Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s a lonely road, but the noise fills the air so much it’s suffocating. Night has long since fallen. The rain has been relentless. As dark as it is, the moonlight reflects along the wet pavement. The puddles resemble the ocean as the moonlight illuminates the roadway. The only other source of light being provided by the headlights of a police car speeding down the narrow road.

The police car speeds through the emptiness. They aren’t in a rush to get to their destination. The road was just so bare there was no need to go slow. It was boring really, so music filled the silence in the car. Just a single cop was enough of a performance as the radio blared its music.

“HERE I AM! ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE.”

Wade belts the whole song at the top of his lungs. Louder than the initial volume of the radio. Not caring if he’s on pitch. Trying to make his ride more eventful. To fill the quiet. He plays his steering wheel like a drum.

“HERE I AM! ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE!! COME ON, COME ON BABYYY ”

He then proceeded to bite his lip and rip it on his air guitar. Following the rhythm of the electric guitar solo. Not bothering to keep his hands on the steering wheel.

It was an uneventful Sunday night at the station. Any excuse Wade got to get up from his desk and out and about, he’d take it. It was the first call he’d gotten in a few hours. The only other call was some elderly woman calling for directions to her bingo night. The same lady had called last week.

This call was a typical call for Green Hills. There were a few reports of a dead animal laying in the middle of the road. It’s not a typical call for most police stations, but these were the type of calls they got in Green Hills. Usually there would be someone else you’d call to do that kind of service. But not here in Green Hills. 

His highlights illuminated the darkness in front of him. After this call, he gets to go home. Not that he cares. He loves his job. He might not be the best cop in the world, but being a cop is the best job in the world, so he won’t take it for granted for a second.

Just as he got into the groove of another guitar solo. A dark lump sat nearly in the dead center of the road. It came up so quickly he hardly had time to react. “Shit!” He grasped onto the steering wheel and slammed on the brakes as he swerved out of the way. Coming to a stop on the side of the road. 

Wade took a few deep breaths to gather himself before putting his patrol car in park and turning off the ignition. He reached for his glove department and pulled out his bigger flashlight. He kept a smaller one on him, but decided to use the bigger one. 

He opens the car door and steps out onto the soft wet ground. His flashlight scans the woods around him before he focuses back on the road. He slowly guides his light. Searching for the dark lump that he was called out here to remove. Which it didn’t take long to spot. Its dark fur was drenched and the light from the flashing made it glisten.

Wade made his approach, not bothering to look both ways in the street since no one hardly ever comes on these roads at this time of night. He held his light pinched between his neck and shoulder as if he were on the phone while he dug for a set of gloves in his pocket.

“Alright little dude, rough way to go out, but you can’t stay here. Time to go.” Wade snaps his gloves on like a surgeon and holds the flashlight back in his hands. 

He gets down into a squat and just as he reaches for it Wade jolts his hand back. The animal’s chest moves. It’s breathing. It’s alive!

“Awe c’mon! I didn’t wanna have to call Maddie into this. Today was supposed to be her day off. Hey little guy. You hurt? You can’t sleep here.” 

He stands up and uses the sole of his boot to gently shake it to see if he got any reaction and maybe wake it up. There was nothing. Maybe it’s hurt. It was curled up in some ball. There did seem to be some red streaks on some parts of its body. Is it bleeding?

Slowly, Wade got back down on one knee and reached his hand to check if it was injured or just asleep. He noticed its fur was spiky, so he avoided that. Right as he made contact, the animal unfurled itself slowly. Like it had relaxed.

Wade had the opposite reaction when he got a glimpse of what kind of animal it was. Only it wasn’t an animal at all. Well technically it was an animal, but not from earth. It looked like a hedgehog. A familiar hedgehog.

Taken back, Wade falls back into the asphalt, staring at the dark hedgehog in front of him. It looked a lot like Sonic. It was thinner, and smaller. Not quite as small as Tails from the looks of it. Luckily, it didn’t seem like the red he saw was blood. They were marking on top of his distorted quills and going down its arms and legs. 

“Awe man! I was the wrong person for this kind of call.” He says out loud. Not bothering to keep his thoughts to himself at the moment. Still sitting in the middle of the road staring at the unconscious hedgehog. He suddenly remembered who would be the perfect person to call in this situation. “Tom!” He searches his pockets to call Tom, but forgets he left it in his patrol car.

“C’mon, c’mon. Where is it!” He grits his teeth and he frantically searches the front seat of his car. Sorting through a couple days worth of fast food bags on the passenger seat. Finally, he leans over the center console and finds his phone on the floor.

