Despite the late hour, Silver could tell Venice was still awake as they snuggled together in the darkened room. Their attempts at being stealthy had been for naught and Amy had run into them basically the moment they had entered the kitchen, lovingly scolding them about their irresponsibility as she and Sonic prepared the most delicious snacks and bites. Venice's eyes had shone and he had thrown himself into tasting everything with unwavering enthusiasm, at least until Amy had brought them back the medbay and made them brush their teeth before tucking them in. His friend had become completely silent as they laid down to go to sleep, wide awake and breath shallow as he fiddled with his hands. Though not sure what was exactly on his mind Silver knew that if Venice wanted them to talk he would eventually take the initiative, so he waited patiently for the other to start speaking.

He didn't have to wait long. "Hey, Silver?" a tiny voice piped up from next to him, near his chest. "Are you still awake?"

Moving his hands to stroke Venice's quills he nuzzled the other's forehead. "I am," he assured him.

"...I can't sleep."

"Thought so." With a chuckle Silver reached over to the nightstand, switching on the tiny nightlight Tails had given to them. As its soft yellow glow filled the room he could make out Venice's features, taking in the other's wide eyes and scared face as he peeked up to him.

Venice crawled closer, pushing his face into Silver's chest fur fully. "I keep having nightmares," he whimpered as Silver calmingly scratched him behind an ear. "About that man, and before..." He took a shuddering breath as his hands grasped Silver's fluff. "Sometimes I die, sometimes you... Or we both fall to the ground before Sonic can reach us... Or I need to save you from getting captured and I fail, or instead of them it's that man who's hurting me, or you..."

"Vennie." Carefully slipping a hand underneath the other's chin he lifted up his face so they could see each other eye-to-eye. "Knowing this won't make your dreams disappear, but they're not real. You and I are right here, and you're safe."

Venice's lips trembled as Silver stroked his cheek with his thumb. "I'm scared... I just want them to go away..."

Silver felt a stab of pity go through his heart at the tearful exclamation. If he could somehow clear Venice's mind and give him some relief he would without hesitation, but what could he possibly do to help him, other than being there and giving support? "The memories will fade away with time," he murmured softly as his hands continued their petting. "They won't ever leave completely, but eventually they'll find a place, and you'll have peace."

With a shudder Venice pressed himself against Silver more, burying his nose underneath Silver's chin. Despite that, Silver could feel his breath had calmed a little bit. After spending some time in silence, the hybrid unexpectedly started talking again. "I think I can be okay with being both a hedgehog and a mink," he murmured as his hands played around with a tuft of Silver's fur. "It's not as weird as I thought it would be."

The statement brought Silver huge reprieve. He had seen Venice's fearful reaction when Sonic had burst in with the news, how utterly unresponsive he had been once they had told him what they had found out. "I'm glad to hear it," he assured the hybrid with a small smile. "Like Sonic said, you're still Venice. It just has a name now."

As he said the words he felt a jolt go through his body. There was something that had crossed his mind a while ago, when Venice had been sleeping and he had quietly been studying the ceiling as to not wake him. PK-HMH, Venice had said his name was when they first met. He knew PK stood for psychokinesis, which would make sense considering their similar psychic powers. But HMH...

"Do you remember when you told me your name was PK-HMH, back in Frozen City?" he asked Venice, taking note of how his body went entirely rigid the moment the other's former name left his mouth. The other psychic nodded guardedly. "I know PK is an abbreviation of psychokinesis, but do you think HMH stands for... hedgehog mink hybrid?"

Venice fiddled with his gloves a few moments before answering, not looking Silver in the eye. "I suppose that makes sense..." he muttered softly. Silver couldn't tell what was on his mind, but he doubted it was anything good as he took in the other's unnerving glare aimed at his shoulder.

Quickly going over his options, Silver gently tugged one of Venice's ears to get his attention. He countered the angry scowl of the other with a gentle look of his own. "I think you'd like it best if this is also the last time we talk about your old name, right?"

Venice's glare wavered a little before it grew more sad. "I never want to think of it again," he responded quietly, dropping his gaze.

"Then I won't bring it up again." Silver knew for sure that it wouldn't be so easy for Venice to make peace with what had happened to him, but it was the least he could do for his friend.

