

“Up on your HUD now, Sonic,” Tails answered immediately. “X marks the spot.” 

Sonic looked at Manic again, his eyes bright and excited. “Ready?”

Manic nodded. “Let’s do it.”

Sonic was in his space again, hooking his arms under Manics shoulders and knees and scooping him off his feet. “Do it to it, lil brother,” he said, and then they were moving again. Even with the warning, Manic still couldn’t track the motion as he was whisked off towards their target. This time the ride wasn’t as smooth, with several lurching motions to this side or the other. Sonic’s grip on Manic shifted whenever they turned hard, keeping him from getting whiplash. 

Just a few seconds later Manic found himself perched on top of a shipping crate, and Sonic was dragging him down to his knees next to him so they wouldn’t be spotted. Below them worker bots scrambled about, interspersed with the rare mobian staff member, and Swatbots meandered around keeping watch. Manic watched the flow of the crowd, looking for openings and searching for their crate. 

“There,” he whispered, pointing across the yard to where trucks were being unloaded. Their crate was already off the truck, sitting amongst the rest of the shipment. Bots moved about, working together to lift things off the truck and onto the pavement. “The green one with the electronic lock. That’s our ticket.”

Sonic nodded along, following Manic’s gaze to the crate. He frowned at it when he saw the size— it was one of those huge crates that could easily be a small house if the right person got creative. “That tosses my idea of grabbing it and bailing,” muttered Sonic over his shoulder. 

Manic snorted softly under his breath. “I already told you the plan,” he shot back. Sonic sighed as Manic sat and watched a bit longer, trying to find that opening. Actually… Manic glanced at Sonic. “Hey, you think you can make a distraction without getting caught?”

The way Sonic’s eyes lit up frightened Manic, just a touch. He wasn’t exactly sure what he’d just unleashed, but it was already moving because Sonic was scanning the area with a new look. A bit like a wolf looking over its prey. “That, little brother, is my specialty,” he said smoothly. “How long do you need?”

Manic looked over the distance between them and the crate, and at the lock he’d have to hack. He bit his lip. “Mmm… two minutes?”

Sonic just grinned at him. “I thought you’d ask for something hard,” he said with an eyebrow wiggle. “Wait twenty seconds and then run for the box. I’ll meet you there.”

And then, once again, Sonic was moving. Sonic was gone, leaving only a blur of blue and Manic had to start counting right away, thankful that Tails picked it up immediately so he didn’t have to guess what Sonic’s definition of a second was. Ten seconds went by. An alarm blared on the other side of the intake yard. Twenty seconds. Swatbots and mobian guards alike started moving. Orders were barked at the various worker bots. A path opened up, and everyone’s attention was stolen by some tower of crates tipping over far away from where Manic needed to work.

Fifteen seconds. Manic launched himself off of his hiding place and ran for his target. He didn’t bother looking around as he ran, confident enough that everyone had cleared out for whatever show Sonic was putting on. He pulled out his improvised hacking device and plugged it again, but…

This code was new. Like, brand new, Manic and the black market hadn’t seen it before new. His device screen was throwing up error codes, which meant Manic would have to do a lot more work than he’d expected. Manic swore under his breath for the third time that night and switched modes so that he could start trying to figure out how this one worked just as Sonic appeared behind him. 

“That mess should keep em busy for at least five minutes,” he said hautiliy, peering over Manic’s shoulder. Manic looked up, trying not to look too stressed.

He gave Sonic a feeble, strained smile. “Good, I might need the extra time,” he admitted. Sonic frowned at him questioningly. Manic just groaned, typing away at his little keyboard. “New code. I don’t know the trick for this one.” 

“I can do it,” Tails interjected. 

Then Sonic was pushing in next to him. “Let me look for him,” he said, adjusting his glasses and pulling a cable out of his watch to plug in after Manic’s device was disconnected. “Tails, you see it?” It was only then that Manic realized the glasses weren’t for looks. They were how Tails kept an eye on everything.

“Got it, hold for just a moment,” Tails said lightly. Manic looked at Sonic with wide eyes as they heard Tails tap away at his keyboard. Sonic just gave him a thumbs up and waited, his foot tapping away at the pavement. 

Twenty seconds passed. The terminal lit up green and Manic wanted to shout at his brothers. What were they so cool for? Why had he been avoiding bringing them along? Right, usually his jobs weren’t this dramatic. Still.

”You’re good to go,” Tails announced, but Manic was already yanking the door open and dragging Sonic inside. “And your distraction should be good long enough to get out. I’m watching them try to run cleanup through the security cams and it's a disaster over there.”

”Thanks bud, good work,” Sonic said. Manic was rifling through the various boxes inside hastily. 

Sonic kept an eye on the door, waiting for his next part in the plan. “Here,” Manic callled out, pointing to three medium sized boxes in a row. “These are the ones your guys want. Can you still run with these?”

Sonic just scoffed and hurried over to pick the first one up. “One at a time, yeah,” he said. “Hold the door for me. Back in a flash.”

Just like that, Sonic vanished with the first box. Manic yanked the next one out into the aisle and by the time he turned with the third one, the second was already gone as well. No wonder no one ever saw Sonic when he was sabotaging Robotnik’s facilities. It was incredible to see up close though. 

The third box disappeared in a blink, and Manic moved up to the doorway. The coast was still clear, whatever Sonic had done was effective and since Sonic did stuff like that without being seen all the time, Manic had to assume it looked enough like an accident that they’d be able to get away without being noticed.

Then Sonic was back, looking absolutely delighted with himself. “All stacked up where they won’t find ‘em,” he told Manic. “Let’s get you out of here too.”

Manic held his arms up and let Sonic grab him again, allowing the manhandling and the confusing blur of his vision. Sonic must have been able to think way faster than Manic could, because Manic couldn’t make any sense of anything when Sonic was in motion. He’d have to ask about that later. 

When the world came back into focus again, Sonic was setting him down next to the crates, all smiles. They were nowhere near the gate, Sonic had run him all the way back to the city. They were tucked behind a building, the crates lining the wall. Sonic just brushed off his gloves. “That wasn’t too bad,” he said.

”Great,” said Tails. “I’m going back to bed, it’s too early for this.”

“Alright buddy, thanks for the hand,” Sonic said, taking his earpiece out. 

Manic wheezed a laugh. “Working with you guys is like cheating, that was so easy,” he cackled. “I gotta bring you on jobs more often. I almost feel bad getting paid for that, you two did everything!”

Sonic waved him off. “Don’t start, I wouldn’t have even known where to be if you didn’t know,” he said. “Wait here, I’m gonna drop this stuff with Sal. Better than arranging some sorta second pickup.”

Manic frowned. “Is just tossing it at her gonna make her mad?” He asked. Sally’s opinion of him hadn’t seemed great to start with, he didn’t want it to get worse.

But Sonic just hefted one of the crates up. “Probably,” he said flippantly. “I’ll make sure she knows it’s all my fault, don’t stress.”

Well, that’d probably work. Whatever Sonic and Sally had going on seemed to include Sonic annoying her when possible. Manic tossed him a thumbs up and went to lurk with the other boxes until Sonic got back. “Hit the gas then, bro,” he said, leaning against the wall. “I’ll keep an eye on these.”

Sonic beamed at him again and streaked off towards wherever Sally was. Resistance HQ probably. Manic didn’t know those specifics, and he didn’t plan to ask. Though, if working with Sonic was this fun? He could probably take a few more jobs.

Maybe even do a little Freedom Fighting. Could be exciting.

The triplets were nineteen.

“I want to join the band.”

Manic’s gaze flicked to Sonic, and then back to Sonia. It had only been three days since they’d played together, and Sonia had been back every night, and stayed as long as she could. They hadn’t gotten the same effect as they had the first night– seeing their mother. But whatever made them have powers, that energy, sang with them when they played. It felt like it was binding them together, in their souls and deeper still.

Which was why Sonia wanted more. Needed more. “You wanna join the band?” Sonic repeated. 

Sonia nodded at him, her head held high and her back straight. This was a gamble and she knew it– shoving her way into Sonic’s limelight, into his band. She felt like it was worth it though. “I know you both feel what I do when we play. I want in,” she said and then she paused before plunging on. “...I think it’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Sonic’s expression smoothed out a bit and he nodded along with her. “You got a point, sis,” he said. “I think so too.”

Manic perked up at that, his eyes wild and excited as he whipped his gaze back to Sonic. “What– really? We’re gonna do it?”

Sonia's heart leapt in her chest. “Wh– just like that?” she sputtered, staring at her blue brother. There’s no way it’d be that easy, right? No way, and yet... she leaned forward on the table where they'd sat to talk when Sonia had first shown up. “You'd add me just… for asking?”

Sonic and Manic nodded eagerly, in sync, which was a bit hilarious. Sonic just smiled calmly at her. “I was going to ask in a few weeks, see if you were comfortable with it. There's a lot involved with joining. But if you're up for it…”

“I am!” Sonia blurted, and the table creaked under the weight of her slapping it. Sonic stared at the table for a moment and she withdrew her hands. Right, she hadn’t mentioned her strength to them. But Sonic was fast so…“Uh… you're not the only one with powers.”

Manic snorted. Sonic just hummed knowingly, eyeing her smugly. Oh, that meant Manic had something too. But apparently he wasn't ready to explain, because instead of talking about that he looked at his claws and flicked an ear. “He means it, Sonia. It's not just playing shows. It's rehearsals and photo shoots and interviews and so much makeup and custom costumes–”

“Is all that meant to sound like it's bad?”

“And in our case, it's inventing new identities. You can't be Sonia Windomere on stage. In the band. We’re not ourselves up there, we’re characters.”

Sonia frowned a little at that, but found herself shrugging. “What's one more secret?” she murmured. “This one, at least, I think I can share with Mother. I've been playing music in public settings for longer than I can remember. I'll simply tell her I want to try something new without tarnishing our family name.”

Manic made a face like he couldn't quite believe what she was saying but Sonic just laughed. “I trust your judgement on that,” he said lightly. “Get her on board and I'll arrange for you to meet our manager, and you can shadow our next show.”

Well this was all going much faster than Sonia had expected when she'd sat her brothers down. But Manic seemed delighted and Sonic looked almost like a cat that had caught a mouse. “Just… just like that?” Sonia asked again, eyeing her brothers. 

Sonic reached across the table and gave her hand a tight squeeze. “Just like that, sis.”

Sonia slept poorly that night, thinking far too hard about the carefully curated mix of lies and truths that she was going to tell her mother when morning came. She went over it about a thousand times in her head, trying to decide the best way to spin the story. She rehearsed the conversation over and over, even as the staff came in and woke her up. 

She was nearly silent as her stylists combed through her quills, fussing with her bangs and pulling out her clothes for the day. She usually tried to carry on conversation with her ladies who took care of her, but today she was so stressed and tired. Was this worth talking to Mother about? What if she said no? Sonia would have to find a way around her, do it anyway. She had to, she would do anything to keep playing music with her brothers and—

“Miss Sonia,” coughed one of the young women. “Your clothes are ready and your hair is done. Breakfast is waiting, as is your mother.”

Sonia blinked belatedly. Most of the ladies had already left the room. How long had she been spaced out? “Oh— yes, thank you,” she said haltingly, moving to stand. Her robe gently swished around her ankles, the silk fabric soft against her fur. “Thank you, please tell mother I will be down shortly.”

The fennec, whose name Sonia usually remembered but couldn’t drag out of her sleep-addled mind today, gave her a curtsey and backed out of the room so Sonia could change. Sonia went through the motions of pulling on the sophisticated but casual outfit her staff had picked out. She didn’t even bother to look at what she was wearing before she headed down towards the conservatory where she and her Mother typically ate breakfast. At the door she stopped, gripped the medallion hanging from her neck, rolled her shoulders back and marched forward. It felt a little bit like she was preparing to go to battle. 

Lady Windomere was seated at the table already, her hair pulled into an elegant updo and her makeup pristine. The woman was a brown bear, tall and looming, but dressed in her beautiful clothes and fancy jewelry, she looked more like a darling porcelain teddy bear than the grizzly that her bloodline made her. She was holding a delicate teacup, sipping gently at it as Sonia strode in with her head held high. 

The woman had always called Sonia her blessing. Too old to have children, but desperately wanting one, Sonia had shown up at her doorstep nineteen years ago and Lady Windomere had taken her in without a second thought. All things considered, even if she was a bit strict, Sonia loved her Mother. She felt like she was well taken care of, and Mother had handled her gracefully when her super strength had appeared suddenly. Lord Windomere was admittedly somewhat absent, but Mother made up all the difference. 

At the end of the day, Sonia truly cherished her family. But now she had more family, and Sonia had to at least try to get Mother on board with her spending time with them. She didn’t want to keep sneaking around to do it. So, Sonia sat down at the table and smoothed out her skirt, then looked up at her Mother.

”Good morning,” she breathed out, trying to sound natural. Mother smiled at her, echoing the greeting. Sonia smiled and prayed it didn’t look too forced or nervous. “I have been working on something these last few weeks, and it’s produced results. I hoped to discuss them with you this morning.”

Lady Windomere smiled serenely at her daughter, gently sliding a teacup over to her. “Of course, sweetness,” she said. Sonia took the cup, her grip always delicate when it came to the fancy fragile dishes her mother loved. “Tell me everything.”

