Brother by Kodaline.
~~~

He felt like he was in a heavy daze. In one hand, he tightly squeezed a small memory stick. In the other, a larger gloved hand gently tugged on him to stand. He obliged, finding his focus drifting, and allowed a wobbly hedgehog to guide him out the room. He noted a hushed echidna lead the way as they stuck to the walls, so devastated blue eyes dropped to the minuscule stick sat in his shaking hand.

What did 'discontinued' entail? Were they merely tossed aside? Were they dumped? Dismantled? Tails found himself hiccuping as he recognised his desperation for a conclusive answer. Would Robotnik make it a swift end at the least? He didn't hold much value in his machines, so perhaps he didn't want to waste much time on them? Had they tried to escape? Did they fight? Were they even able to defend themselves? Or perhaps-

"Tails."

Glassy blue eyes met sympathetic green for just a moment prior to falling again. He tightly squeezed the stick, gave a harsh inhale and pushed himself to engage in eye contact. It was then he could acknowledge his best friends healing cuts and bruises- but he still appeared to be struggling with breathing and standing. That said, the worst of the burn marks had begun to fade with the rest of his damage.

But upon seeing the scars left, Tails had a chilling thought. He almost lost Sonic. He almost lost the last person he had. Tears welled at his eyes. If only he had been quicker in realising they were being followed. Sonic wouldn't of had to go through...that. Another thought presented itself. Was there someone on that list that Sonic knew? What about Knuckles? What if they knew someone that Robotnik had cruelly torn apart?

Tails' mind refocused upon Sonic's legs clearly giving away, but the hedgehog quickly did his best to hide it by offering the fox a piggy back. Up ahead, Knuckles whirled to give a scolding- but stopped himself when he saw what caused the noise.

"Sonic, you shouldn't-." The echidna whispered.

"It's fine." The blue blur scooped up a hesitant fox, sucked in a deep breath and (a little clumsily) scrambled up.

Knuckles frowned, but said nothing more on the matter. Instead, he continued walking and asked, "Where to?"

Tails dug in his left namesake to reveal the picture of a young Robotnik and mysterious Maria. He flipped it over to read the messy map Sonic had scrawled for him- based on schematics of the base found on the computer.

"Take a left. You should find a spiral staircase there. Go down it until we reach floor two. That should be where the Tornado is."

"The entire floor?"

"That's what it says. I'm guessing that's where Robotnik stores all of his machines that he doesn't use anymore."

'Would my parents be there?'

"And we definitely want to take our chances and get it, right?"

"How else do you think we're getting out of here?" Sonic argued. "Dunno if you noticed Knucks but I...well I don't fancy leaving this place on foot."

It was then Knuckles noticed the sweat drops dotted on the other's face, the bite marks on his lips, the pale muzzle and strained muscles clearly begging to have some rest. Not to mention with every step the hedgehog took, he looked like he would collapse. Despite his body being able to quickly heal itself with scars, it seemed exhaustion was a tougher task to overcome. And then there was that nasty bruise on his cheek, which spread from his lips and covered almost half of his muzzle.

Knuckles felt an odd twinge at the sight and turned away, making a left as instructed when possible. But looking away didn't help ease the guilty feeling. He sighed.

"I'm sorry. About punching you."

There came a wheeze. "Forget it. It's fine."

The echidna acknowledged what appeared to be a descending stairway ahead and frowned. "It's not fine." He insisted. "Apparently my instinct is to hit things. As the Master Emerald's guardian I need to-."

"I forgive you. You're not gonna tell me I can't do that are ya?"

Knuckles looked back to see Sonic cheekily grinning in return. So, the former scowled. "You make it really difficult to apologise to."

They began cautiously treading down the stairs and Sonic laughed.

—————

When purple eyes met a pair of metal doors with 'floor two' insignia painted across, the echidna they belonged to leaned against them and slowly pushed them open. He held them wide to allow a blue hedgehog (who practically dragged himself) inside, closing them behind him and the fox on his shoulders.

"That coat on you's falling apart by the way." Knuckles passed the pair to check the room.

Sonic looked down to see messy stitches, loose thread, burnt patches and stuffing peaking out of holes. "I'll fix it."

Then, the darkened room was basked in light. The hedgehog and fox simultaneously looked to Knuckles who stood a short distance away with a bandaged mitt gripping a large lever on the wall. The three proceeded to take in the room itself. There were boxes, tanks and black and red fuel stations tucked neatly against the wall closest to the double doors. The floor was a pale concrete, walls were once again grey and the rest of the room held aircraft's beyond one's imagination. Lean and wide, small and vast, short and long. But all consisted of yellow, orange, red, green and black colouring.

"Well, it's definitely some kind of storage space Tails." Knuckles muttered.

"It's an aircraft parking bay. The Tornado surely has to be here. If it is, then we know we can get it out. After all, how'd Robotnik get it in here in the first place?"

"Good point. Let's split up and search for it." Sonic instructed and let Knuckles venture off prior to setting Tails down.

