"You have to earn it if you want to do it again? Can you believe I said that? I'm a fucking idiot I wanted to make out with him right there. Laugh at me all you want, I deserve it."

Jet slammed his face against his pillow while his phone broadcast Wave's laughing fit directly into his ear. His cheeks were burning and so was his ego.

He was back at his apartment in Central City. He had moved out of Wave's the day after the wedding, even though they were to discuss about his extreme gear career (what a rhyme) some time soon. A lot had happened happened at that wedding, and Jet definitely needed some time to process everything.

Jet had finally broken ties with his dad for good and even got confirmation Sonic liked him back! He was still having a hard time convincing himself that night hadn't been one huge hyper-vivid dream. It was too good to be true in all the right ways, but stressing enough to be believable.

Except… That last part was actually too good to be true. He never got any clear verbal confirmation on how Sonic felt about seeing him as more than a friend. Sure, he was about to get kissed on the neck before his father interrupted him, but that didn't mean anything… Right?

Talking to Wave through the phone was a good way to rationalize everything. He was still way too embarrassed to discuss his "love life" (if it could even be called that already), but he had to admit she spilled some helpful advice once in a while. And he also needed someone to tell him when he was being ridiculous every once in a while. Not too often, mind you, but sometimes it was just what he needed to hear.

"Well, at least you two are going on a date tomorrow, right? So that means you two are a thing I guess." Wave's words managed to make him lift his head up once again. He had almost forgotten about his date with Sonic!

"... Are we? It's not a date though, right?"

"You told me he specifically used the word date."

"Yeah but like… Is it a date date? Or just like… A date?"

"Jet I'm going over to your apartment and I'm going to smack you. Are you even listening to yourself?"

Okay, maybe he was needlessly complicating the whole situation. But still! He wanted to hear Sonic say it. He wouldn't be able to rest until he got a clear confirmation from Sonic about whether the two of them were actually a thing or not. He didn't mind not being a thing as long as he could continue to hang out and have fun with him, but of course he preferred for them to be a thing.

"...Do you think we're a thing?"

Wave sounded so exasperated Jet could perfectly picture the face she was making. "How do I— How am I supposed to know that?! Why the hell are you asking me that?!"

"I mean— you're dating someone! Did you never go through something like that?"

"Yeah, and I didn't find out until I went ahead and asked her about it! It really is that simple!"

As always, Wave had a point. And also as always, Jet wasn't going to admit it.

"It's not that simple, Wave! There's more to it than that!"

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Jet remained in silence for a full five seconds before he hung up the phone and dunked his face onto his pillow again. She just didn't get it! He had no idea what was going on inside Sonic's head most of the time. Maybe that was an issue? He felt like he should know a bit more about Sonic than he used to by that point, but most of the hedgehog's personal side was still a mystery to him.

It was weird to think about it – and so he decided not to.

It was late afternoon by the time he was done being needlessly dramatic about his situation. The sun was starting to set and he still needed to prepare himself for the following day's expedition. Both in regards to the Death Ruins trip itself and for the possible progression of his and Sonic's relationship.

The former was simple enough. He prepared a small bag with everything he'd need — his fans, the sword hilt, some lighting and a couple of other general tomb-raiding aids. He didn't usually bring his extreme gear with him when raiding ancient places, since it was best to be extra careful with those, but the "Death" in Death Ruins probably implied they might need to run away from something.

As for the latter, well…

He still had Amy's phone number. At first he was reluctant to call her specifically for help, since she might still have some repressed feelings for Sonic that might come back to hurt her at the mention of the subject. But she was the one who offered to help plan their race to Never Lake in the first place, so that probably meant she was over it… right?

Maybe not, but who else could he ask for help? Wave obviously wasn't being very helpful at the moment. Storm was on his honeymoon in Apotos and Jet really didn't want to get in the way of that with his silly hedgehog issues. The last thing his mother would probably want to talk about after that wedding was men. Shadow… he could ,maybe talk to Shadow about it, but that would make their adventure way more awkward.

Amy it was, then. The amount of details he shared with her about his feelings for Sonic was embarrassing to think about, but something about her made him extremely comfortable opening himself up. The fact that they pretty much only talked through text helped. He would have probably exploded trying to say how handsome he thought Sonic was out loud.

By the time he was done with their discussion it was well past midnight. Jet didn't remember having eaten dinner, but there were dishes by the sink he was yet to wash. He sent Amy an apology for making her stay up so late and went to sort that out. All that was left for him to do afterwards was get a good night of sleep so he was awake enough not to make a fool of himself in front of Sonic and Shadow the following morning.

Jet could tell it was going to be a very busy weekend.

