The Gang's All Here

7: A Place to...

Scourge woke up, slightly-groggy but more comfy than he'd been in years. He sat up slowly as he woke up, and looked around the room.

For a moment, he couldn't remember where he was. Then, he realized that he was still at Sonic's house, laying on the couch.

Some clunk and clatter noises came from the kitchen. Scourge didn't want to go look and see what it was, as he had no idea what to expect in a strange house. But, he was really hungry, and it might just be Sonic.

Deciding to go look, Scourge got up and went into the kitchen.

Sure enough, it wasn't Sonic.

Tails was making himself a sandwich, and when he caught sight of Scourge,

"SONIC! SONIC COME QUICK! WE'RE BEING INVADED!"

Scourge, frightened, tried to explain, but Tails wasn't having it. He pulled out a device (which, to Scourge's surprise, looked like a simple flashlight) and pointed it at Scourge. "Don't move! Do not move!"

Sonic ran into the kitchen. He was surprised at seeing Tails being so defensive against Scourge, until he remembered: he never told Tails about Scourge.

"Oops. Sorry Tails, I forgot to tell you: Scourge needed a place to stay, so he'll be here for a while."

Tails looked at Sonic, appalled. "You just decided this without my input? I live here too, you know."

Sonic turned to Scourge. "Could you step into the living room for a sec?"

Sighing, Scourge nodded and did as he was asked.

Sonic turned back to Tails. "Tails, I'm so, so sorry for this, but hear me out. Scourge, well..."

Now that it was time, Sonic found that it was hard to admit what was on his mind.

Tails' eyes widened. He'd seen the same look Sonic currently had when Amy was thinking of him. Tails scooted closer and whispered, "Sonic, tell me this isn't because of love interest."

Sonic blushed and winced.

Tails realized that his theory was correct. "Sonic..."

"I know, Tails, I know, this isn't really a good thing. But he doesn't have anywhere to go, I can take care of him, and I really want him to like me."

"Sonic."

"Please, Tails? I promise, one screw up and he'll be gone, just please give him a chance. Please?"

Tails sighed. "One chance is all he gets."

'YES!' Sonic thought. "Thank you, Tails!"

"I don't feel good about this, Sonic. I really hope know what you're doing. Now, I'm going to the lab. Keep Scourge in your sight."

With that, Tails flew off.

Sonic thought to himself, 'I have the most understanding friends!', and went into the living room with Scourge.

"Well... Is your friend kicking me out?" Scourge asked, hoping that he wouldn't have to sleep outside again.

"Nope! He was really understanding about letting you crash here for a while."

Scourge let out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness."

"Also," Sonic added, "I decided I would take you to get some new clothes, today. Just a few outfits so you won't be stuck in tattered rags."

Considering that Scourge and Sonic were enemies, this came unexpected to Scourge. However, he didn't want to keep wearing his worn-and-torn clothes. "Thanks, Sonic. I'm actually pretty surprised that the 'Blue Blur' doesn't have some big, life-saving mission to go on."

Sonic thought. He thought about how he'd told Manic that he'd come check on him, today.

Then, Sonic thought, 'Manic can wait.' "Nah, I have time. Now, there's a clothes place a good run from here. They sell for pretty cheap, but the clothes work just the same."

"Fine with me. Let's go."

~Several Hours Later~

Silver and Shadow sat, watching a movie, when Silver's phone began ringing.

Silver quickly apologized for the noise and walked out of the room.

Shadow turned the volume down and listened to Silver's responses, trying to figure out who had called him.

"Hey... Oh, no problem. It seemed like you needed it. ...Yeah, I guessed. I just didn't know what was wrong. ...No, why? Didn't he come visit like he said? ...No clue, he might be busy. I'll call him later, if you want. ...Sure. ...Wha- no, Sonic wouldn't do that. Knowing him, he may have somehow accidentally muted his phone. ...Okay, I don't blame you. I can't tell you not to worry, but I'm sure this is just some mistake on his part. I'll let you know if I see him, okay? ...Alright. I'll call back to check on you, later. Bye."

The conversation ended, and Shadow saw Silver come back into the living room.

"Manic, I assume?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah. He was calling to thank us for staying with him yesterday. Then he asked if I'd seen Sonic, since Sonic still hadn't come over to check on him. He started to think that Sonic was ignoring his calls, too."

This came unexpected to Shadow. "That's odd. Faker's a nuisance, but it's unlikely he'd completely ignore his brother."

"That's what I thought. But when I said that, I think I made Manic even more paranoid. He's worried that something bad happened."

'This is too much. Having an idiot like Sonic as a brother, on top of being alone, paranoid, and suicidal?' Shadow thought. "If Sonic doesn't show up soon, Manic will have a panic attack."

"I think he was having a panic attack, Shadow. It also sounded like he was frantically eating over the phone, too, so I'm guessing he's a stress eater."

Shadow thought for a moment.

"Shadow, you oka-?"

"Do you remember when you were helping me with my war rehabilitation?"

Silver, in fact, did remember. It was an incredibly stressful time for both him and Shadow. "Yeah?"

"Maybe if we do for Manic what you did for me, it would help him. At least a little."

That sounded like a good idea to Silver. "Alright. I could set something up for us."

"Thank you. I want to help Manic get through this."

A few moments pass before Silver calls, "Shadow?"

Shadow turned to Silver. "Mm?"

"I'm okay, alright?"

This was confusing to Shadow.

"I mean, I'll be okay if you don't stay here. You can, if you want, but I'm fine if you want to leave."

It took a moment, but Shadow soon understood. After what had happened last week, he stayed with Silver every night until now. Both he and Silver were scared that something bad would happen to the other.

Shadow responded, "To be honest, I don't get why either of us were so worried after how you manhandled that burglar. And I know I'd be fine if I needed to defend myself, so... You know what, I've stayed longer than necessary. I'll go home, tonight."

Silver did not want Shadow to go. And Shadow didn't want to leave. But there seemed no good reason for Shadow to stay.

"Alright," Silver answered.