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Description
~ Sonic's Need ~

Disclaimer: We do not own Sonic da hedgehog, his nail clippers, his gloves or his toothbrush.

This is a Sonic X one shot fic that is a little different. Bear in mind that there are no couples and I have tried to keep them in character as much as I can. This fic is purely fun based and a little experimental for me. Enjoy the story!

Inspired by the Sonic X episode: Sewer Search

Chris was only human.

He was reminded by that staple fact when he heard a clang of metal resound above him just after the boy had narrowly jumped to avoid being skewered by Dr. Eggman.

He had been at school not many hours before, picking up his homework from Mr. Stuart, revisiting his locker and reclaiming the same old attire of handbooks before retiring from the school corridor to begin his homebound journey. Everything was normal then. The sky had been blue and clear to reveal frothy white clouds and a pale, pleasant sun. He had waved his friends goodbye and had turned the same old corner street to walk up the same old sidewalk. But he was being watched. And it all became clear shortly after passing down a dusty, disused shortcut home. An alleyway marked by the cats that patrolled the ups and downs. The discarded rubbish and disused beer cans. The stains of discontented nobodies and tramps. But this time he heard a call. Like a strange chatter of mechanically windup toys chorusing together in a collective madness. Curious he took a turn and ended up in a tired, rundown apartment. Its backyard had now become part of the alleyway where people drank and talked all night. The apartment used to be a well known garage until the people who owned it went bankrupt. Now it had been - or should have been - abandoned. Left for the rats and bored loonies to drink their nights away.

But here the noise emitted. Maybe kids were playing? Or maybe someone had left something like a radio?

Humans were a curious species. One that Chris was always a victim too. Being brought up so wealthily made him more aware of his surroundings - more educated while at the same time wary and cautious. He didn't have much longer to go to get home - and once he found out what all the fuss and noises were making, he'd go about his way. Maybe get a few snacks when he got home and browse the shows on television.

The apartment within was old and massive. Its bowels had been stripped to show its ugly, revolting skeleton beneath. It was hard to imagine that people used to run a business here. Now all that remained was stagnant air and empty spaces.

Just on the fringe of darkness within the abandoned hull of the building was a tiny metal doll. It clanged its little copper hands together and made whirring, alien tunes from its gearbox. Chris regarded it with flat astonishment and wonder. Who'd leave a thing like this here? Jabbering away to itself like this?

Humans were a curious species. That was justified.

And Chris was only human.

A hollow, scarping sound, like chalk on a board, came screeching from the darkness like a wailing banshee remote with hunger. Chris stared into the loathsome darkness, inches from running. But fear and dread held him. Held him tight and still. It was like watching a horror movie, knowing the gruesome bit was bound to come, and when it did you just could not look away. Not look and not know what you would be missing.

A sliver of something metal gleamed from the shadows in surreal horror. A giant mechanical leg extended out as the rest of it crept forwards.

He should have known - all alone.

Chris was only human.

Eggman grinned down at him from a metallic monster. A monstrosity of his mad imagination and nasty design. It looked like a giant spider half intermixed with the fixtures and appearance of a millipede. Perhaps it was neither and just a hybrid of the two.

Either way the insane scientist grappled a bigger grin from within his dome of glass atop the metal insect's head. "Why, yello little boy! No mommy to escort you home?"

"Dr. Eggman!" Chris took a step back, wanting to leap away like a cat and hide. But he knew that the thing Eggman rode would be quicker and that running would do no good. "Why are you here?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" The madman returned gaily, "I've watched you Chris. For a long time. I know the routes you take to and from school. I know what days are busy for your servants so that you can't be escorted home all the time. And I know how to attract your attention. You have a young mind Chris. And I see that my doll led you here. I was thinking about making a robotic man selling free ice cream. But this worked just fine!"

"Wh-what do you want?" He was quivering all over. His armpits were damp with sweat.

"Well, you won't join my empire will you? So I'll kill you and make Sonic so angry he'll lose his temper and lose control. Then I will proceed to kill him as well. My plans always work."

So Chris turned to run. The mention of Sonic got those gears spinning in his legs again and fled to retreat. Eggman anticipated this and sent a long, jugular leg after him. Chris ducked and rolled - purely out of instinct - and tossed himself out of harm's way within inches.

Another leg splintered into the ground close to his head. Chris reared up and jumped, heading towards the alleyway. Towards the city. "Sonic!" He yelled. He always relied on him. Like an angel. He was always there for him. And today was no different.

A blue blur torpedoed into the scene like a shot of loose electricity. Eggman reared his mechanical monster back, grunting with more disappointment than shock.

The hedgehog stilled long enough to be glimpsed upon. A full, energetic little hog with more zest to spare than a lemon. He stood defiant and happy - despite the danger Chris had been in.

"Why hello, Eggy. Long time no see. Picking on my buddies again?"

"You!" Dr. Eggman spat through his fat lips, "how did you know? How did you find your stupid little human friend?"

"You can't calculate everything in that stupid brain of yours." The hedgehog taunted back most confidently, "I wait for Chris everyday to return home. And if he's a little late I worry and go to find him. The noises you were making led me here. Hedgehogs are a very sensitive species to a lot of things, Dr. Eggman."