"...So, why's this place called Death Ruins again? We've been walking around for half an hour and I'm pretty sure we're not dead yet."

"That's what me and Shadow kept trying to figure out while waiting for you, Flicky. You still have bed head and everything." Sonic waved his finger at him, teasing him for his "late" arrival.

Jet overslept, because of course he did. He was only late by about three minutes but that was already enough for him to get a wave of taunts coming from Sonic. The two wasted even more time throwing quips back and forth until Shadow had to pretend to clear his throat really loudly to get their attention.

Their first action as a group was taking a walk around the perimeter to see if they could detect any external traps. Something was definitely off already – that much was clear by just how silent the place was. Not a single animal could be seen or heard anywhere around the ruins. The only noises they were able to pick up were their own footsteps as well as the faint sound of running water.

Shadow was the one among them that had been there before, but his knowledge about the place's layout wasn't of much use anymore. The Black Arms had completely disassembled the geography when they arrived, elevating and moving around pieces of land in odd and seemingly nonsensical ways. They had also littered the place with their corrupted ooze, causing some of the plant and animal life to mutate into beings with varying degrees of deadliness.

"They were using this place as temporary shelter while retreating from Westopolis." Shadow explained. "Beats me why they'd spend so much energy messing up the place if they were on their way out anyways."

But everything was fixed now! Thanks to the efforts of countless archeologists, architects and landscapers, the pieces were put back together properly to form a cohesive structure – as cohesive as ruins could be. Its glory was sheltered from the weather by the combined tops of many different thick-leaved trees. The main gate was mostly destroyed, surrounded on both sides by canals that ended in a small lake.

Shadow transported them to the other side using Chaos Control – which left Jet disoriented for quite a while – and they walked into what appeared to be a garden. Most of the plants that had been there originally got trampled by the Black Arms, with the survivors getting harvested by government people for safekeeping. They were replaced by berry bushes and flowers that matched the surrounding vegetation, which Jet found quite lame.

"Doesn't look like a deadly dungeon to me," Sonic said, stopping to smell one of the flowers, "more like the summer home of some ancient king or something."

Jet wasn't so sure either. The building's shape reminded him of an ancient church or a temple, but there were no runes or symbols on the outside indicating what deity it could have been dedicated for. The canals were interesting, though – what was the point of them if there were no crops to water or waterways to cross into? They could have been built for decorative purposes only, but that was a lot of effort put into something with no real function.

Either Sonic was right and this was the work of some royal with too much money, or there was something more than met the eye.

"I say we go inside already." Shadow had his arms crossed over his chest, taping his foot on the ground. "I'm sure whatever puzzle we have to solve doesn't involve staring at the grass for twenty minutes."

"What, are you in a hurry Indiana Yawnes?" Sonic taunted as he stood up once more. Shadow scoffed.

"Yes. The longer we stand still, the greater the chance of triggering a trap is. We could have already activated some form of security system without realizing it."

"Wouldn't the Black Arms have triggered it first, though?" Jet raised an eyebrow. "I doubt whoever put this place back together would have rearmed the traps as well. Not intentionally at least."

"Are you saying you'd rather stay here and smell the flowers then? Whatever you say, legendary wind master."

That seemed to do the trick. Jet huffed and grabbed his board off the ground, finally stepping inside the ruins. Rays of sunshine illuminated the place through what they assumed used to be stained glass windows. The room was empty and the path got thinner as they walked forward, until it became barely two-mobians wide. An elongated but not very steep stairway led them to a large open chamber with no windows at all.

Jet put on his goggles and took his lantern out of his bag. He cranked it to the highest brightness possible and placed it on where he assumed the center of the room was. The light travelled along the intricate patterns of the stone floor until it gently touched the walls, revealing that they were composed entirely of murals. Echidna murals, with some depicting some figures the three of them were instantly familiar with.

"Is this… Chaos?" Sonic grabbed the lantern and toned the brightness down before starting to walk around the room.

Chaos, Master Emerald, Pachacamac. Everything checked out. Except the fact that those murals were there in the first place.

"I don't get it. This place is pretty far from where Angel Island used to be when it was grounded." Sonic brought a hand to his chin in thought.

"Maybe they made this after it started floating." Jet shrugged. "So people on the surface would remember them or whatever."

"I'm pretty sure Knuckles can change the course of Angel Island using the Master Emerald, so that is a valid theory. But I'm still not convinced this was all their work, though." Shadow commented.

"Right? The outside doesn't look like echidna architecture at all. Maybe someone built it on top of this. Or maybe they built it together with someone els— hey!" Sonic pouted when Jet snatched the lantern away from him.

"Like Shadow said, we won't ever find out if we don't keep walking."

