Belong

Chapter 15 - Hostage

After destroying the last robot they had gone back to the HQ, which in Silver's case meant that he had to be dragged back by Sonic, screaming and fighting all the way. Right now he was pacing at an idiotically rapid speed through the main room, waving his hands around, yelling angrily, and occasionally kicking at the furniture. Everyone had quickly decided to give him all the space he needed to cool down, and as such had left the room. No-one had felt brave enough to confront an angry psychic.

Sonic, the only one who had stayed behind, was watching the grey-furred hedgehog with his brows raised. His head was still pounding from the impact he had been subjected to during their battle, and Silver's irate hollering certainly didn't make things better. He understood exactly how the other felt, but he also knew that in this way nothing would be solved. He cleared his throat, then called out to the other. "Silver?"

A pair of yellow eyes filled to the brim with rage looked at him with the force of daggers. "WHAT?" Silver bellowed. Sonic lowered his ears at the volume. But beyond the anger, he could see pure terror in the others gaze, and it made his heart bleed. He quickly zipped over to Silver and tried to pat him on his shoulder, but was brusquely shoved away. Deciding the other needed some personal space right now, he lifted his hands in a showcase of goodwill. "I know you're hurting, but this won't solve anything. You need to calm down and think rationally for a second." He had barely finished the second sentence before he got picked up by Silver's psychokinesis and got slammed in a wall. Having expected the other to get even angrier at his words, he had already raised his quills and as such was spared the worst from the impact, though it made his injured head pulse with pain much more.

Silver hovered inches above his face. He evidently had decided that this was the perfect moment to show the world exactly how he felt, as if he had not done that for the last couple of hours. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I PROMISED I'd PROTECT HIM and I FAILED and now he's CAPTURED and WHO KNOWS what Eggman's going to DO TO HIM and he might be HURT and he'll be so SCARED and..." Having run out of breath entirely, Silver took a few seconds to gasp for air. Sonic gratefully used the moment of silence to push him down to the ground and try once more to comfort him, suppressing the pounding around his skull.

"Eggman's not going to hurt or kill him, I assure you." At the disbelieving glare he got from the trembling hedgehog, Sonic continued. "Looking at the way Wormbot attacked you, he clearly was just trying to capture anyone I know, not him specifically. He'll be waiting for us to get Venice back, and he's building his entire plan around that. We know what he's going to do and can use that to our advantage."

Silver let his head hang, trying to suppress the whimpers at the top of his throat while Sonic gently rubbed his back. The two sat in silence for a few moments, Silver focusing on his breathing while Sonic waited patiently, before the psychic hedgehog looked up once more. To Sonic's relief, the anger had mostly dissipated and had been replaced by determination, though he could still see some traces of fear in the golden orbs. Regardless, Silver's voice was steady when he spoke: "You're right. I can't act like this, it won't help Venice at all." At the mention of his friend Sonic saw a small smile creep on Silver's lips, and the grey hedgehog stared past Sonic at the opposite wall. "Seriously, what would he say if he had seen me like this?"

"As if he'd ever believe you were even capable of acting like such a angry mother hen," Sonic chuckled, getting a loving punch in the arm from the angry mother hen in question.

"You shut your mouth," Silver muttered, though he seemed to have cheered up at least a little bit. He sat with Sonic for a few more seconds, before lifting himself up and gracefully landing with both feet on the ground. Sonic carefully hoisted himself up as well, his soreness making him feel somewhat uncoordinated still.