Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Whisper stood in front of one of Tails’ many workshops. Specifically, the one located just outside of Central city. She was here because of what had happened to her wispon in her battle with Surge. 

After Surge destroyed her wispon, Belle had offered to repair it. All things considered, the puppet did a stellar job, with the weapon looking practically new, save for the uneven paint job. Whisper didn’t mind though, she thought it added some character.

She was visiting Tails for one final look at the wispon. She trusted that Belle had done a good job, but she wanted a second opinion, just in case. The wolf walked up to the abode, and knocked on the door. A muffled voice replied from inside the house.

”Hold on, I’m coming!” 

Whisper proceeded to hear multiple loud clangs and other sharp noises through the door, before it was opened by the small fox.

”Oh, hi Whisper!”

”H’lo.”

Tails gestured for Whisper to come in, which the wolf did. The workshop wasn’t too large, being one main room with a couple of extra doors, presumably leading to a restroom and bedroom respectively. Despite all the commotion Whisper had heard, the place was tidy. Almost scarily tidy, in fact. Everything was sorted on shelves by color codes, from tools to boxes of screws. There was a giant table pressed up against the wall in the center of the room, presumably being the main workbench. Sure looked like it, because the furniture was covered in scorch marks and deep gashes.

”Any reason for the visit? Not that it would be necessary, you can come over whenever you’d like.”

”I’d like some assistance.”

Tails sat down in his revolving chair, spinning around.

”Alright, with what?”

”Wispon.”

The wolf held her variable wispon with both hands, displaying it clearly.

”Got destroyed when I fought Surge. Belle fixed it, but I want to check with you as well.”

”Sounds good to me!” Tails said cheerfully, delicately taking the wispon from Whisper and placing it on the workbench.

Whisper sat down on a nearby stool, watching the genius inspect the weapon carefully. After a few minutes, he turned to Whisper.

”Well, I can’t find any hiccups.” The fox said, shrugging. ”Belle really outdid herself on this one.”

Whisper smiled, feeling relieved. ”She did. Thank you, Tails.”

”Any time!” he responded with a wide smile.

Whisper began walking over to him to retrieve her wispon, but the young fox’s voice cut through the silence.

”Um…”

Whisper turned to him, curious. ”Mm?”

”Could I maybe… have a closer look at the wispon…?”

The wolf looked at him with an indecipherable expression.

”I mean, it’s totally fine if you don’t want me to, it’s just that I’ve never seen any tech like this before and-”

”Sure.”

Tails’ brain briefly stopped working, having short-circuited at the interruption.

”Huh?”

”You can have a closer look at it.”

Tails looked at Whisper in awe before squealing and shuffling in his seat, ecstatic.

”Thankyouthankyouthankyou so much!” He yelled.

”Just be careful with it.” Whisper said, making sure the young boy was paying attention.

”Yes ma’am!” Tails saluted, earning a giggle from the wolf. He turned the chair back to the table, and immediately began examining the wispon once again. Whisper sat back down on the stool, watching the fox perform his craft.

The wolf was somewhat conflicted. She was incredibly protective of the wispon, and very rarely trusted people with it. On the other hand, Tails wasn’t an idiot. He knew what he was doing, and being the genius he was, he could make groundbreaking discoveries with the use of Smithy’s tech.

Plus, Smithy would’ve probably been ecstatic to know that his inventions were being used for the betterment of mobiankind.

Whisper sat there for a while, looking at her mask, thinking. Finally, she stood up and walked over to the fox.

”Tails.” She said, softly.

”Huh?” The young genius turned his chair ninety degrees to face the wolf. She stretched her arms out toward him, with her diamond cutters’ mask in her hands.

”You can have a look at it, if you want.”

The two-tailed fox looked at the mask, then up at her with stars in his eyes.

”…For real?”

Whisper nodded. 

Tails, still awe-struck, turned back to his desk, bringing out various doo-dads that Whisper couldn’t for the life of her figure out the purpose of. Now knowing that this would be a longer visit than initially planned, she found a comfy-looking armchair and brought it closer to Tails.

After a few minutes of silence, Tails decided to ask the question he’d been keeping in mind since he had first met Whisper.

”So, did you make this equipment, or was it someone else?”

Whisper hummed to herself before answering.

”I didn’t make it. His name was Smithy the lion. He was brilliant.”

Tails happened to notice the use of past tense.

”What happened to him?”

After a dozen seconds of silence, Tails realized he may have asked something insensitive. He quickly turned around in his chair, apologizing profusely.