"Are you sensitive to pain?" The scientist launched his insect bot forwards, ripping at the air with his claws and mandibles. Sonic looked on calmly and rolled into action. His supple body became a blur again, hard to see and pinpoint. Like a tiny fly buzzing hysterically over a hungry lion.

Eggman would vainly try to swipe him out of the sky but Sonic was always much too quick. Chris watched from the fray, close to the awing exit of the building and into sunny daylight.

And like a fly Sonic would mock the beast. Furiously, irately, Eggman would lob blow after blow, each one falling up short.

"Curse you, you little blue pig!"

Sonic spun faster and dived into the hulk of the insect. He ripped through metal as if it were paper. Oil splashed down from the damage like blood pooling from a mortal wound. Eggman turned his gears and rotors, flipped up dials and pressed buttons. Yet still his commands on the beast were always too late. In vain. Sonic hurled himself at it with growing ease and a sense of an easy victory. Eggman was screaming. His latest plan was folly after all.

Not so. The frenzied doctor hammered a fist on a big red button labelled self-destruct. Then he pulled a cord - the subject of his own ejection out of his robot - and flew out of it in his own small flying machine. His escape went unnoticed. By now heavy smoke was billowing out of a contorting robot.

Sonic landed on its gigantic abdomen and levelled Chris with a grimace. "Chris, get out now!" Then he turned to finish what he had started and proceeded to rip the insect to bits.

The boy began to cough from the black smoke and turned to run. He stroke out into the sunny afternoon and felt glad - happy that Sonic always had his back.

He crossed the heavy-duty pavement that used to house cars to be recollected by their owners. There he crossed into the old, battered and unclean alleyway, rubbing his eyes that were suddenly irritated by the smoke. Still he ran.

Then the explosion shortly followed. Terrible and deafening. It must have roared and bellowed through the whole world. Or it least it sounded like it had. Chris ducked and snapped his hands over his ears until it passed. Wind rafted over his ears by the shockwave. Then it settled and deep, scotching smoke rose from the mouth of the building like a void. It rose up and up until it covered the cheery sun, turning a bright, summery afternoon into a dull, shadowy scene.

Eggman had lost again. While Chris stood back, watching the smoke, his shallow breathing returned to normal and the shiver of fear had left him. The temptation of resuming the walk back home was irresistible now. So he turned and gripped the leather strap of his school bag sharply, walking blandly back through the alleyway. But then he stopped short, a little surprised that Sonic had not risen to meet him yet. Wasn't the hedgehog going to check to see that he was okay? Wasn't Sonic going to escort him the rest of the way home just in case Eggman wanted a round two?

So where was he then?

Chris double backed and touched the cement paving slabs that belonged to the front porch of the abandoned building. Smoke lingered through the heart of the old place in constant, gluttonous ribbons of remorseful black. A unsettling feeling hit the human child. A stir of that old fear again, an unpleasant visitor.

Straying closer to the building, he called. "Sonic? Sonic, are you in there?"

No reply. It was better, easier in fact, to think that Sonic had left even before the explosion. But what if he hadn't?

Impossible. A wild thought blurted in the throes of his nervous mind, he's Sonic! Nothing can hurt him! He's a hero!

The darkness was as black as soot. The building was warm with the first grinning embers of fire. Smoke blotted the air greedily, causing Chris to rasp with coughs. He covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and proceeded on, calling between gasps. "Sonic? Sonic are you in here?"

Robust twists and burning bits of cruel metal lay in a smoking rubble. The large insecticide head of Eggman's invention lay useless and forgotten, a lick of fire running over its impressive eyes.

Up against the far wall, lying on the floor was a dark blue shape. He recognised the tinge of red and white, his sneakers and gloves in the gloom and proceeded with mounting fear. "S-Sonic?"

The hedgehog lay sprawled on the floor, a fresh dabble of crimson over his middle. A soft fine layer of dust and soot had already settled over his fur, making him appear dark grey. Chris bent down and touched his shoulder. "Sonic?" He coughed. Still no response. Wary and scared now - more than thought possible - he rested a hand over his chest and was relieved to feel a weak heartbeat. There was however, no sign of breathing.

"Sonic!" Chris dropped his sleeve away that was covering his mouth from the smoke and bodily shook the little hedgehog, hoping these violent, ceaseless motions would snap the tiny hero awake. It did nothing. It only made the bleeding from Sonic's stomach flow out more quickly.

The boy didn't know what to do. His only responsibilities were getting home on time. Keeping out of trouble. Finishing his homework and eating the dinner that Ella set for him every evening.

This was out of his jurisdiction.

Yet still -

What would he do without Sonic?

Eggman would capture him. He'd then proceed to kill all the others and then take over the world. But just as importantly, Chris would be without an anthropomorphic friend. A best friend. A comfort and a hardy comrade.

Willing himself to act after being frozen by shock that Sonic wasn't breathing, Chris got his hands and arms under him and lifted him up from the darkened floor. Sonic hung limply in his hold, head lolling to the side. Completely catatonic. And already his dark blood was staining the young boy's shirt.

"Oh Sonic - I'm so sorry -" Guilt, remorse, sadness. He had been the one to take the shortcut and be led into another trap. And he had almost gone back home without going in to check on Sonic.

