Spirit of the Phantom Ruby

Part 30 - Fin

"...And here's the room where you guys will be sleeping." Batanna finished the Jackal Squad's brief tour. She folded her wings across her back and turned to them, handing them sheets of paper. "Here are your schedules... You'll be meeting with your counselor different times during the week. Her name is Nutmeg, you saw her literally five minutes ago."

The jackals looked down the hallway at the other doors curiously. The place seemed completely empty, as if they were the only ones there. They stepped into their own room and each claimed their bed. As they explored the place, Batanna watched from the door.

"Everyone will be called to the main auditorium in about half an hour. Until then, please stay here. If there's an emergency, or you need something, just refer to the sheet beside the phone." She gave them a pleasant smile, but they could tell that she was just rehearsing something she had said several times over.
"Have a good day, I'll be seeing you later!" The door shut.

Aaron listened until he could no longer hear her footsteps. "I don't like it here... They seem fake."

"I guess it beats prison." His boss commented, drawing amused looks from his team.

Mathilda sat at the bed across from his. "We actually have to make an effort, though, or they won't let us stay here."

"An effort to do what?" Aaron adjusted his hat, pushing it so it sat right above his eyes.

"To be good." Infinite looked down at his pillow, examining the fabric's pattern, or lack thereof. "...Or whatever their definition of 'good' is."

Jay stared at him, sitting behind Mathilda on her bed. "Are we actually going to try?"

"We don't know what their definition of 'good' is yet." Infinite turned his gaze back over to his teammates. "After the assembly, presuming they'll tell us more, then we'll decide."

"Was this the right choice?" Aaron flinched from the immediate piercing glares his comrades gave him.

"Would you have preferred we all got split up and locked into jail cells for ten years?" Mathilda snarled at him, standing up.

"Ah, never mind..." He turned away from them, contemplating.

Derek studied his expression, the only other jackal who had not yet sat down. He stepped forward and placed a hand on Aaron's shoulder, a look of sympathetic discernment upon his own face.

"I understand this place is weird... The entire concept of F.V.R. is weird, but we're going to do this together, the same way we did before the war when we were still a team." He turned his friend around, so they were all looking at one another. "I acknowledge boss might have done the most damage out of all of us," the jackal he was referring to looked down subconsciously, "but we're all in this together, because we are a family."

All but Infinite stood up and huddled in a circle.

"And family never leaves anyone behind." Mathilda reach over and grasped his wrist, pulling him up into their group hug.

He wrapped his arms around the shoulders and backs of his teammates, hugging them tightly, wishing he never had to let go, wishing they had never been gone, wishing he had never met Eggman in the first place. A strange feeling flittered around in his chest, giving him a small feeling of nausea. His heart hurt for some reason, like it was almost being compressed, but he held on still, knowing it was just an emotion. Just a bit of shame. It didn't matter. Nothing else mattered but his squad. As they pulled away and resumed a regular conversation, he listened intently, their voices music to his ears. He knew things were going to be different, he just didn't know how, but it didn't bother him, for as long as he was with his family, all was right with the world.