”I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Whisper looked surprisingly unbothered. Then again, her facial expressions were difficult to read.

”It’s alright. You couldn’t have known.”

They sat there in silence.

”Don’t really feel comfortable telling you. Maybe some other time.”

Tails gave her an understanding smile, before going back to his work. 

An hour passed with no conversation between the two, the fox being fully immersed in his work.

”You remind me of him.”

”Wuh?”

The sudden dialogue had caught Tails off-guard.

”Smithy. You’re a lot like him.”

Tails turned around once more to see that Whisper had adopted a fond smile, looking out the window as if she was reminiscing on old memories.

Tails figured he could ask about him as long as he didn’t go into uncomfortable territory.

”What was he like?”

Whisper was quiet for a few seconds. Tails was concerned he’d been insensitive again, but Whisper responded.

”Smart. Like you. But older. More experienced.”

Tails hummed, scanning the wolf’s equipment with the Miles electric.

Whisper stayed silent for a few dozen seconds before continuing. ”Didn’t really have any family before he found me. Him and the others…”

She trailed off, and soon enough, Tails heard sniffles coming from her direction. He pivoted in his chair, witnessing tears fall down Whisper’s face. She was still looking out the window. Tails instantly hopped out of his seat, and walked over to Whisper. He didn’t say anything, simply hugging her. Whisper was surprised at the gesture, but soon enough returned the embrace.

”’M fine.” She choked out. After a few more sniffles and hiccups, Tails spoke.

”We can stop talking about it if you want.”

”No, it’s alright. It’s nice talking about them. I just get emotional.”

She wiped her eyes with her hand, leaving a small dark streak on her glove. 

Tails stepped back from the hug, and got a look at Whisper’s face.

Despite the newly-wiped tears and slightly red eyes, she looked happy.

”I like talking about them. Remembering them. It gets overwhelming sometimes.”

Tails nodded, followed by an awkward silence where neither party knew how to continue the conversation. Suddenly, Tails snapped his fingers.

”Oh, I almost forgot!” He ran back to his desk and picked up the mask and wispon. He struggled somewhat to carry the weapon.

”Man, this thing’s heavy! How do you fight with this thing?”

Whisper scoffed as she received the equipment.

”I just got done scanning them! I’ve managed to get as much data out of these things as possible without damaging or changing them in any way!”

Whisper looked at her gear, and as far as she could tell, nothing was different.

”Thank you so much for letting me take a look!” Tails exclaimed, looking up at Whisper with wonder in his eyes, a kind of wonder that Whisper was familiar with.

Smithy would always have that specific look in his eyes when talking about wisps.

She smiled and ruffled the fox’s hair.

”I should thank you. You will surely do great things with that technology.”

Tails nodded enthusiastically, earning a chuckle from the wolf.

”I’ll be off, then.” She said, turning towards the door.

”Okay, thanks for the visit!” Tails said, expecting her to walk out of the workshop. However, she stood in place, before turning back to the young fox.

”One more thing.”

Tails looked surprised at first, before adopting a more anticipated expression.

”I promise I’ll tell you about them one day. I just don’t… feel ready yet.”

Tails instantly understood what she meant.

”It’s okay Whisper. Take your time.”

They exchanged goodbyes for the second time, and Whisper walked out of the workshop, now feeling more comfortable around the two-tailed genius.

Chapter Text

Whisper’s initial visit to Tails’ workshop was the first of many. About once a week, she’d ask Sonic which workshop the hedgehog’s little brother was currently at, and pay the fox a visit. However, she very rarely needed help, and simply stopped by because she felt like it.

Tails didn’t mind these frequent visits, though. In fact, the opposite was true. He greatly enjoyed Whisper’s company, and appreciated her ability to fully listen whenever he talked about whatever strange thingamabob he just came up with. Not only that, but he could also keep her updated on the advancements he’d made with Smithy’s tech.

One day, when she had visited his workshop right outside of Central city, she walked in on what looked like a crime scene. Soot everywhere, shards of metal were lodged in the walls, and Tails was lying down, fur practically colored black. Whisper briefly panicked, before the fox let out a small cough and sat up.

”Oh, hi Whisper!” He greeted as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

”What happened?” Whisper said as she went to help the smaller mobian up.

”I tried to experiment with some Eggman tech.” The fox went over to the sink to wash his face off. ”I think I’ll hold off on doing that for a while.”

Whisper chuckled, nodding in agreement.