Sonia tried to be subtle when she took her deep breath before diving in. “In the interest of diverse experiences, I've auditioned to play with a well known group and they've offered me a position. It's very different from my previous performance experience, but the group is professional and they've treated me very well through auditions. They've agreed to keep my identity under an NDA, so I'd be working under a pseudonym and our family name would be unconnected,” she said, trying to speak evenly and not stumble over any of the details she'd come up with. “I want to play with them for a year or so. Before I start school.”

Lady Windomere's eyebrows rose as Sonia spoke, slowly setting her teacup back on its saucer. “Well, it sounds like you've thought of everything, dearest,” she commented, her tone lightly surprised. Sonia wanted to believe she sounded impressed. “Are you going to tell me who this group is?”

Sonia smiled faintly. “It's Sonic Starlights group,” she admitted nervously. This was it, either her mother would shut her down or she’d let it happen. Sonia felt herself bracing. 

“That’s that… rock and rollers band you like, isn’t it?” Well, Sonia wanted to say, they weren’t exclusively rock. Instead she nodded along, studying her tea rather intensely. “They want a classical pianist?” 

That wasn’t a no. Sonia beamed up at her. “I impressed them,” she said proudly. “They really liked what I brought to the table. Is that alright?”

Lady Windomere mulled it over as she took another sip of her tea. As she set the cup back down she hummed slightly. “As long as they follow through with the NDA, I don’t see why not,” she finally replied, smiling warmly down at Sonia. “You’re an adult, even if a young one. You can make choices of your own, and it sounds as though you’ve put a lot of thought and planning into doing this. I trust your judgement.”

Sonia had to stop herself from leaping across the table, instead forcing herself to walk calmly around it and draping her arms around her mother’s shoulders. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you,” she twittered, bouncing a little with excitement. “Thank you, Mother! I won’t disappoint you.”

Lady Windomere laughed softly, hugging Sonia back. “I know you won’t,” she told her easily. “You’re going to do wonderful things, I just know it. I just hope that the things you choose to do bring you all the happiness you deserve, and this seems like it's important to you.”

”It is,” Sonia said immediately. “It is. I really feel like I need to do this.”

Her mother cupped her cheeks gently. “Then do it, Sonia,” she said. “Your music has always been a gift. I’m happy you’ve found another venue to share it through.”

Sonia smiled at her, hugged her one more time, and then ran off down the hall to call her brothers. She was so excited, she forgot to finish her breakfast.

They made the arrangements. Sonic sent her an address, a time and date, with instructions to dress comfortable and wear a mask. So, Sonia did exactly that. Wearing only a black t-shirt and bleached out jeans, she stood waiting for her brother in yet another parking lot in the evening. This time, Sonic didn’t appear out of thin air, though. He came riding up in a car that Sonia had never seen before. 

The silver SUV parked next to her car and the back door swung open for Sonic to hop out. “Hey, Sonia!” He greeted her, coming up and slinging an arm around her shoulder in a half hug. Today he was fully Sonic Starlight, complete with the ice blue contacts and high red boots. With them on, he was actually the same height as his sister. He was wearing makeup nicer than Sonia thought she could do herself, too.

“I want you to meet Diane.” Sonic directed Sonia’s attention to the driver's seat as a serval stepped out onto the pavement, smoothing out her pantsuit. Practical heels clacked against the pavement as she approached, her carefully styled hair hanging tastefully in spiked bangs.

“Pleased to meet you, Sonia,” she said, sticking out her hand for a shake. Sonia took it in her own carefully measured grip— firm, but not hurting anyone. “Sonic’s told me he wants you in his band. That’s quite the compliment, I didn’t even think he wanted to share his stage once, but now he’s trying to add another. If I didn’t know better I’d think something was going on.”

”Oh c’mon, Diane, you know I’m just filling out the roster,” Sonic scoffed, giving Sonia’s shoulders a light squeeze. “She’s just what I need to round things out. Trust me, she’s perfect.”

Sonia just smiled politely, hoping that it showed even though she had a mask on. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me,” she said. “I would have dressed nicer, but Sonic told me to go casual…” She shot a look at her brother, all dressed up and wearing a full face of makeup. 

Sonic just grinned at her, looking amused that he’d sabotaged her professionalism. Diane waved her off as well, opening her purse. “No no, that’s perfect,” she said, pulling out a lanyard. “You’ll be with me tonight, getting a look at the behind the scenes. I want to make sure you know what you’re in for if you decide to sign on with us.” She held out the lanyard for Sonia to take. It was a pass, just like the one Diane had clipped to her jacket. 

Sonia smiled slowly and slipped it on over her head. “Thank you,” she said. “That’s very kind.”

Diane chuckled dryly. “Well, Sonic didn’t exactly explain everything to our last newbie,” she said, giving Sonic a side eye. “So I’m making certain we’re perfectly transparent this time.”

Sonic groaned and pulled open the car door. “I’m telling you, I told him exactly what was involved and he stopped listening after I said ‘you’ll play the drums’.”

Sonia had to snort a little as Sonic shuffled her into the car and slid into the backseat next to her. That was so perfectly on brand for Manic. Diane climbed back into the driver's seat. “What’re we doing tonight?” Sonia decided to ask, since Sonic hadn’t mentioned it yet. 

Diane shot a sly smile over her shoulder as she put the car back into drive. “We’re playing a show on the west side,” she said. “About thirty minutes from here. Buckle up, we have a lot to do.”

Half an hour later, Diane was driving them behind the concert venue, flashing her badge at security as she pulled into the parking lot. Sonia stared out the window as they passed by the crowds that were waiting to be let into the building, all wearing Sonic’s shirts or either of her brother's colors. The windows of the car were tinted. They had no idea their rock star was passing them just then, fussing with his quills in the rear view mirror.

Diane parked the car. “Alright, stick close and pay attention,” she directed, stepping out of the car. Someone opened the door for Sonic and Sonia slid out after him while he exchanged pleasantries with the young beaver in a security t-shirt.

Diane was walking already, and Sonic fell easily into step behind her. It was only because Sonia had spent time with him enough now that she noticed he walked a bit weird in his boots, but it translated to a swagger that most people wouldn’t think much of. Sonic carried himself differently with staff and his crew bustling around him. The walls that he usually had up were thicker, even with him smiling and greeting everyone as they ran around doing their jobs. They came down a hallway through the maze of the back of the concert venue and Diane stopped them at a door labeled ‘Dressing Room’ that also had a large sign taped to it reading ‘knock gently before entry’. 

Diane did exactly that before turning the knob and holding the door open for Sonic and Sonia. Sonic cruised into the room and Sonia followed. The vibe felt different immediately. This room was small, softly lit, and stuffed with costumes. Manic was seated at the vanity, the only place in the room that was well lit, while Amy carefully went about pulling his quills back into a carefully styled high ponytail. 

Sonia had wondered how they pulled that style off with how thick Manic’s fur and quills were. Apparently the answer was simply time and about a hundred bobby pins. The navy coloring had already been streaked into his hair over his darker green stripes, hiding them and making slightly different shapes in his patterning. Amy was too focused to notice them coming in, but Manic’s ear twitched in their direction. “Sonic back?”

”I’m back!” Sonic confirmed, coming up beside him so that Manic could see him in the mirror. Manic grinned despite holding perfectly still for Amy. “Got Sonia and everything. How we doing?”

Amy hummed around the bobby pins she had in her mouth, pinning another section into place. Sonia came around as well, wanting to see the feat that was taming Manic’s quills closer. The pins were green, she realized, to hide the fact that there were so many. Manic laughed lightly at the face Sonia made. “She’s almost done with this, then it’s just my face,” he answered for her. He looked up at Sonia. “Good to see you again. You don’t gotta wear that mask with us,” he added.

Today he didn’t make that face he usually made when she would first arrive. Sonia reached over and squeezed his shoulder after pulling her mask down around her neck. “Good to see you too,” she replied, feeling herself smile. Sonic had said they were allowed to be close, but not to mention being siblings in front of Diane. 

Sonia had a feeling Diane was smarter than that, but she went along with it. Diane had settled herself against the wall for the moment, scrolling and typing something out on her phone. “I’m going to go check on setup with Tails,” she said after a moment. “Sonia, you can stay here for the moment. Assuming you sign, this’ll be your first stop for every show.”

Sonia gave her a nod. “Alright, thank you,” she said politely. Diane looked up from her phone, nodded back, and then slipped back out of the room. 

The door clicked shut and then Sonic was all up in Sonia’s space with what looked to be hair chalk. “I’ve been dying to try this,” he was saying, pulling a section of her quills up. 

Sonia squeaked and pulled away. “Hey! What’re you doing?!”

”Giving you a taste of the routine,” Sonic replied, shoving the second chair under her suddenly and scooting it up to the mirror next to Manic. Manic snickered but Amy immediately swatted at him when it caused him to move. Before Sonia could stop him, Sonic was dragging the navy through her quills as well, covering up her natural darker pink quill tips with the same color that he and Manic were wearing. 

Amy finally finished pinning the ponytail up, freeing up her mouth. “You’ll have to cover that up if you go out there,” she explained while Sonic focused on laying the color in. “It’s the same color Sonic and Manic have always worn. You’ll all match.”

Manic grinned. “Twinnies,” he giggled, leaning his head back when Amy pulled gently on him so she could fix his side burns that wouldn’t fit into the ponytail. She pulled them carefully and intentionally into sets of two spikes on each side of his head. ”Or triplets, I guess… there’s not like, a cute way to say triplets, is there?”

“I haven’t heard one, no,” Sonia shrugged, giving up and letting Sonic do her hair. Amy filled the quiet with little instructions, having Manic move his head this way or that as she locked his quills into place with what looked to be industrial hairspray. Meanwhile, Sonic packed in the color, easily hiding her real markings by giving her long streaks of navy, almost like Manic’s. Amy moved to winding a strip of navy silk around the base of Manic’s bobbi pinned ponytail, dressing it up a bit more and leaving the tattered tails hanging off the back of his head. 

Meanwhile Sonic reached over and helped himself to a couple of the hair ties. He started pulling her hair up into high space buns on each side, letting a few quills here and there fall out. “There we go. That’ll be easier for you to work in anyways,” Sonic said brightly. It wasn’t a bad job, either. Apparently her brother could do hair, makeup, and nails. 

Amy pulled out an extensive makeup box and took a seat in front of Manic to get started on his face. “Tell Diane he’ll be ready in thirty,” Amy told Sonic as he finished up fussing with Sonia’s hair. 

Manic groaned. “Why’s it take so long?” he fussed, still holding still as Amy started applying primer.

Amy tutted softly. “Because I’m not Sonic,” she replied. “And if he does it it’s not gonna feel very good because you’re not used to makeup being applied at super speed.”

Sonia snorted softly as Sonic pulled her to her feet. “C’mon, we’ll go check in with Diane and sound check. Then it’s a pre-show meal, me and Manic go over the setlist with Tails,” Sonic chattered as he motioned for her to put her mask back on. “Final costume checks, vocal warmups, and then we go out.” As they wandered down the brightly lit halls, more people bustled by. Once again, Sonic plastered on his rockstar smile and made small talk as they passed. He snatched a muffin off a well stocked table and then opened another door, leading them into the back-stage area of the main arena. 

Sonia could tell the space was huge, even from behind the giant screen that hid them from the seats. The sound carried in that way, as stage hands puttered about setting things up. Sonic walked out past the screen and onto the stage proper, Sonia on his heels. The empty auditorium sprawled out in front of them. 

Manic’s drum set was already set out, and a couple of people were crowded around it making sure the sound systems and his mic were set in the right places. Diane was standing down in the front row of the seats, watching them. She brightened when she saw Sonic. “How’s Manic?”

Sonic hopped off the stage, turning around to take it all in as well. “He’ll be done in thirty,” he said, framing the stage with his fingers and looking it up and down. Sonia slid off the stage to take her place next to him. 

The setup was pretty minimalist; drums, a few raised platforms for Sonic to move around on. Another mic for Sonic, a couple of his guitars. It looked good though. Sonic seemed to agree, humming his approval. “Looks like we’re about ready out here.”

”Mhm,” Diane confirmed. She pointed up towards the catwalks. Sonia followed her gaze and found Tails and a flying squirrel scampering around, fussing with the lights. “They’ll be done in about ten. We can go ahead and run the sound check so you kids can eat,” she explained. She looked at Sonia and smiled faintly. “I like the blue on you. You’ll fit right in.”

Sonia felt her face warm and she laughed weakly. “I hope so,” she replied. “I feel a bit out of place.”

”You’re not,” Sonic said certainly. “You’re one of us. You fit right in.” 

He didn’t elaborate further before hauling himself back up onto the stage and striding confidently over to grab one of the mics. He set the earpiece on and adjusted where the mic sat before moving back to center stage. A button was pushed at his hip and he flashed Sonia a grin. 

“Goooooood evening capital cityyyy!” Sonic all but shouted. Sonia flinched, the sound echoing through the empty auditorium. Diane wasn’t phased. “This is Sonic with your sound check tonight, we’re gonna put on a great show! Let’s hear it for our stage staff!” 

Up in the rafters, Sonia heard Tails and the other kid whoop. Diane put her hands to her mouth and also hollered, a prolonged near-howl. Around the stage, those who must have been local to the venue slowly stopped and waved at Sonic a little awkwardly. A few people began to clap. He just laughed lightly. “We couldn’t do it without you guys! You wayyyyy in the back, there,” he called out, pointing out into the audience side of the room. “How’s this sound?”

“Sounds good boss!” A faint voice yelled back, only carried by how empty and quiet the room was. Sonia snorted. 

She looked up at Diane. “Does he do this every time?” Sonia asked, watching as her brother moved around the stage and randomly called out to various staff to ask if everything sounded good. 

