DISCLAIMER: "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions. Permission to reproduce this specific material may be granted by the author so long as you email first. (c)2007 native_pangean@fsmail.net.

The Argument

Night had fallen. The gates of the city that had once been Mobotropolis stood imposingly, rusted open as if challenging anyone to enter and survive the perils within. The last traces of a colourful sunset sank in the distance, taking their fierce, crimson light with them, leaving only the menacing darkness of a cloudy night. Scrawny rats, their fur dark and patchy, scurried around on the cold ground looking for the few small insects and spiders they could eat. A darkening mist swirled in the low breeze outside Robotropolis, waving its tendrils as if to shoo visitors away, and within it stood five figures, their features partially obscured.

One of them, a slim figure, stepped forward, looking at a square grille set into the wall and unclipping a hand-held computer from her boot. She tapped into the keypad. "Show us a map of the air ducts of Robotropolis," she ordered.

"Displaying, Sally," the computer responded, and opened the shutter on its holographic beam, displaying a fuzzy-edged map. The other Freedom Fighters stepped closer to the image to see it better. The route looked straightforward. Sally looked around at Velvet and pointed at a dark square that one of the ducts led to.

"That's the store room," she told her. "The serum's held in there."

Velvet nodded. "So some of us are going there?" It seemed a ridiculous question, but she wasn't sure how else to react. And she hoped that Sally didn't mean she should go in there alone.

"Yes," Sally confirmed, closing down the map. "I want you and Antoine to go to the store room and find any you can. Bring it here."

At this, Antoine's face dropped, and Velvet gave him a sideways glance. This the other Freedom Fighters noticed, but the taboo still seemed to be in place and nobody spoke.

Sonic took off his backpack and opened it, pulling out four pairs of his own gloves. He gave a pair each to Antoine and Velvet. "Here, take these. If you touch the serum it won't get on your skin." As Velvet and Antoine each took a pair and pulled them on he gave Sally a quizzical glance, You're letting these two go together? They're not even talking! They'll screw it up! But she caught his eye and he kept his mouth shut. Sally broke the silence by turning to Rotor.

"You've got the passwords to get into the mainframe, right?" she asked, although she didn't need to; this part of the plan had already been agreed back in Knothole. He nodded and she turned back to the two coyotes. "We're going to use a different section of the air vent to get where we're going. We're going in here." She began to walk between the open gates. "C'mon, guys," she called to Sonic and Rotor. Rotor gave Sonic a nervous glance, and Sonic glared back. You better not know anything that'll put us in danger, he thought, and they turned the corner, leaving the two coyotes alone together.

Velvet looked at Antoine, seeking guidance. "So I suppose we go in h-" Antoine scowled at her and marched toward the grille, gripping it and pulling at it. He couldn't seem to move it, so Velvet joined in.

"I am not... nngghh, to be needing of your 'elp! Nnngghh," he snarled as he struggled. Velvet did not take her hands off the grille.

"You'll get help whether you... Nngghh, like it or NOT!" she shouted the last word in surprise as the grille came loose with their combined effort. They looked at eachother for a second before Antoine hissed and crawled into the vent.

Velvet stood there, the grille resting against her bent leg. She shook her head in disbelief at her brother's stubbornness and then cast the grille to one side. She crawled into the vent behind him.

Sonic raced forward, hiding behind a steel pillar and looking around the corner. The SWATbot patrol passed, their footbeats thumping dully on the ground as they walked past and out of sight. Then he whispered a "Psst!" at his companions and waited for them to run to him.

Without a word he tip-toed around the corner and swiftly dispatched the SWATbots before coming back and waving Sally and Rotor toward the entrance.

"We're looking for the room below Robotnik's main computer," Rotor said quietly, looking above him and around the tunnel through which they walked. Sonic said nothing and Rotor glanced at him, unsure if he had heard. Sonic caught his eye and frowned.

"Happy going that close to Butt-nik, ol' pal?" he asked acidly. Rotor stopped in his tracks and looked back at him in surprise for a moment. He had felt the friction between them but hadn't expected Sonic to be like this! Sally expected Sonic to stop walking and paused too. When Sonic continued to sneak forward without them she looked at Rotor, who threw her a confused glance in return, before continuing to follow the hedgehog.