He rushed outside, leaving the poisonous fumes and the roaring fires that were building strength. Coughing, he ran on until he came to the safety of the alleyway. Then he fell down on one knee and slapped Sonic's back. Anything to get him breathing again. He was only young. He hadn't learnt first aid yet. Hadn't really needed to. He had watched it on TV, but had never really remembered the specific ways.

He leant Sonic across his shoulder and ran a rough hand up and down through his limp spines, then his chest and throat. He was about to give up - give up and cry hysterically when Sonic exploded into weak, hazy coughs. Chris was already sodden with tears streaking his grimy face from the smoke, but he was smiling. He lay Sonic across his arms again, happy to see his chest finally rising and falling with awkward breaths. It was time to get him home.

The sunlight was waning over the hills and clouds. A small boy raced back home, holding a little sooty blue hedgehog. He ran past people who threw him odd, cold looks. One person even tried to see what he was carrying, but he ignored them all until he reached the Thorndyke mansion. There he touched the doorbell and then kicked at the door with his foot. "Open! Open,, please open!" Too impatient to wait. To urgent to stand and list away in his thoughts with a hedgehog bleeding in his arms.

Ella opened the door. "Good evening Master Chris -" She stopped dead at the sight of the child and what he held. Before she could stutter another word, Chris dashed past her and skidded into the main hallway that had been freshly polished.

"Grampa? Mr. Tanaka? Anybody!"

Grampa came dashing into the hall way in his usual lab coat attire. "Christopher Thorndyke, you're late home and -" His eyes widened considerably, "what the hell happened?"

Chris hurried over to him, presenting the hedgehog as if he was an explanation for everything. But when he tried to spill the words of what had happened, he could only curl up and cry. Grampa bit his lip and eased the cobalt hedgehog into his arms. "You can explain later, grandson. Let's tend to him first. Come on and help me."

They rested Sonic on their sofa (they had to get Cream and Cheese out of the room first, telling her that Ella was serving dinner early for them, so while she and the rest of Sonic's animal friends were preoccupied in the kitchen), Grampa grabbed the first aid kit and propped Sonic's head and feet up with soft, feather pillows. Then with an antiseptic solution he cleaned Sonic's bad cut. It looked like a shard of metal or glass had skimmed past Sonic's stomach, causing a bad cut. But a cut was all it was. It just bled a lot. "You're fortunate that whatever hurt him didn't get itself lodged in his middle," the elder man was saying as he unrolled some pretty white gauze and began to expertly wrap it around the sore hog's abdomen, "otherwise it would have gone straight into his organs. What the hell happened, Chris?"

The boy had been wiping Sonic's fur clean with a cloth and soapy water. He had calmed down somewhat now that his best friend was in safe hands and being treated, but the fear and shock remained. "It's all Eggman's fault! He cornered me and Sonic came to my rescue! No - No it was Sonic's fault! He should have been more careful!"

"When did this happen?" He shot darkly. The gauze had been wholly applied but a stain of red was stilling coming through the layers.

"Just this evening when I was coming home from school! Eggman showed up in an old building in a robot! And then Sonic fought him - but something must have exploded and then I saw Sonic lying on the floor. Eggman had gone - I was so scared."

The elder man relented his anger a little and rubbed a hand over Chris' shoulder. "Well, he's okay now. He's got a bad cut and a few bruises on his head but he's still breathing. You should get yourself cleaned up and explain to the others what you told me."

"Okay."

In a fresh change of clothes, Chris came back down later to a little something of a surprise. Tails, Amy and Cream were all stood round the sofa, in tears. Chris bit his lip and felt like walking back out again. But he owed them an explanation.

Tails looked up and set Chris a pair of sombre, weeping eyes. "What happened?"

The boy replied of what had happened earlier that day with regret and terrible, unforgiving rue. He explained Eggman, the new robot and the explosion.

"But I don't get it," Chris cried out, feeling fresh tears well up in his eyes, "he's Sonic! The fastest thing alive, right? He's not supposed to get hurt! He can't!" He's - he's my invincible bodyguard.

Tails still gazed at him sourly. "He's just a hedgehog."

"That's right!" Amy added shrilly, balling her little hands into iron fists, "he's an animal just like us! The only advantages he has is his speed and strength. The rings he absorbs gives him better tolerance to pain and injury, but what gives you the idea that he can't be hurt? He's not some invincible hero you see in cartoons! He can die like anybody. So what made you change your mind about that part?"

Chris fell silent, utterly defeated and cornered. Cream couldn't even look at him. She was crying into her hands.

"He's made just like the rest of us." Tails continued sadly, his voice a little more than a whisper, "he has his weaknesses - he can make mistakes. But inside he's no different from you and me."

"I'm - I'm sorry -" That was all Chris could say. He had been selfish, greedy for Sonic's devotion and protection. As if the hedgehog had been a little more than a robot. Solely impossible to give in and possibly die. A machine. But he wasn't like that. And only until now, now that Sonic was grievously hurt, could he see that. "Sorry -"

Amy blinked and a lush ream of tears spilled down her rosy cheeks. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"No - no it's okay. You're angry and upset."

"We should be angry at Robotnik for doing this!" Tails nodded imperceptibly, teeth grinding.