The end of the chamber led to a long, narrow hallway. So narrow that Jet couldn't afford to hold the lantern in front of himself anymore and instead had to pull out a flashlight. At the end was another set of stairs, but this time going down instead of up.

Sunlight blinded their eyes for a moment. Death Ruins was built a couple feet away from the end of a cliff, and the room they found themselves in was partly embedded on the cliff wall. The stone around them was older than the kind found above, and the architectural style was different yet again. The lore wasn't plastered over the walls, but instead on the floor in the form of a mosaic.

Jet was already starting to hoist Sonic up on his shoulders before Shadow sighed and instead hovered close to the ceiling using his air shoes.

"See anything interesting from up there, killjoy?" Sonic walked to the corner of the room, dragging Jet along with him.

"Yes but I can't make sense of it." Shadow squinted. "Looks like a bunch of islands to me. There's people in between them and there's a big orb in the middle. Maybe the sun. Also two creatures I don't recognize staring at each other from each side."

Jet sighed, running a hand over his beak. "Shadow no offense but you suck at this. Let's stick to the original plan and have Sonic go on top."

Shadow groaned but ultimately complied. He was the one at the very bottom, with Jet on his shoulders and Sonic at the top. It took quite a bit of shuffling around and almost tumbling for the blue blur to get a good idea of what he was looking at, but he was very confident in his hypothesis.

"I think this is supposed to be a depiction of one of the Gaia cycles." Sonic explained. "Like, the islands kinda look like the continents. The orb must be the planet's core. And as for the creatures… One of them looks a lot like Dark Gaia, that's for sure. I don't know what Chip's monster form looks like so I can't tell if that's supposed to be him or not."

"Chip? And how do you know what Dark Gaia looks like, huh?" Jet asked.

"Because I was there when it awakened a couple of years ago?" Sonic shrugged. "Got a pretty good look while I was kicking their butt."

Jet looked astounded for a brief moment, then rolled his eyes. "Of course, I should have guessed you were involved in that."

"Geez, I was expecting at least a thank you. You could have fallen off your board right into the abyss, you know that?"

"As if! Look who you're talking to, hedgehog. I have absolute control of my extreme gear at all times, I would never die in such a way." Jet (gently) threw Sonic off him before getting off Shadow's shoulders himself.

"But these people did." Shadow said, walking away from the two. He crouched down and tapped a fingertip against one of the mosaic pieces with a vaguely humanoid figure on it. There wasn't nearly enough detail to distinguish the nature of their situation, but their positioning was a pretty good indicator that they were not having a good time.

"That's two catastrophes in a row. Maybe that's why it's called the Death Ruins."

Shadow could almost see the gears turning inside of their heads before they let out a small "oooh" and nodded in agreement. The three of them took a moment to admire the scenery from the opening on the cliff wall before diving back into the darkness.

The next chamber was on the same height as the Gaia mosaic room, but there were no openings for sunlight to get in. Even with the combined efforts of Jet's lantern and flashlight, they didn't find anything of interest. Most of the ceiling had been torn off, making visible the natural dirt and stone the cliff was made out of. Some pieces of it that survived implied the existence of another mosaic, but there weren't enough of them to figure out what it used to depict.

After that was a halfway with a gradual descent that eventually led to what looked like an elevator. The same kind present behind the Master Emerald altar, Jet noted. He didn't tell them that the ride was probably going to take at least a full hour, in fear that they might refuse going deeper for now. He really hoped they wouldn't notice it.

They did notice it, but there was nothing they could do about it. There was no button on the actual elevator to bring them back up, and if Shadow Chaos Control-ed them away they'd risk getting it stuck on the lower level forever.

Their descent was filled with lots of quips, puns and the soothing sound of a waterfall somewhere around them in the deep darkness.

Jet was greeted by the even more familiar sight of a blood-activated door. He didn't explain what the apparatus was until after he was already dripping into the receptacle, causing the two hedgehogs to freak out a little. But instead of a cramped room with a treasure, it lead into yet another hallway. But this one was different.

The two canals showed up at each side again, but their flow was slower and quieter than before. Neither the room nor the water felt hot at all, yet the stream released a thick mist into the room.

Bright blue lights guided them forward into a wider hall. Metallic statues depicting bird humanoids were present in each side, most of them in pristine condition. Some of them held weapons, others proudly showed off what looked like writing instruments. A couple of them possessed no extra objects, but were made out of a golden material as opposed to the copper-like sheen most of them had.

They stood each stop a small podium with ancient Babylonian inscriptions. Jet tried using the translator necklace to make sense of them, but they each came back as either non-existent or unrelated words. He instead chose to simply transcribe them to their modern alphabet, and that's when he came to the (rather obvious) realization that those were actually names.

