Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Amy sighs as she looks over the week’s reports. Almost a month after the war, the Resistance still hasn’t been able to assess the full extent of the damage. Thank Chaos for the other branches, because if it’s taking this long just to deal with the damage done to the United Federation, she can’t imagine how long it would take if their group was in charge of the entire world. As she goes through the damage reports, she makes a note of which branches have sent her their report for the week, falling into a dull rhythm.

She’s snapped out of her trance by a message coming in through her headset.

“Hey, Amy?” Mighty’s voice comes out.

“Yes? What’s up?” She asks.

“I found someone…”

“That’s good, that’s why you’re out there…” Her eyebrows furrow, confused by his hesitant tone. “Is there something different about them compared to the others?”

“It’s Infinite.”

Amy freezes in shock for a few moments. “I- What- Is he alive??” She questions.

“He’s injured and unconscious, but he’s breathing…” Mighty replies. “What should I do with him?”

She frowns as she thinks to herself, trying to wrack her brain on what to do. She eventually sighs, rubbing her temples. “Bring him in. Put him in the infirmary and get a control collar on him. Tails should have at least one.”

“Will do,” he replies. “Over and out.” He carefully picks up Infinite, wary of the dimly-glowing Phantom Ruby in the jackal’s chest, before turning on his communicator to notify his teammates– Corvin, Fuchsia and Gadget. Mighty had been placed with them after the war to lighten the load of clean-up and rescue missions. The three had been active members of the Resistance during the conflict, but like Mighty, they’re still somewhat inexperienced when it comes to dealing with Eggman. Corvin, a teal bird, and Fuchsia, a pink cat, grew up as best friends and were teammates during the war; most of the idle conversation that comes through the team’s headsets comes from those two. 

Gadget, on the other hand, seems to be a lone wolf (no pun intended). Despite being considered a hero for their actions during the war, they never bring it up, and they readily handed over the team’s leadership to Mighty without even being asked. The armadillo’s both bewildered and intrigued by them.

Mighty presses the button to unmute his headset’s microphone. “I’m heading back to HQ, guys. You’re not going to believe who I found.”

“Ha, I doubt that,” Corvin retorts. “Another civilian?”

“Infinite.”

“WHAT!?” The bird practically shouts into the mic, causing Mighty to wince.

‘ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ’ Gadget’s text-to-speech engine blares each individual letter into their headphones, the wolf spamming the key to mimic shouting back in annoyance.

“Corvin, Gadget, do not scream into the mic!!” Fuchsia scolds.

“Did you not hear what he just said!?” Corvin squawks.

“I heard him perfectly clear-”

“That’s enough, you two,” Mighty interrupts. “First of all, Gadget, turn the volume down.”

Gadget huffs. A few seconds later he speaks again. ‘ BETTER? ’

“Much better. Now get back to work, I’m sure Amy will hold a briefing about this tonight. I’ll see you later.”

“Goodbye for now, Mighty,” Fuchsia replies.

‘ BYE ,’ Gadget types back.

“See you later…” Corvin answers uneasily.

“Over and out.” Mighty taps out and runs back to HQ.

-----

Tails is engrossed in a project when Mighty comes into his workshop. “Tails, I need a control collar.”

The fox’s ear flicks. “Why do you need a control coll- DEAR CHAOS!” He jumps out of his seat as he sees Infinite, his eyes wide and his fur on end. 

“Easy, easy, he’s unconscious,” Mighty assures him. “I need the collar so we can get it on him before he wakes up.”

“R- Right…” Tails gets up and goes to the safe where he keeps the control collars. His hand shakes slightly as he starts to unlock the combination lock, and his ears are flat against his head.

“It’s okay, Tails, he can’t hurt you right now…”

“I- I know, I know…” He chuckles nervously. He screws up the combination, cursing under his breath as he resets the lock to start over.

Mighty would usually give a soft reprimand for the fox’s language, but the kid seems stressed as it is. Instead, he decides to distract him. “So, Tails, where did you get these again?”

His plan succeeds, and Tails relaxes slightly. “We got the first one from a guy named Zonic! He’s an alternate version of Sonic, kinda like Classic. Sonic saw him use one on yet another version of him, and he asked if he could take one for me to study. And Zonic said yes!”

“That’s nice of him.” Mighty smiles as he listens to the fox explain, glad he was able to momentarily distract him. “How do they work?”