Chris came in amongst them and rested a hand on Sonic's hot forehead. He still lay in a stupor. After lifting the warm medical blanket to check his bad wound, he could see that another layer of gauze had been applied over the bloodied one.

"Your grampa gave him half a crushed tablet of aspirin for the pain." Amy said, "he made him swallow it, and then he gave him a tiny dose of antibiotics through a horrible needle. He said he could get an infection so that antibiotics should prevent that from happening."

"Couldn't give him any more from the syringe though," Tails added stiffly as if the small dose had been an insult as Sonic could have needed more, "his system is small and fragile. He was worried too much could make him worse."

Chris wiped at his eyes and swallowed. He felt like apologizing all over again. But what was the use when it had been Eggman's fault?

Still, I could have gone straight home the normal way. And Sonic needn't have fought anything.

The other animals retired after a long evening of sitting with Sonic, hoping that he'd wake. But he didn't. Cream was the first to leave, eyes still red and weepy from crying so hard. Ella personally took her up into the attic to where a bed lay waiting for her. Next was Tails, reluctant as ever but hoping things would have improved by the morning. Last was Amy. She left a glass of water by the sofa on a table by a plate of soft apple slices if he did wake and needed some nourishment. Ella gave Chris his pyjamas and laid a blow up mattress down by the sofa so that Chris could sleep close to the hero.

Grampa gave Chris one last parting goodnight and told him to stop worrying and go to sleep. He still had school tomorrow.

School. The last thing on his mind.

The mansion lay like a tomb come nightfall when everyone was tucked in their beds and sleeping away in their dreams. All the lights were out, save one, in the lounge where a hearth was warm with flames and Chris sat on the mattress positioned by the sofa. A dim light was on and for the most part Chris had been watching Sonic sleep. Despite having washed much of the dirt and soot from his fur, he still looked unhealthy. His muzzle was pale and a little moist with feverish perspiration. His ears were limp and floppy. But under the soft lighting he looked seraphic as he slept. Calm, peaceful and tranquil. Tucked away in the darkness of his stupor from reality.

Chris gripped the hedgehog's limp hand, unhappy that the firm touch did not rouse his little friend.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you Sonic. I know you were only doing your duty after all, you were protecting me. But I found out something else today. That you need me too. I can't just sit around expecting you to do everything and wishing all the responsibilities on your shoulders. It's not fair. You are a hero, but a hero to the people who appreciate your honour and your bravery. Because you risk your own life to save others. And I overlooked that. And for that I am sorry."

"Don't be." Rasped a small voice. So small Chris almost didn't hear it.

"Sonic?"

The small hedgehog peered up at him through heavy lids. He smiled dimly, despite the pain he was in. "Hey there buddy."

"Sonic!" Chris leaned in and hugged him very gently. With new tears he sat back and squeezed his hand tighter, "oh I'm so glad you're awake! I can't wait to tell the others!"

"C-Chris -" Sonic choked and shivered even though he felt warm beneath all those blankets, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Chris wiped his tears with his free hand, almost angry that Sonic was directing his attention to the concern of the boy. "Don't worry about me. You're the one who's been hurt."

"As long as you're safe I don't care what happens to me."

"You should!"

Sonic coughed, the smoke from the building still hampering his lungs, "if I started to care about myself too much, Chris, I wouldn't be able to staunch the careless winnings over Eggman. I win by luck most of the time. Today I'd say he had more luck."

Chris exhaled deeply, "are you hurting?"

"No. I can't feel anything." His eyelids were drawing to a close.

"Sonic, look at me! What can I do for you? What can I do? I'm just a boy! I'm just a child! I'm only human!"

"Chris, you're a lot braver than you give yourself credit for." He leaned deeper into his pillow, breathing shallowly, "you are only human, but I'm still only a hedgehog inside. An anthropomorphic one, but I'm still flesh and bone. All you have to do is believe in yourself. Then you can do anything. Just remember that hero's can be nothing without the support and belief of others. Then they are nothing. They still need others. They need -"

Chris nodded and sat up on the sofa so that he could gently hold Sonic to him, minding his injured stomach. Using the glass of water Amy had left for him, he encouraged him to drink some water, even if he could only manage a few sips. Finally, as he rested against him, he asked wearily, "what happened to Eggman? Did he get hurt too?"

"No. I think he escaped before the explosion because I never saw him."

Sonic closed his eyes and fell asleep, his breathing starting to improve just by being warmed by someone else. Chris stroked his limp ears and snuggled down, starting to doze himself as the fire lingered on in the hearth.

Sonic needed them. As they needed him. A perfectly balanced cycle. And if it were broken one way or the other, the balance would shift beyond repair. And Chris understood. Now more than anyone. He hugged Sonic dearly. He felt better now. And he would stay home tomorrow and look after Sonic - and make sure that he'd be on the mend. On the road to recovery. Because hedgehogs - anthropomorphic or not - weren't invincible and needed help and support just like everyone else.

The End

Hope you enjoyed. And I hope it wasn't a bit too dark and well - meh. I kept the gore down - I think! I enjoyed writing it - as this section of Chris' and Sonic's relationship is never explained or expanded upon. Of how they need each other. Sonic is only mortal and is without a home. He and his friends have been torn from their planet and Chris in Sonic X suddenly needs them for every little thing. But what about Sonic when he gets into trouble?
Thanks again!

