HELLBOUND {Sequel}

Twenty

__Tails hadn't realized that he had fallen asleep. He sat up and started stretching his neck. He then sighed and began rubbing it. He was very hesitant, but he looked down at Cream and felt relieved. She was still laying down with her back faced to him. She was on her phone while hugging Cheese. Tails looked over and saw T-Pup had been lying down on the pillow. It was looking at him happily. Tails tried to feel his headache, but it had gone. How long was he asleep for? It couldn't have been that long.
__He carefully slid off the bed and made his way over to the door. He opened it and saw that Fiona was just about to knock on it. "What's going on?"
__Fiona pulled her hand back. She first looked at Cream before looking at Tails. "Sally wants an estimate on when you'll be able to hack that thing."
__Tails felt flustered before he realized what she actually meant and shook his head. "Oh, uh... I don't know. Maybe two or three days?" He was sure it wouldn't take that long. He just wanted to keep Sally off his back.
__Fiona then smirked. "You two just hanging out?" She asked quietly.
__Tails flattened his ears and groaned. "Nothing more. She just wants to keep away from Vector for a while."
__Fiona didn't look convinced. "Yeah, sure. Anyway, Vanilla just got here. She has Avery and Eli." She then motioned with her hand for him to follow.
__Tails took one step before he turned to Cream, who had sat up. "You can wait here if you want. I'll be a minute."
__He waited until she nodded before he followed Fiona into the living room. Vanilla was already handing Eli over to Amy while Avery talked with Bunnie and Antoine. The little white rabbit then saw Tails and ran for him. "Uncle Tails!"
__Tails smiled as he knelt down and hugged her tightly. "Hey, sweetheart." He pulled away and got a good look at her. "How are you doing?"
__"I'm okay," Avery said happily. She then looked at Tails's Switch. "Can I play? Mom said we were gonna be here a while."
__"Sure thing." Tails stood up and pulled the Switch out of the console and handed it over to Avery. "Go and play in the kitchen. The rest of us are going to talk."
__As he said that Antoine pulled out the bag he had got back from Vanilla and gave it to Avery. "Your headphones are in here. Just let us know if you need anything."
__"'Kay!" She happily took the bag and walked into the kitchen. She sat down on the dining table and pulled out her earbuds. She then connected them to the Switch and put them on before she started playing.
__"Baba." Tails looked over at Sonic and Amy on the couch. Amy was holding Eli, but little Eli was looking at Tails. "Buuuuuba."
__Tails smiled warmly as he went over and sat next to Amy. "Everything going all right?"
__The pink hedgehog nodded as she sat Eli in Tails's lap. "Yeah. Sage was going easy on us for some reason. It was kinda annoying, though." She then looked at Tails. "Is Cream all right?"
__"Oh yeah. She's fine," Tails said nonchalantly while he began playing with Eli. "She's just a little... tired." Amy was looking at Tails with this weird face. This made Tails turn red. "No! Not like that!" He groaned when Amy started giggling. He then lowered his voice. "It's really none of our business... but Cream is really upset with Vector and doesn't want anything to do with him. Those two really need to talk."
__Amy frowned and nodded. "Yeah. I can understand where she's coming from, though. She went through life just fine with her mother and chao. She doesn't think she needs anything else."
__"Because she doesn't," Tails added. "Despite wanting her mother to be able to relax and move on, she feels offended with this change."
__"It's been like this for a decade, though."
__"Sometimes it's not so easy to let something go."
__Amy fell silent.
__"Well, now that we're no longer discussing what's going on," Charmy called out. "What's next?"
__"We have to move on to the next phase," Sally said promptly. "We now know where Eggman's new base is and that he's using those crystals to benefit from. We just need to..."
__"Didn't we let Tails take charge of this for me?" Sonic suddenly called out. He both looked and sounded annoyed. He either had his own grudge against Sally, or he just understood Tails that well. Most likely both.
__Sally was starting to get annoyed as well, but she waved him off. "Fine. Fine." She then looked at Tails and crossed her arms. "What say you then?"
__This made Tails growl quietly. He didn't make eye contact with anyone while he held Eli. "There's not much we can do at the moment. I have to be able to finish hacking the flash drive to see what I can find, but I suppose we should have a few people scout the base to see if they can find something as well. Probably not so soon, though, since Eggman will be on guard. The public needs to know about this war as well. They'll need defenses again. It wouldn't hurt to mention this to all our neighboring Freedom Fighters as well."
__"That's for the best," Shadow said before Sally could speak out. "We know nothing yet. This'll take time."
__"But what if we don't have time?" Vector asked.
__"It's Eggman," Sonic replied. "He wants to be able to savor 'destroying us'. We're fine to do whatever we need until he initiates."
__Tails nodded.
__Fiona stood up and started stretching, her tail twitching as she did. When she dropped her arms she pretended to check herself. "Oops. I think I left my phone in your room." She then started walking.
__"No you didn't," Tails objected. "I see it in your pocket, you liar."
__Fiona didnt look back. "Sorry! Didnt hear ya!" She then walked into Tails's room and shut the door.
__Tails rolled his eyes as he looked over at Scourge. "This should hopefully give us enough time for you to get that new dagger before the big fight. Did you want to get the Destructix involved, too?"
__Scourge pondered for a bit before he nodded. "We can, but I think only if we really need them. I've always had them do the dirty work for me so I wouldn't have to do anything." He then closed his eyes and smiled as he shrugged his shoulders. "But I'll give them a call and let them know at least. I know they want revenge on Eggman for making Drago return to him... wonder what that asshole's been up to."
__As the others started muttering to each other, Tails put all his attention on Eli. She just kept staring up at him with her mouth open. He could only wonder what was going on through her head. Perhaps she was trying to make sure she remembered his face. Maybe she was thinking that he was weird. You never know when they're this age. When she didn't change her expression Tails gently put his nose on Eli's. This made Eli giggle as she moved her face away and placed it against his chest. The sound of laughing children always calmed Tails down. There was just something too precious about happy children.