"What is it between you two?" she asked him quietly. She didn't like to see these two friends fighting, and she liked seeing Sonic antagonise the walrus even less. Rotor was a peaceful guy and didn't like confrontations. In fact, it was only his loyalty to his friends that kept him in the Knothole Freedom Fighters.

"I dunno," he said glumly, and walked on.

They were inside Robotnik's fortress.

"Antoine?" Velvet whispered ahead. No answer.

"Antoine?"

Again, nothing.

"Antoine!"

"What?"

"What happens if we meet someone, like a robot or something?"

Antoine's only answer was to tut, shake his head and carry on crawling. Velvet watched the shifting silhouette of her brother's form for a moment. She was scared, but the main reason for her question was to get him talking. They couldn't carry on like this.

"Well?"

Antoine stopped, remained still for a breath as if willing himself to have patience and whispered back to her. "Eef we are to be meeting a robot we will be fighting zem." And, without saying how they would fight, he moved on.

Velvet watched the sorry stump of his tail move from side to side as he led them further into the ducts, her jaw clenching with fear. She carried on crawling so as not to let him out of her sight.

Sonic, Sally and Rotor huddled together quietly, waiting for the Hoverbots to pass by. They didn't want to be seen, so they stayed in the shadows. Eventually, the hum of the flying machines receeded into the distance and they looked out. All clear.

Sally pointed at a dark rectangle on the far side of the courtyard. "There's a vent over there!" she whispered, and began to tip-toe across the room, hiding behind boxes and pillars. Sonic followed her, knocking Rotor not-so-accidentally in the ribs with his elbow as he did so. Behind her, Sally heard the thump as he did. She was going to ignore it until they started arguing.

"Sonic, I know you're angry, but that was kinda lame," Rotor chided.

"What d'you say?" Sonic hissed confrontationally, squaring up to Rotor. Rotor frowned, looking Sonic in the eye.

"You heard what I said," Rotor replied. It sounded to Sally like he was trying to sound aggressive, but Rotor's heart, it seemed, wasn't in it.

"Guys, stop it!" Sally whispered. They glanced her way, and then Sonic started again.

"You wanna tell me what you're hiding, Rote?"

Rotor's jaw clenched. "I'm not hiding anything, Sonic. I already told you!"

"Yes you are!"

Rotor wished he hadn't started this conversation and went to follow Sally. "Sonic, will you cut it out?" he threw over his shoulder, hoping that would be the end of it.

"Spit it out!"

"Sonic!" Sally hissed.

"I can't!" he turned and looked Sonic in the eyes, apparently changing tactics. "I can't. Okay?" he repeated. "I promised I wouldn't."

"Promised who? Velvet?" Sonic asked, mocking.

"Maybe," Rotor said reluctantly, and went to follow Sally again. Sonic grabbed his arm and kept him there.

"You in love with her, man? 'Cos if that's what it is-"

"-I'm not in love with her, Sonic!" Rotor snapped a little too quickly. Sonic folded his arms and said nothing, waiting for Rotor to say more. Rotor went quiet and shook his head angrily, turning away from Sonic again.

"Look, I can't say any more," he said finally. Sonic made to say something and Rotor cut him off. "Forget it!" And with that, he turned his back on Sonic.

The argument had taken them to the other side of the room and they now stood in front of the air vent. Sally gripped the grille and braced her foot against the wall, trying to dislodge it. Rotor helped and it came loose. Silently, they both climbed inside, leaving Sonic to bring up the rear. The hedgehog pulled the grille back into place behind him and followed sullenly.

Sonic felt hurt and angry. It was rare that he and Rotor argued, but when they did, Rotor was surprisingly stubborn. Usually, Rotor would prefer to let Sonic lead, so it was proof of Rotor's stubbornness that now, in the vent, he was the one leading. He felt grumpy because Sally wasn't backing him up, but there was something about Rotor's secrecy that made Sonic feel scared. Were they growing apart? His heart beating faster, his muscles clenched, his lungs seemed to feel tight, Sonic crawled on his hands and knees, following his companions.