Description
~ Sonic's Need ~

Disclaimer: We do not own Sonic da hedgehog, his nail clippers, his gloves or his toothbrush.

This is a Sonic X one shot fic that is a little different. Bear in mind that there are no couples and I have tried to keep them in character as much as I can. This fic is purely fun based and a little experimental for me. Enjoy the story!

Inspired by the Sonic X episode: Sewer Search

Chris was only human.

He was reminded by that staple fact when he heard a clang of metal resound above him just after the boy had narrowly jumped to avoid being skewered by Dr. Eggman.

He had been at school not many hours before, picking up his homework from Mr. Stuart, revisiting his locker and reclaiming the same old attire of handbooks before retiring from the school corridor to begin his homebound journey. Everything was normal then. The sky had been blue and clear to reveal frothy white clouds and a pale, pleasant sun. He had waved his friends goodbye and had turned the same old corner street to walk up the same old sidewalk. But he was being watched. And it all became clear shortly after passing down a dusty, disused shortcut home. An alleyway marked by the cats that patrolled the ups and downs. The discarded rubbish and disused beer cans. The stains of discontented nobodies and tramps. But this time he heard a call. Like a strange chatter of mechanically windup toys chorusing together in a collective madness. Curious he took a turn and ended up in a tired, rundown apartment. Its backyard had now become part of the alleyway where people drank and talked all night. The apartment used to be a well known garage until the people who owned it went bankrupt. Now it had been - or should have been - abandoned. Left for the rats and bored loonies to drink their nights away.

But here the noise emitted. Maybe kids were playing? Or maybe someone had left something like a radio?

Humans were a curious species. One that Chris was always a victim too. Being brought up so wealthily made him more aware of his surroundings - more educated while at the same time wary and cautious. He didn't have much longer to go to get home - and once he found out what all the fuss and noises were making, he'd go about his way. Maybe get a few snacks when he got home and browse the shows on television.

The apartment within was old and massive. Its bowels had been stripped to show its ugly, revolting skeleton beneath. It was hard to imagine that people used to run a business here. Now all that remained was stagnant air and empty spaces.

Just on the fringe of darkness within the abandoned hull of the building was a tiny metal doll. It clanged its little copper hands together and made whirring, alien tunes from its gearbox. Chris regarded it with flat astonishment and wonder. Who'd leave a thing like this here? Jabbering away to itself like this?

Humans were a curious species. That was justified.

And Chris was only human.

A hollow, scarping sound, like chalk on a board, came screeching from the darkness like a wailing banshee remote with hunger. Chris stared into the loathsome darkness, inches from running. But fear and dread held him. Held him tight and still. It was like watching a horror movie, knowing the gruesome bit was bound to come, and when it did you just could not look away. Not look and not know what you would be missing.

A sliver of something metal gleamed from the shadows in surreal horror. A giant mechanical leg extended out as the rest of it crept forwards.

He should have known - all alone.

Chris was only human.

Eggman grinned down at him from a metallic monster. A monstrosity of his mad imagination and nasty design. It looked like a giant spider half intermixed with the fixtures and appearance of a millipede. Perhaps it was neither and just a hybrid of the two.

Either way the insane scientist grappled a bigger grin from within his dome of glass atop the metal insect's head. "Why, yello little boy! No mommy to escort you home?"

"Dr. Eggman!" Chris took a step back, wanting to leap away like a cat and hide. But he knew that the thing Eggman rode would be quicker and that running would do no good. "Why are you here?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" The madman returned gaily, "I've watched you Chris. For a long time. I know the routes you take to and from school. I know what days are busy for your servants so that you can't be escorted home all the time. And I know how to attract your attention. You have a young mind Chris. And I see that my doll led you here. I was thinking about making a robotic man selling free ice cream. But this worked just fine!"

"Wh-what do you want?" He was quivering all over. His armpits were damp with sweat.

"Well, you won't join my empire will you? So I'll kill you and make Sonic so angry he'll lose his temper and lose control. Then I will proceed to kill him as well. My plans always work."

So Chris turned to run. The mention of Sonic got those gears spinning in his legs again and fled to retreat. Eggman anticipated this and sent a long, jugular leg after him. Chris ducked and rolled - purely out of instinct - and tossed himself out of harm's way within inches.

Another leg splintered into the ground close to his head. Chris reared up and jumped, heading towards the alleyway. Towards the city. "Sonic!" He yelled. He always relied on him. Like an angel. He was always there for him. And today was no different.

A blue blur torpedoed into the scene like a shot of loose electricity. Eggman reared his mechanical monster back, grunting with more disappointment than shock.

The hedgehog stilled long enough to be glimpsed upon. A full, energetic little hog with more zest to spare than a lemon. He stood defiant and happy - despite the danger Chris had been in.

"Why hello, Eggy. Long time no see. Picking on my buddies again?"

"You!" Dr. Eggman spat through his fat lips, "how did you know? How did you find your stupid little human friend?"

"You can't calculate everything in that stupid brain of yours." The hedgehog taunted back most confidently, "I wait for Chris everyday to return home. And if he's a little late I worry and go to find him. The noises you were making led me here. Hedgehogs are a very sensitive species to a lot of things, Dr. Eggman."