The artificial fog became thicker and thicker, to the point Jet had to pull out his lantern yet again. More and more warrior-like statues started showing up as they walked forwards, with two holding spears up high above the small gate that led them to a wide circular chamber.

Water pooled on the marble-like floor beneath them, although it was barely deep enough to coat the soles of their shoes. The walls were mostly clear of any markings save for the section directly in front of them. Two ancient Babylonian verses were carved on each side of a mural. It depicted a crowd of humanoid pictures holding up what appeared to be a comet. A completely black comet.

Shadow tensed at the sight. "Is this supposed to be…"

Jet walked close to the walls and scanned one half of the text with his device. After a couple seconds, the hologram screen projected itself into view containing the translation.

For seven stars we traveled

Witnessing the barren, the corrupted

A threat we tried so hard to ignore

And it came for us

We fly in shame as those who stayed behind fight for a lost cause

For null our feeble efforts were

But null our legacy shall not be

It was at that point that they became aware of whatever was going on in the center of the room. About eight or so statues were placed in a circle, all holding what looked like sword hilts with no blades attached to them. In the middle stood an unknown object, monolithic in feeling yet short in size. The only unique thing about it was the slot located on the front. It had two openings that reminded Jet of the metal prongs he saw while inspecting his own bladeless hilt for the first time.

"So is this like a blade vending machine." Sonic shrugged, looking around with a hint of a grimace on his lips. "I don't see a credit card slot around here, so I guess it's free! Can I have the honor, Jet?"

Jet was deep in thought, trying to make sense of the lore ahead of him. Shadow was in a similar state, having the half of the puzzle the hawk was missing. Sonic had all of it already solved and reviewed in his mind, but he acted like he was none the wiser. He was prancing around the room, splashing water all over and acting like an uncomfortable toddler trying to make his parents hurry up.

After a couple of seconds without a reply, Sonic reached into Jet's bag and snatched the artifact without asking. Jet either didn't notice or was too focused on translating the other half of the text to care.

Shadow did notice, however.

"Sonic", he began, worry in his eyes, "please resist your urges and wait for Jet to finish so we can discuss whether or not what you're about to do is a bad idea."

"How bad of an idea could it be?" Sonic shrugged. "Last time I was in a temple and I put one thing inside the other, the continents shifted back into place."

"Sonic." Shadow didn't need any more words to make Sonic take a step back.

"Fine, fine! I'll wait for Google Translate to load and then I'll do this. Only if it still sounds like a good idea, or course. Deal?"

Shadow wasn't convinced, but he was far too distracted himself to give Sonic a proper scolding.

Soon enough, the holographic screen flashed up once again.

For seven stars we traveled

Witnessing the barren, the corruption

A status we were so stubborn to uphold

And it is coming for us

We cast aside our role as observes and seek a new home to fight for

For null our past has become

But null the Black Arms shall be

As soon as the last line of text was printed out, a click could be heard coming from the center of the room. Jet and Shadow turned in time to see Sonic backing away with empty hands, the hilt now lodged firmly into the monolith.

It began humming. The lines they assumed were cracks started glowing a bright blue, power flowing from deep underground towards the artifact. Heating and charging it, until all the noise stopped and the hilt was dropped on the floor with a tiny splash.

"... Nothing?" Sonic finally let out after a while. He picked up the object and examined it in his hand. The only difference was that the hole had been filed with a blue crystal-like object.

"Maybe it's broken." Jet suggested, walking very slowly towards Sonic. "Probably not. You know what happened when we lowered our guard for the golden rope. Just… Don't make any sudden movements."

"Be careful with that, Sonic." Shadow echoed, which only seemed to make Sonic more restless.

"C'mon, this thing is completely harmless now. We can't even put the blade back together anymore." He pouted, walking around and gesturing as if he was holding an actual sword.

"Maybe something happened somewhere else. Maybe the sword is about to explode in your hands. Or you just revived an ancient swordsman that's about to kick our butts." Jet extended his arm. "Give it to me."

"No way, Flicky! Finders keepers. I'm kidding, of course, but I just wanna hold it for now."

"You're gonna hurt yourself, dumbass. Give me the sword!"

Sonic jump back and pointed the non-existent blade at Jet. "Hah! Very bold words coming from someone who didn't bring his fans."

Jet opened his beak to respond, but then closed it back up. Indeed, he had forgotten those at home.

Shadow spoke in his behalf. "I should have expected you to completely disregard my advice. Jet is right, put that thing back in the bag and let's get out of here before whatever you just triggered comes back to bite us in the ass."

Sonic rolled his eyes and pointed the weapon at Shadow instead. Before any witty remarks could come out of his mouth, however, the tip started flashing and releasing sparks all over in the blink of an eye.