The blue blur shifted to crouch on a knee and squeezed the fox's shoulder. "How you holding up?"

"M-me? I'm fine. What about y-?"

"I've been through worse. Lemme see that memory stick?" He held out a hand and thanked the fox once the device was delivered. "Nasty thought ain't it, that list?"

"Mhm."

"Hey. I...I'm sorry about your parents, pal. We'll get Robotnik back for that. For all of it. We'll make sure those folks can rest in peace knowing he can't do this to anymore people."

"But how many people are going to suffer in the time we figure out how to actually stop him?"

"Ah. I uh...."

Tails rubbed his eyes in a hurried panic upon seeing Sonic's expression darken. "Sorry! I know you're doing everything you can, Sonic. You don't need me to add to the pressure. I just-."

"It's a more than reasonable question to ask. I ask myself it a lot. I wanna say no more people, 'cause if I can help it then Robotnik won't get the chance to hurt anyone else. But-."

"Then we'll do that together, right? I don't want to see you hurt Sonic. And if we work together, with Knuckles, Sally- everyone, then there's gotta be a chance."

Sonic smirked. "I'm sure the odds will tilt in our favour."

"Then promise me something?"

"And what's that?"

"If you end up in a situation that's too much on your own, find a way to escape. O-or ask for help. Whatever you can do in that moment. Ideally, I'll be there to get you out but in case I'm not I-." Tails' head lowered as he tried to hide the welling tears.

"I've lost my parents. You're all I've got. I don't- can't lose you too."

Pain strangled Sonic's heart as he listened to the other sniffle, so he was quick to squeeze both of the fox's shoulders. "You can count on me, Little Buddy. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. You've always got me to cover your back okay? But I want you to remember you've got Knucks now too. And Sally and the others."

"I-I know. But they...you're my family."

Sonic cleared his throat and lifted Tails' head, just as tears left blue eyes behind. The former gently swept them away. "And you're mine, kiddo. Like my little brother. For the record, you're parents are so so proud of you. I just know it."

"H-how?"

"Well, 'cause I am. You're probably the smartest guy on Mobius! You could easily compete with Robuttnik. And you're patient. And kind. And super brave. How could they not be proud?"

Tails hiccuped prior to giving a small laugh and tight squeeze to his brother. "Thank you, Sonic."

Then, the two caught a cough from a short distance away and turned to see Knuckles stiffly standing there. The young kit discreetly helped Sonic up, keeping hold of his hand, and lead the way to the echidna.

"I found the Tornado."

—————

Knuckles guided the pair around aircraft's enveloped in Robotnik Empire symbolism. Some were similar to the Eggmobile, some were shaped like insects, others as ordinary as possible but more were incredibly unique. Sonic knew this to be called the 'Egg Fleet' (or at least a work in progress for the aircraft army) and did his best to keep an eye out for one plane in particular.

In doing so, he was able to quickly identify the Tornado tucked at the front of the rows of vehicles. It was parked narrowly against the wall and consisted of many dents upon Robotnik's attack before. Still, despite it's damaged state, an almost euphoric smile spread on Sonic's face as he swiftly zoomed over (and Knuckles thought that maybe it was worth getting the Tornado back after all).

"You can fix her up right, Tails?" The blue blur leaped up to the top wing and rested his hands on hips.

"Gladly." The fox flew up to the passages seat and slipped a hand under the chair.

Knuckles glided up to stand beside the hedgehog, the two watching the kit in puzzlement. "What're you doing?"

"Checking if the- ah!" Tails revealed a brown backpack. "Seems Robotnik dumped the Tornado here and didn't bother exploring." He sat the pack on the seat and hopped over to the pilots chair.

"Hey there we go! Told you luck would tilt in our favour." Sonic grinned, sitting down with an exasperated sigh.

"That hardly counts."

"A wins a win to me."

Tails chuckled. "Okay okay. Now, how do we get outta here?"

With arms crossed, Knuckles nodded ahead. "It's a different colour to the other walls. Just slightly but still, so I'm guessing that's the bay's door. On Angel Island it's important to look for thing's that're suspicious or a bit off from the rest."

"Glad to have you on the team." Sonic gave a thumbs up, opting to lie down with legs arched and crossed.

"Only thing is, there doesn't seem to be another lever around for it or something." Tails chewed his lip and attempted in bringing the Tornado to life. It struggled the first few times but eventually mustered the strength to whir.

"Maybe it has a sensor?" He asked himself and slowly moved the plane closer.

Knuckles climbed down to settle in the passengers seat and held the bag on his lap. He observed as they closed the gap and the vast door begun to slide up- setting off a few beeps that set the three on edge. Shockingly, no alarms followed and the trio were washed in fantastic sunlight. A large runway met them and Tails didn't hesitate in sending the Tornado down it (ignoring the many Robotnik flags that lined it's sides).

Only when they left the steel runway behind did Knuckles allow himself to smile in relief, unaware that a cobalt blue machine with deadly red optics watched them depart.