“They siphon out excess dimensional energy so that it’s released faster, since stockpiles of dimensional energy are what cause powers like Sonic’s. Since the energy levels of the person with the collar end up within the normal range, they aren’t able to use their powers!” Tails excitedly explains as he pulls out a control collar, promptly locking the safe again. “Isn’t it cool??”

The armadillo chuckles at the kid’s energy. “Yes, that’s very cool.”

The fox turns to beam at Mighty before freezing, suddenly reminded of why he had to get the control collar out as he sees Infinite. He swallows around nothing, his tails lashing slightly. “I need to put this on him… can you hold his hair out of the way, please…?”

“Of course.” Mighty pulls Infinite’s long mass of hair out of the way.

Tails snaps the control collar around the jackal’s neck. A small light on the collar starts to glow green. “There…” He steps away as soon as he’s sure the collar is secure.

“Thanks, Tails.” The armadillo smiles and ruffles Tails’ fur. “I’ll see you later.”

The fox sticks his tongue out in response to the ruffling, one hand raising to smooth his fur back down. “No problem, Mighty.” His ears perk and he pauses in place. “Wait a sec, I just remembered something.”

Mighty tilts his head slightly. “What is it?”

Tails sits down at his work table and pulls two rolled-up blueprints out of a drawer. “Can you deliver these for me? One's for the medical team, the other's for Sonic.”

Mighty nods. “Sure thing, bud.” He takes the blueprints in his free hand. “Alright, take care! Remember to eat, or I'll send Ray to bug you.”

“I've got an alarm!” Tails replies confidently.

“Maybe set another one. You know how you are with those.”

“Yeah, you're probably right.” The fox chuckles awkwardly. “I'll do that.”

“Good.” Mighty nods, turning to leave.

Tails sets an alarm on his communicator, then throws one last wary glance at Infinite before turning back to his work.

Mighty smiles softly as he watches the fox quickly become engrossed in his own project again, then quickly carries Infinite down to the infirmary.

After a tense conversation with the medical team and handing one of them their copy of Tails’ blueprint, Mighty’s finally able to pass Infinite off to them to deal with. He sighs and calls his team once again.

“He’s in the infirmary,” He states. “From the looks of it, Amy’s waiting to hold the briefing until tomorrow. Are you guys on your way back?”

‘ YES ,’ Gadget replies over the comm in response.

“We should be there soon,” Fuchsia replies. “Other than the jackal, there were no other mobians in the area.”

“Good, that makes things easier.” Mighty leans against the door frame. “Are you guys chill with me dropping out for the night? I’ve gotta deliver something to Sonic. And maybe make sure he falls asleep at a reasonable time for once...” He sighs, rubbing his temples at the thought of trying to drag the hyperactive hedgehog to bed.

“That is alright,” Fuchsia assures him.

“Yeah, go find your bOyFrIeNd ~” Corvin teases.

“Corvin, you realize that’s not a ‘sick burn’ when it’s true, right?” Mighty retorts.

The bird clacks his beak in response, annoyed. “Whatever.”

The armadillo sighs. “Goodnight team.”

“Nighty night, lovebird .” 

“Goodnight, Mighty.”

‘ NIGHT .’

“Over and out.” Mighty shuts off his communicator for the night and sighs again, turning his gaze back towards Infinite. He forces down a lump forming in his throat.

It’s alright, Mighty. He can’t hurt anyone anymore…

He sighs and turns away, walking away to look for Sonic.

…Can he?

Chapter Text

Infinite sits up in bed, groaning as a white-hot flash of pain shoots through his skull. He places a hand on his forehead, wincing as he rubs his temples. His head feels fuzzy and heavy, as if filled with cotton and lead simultaneously.

One of the medics notices his movement and says something into a communicator headset, though he can’t understand what they’re saying very well. He stares at them, his eyes narrowing slightly. They notice his staring and look away, uncomfortable.

“Where am I?” Infinite asks, his tone biting.

The medic bites their lip, nervous as they turn to look at him. “You’re in the infirmary in the Resistance Headquarters…”

“ Why? ” He asks, gritting his teeth.

“A member of one of our clean-up teams found you lying unconscious on the ground and brought you in…” 

He huffs. “Damn it… what day is it?”

“December 3rd.”

Infinite growls softly. He was out for almost an entire month, counting his time in the Phantom Ruby. He doesn’t even know when he got out of the Ruby, much less how.