“Yes! Oh, C’mon!”

When he turns back around. The hedgehog is no longer there.  Vanished from thin air. He looked away for one second and he lost it already. Just his luck…

Wade let out an anxious groan as he quickly scrolls through his contact before finally finding Tom’s.

“Please pick up. Please pick up!” Wade strangles his phone as if that would solve his problems and get Tom to answer faster. To Wade's gratitude, he picks up.

“Hello?”

“I call the bathroom first!”

“No, let me! For the fastest thing alive you take foreverrrrr in the bathroom!”

“But your tails drip water all over the floor! Let me go first”

The two brothers fight through the hallway. Trying to get past one another to reach the bathroom floor. Tom peaks around the corner.

“Boys. You’re gonna break something. Tails, you go first. Sonic, you’ve gotta clean up your video game mess in the living room anyways.”

Sonic lets go of Tails’s arm and crosses his arms like a toddler about to throw a tantrum. Tails slid by him and into the bathroom, but not without sticking his tongue at him before proceeding to close the door.

Sonic let out a short huff at what he witnessed but turned back to face Tom. 

“Oh come on! I was just about to beat him! Can’t I pick up my games after I shower. It’s not that bad.”

“Sonic.” Tom gave him his typical ‘dad’ face, “the couch cushions are all over the floor, and you've got chips and candy wrappers everywhere.” He argued.

Sonic grimaced with slight embarrassment. “Right, sorry. I couldn’t get comfortable on the couch. I guess I‘ll go clean it up.” He drags his feet behind him as he makes his way into the living room. Tom follows behind, but instead turns into the kitchen where Maddie and Knuckles were just finishing the dishes.

Knuckles stood on the counter as Maddie dried the leftover dishes. She handed the dry ones to Knuckles as he went ahead and put them in their proper place in the cabinets overhead.

“Hey, Knuckles. Would you mind letting Ozzie out for me. I’ll take over for you.” Tom said to the red echidna. Which without hesitation, hops down onto the kitchen tile after closing the cabinet he had previously opened.

“Of course. Come wolf. Perhaps we can test your skills at hunting at night.” Knuckles announced as Ozzie wagged his tail so hard against the walls it could’ve been misheard as drums during a rock concert!

“No Knuckles! Please don’t teach Ozzie to dig the yard up. I just had it landscaped.” Maddie called out in a last ditch effort to protect her yard. She knew it was only a matter of time before it got ruined, but she would try to make it last.

Tom snuck up behind her, wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. She then relaxed at the gesture. “They’ll be fine.” Tom whispered into his wife’s ear. Maddie simply scoffed and rolled her eyes as she went back to drying the remaining dishes. 

She hands Tom a plate to which he quickly puts up before hearing his phone buzz in his back pocket. He pulls it out to see Wade's contact on his Lock Screen.

“What is it?” Maddie asks.

“It’s just Wade, give me a second.” He lifts the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Tom?! Thank God! Heh, sorry to call you so late,  but this is more up your alley than mine.”

“Hey Wade, is everything alright?”

“Um. I think so? Yes? Maybe? I don’t know? Wait, quick question. Sonic isn’t going through a kind of phase or anything right?”

“A phase? What kind of phase?”

“I don’t know! Like is he more reclusive or is he acting all depressed. Has he been listening to heavy metal or anything? Like typical teenage emo stuff?

“What?” Tom said, genuinely confused. Fully convinced he wasn’t actually hearing what he was hearing right now. 

“Never mind. More importantly, is Sonic with you?”

“Yeah, he’s right in the other room. Hey Sonic! Say hi to Wade!” Tom holds the phone out toward the direction of the living room. Which he forgets he doesn’t need to try that hard to let his son be heard as Sonic ran into the kitchen and grabbed the phone. “Hey Wade. Bye Wade.” He’s there for basically half a second before putting the phone back into Tom’s hand and rushing out of the kitchen.

“Ok that’s good.”

“So are you gonna tell me what's going on or are you just going to keep me guessing?”

“Right! Sorry!” Tom could hear Wade facepalming through the phone. “Remember when I shot you a text saying I had to leave the station for a bit after getting a call about some animal lying in the middle of the road.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I don’t think it was an animal.”

Silence took over. Tom waited for Wade to continue, but he didn’t.

“Well? What is it?”

“Oh sorry. I was thinking. I’m not sure how to describe it, but I think it was something like the boys.”