With a barely-present smile the psychic cuddled closer against him. "I appreciate that."

Despite being glad that Venice felt at least a little bit better, Silver sighed anyway. He couldn't take away the pain of Venice's past, but he had sworn to take care of him from the moment they had met! The hybrid would have been spared so much trouble and fear if he had just put his foot down and made them go back to HQ to drop him off before going to fight in the forest...

"I need to apologise to you," he murmured as he stroked the other's quills. Venice raised an eyebrow as he angled his head to bump his nose into Silver's cheek. "What for? You didn't do anything wrong."

Silver sighed more deeply, he was quite certain that Venice wouldn't agree with what he was about to say. "If I had been more firm with Sonic and didn't take you to the battle you wouldn't have been captured, and then you would have been spared all this grief," he elaborated as he glanced away from Venice's eyes.

Venice's eyes widened at the statement. "That's not...!" He scrambled up, painfully leaning with his hands on Silver's shoulders as he hung over him. "He would have captured you! I didn't want him to capture you!"

"You were frightened! What if we had been too late and Eggman had hurt you?!" Silver shot back, grimacing from the weight of Venice pressing down on his body.

Venice seemed to deflate a little at that. "But you weren't," he whispered as he flopped down fully onto Silver, who had to grunt from the force. Silence settled after that, Silver's breaths more laboured due to the literal and figurative weight on his chest and Venice shifting around uncomfortably.

"I've been thinking..." his friend piped up unexpectedly. "That man seemed really surprised how quickly you came to rescue me. And the bomb... I don't think it worked how it was supposed to."

"Unless Eggy wanted to start a career in terraforming, it probably did not." Heart feeling a bit lighter, Silver mulled over the battle once again. For a bomb powered by the seven Chaos Emeralds, the explosion had honestly seemed kind of weak. He ignored the itching of the grey marks on his hands and the near-emptiness in his mind where he could usually feel his powers as the thought crossed his mind. "Maybe Eggman hadn't been able to charge that thing enough with the Emeralds because you took them away too soon?" he mused out loud. "But then, what would have happened if..."

"Silver." Venice interrupted him as he sat up and crossed his arms with a pout, clearly trying to look as scoldingly and reproachful as Silver himself did sometimes and failing horribly. "You weren't too late and everything turned out alright. Stop thinking about everything that could have gone wrong but didn't."

Deciding not to tell Venice that his act was more adorable than it was effective, Silver nodded obediently as he tried to suppress a smile. "I just worry," he said instead.

"You're a time traveler, you can easily just change things when you don't like how they turned out," Venice retorted as he puffed up his chest. Before Silver could tell him that that really wasn't how things worked, the hybrid's eyes lit up instead. "Hey! Do you think the future is safe now?"

Surprised, Silver felt a stab go through his heart at the innocent question. He had been so preoccupied with Venice, he had entirely forgotten about his mission! Although... he knew this wasn't the first time he had potentially changed something without being aware of it. Still, despite his attempts to remain optimistic about his plight, it had never made anything better. There was always just something else that went wrong...

"Why would it be?" he inquired as he pushed away his negative thoughts. He had to remain hopeful that things would go right!

Venice flopped down on his back next to him. "You said you couldn't find any Chaos Emeralds in Frozen City, right?" Silver tentatively nodded, not sure where this was going. "We know that Eggman didn't count on you showing up so soon, and that bomb was a bust because the Emeralds were removed from them before it could reach its full power!" Silver grew more troubled as Venice continued his chatting, his shining eyes a stark contrast to the dark storm clouds they had contained only moments prior. "So, what if the bomb was supposed get too powerful and destroyed the Emeralds, but that didn't happen because you intervened in time?"

Glancing up at the ceiling, Silver frowned as he pondered the theory of his enthusiastic friend. If Eggman hadn't captured Venice, then they most likely would have had no reason to look into his bases, nor would they have taken the fight to him... And without the hybrid, that bomb would have been powered by the Emeralds for as long as it took Eggman to set up another trap and lure them there. The Emeralds were needed to maintain the balance of the world, so what would happen if they were to be destroyed by their own might? His mind drifted to everything he had learned about climate and the Earth as he did research in the sun-less, snowy Frozen City with no inhabitants. All those volcanoes that had erupted at the battlefield... the Chaos balance of the world disrupted with the Emeralds gone...