Sonic tried aiming it somewhere else, but it was too late. A beam was already traveling through the air and heading straight for Shadow. The only one whose reaction came out in time was Jet, who jumped in front of Shadow to shield him from the blast.

It made contact with his abdomen first. It was like a blizzard and an inferno all at once. An electrocution-like sting that spread across each of his nerves, imaginary needles prickling every millimeter of flesh. Pain, an enormous amount of it. Spreading from the impact point to the rest of his body faster than his brain could process it.

And then, null.

Everything came back to him at once. Death Ruins. Blood door. Black Arms. Sonic.

Sonic.

In a sudden burst of strength, Jet forced his eyes open and tried to sit straight up – two actions that brought him immediate consequences. His eyes burned and every one of his muscles screamed in pain. But he was still somewhat successful, his breath quickening because of the sudden strain.

He was on a hospital bed, with recently changed cool sheets draped over his body. There was an IV drip attached to his arm and an oxygen mask placed over his beak. He pulled out the latter with little effort, since his lungs were working just fine as far as he knew. The desk to his left was littered with cards, flowers and other gifts.

In front of him stood a doctor with the most horrified expression someone with a beak could make. A bird mobian, short and clad in the usual medical outfit as well as thick-rimmed square glasses.

"Well, either my skills are better than I thought or we gave you the wrong procedure", they let out a nervous chuckle, "because that's the shortest time I've ever seen someone awake after getting struck by lightning."

Jet raised an eyebrow. "What? I didn't get struck by lightning."

"Memory issues. That's a common side effect for survivors." The doctor scribbled something down on their clipboard.

"I don't have memory issues, I'm telling the truth!" Jet threw his arms up in frustration. "I got hit by a laser sword."

The doctor blinked, then grimaced and took more notes while whispering under their breath. "Cognitive functions impaired, this is not looking good so far..."

"Fuck off." Jet leaned aside and started going through his gifts.

Most of them were premade "get well soon" cards – which Jet did appreciate, but they didn't do much for him in terms of entertainment. There were also a couple of candies and snacks that Jet ate despite the doctor's desperate pleas.

"Listen, you… What's your name again?"

"Doctor Zephyr."

"Chaos, of course you have a name like that." Jet rubbed his head, trying to mitigate his newfound headache. "Listen, Zeph. I'm fine! I'm awake, I'm hungry… and I could probably get up right now! All you have to do is take this thing off my arm and give me some clothes."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that. You'll need to stay here for at least another two days or so. Your premature recovery is… fortunate, yes. But also very unorthodox." He explained, walking beside the bed. "Can I take a look at your scars?"

Jet raised his hospital gown. The spot where the beam made direct contact with his abdomen was devoid of any feathers, although the skin had healed for the most part. There was a small Lichtenberg figure that spread out from the entry wound, accompanied by a few bald spots.

"Woah."

"Woah indeed! This looked way more… unpleasant when you were brought here. We have a ton of tests to run, yes, many of them..." Zephyr walked towards the door and pressed a button. "But first, you have visitors."

As soon as the door opened, a handful of his friends rushed into the room like a stampede. Wave, Storm, Faiza, Amy, Cream, Shadow and… Tails? Sonic was nowhere to be found, which left him worried and a little upset, but he was able to shrug it off while talking to people. Having all of them take a moment out of their time to go visit him made him feel… really good!

Something that caught his eye was Shadow's new outfit, however. He was wearing a peach-colored piece of cloth that fit somewhat loosely over his chest. It was clear he was trying to hide something, since he also had his arms crossed over his chest the whole time. It wasn't until after Jet was alone in the room with him and Tails that the fox decided to ask about it.

"So… why are you wearing Sonic's old binder?" Tails raised an eyebrow. He had been carrying some kind of potted plant – a kind of ivy, if Jet's limited knowledge on plants was right.

"Bandage-white is not my color." Shadow joked.

"Did the beam go through me?" Jet frowned a little.

"Indeed, although thanks to your efforts I am very much alive and well." Shadow gestured for Zephyr to leave the room for a moment, then he lifted the binder up.

His wound was in a similar stage of healing as Jet's was, but something was different about it. The shape didn't follow the path of any blood vessels or structures the energy could have travelled through, it looked more intentional. Like a symbol.

A symbol Jet was clueless about, though. For him, it looked like a spiral with spikes pointing out of it towards various directions. Tails seemed to recognize it, judging from his grimace.

"Black Arms… Shadow, are you g—"

"Yes, I'm okay. Both physically and emotionally." He was quick to put the binder back on. "I'll be keeping this on for the time being, though. I don't want the conspiracy theorists at G.U.N. thinking this means Black Doom is coming back or something."