“What?” Shock rang through Tom’s voice, obviously Maddie took notice and tuned her head. She raised an eyebrow as a silent way to ask ‘what was going on.’ Tom carefully dismissed her by holding up his index finger and mouthing the words ‘hang on’.

In more of a whisper now he continues. “ Wade, what do you mean?”

“I mean it looked like Sonic, except it was black. It’s quills we’re all over the place too. I don’t know where it came from.”

“Where is it?”

“I don’t know!”

“What! What do you mean you don’t know.”

“It was right in front of me, but then it disappeared! I thought it was dead, Tom. I couldn’t tell if the little guy was hurt or not.”

Tom was quiet for a second before grabbing his car keys from a hook on the wall. “I’m on my way. Where are you?”

“Oh. Really? Ok! And I’m on county road 57, just past the old bridge.”

“Ok. See you soon. Stay put!”

He ends the call to see Maddie’s worried look.

“Tom, what's wrong?” She sets the dishrag onto the rack and makes her way closer to Tom as he heads toward the door.

Tom grabs a jacket off the coat hanger and turns back to Maddie.

“I’ll be back. It should be nothing. Once the boys go to bed, call me. I don’t want them to worry before I know more.”

Maddie narrows her eyes. Unsure by what he’s telling her, but she trusts him. She takes his hand and kisses him goodbye. “Ok” she said, “but please call me if anything happens, promise?”

“I promise. I love you. Tell the boys I said goodnight.”

Without another word. He leaves through the front door and into the complete unknown. Only going off of what Wade had just told him. Which wasn’t a lot. Of course things like this only happen to him….

Chapter Text

It doesn’t take long for Tom to reach Wade. There’s no traffic in this area at night. Or even any traffic at all for that matter at any time . True to Wade’s word, his patrol car was pulled over on the side of the road, just past the old bridge. It was strangely one of the main and one of the only landmarks in this town. It’s so old it’s a huge hazard at this point. It could completely collapse at any moment.

It seemed that Wade didn’t bother to get back into the car. As Tom pulled over behind Wade, Wade finally noticed him. He was leaned up against his car on his phone, standing in the rain. His face lit up when he saw Tom. He waved both his arms dramatically as if he were guiding an airplane onto the tarmac.

Tom shifts into park and takes his keys out of the ignition, then proceeds to grab his flashlight. Wade met him on the outside of Tom’s truck. They skip the formalities and Tom gets straight to the point.

“Where’s he at?”

“I- I don't know!” Wade stammered. “It was laying right there in the middle of the road. It was barely moving. I went to grab my phone and it was gone!” Wade was practically sweating bullets even with the rain drops dripping down his face.

“Then he couldn't have gotten far.” Tom thought aloud. He gestures to the other side of the road towards the woods. “If he tried to run away, then my guess would be the opposite way. Away from us.”  Wade nodded in silent agreement. 

The two walk parallel to each other, but multiple trees apart to cover more ground.  The rain masked their footsteps. It mimicked static, so they knew they’d have to listen closely if they were going to find this kid.

 Tom was tempted to call reinforcements. This weather is no place for an alien kid. He can’t do that just yet. Not until he knew more. He didn’t want to scare him even more than he probably already was. He’s assuming he must be trying to hide. That’s what Sonic did for 10 years away from humans, so luckily Tom had some experience in that department in finding these kids.

If they didn’t find him soon, though, he fears he would need to find some help. Maybe start a search party. Would that be too much for this mysterious kid they haven’t even met? 

Tom and Wade were deep enough into the woods that they couldn’t see the headlights from Tom’s truck anymore. Now it was only trees that surrounded them. Filled with only the sounds rain fall and crickets. Or so they thought.

Through the static noise was a rhythmic hum almost in the distance. Tom got Wade's attention by waving his light at him and holding a finger to his lips. Wade stopped in his track and darted his eyes around into the darkness as if he was trying to triangulate the source.

The two focused solely on the noise. It sounded more like a soft whimper. What then got their full attention was the next sound they heard. A yelping cry echoed throughout. Tom and Wade immediately run after the sound. Not caring to be quiet. Whatever made that noise sounded hurt. They weren’t going to waste time trying to be silent.

They automatically assumed it was the kid Wade found earlier. Tom had gone hunting with his dad before in these same woods and has never heard an animal make a noise like that before. That's when the realization of where in the woods they were. They were in Carl’s parts of the woods! 