After Tails finished getting all the soot off of his muzzle, he snapped his fingers.

”Oh yeah! Now that you’re here…”

He crouched down to the floor, and removed one of the floorboards. He reached down and grabbed something beneath the floor, pulling it up to reveal…

Honestly, Whisper wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be.

Noticing the wolf’s puzzled look, Tails immediately explained what his latest creation was.

”Oh, uh, I’ve tried to make a mask based on what I know about Smithy’s tech. It’s still early in development, and as you can see, I didn’t exactly prioritize the visual aspect…”

To be blunt, it just looked like a bunch of scrap welded together. However, Whisper knew better than to underestimate Tails. Therefore, she decided to give the mask a little test run.

”Could you put it on?”

”Oh, the mask? Sure!” The fox draped the apparatus over his face, adjusting it slightly.

Whisper’s cyan wisp popped out, and said one word. Whisper could not decipher it, but Tails heard it crystal clear.

”Hello!”

The two-tailed fox gasped in amazement, and started skipping around the room in excitement.

”It works! It works! It actually works!” He cheered, voice muffled due to the mask. He took the equipment off to reveal an overjoyed expression.

”Whisper! I can hear what the wisps are saying! This is incredible!”

Tails’ enthusiasm was infectious, to the point where Whisper almost felt invigorated by merely being in his presence, similarly to how Tangle made her feel. 

”Great job. I’ve never figured out how Smithy’s tech works. You did it in a month.”

The fox blushed, hiding his increasingly redder face behind the visor.

They stood there in silence, before Tails spoke, voice barely a squeak.

”I’m not great at taking compliments.”

Whisper chuckled, ruffling the shorter mobian’s hair. ”Noted.”

The wolf stood there for a second, before going to get the armchair that she occupied the last time she was there. Once she had pushed it to an optimal spot, she sat down.

”Tails.”

”Huh?” The fox fixed his attention on the canine.

Whisper took out a photo. It was an old picture taken of her and the diamond cutters, prior to Mimic’s betrayal. All members and their respective wisps were present, looking cheerful, especially Whisper, as opposed to the more neutral appearance she sported these days.

”Recognize any of these people?” She showed the picture to the curious young fox, who scanned the image eagerly.

”That’s you! And your wisps!” He pointed out. He then proceeded to glue his eyes to one specific part of the photo.

”Isn’t that…” he began, unable to remember the person’s name.

”Mimic, yes.” Whisper finished.

”…Didn’t he try to kill you and Tangle?” Tails asked confusedly. 

”This photo was taken years ago. We were friends at one point. We, along with the others pictured here, were the diamond cutters.”

Tails let out a small ’woah’ in amazement. ”So, who are the others?”

”Well,” Whisper began, pointing to the ocelot. ”That’s slinger.” She moved to the howler monkey. ”That’s Claire.” Lastly, she pointed to the lion. ”And that’s Smithy.”

Whisper could practically hear the gears in Tails’ head grind, before he came to a realization. His mouth formed an ’o’ as the puzzle pieces started to fit together. However, this wonder was quickly replaced with a somber expression, remembering what Whisper had implied the last time they talked about the diamond cutters.

”…They’re not here anymore, are they?”

Whisper’s expression remained unchanged.

”…No.”

The silence that followed was almost deafening. Tails felt his stomach drop. He had suspected that the diamond cutters had passed, but the revelation was no less mortifying.

”Mimic betrayed us. I was the only one who made it out.”

Tails kept quiet, unsure of what to say.

”…Whisper… th-that’s horrible…”

The wolf nodded.

”I-I’m so sorry that happened to you…”

Whisper opened her eyes, putting her hand on Tails’ shoulder.

”Tails. It’s alright. Mimic’s in prison.”

”But that doesn’t fix the past!”

Whisper smiled a little. She appreciated the fox’s concern.

”It doesn’t. But I’m moving on. It’s tough, but it’s slowly getting better.”

Tails didn’t look quite convinced yet.

”I’m okay, Tails. Really.”

Whisper smiled reassuringly and lightly squeezed his shoulder. She eyed the in-development mask that Tails was holding.

”And It seems like Smithy’s legacy is in good hands.”

Tails’ somber expression slowly cracked, and gave way to pride and enthusiasm.

”Of course! I won’t let you down!” He said cheerfully, immediately going to work on the mask.

”I’m sure you won’t.” Whisper replied, and watched the two-tailed inventor do what he did best.

Innovate.