"Are you sure? LIke, really sure? Please be honest, Shadow. I know the Black Arms used to be a… touchy subject for you." Tails pursed his lips.

"I'm sure. They are no longer a part of this universe and no longer a part of me." Shadow nodded. "I'm not going to let them get the best of me yet again just because some thousand year old taser mislabeled me."

Tails kept up his concerned expression for a few seconds before it softened into a melancholic smile. Shadow turned towards Jet.

"What about you? Have you processed our finds yet?" Shadow asked. "I'm not trying to make you hurry up, I'm just curious."

Jet shrugged in response. "Haven't had a lot of time to think about it, I just woke up like thirty minutes ago. But… yeah. The Babylonians were too proud to help others and ended up as a victim themselves. That sword would have helped during the Black Arms invasion. Knocking those things out of the airship without an actual weapon was a pain in the ass..."

"That's it?"

"Yeah? Did I miss something after I got knocked out or?"

"I thought… you would have been more conflicted about your heritage. About the difference between truth and tale. About me."

"I'm kind of miffed about your ancestors killing mine but you're hot so I'm willing to overlook it if you behave."

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"Have you never heard of jokes before? Chaos." Jet groaned. "Listen, I stopped caring when I found out they were aliens. Plus, Sonic told me you finished the Black Arms off for good so I should be thanking you if anything."

"That's… one way to look at it, I suppose." Shadow looked a tiny bit upset. "I wish I could have let go of my past that easily."

"Whatever alien bullshit happened and is still happening out there is not my business anymore. As long as I can still race, I don't care about all that."

"You sound like Sonic."

"I'm going to assume that's a complim— wait, where's Sonic?" Jet turned his attention to Tails. "Is he alright?"

"Physically, yeah. He was… Supposed to be here, but he ran off somewhere as soon as the doors opened." Tails shrugged and handed him the ivy. "Here, I'm pretty sure he was going to give this to you."

Jet was puzzled at Sonic's attitude and choice of gift, but he still appreciated it regardless.

He was still going to act cool about it, of course. "Tch, damn hedgehog zaps me and can't even bring me flowers. I wonder if our date is still up…"

"You guys were going on a date?" Tails' eyes widened. "Like, a date date?"

"It was supposed to be last night." Jet scratched the back of his head. "Just tell Sonic that I'm not mad at him for shooting me but I will be if he doesn't show up tonight."

Doctor Zephyr soon came back into the room and forced them to bid farewell to Jet. After finding out the most painful way that he wasn't able to walk comfortably, he was dragged all over the hospital to perform a multitude of tests.

All the major surgeries had been performed successfully while he was unconscious, and it didn't look like he would have any lasting side effects aside from small bald spots where the beam entered and left his body. The muscle pains were a minor concern but a major annoyance. If they didn't decrease in the following days, he would probably have to look into physical therapy. Which would prolong his hospital stay even further and jeopardize his grand return to extreme gear racing.

It was late afternoon when he had been released from testing. Wave had dropped by once more to give him his phone and his board, the latter of which she had specifically told him not to "do anything dumb" with. He would end up ignoring that suggestion eventually, but for now he settled on simply checking his phone for more "get well soon" messages.

None of which he got from Sonic. Nothing. The app showed he had last logged on ten minutes ago. Jet's best guess was that he felt guilty for accidentally hospitalizing him and needed some time to quell his negative emotions – but he'd at least have sent an apology if that was the case, yes? No? He didn't know.

Jet once again had the realization that, after all this time, Sonic was the one he learned the least about. They hung out and had their moments, but at the end of the day it all felt somewhat hollow. Sonic had gotten a crash course into his past, while the only notable info Jet had gotten was how good of a kisser Sonic was (a very good one).

Maybe… maybe confronting him about it could wait. He had to think about their relationship. How it was currently and how he wanted to go on about it in the future. Even if they didn't end up becoming a thing, he still wanted to becoming familiar with more than Sonic's public persona. Sonic was all he thought about, yet he had barely (if ever) asked him about his past or his interests besides racing. He felt like he had messed that up. Bad.

Jet let out a sigh. They had taken off his IV drip so he could now freely walk around the room. His legs begged him to lay back down every time he took a step, but he just couldn't stay still in a time like this. He made his way to the window and opened it, letting the cool early-evening breeze hit his feathers and calm his mind.

Where was he anyways? That was probably written down on his medical file, but he wanted to try and guess just by looking at advertisements as a fun little time killer.

The first one that caught his attention was a huge glowing billboard for a casino called Casinopolis. A skyscraper belonging to a company called KDR Records caught his attention next. He had to take a break from the game shortly after catching sight of a place called "Goblin Nightclub" and breaking into a fit of giggles.