Even though he finally had proved the existence of the ‘Blue Devil’, he still kept most of his traps active. The way Tom had found that out was when Sonic unknowingly came home with an arrow stuck in his quills. That's when he admitted he would go over to ‘Crazy Carl’s’ parts of the woods and use his traps as an obstacle course. Tom sent Sonic to personally apologize, but Tom also warned Carl to lighten up on the traps. There wasn't much he could do about it after that. It was his property after all.

The whines got louder. Along with that there was a metal scraping. Similar to nails on a chalkboard or a fork scraping ceramic. The sound made Tom’s ears twitch, but he ignored it and pressed on. 

Wade abruptly stopped which made Tom pause as well. Through the darkness nearby, Wade pointed out a bunch of overgrown bushes. The leaves and branches were rustling, far more than if it was merely the wind. The bush shook as if it was shivering in the cold.

Carefully, they cut in closer on either side. They both searched the inside and around the bush very meticulously. Not overlooking anything. The whines had stopped. There was only the metal scrapping coming from inside the brush. 

“Tom.” Wade whispered to get his attention. Tom went over to Wade's side to which he quickly saw what he was trying to draw his attention to. A thick metal chain led into the middle of the bush. Tom follows the path of the chain and shines his light through a gap. 

Tom froze when he found it. A pair of eyes reflected the flashlights light. It’s eyes were blood red. The poor thing quickly shut his eyes before ducking back in on himself. Tom slowly scans the kids body through the thin branches and finds the cause of the chain.

It was what Tom was worried about. One of Carl's traps. A bear trap was snapped shut around his leg, right above the ankle. The kid had been scratching at it in an attempt to get free. That must’ve been the source of the irritating noise. Tom gingerly reached his arm near the kid to see how he would react. 

As anyone would expect a terrified hedgehog to react, Tom snapped his arm back when the kid growled. He didn’t want to scare the kid any further, but he knew he had to get the little guy out of the bush. He looked at the chain. He thought hard about it. He didn’t want to do this but he didn’t see any other option. 

“Wade.” Tom whispered. “Carefully and slowly you are going to have to pull him out. He seems like he’ll try to put up a fight, so I’ll try and hold him while you get the trap off.”

Wade's eyes blew wide while his mouth fell slack. “Wait. Me?” He pointed a finger to his chest while Tom nodded. “Ok, ok, cool cool. Yea, I can do that. Sure!” Wade tried to reassure himself. He reached down and gripped onto the chain. 

“Ready?” Tom asked as he got into position.

“Uh- sure” Wade's voice cracked into a higher pitch, reflecting his total ‘confidence’.

Tom mouths the word ‘go’. Wade starts pulling on the chain to drag the hedgehog out. The noises he made was distressing. It tore Tom’s heart, but he knew this was the only way to help. He knew he wouldn’t come out by himself, so the quicker they got this over with, the better he’ll be.

“Sorrysorrysorrysorry.” Wade muttered under his breath as he reeled the chain back. The hedgehog whined and cried louder than before. Wade started having trouble pulling from how much the hedgehog was resisting. His claws were dug into the dirt. His legs were poking out from under the bush. Tom used that opportunity to grab him by his untrapped leg and pulled him the rest of the way out.

It almost sounded like the hedgehog didn’t know whether to whine or growl as he kept letting out sounds between the two. They had to de-escalate this situation fast before the hedgehog hurt himself even more. Between all the thrashing and fighting he was doing, he was going to make the trap get tighter around his leg.

Tom pinned the dark hedgehog and tried to keep him still, but for as small as he was, he was strong! “Wade, hurry!” Tom yelled out as a cue for Wade to finish getting the trap on.

“Hang on! I almost got it… There!” Wade pried the metal trap off the hedgehog's leg. He tossed it aside where it then snapped fully shut. Giving them the visual of the amount of force that was just used when the hedgehog had accidentally activated the trap. It might be a good idea for Tom to take the hedgehog to Maddie, but that would mean to take him home.

Still having the hedgehog pinned underneath him, Tom tries to speak calmly to the kid. “Hey hey. Calm down bud, we’re here to help you. ‘Kay.” The hedgehog relented. Tom had a decent grip on his arm, but he jerked around so much that he had to get a firmer grip on his wrists. 

He hadn’t seen the gold bracelet until now. They seemed to be around his ankles too. Something about those bracelets triggered the hedgehog. Something snapped. 

He let out a scream that echoed throughout the forest. He forced himself out of Tom’s grip. Slicing through the air with his claw until he landed an attack on Tom’s forearm. 