"Are you sensitive to pain?" The scientist launched his insect bot forwards, ripping at the air with his claws and mandibles. Sonic looked on calmly and rolled into action. His supple body became a blur again, hard to see and pinpoint. Like a tiny fly buzzing hysterically over a hungry lion.

Eggman would vainly try to swipe him out of the sky but Sonic was always much too quick. Chris watched from the fray, close to the awing exit of the building and into sunny daylight.

And like a fly Sonic would mock the beast. Furiously, irately, Eggman would lob blow after blow, each one falling up short.

"Curse you, you little blue pig!"

Sonic spun faster and dived into the hulk of the insect. He ripped through metal as if it were paper. Oil splashed down from the damage like blood pooling from a mortal wound. Eggman turned his gears and rotors, flipped up dials and pressed buttons. Yet still his commands on the beast were always too late. In vain. Sonic hurled himself at it with growing ease and a sense of an easy victory. Eggman was screaming. His latest plan was folly after all.

Not so. The frenzied doctor hammered a fist on a big red button labelled self-destruct. Then he pulled a cord - the subject of his own ejection out of his robot - and flew out of it in his own small flying machine. His escape went unnoticed. By now heavy smoke was billowing out of a contorting robot.

Sonic landed on its gigantic abdomen and levelled Chris with a grimace. "Chris, get out now!" Then he turned to finish what he had started and proceeded to rip the insect to bits.

The boy began to cough from the black smoke and turned to run. He stroke out into the sunny afternoon and felt glad - happy that Sonic always had his back.

He crossed the heavy-duty pavement that used to house cars to be recollected by their owners. There he crossed into the old, battered and unclean alleyway, rubbing his eyes that were suddenly irritated by the smoke. Still he ran.

Then the explosion shortly followed. Terrible and deafening. It must have roared and bellowed through the whole world. Or it least it sounded like it had. Chris ducked and snapped his hands over his ears until it passed. Wind rafted over his ears by the shockwave. Then it settled and deep, scotching smoke rose from the mouth of the building like a void. It rose up and up until it covered the cheery sun, turning a bright, summery afternoon into a dull, shadowy scene.

Eggman had lost again. While Chris stood back, watching the smoke, his shallow breathing returned to normal and the shiver of fear had left him. The temptation of resuming the walk back home was irresistible now. So he turned and gripped the leather strap of his school bag sharply, walking blandly back through the alleyway. But then he stopped short, a little surprised that Sonic had not risen to meet him yet. Wasn't the hedgehog going to check to see that he was okay? Wasn't Sonic going to escort him the rest of the way home just in case Eggman wanted a round two?

So where was he then?

Chris double backed and touched the cement paving slabs that belonged to the front porch of the abandoned building. Smoke lingered through the heart of the old place in constant, gluttonous ribbons of remorseful black. A unsettling feeling hit the human child. A stir of that old fear again, an unpleasant visitor.

Straying closer to the building, he called. "Sonic? Sonic, are you in there?"

No reply. It was better, easier in fact, to think that Sonic had left even before the explosion. But what if he hadn't?

Impossible. A wild thought blurted in the throes of his nervous mind, he's Sonic! Nothing can hurt him! He's a hero!

The darkness was as black as soot. The building was warm with the first grinning embers of fire. Smoke blotted the air greedily, causing Chris to rasp with coughs. He covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and proceeded on, calling between gasps. "Sonic? Sonic are you in here?"

Robust twists and burning bits of cruel metal lay in a smoking rubble. The large insecticide head of Eggman's invention lay useless and forgotten, a lick of fire running over its impressive eyes.

Up against the far wall, lying on the floor was a dark blue shape. He recognised the tinge of red and white, his sneakers and gloves in the gloom and proceeded with mounting fear. "S-Sonic?"

The hedgehog lay sprawled on the floor, a fresh dabble of crimson over his middle. A soft fine layer of dust and soot had already settled over his fur, making him appear dark grey. Chris bent down and touched his shoulder. "Sonic?" He coughed. Still no response. Wary and scared now - more than thought possible - he rested a hand over his chest and was relieved to feel a weak heartbeat. There was however, no sign of breathing.

"Sonic!" Chris dropped his sleeve away that was covering his mouth from the smoke and bodily shook the little hedgehog, hoping these violent, ceaseless motions would snap the tiny hero awake. It did nothing. It only made the bleeding from Sonic's stomach flow out more quickly.

The boy didn't know what to do. His only responsibilities were getting home on time. Keeping out of trouble. Finishing his homework and eating the dinner that Ella set for him every evening.

This was out of his jurisdiction.

Yet still -

What would he do without Sonic?

Eggman would capture him. He'd then proceed to kill all the others and then take over the world. But just as importantly, Chris would be without an anthropomorphic friend. A best friend. A comfort and a hardy comrade.

Willing himself to act after being frozen by shock that Sonic wasn't breathing, Chris got his hands and arms under him and lifted him up from the darkened floor. Sonic hung limply in his hold, head lolling to the side. Completely catatonic. And already his dark blood was staining the young boy's shirt.

"Oh Sonic - I'm so sorry -" Guilt, remorse, sadness. He had been the one to take the shortcut and be led into another trap. And he had almost gone back home without going in to check on Sonic.