"I think you raise a good point," he complimented Venice. He didn't dare hope, but... What if the disaster had been subverted? What if Frozen City was no more? An unexpected thought crossed his mind, and he beamed brightly at the realisation. "And that would mean that you're the one who saved us, Vennie!" He had to laugh at how unexpectedly taken aback Venice looked. "If you hadn't been there to take away the Emeralds, who knows what would have happened with that bomb?"

"Ah..." Clearly Venice hadn't thought about this, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head with his hand as he glanced away. Though it was hard to see in the dimly-lit room Silver could have sworn he was blushing furiously. "I-I guess..."

The idea made more sense to him with every passing moment. With a laugh, an actual laugh this time, he wrapped his arms around Venice and pulled him into a fierce hug. "No, don't be modest! You saved everyone!" Venice giggled and squirmed around as he pressed a multitude of pecks and kisses against his forehead, unable to escape the ticklish onslaught due to Silver's arms that were still tightly wrapped around him. "Okay, okay! Maybe!"

Lowering Venice more comfortably against him, Silver couldn't suppress the purrs that were rising from his chest. Another disaster had been subverted, and the world was safe for at least a little while. He could worry about going back to the future in the morning, after a good night's rest. With a final scratch aimed at Venice's ears he settled more comfortably under the blankets and prepared to go to sleep.

With his eyes closed he had almost drifted off again before he felt Venice poke his forehead with a finger. "I want to ask something," the other whispered as he tiredly opened his eyes again, blearily looking at his companion. "What are you planning to do now?"

"Uh, well... Usually I just go back to the future, find it in a different state of disarray, try to find the cause with varying success, and then go back and do some things in the present to subvert it," the hedgehog yawned, flicking an ear.

"Why don't you just stay here forever, then? All your friends are here, and you're happy!" Silver sputtered at the question, sleep forgotten in seconds.

"I can't do that!" he protested as Venice fixed him with a flat glare. "I belong in the future, not in this era! Who knows what will happen if I messed with the balance of the world like that?"

He knew he had made a mistake when a grin unfolded itself on Venice's face. "If that's the case, you also wouldn't be allowed to travel back in time in the first place, no?" his companion asked smugly. Silver opened his mouth, then closed it again when he realised he did not have a solid way to retort to that statement. "I need to, otherwise I won't know what went wrong and I can't focus on changing it!"

Venice flicked an ear as well, clearly not impressed by his defense. "Hm," was the only thing he said as he snuggled closer into Silver. The latter quickly changed the topic, deciding he didn't want to put any more thought into this. "What are you going to do, Venice?"

As quickly as the smug attitude had come it disappeared again, and Venice buried his face into Silver's fluff fully as he mumbled some things the hedgehog couldn't make out. Remembering Venice's fear of being left behind in Frozen City, Silver rushed to comfort him. "I would love it if you came with me, but if you want to stay in the past with the Restoration, then please feel free to," the hedgehog assured him gently. "You don't need to travel with me to every forsaken, ruined future if you feel safer here."

He was surprised when his friend lifted up his head from the comfy cover and firmly shook it. "This world is beautiful... And Sonic and Amy are so nice, and Tails is too, but..." Venice took a very deep breath, and this time Silver could easily feel the heat that radiated from his reddened cheeks. "If anything, I belong with you."

Gently Silver stroked the other over his stubborn quills, the huge smile on his face giving away how touched he felt by the other's commitment. "I'd be happy to have you," he told Venice as he pulled him closer and nuzzled their noses together.

Anything Venice wanted to say in response got interrupted by the huge yawn that slipped past his lips. With a laugh Silver wrapped himself around his exhausted friend fully. "We can only leave in a handful of days anyway, our powers still need to recover," he mused as Venice got bundled up against him with a purr. "And don't worry about the nightmares. I'm right here, and I'll leave the nightlight on so the dark is not scary."

After whispering a good night to each other they both quickly drifted off to sleep, though not before Silver took a moment to thank whoever was out there for gifting him such an amazing friend to care for. As long as he looked after Venice and Venice looked after him, he knew in the end they'd both be just fine.