Gadget POV 3rd person Eyelids fluttered open. Another realistic dream. He hadn’t remembered the war or anything at all in that one. Kind of like at the end of, what was that female voice calling it, Option 1? What did that mean anyway? Option 1 and Option 2? Option 1 success rate she said was 98%. What was that all about? Shrugging it off, he slipped out of bed, put his glasses on, and made sure he looked decent before heading out into the main room of operations. It was pretty bare as Sonic sat by a monitor and the large croc, Vector, was just walking into that lone office across the room. It felt a bit like dejavu to the first night he returned as he took a seat by the hedgehog. Sonic glanced to the side and smiled at him. “Morning Gadget.” “Good morning Sonic. How are things?” “Pretty good. You actually missed something big while you were napping?” “Really?” “Yep, it’s a great thing that happened though,” Sonic rubbed Gadget’s head, “Are you still tired at all? You have a few dark circles under your eyes, but they don’t look as prominent. You can get some more rest if you want.” “I might later. I haven’t eaten anything yet today, so I figured I should do that.” “Oh!” Sonic seemed surprised, but then offered, “Do you want to go grab some food with me? It’s almost lunch time.” “Yeah, sounds great.” Both standing to their feet, they left the room and headed down the hall. Sonic looked as though he just had a realization. “Can we stop by the medical bay real quick?” “Sure,” Gadget nodded, “Everything okay?” “Mhm, I just want you to meet someone.” ? Walking to the medical bay, Gadget noticed Sonic seemed a bit distracted by something. Call it a hunch, but the look in those green orbs looked troubled. A hand landed on Sonic’s shoulder, causing the speedster to halt as he turned to the owner. “You know, if something’s bothering you, you can talk about it if you want.” “Nah, I’m alright,” he grinned, though it not meeting his eyes. “Liar.” “...What?” Sonic seemed shocked at being called out on it. The Rookie wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t care. Something was wrong. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s alright. But, you don’t need to say you’re okay when something’s clearly bothering you.” “...You noticed.” “Huh?” The wolf tilted his head. “Most people assume I’m just thinking and that nothing’s wrong. Um,” *sigh* “I do have something on my mind. I didn’t want to worry you.” ‘I don’t want to worry you.’ Zero’s voice rung in his mind from the last night he’d seen him, before getting taken from the orphanage, the orphanage burning down, and him changing so drastically that he now fought in a war to slaughter everyone. “Don’t ever think that.” “Huh?” “If anything’s bothering you, ever. Big or small, you can talk to me. I won’t judge you or tell you I don’t want to listen. Please, don’t hesitate. I’m here to listen. I’m here….” “Gadget?” Those words felt heavy to the hedgehog, like he knew Gadget had meant every word spoken, but he felt there was a deeper meaning than he knew of. “Okay,” The hero smiled gently, “Could I tell you later though? Like tonight? Maybe it’d be nice to get this off my chest.” “Alright. Um, I don’t want to force you to talk, but I don’t want you to feel like you can’t be honest either. So, if you would rather not tell me, then don’t, but if you do, then I’ll always listen.” That was, sweet of the wolf. “...Thank you Gadget.” That silenced them as they continued their quiet trek towards the medical bay. It wasn’t long until they arrived, and walked in to see, well, something unexpected. “Come on! Just a bit longer!” “I don’t think I can keep going.” “Stop being such a pansy!” There in the middle of the room stood a green bird as he lifted up a pink cat, them holding hands as her body was hovering over his while he was standing straight up; her doing a handstand while being lifted in the air. Sonic and Gadget stood stunned as they watched. “They came in this morning with a group we thought were whipped out by Infinite,” Sonic explained. Tears formed in the Rookie’s eyes. “Brian! Kytra!” The two turned their heads to the source before their faces lit up. Kytra jumping to the ground, she booked it towards the wolf and squeezed him in a tight hug. “Little bro! I missed you!” Brian hugged them both before lifting them off the floor, the cat and wolf giggling in joy. A smile tugged at Sonic’s lips as he watched the reunion, happy they were all together again. “How’ve you been Gadget?” Brian asked after setting them both down and giving him a side hug. “Good!” Gadget beamed, before getting teary eyed once more, “I… I thought you guys died. I’m so glad you’re okay!” He embraced his siblings dearly. “Daw! Gadget!” Kytra squeezed him, “The bad guys can’t get rid of us that easily!” “For sure!” Their older brother, Brian, nodded. Grinning, the hedgehog finally approached the three, “I’m glad things worked out.” “Hi Sonic!” Kytra greeted cheerfully. Gadget looked puzzled, “Have you all met already?” “Heck yeah we did!” “Don’t start Kytra,” Brian warned. But it was too late. “I thought I scared you away earlier after telling you how much of a huge fan Gadget is of yours.” The Rookie’s muzzle suddenly looked like a cherry. “You did what?!” An arm loosely then hung around Gadget’s shoulders as the owner being a cocky hedgehog smirked, “Heh, she told me how you watched the news every morning just to see me in