What was that in the distance? A smoothie shop that was beginning to close. It was way too far for Jet to take in any details, but he was sure there were still a handful of customers inside. It must have been a popular place. Most of them were leaving already, taking their smoothies back them with home so they could— no fucking way that was Sonic.

It was unmistakably Sonic the Hedgehog. His quills glowed a beautiful blue as he leaned against a lone streetlamp. He was holding a smoothie in each hand before he put one down to reach for his phone. Jet immediately made a sprint for his own. Lo and behold, his status changed to online. But he still didn't say a word to Jet for several minutes.

Looks like it was time to take matters into his own hands.

[HAWK]: hey dickhead I got your weed

Jet couldn't discern Sonic's expression from that far away, but he did see Sonic hesitating before typing something on his phone.

[BlueBlur]: heh sorry all the flower shops were closed so I improvised

[BlueBlur]: I'll have you know that's from my garden and everything from there has lots of care and love put into it

[HAWK]: whatever man

[HAWK]: like in the most respectful way possible

[HAWK]: you coming to visit me or what?

Sonic's reply took a good while to come. Jet noticed Sonic would type something, then reflect on it for a bit before the typing indicator went up once again. What was taking him so long?

[BlueBlur]: uhhh idk

Really now?

[HAWK]: wym?

[BlueBlur]: jet I think we need to talk about what happened

[HAWK]: then come over and we can talk

[BlueBlur]: I don't want to stress you even more, might slow down your recovery or something

[HAWK]: really now?

[BlueBlur]: yeah really

[BlueBlur]: I'm worried about you man

[HAWK]: then come see how I'm doing

[BlueBlur]: I think it's best if we leave that to some other day I'm already at home

[HAWK]: since when

[BlueBlur]: uhhh lunch

[HAWK]: before or after you bought me a smoothie?

[HAWK]: you fucking clown

Jet could see Sonic's whole body tense up. He kept his eyes on the screen, unmoving, until his phone locked up automatically. That made him snap back to reality and look around frantically, until his eyes stumbled across Jet's window. They made eye contact for just a moment, but that felt like the longest moment in Jet's entire life.

And then Sonic took off, not before pocketing his phone and picking up the second smoothie.

Jet immediately started shouting in Sonic's general direction, but he was too far away to even hear him. Time for plan B, which consisted of ignoring Wave's very valuable advice to not do anything dumb. As most of his B-plans went throughout his life.

His entire body felt like it was getting scorched as he walked across the room to retrieve his board. It was like a last resort measure to stop him from potentially hurting himself both physically and emotionally. Which Jet masterfully ignored. He got the hospital windows wide open and took a few steps back before jumping out of them on his board.

Jet landed on the roof of a nearby building and proceeded to try and catch up to Sonic. He stuck to the rooftops so he could keep him in his field of view at all times, and maybe even follow him undetected.

Unfortunately, the people of Station Square weren't used to seeing a bright green hawk wearing only a hospital gown riding his extreme gear on the rooftops, so he made quite a stir wherever he passed by. Enough of a stir to get Sonic to turn around and run faster at the sight of Jet speeding towards him.

Sonic kept making sharp turns in quick succession to try and lose Jet, but the hawk was always right on his tail. Neither of them could speed up too much or they'd risk running into a wall or over a pedestrian, so the distance between them remained the same up until they left the residential district.

They started racing on the train tracks somewhere along the way. In a straight road such as that, Sonic could go all out with his running. That is, if he was to release the smoothies, which he refused to for some reason. But his current speed was enough to make Jet strain every last bit of air out of his board just to keep up. He could use the track rails for grinding, but then he'd lose some valuable speed.

And then a train showed up. Heading straight towards towards them no less.

Sonic tried to decelerate, his shoes screeching against metal and wood and releasing sparks all over. Jet did the complete opposite, reaching Sonic before the train and pulling both of them off the trajectory of the train. The extra weight made Jet notice the amount of pain he was currently feeling and so he slipped off his board.

Both of them tumbled down a hill and ended up in a grassy field. Sonic had managed to save the smoothies somehow and was about to attempt an escape before Jet pinned him down.

"What the hell is your problem, man?!" Jet was panting way harder than Sonic. He was holding Sonic's arms with his, and although he was nowhere near as strong as him, it seemed to be working.

Sonic didn't say anything. Jet could discern an apologetic smile on his face, dimly lit by the crescent moonlight. Jet had to personally thank the moon one of these days, for making Sonic look so handsome every single time.

"My everything hurts and it's your fault." Jet whined, though he wasn't actually that mad at Sonic.

"...Sounds like someone needs a kiss." Sonic smirked. "May I?"