Antoine stopped sharp. In the dim light inside the air duct he could see a gaping chasm in front of him. A vertical chute, extending down into the darkness. He looked fearfully down into its depths and started to tremble. Then he heard Velvet shuffle up behind him and he clamped down on his fear.

"What is it?" her feminine voice whispered behind him. He tensed with irritation.

"Nutteeng," he said in a clipped tone and reached over the gap to feel for the opposite edge. With difficulty he found it and coiled his muscles, ready to make the best leap he could given the cramped space. He launched himself horizontally from the cold floor and immediately gripped the opposite ledge. He pulled himself up, wimpering, over the far edge. Satisfied that he was safe, he turned around reluctantly to wait for Velvet to cross.

She looked into his eyes and he shuffled, uncomfortable. Then she sprang forward, her arms outstretched for the ledge. She accidentally hit her head on the low ceiling, her arms weakening momentarily and he saw she was not going to make the jump. Instinctively, his arms shot out to catch her wrist and she dangled, wriggling and looking down over her shoulder, eyes wide. For a fraction of a second they stayed like that, she hanging precariously, he with his hand clamped around her wrist. She looked up at him and he saw his own fear in her face.

He levered himself backwards, pulling her over the edge, to safety. They both lay there for a moment, panting. Velvet sat up and massaged her wrist, looking with large eyes at Antoine. He looked back at her and felt something inside him waver. Then he remembered the dispute between them and his face hardened.

"Come on," he ordered and turned around, leading her around a corner toward the banded light, toward the store room.

0000.57E47

***MASTERBOARD ON***

000110000100001000.00010000011000001

***OPEN SLAVE SYSTEMS***

***VERTICAL DIRECTOR FUNCTIONING***

***AIRVIAL SEALED. HINGE FUNCTIONING***

1000101010101001.1010100101010101000101100011

***PREPARE FOR LAUNCH IN T-15.00***

14.59...

14.58...

14.57...

Antoine pushed on the grille that led into the store room. Thankfully it was a looser fit than the one in the city walls and he managed to dislodge it himself. Quietly, he lowered it to the floor and crawled out of the vent. He sensed Velvet doing the same and walked immediately to the nearest shelf. He ignored her completely.

Velvet looked around. "There's so much stuff here," she commented. Say something, Antoine!

Antoine remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Zere will be a bottle 'ere somewhere. Be quiet and I will be finding it."

"Two people searching is better than one."

"I am not wanting you to 'elp me!" he snapped, and, unable to stop himself, added, "You are dirty and wrong and... and..." he picked up a canister of something and looked at it, knowing it wasn't what they were there for but needing something to break the contact.

"Antoine," his sister said, using his full name, "I know you don't like who I am, but we need to sort something out. We're the only family we've got."

Antoine breathed deeply for a moment, trying not to let the sudden swirl of emotions in his chest reach his eyes. "You cannot be... gay." He mumbled the last word.

"I am what I am. I can't change that."

"Try!"

At this, Velvet sighed and sat down on a ledge. "I did, once. When I was 16, a boy fell in love with me. He told me so; he wanted to be with me. I tried to love him back, Tony, I really did. But I couldn't." Well, it's not too far from the truth!

"I couldn't work out why I didn't love him. He was so affectionate toward me," she lied, this seeming the best way to tell Antoine the truth. "Around the same time, I fell in love, too. A girl in the same village as me. I didn't dare say anything for a long time. But when I finally told him, the boy was so hurt that he decided to get revenge on me and told the whole village. I had to leave.

"I have travelled a lot since, finding temporary homes in towns and villages, but I can never really stay anywhere because I can't tell anybody the truth. But a while ago, Tony, you sent me a message, and I wondered if, perhaps, finally, I might have a home. Please tell me you understand how important that is to me.

"I have waited for a chance to tell you, to find a way how to tell you so that you wouldn't be too shocked. I don't know how I could have done it better, but I think I got it wrong."