action.” While Gadget looked like he could die of embarrassment, it took every fiber of the siblings’ beings not to bust up laughing; even Brian was on the verge of doing so. “And she told me how much you admire my hard work.” “Kytra,” Gadget glared at her, “You’re so dead!” That was the last straw as the two siblings died in a fit of giggles. While the two were being hysterical, Sonic leaned closer as he whispered in Gadget’s ear, “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.” Glancing at Sonic, he saw him wink while still holding a smug smirk. As if to answer, he stuck his tongue out, now making the hedgehog chuckle. Still keeping his arm around the wolf’s shoulders, Sonic asked, “Have either of you had lunch yet? Gadget and I were going to head to the cafeteria after this if you want to join us.” “Food sounds fabulous!” “I admit I’m hungry,” Brian nodded, “We just finished up here, so led the way.” ——— “So you two worked together in the field?” Brian inquired after they all sat down with their meals and began eating. Nodding, Sonic swallowed before he answered, “Yeah. Actually, we met because he was on the team that helped me bust out of the Death Egg. Gadget was the first friendly face I saw in months.” “Aww! Look at you!” The four sat at a square table and Gadget was between Sonic and Kytra, therefore receiving one of her death huggles. “K-Kytra…” “You’re growing up so fast! I’m so proud!” “You’re not his mom,” Brian retorted. “Oh!” As he was let go of, Gadget had a thought, “How are Emily and Nathaniel? Did they make it out too?” Frowns formed as they both shook their heads. “Emily and Nathaniel?” “They’re our parents, well, adoptive parents,” Brian answered the blue blur, “And no, they didn’t make it. I’m sorry bro.” “Oh...Well, I’m glad you’re both alright. I thought none of you made it.” “I’m glad you’re okay too Gadget,” the bird grinned, “We were worried about leaving you all alone like that.” A buzzing was heard. It turned out to be Sonic’s handheld communicator he used around the base. He stood from his seat. “Looks like Knuckles needs me for something. You three enjoy your lunch. See ya later.” And off he went. “Knuckles?” Brian asked. Gadget responded, “The Commander. They’re good friends so Sonic doesn’t tend to call him Commander.” “Oh cool!” Kytra replied before giving a smirk, “So, looks like you and your fav hero are besties.” “Shut up,” Gadget half heartedly glared before playfully pushing her, making her giggle. Brian chimed in, “Still, he seems pretty chill, for a superstar hero in a war and all.” “Yeah. I think he’s probably used to fighting, and since everyone looks up to him, he has to remain calm.” The three continued to talk until their meals were all finished. Brian and Kytra decided to go back to the medical bay in case they could be of assistance. Since nothing was going on right now, Gadget decided to head back to his room as another wave of exhaustion out of nowhere hit him. Returning to the room, he barely made it as his glasses dropped on the desk and he fell into the sheets, quickly going to dreamland. ——— *Sonic POV 3rd person Entering the Main Room of Operations, where Knuckles requested Sonic to come to, he looked around until he saw the echidna, and with him… “Silver?” Walking up to them, the white hedgehog turned to face him and smiled. He looked a bit beat up. “I’d ask how your travels went, but…” Sighing, Silver replied, “You guessed right. I went to the future of my time to see if I could get any hints on how to stop this war, or even why it started in case that might help, but nothing. Eggman and Infinite hid their tracks so well.” “Too bad the Rookie can’t tell us anything,” Knuckles mumbled. “The Rookie? You mean the red wolf?” Nodding, Sonic answered, “Yeah, he has information on Infinite, but Infinite put some kind of mark on his neck to where anytime Gadget tries to tells us anything, it puts him in extreme pain.” “I thought he perished in Metropolis.” “So did we, until Sonic found him locked up.” “And they didn’t just kill him?” “No,” the blue blur shook his head, “They didn’t kill him. And yesterday, there was a large scale attack, and Infinite targeted Gadget.” “Seriously?!” Silver inquired, clearly shocked, “I don’t remember there being any mention of a red wolf anywhere. I mean, granted I never thought to look for him specifically, but I feel like I would’ve noticed it.” “Could it be a timeline thing?” Sonic asked, “Like maybe he died in your dimension?” “Perhaps. When traveling to my past, I could never find a way to change my future, so I came to another timeline in hopes of giving you all a better one… What’s his full name?” “Gadget Kola,” pulling out a handheld device, Knuckles began to type before offering it to the silver hedgehog, “Here’s his file.” “Hm?” Silver looked through the information before him, “Kola Corporation? Right, the Kolas’ had three kids they adopted. Technology genius. Modified the Wispon weapons…” he seemed to pause, “No information before the adoption. Odd. Maybe some of it got lost in the war. I’ll have to look and see what I can find in my time. Do you think he knows how to stop the war?” “I’m not sure,” Sonic confessed, “But he clearly knows something they don’t want him to spill. I looked at his file earlier to see if I could find any hints but came up empty handed.” “Hmm… I’ll see what I can dig up and get in touch soon.” And he was gone a moment later.