Speaking of the Ruby, it appears to be once again wedged uncomfortably deep in the jackal’s chest. He doesn’t really want to know what he’d look like with it removed, but the dull pain radiating from the area certainly isn’t pleasant either. The medic notices his grimace and sighs. “Would you like some painkillers?”

Infinite scoffs. “Of course not. A little headache and chest pain will not kill me.”

“If you say so…” The medic turns around to write on a chart that he doesn’t care enough to pay attention to.

While they’re looking away, he tries to use the Ruby’s power to will the pain away… and nothing happens. He tries again, and then again, and then groans. 

“What happened to my powers?” He sneers at the medic.

“Ah, you have a control collar on,” they reply, gesturing to their neck.

Infinite’s hand comes up to his own neck, his eyes widening as his fingers brush against the metal collar. He growls quietly as he fully grabs the collar, clenching his fist around it. “Damn it…”

“Don’t try to break it off, either,” the medic warns. “There are only three people physically strong enough to break it, and all three of them are on our side.”

He grumbles. “Fine… In that case, I will take those painkillers.”

“Alright.” The medic leaves the room and comes back with some pills and a glass of water, then hands them to him. “Here…”

Infinite huffs and downs the pills, then the water, wiping his mouth with his arm afterwards. “So, what are they going to do to me now that I’ve been captured?”

The medic shrugs. “I don’t know… Knowing how Sonic is, you probably won’t get as harsh of a punishment as you deserve. Especially since G.U.N. gave the Resistance full jurisdiction over your case.”

He rolls his eyes. “Pathetic, the lot of them.” His ear flicks, detecting the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. He looks over to the door as an armadillo reaches the room.

“Oh, hey Mighty,” the medic greets him.

“Hey Jade,” Mighty replies. He looks to Infinite. “I see you’re awake.”

The jackal huffs. “What do you want?”

“I’m going to take you to the meeting room. Amy and Knuckles are gonna decide what to do with you,” the armadillo explains.

Infinite’s eyes narrow. “Great… I suppose I should prepare my last words?”

“You're not going to die,” Mighty replies, his eyebrows furrowing. “You're getting life in prison at most, but knowing Sonic, you probably won't even get that. But I suggest keeping your mouth shut if you don't want to get jumped, considering you're powerless and you'll be handcuffed the entire meeting.”

Infinite grumbles, his ears flattening in annoyance at the reminder of his cut-off powers. “Fine…”

“Glad you understand. Now let's go. The sooner we get to the meeting room, the sooner this is over with.”

He huffs and pulls himself out of the bed, the IVs and monitors formerly attached to him having been removed by the medics while he was distracted. He holds out his wrists to allow Mighty to handcuff him.

Mighty clicks the handcuffs on. “Follow me.”

Infinite rolls his eyes and follows Mighty, grumbling, unsure of what fate awaits him.

Chapter Text

Case Number: 01

Date: 12-03-20XX

Transcriber: Amy Rose

Person of Interest: Infinite the Jackal

Subject: Meeting Report - Ruling on Consequences for Crimes Committed During the War to Take Back the Planet

Agenda:

• Assess Infinite’s condition
• Brainstorm methods of containment
• Determine whether rehabilitation is possible
• Establish a rehabilitation plan
• Decide who will reside over Infinite’s rehabilitation
• Discuss rules of the rehabilitation plan
• Determine failsafes if the plan fails

Decisions Made:

• Infinite will be rehabilitated and eventually reintroduced into society through a five-step plan.
• Gadget will oversee Infinite’s rehabilitation. Infinite will stay in Gadget’s apartment.
• Gadget must submit written reports on Infinite’s behavior twice a week in order to track Infinite’s progress.
• In the first stage of rehabilitation, Infinite will be confined to Gadget’s apartment. Gadget must also stay in his apartment so they can monitor Infinite. Rules for subsequent steps of the plan will be determined as the plan progresses.
• If the plan fails, Infinite will be transferred to a maximum-security prison under G.U.N.’s authority.

Other Remarks:

• Infinite should be kept away from Sonic AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
• Infinite must wear a control collar until we can be absolutely certain that he won’t hurt somebody with the Phantom Ruby.