She fell silent, waiting for Antoine's response. He was standing side-on to her, still holding the canister to his chest. Slowly he looked up.

"But Knothole. What if zey were to be learning of zis?"

"I understand your concern, Tony, because I have had to live with it so long myself. I don't need to tell them. I only need a small number of people around me who know the real me. You're one of them. Rotor is another."

Antoine looked at her, shocked. "Rotor knows?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because," she looked up at him meaningfully. "He started to fall in love with me, too. I couldn't lead him on, Tony. That wouldn't be right."

Antoine looked dazed, and sat down beside her. They sat in silence together for just a moment. He looked at her and took a breath to speak, but then the door unlocked. Antoine gasped and gripped Velvet's arm, pulling her into one of the aisles to hide. They ducked and watched as Snively walked inside.

They watched through gaps in the stock on the shelves as he stood for a moment, scanning the shelves and considering what he needed, whatever that might be. Then he walked toward the opposite end of the aisle they were in. Antoine sneaked to the end. Velvet followed.

Snively walked along the aisle while Antoine and Velvet tip-toed two aisles along and hid, watching him again. Antoine breathed a sigh of relief: Snively seemed unaware they were there. He mopped the sweat off his brow, and his elbow caught a hollow arm-piece for a SWATbot. Velvet leaned forward and tried to catch it before it made too much noise but it bounced off her hand and clanged noisily on the floor, a few feet away from where they were.

Snively looked up sharply and trotted around to where he'd heard the noise. He looked down the aisle and his eyes locked on the arm-piece lying on the floor. He looked around the room and Antoine and Velvet ducked out of sight. "I know you're here," he called, "and I'll find you!" He walked back up the aisle to scan each space swiftly.

There were 13 aisles in the store-room: 12 shelves. Snively started with the extreme left hand one. Nothing. He stepped along and looked down the second one. Nothing there either. He looked down the third one. Clear...

Antoine and Velvet stood, hidden by the solid metal at the far end of the shelf, looking at eachother in panic. Velvet tapped his arm and glanced around into the aisle Snively had just looked down, if his footbeats were anything to go by. Empty. She gestured him to follow so that the were against the wall. Frantically, she started to search for the elusive bottle. Antoine searched too.

Sonic lifted the grille out of the side of the air vent and set it beside him beside the square hole. He stuck his head out of the hole and looked around for danger. Nobody was present. The room beneath the main computer was dark and grimy, forbidding. But deserted. He jumped out, landing on the metal-tiled floor and walked out of the way for Sally and Rotor to drop out. He stood watching them, arms folded, tapping his foot. Rotor walked around the central computer, looking for the control panel. Sonic huffed. "So, you know what you're doing, right? Get to work!"

"Sonic!" Sally scolded. His expression remained hard and they locked eyes for a few seconds. Then, coldly, they both looked away, neither wanting to argue or give ground just yet. Sally brushed her hair out of her eyes and located the master panel. "Here it is," she called to Rotor, who trotted around to join her. She plugged NICOLE into the system. "NICOLE, give me a list of blueprints for all available scout bots."

"Accessing, Sally," NICOLE replied. A couple of seconds later, she beamed up a list.

Garbagebot
Gathererbot
Messengerbot
Surveillancebot
SWATbot

"There!" she said, and pointed to one named Gathererbot. "NICOLE, enter the blueprint file for Gathererbot."

"Blueprints passworded," NICOLE repled flatly.

"Rotor?" Sally prompted. NICOLE's signal light blinked as Rotor typed in the password, number by number. Sally balled her hand into a fist and waited, watching the holographic beam intently.

Rotor looked around at Sonic to gauge his friend's current mood. The hedgehog still looked angry and was about to say something when NICOLE announced the file was open. The squirrel and walrus looked up at the open file.

"Okay..." Rotor mused, choosing to focus on the task at hand. He looked critically at the blueprint before tapping instructions into NICOLE. He moved plates and re-bolted them elsewhere. He deleted springs. He bolted down hinges. Finally he looked at Sally with triumph and said, "done!"