"You're an asshole."

"You didn't say no."

"Don't make me regret saying yes."

"Alright hang on. Let go off me for a second."

Jet did so, and Sonic used the extra mobility to put the plastic cups at a safe distance from them. He then pulled Jet closer by tugging his hospital gown and pressed a kiss to the underside of his beak. Then another. And another. And another. Neither of them were keeping count anymore.

Jet was a mess. His feathers were all ruffled up and he got covered in grass and dirt from the fall. But so was Sonic. And they didn't care about how the other looked. They were content in feeling warm, breathing in perfect sync and caressing each other's roughed up frames.

After what felt like an eternity, Jet pulled away and leaned his back against the gentle slope of the hill behind them. He just remembered he was supposed to be mad at Sonic.

"Can we finally fucking talk though? Like seriously. You're the one starting to worry me."

Sonic soon followed suit, aiming his gaze at the starry sky above. "Sure, what do you wanna talk about handsome?"

"I'm so close to beating you up right now it's unreal."

Sonic let out a small chuckle. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

"Sonic." Jet trailed his bare hand against Sonic's arm until he found his, interlacing their fingers together. "I'm super mad at you but I'm not like, mad at you. Can you please tell me what's going on?"

Sonic kept his quiet for a few moments before his voice came out again. Shy, unsure. "... I'm sorry, Jet."

Jet simply shook his head and shrugged, prompting the hedgehog to continue.

"I just… I didn't want things to turn bad between you and Shadow. All that talk about war and revenge and… I just wanted to lighten up the mood. But in the end I just made it worse. I can't apologize to you enough, Jet."

Jet could hear the faintest sniffling sounds coming from Sonic, who was trying to act cool even in a moment like this. Jet sat upright and extended his arms towards Sonic as an offer. Sonic took it, wrapping himself around Jet's smaller frame and silently crying his eyes out while Jet rubbed a hand in circles on his back.

"I can't be mad at Shadow for something he had no control over. And I can't be mad at you for it either."

Jet gently pressed the tip of his beak against Sonic's cheek for a brief moment. It wasn't the same as a kiss, but it felt like one to them.

"Whether or not that made our friendship fall apart, that wouldn't be your fault either way."

"But it felt like it would." Sonic wiped the tears away from his eyes. "It… Always feels it's my fault when something bad happens to those around me. Like I wasn't able to help them. What kind of hero am I if I can't keep my friends from fighting? I know it's stupid, but—"

"Don't say that," Jet cut him off, "it's not stupid. You're not less of a hero when something you couldn't have possibly had any influence over goes wrong."

Sonic pulled back from the hug, hands resting on his lap while he fidgeted with his fingers. "... I think I need help, Jet."

"I think you have a lot to sort out, yeah. I can recommend you the same therapist I'm going to and you see if that's the right thing for you."

Jet leaned back and took a hold of Sonic's hand once again. "And… I'll also be here for you, of course. You helped me a lot and I want to be able to do the same for you."

"Thank you, Jet." Sonic pressed a small kiss to the side of his beak and leaned back as well.

Between the short grass and the partially hidden moon, there wasn't much to look at in terms of scenery. Both of them finally got around to drinking their smoothies. Jet's was banana flavored, the same kind Sonic was enjoying the day they bumped into each other. How cute.

"Hey Sonic?"

"Yeah Jet?"

"Are we on a date right now?"

Sonic paused. "Certainly not my ideal Saturday night date, but I guess it technically qualifies. Why?"

"Are we like… A thing?"

"Uh… I was going to ask you the same thing actually."

"Oh."

They fell into silence again. Jet took some time to go through his drink before he spoke up again.

"Hey Sonic?"

"Yeah Jet?"

"Do you want to be a thing?"

Sonic paused. "...I kinda want to be a thing. Do you want to be a thing?"

Jet hesitated. "There's so much I don't know about you. Like, I don't even know what movies you like. There's a version of Sonic in my head that's cool and fast and… Sonic, but I don't know if that's who you really are deep down, you know? I want to find that out."

"Oh…"

Jet rolled his eyes and removed the lid off his plastic cup, pouring the last of his smoothie on Sonic's head. "What the—"

"I didn't say no, dumbass. That just means I want to take things nice and slow for once."

"Aw yeah!" Jet couldn't help but snicker at Sonic's little pop off. "I have to warn you, though. You're gonna hate me once you find out what movies I'm into."

Jet rolled his eyes. He suddenly pulled Sonic closer, pressing the top of his beak against his lips.

"Nothing can make me fall out of love with you, idiot."

Author's Note: And that's the end! I'm running a poll for a possible sequel, link to that can be found in the Ao3 version of this chapter. Link to that can be found in my profile.