Capitulate
I woke up to see Espio sitting on the edge of my bed, telling me to wake up. Which was strange. It was the middle of the night. Usually I would be told to get to bed and now I was told to wake up. It was kind of exciting.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "What is it, Espio?"
"We're going out on a case," he replied. The room was still dark, so I couldn't really see what his face looked like at the time. Either way, a late night case sounded fun.
"Cool! I'll get ready!" As I flung myself out of bed to get dressed, Espio left to the kitchen. Or the living room. Ours is both. It doesn't matter.
As soon as I had my vest and my helmet on, I went out to the living room/kitchen to see Espio standing there against the wall. I looked at the fridge and wondered if breakfast was for waking up or if it was only for when morning came. I would've asked Espio if it wasn't for Vector coming in right then.
I sort of noticed that they exchanged glances in a weird sort of way. I paused for a moment as they did so. I was kinda thinking that one of them would break into fighting or crying or…some kind of outburst. Instead they were completely silent.
Finally, Espio turned to me and said," Charmy, why don't you get 'breakfast'? I know it's early but you'll probably be hungry anyway."
"Ok!" I had no problem with that. I flew to the cabinets and found the cereal instinctively.
"Do you want to do it, or shall I? I know that I'm a bit more…experienced."
"No, I'd hate to do that to you, Es. I mean, it's been awhile since then…I don't want you to have any bad memories from the past."
"Yes, but I'd be fine. I'm concerned that you'll have trouble. We can't handle hesitation."
"I won't. I'll do it."
"If you insist."
"Just…stay with Charmy."
I eavesdropped on their conversation as I ate, but how could I not anyway? They were not that far away…
What in the world was Espio experienced in that Vector couldn't do?
Vector glanced at me as if he were nervous. I wished I knew why. I continued to eat my cereal, sort of hoping I'd figure it out on my own.
Maybe we were going on a case to make sushi. Espio was pretty good at that. But why so late? It must've been some kind of late party. That would be fun, actually!
"Charmy, are ya ready?" Vector asked.
I nodded, leaving the bowl where it was, and headed towards the door. Vector said he had to get something from his room "just in case" and he left me and Espio alone.
"Charmy." I realized that he was looking me in the eyes, and actually kneeling to my level. It must've been important so I listened as carefully as I could.
"You have to be very careful, alright? Stay close by. This is going to be a little different than usual."
I laughed under my breath. Of course I would be careful! "Ok!"
Vector came back and then we all headed out. It was pretty exciting at night. It was like daytime actually…but darker. And I swear some things were moved in different places. I stayed close to Espio and Vector's side of course. I mean, I wasn't afraid of the dark, but I was smart not to try to get into trouble.
I noticed that Vector and Espio were still acting a little weird. They were a bit…less talkative. Well, Vector was. Espio is always quiet.
Vector had this glinting object in his hand- it was pretty small- and he seemed to tighten his grip on it steadily. I figured it was the knife for making the sushi. It was funny thinking that Vector could make sushi.
At last, we started to come to a small house near the forests. Vector and Espio slowed down way before we got there, and they were still looking around nervously. But they couldn't be nervous. It was just a usual case…only darker, right?
The way they were acting didn't make it easy to believe though.
I couldn't take the silence anymore. "Espio, what's wrong?"
"Nothing for you to worry about, Charmy." Why did his voice say otherwise?
Honestly, it was beginning to make me nervous too. We finally got close enough to the house that they hid by the tree line. I didn't know what to expect next.
"What do I do, you guys?"
"You'll stay with Espio," Vector said. He didn't look at either of us. "I'm heading in."
"Is-is it dangerous in there? I can do it too! I've been in way more dangerous places than a little house!"
He looked at me sympathetically and shook his head. "No, this is different." That word again. Different. "I need to do this."
By the tone of his voice, I didn't question him as he left. I questioned Espio instead.
"What is he doing Espio?"
But Espio wasn't paying attention. He was watching Vector approach the house, and-and he looked horrified.
I dropped the questions and stared at him, hoping that he would notice. I hoped that he would tell me something. What was this different that they spoke of? And why were they so afraid of it?
He refused to look at me.
"Espio."
He turned towards me at last. "Espio, Espio what's going on?" I guess the panic had finally reached my voice. It shook.
"It's alright, Charmy."
"No, no what is it?"
"It's-" He paused and licked his lips. "It's nothing for you to worry about."
"Is he going to die? Espio, I don't want him to die! Please tell me that he won't…" What would happen to us if Vector died? I didn't want to think about it, I didn't want to consider that he could die. What if that was the last time I'd ever see him again- and I didn't even know it until now. The last words I'd ever say to him were in protest of his idea…and that would be terrible!
I took one of Espio's hands, hoping that he would just reassure me, and in a way he did. He took both of my hands in return and looked me in the eye. "Vector is not going to die."
"Am I going to die?" I choked on the words, hoping he somehow wouldn't hear. "Oh, Espio, please don't let me die! I don't want to die yet!"
He smiled at me slightly, again kneeling to my level. "No. None of us are going to die," He heaved a breath. It sounded relieving enough to me, I didn't see why that was a bad thing at all. "Someone else will."
"But-but why? Is Vector gonna kill…a bad guy?"
Espio bit his lip, and released my hands. He stood and looked away at something else as if he were afraid to face me. But why? I knew it couldn't have been. We didn't do any kind of bad jobs. It was in our oath. They couldn't-
"We were running too low on money. It was this or spending our lives on the streets."
I was stunned. I stared at him, trying to figure out if this was real, wondering if it was all just a dream, questioning if he had really said those words.
He had.
"But we can't just break our promise like that!" I exclaimed.
"I know. It's terrible." He looked distantly at the clouded night sky. "It's life, unfortunately."
I had so much to say against it, I knew we shouldn't be doing this, but I knew that…he was right. It was this or dying, and I didn't want to die. I didn't want them to die.
So I said nothing in return, as the door slowly reopened and Vector stepped back out into view, guilt written over his face despite how the darkness tried to hide it.