"NICOLE, where is this robot's launchpad?"

"Accessing, Sally," NICOLE replied and beamed a map, a large red dot indicating the location of the launchpad. She didn't look around as she felt Sonic look at the map over her shoulder. "When is the next launch?"

"Launch in T minus three minutes twelve seconds," NICOLE replied. Sally tapped NICOLE's board and closed the file.

"Right," Sally said with an air of finality. She turned to Sonic. "Now we just need to find that bot!"

Velvet and Antoine had managed to stay silent since Antoine had knocked over the piece of robot armour. But Snively was nearly at the far end of the room and they were only on the 7th aisle and had still not found the serum. Velvet held her breath and tried not to panic.

"Come out," intoned Snively impatiently, his footbeats coming closer again. Velvet heard a whimpering sound. She looked around at Antoine and saw that he was trembling, his hands on his cheeks as if trying to keep himself still. He wasn't searching. He slowly looked around, apparently at a loss for what to do, until he saw Velvet looking at him curiously. He tried to stop, but he could not still his trembling.

"What do we do?" she mouthed at him, shrugging. His eyes shot from the left to the right and then back again. Suddenly he gripped her arm again and shot around the corner: Snively was just on the other side of this shelf from them. They scurried along and to the opposite side.

Hurrying, they both ran to the far wall and systematically searched the shelves from that side, ears twitching frantically, keeping track of Snively's movements, aching from the agonising silence, when Velvet shot up to her brother, a bottle held in her hand. Antoine's face lit up: that was it!

"So there you are, rats!" Snively crowed. The two of them looked around in shock. He took a gadget from his belt and pressed a button on it. "Intruders in Miscellaneous Store Room. Send backup team immediately." The two coyotes looked at eachother in dispair. Knowing he had them cornered, Snively grinned and approached.

1110101011111101111.11111001001101111.

***BASE LOWERED***

***JETS FUNCTIONING AND CLEAR***

0.59...

0.58...

0.57...

The two coyotes instinctively tried to run away, planning to run along the aisle to the side of the room and then race up the far aisle and escape through the vent, but Snively ran the other way and headed them off. They tried to run further back into the room, but the door opened and the first of a SWATbot team emerged. Gasping, they stumbled back the other way until they found themselves stuck in the corner, robots on one side, Snively in front of them. The human chuckled.

"SWATbots, await my next instructions!" Snively barked at the robots. The team stood passively, red lights winking on the fronts of their heads. He turned back to the two coyotes. "Such a pity to see your efforts go to waste," he mused, checking his nails. "What were you here for, imposters?" Antoine stumbled over an incoherent reply, glancing at Velvet, before he realised that she must have kept the bottle from view. She looked back at him blankly.

"W-we are t-to looking for..." he whimpered quietly, wondering what to say, and then fell silent, trembling. Velvet deliberately didn't look at him, and instead glanced between Snively and the robots, unsure of what to do.

Velvet had noticed long ago that Antoine had a high voice. That wasn't a problem - when he was taking charge he sounded authoritative enough. That, however, didn't seem to be very often, and the rest of the time, when he was ingratiating himself to Sally, for instance, he used the lighter notes of his voice, which made him sound as if he were frightened, and the overall effect made him appear to be in an almost perpetual panic. But now, faced with an enemy, Velvet was surprised to hear him whimper. Her brother had shown himself up several times to be less than noble, but she hadn't expected any Commander to let himself sound so frightened. Seeing him tremble out of the corner of her eye she began to suspect she might have to be the one to get them out of this trap. But how?

She coughed to get Snively's attention. "Ammunition," she sighed, looking resigned. Snively turned to her.

"You were planning to steal ammunition from this store room?" he leered, approaching her slowly. She watched him approach, feeling alert.

"Sort of," she explained, deliberately sounding gauche. She had just the beginning of a plan. "It's my first mission, this is more of a training exericise for me, I think." He walked slowly closer to her, invading her personal space.

"You're lying, rat," he grinned, "We don't keep our ammunition h-"

CRUNCH!