Tom jumped up off of the hedgehog with his arms up to show that he won’t proceed any further. The hedgehog tried to stand but fell almost immediately after trying to put pressure on his leg. He resorted to crawling away as fast as he could. The hedgehog quickly realized that he wasn’t moving fast enough to get away as Tom followed close behind. Still holding his hands in the air while blood dripped down slowly off his elbow from the wound.

The hedgehog turned over onto his back to keep his eyes on the two humans. Continuing to scoot away the best he could.

Tom wasn’t giving up. He could see the fear in the kid’s eyes. The kid was completely petrified. He was breathing so heavily his chest looked like it was about to pop! He could tell the kid was exhausted. So much so that he would probably pass out any moment. 

Anyone could tell that the hedgehog was stressed enough that it would’ve burst out the seams at this point. The hedgehog kept scooting back until his back made contact with the trunk of a tree. Tom and Wade had closed in on him. Not giving him a space to run.

Tom slowly went down onto a knee to get to his eyeline. “C’mon kid. You're obviously hurt. Let me help you. I’m Tom and this is Wade.” Wade stood straight at hearing his name and gave the hedgehog a quick wave. “Hey!” He added before Tom continued. “I promise we won’t hurt you. Just let us help you.” The hedgehog's eyes darted between the two every second. Tom held his hand out with a soft and friendly smile spread on his face. 

His smile broke when he realized something on the hedgehog's ear. A plastic tag was pierced through it. His arm dropped slightly, but he never let it fall. Someone else got to him first didn’t they. That’s why this kid was fighting so hard. He probably just got out of whatever place he was in and thought he’d be brought back.

The kid’s breathing didn’t lighten up. It picked up instead. Without warning. The hedgehog made the decision to push through his pain and stand up. He made a run for it.

This whole thing must’ve overwhelmed the hedgehog. It took its toll. He didn’t manage to make it very far before fully collapsing to the ground.

The kid moved so quickly Tom hardly registered it. The next thing he knew he was laying face first in the dirt. Completely still. An unnerving silence fell upon them, but it also felt relieving. 

He was still breathing. It’s slowed down now that he’s passed out. Tom still approached slowly in case he woke up. The last thing he needed was to startle him further. 

He dimmed his flashlight slightly to lower the risk of him waking up. He handed his light off to Wade while he took off the jacket he was wearing and threw it over his shoulder for now.

Wade couldn’t stop looking between the hedgehog as well as Tom’s arm.

“Hey- uh- Tom. You might wanna get that checked.” Wade shared his concern. Although, Tom didn’t share it.

“It’s fine. I’ll take care of it later. Point the light towards him.” Tom said instead as he knelt down by the dark hedgehog. Before he wrapped the hedgehog in the jacket, he decided to take a closer look at him. Specifically his leg and his ear tag. He waved to Wade to get more light. “Bring it a little closer, Wade.” 

Wade followed Tom’s instructions and got closer. It was still difficult to see through the hedgehog's jet black fur as well as his fur being drenched from the rain, but he knew the trap had broken skin and potentially fractured his leg. Maybe even broken by the way he couldn’t put any pressure on it. The kid already looked thin and frail. It wouldn’t take much for his bones to snap like a twig.

Tom grimaced at the thought of what this kid went through. To fight those who were willing to help him. He then observed the tag on his ear. It was nothing but a bunch of letters and numbers. Nothing sensible. All it read was ‘PRJ01-SDW’. 

Tom ran his hand through the kids quill. Not only an attempt to comfort the hedgehog, but himself. The fact they found this kid was pure luck. If he was lost any longer he probably would’ve been dead. As he ran his hand through his quills, he could feel how much dirt and dust was in them. How long has this kid been alone for? He could tell he had some red accents in his fur, but they were completely dull right now. You could hardly notice them.

Finally snapping out of his thought, Tom's next focus was getting the kid home. He draped his jacket around the hedgehogs back before picking him up and fully swaddling him in his jacket. Looking down at the kid gave him major flashbacks from when he first met Sonic. The memories of Tom holding an unconscious Sonic came flooding into his mind. 

He was getting some serious deja vu. This darker hedgehog looked so much like Sonic. They could be brothers, or even twins. It hurts to see him like this even though he’s never met him until now. 

Considering his size, the kid was heavy! The only way that would make sense was his shoes. They were pure silver, almost metallic, and were similar to short boots as opposed to sneakers. They were scratched up, but the harder Tom looked the more the shoes only to realize they looked metallic because they were completely metal!