He rushed outside, leaving the poisonous fumes and the roaring fires that were building strength. Coughing, he ran on until he came to the safety of the alleyway. Then he fell down on one knee and slapped Sonic's back. Anything to get him breathing again. He was only young. He hadn't learnt first aid yet. Hadn't really needed to. He had watched it on TV, but had never really remembered the specific ways.

He leant Sonic across his shoulder and ran a rough hand up and down through his limp spines, then his chest and throat. He was about to give up - give up and cry hysterically when Sonic exploded into weak, hazy coughs. Chris was already sodden with tears streaking his grimy face from the smoke, but he was smiling. He lay Sonic across his arms again, happy to see his chest finally rising and falling with awkward breaths. It was time to get him home.

The sunlight was waning over the hills and clouds. A small boy raced back home, holding a little sooty blue hedgehog. He ran past people who threw him odd, cold looks. One person even tried to see what he was carrying, but he ignored them all until he reached the Thorndyke mansion. There he touched the doorbell and then kicked at the door with his foot. "Open! Open,, please open!" Too impatient to wait. To urgent to stand and list away in his thoughts with a hedgehog bleeding in his arms.

Ella opened the door. "Good evening Master Chris -" She stopped dead at the sight of the child and what he held. Before she could stutter another word, Chris dashed past her and skidded into the main hallway that had been freshly polished.

"Grampa? Mr. Tanaka? Anybody!"

Grampa came dashing into the hall way in his usual lab coat attire. "Christopher Thorndyke, you're late home and -" His eyes widened considerably, "what the hell happened?"

Chris hurried over to him, presenting the hedgehog as if he was an explanation for everything. But when he tried to spill the words of what had happened, he could only curl up and cry. Grampa bit his lip and eased the cobalt hedgehog into his arms. "You can explain later, grandson. Let's tend to him first. Come on and help me."

They rested Sonic on their sofa (they had to get Cream and Cheese out of the room first, telling her that Ella was serving dinner early for them, so while she and the rest of Sonic's animal friends were preoccupied in the kitchen), Grampa grabbed the first aid kit and propped Sonic's head and feet up with soft, feather pillows. Then with an antiseptic solution he cleaned Sonic's bad cut. It looked like a shard of metal or glass had skimmed past Sonic's stomach, causing a bad cut. But a cut was all it was. It just bled a lot. "You're fortunate that whatever hurt him didn't get itself lodged in his middle," the elder man was saying as he unrolled some pretty white gauze and began to expertly wrap it around the sore hog's abdomen, "otherwise it would have gone straight into his organs. What the hell happened, Chris?"

The boy had been wiping Sonic's fur clean with a cloth and soapy water. He had calmed down somewhat now that his best friend was in safe hands and being treated, but the fear and shock remained. "It's all Eggman's fault! He cornered me and Sonic came to my rescue! No - No it was Sonic's fault! He should have been more careful!"

"When did this happen?" He shot darkly. The gauze had been wholly applied but a stain of red was stilling coming through the layers.

"Just this evening when I was coming home from school! Eggman showed up in an old building in a robot! And then Sonic fought him - but something must have exploded and then I saw Sonic lying on the floor. Eggman had gone - I was so scared."

The elder man relented his anger a little and rubbed a hand over Chris' shoulder. "Well, he's okay now. He's got a bad cut and a few bruises on his head but he's still breathing. You should get yourself cleaned up and explain to the others what you told me."

"Okay."

In a fresh change of clothes, Chris came back down later to a little something of a surprise. Tails, Amy and Cream were all stood round the sofa, in tears. Chris bit his lip and felt like walking back out again. But he owed them an explanation.

Tails looked up and set Chris a pair of sombre, weeping eyes. "What happened?"

The boy replied of what had happened earlier that day with regret and terrible, unforgiving rue. He explained Eggman, the new robot and the explosion.

"But I don't get it," Chris cried out, feeling fresh tears well up in his eyes, "he's Sonic! The fastest thing alive, right? He's not supposed to get hurt! He can't!" He's - he's my invincible bodyguard.

Tails still gazed at him sourly. "He's just a hedgehog."

"That's right!" Amy added shrilly, balling her little hands into iron fists, "he's an animal just like us! The only advantages he has is his speed and strength. The rings he absorbs gives him better tolerance to pain and injury, but what gives you the idea that he can't be hurt? He's not some invincible hero you see in cartoons! He can die like anybody. So what made you change your mind about that part?"

Chris fell silent, utterly defeated and cornered. Cream couldn't even look at him. She was crying into her hands.

"He's made just like the rest of us." Tails continued sadly, his voice a little more than a whisper, "he has his weaknesses - he can make mistakes. But inside he's no different from you and me."

"I'm - I'm sorry -" That was all Chris could say. He had been selfish, greedy for Sonic's devotion and protection. As if the hedgehog had been a little more than a robot. Solely impossible to give in and possibly die. A machine. But he wasn't like that. And only until now, now that Sonic was grievously hurt, could he see that. "Sorry -"

Amy blinked and a lush ream of tears spilled down her rosy cheeks. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"No - no it's okay. You're angry and upset."

"We should be angry at Robotnik for doing this!" Tails nodded imperceptibly, teeth grinding.

