The days passed by quickly; Knuckles recovered from his ordeal by the second day, making up for lost training time by taking the handle off of a push broom in the garage and using it as a staff, twirling it, and thrusting it at invisible enemies in the backyard. To everyone else, it didn't look like he'd lost any of his edge, but he assured them that he had to make up for the time he spent simply lying around on the couch.

The boys decided not to tell their parents about Obsidian's mysterious teleporting just yet, not sure how they'd handle knowing that their infant could just disappear at any given point.

Sonic didn't have any more sleep-walking episodes, though he had reported that flickers of the nightmare persisted. Those nights, he would wake up and find Tails curled up in his bed with him, arms wrapped around him tightly. Tails' presence certainly seemed to help, and little by little, he began to feel less afraid when the flickers occurred.

Tom sat at his desk at the station, overlooking the reports left by Wade. Only one or two 'trash-terrorizing' incidents in the past few days, and the teenage girl? Only one sighting in a week, when she came into town to buy a small package of gas station donuts and then disappeared again.
But there was a pattern; she was always seen heading towards the north side of town when she left somewhere. Even if nobody knew exactly where she went, it narrowed it down to a general area.

He was pondering how best to use this information when the door opened, and he looked up to find the familiar face of Commander Walters of GUN. The Sheriff sighed, "Well, there goes my good mood."

"I understand your frustrations, Mr. Wachowski, but you understood that this was going to happen when we gave you permission to house the aliens."

"Yes, and last I checked you said you'd contact us before you made any 'assessment' visits to see how things are going."

Commander Walters nodded, "I did, but this is not on a matter of simply 'checking in' on them... I am here to discuss the outbursts."

Tom raised a brow, "What outbursts?"

Walters stood tall, "This is strictly off-the-record, Mr. Wachowski... But the type of energy expressed by your 'Sonic,' has been seen and recorded here on Earth long before he arrived."

"What do you mean?"

"Following the initial incident with you-know-who... The government opened up some old files. Turns out that for at least fifty years, these random... Bursts of energy have been occurring. We only have records up to fifty years back, but we've also encountered that such bursts might have been happening for far longer than that, close to centuries... I do not believe that Sonic was our first alien from this planet to arrive. I believe they have been coming and going- all over the world- for quite some time."

Tom thought about the creatures Carl had referred to, and the trashcan raids shortly after... "And...if there are more out there?"

"Then I would strongly suggest that you and your wife leave them to us. Until we can determine their intent, we cannot keep trying to hide them out here, and the more that are here in your town, the harder it will become to keep this tucked in a drawer."

Tom frowned, but it was like he'd been discussing with Maddie; they couldn't keep taking in strays, they just didn't have the room to tend to them, unless Maddie gave up being a vet and opened an Alien Orphanage in town.

He didn't speak further to the man, instead closing his file and giving a curt nod. "Nice speaking with you, Commander. Have a nice flight back to DC."

"You're not going to try to explain the recent burst here?"

"Nope. Besides,"
He opened the drawer and slipped the files away, "If these have been happening for centuries, what's there to worry about?"

The officer didn't seem pleased with Tom's dismissal of such a serious matter, especially since he apparently wasn't supposed to be telling them any of this.

Tom looked back up at him, folding his hands together. "Commander, look. So far, the only threat from their planet we've had was Knuckles-only briefly, mind you- because he was operating with little information and was used by Robotnik. So far, the only real threat to our world that has involved them in any way has been from our species. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, they don't want to hurt anyone. They're just kids who have all had to grow up without someone to care for them. So yeah, I'm not worried about it... I'm more worried about what your guys are up to, to be honest."

Commander Walters nodded slowly, giving thought, and then gave a curt nod. "Very well, but my warning still stands. Stay out of it any further, Mr. Wachowski."

The man then left the office, and Tom leaned back with a sigh of relief. Thank God, I remembered not to mention Obsidian...!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

That afternoon, once Wade had come in to cover the night shift, Tom headed out with the truck; his destination? The north side of town.

If it had been one time, he might've thought that she'd moved on to another town, but the last sighting had been recent enough that he had a feeling she was still in the area. He followed his usual patrol pattern, driving up the road and heading towards the edge of town and then the surrounding area. He hoped to see something suggesting a runaway living out here; a shelter made out of a strung-up tarp, a random sleeping bag on the side of the road, something.

He was approaching the speed trap, that long stretch of road rarely driven and he'd spent many boring afternoons before Sonic revealed himself. He'd sit right there by the sign, waiting, hoping; but it was a surprise when someone even drove by there, much less actually speeding. The only speeder was Sonic, and he couldn't get in trouble before the speed limit was for vehicles- it wasn't considered possible for someone or something to break the speed on foot.