Diane nodded, watching him go about it with a subtly proud look on her face. “He’s gotten very good at building connections at every venue we stop at,” she said. “A lot of times, the talent will ignore the building staff. Sonic used to. But now he’s so uplifting with everyone. They remember that, later, when we want to come back. I’m a good manager, Sonia, but I can get Sonic whatever he wants wherever he wants because he’s good at making people feel seen. He’s good at making people like him.”

Sonia turned again to watch her brother. She hadn’t considered that.

Dinner was delivered to the dressing room, where Sonic, Sonia and Diane returned with Tails in tow when the sound check was done and the lights were all set up. The coffee table that sat in the middle of the room was full to the brim with food– chili dogs for Sonic (Sonia had learned this was his favorite food item of all time), and what looked to be stir fry for Tails, Amy and Manic. 

Manic’s makeup was done now, heavy eyeliner in dramatic shapes with shimmering eyeshadow. His muzzle remained untouched, but Sonia figured that was because he wore a mask on stage. Everyone sat on the floor around the table and dug in, plates being passed around and idle chatter between bites. Diane ended up taking a plate and perching on the couch, watching as the kids ate. 

Manic gestured for Sonia to sit next to him, with Amy on his other side. “Here, here,” he said, scooting closer to Amy. “Do you want stir fry or chili?”

”I didn’t say I was sharin’” Sonic interjected between bites. 

Sonia laughed softly, taking a plate. “I’ll take the stir fry,” she said, carefully reaching out to accept the container when Tails held it out for her.

“Here you go,” Tails said, handing it off. Sonia scooped a helping out onto her plate and settled a bit more, sitting between Manic and Sonic.

Diane coughed to get her attention. “So, what do you think so far?”

Sonia turned to meet her eye. “It’s all been pretty much what I expected so far, honestly,” she admitted. “What’s Manic been complaining about?”

Manic made a little offended sound. “I don’t complain! I tolerate my torment with dignity, thank you,” he protested even as Sonic wheezed a laugh.

Tails and Amy snorted in unison and Amy gave Manic’s shoulder a little shove. “You act like I’m burning your fur off instead of applying highlighter,” she accused.

“He holds still for it though!” Tails protested in Manic’s defence. 

Even Diane chuckled a bit at that. “He does, actually,” she agreed. “It’s a lot of people in your space before you go out— We have Amy do Manic since he’s comfortable with her, but you’ll likely end up with a stranger doing your hair and makeup every night, until you get to know whoever we have on. Between songs we’ll do touchups. There’s also photo shoots, interviews, costuming, not to mention actually recording the music. Tails and Sonic do a lot of the production themselves, too.”

Manic groaned softly at his plate, stirring his food. “It’s soooo much,” he agreed. “But the shows make everything worth it.”

Tails just nodded along. “And now you know why I never joined Sonic in the public facing role. I’m happy being unlisted, thank you,” he quipped. 

Sonia nodded understandingly, watching as Amy reached over and stuffed a napkin into Manic’s face. “You’re such a mess,” she fussed at him. 

“Which is why we don’t put on the fancy costume till I’m done eating,” Manic shot back with a little eyeroll. It was fond, though, Sonia could see him smirking. 

Diane just shook her head at their antics like she was used to this. “I just want to make sure you’ll be comfortable,” she said. “If you need anything or want anything done differently when we get you involved, just let me know and I’ll make it happen.”

Tails just nodded along. “And if you don’t tell her, she’ll just figure it out anyways,” he added. “Diane’s the best.”

Diane reached over and gave Tails’ bangs a gentle ruffle. “I’m just doing my job, kiddo,” she brushed off.

Sonia had a feeling it was a little more than that, but she let it lie. 

Once the food was cleared away, Amy dragged Manic to the corner of the room with all the costumes and started helping him into his outfit. Tonight it was a sleeveless shirt and very wide pants with lots of glittering chains and pockets, both of which fit his form just right. 

Sonic also got into his clothes, a matching black shirt that only had one sleeve and dramatic pants with a small smattering of gold stars. While they changed, Tails pulled out a tablet and started going over the setlist.  

It felt a bit like a quiz, but Sonic and Manic shouted out the names of each of the songs in unison as Tails went through the show beats. They'd do two or three songs, then take a quick break, rinse and repeat. They even included the false end of the show and the encore. Sonia had always wondered how that worked. 

Diane poked her head back into the room with a soft knock. “Ready to go to work?” she asked as Amy finished buttoning up the back of Manics collar. 

Sonic beamed at her, fixing his boot laces and straightening up. “You know it,” he answered, tugging on his fingerless gloves. 

Tails collected a hard case and then everyone was hurried down the halls towards the stage again. As they walked Diane fussed with Sonic's quills and jacket collar, making sure this and that sat just right. It felt almost parental, Sonia noticed, and Sonic just let it happen. 

As they approached the stage area the roar of the crowd cheering for the opening act was starting to be able to be heard. Sonic’s ears flicked a little, but Manic seemed to almost visibly shift. His shoulders tensed, and he drew himself up a little taller. Sonic noticed immediately, his hand going to Manic’s arm. 

The touch didn't seem to do much, as far as Sonia could tell. They stopped in a backstage area out of sight and still far enough from the sound of the audience and the opening act that they could hear each other. Tails set the case on a table and Amy took a place next to him, beginning to lay out the things she’d brought for touchups between sets of songs. 

Sonic gave Manic a huge, bright grin and squeezed his arm, turning so that they were facing each other. “Link up and focus up,” he told Manic, his voice lower. Manic met his eyes and after a moment he returned the smile, just as wide and genuine. As if his nerves had just melted off, in those seconds. 

Sonic grinned a little harder before he started what Sonia recognized as vocal warmups. At least at first. The lip buzz scale and hummed scales were familiar, as were the siren exercise and yawn-sigh. From there it sort of… devolved.

It started with Sonic's voice cracking a little bit (they were technically still teenagers) as they went through their routine. Which made Manic snort a laugh and try to imitate the sound. Sonic looked affronted, but Sonia could tell it was playful, and he gave Manic’s arms a shake. 

This cascaded into Manic flapping his arms around more, laughing. Sonic copied him back, while trying to start another exercise that Sonia didn’t recognize– this one sounded growly and Sonic didn’t do it very well. Manic however repeated the exercise, dropping his voice low and gravelly like Sonia heard in some of their heavier rock songs. She’d had a feeling Manic was the screamer, this confirmed it. 

From there they went back to something Sonia recognized, vocal fries, but now it was peppered with Manic wiggling and just moving around a lot. She knew Manic couldn’t sit still, but this seemed to be amplified. He was so excited, Sonia realized suddenly. The pre-show jitters were winding into raw hype, and Manic was only getting wound up more as they ran through their warmups. 

They did more scales in different ways, then they took turns belting out notes higher and higher until one of them gave up. This was interspersed with more wiggles, stomps and a goofy almost-game of tag. The whole thing was rather ridiculous to watch. 

Sonia leaned over to Diane. “Do they do this… every time?”

“It’s warmup,” Diane answered softly. “And getting Manic on the level. He’s gotta get his wiggles out before he goes out there and has to act all shy.”

Right– Manic’s rockstar persona was presented like he was scared of the spotlight. He’d been in the band for six months now, but he’d only just started leading songs last month. The boys continued their weird game of making dumb sounds at each other in ways that Sonia supposed counted as warming up, and playing tag, squishing each other's faces, and overall just being really dumb and silly.

Sonia felt herself smiling fondly. “I cannot believe I was ever intimidated by them,” she murmured, watching Sonic reach up and wiggle Manic’s ears around. 

Diane laughed under her breath. “They’re nineteen year old boys,” she said. “Most of their fans forget that under all the work we do to make them look cool and attractive, they’re still teenage boys.”

After a while, Diane finally clapped her hands together. The opening act had cruised backstage five minutes ago, dragging their instruments along with them and disappearing back towards the dressing rooms. “Alright, you’re on in five,” Diane anounced. A stage hand took that as their cue to hurry over and get Sonic mic’ed up, while Tails and Amy started doing the same to Manic. 

For a moment, there was just the distant sound of the crowd, and Sonic stood stock still with his head held high as the mic was secured in place and the wires tucked out of sight. Sonia was pretty sure that was the stillest she’d ever seen him. Amy quietly fussed with Manic’s quills again, only slightly askew from his scrambling around, while Tails hid Manic’s mic wires. 

When Sonic’s mic was set, Diane did the same to Sonic, making sure his costume looked good and once again fussing with his quills. Tails, meanwhile, opened the case he’d brought along and pulled out the mask that Sonia had seen in videos and photos— Manic was a wanted criminal. So he wore a teched out face mask over his muzzle, something that Sonia only now realized that Tails had to have built for him from scratch. The front of it was a screen that ran cool graphics when Manic spoke or sang. 

Tails fiddled with a couple things on the inside of it and then handed it off to Manic, who flashed one last, wolfish grin at Sonia before setting it over his face. He rolled his shoulders back and looked out towards the stage. Amy and Tails stepped back out of his space as Sonic stepped in, smoothly grabbing Manic’s hand in a tight grip. 

“Let’s do it to it,” Sonic breathed out. Sonia could see Manic gripped him a bit tighter. 

The lights on stage dimmed. The audience began to scream, and despite all the product in his quills, Manic’s fur bristled, but this time it didn’t look like nerves. Sonic let him go, and Manic all but ran towards the stage with Sonic on his heels. They both cast a glance at Sonia as they left.

Sonia felt her heart go with them, and she swore to herself that this was the last time she’d watch them walk out on stage without her. 

Chapter Text

The triplets were eighteen.

“It’s me!” Manic shouted into the house as he locked the door. But Ferrell was already sitting there in the armchair that lived in the front room, looking like a father straight out of a bad sitcom. His expression was tightly controlled, but Manic didn’t need expressions to know that his dad was pissed. Good thing Manic had expected this.

Ferrell held up the phone he’d been using to talk with Manic that night. “You left me on read,” he said flatly.

Manic shook his head. “I didn’t read it,” he deflected lightly. “I knew you wouldn’t like it but I was in the middle of stuff. Had to make an executive decision.” Ferrell’s expression remained schooled but his antennae twitched in annoyance while he tried to maintain a feeble mental wall against Manic’s reading. That didn’t really work anymore, Manic knew his dad too well. Manic had to force himself to not laugh or smile. He just put his hands up in surrender. “Look, it went great. Got the job done, got paid. Thanks to Sonic, I don’t even think I was seen once.”

Ferrell just let out a long sigh and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Manic, if you needed help why didn’t you reach out to our people?”

“Because Sonic was who I needed,” Manic replied easily, leaning over to unlace his boots as he talked. “You said you trusted my judgement. You were the one that said I should give him a shot, that he might not have an angle.”

“To be– I– I meant to be friends with! To– To hang out with! I didn’t mean you should start– to start dragging him into doing jobs with you, every person we add to our circle is a liability and for Chaos sake, he’s your client, isn’t he?!” Ferrell sputtered, gesturing wildly. Manic just stood there and listened, a small knowing smile on his face that only served to annoy his father more. “Stop– Stop making that face.”

“I know you’re just worried,” Manic said calmly. “And it's easier for you to get mad than to worry–”

“This isn’t about me, Manic. Quit peeking in on my feelings for a moment and listen to what I’m saying,” Ferrell snapped. “Mixing your relationship with your brother and your work life is a bad idea. What if something goes wrong? What if the Freedom Fighters decide they don’t need you if Sonic can just do your jobs? Then we’re out an important client and then where will we be? Without us keeping things balanced they could–”

“You said you trusted me,” Manic said again, a little more forcefully. “Those things won't happen. I have everything under control. I’m not gonna drag him on every job, I just needed a hand with this one.”

“I do trust you. I do trust you,” Ferrell said sincerely, staring at Manic. “It’s him I don’t trust. If he keeps helping you on jobs, are the Freedom Fighters gonna cut your pay? Replace you with Sonic once he learns all your secrets? I thought he would be like Amy, and you’ve never involved her in work–”

“If you trust me then you’re gonna have to trust that I know that Sonic’s not gonna screw me over,” Manic said back, crossing his arms. “He’s not going to do anything that would hurt me. You know I’d be able to tell if he was being insincere by now– I’ve seen his heart. He cares about me, I can feel it just as much as I feel it off of you and Amy.”

Ferrell let out a long, exhausted sound, deflating a bit. Manic felt him crumble under Manic’s argument, accepting his defeat as gracefully as he was able. “Please, just… be careful. Be careful and be safe…”

Manic, luckily, knew his father better than almost anyone on the planet. He knew that Ferrell didn’t handle his feelings well, he never had, but since he had cheat codes he could navigate those conversations and moments better than most. Margo was really the only other one who could defuse him. Manic knew Ferrell was just afraid for his kid. Ferrell lashed out when he felt stressed or anxious. Manic was able to parse through rough communication, see what was actually bothering his dad.

“I will be, Pop,” Manic told him, inching closer and grinning reassuringly at his dad. Ferrell immediately relented, letting Manic haul himself up onto the chair with him. “For what it’s worth, I think you’d like Sonic. Like, a lot. He’s really great. He’ll keep me safe.”

Ferrell crumpled easily with Manic gently projecting confidence and comfort. He bundled Manic close. “I do trust you,” he muttered again.

“I know you do, Pop,” Manic chuckled. “You just worry. That’s what dads are for, right?”

Ferrell took the moment to mess up Manic’s bangs roughly. “Don’t you forget it, kid.”

