Mighty ran and searched frantically for his brother . The worry of his safety had him hysterical. All he wanted to know where Ray is and if he was ok.

"Ray! Ray where are you?!" Yelled Mighty frantically called while he ran from one corner to the next. Suddenly he sees Ray, walking and looking everywhere, like he was searching for something.

Mighty was so relieved to see his brother unharmed. He sprinted to him, tripping multiple times on his way there.

"Ray! Ray! Oh my gosh, I was so worried 'bout you buddy! Are yo-"

"Were you? Were you really?" Said Ray in a angry tone

"Heheh What? Ray, y-you know I worry and care about you" asked Mighty very nervously and gave a nervous chuckle. He doesn't understand why his buddy was acting that way. He was doing everything he could and can do.

"Do you really care?! Or do you just want someone to rub things in someone's face?! YOU NEVER ASKED ME ABOUT HOW I FEEL ABOUT MY FAMILY! YOU NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT LOOKING FOR THEM! ALL YOU CARED FOR WAS YOUR FAMILY! YOUR HAPPINESS!!" Yelled Ray at Mighty furiously. Mighty was frozen, shocked, he couldn't even move bu he knows he did everything...

Right?

"Ray n-no its not-" Mighty replied as he tried to get closer. Ray only glared at him. Mighty bumps into a wall as he was walking up to him, he tries to move around to get pass it but it didn't worked. He started to hit the wall, with his palm and his fist.

"And not to mention that you left me in that Zone for 6 years...because of it I didn't grew up like you nor like Sonic...YOU ABANDONED ME!!" Yelled the boy with anger.

Mighty felt the guilt from leaving him there, alone and scared while he lived a life of adventure with the Chaotix until Nic showed up. If it wasn't for that trade they made, he would never have found Ray.

Ray turned away and started walking. Mighty was desperate to get to him.

"Don't look for me, contact me or anything...just forget that I even exist....well you did that already"

Mighty looked in horror as his brother walked away and said that statement. He was crying, he failed to protect him, failed to make him happy and failed to be a brother to him.

"RAY! RAY DON'T GO! PLEASE IM SORRY!! I TRIED TO GET YOUR PARENTS BACK I SWEAR!! RAY!! RAY!! IM SORRY!!" Cried out the broken armadillo as his tears ran down his face and on to the floor.

He failed...

He could help him...

Mi....

Mighty

MIGHTY!!

The armadillo got up from his sleep, panting, sweating and had tears on his cheeks. He took a second to recover and to snap back to reality. He was on his bed with Honey next to him, worried and had her hand on his arm. He placed his hand on his forehead to process what he experienced.

A dream...

A nightmare...

His heart went on none stop, never slowing down, like Sonic running away from Amy back in the day. He looked at Honey and gave her a smile as gratitude.

"W-What time is it?" Mighty asked slowly calming down

"3:00am" Honey replied

"Of course... thanks for trying to wake me up" Mighty said as he was getting out of bed

"Of course...you were groaning and crying...I was worried Mighty...for a moment I thought I had to call a doctor" Said Honey really shaken by what happened.

"Heh it's fine, a bit more and I think you had to do so" teased the armadillo as the cat hit him with her pillow. "Ok, ok...Sorry, it was a insensitive comment, I know"

"Wanna talk about it?" Asked the feline as she sat up. Mighty just sighed and looked down.

"Ever since we've met I've always been...protective of Ray, or anyone I know for that matter. When we were captured by Eggman, he was scared shaking like a leaf, of course everyone was. He was alone and didn't had the...bravery to defend himself...but when he saw me trying to help a girl that Eggman wanted to see, he stepped up and helped me out...of course we ended up in the solitary confinement of the camp." Mighty started to narrate, not facing Honey as he spoke.

"From there Sonic saved us but we couldn't rescue the girl. We had a plan but it went downhill once Ray got some gem Robotnik was using. He got shot and we went to save him, that gem opened a portal.....we went through it and we had Ray with us...but when we got out... he wasn't with us...he was trapped between zones and we couldn't find a way to get back...until years later..."