Tom was about to pass the sign when he paused. He saw a girl sitting under the "Welcome to Green Hills" sign; an unfamiliar girl wearing an army jacket and with dull-blue hair.
Finally, he'd actually seen the phantom teenager. He put the truck in park and climbed out, moving towards her slowly, but with purpose. "Excuse me, young lady..."

Tom was relieved when she stayed put instead of running as he'd expected; if she was a runaway, she wouldn't want to get caught by a policeman and sent back to wherever she came from. In fact, she barely even looked up at him. "I'm Sheriff Wachowski, and I just wanted to see if you were alright. The townsfolk had said they'd seen you wandering around a lot."

The girl blinked and then gave a shrug. "I guess..." She mumbled, "...Just... Sitting."

"I see... Are you lost?"

She shook her head, "...Just looking around."

"Looking for anything in particular?"

She shrugged. A grasshopper landed on her head, and she didn't even twitch.

"Well, maybe I can help. That's what I'm here for, is to help people."

Her sullen expression didn't change, but she got up from the grass and onto her feet. "...I don't think anyone can help me anymore... If I'm bothering everyone, I'll just go-"

"Hey, hold on a second."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from walking away. "I didn't say you were bothering anyone... You got a name?"

She was quiet, "...Kaia."

"Well, Miss Kaia, do you want to at least get into some clean clothes before you go wandering out again by yourself? Something to eat?"
Kaia didn't speak, but she relaxed. Her head drooped down, and then she gave a little, barely noticeable nod. "Okay... Come on. I'll let you sit in the front seat."

Kaia hesitated when she reached the truck, but then slid into the passenger seat, her hair drooping in her face.

"Seat belt..." Tom reminded, and she pulled the straps over and fiddled with the buckle for a second as if she'd never used one before.
Tom gave her a nod and then they started back towards town. Kaia didn't speak, just fiddled with the loose threads in the stitching of the seat. She paused after a moment, and pulled out a small, blue strand.

"A quill..." She whispered.

Tom nodded slowly, Sonic must've shed it on their drive back from the lake and left it behind. "Yeah... It's a quill."

Kaia's eyes looked a little less dull, a little less empty; she spent the rest of the drive holding the quill and running her finger over it. At least she had something to keep her occupied.

There was a small sandwich shop on the edge of town, and while Tom didn't take her hand, he did look back from time to time to make sure she was still following. The girl trudged behind, staring at her shoes.
He came to a stop and then pushed the door open to let her go in first. She didn't seem to have a preference, so he got her a simple grilled cheese and a bottle of water. She slumped in the booth in the corner- still fiddling with the quill- and he sat down across from her, not making direct eye contact but instead looking around.

"Are you from around Green Hills?"

"No... Not really."

"Well, could you tell me where you are from?"

"Nowhere..."

"Everybody's from somewhere."

"Not me... It's not there anymore."

The best Tom could make of this was that she came from a town that had dried up, or perhaps she'd been in a children's home that had shut down. "How long have you been from nowhere?"

She didn't respond, but bit her lip and looked down like she wasn't quite sure of the answer. "...Are you going to arrest me, Sheriff?"

Tom shook his head, "Nah... Can't arrest you if you haven't done anything illegal. From what I've heard, you've paid for everything you've gotten from the townsfolk here."

She nodded slowly, "Yeah... I find money on the ground or... In old clothes... Not much, but...Enough."

"So you've been walking around all alone for a while?"

She was still, but then gave a nod and took a bite of her sandwich.

"...This thing you're looking around for..."
Tom leaned a little bit across the table, "...Is it a thing, or is it... Something missing in here?"
He pointed to her chest with a finger, and her shoulders slumped a little more.

"...Both, I guess... It's hard to explain to a... To someone who hasn't dealt with it."

So perhaps not a runaway, but a kid who'd fallen through the cracks of the system and had been trying to find somewhere that would give her stability. Tom wished he and Maddie could take one more into their home, but there just wasn't room.

"There was a... something happened and..."
She was quiet again, shrugging and taking another bite of her sandwich.

"...You don't have any family that could help you?"

She shook her head, "...They're gone."

"I see..."

Kaia looked out the window, "...If you lost everyone you cared about... What would you do?"

Tom thought for a moment, "Well... I think I would try to keep living and try my best to honor their memories and the things they taught me."

"And... If someone was responsible for it...?"

"...I would still do that... And hope that one day, I could forgive that person for what they did."

Kaia was quiet again, picking up the quill from the table. "...Could... Could I keep this?" She asked.

Tom didn't see how it would hurt her to keep one of Sonic's shedded quills; it wasn't like he was using it anymore. "Sure thing."

"...Thank you."
She carefully stuck it into her ponytail, and Tom's eyes widened a bit as it sparked with electricity. She looked at him in confusion, "What?"

He shook it off as it faded out again, "Nothing, it just... It looks good on you. Alright, finish up here, and then we can get you some clean clothes, huh...?"