Manic didn’t invite Sonic on every mission, but he did start popping his earbud in and having Tails on call when he worked. He didn’t have a video feed like Sonic did, but audio seemed to be plenty for Tails. Most of the time, Tails didn’t even need to do anything. He just hung out in Manic’s ear while he dropped off goods to clients, ran pickups, stole stuff and negotiated with other thieves. But just knowing that Tails was listening, that if things went sideways Tails would send Sonic right to him was honestly nice. 

Manic could take care of himself, sure, but it was comforting. The idea that he wouldn’t have to fight by himself, that Sonic would come running right away to help. To keep him from having to have another blackout fight. 

That said, he had no intentions of having Sonic come to his rescue. That would be more embarrassing than having shown up catatonic and covered in blood. And on occasions when Manic wanted a little extra speed to get a job done, he called Sonic up and his brother would appear, elated and thrilled to be needed and helpful. 

The second time he called him in, Ferrell still seemed uncertain. The job had been for the Freedom Fighters again, so it made enough sense. The third time, Manic needed help with a job for the market, though, and Sonic still showed up and helped him break into Robotnik’s factory to pick up goods for one of Manic’s regular clients without question. The fourth time, Manic was picking up Margo’s medicine order and Sonic showed up to help him blitz in and out of the pickup location without being seen— making it way cleaner of a getaway and leaving far less mess for their contact. 

That was around the time Ferrell shifted his attitude a bit. He wasn’t begging for Sonic to show up sure, but he didn’t blink anymore when Manic mentioned calling in the blur. Once he asked if Sonic wanted a cut, and Manic passed the question on, and then brought back Sonic’s immediate decline of the offer. Time went by, Manic fell into a new routine of working and meeting his brothers at the safehouse, playing music with them, and Sonic helping Manic when asked. Of course, in Manic’s line of work, things got messy routinely as well. It was really only a matter of time before Sonic would have to pull a rescue, and somewhere inside him Manic knew that. 

Manic was sitting on a dumpster, waiting for a client to show up and pay him so he could give them his pickup location with Manic’s favorite helper, Ruth. That was how he usually ran jobs– kept things from getting stupid with people usually. If they had to give him their payment before they even got to know where their goods were, that kept people from trying to rough him up. And being in the inner circle of the Court meant his word was good. It was a system he’d been using since he was sixteen.

Tonight he had company at least. Tails was typing away at something in his ear, early in the morning as it was. “You're not ruining your sleep schedule for me, are you?” Manic asked suddenly, his voice low enough that only Tails would hear. 

The typing didn't pause. “Nah,” said the fox nonchalantly. “I've been taking naps or going to bed early so I can get up with you.”

Manic snorted softly. “That's still ruining it,” he pointed out with a light chuckle.  

“I'm still getting enough sleep,” Tails insisted. “You can ask Sonic if you want. Chaos, it's like I have two dads now…”

“Nu-uh, I'm not your dad,” Manic snickered back. “I'm your horrible influence older brother, get it right. Sonic can be the mother hen if he needs to, but as long as you're sleeping enough and you don't care that it's ruined, I don't care.”

“I think a horrible influence would be encouraging me to sleep less, honestly,” Tails shot right back. “You gotta work on your bad boy image if that's what you're going for.”

Manic huffed a little and looked down the alleyway again. “You're literally listening to me participate in organized crime. I think if we squint that makes you an accomplice of some sort,” he pointed out plainly. “Dunno if I can do much more than that.”

“Details,” Tails brushed off. “Is your contact there yet?”

Manic let it go, and let out a long sigh and leaned back. “No, he's late,” he complained. “He'd better hurry his butt up, we're holding up Ruth’s night too…”

“Do you have a lot of friends down there?” The question would've been concerning coming from anyone else. Manic knew Tails well enough now that it didn't bother him. It was genuine curiosity, maybe even a little bit of worry that Manic didn’t have people to watch his back at work.

“Yeah, tons,” Manic assured him. “I got the kids I learned to steal with, a few of em work for me now. That's where I met Ruth, she’s always had my back. I got our teacher, her name's June, she’s awesome. We call her the Head Thief. You'd like her. And the other members of the court, of course.”

“...so, then is…”

“Ferrell is a friend too,” Manic said softly. “Even if I work for him. He's still the big boss though, what he says usually goes. I try not to push too many of his buttons.” That last bit may have been a bit of a lie, but Tails didn't need to know that. He tried not to push too many of Ferrell's buttons in public facing situations, but at home all bets were off. “I'm the youngest person there. They look after me.”

“They sound nice,” said Tails lightly. Nice wasn’t quite the word Manic would have chosen to describe them, but it worked. “I'm glad they're nice to you.”

Manic didn't need his powers to tell Tails meant it, too. Even if Ferrell was firm on not crossing Robotnik too directly by giving the Freedom Fighters too much. He chuckled softly. “Maybe we'll convince ‘em that the bright future Sonic's always going on about is worth fighting for someday,” he found himself saying. 

“Do… do you wanna fight for it?”

Manic looked up at the hazed over night sky, at the muddy grey color the city created. He let out a long breath into the night air. “Yeah… I think I do…”

His contact took their sweet time showing up. And unfortunately Manic more sensed them coming than saw them. His chatter with Tails had trailed off into comfortable silence, but the tension and nerves coming off the incoming people had his quills standing up on end.

Manic was here to meet one person, not five. He straightened himself up and stared out towards one end of the alley. They were spread out. Two on one end, three on the other. “Well now,” he said loudly, theatrically. “Five on one ain’t exactly a fair fight.”

Tails didn’t need to be told twice. “Hit your panic button to ping your location,” he ordered into Manic’s ear. “I’ll get Sonic.”

Manic didn’t reply to him, focusing instead on the mobians that strolled down the alley towards him. “Aw, but you’ve got such a reputation, clown boy,” a gravely voice drawled. “If we’re gonna get away with picking fights with you we have to fight dirty.”

Manic’s hand fell to his wrist and he clicked the panic button, hoping he was subtle enough. “I don’t wanna hurt you guys,” he said airily, dropping off the dumpster. “But I think we all know I will if you push it. What do you want and why can’t we just run this the way we usually do? You give me what you owe, I send you on your way–”

“Call off your feral raccoon,” said another guy sharply. Kurt. Oh boy. So this wasn’t about his pickup.

Manic had to stop himself from trying to take a step back– there was nowhere to go, they’d set themselves up to box him in. Two guys to the left. Three to the right. Left it was, if he had to. “Oh– you guys know I’m not in charge of him, right?” he began to argue lightly, trying to force as much calm into the air as he could. “I’m not the King, I’m just the clown. Like you said. You’re talking to the wrong guy.”

Unfortunately, the center guy in the group of three must have been the one Kurt was after, because he was oozing fear and desperation. It felt a bit like grease being poured down Manic’s throat. He pushed forward into Manic’s space, making Manic want to choke on his terror. “Yeah, we know,” he spat, showing off his teeth as he snarled at Manic. “But you’re the King’s favorite, everyone knows that. So if we take you, I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out with the big bad bug.”

“Ooooorrr, you’ll piss him off more than you obviously already have,” Manic shot back, his hands twitching up into a better position to fight, stretching out his hands to be ready to swing. The other guy’s claws caught the light and Manic felt himself bristle as a growl dragged itself out of his chest. The terrorized feeling was starting to pool in Manic’s stomach, mixing with his own. “Last chance, man. Back off.”

The guys behind Manic hooted at him, egging him and their buddy on. “Ooooh, look he’s so scary,” one of them laughed. “You really wanna fight us over this?”

“Look out Reg, kids gonna get you!” There was a shove to Manic’s shoulder from behind. 

Manic felt his body react– his claws caught Reg’s forearm as he brought it up to try and protect himself. Somebody punched him. There was a flurry of motion. The guys that flanked Reg hurried into Manic’s space and tried to grab for his arms and that was when Manic’s vision blurred.

He was fifteen again and the other guy had a knife. He was going to either win this fight or die. His body was moving, even if he wasn’t really seeing what he was doing anymore, and his claws were pulling through something fleshy and his elbow was cracking against somebodies face and–

“Get down, Manic!”

Manic hit the pavement in an ingrained muscle memory reaction, as Kurt hurtled down from the roof, landing over Manic in a straddle that he quickly turned into an uppercut for the nearest guy. The attackers started to scramble, and Kurt launched himself at the leader without hesitation, pulling out his own blade. 

Manic’s vision was still spinning. His face hurt. He made himself small, pressed against the wall and, trying to school his powers and his sight into behaving well enough to not be a problem for Kurt. Kurt could handle five guys. That was what Kurt was good at. 

The best thing Manic could do now was get himself out of the way so he didn’t complicate things more. The fight was getting loud, but Manic was doing his best to stonewall all the emotions and feelings that accompanied it out of his mind. He didn’t want any part of it. He didn’t want any of this.

Unfortunately, someone had broken away from the main fight and suddenly somebody was grabbing at Manic’s body. Manic whipped around as he tried to lash out at whoever was trying to run off with him, flailing with claws and bristling quills that he hoped would catch sensitive spots.

Manic snarled loudly, all animal sounds instead of anything close to speech– much deeper in the feral territory than most Mobians allowed themselves to go. Words weren’t working anymore. He swung wildly at the rabbit that held him, his fist connecting with some part of the guy. Kurt suddenly was tossed to the side in Manic’s peripheral and the rabbit was thrown against the wall in a sweep of motion. Then, without warning, the world was blurring again. Not like it did when Manic started to black out, but the way it did when Sonic was there. Manic gripped onto the body that was holding him now, claws dug in hard and face buried against the steady shoulders of his brother. 

Sonic was there. 

Sonic ran him away from the fight.

And then he was in the safehouse. Sonic set him on the couch, kneeling in front of him with wide, concerned green eyes. Neither of them said anything for a moment, Manic just staring back at Sonic and taking stilted breaths.

Sonic smiled faintly, a bit sadly. “Was I fast enough?” he asked, gripping Manic’s bloodied hands. 

Manic let out a shuddered breath, petering weakly into a strained laugh. “Yeah– Yeah, of course,” he managed to reply, his voice thin. The fight had been cut short, and Manic could tell there was far less panic in his body than there usually would be. That said, it was still in there. It needed out. He couldn’t hold it in forever, it would only get bigger the longer he shoved it down, until it made him sick. “I’m– I’m sorry, I’m gonna–”

“It’s alright,” Sonic said evenly. “It’s okay. I’m okay. Do what you gotta do, Manic. I’ll be fine.”

Manic really wanted to argue with him, to say he didn’t know what he was asking for, but he didn’t have it in him. He let the dam break, let all the fear and stress and panic explode out of him with an agonized sound, somewhere between a yell and a sob. He crashed into Sonic’s shoulder, and Sonic grabbed him back just as fiercely. Sonic’s noise caught in his throat, but Manic could tell he was feeling it too. 

Manic clung to his brother, letting Sonic hold him together while they rode out Manic’s panic attack in tandem. It took a lot less time than usual to start dragging his feelings back within the confines of his body, the anxiety and fear drying up. Belatedly, Manic realized he had his claws in Sonic’s shoulders again. He pulled his hands away, but Sonic didn’t budge. 

The shaking had gone back to just being Manic’s problem, and Sonic just gripped him tighter. “It’s okay,” he said, like he could read Manic’s mind. “It’s okay. We’ll handle it. It’s not a big deal.”

“M’sorry,” whispered Manic, watching Sonic’s tan fur turn red. 

“Don’t be,” Sonic replied immediately, waving him off. “I knew what I was getting into. That first day you threw me? You scratched me then, too. It’s fine.”

Manic pressed his face into Sonic’s shoulder again. “I’ll help you clean it up,” he breathed out. Sonic’s hands came up and started smoothing out his ruffled quills, carding them back into their usual shape and scritching his scalp behind his ears. 

Manic all but melted into his brother's arms. “Sounds like a plan,” Sonic allowed softly. “We’ll get you cleaned up first though.” Manic just huffed a weak laugh. Sonic gave him a final squeeze before he finally let go, smiling up at him, unbothered by the clawmarks that Manic could see clearly now. 

He winced at the damage. “Eugh, I got you good,” he frowned, looking at Sonic’s maimed shoulders. 

Sonic just waved him off again. “I literally grabbed you in the middle of a fight,” he said, standing up. “I’m surprised I didn’t get worse. Don’t worry about it.”

Manic grimaced harder at that, but Sonic was right. He’d figured out who was touching him pretty quick, otherwise Sonic would have bitemarks to match. “Alright,” he muttered. He looked down at his hands. Stained red, but not soaked. He had some bruising on his face that he could feel. But overall, this was better than what he usually got when he got into fights. 

Sonic blinked out of sight for a moment before returning with a first aid kit and some washcloths. “Easy cleanup today,” he commented, nonchalantly taking Manic’s hands and stripping off his gloves. He dumped some rubbing alcohol over one of the rags and then hastily scrubbed off the blood faster than any normal person could have. 

Manic just watched quietly, feeling awkward and loved and grateful and a little bit guilty since blood was still spotting on Sonic’s lighter fur along his shoulder. Sonic flipped Manic’s paws over and over a couple times to check his work before smiling at him again. “Good as new. No snags, nothing. You’re all good.”

Manic managed to smile weakly back. “Your turn,” he said, reaching over and pulling the first aid kit to his side of the coffee table. “Sit.”