Velvet hopped backwards, dislodging her foot from his groin and looking frantically at Antoine. He had instinctively hunched over in sympathy and his face showed a shadow of the agony on Snively's face. A split second later, they both raced down the aisle. The SWATbots stood still, weapons at the ready, waiting for a command from Snively.

The instruction never came. The human shook with agony, nausea spreading from his stomach and - somehow - into his arms and legs. His hands clamped to his testicles, he fell over on his side and curled up, breath caught in his throat, coldness and heat throbbing sickeningly through his muscles, unable to speak, as the SWATbots stood impassively over him. Behind his curved back, Antoine and Velvet practically vaulted into the vent, scrambling around the corner out of harm's reach.

Sonic skidded to a halt and set Sally and Rotor down. Hurriedly, the trio looked around for the iron and steel version of the robot that had sat, squat, in the image of the blueprint file. They trotted into a curved arena of tall storage tanks and there it was. Sally gasped.

"There!" she whispered, pointing. The circular robot stood, gleaming, on its base. There was silence, except for the almost inaudible beep of a timer. Suddenly it raised itself onto a tripod of legs, its engine whirring furiously. As they watched, invisible flames erupted from its downturned jets, kicking up particles of burnt dust and rippling the air. They were going to be too late!

"Sonic! Hurry!" Sally shrieked, reaching out to push Sonic's shoulder in an effort to make him run faster. She found herself pushing against thin air and almost fell. Rotor caught her. Steadying herself, she looked in the direction of the rising gathererbot and watched it rise rapidly into the air.

Sonic could jump high, but at this rate even his athletic leap wasn't going to be enough. Sonic veered unexpectedly to the left. He ran horizontally along the barrells of the storage tanks, round and round, higher and higher, whirring around his companions' heads, gathering momentum. At the last moment, he dipped vertical and launched himself upwards into a powerful leap. He outstretched his arms as he neared the retreating Gathererbot. Then, tucking his arms in, he curled up and struck the bot hard with his back. It tipped off course, a dent in its shell.

Sonic gripped the bot's handle. His weight was too much for it and it fell. He climbed on top of its round shell and kicked it downwards. The strength in his legs propelled it at an unnatural speed and it shattered on the ground, glass and metal and circuitry flickering and dying on the ground. Sally and Rotor high-fived eachother and looked up to see where Sonic was.

The upward propulsion Sonic had gained from the kick fizzled out and he began to fall. He looked down. "Oh, man!" he cried out, realising that he was falling towards the broken, sharp remains of the robot. He couldn't get out of the way. Arms flailing, he watched as the twisted shards of metal grew nearer. He closed his eyes against the impact.

"Gotcha!" Rotor announced, the word thumping out of him as he caught Sonic. Sonic opened his eyes to find himself in Rotor's arms. He looked up at Rotor, relieved for a moment, and then his expression darkened again.

"Get off me!" he grumbled and struggled out of Rotor's grip. Rotor let him go, glancing at Sally. Sonic dusted himself off and stalked out of the wreckage, as if to pretend Rotor hadn't just saved his life.

"Right," said Sally, rolling her eyes. "Let's go!" Silently, Sonic picked her up, grabbed Rotor's arm and sped out of the arena.

Velvet led Antoine on all fours along the vent. She paused just long enough to throw the serum bottle as gently as she could over the other side of the vent. Then she launched herself over the vertical drop - this time managing to catch the far ledge and scrambling to safety - and waited for Antoine to do the same.

On the other side, they finally slowed down to get their breath back. They looked at eachother for a moment before Velvet burst out laughing, stifling herself with her hands. "This is what you do for a living?" she giggled. "It's fantastic!"

Antoine's expression wavered. "I am not to be sure, Velvet," he countered, although he felt light-headed with relief, too. "You might to be changing your mind when you see ze other missions!" They grinned at eachother for a while. Then Antoine remembered the conversation they had been having and his expression became sombre. Velvet smiled understandingly and put a hand on his.