"Wait so Ray is supposed to be 17 or 18 years old?" Asked the shocked feline as Mighty nodded.

"A treasure hunter asked for my help in exchange for information about Ray...we found him, still 10 years old and I took him in....made sure he was ok, happy with the Chaotix.... and that he was....safe.... we never questioned about our parents and we never spoke about them...but then Espio said that Matilda was alive and working with Eggman and we went looking for her. During the trip he was asking me about my parents and why they died..."

The armadillo took a deep breath and turned to his partner, feeling a bit guilty that he had her up in the middle of the night listening to his silly problems.

"I was curious about his parents and what happened to them...if they were alive or not. So when Ray fell asleep while we were in Mercia, I searched for information about his parents while searching for Matilda's...same with the Eggnet in both Mercia and in the Great Desert D.E.L chapters."

"And you found nothing?"asked Honey, not caring for her beauty sleep or her job the next morning.

"Nothing, no name, no location, no records of a robotized flying squirrel...All I want is for him to have a good and happy family wether it be with his parents or us....whoever he chooses...I just don't want him to feel that I don't care about him because I do, he's my brother I love my brother to pieces...I would go through everything again for him...nor that I never took consideration of his feelings....I don't want him to feel abandoned or not wanted because....because" Mighty couldn't finish his sentence. He was sobbing quietly trying not to wake up the kids in the other rooms. He placed his hand on his face as Honey got up and hugged him.

"It's ok...It's ok"she whispered at the crying armadillo. He hugged back, gripping her shirt as he continued.

"Because I don't want him angry at me...for not helping him getting hi-his f-f-family....back I just-"Mighty sobbed as his tears got on to Honey's shirt

"Shhh Its ok...I'm sure that he appreciate the effort you gave to get his parents back...he's not a boy who gets angry over the efforts of others...you're a good older brother and he's a good little brother... and you two are unbreakable...I'm 100% sure he's very grateful that he got a brother who can take care of him and looks after him..." she told the crying armadillo as she hugged and rubbed his back to calm him down.

Unknown to them, outside of the room stood Ray, who came out running from his room after hearing his big brother's distress. Ray looked at the door and smiles crying.

He wasn't crying because he was scared.

He wasn't crying because he was alone.

He was crying for having a amazing brother, who helps him, protects him, takes care of him, and, most importantly, loves and adores him.

Ray tried to keep the sniffles low so they wouldn't hear him. He got closer to the door and placed his ear on the door to listen better.

"L-Let's go to bed ...I have to take you home in the morning" he heard Mighty say. He could still hear him sob a little and coughing a little.

"It's ok if I get home a bit later than what we agreed on earlier, if you're not feeling well then-"

"No, no I don't want you're sister to get more angrier at me than what she already is"

With that Ray went back to his room, not before hearing a loud yawn from a half asleep Matilda. He dried his tears and went into her room.

"Ray?....Did something happened?... I thought I heard crying from Mighty's room..." asked the small armadillo as she rubbed her eyes.

"N-No. E-e-everything's f-f-fine, Till." Said Ray as he walked up to his little sister and tucked her in. Her eyes were fluttering slowly, she was tired but was worried.

"Ray...were you crying?" She asked with a yawn. Ray smiled at her, placed his hand on her cheek.

"N-no, I just w-w-woke up too...D-d-don't worry, just go b-b-back to sleep. It's st-still l-l-late" He told her as he saw her drifting back to sleep. He smiles at her and leaves her room, closing the door quietly.

He went back to his room and went to bed. Looking at a foto he has of himself with the Chaotix, when Matilda joined the group, the family.

"I-I-I'm very g-grateful of e-e-everyone...Thanks guys you're all the b-b-best...." with that Ray went to sleep with a smile, knowing that he has a family that are there for each other and a big brother who loves him dearly.