Chris came in amongst them and rested a hand on Sonic's hot forehead. He still lay in a stupor. After lifting the warm medical blanket to check his bad wound, he could see that another layer of gauze had been applied over the bloodied one.

"Your grampa gave him half a crushed tablet of aspirin for the pain." Amy said, "he made him swallow it, and then he gave him a tiny dose of antibiotics through a horrible needle. He said he could get an infection so that antibiotics should prevent that from happening."

"Couldn't give him any more from the syringe though," Tails added stiffly as if the small dose had been an insult as Sonic could have needed more, "his system is small and fragile. He was worried too much could make him worse."

Chris wiped at his eyes and swallowed. He felt like apologizing all over again. But what was the use when it had been Eggman's fault?

Still, I could have gone straight home the normal way. And Sonic needn't have fought anything.

The other animals retired after a long evening of sitting with Sonic, hoping that he'd wake. But he didn't. Cream was the first to leave, eyes still red and weepy from crying so hard. Ella personally took her up into the attic to where a bed lay waiting for her. Next was Tails, reluctant as ever but hoping things would have improved by the morning. Last was Amy. She left a glass of water by the sofa on a table by a plate of soft apple slices if he did wake and needed some nourishment. Ella gave Chris his pyjamas and laid a blow up mattress down by the sofa so that Chris could sleep close to the hero.

Grampa gave Chris one last parting goodnight and told him to stop worrying and go to sleep. He still had school tomorrow.

School. The last thing on his mind.

The mansion lay like a tomb come nightfall when everyone was tucked in their beds and sleeping away in their dreams. All the lights were out, save one, in the lounge where a hearth was warm with flames and Chris sat on the mattress positioned by the sofa. A dim light was on and for the most part Chris had been watching Sonic sleep. Despite having washed much of the dirt and soot from his fur, he still looked unhealthy. His muzzle was pale and a little moist with feverish perspiration. His ears were limp and floppy. But under the soft lighting he looked seraphic as he slept. Calm, peaceful and tranquil. Tucked away in the darkness of his stupor from reality.

Chris gripped the hedgehog's limp hand, unhappy that the firm touch did not rouse his little friend.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you Sonic. I know you were only doing your duty after all, you were protecting me. But I found out something else today. That you need me too. I can't just sit around expecting you to do everything and wishing all the responsibilities on your shoulders. It's not fair. You are a hero, but a hero to the people who appreciate your honour and your bravery. Because you risk your own life to save others. And I overlooked that. And for that I am sorry."

"Don't be." Rasped a small voice. So small Chris almost didn't hear it.

"Sonic?"

The small hedgehog peered up at him through heavy lids. He smiled dimly, despite the pain he was in. "Hey there buddy."

"Sonic!" Chris leaned in and hugged him very gently. With new tears he sat back and squeezed his hand tighter, "oh I'm so glad you're awake! I can't wait to tell the others!"

"C-Chris -" Sonic choked and shivered even though he felt warm beneath all those blankets, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Chris wiped his tears with his free hand, almost angry that Sonic was directing his attention to the concern of the boy. "Don't worry about me. You're the one who's been hurt."

"As long as you're safe I don't care what happens to me."

"You should!"

Sonic coughed, the smoke from the building still hampering his lungs, "if I started to care about myself too much, Chris, I wouldn't be able to staunch the careless winnings over Eggman. I win by luck most of the time. Today I'd say he had more luck."

Chris exhaled deeply, "are you hurting?"

"No. I can't feel anything." His eyelids were drawing to a close.

"Sonic, look at me! What can I do for you? What can I do? I'm just a boy! I'm just a child! I'm only human!"

"Chris, you're a lot braver than you give yourself credit for." He leaned deeper into his pillow, breathing shallowly, "you are only human, but I'm still only a hedgehog inside. An anthropomorphic one, but I'm still flesh and bone. All you have to do is believe in yourself. Then you can do anything. Just remember that hero's can be nothing without the support and belief of others. Then they are nothing. They still need others. They need -"

Chris nodded and sat up on the sofa so that he could gently hold Sonic to him, minding his injured stomach. Using the glass of water Amy had left for him, he encouraged him to drink some water, even if he could only manage a few sips. Finally, as he rested against him, he asked wearily, "what happened to Eggman? Did he get hurt too?"

"No. I think he escaped before the explosion because I never saw him."

Sonic closed his eyes and fell asleep, his breathing starting to improve just by being warmed by someone else. Chris stroked his limp ears and snuggled down, starting to doze himself as the fire lingered on in the hearth.

Sonic needed them. As they needed him. A perfectly balanced cycle. And if it were broken one way or the other, the balance would shift beyond repair. And Chris understood. Now more than anyone. He hugged Sonic dearly. He felt better now. And he would stay home tomorrow and look after Sonic - and make sure that he'd be on the mend. On the road to recovery. Because hedgehogs - anthropomorphic or not - weren't invincible and needed help and support just like everyone else.

The End

Hope you enjoyed. And I hope it wasn't a bit too dark and well - meh. I kept the gore down - I think! I enjoyed writing it - as this section of Chris' and Sonic's relationship is never explained or expanded upon. Of how they need each other. Sonic is only mortal and is without a home. He and his friends have been torn from their planet and Chris in Sonic X suddenly needs them for every little thing. But what about Sonic when he gets into trouble?
Thanks again!