"Antoine, listen to me." She paused to ensure he gave her his attention. He looked at her sadly. "I don't advertise the fact that I'm gay. It pays for me to be quiet about it. I won't embarrass you. In return, all I want is your acceptance of me as I am. Can we agree to that?"

"Yes," he replied quietly, closing his eyes. Velvet nodded.

"Then there is just one last thing." Velvet said, and then she told him about the conversation she'd had with Sally and Bunnie during the party, about how she was caught out and only Sally's grace had prevented more questions. She reminded him about Rotor, with whom she lived and with whom she had shared a kiss, which had forced her to reveal the truth. Finally she pointed out the quarrel between Sonic and Rotor because of her secrecy.

"I know you don't like Sonic," she concluded, "so if you will not do it for him, then do it for Rotor. I am now so close to the Freedom Fighters, Tony, that problems are starting to arise because they don't know about me. More will do so if I don't say anything. I will not tell them without your permission, but I would recommend it."

Antoine opened his mouth to object, and then realised that there was nothing he could say. He looked at the ground and held his breath, thinking of other possible courses of action, but he could think of none. Velvet was right: the others had to be told. Antoine looked back up and nodded dumbly at her. Her smile broadened and she squeezed his hand, and then crawled forward to embrace him. "We'll be fine, you and me," she said quietly, her voice echoing in the darkness. "Now, let's get back to the others before we're missed."

Sally sighed and looked at her watch; she was worried. They had been waiting for half an hour and Antoine and Velvet still hadn't shown up. The boys were giving eachother the silent treatment, which was a blessing: she'd had just about enough of their fighting.

The air vent rattled and she whipped around. The sound grew louder and she smiled with relief as she recognised the ring of two bodies crawling through an enclosed space. Velvet dropped out of the vent first. She put down a bottle and picked up the grille while her brother followed. Together they lifted the grille back into place and shoved it into its slot. Then Antoine picked up the bottle, offered Velvet his arm which she accepted and they walked up to the other group.

"My princess: ze serum!" announced Antoine, offering Sally the bottle.

"You got it! Great job, guys!" Sally said, taking the bottle from Antoine. "Come on, let's go home." She turned away from Robotropolis and began to walk. Antoine hurried to follow her, beginning to tell her about Snively, followed by Rotor. Velvet made to keep up with her brother but something in Sonic's stance told her to stay back. She dropped behind so they could both bring up the rear together.

"So you guys are talkin'," he said curtly. Velvet kept the look on her face placid.

"Yes, thankfully. That's why we took so long - sorry, we were sorting ourselves out."

"So what is it, Velvet?" Sonic rounded on her. She stopped in her tracks, facing him. He looked her in the eye, demanding an answer.

"Sonic, I realise that I've been secretive these last few days-"

"Damn right!" he snapped.

"-and that it's caused a fall-out between you and Rotor, but I'm going to tell you all what the problem is. Tonight. You deserve to be told the truth."

"Tell me now!"

"Bunnie should know, too. Can you not wait at least a while for her?"

"No way! Tell me!" Sonic argued back. Behind him Velvet saw the others pause. Sally trotted back to the pair of them. "You're gonna tell me right now!" Sonic repeated. Behind him, Rotor seemed to hold his breath and Antoine's face was a picture of dread.

"Tell you what?" Sally asked. Sonic didn't take his eyes off Velvet.

"Velvet's gonna tell us what she's been hiding!"

Velvet looked at Sally. "I'm going to tell everyone together. That includes Bunnie, so I want to tell everyone tonight. Will you back me up on this, Sally?" She asked calmly. Sally stepped forward and put a hand on Sonic's shoulder.

"Let her go, Sonic," she said. He looked around at her irritably, and then stalked away from Velvet without looking back. The coyote breathed a sigh of relief and joined Sally to walk behind the others. Sally's demeanour was kind but light. "Tell me it's none of my business, Velvet," she said quietly when she was sure the others couldn't hear, "but are you gay?" Velvet nearly tripped over her own feet.

"H-how did you know?" she stammered.