Him and Wade quickly made their way back to the main road. Luckily they weren’t too far. Wade helped Tom set the hedgehog in the backseat. Once he looked to be in a comfortable position, he closed the door.

“Need me to ride with you?” Wade asked.

“Nah, go home, Wade. We’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? I can follow you home if you want.”

Tom let out a quick chuckle. “Thanks, but I think we’ll be ok. But if I need anything you’ll be the first person I call.”

“Okay good. If you anything. Like, anything! I’ll get it. Except from the library. I’m not allowed back there after what happens last time.”

“What happened last— you know what. I don’t wanna know. Good night, Wade. Thanks again for calling me. This kid is one lucky hedgehog to have been found by you.”

“Awe stop it, you're too much.” Wade acts all bashfully before snapping out of the act and wishing Tom a good night and a safe right home. Before he walked off to his patrol car, Wade handed Tom back his flashlight and proceeded to make his leave.

Tom watched as Wade pulled back onto the road and back into town. He waved at him as he passed before reaching for his phone in his pocket. He dialed his wife's number then pulled the phone to his ear.

The ringer only went on for one full ring before she picked up.

“Tom? Is everything alright?”

“Hey, Mads. Are the boys asleep?”

“Yes, they fell asleep about an hour ago, but that didn’t answer my question. Is everything alright?”

“Right. Yea sorry I didn’t call you sooner. But yes everything ok, now.”

“Well. Are you gonna tell me what happened.” Tom could hear her patience slipping away through the phone.

“Yea give me a second. Let me start the truck” Tom gets into the driver seat. He thought he’d talk out of the car to not disturb the kid in the back. The rain had slowed down, but not enough to have a full conversion. The engine roared to life. It could’ve been mistaken as thunder. He quickly muted the radio before it had a chance to come to full volume. He went on.

“So Wade called me to tell me that he was called out to move what he thought was roadkill. Well, spoiler alert, it wasn’t. He was alive and wasn’t quite an animal. He’s a hedgehog—.”

“Like Sonic?” Maddie didn’t let Tom finish, but Tom knew she was just worried so he let her finish his sentence.

“Mmh” Tom hummed in confirmation. “Pretty much. But something feels… off.”

“What do you mean ‘off’?”

“I’m quite sure yet.” Tom shifts his gear into drive and pulls out onto the main road. Turing of his windshield wipers on low so the squeaking isn’t heard. “The kid was terrified, Maddie. I have no idea where he came from, but I have a hunch wherever he was wasn’t good. He wouldn’t let me or Wade get anywhere near him. We had to pull him out of a bush to get the bear trap—“

“Bear trap!” Maddie interrupted again. 

“Oh, yeah, we were in Crazy Carl's part of the woods and the kid got caught in a trap while he was running away. We got it off of him, but he caused quite a fight. Got me good, too.“ Tom answered

“Damn it, Tom. Why do you keep getting involved in this stuff”

Tom laughed at that. “I don’t know. The universe just loves me that much. It knows that we can handle this type of ‘crazy’”

Tom heard Maddie letting out a quiet chuckle under her breath. Tom continued. “I know it’s late and I know you've got work in the morning, but would you mind staying up for a little longer. I’m not sure how bad the kid’s injuries are and you’re a lot better at this kind of thing than me.”

“Well, it is my job, and yes. You didn’t even have to ask, babe. I’ll wait for you. Just don’t keep me waiting too long.”

“you got it! Love you. See you soon.” Tom sent her a kiss through the phones.

“I love you, too.” She replied back.

Tom ended the call. Now it was just him and the mysterious hedgehog. All he could do was listen to the rain so his mind didn't fall down a rabbit hole. He hates being clueless. There are too many questions left unanswered. 

Tom angled his rear view mirror in such a way that helped him keep an eye on the hedgehog. He’s barely moved. In fact, he seemed more relaxed than before. His face was still scrunched up, but his quills seemed more relaxed. 

He’s been used to seeing how Sonics quills would tense up when stressed. Times like these are when he’s even more grateful for having alien kids. It would be hard to say you had experience otherwise.

He hadn’t realized how long he’d been looking through the mirror back at the hedgehog until he started to drift off the asphalt into the dirt. He regained control of the steering quickly before checking the rear view one more time. 

He noticed the hedgehog starting to stir in his sleep. Tom held his breath in an attempt to make no other noise. Maybe he should’ve taken Wade's offer in case he woke up in a panic again. He was almost home anyways. He’ll be fine. The worry left his mind. Or so he thought when he subconsciously decided to press on the gas a little harder. Yea, everything will be fine….