Amy shouted, fruitlessly trying to pull her arm from Knuckles. "Knux, not cool! You can't just pull me away from a fight like that."

Knuckles just glared back at her, not saying anything back. He was of few words, but the ones that he did speak were snarky and cold- though sometimes with an edge of kindness.

The Hedgehog furiously kicked the Echidna in the leg.

"Knuckles, you know I can fight! You know I can do this by myself!" She yelled, demanding the respect of a fighter she knew she deserved. She'd fought for years before she even met Knuckles. So, she didn't understand why he was so protective- so adamant against her fighting.

Knuckles tugged her further from the fight, his grip tight against her arm. He didn't meet her gaze, violet eyes somewhere else. The fighting seemed far away, at least to him. Muffled and broken.

Like he was trapped within a hurricane, curled up in the eye as winds thrashed around him. No escape - surrounded on all sides - and no way to even focus.

"Knuckles!" She shouted again, shoving him with her piko piko hammer. Which actually did cause him to stumble and look back at her.

He didn't see her there. Didn't see the saturated, fairy-like girl that had become a little sister to him.

He saw Cass, his bright eyes and silly smile and...

He couldn't lose him again, he realized, holding her tighter as his breathing started to shake.

He wouldn't lose anyone again.