Chapter Text

Case Number: 01

Date: 12-04-20XX

Transcriber: Gadget the Wolf

Person of Interest: Infinite the Jackal

Subject: First Semi-weekly Behavior Report

Summary:

Day One:

• 7:00 AM - Left the Resistance HQ. Infinite was handcuffed throughout the ride home.
• 7:23 AM - Arrived at my apartment. Infinite’s handcuffs were removed. He immediately bit my finger. I squirted him with a water bottle.
• 7:26 AM - Finished bandaging my finger. Infinite said he wasn’t sorry. I squirted him again.
• 7:30 AM - Designated sleeping arrangements. Infinite will sleep on the pull-out bed in the living room couch.
• 7:35 AM - Set up the pull-out bed. I made Infinite help so he knew how to do it himself. He pinched his finger in one of the joints (karma).
• 7:46 AM - Finished setting up the pull-out bed. I was going to teach Infinite how to put it away, but he climbed onto the bed and promptly fell asleep. I let him sleep.
• 10:13 AM - Infinite finally woke up. After getting him off of the bed, I taught him how to fold it up into the couch again.
• 10:22 AM - Watched some TV. The program was some kind of overdramatic soap opera that I think my roommate Barry’s mentioned before. I zoned out, but Infinite seemed to be paying attention the entire time. I didn’t expect a former mercenary/war criminal to like soap operas, but it’s not necessarily an unwelcome surprise. It could be worse.
• 12:31 PM - Finally got off of the couch and made lunch. Infinite ate three BLTs. I fear for our grocery bills.
• 1:07 PM - Started loading the dishwasher with Infinite. Thankfully he didn’t break any plates. He tried, but the plate he kept throwing was practically invincible and kept bouncing off the floor instead. He threw it so hard that it bounced and slammed into his jaw.
• 1:11 PM - Break to make sure Infinite didn’t break anything and give him ibuprofen.
• 1:14 PM - Finished loading the dishwasher alone. I made Infinite go back to the couch to keep watching his soap opera to reduce the risk of further injury and possible damage to my apartment.
• 1:32 PM - Went back to the living room. Infinite continued watching TV while I read a few chapters of a book I’ve been working on. I’ve never seen him so calm before.
• 2:00 PM - Infinite finished the season finale and threw a tantrum about the episode ending on a cliffhanger. He started howling. Jackal howls are louder than I thought.
• 2:04 PM - Finally got sick of the howling and tackled Infinite. He stopped howling after I pointed a butterknife from lunch at his throat.
• 2:10 PM - Helped Infinite find something new to watch. I found the goriest horror movie I could find and he was immediately hooked.
• 2:12 PM - Had a talk with the landlord, who came to see what the howling was about. I thankfully got off with just a warning and didn’t have to explain that I’m living with a war criminal.
• 2:23 PM - Went back to the couch to watch the movie with Infinite.
• 3:58 PM - Finished the movie. I rate it 4/10. Infinite rated it 10/10. I will not go in depth on his reasoning, and I’m frankly a little concerned.
• 4:00 PM - Started another movie. This time, the movie was about a mercenary.
• 4:47 PM - Shut off the movie out of annoyance. Infinite kept pointing out every single inaccuracy related to mercenary work, and now I’m even more concerned.
• 4:49 PM - Texted Barry to ask them to bring home dinner when they get off work.
• 4:56 PM - Remembered Infinite and texted Barry to ask them to bring home three meals instead of the usual two.
• 5:22 PM - Barry got back from work with dinner. I had to explain why I asked them to bring home three meals instead of two. They didn’t take the news that we’re temporarily housing a former war criminal very well. I probably should have told them earlier.
• 5:25 PM - Split up the meals with Barry and sat down on the couch to eat. I made sure to keep Infinite away from Barry, but they were kind of freaking out anyway. It didn’t help that Infinite kept smiling at them in the most sinister way he possibly could every time they made eye contact.
• 5:31 PM - Found out Infinite’s never had soda before. He jumped and fell out of his seat, yelling about his drink attacking him. It was probably the funniest thing I’ve seen all week, and even Barry snickered a little. Infinite kept to himself for the rest of dinner, seemingly embarrassed.
• 5:53 PM - Cleaned up after we finished eating. Barry went to go take a shower, and I sat on the couch with Infinite. I explained the concept of carbonation to him when he asked.
• 6:02 PM - Out of curiosity, I asked Infinite how he understands sign language. Turns out he had a deaf client he worked with pretty often before he joined Dr. Eggman. He then joked that said client is probably dead now, immediately killing the mood.
• 6:15 PM - Barry returned from the shower. Infinite thought it would be funny to jump up from behind the couch and scared the shit out of them. They went to their room, and I sprayed Infinite with the spray bottle.
• 6:24 PM - Realized Infinite also needed a shower. I didn’t trust him in the bathroom by himself, so I grabbed a hose nozzle with a hole to screw in a shampoo canister (which Barry got as a parting gift when leaving an old job as a pet groomer) and the canister that went with it and filled the canister with some shampoo. I then grabbed Infinite by the scruff, dragged him outside, attached the nozzle to the apartment building’s hose and hosed him down. He shook all over me when I was done, but it was worth it.
• 6:40 PM - Went back upstairs and blasted Infinite with the hairdryer. He liked that part at least, but it took forever. He has too much hair. Really, really, REALLY good-looking hair, but still too much of it.
• 7:06 PM - Finally finished drying Infinite’s hair and fur. I decided to go a step further and handcuffed him so I could clip his dangerously long nails on his hands.
• 7:11 PM - Finished clipping Infinite’s nails. He once again bit me as soon as I removed the handcuffs. I sprayed him with the squirt bottle again. Hopefully that starts to work soon.
• 7:15 PM - Rewarded Infinite for (mostly) cooperating with the shower by putting on another gorey horror movie.
• 9:00 PM - Finished the movie. It turns out gruesome horror movies, no matter how cheaply produced, are a good way to keep Infinite occupied for an hour or two.
• 9:03 PM - Went to the kitchen to get a drink. When I came back into the living room, Infinite had already fallen asleep on the couch. I sat in the living room for a little while longer to make sure he was really, deeply asleep.
• 9:38 PM - Realized Infinite wasn’t going to wake up any time soon when he started snoring loudly. I let him be, said goodnight to Barry and went back to my room for the night.