Sonic obediently plopped onto the couch next to Manic, turning away so that he could get at the claw marks. Manic scooped up the second washcloth and poured out some alcohol. “Don’t startle me if you can help it, alright?” he found himself saying. “I don’t like hurting my family…”

“I don’t think anyone likes doing that,” Sonic commented, flinching minutely when Manic started dabbing away the blood. He still held still– not behaving anything like Tails had mentioned before since apparently Sonic was a terrible patient. He must’ve been trying really hard to behave. “But if I can make it so you don’t have to fight, I’ll do it.”

Manic sighed softly. “I can fight,” he protested.

“Well yeah, you can. You’re even pretty good at it,” Sonic replied. “But you hate it. Like, a lot.” Manic swallowed hard, focusing intensely on parting Sonic's fur so he could get the skin clean. Sonic fidgeted a little bit in the silence. “Is… is it okay to ask what happened?” Manic let out a breath between his teeth, switching over to smearing antibacterial gel over the scratches. Sonic wriggled a little more under his hands. “You can be vague, or just say no,” he offered. 

Manic sighed. He could handle being vague for now. “Got real screwed up in a fight when I was younger,” he said quietly. “Scared me. Bad. Every time I get into fights now, I'm there again. And I react how I wish I had, so I wouldn't have gotten hurt like I did.”

Sonic cast a sad glance over his shoulder. The melancholy feeling was muddled with acceptance, and wholly lacked surprise. Manic focused back on smoothing bandages over the crisscrossing scratches. “It's okay,” he added after a while. “I'm okay.”

“I know you are,” Sonic answered easily, the feeling fading away. “Thanks for the patch job. I'm glad you called.”

“It's… nice having backup,” Manic murmured. The sun would be rising soon. Manic had already been tired, but the fight and ensuing bout of freaking out had sunk the exhausted feeling into his bones. He stood up and grabbed his soiled gloves, stuffing them into his fanny pack. “I should get outta your hair,” he began, heading for the door. 

“I can stay,” Sonic said instead of agreeing. Manic turned to stare at him, surprise filling the cavity in his chest. 

“You probably have like, a ton of stuff to do, though,” Manic protested. “I can just go home. This was better than it usually is. I'm alright. I just wanna sleep.” None of those things were lies either. He was tired, but he could actually talk and keep himself upright. 

This fight might not even trigger a migraine, since Sonic had intervened so fast. 

Still, Sonic just blew a raspberry and waved him off. “Nothing I can't do later,” he said. “Besides, you woke me up early. We can catch a few z's before I head back.”

Manic frowned. “I mean…” He didn't want to put Sonic out. Even if having him stay felt like sleeping next to Ferrell or Amy– safe. Loved. Whole. 

Sonic leaned forward and grabbed Manic's wrist. “I have time for you,” he said firmly. Then, after a moment he went on. “I haven't been here, but I'm here now. Let me be here now.”

Manic crumpled easily, letting Sonic pull him back down onto the couch. Impromptu sleepover it was. Sonic grabbed the blanket that hung over the back of the couch and settled it around Manic and himself. Manic let himself be moved around into laying against Sonic's side. 

He drifted to sleep with Sonic's fingers gently combing through his quills and the song he'd had in his mind forever being hummed over his head. He was too sleepy to wonder how Sonic knew the melody. 

He was home.

Manic woke up just in time to register that he was being tossed into a closet. “Keep outta sight– someone's here,” Sonic ordered, then the door was shut and Sonic was gone. Manic blinked groggily, squinting into the darkness that was the mostly empty closet. 

Someone’s here? Who was here? And why did that warrant dumping Manic into the closet. Manic scrambled to his feet and pressed his ear to the door, along with stretching his emotional radar out into the room. Sonic felt hostile, to say the least and Kurt felt–

Wait a moment. Kurt?

Manic started feeling around for the doorknob. “Wait– Sonic?! Sonic!” There was rattling and crashing around out there now, like the furniture was being aggressively rearranged. “Sonic!” Manic shouted again, finding the doorknob this time and seizing it.

There was a muffled shout. Manic shoved the door open and tumbled out of the closet. Kurt had Sonic awkwardly pinned against the coffee table and he was snarling, and Sonic looked like he was on his way to breaking the hold. “Last chance before I go ballistic man, get outta my house–” He must have been holding back– there was no way Kurt would have caught hold of him otherwise. 

None of that really mattered though, what Manic was worried about was jumping over the couch to intervene. “KURT! Dude, chill!” he shouted, grabbing Kurt's shoulder and shoving him back. Kurt went easily when he saw it was Manic, and Sonic sprung up as soon as Kurt gave him an inch. 

Sonic whipped around, all bristled up and ready for round two but Manic put his hands up and wedged himself between the two, keeping a hand on each of their chests to maintain the distance. “Stop! Stop, we’re all on the same side, take it easy!” Manic blurted, looking between the two. They both pushed at Manic for a split second before processing Manic’s words, all while Manic did all he could to smooth out the agitation radiating off of each of them.

Kurt was ruffled as well, his yellow eyes locked on Sonic before flicking to Manic. He glared daggers at Manic, and Manic only didn’t flinch under his gaze because of how long he’d known the raccoon. That gaze would have terrified most everyone else, and unfortunately it only served to make Sonic tense up more. Then also, Kurt was holding himself a bit oddly, like he was hurt, but Manic knew better than to address that first. He had some quills to smooth out.

“How did he find this place!?” Sonic demanded, not taking his eyes off of Kurt. “What’s he even doing here?”

Kurt bore his teeth at Sonic, his torn up ears pinned back against his head. “Thought Manic got grabbed,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. Kurt didn’t speak much in the first place– he liked to sign better. But he’d talk if he felt like he needed to. Apparently he felt like he needed to. 

Manic let his arms drop. “No, I’m fine,” he said to Kurt. “This is my brother, he came to get me out of the fight.”

Kurt didn’t look pleased with that explanation, instead finally taking a step back and lifting his hands. You didn’t check in, he motioned at Manic. What happened? Manic’s eyes went wide and he felt his ears heat up. He had completely forgotten. He’d completely forgotten to check in with Kurt or Ferrell or anybody after Sonic had taken him.

Manic cringed hard. “Oh,” he breathed out. Sonic watched the interaction with a guarded expression, though it was getting less hostile now. 

Sonic spoke up. “I distracted him,” he explained, staring evenly at Kurt. “My fault.”

If Kurt was surprised Sonic understood sign language, he didn’t show it. Manic was surprised, but he was more focused on Kurt digging a phone out of his pocket and stuffing it into Manic’s hands. Boss’s lookin’ for you, he signed bluntly. 

Sonic’s expression shifted again. “He’s not trying to get Manic to go back to work today, right?” he demanded. “Manic’s supposed to be sleeping right now anyways and–”

“Dude, I’m right here,” Manic cut in, grabbing Sonic’s arm and giving it a shake. “Relax. He’s just worried since I didn’t check in, it’s a safety thing.” Sonic didn’t look entirely convinced, but Manic knew that was all that it was. Ferrell was probably tearing apart the undercity trying to find Manic. Which was why Kurt was standing here looking like he couldn’t stand up straight without hurting himself instead of already having gone to Margo’s place. 

Call him, Kurt ordered, moving to sink into a sitting position on the coffee table. 

“Give me a sec,” Manic said to Sonic. “He’s cool. Relax.”

Sonic let out a huff but nodded, crossing his arms and turning so he could keep an eye on Kurt. He wasn’t being subtle either. Which, Manic supposed, was fair. Kurt was the well known hitman of the Court. He wasn’t exactly the kind of guy you stampeded to trust. Kurt didn’t look like he thought much of it either, just sitting there and bringing a paw to his side under his jacket. 

Whatever that was about, Manic could deal with it once he got Ferrell out of whatever meltdown he was having. He stepped off to the side into the kitchen and dialed up Ferrell. The phone rang exactly once before Ferrell picked up. “Did you find him!?”

Manic let out a small, guilty breath. “Yeah, he found me,” he said, trying to put some levity in his voice. He could hear the long exhale of relief, and he could practically see Ferrell deflating over his desk. “I got a little distracted, forgot to check in. Sorry.”

“Distracted with what!?” Ferrell demanded. It was really more of a demand, but Ferrell only got like this when he worried. “Kurt said somebody set up a fake job to try and snatch you and then you vanish on us– what were we supposed to think, kid!?”

“Sonic came and pulled me outta the fight,” Manic defended quickly. “He showed up fast enough that I didn’t have to totally go nuclear. He was taking care of me and we ended up going to bed, that’s all. I’m sorry to make you worry.”

Ferrell was quiet for a long moment. “Isn’t… Sonic supposed to be across the continent right about now?” he asked. Manic didn’t need to ask why he knew that, he knew his dad well enough to know that he was keeping tabs on Sonic. “What, he just…. Ran across the entire country to yank you outta a scrap?”

Manic smiled faintly when it was put like that. “Well, yeah,” he said quietly. “He does that.”

Ferrell seemed to think about that for a long while. Then he clicked softly and Manic heard him shift around. “Well okay,” he said, sounding a lot more calm now. “Are you alright?”

“I told you, he came and got me fast enough that I got off pretty easy,” Manic repeated. “Wasn’t anything like the other times. I mean– I’m talkin’ and everything right now so it obviously wasn't that bad. Might not even get sick this time.”

Ferrell managed a soft huffed laugh at that. “Yeah, I suppose that’s a good point,” he agreed. “Alright. Are you gonna come home?”

“Probably, yeah,” Manic said.

“You got a ton of people to check in with, everyone thinks you got kidnapped. Ruth’s been cryin’ for hours.”

Manic winced at that. “Yeahhhh… I’ll get started on that,” he said. “Once I make sure Kurt doesn’t bleed out on the way to Margo, I’ll head home.”

“Thanks kid,” Ferrell replied. “Don’t do that to us again… and tell Sonic thanks for us.”

Manic’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh! Okay, yeah,” he said. “See you soon.”

“Bye, kiddo.”

Manic let his dad hang up and lowered the phone. He let out a breath. It was quiet in the other room. Hopefully that meant his brother and his weird surrogate uncle hadn’t killed each other in his absence.

Manic leaned around the doorframe to see that Sonic had taken a spot on the couch and was still looking rather intensely at Kurt, but he was also signing. Manic couldn’t see what he was saying from where he was standing. But Kurt looked genuinely surprised now, still holding his side with one hand but awkwardly using the other to sign as much as he could with one hand. Manic coughed quietly to announce that he was back. Kurt looked up at him. Good?

Manic nodded. “He’s good. I got some people I gotta text,” he said, coming over to the couch and sitting down. Kurt nodded back, looking like that was a severe understatement. 

Sonic glanced at Manic, then back at Kurt. “Any chance you’d let me put something over that so you don’t die before you see a doctor?” he asked, motioning at the way Kurt was gripping his side. Sonic beat him to the punch, that had been what Manic was planning on doing next.

Kurt blinked suspiciously at Sonic. I thought you wanted me to leave, Kurt said warily. 

Sonic shrugged, grabbing the first aid kit off the floor from where he’d left it from taking care of Manic. “Manic says you’re cool, so you’re cool,” Sonic said flatly, opening the box. “You ran all around the city trying to make sure my brother wasn’t kidnapped, too. So, I’d like to make sure you get to Margo in one piece."

Kurt just stared at him, openly looking baffled. Manic nodded approvingly. “I did kinda tell Ferrell we’d patch you before you went to see the doc,” he added, in case Kurt needed convincing. “If you let Sonic do it you can get outta here faster.”

Kurt sighed and started to shoulder off his jacket. Sonic finally cracked a faint smile and set some antiseptic and bandages on the table. With that smoothed over, Manic pulled his phone out of his pack and started skimming over the missed calls and messages he’d gotten. There were quite a few. Ruth, Ferrell and Amy were the ones that definitely had left the most. He started there. 

Meanwhile Kurt had pulled his shirt off over his head, which Manic hadn’t entirely expected him to do, but Sonic didn’t say anything about Kurt’s mangey fur and skin. The older mobian was plastered in so many scars that his fur didn’t grow nicely anymore, instead giving him patchy coverage around his thick shiny scars. He set his torn shirt to the side and Sonic glanced over the slash that Kurt had in his side. “Oh, that's not too bad,” Sonic commented. Which was true, but he’d still need stitches.

Kurt just hummed in response, pointedly looking away while Sonic poured some of the antiseptic over a rag. Sonic let the silence hang and quietly went about dabbing the blood away before pressing gauze over the wound and maintaining pressure. 

Manic let them do that and shot off quick messages to Ruth, Amy, Margo and June before also sending one to Watchtower’s contact so Lumen could handle calling anyone else off. By the time he was finished Sonic was tying off the bandages he’d wrapped around Kurt’s middle and stepping back. Kurt signed a thank you before pulling his shirt back on and collecting his jacket.

Manic set his phone aside. “You gonna make it to Margo’s okay?”

Kurt nodded, gingerly putting his jacket on and standing up. Sonic stood up as well. “Sorry for jumping all over you,” he said after a moment. “Knock next time and you’re welcome to come hang out.”

Kurt’s surprise was sharp in Manic’s mind. He didn’t show it at all, but he was genuinely surprised by the words. Manic smiled at them both. “Thanks for not murdering each other on my behalf,” he decided to say, grabbing them each by the shoulder and squeezing for a moment. “I’m gonna head home too. You’ve got a show tonight, don’t you?”

Sonic just waved him off. “Yeah, but I’ll make it. You know I’ll drop anything to bail ya’ out, anytime, right?” he asked as they all started moving towards the door. Manic yanked his shoes on while Kurt hovered, his arms crossed. Sonic ruffled Manic’s quills affectionately while he waited for Manic to lace up his shoes.