"Something in the way you looked uncomfortable when we talked about the guys at Knothole," Sally replied. "But not that on its own. The way you got so close to Rotor but you're not an item. And..." she laughed quietly. "Antoine's a stuffy guy." Velvet couldn't help but snigger at this. "When you to argued I guessed you'd told him something.

"I wasn't sure it was that, but it seemed to fit."

Velvet shook her head in disbelief. "You're sharp; not many people work it out!"

"Well, when you're a leader you have to notice things," Sally replied. "Come on, let's catch up with your brother!" They ran together and caught up with the others.

Sonic walked silently, feeling the large presence of Rotor by his side, but not talking to him. He still felt angry, but not as angry as he had. He felt more hurt confused than anything. He had noticed Sally talking to Velvet, and wondered what they were saying, but it seemed that, whatever it was, Sally was not concerned.

He still could not talk to Rotor. The walrus had reacted subtly to Sally and Velvet's chat and seemed happier somehow, but for now Sonic still couldn't talk. What would they say? Nothing was going to be revealed until tonight.

He looked at the ground and sighed to himself. He guessed he'd have to wait, and he had a feeling that he was going to have to apologise to Rotor when Velvet did speak. He glanced up at his friend and was slightly embarrassed to see him smiling supportively back.

"Sonic, it's cool, man," said the walrus. All Sonic could do was half-smile in return.

It was midnight. A crescent moon hung over the Great Forest, partially obscured by the trailing smoke of the camp fire. Around the campfire sat the Knothole Freedom Fighters, and they were talking about the mission they had been on. Bunnie Rabbott, part-roboticized rabbit and highly valued member of the team, put her hands over her mouth and giggled uncontrollably.

"You kicked ol' Snively in the cherries?" she chuckled. Velvet laughed and nodded.

"It just seemed the simplest thing to do!"

Sally shook her head, amusement on her face. "We've spent years fighting a high tech war, then our new girl comes up with a low-tech solution!" the group chuckled. Then Velvet caught Sally's eye and the princess nodded. Velvet cleared her throat.

"There's something I have to say to you all," she began. She looked at Rotor, who nodded understandingly for her to go on. "I've been keeping this to myself for a while because I needed to get an idea of how you would all react, and now I have as good an idea as I ever will. And I have to tell you now because there's been confusion between some members of this group." at this, she looked at Sonic, who was leaning forward, listening intently.

"The truth is, I'm gay," she said calmly. Sonic's eyes widened and he gawped back at her, slack-jawed. He and Bunnie looked at one another, just as surprised as eachother. When he looked back at Velvet he was smiling.

"That's all it is?" he asked happily. Again, Velvet smiled and nodded and glanced around the others to see their reaction. Sally, of course, was not surprised. Rotor mouthed a 'good job!' at her, Sonic and Bunnie were giving eachother a look of amused disbelief, and Antoine looked embarrassed but made do with squirming quietly and looking at the floor. Perhaps he looked relieved, she couldn't quite tell. Velvet took a breath.

"So: any questions?" she asked. There was a silence for a moment.

"Can a lesbian really beat a guy at 8-ball?" Sonic asked playfully.

"You just set yourself up for a tournament, pal!" Velvet answered, and the group laughed. Everything seemed just fine.

The group had divided up and everybody was talking happily. Sonic looked around for Rotor.

"Yo, Sonic, come over here!" Rotor called from a short distance away. He waved Sonic over, leading him further away from the others. Sonic followed him until they were out of earshot.

"What?"

"You know I went missing for a day?" Rotor began. He was smiling.

"Yeah?" Sonic tilted his head, interested to know what had happened, glad that his friend was at last going to be open with him.

Meanwhile, around the fire, the girls were talking.

"So that's why you didn't get together with ol' Rotor!" Bunnie said. "Ah was wonderin'!" she glanced at Sally and they laughed. Sally's ear twitched as she heard Sonic's voice ring out as the guys talked.

"ALRIGHT, ROTE!" Sonic exclaimed happily, slapping his friend on the shoulder. Glancing over, Sally could see Rotor looking shy but happy, laughing. She didn't know what they were talking about, but she was happy to see they were friends again.

THE END.