Day Two:

• 6:30 AM - Got up and ready for the day. Infinite was still asleep.
• 6:47 AM - Started writing this report using notes I wrote down on day one.
• 7:12 AM - Infinite woke up. He promptly rolled off of the couch because he apparently forgot that he didn’t fold the bed out before he fell asleep.
• 7:36 AM - Barry woke up and started making breakfast. I had to turn on another horror movie for a short while so Infinite would stop trying to steal the sausage to eat it raw.
• 7:59 AM - Barry finished making breakfast, which was biscuits and sausage gravy. Their knack for accidentally making way too much gravy came in handy, because Infinite ate four plates of it. From the look on their face, I couldn’t tell whether Barry was flattered by his appreciation or horrified by the sheer volume of gravy he consumed. Knowing Barry, it was probably both.
• 8:43 AM - Full of gravy, Infinite dropped himself onto the couch and promptly took a long nap. Probably to sleep off all of the fat from that gravy. I’ve never seen anyone eat that much of anything in one sitting, aside from Sonic eating chili dogs.
• 8:45 AM - Barry left for work, leaving me alone with Infinite. Thankfully, I don’t have to watch him as closely while he’s asleep.
• 2:16 PM - Infinite finally woke up from his nap. He once again rolled off of the couch when he woke up. This time I heard a long, colorful spew of swear words, many of which I’d never heard before.
• 2:21 PM - Made myself a drink and some popcorn, then sat on the couch and put on an action-comedy movie. Infinite didn’t seem as interested as he’s been in the last few movies, but every movie we watched on day one was catered to him, so I didn’t care. I needed something lighter to counteract all of the blood, gore and screams I witnessed earlier.
• 2:47 PM - Remembered that I needed to order groceries. I opened the delivery app and set the order up. Infinite seems to really like meat, so I ordered him some different kinds of jerky.
• 3:57 PM - Finished the movie. Infinite gave it a 5/10 because he thought there wasn’t enough blood.
• 4:05 PM - The groceries arrived. I didn’t let Infinite help to put them away, because I figured he’d try to cause trouble again.
• 4:16 PM - I sat down and finally started working on this report again.
• 4:51 PM - I finished this report.

Injuries: Seven - Two bites, one pinched finger, one hit to the jaw, and three falls causing wounded dignity

Attempts at Escape: None, surprisingly

Attempts at Murder on Either Party’s Part: None (Why is this a required question?)

Status of Person of Interest: Not dangerous, but kind of an asshole

Continue Rehabilitation Program?: Yes