Manic straightened up and grinned at Sonic. “Yeah, I know.”

The triplets were eighteen.

Sonic saw his brother and the Court Knight off before speeding his way back to the town he was set to perform at that night. He’d missed rehearsal, but Tails and Diane would cover for him, even if Diane didn’t know what he was up to. They’d long established that Sonic would only vanish if it was important. So Diane didn’t ask, and Sonic appreciated it. 

The show was already mostly set up and Sonic could handle skipping a rehearsal here and there. It went off without a hitch, as usual, and the routine continued. Manic didn’t ask for another hangout for a few days, though he did message them plenty. Then, almost a week later, Tails and Sonic got a message from Manic.

Come back to the city tonight, got a big score for the rebellion. We’ll need you both.

So, Tails packed a bag, Sonic collected his stuff and shot a message to Sally that he'd be running an extra mission tonight. He didn't bother looking to see what she said about it. Even if she didn't trust Manic, he did. 

They met Manic at the safehouse. When they pushed the door open the smell of cookies baking hit them in the face and they hustled inside and shut the door. 

“We're here!” Shouted Tails into the house, dropping his bag on the couch. 

Manic popped his head out of the kitchen, a cookie hanging out of his mouth. He grinned around it and waved enthusiastically. “Cookies are almost done!” Amy's voice called from around the door. 

Manic stuffed the rest of his cookie into his mouth as he rushed over and slung and arm around each of his brothers. Sonic held back tight, finding himself smiling. Manic had grown so comfortable with them, getting more and more grabby and clingy. It felt nice, getting the same affection that they saw Amy get from him. 

“Hey, man! If you're quick you can totally snatch a cookie off the tray– I do it all the time and she doesn't notice,” Manic informed Sonic. 

“I NOTICE!” Amy hollered from the other room. 

Manic just snickered at her. “Not fast enough to stop me,” he replied, going and sitting on the coffee table. 

Sonic considered it for a moment before deciding not to test Amy that night. She'd eased up since the first time they'd met, but Sonic didn't want to push it. He was still certain she’d slug him if she felt like he deserved it. Instead he sat down on the couch, watching the way Manic seemed to be vibrating in place. “You said you had something for us?” Sonic prompted, deciding to take pity on the guy.

Manic somehow grinned harder and the wave of excitement that came off him felt like sitting next to a fire. He went digging in his fanny pack and pulled out a sealed envelope, then held it out to Tails and Sonic. 

Sonic took it, looking at the blank sides before raising an eyebrow and going ahead with opening it. A single piece of paper was inside, with coordinates and one word. Thanks.

Tails stared at the numbers before looking at Manic. “Where do these go?”

Manic flailed his arms a little bit, flapping his hands. “We got a tip about where they keep one of the Chaos Emeralds,” he said. “That’s it. And we can steal it. With us working together I’d like to see them stop us.”

Sonic blinked a few times at the coordinates, feeling his heart leap a little. “You’re serious,” he said faintly. “I thought– I thought the Court didn’t get too involved with the rebels.”

“Ferrell really appreciates you looking out for me,” Manic explained. “So he’s made a little exception. Asked me to give that to you personally.”

Sonic felt Tails' tails swish against the couch as the words set in. “If we got one away from him I could figure out how the roboticizer works. And he’d be down a power source, that’d slow him down!”

Manic nodded along eagerly. “It’d be a great thing for us! I know he’s got like, six more, but one's still a step right?”

Sonic couldn’t help but point at Manic with wide eyes. “You said us!” he blurted. “You– you’re gonna join up?”

Manic scoffed a little bit. “No way, but if I’m gonna stick my neck out this far I may as well take some credit,” he deflected immediately, waving them off. “I like being your middleman, I think I’ll keep it that way.”

Tails was already pulling his laptop out of his bag and getting ready to look up the place. It was while he was aggressively typing that Amy finally rolled into the room with a plate of cookies. “So Manic said we were planning treason tonight, was that a joke?”

“Not even a little bit,” Tails replied, flipping his computer around so the others could see. He snatched a cookie off the plate before hitting a couple keys so some maps popped up. “So public records say this place doesn’t have anything, but with a little digging there is actually a facility there. Looks like it’ll be high security but low staff. I think it might be entirely manned by swatbots. We can probably handle any of the hacking on our own, but–”

“We need a little muscle for the bots, right?” Manic said. He gestured proudly to Amy. “That’s why I brought Rosie along.”

Sonic glanced over at Amy with a raised eyebrow. “You’re gonna fight?” 

Amy perked up a bit under his gaze. “Yeah, hold on, I forgot,” she said, reaching behind the couch and grabbing hold of something that sounded heavy and metallic. With barely any effort she pulled a huge hammer upright and slung it over her shoulder. “I got this after someone tried to mug me a few years ago. It’s been great.”

Tails still looked dubious until she let it drop back onto the floor and the weight made the table shake. With that he just nodded, and Sonic found himself agreeing. “So the four of us then,” he said. “When do we leave?”

Tails laughed a little bit, turning his computer back around. “Let me do a little more prep and data collection and then we can go,” he said.

Manic gave a thumbs up, smiling viciously. “Yeah,” he said. “Let's do it.”

Sonic had hauled Tails over his shoulder and gone running a few minutes ago, leaving Amy and Manic crouching behind a pile of the random garbage that was strewn around this abandoned portion of the city. Manic had a hand on Amy’s back as he peered over her head towards the building, waiting for Sonic to come back for them. Usually, if they needed Tails inside a building to do hacking, Sonic would run him in ahead of whoever else at speeds Robotnik’s systems couldn’t track.

Both their ears were strained towards the building, completely focused, when suddenly the air lit up with crackling light. A weird noise accompanied the light– like something electric was bouncing. Amy covered her ears as Manic stared out at the bright dome that had suddenly appeared over the building. 

It was already fading by the time Amy spoke up. “What was that!?”

“I don’t know,” Manic said bluntly. He scanned around for Sonic, not looking back at Amy. She seemed anxious– she’d never done anything like this. Manic reached for a distraction. “Ask your cards.”

“Manic.” It worked. 

Not five full seconds later, Sonic blipped into existence next to them, setting Tails on the ground and then rubbing at his head. Amy and Manic whipped around. Tails looked a little ruffled but Sonic was clearly the one that had taken the brunt of whatever had just happened. His glove came away a bit red when he put his hand back down. “No go,” he reported. “They got some sorta shield in the way.”

Tails was already projecting the info he’d gathered before they’d come here on his watch. He scanned the info. “There wasn’t anything about that in the schematics or security detail,” he muttered. “I haven’t seen shielding like that before– it shouldn’t be invisible like it was.”

Manic glanced back at the building. The shield was in fact fading from sight, which was a bit strange for sure. Robotnik put shields up sometimes, but they were always visible. Amy fidgeted with her hammer a bit, looking between the building and Sonic, before moving over to him. “You’re bleeding,” she said, feeling around in her bag before producing a couple tissues. 

Sonic tried to wave her off. “Nah, it’s not bad,” he started to say but Amy was already pressing into his space with a severe expression on her face and pressing the wad of tissues over the quickly darkening spot on his head. 

He stared at the ground as she fussed, his quills subtly bristling. Manic only noticed the way he started to mildly panic because he was paying attention to everyone's emotional states. Sonic seemed frozen in place as Amy worked on stopping the blood. “It’s not awful,” she admitted after a moment. “Headwounds bleed a lot…”

Sonic coughed softly, everting his gaze. “Yeah,” he agreed quickly. “I’m alright, though, really.”

Tails saved him from having to go on by speaking up suddenly, having been furiously typing on his watch. “It’s activated by velocity,” he said. “It’s specifically to keep the Blur out…”

Amy released Sonic when he started to turn to look at Tails. “What? They’ve never done that before,” he protested. “Since when do they specifically block me out?”

“I mean… the last time we went for an emerald we got close, maybe they’re being more careful now,” Tails murmured. “Whatever the reason, that’s gonna make it hard to get me inside to mess with their security system.”

Manic tutted softly. “You forgot you’re with me,” he said, quickly shifting gears. “I’m a pro at breaking into places! C’mon Tails.” 

Tails eyebrows shot up. “Huh?” 

“C’mon,” Manic repeated, already moving out from behind their garbage hideout. Tails glanced at Sonic but Sonic just motioned for him to follow, so Tails nodded seriously and then darted after Manic. Manic was already approaching the building by the time Tails caught up. 

“What about the cameras?!” Tails hissed as Manic led him along. Manic pointed as he kept moving. 

“Avoiding them as best I can,” he said. “It’s timing and placement. But I bet you can delete any of my screw-ups once we’re inside.”

Which was a good assumption, but Tails didn’t like having the idea of security showing up before he had the chance. Still, they were committed at this point. Manic was hauling himself up on an air unit and pulling tools out of his fanny pack as Tails came up and kept an eye on everything while Manic worked. 

Next to him, a vent cover clattered to the ground. “C’mon,” Manic said again, already hefting himself up into the vent and disappearing inside it. Tails hastily gave his tails a quick spin to get himself up on the level of the vent before crawling inside after Manic. 

Manic was already several yards ahead, army crawling along despite his wild mane of quills filling the space and coating him in dust as he went. Tails couldn’t help but laugh a little, trying to keep it quiet. “You could be a vent cleaner,” Tails commented. 

Manic blew a raspberry as he turned a corner. “And you can be my assistant,” he shot back with a small grunt. “We’ll both need a bath after this.”

Tails wasn’t as fast as Manic, being a bit taller and not really having been in an air vent before. Manic slowed down whenever Tails asked, and peered down into the rooms whenever they came to a grate. “How do you know where we’re going?” whispered Tails. 

“I don’t,” Manic answered under his breath. “But ventilation systems are usually all connected all over the building, so we’ll find it eventually. I just always turn right. If we hit a dead end we’ll go back and keep doing the same thing.”

Like a maze, Tails realized. “Hopefully we don’t take too long,” he whispered. “Sonic isn’t awesome at waiting…”

Manic snorted, and then made a sound like he was stifling a sneeze. “Tell me something I don’t know, lil bro. We’ll go as fast as we can,” he said. 

It took a little longer than Tails would’ve liked for Manic to stop and motion beneath them. Manic didn’t hesitate to start pushing on the vent, grabbing it when it popped. “Okay,” he whispered to Tails. “Nobody is here, but that could change in an instant. Lemme go down first and lock us in.”

Tails breathed out an agreement. “I’ll let them know we found it,” he told Manic. 

That was all that Manic needed to hear before he pulled himself forward and let gravity drop him into the room. Tails watched him go, bringing his hand up to his earpiece. He hit the broadcast button and wriggled forward a bit more. “We’re at security,” he breathed out, watching as Manic scrambled around the room and worked on making it secure. 

Sonic’s reply started with a long groan. “Finally! What took so long!?” Sonic demanded.

Tails snorted under his breath. “We had to go through the air vents,” he said. “Manic’s locking us down, we’ll be ready for you and Amy soon.”

“Great job,” Sonic praised. “Just say the word and we’ll head inside.”

Manic suddenly knocked against the vent. “C’mon down, we’re locked in,” he announced. Tails hauled himself forward and halfway out of the vent before he spun his tails to slow his decent. Manic’s eyes widened, tracking Tails as he set himself down. “You… never mentioned you could do that,” Manic said, looking mildly surprised but mostly impressed.

Tails snickered a little bit, grabbing one of the chairs and rolling up to the desk to start typing. “You never said you could read minds,” he said, opening the programs and starting to knock out camera feeds and replace them with stills. Manic slid up next to him in the other available chair, watching his fingers fly across the keyboard. 

“I can’t read minds,” Manic corrected lightly. “But touché.”

Tails just rolled his eyes at the semantics and kept going, taking a moment to delete himself and Manic from the outer camera feeds before going and starting to disable the locks one by one. Manic took the moment to stick his own earbud in, before pulling up another screen that had the cameras around the security room on them. “I’ll keep an eye on our backs,” he told Tails.

Tails hummed an agreement. “Sonic, you there?”

“We’re here,” Sonic said. “We’re waiiiiiting.”

Manic managed to cover up his laugh with a weird breath. Tails just sighed patiently. “I’m just blocking the signals for the Swatbots on site,” he said. Swatbots had a broadcasting signal that let Robotnik know when one was knocked out so he could send reinforcements. From a hub like this, Tails could make it look like they were still broadcasting even after Sonic tore through them. “Then you can come crashing through.”

Amy must have leaned close. “Whatever you’re doing, can you hurry up? Sonic looks like he’s gonna explode if he waits much longer,” she said before Sonic moved away.

Manic shot Tails a look that Tails returned. Fond, and slightly exasperated. “Three, two… Aaaand you are now in a full demolition zone. Go nuts.”

That was all the permission Sonic needed. “Hang tight,” he said to Amy, before she was unceremoniously scooped up and moved to the front door. He set her on the ground and reached for his headset to tell Tails to open the door, but Amy was already moving as soon as Sonic released her. 

The huge hammer made a loud metallic clanging sound when Amy swung it into the door, knocking it clean off its motors and forward into the hallway. Sonic whipped his head around to stare at her, his eyes going wide. His chest felt tight suddenly. Amy blinked back at him, unphased. “What? He said to go nuts,” she began to protest. 

Despite himself and the fluttery confused feelings in his stomach now, he just grinned at her and gave a quick thumbs up. “He did,” Sonic agreed, a tiny laugh slipping out of him. “Just… that’s gonna bring ‘em all right here pretty quick.”

“I know.”” Amy shrugged lightly. “I got them,” she said, even as down the hall the distinct sound of Swatbots moving towards them began to approach. Sonic watched her heft the hammer back over her shoulder and start down the hall. 

He’d have to put away that flustered feeling, because there were bots incoming and he wasn’t about to leave Amy to do all that heavy lifting alone. What followed must have been a bit absurd to behold, but seeing as it was just him and Amy around, it didn’t matter. Sonic zipped around her, matching her strength with his speed and making sure she didn’t get overloaded as she smashed through robots with her giant hammer. 

He could go through Swatbots when he was going fast enough, sure, but it was kind of incredible to watch this girl plow through them at his side. Seeing as they were inside, it was harder to get up to the speed he’d need to destroy them, but Amy was keeping up nicely, and soon enough they’d thoroughly broken and smashed the Swatbots that had been sent to investigate the door coming down. 

Amy looked like she was barely winded by all that. Sonic straightened up and clapped off his hands. “Well that was fun,” he commented, not sure what else to say. 

Amy just grinned back at him. “I’m gonna have to ask for a second date if they’re all like this,” she quipped back, yanking her hammer out of the destroyed remains of her final bot. 

Sonic felt his mind do a bit of a skidding stop, and he stared owlishly at her. It wasn’t often these days that his words stopped working, but that had admittedly taken him off guard. He made a little noise before laughing, praying that the heat in his face didn’t show. “Don’t remember saying this was a date,” he covered, before hastily reaching for his earpiece again. “Tails, where are we going?”

“I see you on the cams,” Tails replied. “Head straight and then you’re gonna go for the stairwell instead of the elevator.”

Sonic thanked Tails and waved for Amy to follow him as he beelined for the stairwell. She walked close in his shadow and waited patiently until Tails threw the security lock for the door. “Ladies first,” Sonic said, letting Amy in. “Up or down, Tails?”

“Down. All the way down,” Tails answered. “You got badniks waiting for you, too. Guess they figured out what we’re after.”

“Got it,” Sonic said, letting the door shut after Amy had stepped inside. “Round two at the bottom, wanna take the express lane?” he asked her, holding out an arm. If he was reaching a bit for his stage persona, so be it.

Amy beamed at him and took his hand, which was enough permission for Sonic to pick her up again and blast down the stairs. Better than taking the normal way, he figured. They hit the bottom landing and Sonic put his ear to the door. “Tails?”

“They’re out there,” Tails confirmed. 

Sonic set Amy down again and stepped back. “More bots to bash,” he told Amy. A few times he’d taken Tails down stairwells like that and Tails had gotten motion sick, but she looked alright. “Good to go?”

Amy nodded eagerly and didn’t hesitate to throw her boot at the door, the hinges making popping sounds and the lock sparking in protest as it went down. Sonic slipped past her to start slamming into bots. These were more Swatbots– Sonic was more used to the smaller models that Robotnik liked to use in the outskirts of the main city. The ones that were powered by tiny animals. 

Swatbots didn’t have tiny animals inside. They were run on electricity, which made them more expensive for Robotnik to maintain and thus, saved for higher security areas. But that also meant Sonic didn’t need to be careful about hurting miniature captives. He and Amy cleared through the backup bots in just a few minutes of teamwork. 

“Down the hall,” Tails ordered. “We’re gonna wanna hustle now, if this place doesn’t check in within the next ten it’s gonna throw an alarm and we’ll be swarmed.”

Sonic didn’t ask this time, he just grabbed Amy and hurried. She latched onto his shoulders but didn’t complain as he took Tails’s instructions in his ear until they came to a locked down safe and Tails told him to stop. 

This door was different. “Don’t let Amy try and smash this one,” Tails said as Sonic set her down. He set a hand over her hammer’s handle, listening. 

She looked at him. “What’re we waiting for?”

Sonic tapped his foot. “Tails has to open this one,” he said. Tails went quiet again. “....Tails?”

“I’m here,” Tails said. “We’re working on it. It’s doubled down, me and Manic are having to hack it simultaneously… They have to be thrown at the same time.”

Manic suddenly piped up. “I’m almost there, we just gotta be in sync,” he said. “When it opens, grab the goods and head out the way you came. We’ll meet you back at the house.”

“Got it,” Sonic said, turning his attention to the door. Two red lights glowed over it, and Sonic felt a bit like they were eyes watching him and Amy. She stood next to him, her back turned to the door so she could watch the hall. Protecting their position.

Anything longer than five seconds felt long to Sonic, but finally the lights both flipped to green and the door made a hydraulic hiss and began to open. As it cracked open, a faint glow cascaded out into the hallway, golden in color and almost cold against Sonic’s fur as it fell on him and Amy. Dramatically, slowly, the safe doors slid aside, and revealed the gem sitting on a pedestal, hooked up to a bunch of machinery and radiating energy that set Sonic’s nerves on edge. 

A Chaos Emerald. He’d never seen one before. He almost forgot to ask as he approached it, only stopping himself before getting close enough to touch it. “Tails, can I just grab it?”

The noise that came back in reply told him that Tails and Manic were already back in the vents. “Yeah. Then book, it’s gonna initiate a shutdown and you don’t wanna get caught inside,” Manic replied instead of Tails. “You’re fast enough, right?”

“As long as you turned off that stupid force field thing, yeah,” Sonic replied, reaching out and gripping the glass cover that held the emerald. This close, the cold was seeping into his palms, through his gloves and fur. Nearly into his bones. He lifted the glass carefully, swallowing against the sudden, bizarre anxiety he was feeling. 

“I shut it off,” Tails confirmed in his ear. “You’re clear to go as fast as you safely can.”

Sonic held his breath and let his fingers brush against the surface of the gem. It almost felt like a chill crawled up his spine as he gripped it, then motioned for Amy to get closer. “C’mere,” he said to her. “We’re gonna juice.”

Amy pressed in against him, locking her arms in place around his neck so he could easily grab her and move fast. It almost felt like she wanted to say something else, but instead she just said “Ready.” Sonic nodded, then tore the gem from its socket and let the world around him turn into a flurry of colors and motion.

The alarms started to wail overhead, but Sonic was already out the door they’d come in from, and was headed into the city again to return to the safehouse, the gem in his hand freezing against his palm. 

When Tails and Manic came through the door, laughing at each other and going on about coding languages and hacking techniques, Sonic was sitting on the couch with the Emerald placed on the coffee table. He barely seemed to notice his brothers returning, just staring at the gem. Manic tossed a paper bag at his head. It bounced harmlessly off him, landing on the couch.

“Yo! Mobius to Sonic? We grabbed some chili dogs, I thought we’d have to beat you off us with a stick when we got back,” Manic teased, coming over and plopping down next to him. 

Sonic looked down at the bag, then back up at Manic and Tails. Amy stepped out of the bathroom, her quills freshly tied up. “You’re back!” she chirped, hurrying over and hugging Manic from behind the couch. “Look at it! We totally got it! Oh– ew, you’re disgusting.”

Manic cackled a bit. “I was in the vents, it's just dust.”

“Ew.”

Manic and Tails both looked at the emerald, twin expressions of delight spreading across their features. “We did it!” Tails shouted, throwing his hands up. “I can finally figure out how the roboticizer works– Sally’s gonna freak! We can probably power like, the whole camp on this thing if this thing works the way they say it does!”

Sonic seemed finally to come back online when Tails started to ramble. He perked up and smiled at Tails. “Yeah, man! This’ll probably also get her off our backs for a while too,” he agreed, grabbing up the paper bag and pulling out one of the wrapped chili dogs. “But since we couldn’t do this without Manic, we can’t just give it to her yet.”

Manic raised an eyebrow. “What? Dude, we got it for your people, you’re not gonna give it to her?”

Sonic shook his head, grabbing the gem off the table and shoving it in Manic’s hands. Manic’s eyes went round and he stared at it. “No way, man. You’re gonna give it to her,” Sonic said. “That’ll convince her that you’re on our side, and if that doesn’t work nothing will. This whole thing was because of you, so it’s only fair you get to take most of the credit.”

Manic sputtered a bit. “You don’t gotta do that,” he tried to protest, holding the emerald like it was glass. “I– It’s a job. She doesn’t need to like me, Sonic. Tons of guys don’t like me.”

Sonic shook his head more emphatically. “Buh-buh-buh, you stuck your neck out, remember? You get the credit, and you get to hand the big boss lady her bonus she didn’t ask for.”

Manic sighed, but he didn’t protest again. If he sorta wanted Sally to like him, so what? It was nice to be liked. And not be treated like he was just some thug doing jobs for money. “Alright,” he relented easily. He opened his fanny pack and stuck the emerald inside, carefully tucking it underneath his other things. “Alright, fine. Set up a meeting and we’ll get it to her.”

Tails ruffled his quills and sat down next to Amy on the coffee table. “I think we can do that, probably for tomorrow or the next day? She doesn’t like last minute stuff,” he said, pulling up his watch screen and looking at some messages. 

Sonic tossed a chili dog to both Manic and Amy. “We’ll figure it out,” he said lightly. Things were looking up. “In the meantime, we should relax. We just scored a major win for the rebellion. Eat, take a nap, whatever. You wanna play?”

Manic unwrapped his food, then glanced at the drumset and guitar. “Heck yeah, dude,” he said. “Let’s play.”

The triplets were nineteen.

Sonia knew Sonic worked fast, but she was still surprised when only a few days later Diane, Sonic and Manic appeared at her house, her brothers both fully costumed as their stage personas. Sonia was too distracted focusing on her mother and her reactions to every single thing to notice that Sonic had to keep fussing at Manic to put things back. Diane laid out a contract and went over each section while Sonic and Manic ate the fancy hors d'oeuvres  Sonia’s butler came and set on the table. 

Finally, Mother nodded her approval as Diane finished explaining the contract and answered her questions. Diane held out a pen and Sonia scrawled her name on the bottom of the final page. 

That was that. Touring had already started, but the next show wasn’t for almost two weeks. That meant that was all the time they had to get Sonia ready. Things started happening at a dizzying speed after that. Sonia had costume fittings for outfits that matched her brother's stage clothes. A stylist–Denise, a human woman–was assigned to her who quickly got the hang of applying the navy hair color over her natural magenta and pulling her quills into gorgeous spiked buns and other styles. She matched her makeup choices perfectly to compliment Sonia’s fur, even if the makeup was more bold and colorful than anything Sonia had ever gotten to wear. Sonia let herself squeal a little bit the first time Diane spun her around to see herself in the mirror–she looked so cool and beautiful.

Diane scheduled photoshoots– which ended up being an absurd affair with Manic in tow– to get all three of them together for after the announcement. When Manic had joined, they’d kept it secret until the first show Manic had played in. Apparently it had gone so well, Diane and Sonic had decided to do it again for Sonia. 

And then there were rehearsals. Every moment they weren’t spending on behind the scenes setup was spent rehearsing– nailing down exactly what Sonia would do in each song, what she would add. Sonic was surprisingly hands off about it, letting her and Manic riff off of the ground and structure he’d laid. If anything, he seemed like every little thing they added made him more delighted with each song. Once he’d even said something about the song they’d been working on–one of his older songs– finally being complete.

When they weren’t working, they were doing other work. Tails started to have Sonia sit in with him so he could show her exactly what they did for the Freedom Fighters. Every mission she spent hung over his shoulder had her itching to be out with her brothers– the video feed from Sonic’s glasses showing that he, Amy and Manic were sabotaging factories, smashing robots and stealing supplies. 

The big night rolled around– this venue wasn’t far from the city so Sonia had sent an invite to Bart. With Sonic’s permission, of course. He and Manic wanted to meet the fiance, even if it was as their alter egos and Sonia figured that was safer anyways. So he’d be let backstage afterwards. 

Sonia went with her brothers through prep. She sat stock still in her fancy chair while Denise did her quills up and sprayed her makeup over with fixative. She ate and laughed when Manic snorted so hard that he started to cough at something Tails said. She let Denise help her into her newly tailored clothes– clothes that she sort of hoped her mother wouldn’t see her in– a top with no shoulders and a cropped belly and puffy wide pants with chains and pockets. It matched though, she noticed, as her brothers pulled on their similar outfits. Her stomach was a mess of butterflies and excitement as she was herded towards the stage with Sonic and Manic.

She hesitated for a moment when they held their hands out to her before they started their warmup, but Manic didn’t let it linger. He snatched up her hand and yanked her closer so that Sonic could grab her as well. Sonia wanted to feel dumb but somehow the nerves smoothed away when Sonic cleared his throat and told them to focus up and link up. Sonia still hadn’t figured out what that meant. But Manic’s hand tightened around hers and everything else fell away. 

And it was every bit as silly as what she’d witnessed last time, her brothers nudging her on to get dumber and looser as they went until finally Diane clapped her hands and called out they needed to mic up. She watched her brothers get all plugged in while Diane herself helped her get her mic on. She looked down her muzzle at Sonia and smiled warmly. “You look gorgeous, darling,” she said, tucking the wire behind her ear and into her hair so it wouldn’t be in view. 

Sonia let herself smile, feeling the glitter on her face crinkle a little bit. “Still think I fit in?” she asked while Diane fed the wire down the back of the shirt and down to plug into the battery pack at her hip. 

Once she was done she gently moved Sonia’s blue tinted fringe out of the way of her eyes and gave a nod. “Like you were made to be here, yes,” Diane told her, stepping back. Manic was just finishing putting on his mask, making sure it was secure with Tail’s and Amy’s help. Sonic plugged in his mic and looked at Diane expectantly. She fixed his quills as well, one last time and adjusted the collar of his jacket. Sonic seemed to glow under the attention, even if it was smothered under a veneer of cool. Diane took another step back and Manic came to stand next to his siblings. 

Amy put her hands to her mouth suddenly, her eyes lighting up. “You guys look incredible together,” she breathed out. Sonia could tell she wanted to say more, but it was probably things that they shouldn’t mention in front of Diane. “They’re going to love this.”

Tails nodded in agreement, putting a finger to his own headset that was for the tech crew. “Alright,” he said. “Sonic, you’re green to go. Break a leg.”

Sonic reached down to his own mic controls and flicked them on, before grabbing Manic and Sonia’s hands. “Good evening, starlights,” he began as they walked towards the stage. The sound of the crowd got louder at Sonic’s greeting. “Little bit of deja vu tonight, huh? No, I didn’t learn to play the piano. Behind the scenes I’ve been looking for someone to round us out, and we finally found the perfect third member for the band. I think you’re going to enjoy this.” 

The audience quieted a little bit in anticipation. Sonia felt like her heart was going to stop a little bit, but Sonic waited for nobody. Their first song was mostly prerecorded so they could start it before they got on stage. 

Sonia’s piano playing rang over the speaker system, playing the new intro to Reach for the Stars, joined by Manic’s drums, and then Sonic’s guitar. Sonic had the first lines, with Manic backing him. The audience began to cheer, singing along.

And then Sonia followed up. The crowd's excitement somehow got louder. They walked out on stage together, Sonic throwing their clasped hands in the air while they sang together. Even when he let them go and Sonia found her way to her keyboard, she’d never felt so whole. 

The show went off without a hitch. Sonia remembered all her queues and choreography– another day to be grateful for her photographic memory– and her brothers were in sync with her like they’d been doing this for years. Tucked under her top, her medallion burned against her chest, warm and electrifying, so much that even by the end of the show Sonia wasn’t nearly as tired as she’d expected to be. They completed their encore and smoothly exited the stage when the lights went down, leaving the stage with only the remnants of fog.

Much like the last time, Manic crashed into Amy with more energy than he’d started the show with, his tail wiggling fast enough that Sonia wondered if he’d ever sprained it. Sonic didn’t seem as tired as last time, grabbing a sports drink off the catering table and cracking it open while Diane ruffled his quills affectionately. 

An armadillo in a security t-shirt held open the door and let Bart backstage. The mink looked utterly out of his depth, but he thanked the armadillo as he stepped past and quickly swept his gaze around the area until he found Sonia. His expression relaxed a minute amount as he crossed the space to stand in front of her. 

Sonia realized belatedly that she wasn't dressed anything like she usually was, standing there with blue in her quills and fur coated in a sheen of sweat. “What– what'd you think?” she heard herself ask, reaching up to pull her headset off. 

Bart didn't exactly smile– Sonia knew him well enough to see he wasn't sure what to make of all this. “You performed very well as a group,” he said diplomatically. “It was entertaining, certainly different than my usual Saturday show.” He stapled a forced laugh at the end of his statement and turned to look at Sonia's band mates. Her brothers. But he couldn't know that yet. “How did you ever convince your mother to allow this?”

Sonia started to answer but Diane's ears pricked up and she smoothly inserted herself in the conversation, taking Sonia's shoulders proudly. “We take confidentiality very seriously here,” she said. “As you probably noticed, Sonia is working under a pseudonym, and will continue to do so indefinitely. We've ensured that nobody will connect our band to her family, and so Lady Windomere had nothing to worry about.”

Bart looked Diane up and down. “And you are?”

Diane held her hand out and gave Bart a firm handshake. “I'm their manager and agent,” she said, all professional and polite. “Call me Diane. Boys, come meet our guest!”

Sonic had successfully pried Manic off of Amy by then, shoving a water bottle into his hands and ordering him to drink. Manic delicately pulled his mask off and set it in its case before beginning to chug the water as Sonic hooked his arm around Manic's neck and dragged him over to Sonic and Bart. He stuck his hand out, painted claws catching the light. “Nice to meet you,” Sonic began, shaking Bart's hand when Bart hesitantly took his. “Thanks for lending Sonia to us, she’s been great to have around.”

Manic wriggled free of Sonic’s grasp to look Bart up and down. That same sour expression that he used to wear for Sonia appeared on his face for a moment before he smoothed it out and dropped his head to the side. “So you’re the fiance,” he said, sounding  a little unimpressed. Sonic beat Sonia to the punch, elbowing Manic in the ribs so Manic doubled over a bit. He gave Sonic a nasty look and rubbed at his side. “It’s nice to meet you,” he bit out, sounding completely insincere. 

If Bart noticed or cared, he didn’t show it. “Nice to meet you both as well,” he returned, giving them both a polite nod. “I’ve never intentionally sought out your music, but I’ve seen you around. You’re very successful, and clearly very smart if you thought bringing Sonia on was a good idea.”

Sonia beamed a little under the praise, taking Bart’s arm. “They’ve been very exciting to work with,” she said. “It’s so different from my recitals, it’s a wonderful change of pace.”

“I can tell it’s making you happy,” Bart said, patting her hand. “Do you want me to drive you home?”

Sonic and Manic exchanged looks, but didn’t comment. Sonia squeezed his arm carefully. “Yes, that’d be great! Let me change,” she chirped. “Give me twenty minutes?”

“Of course,” Bart said, and Sonia left him with her brothers to go change and get the blue out of her hair and quills. 

Bart held the door of his car open for Sonia as she slipped inside, her freshly washed quills pulled back into a slicked down bun and loose, comfortable clothes thrown on over slightly damp fur. He walked around to the driver's side and sat down heavily in the front seat. He was silent as he turned the key and started to pull out of the parking lot. 

Sonia fidgeted a little bit, glancing his way. “What is it?”

“I’m thinking,” he said shortly. His ears tilted backwards, and his thumb drummed against the steering wheel as he turned. He took a clipped breath and let it out. “How could your mother be alright with this? You looked like a hooligan, jumping around up there…”

“It’s just a show, Bart,” Sonia chided. “They dressed me up like that so I’m not recognizable. Mother knows what I’m doing, we did it this way so that it can’t be connected to our family. It’s harmless.”

He didn’t look satisfied with that answer, his mouth twisting into a grimace. “Harmless,” he muttered. “Do you have any idea what those boys represent?”

Sonia couldn’t help but snort. “Represent?” Her brothers were Freedom Fighters, sure, but that wasn’t public knowledge. The band and their public facing personas were squeaky clean. Even Manic’s, somehow. “What’re you talking about? It’s just music, Bart. It’s fun.”

“They encourage violence against the throne,” Bart argued. “Their music has been appearing in relation to riots, protests… those rebels… they’re not safe, and you shouldn’t be getting involved with them.”

Sonia let out a small huff. “They can’t control who listens to their music Bart,” she said, rolling her eyes slightly. “They’ve never publicly said anything against the throne, they’ve never encouraged the rebels. You sound like the old women at the galas complaining about the kids and their loud music.”

Bart just stared out the window as he drove. “Those old women aren’t always wrong,” he said softly, sounding more concerned now. “I just want to make sure you’re safe, Sonia.”

Sonia reached across the console and set her hand on his knee. “I know, dear,” she said gently. “I’m safe. I’m just playing piano. I’m safe. Nothing is going to happen.”

Bart set his hand over hers, but he didn’t respond. He was quiet the rest of the drive home. Once they pulled up, he stepped out and opened the door for her as usual, silently escorting her up the steps and inside. 

Mother was waiting when they arrived. She was quick to bundle Sonia into her arms. “My dear! I caught some of the show on the television,” she said, surprising Sonia. She hadn’t expected mother to watch any of it. “You were marvelous!”

Bart’s expression soured a bit but he schooled it quickly. “It was even more spectacular in person, my lady,” he said politely. 

Sonia smiled up at her mother, gripping her hands. “I’m so glad you liked it,” she said earnestly. “It means so much that you’d watch…”

Lady Windomere just took her cheeks in her hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m just happy to have seen you light up that way again,” she said firmly. “You haven’t looked that pleased while performing in years.”

Sonia just grinned harder. Things with her mother weren’t always easy, but it was moments like this that reminded her that she was absolutely loved. “Thank you for watching,” she said again. She turned to Bart. “And thank you for coming. It really does mean a lot to me.”

Bart nodded politely. “Anything for you my dear,” he replied. “I should be getting home, it’s rather late.”

Sonia hummed her agreement as he dipped his head and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “Goodnight,” she said quietly. He returned it and headed for the door. 

“Oh, Sonia,” Lady Windomere said, turning and picking a box off the ground. “Rouge left this for you while you were out, she asked me to be sure you got it.”

Sonia took the box. “Oh! Thank you, Mother,” she said. “I hope she wasn’t too put out that I wasn’t home.”

Mother just waved her off, motioning for her to head for bed. “Not at all,” she said. The butler closed the door behind Bart. “She said she had things to attend to and was in the area. I’m sure she’ll drop by again sometime soon.”

Sonia hugged the box to her chest as they headed up the stairs. “I’m sure,” she said lightly. “Did you really enjoy the show?”

“It surprised me, but yes! You three are quite the match.”

Sonia felt herself warm at that. “Yes, I agree,” she said proudly. “We go quite well together."

Weeks flew with Sonia’s new normal. She made time for Bart every week, and she wasn’t sure she liked their new relationship dynamic but it was mostly her fault. Bart brought up the band often, questioning if she was certain they weren’t up to something. Sonia couldn’t exactly blame him. He was right, after all. And, she had been rather secretive for the past few months, and even with what her mother thought was the secret out, she couldn’t talk about the true story. That she’d somehow ended up joining the Freedom Fighters, and was planting bugs throughout the fancy parties that she drifted through on Bart's arm. 

The box that Rouge had dropped off had been a specific set of bugs for her own house– to keep an eye on everything and make sure that her family stayed safe. It’d been sent home with Rouge instead of collected directly from Tails to throw in some degrees of separation, and to let Rouge disguise the items as things that wouldn’t be weird in Sonia’s home. Rouge was her friend, so hopefully it didn’t raise any eyebrows. Her mother certainly hadn’t thought anything of it. 

With those set up, Tails could keep an eye on her home and it set Sonia’s mind at ease as she put a mask on and ran her first mission with her brothers, punching a hole straight through a wall and making her brothers holler in excitement and surprise. They stole supplies for a place that Manic called “Sanctuary” that night, and the joy radiating off Manic as they loaded up the truck with medicine and other medical supplies was infectious. 

Bart was prying more. Asking more questions. But now with the band being their open secret, Sonia had an easy and reasonable excuse to reach for when he questioned where she was disappearing to so often.

They started to re-record. Sonic had talked their ears off as they got ready for a show one night about wanting to do a new album– all their old music with Sonia added in and some new songs with Sonia’s input. Since joining Manic had apparently written a lot of their newer songs, and they’d written several together. 

This led to late nights with her brothers, either in the RV or in a safehouse that was in the city, recording and nailing down Sonia’s parts in the existing songs, and bouncing ideas off each other for new ones. Manic would bring out the world's shabbiest looking notebook and set it on the table, open to a new page that he hadn’t shared yet, and present it like it was their next great hit. Usually they were pretty good but needed input before they’d ready, and they’d spend the next few hours talking through the words and ideas for the instrumentals.

Except one night, Sonic was immediately sitting up straighter and picking up the notebook before Sonia got a good look at it. His expression went a bit slack as his eyes skimmed the page. “What’s the plan for this one?” he asked softly after a moment.

Manic sat down heavily. “It’s not done,” he began, more hesitant than he ever was when sharing lyrics with Sonic. 

“I can see that,” Sonic replied. “But…”

Sonia finally groaned and elbowed her way into their space so she could try to read Manic’s awful handwriting over Sonic’s shoulder. “Move, I want to see,” she said, grabbing gently at the notebook to pull it slightly to the side. 

She felt her heart jump a little when she started reading Manic’s scrawled words. 

I’m here.

Reaching far across the world you know

In my heart I hold the ones I love

Walk forward to the cold dawn

Follow me

I’m standing at the border of your soul

Listen close

Can you hear our hearts sing

Manic swallowed, averting his gaze. “I wanted to write a song for her,” he said shyly. “It’s not done.”

Sonia scooted closer so she could reach his shoulder across Sonic’s back and squeeze Manic’s arm. “We can work on it together,” she said immediately. “We can finish it together.”

Sonic glanced at each of them. “I think that’s how we’ve gotta do it, yeah,” he said. “...this one can’t go on the new album, though.”

Manic shook his head immediately. “No. This one stays with us until it’s time.”

Sonia didn’t know what he meant by that, and she didn’t want to ask, really. She had a feeling she’d recognize it when it came. 

They all but harassed Sonia until she started actually contributing. She ended up helping them work on their mothers song, but more than that she was convinced to show off her own lyrics. Three new songs were written for the new album– One Way Dream, Never Turn Back, and With Me. Their first three songs that they all made together, with each of them touching every part of the song from the instrumentals to the lyrics. 

Tails was patient as he sat, editing the tracks together with three hedgehogs leaning over his shoulders, all backseat driving. Finally, everything was done and Diane reviewed it before congratulating them and submitting it for release. Everything was set. 

The songs debuted for their next show. Sonia sang with her brothers and while she didn’t see their mother again, she could feel her. Almost glimpse her in the corner of her vision once or twice. She was there again, watching. 

And as Sonia held her fist high over the screaming crowd on the far side of the city, she completely missed the whispered warnings Aleena tried to give her.