Regular sonic fan: I'm glad that you've been good, but I'm sorry to hear that things have been complicated for you. *hugs* Is there anything that you want to talk about? And omg, yay, I'm so happy that this is your favorite fanfic! I'm actually having fun re-reading it as I'm editing it for a second time. Is that weird? Thanks for reviewing!
Paddy: Wow, this is your favorite story? Really? I feel so honored to hear that! Thank you so much! Hm, well, I was thinking about connecting the sequel to this story. What do you think about that idea? Thanks for reading this!
Guest: Aw, you get a nostalgic feeling reading this for a second time? I'm actually getting that same sort of feeling while I edit this for a second time. Is the story worth re-reading, I hope? Thanks so much for commenting. :)
FanfictionSoldier15: Yay, thanks so much! I'm so glad that you liked the first chapter of the story. Do you have any favorite Sonic characters?
Saints-Fan-12: I missed you so much too! *hugs you* How's everything been for you? I hope that this story is worth re-reading! I'm sort of changing a few things to mix it up a bit. ^^
andypandy123: Aw, thanks! It's great to hear that I was missed! I'm glad to hear that you've been doing well. I'm crossing my fingers that you did great on your GCSE's, but I'm sure that you did awesome. Great work on your saxophone exam! That must have been so exciting winning the awards with your school. :D I'm actually looking for a job right now. How's your job at the shop going? I'm really sorry about your sister and your friend though. At least nobody was killed, right? I try to look at the optimistic side of things (even if I'm a pessimist :P). And hey, no worries! I love chatting! I've been alright, I guess. I finally moved out of my parents' house, but doing things all on my own and trying to find a job is harder than I expected it to be. Also, eating disorder clinics backfire on you so bad. It was a stupid decision of my parents to send me to one imo. But hey, I shouldn't complain. Things are finally looking up for me now. Thanks for asking! About dA, I might make a new account later, but for now, I'll just be on here. :3
bearvalley3365: Of course I forgive you! No need to apologize at all! I'm just really happy that you're commenting now! Thanks a ton for praying for me and hoping that I'm getting my life back together. Things are going a bit better now. How have things been for you, my friend?
Mysterious: Yay, I'm so happy that you loved the chapter! *hugs you* Espio and Charmy are so cute, aren't they? ...My dad used to call Espio "carrot nose". Seriously, what the hell? :P Hope you keep reading this!
Manicpanicgirl: Aw, why thank you! I'm really glad to hear how much you like this story! Who is your favorite member of the Chaotix if you don't mind my asking? I'll see about reading your story sometime, but I just moved out of my parents' house and am having issues finding a job, so I may not get to it for a while. Thanks for commenting though!
Fangirl-time: I think that we're both feeling nostalgic then! *gives you another hug* No problem for the hug, I love giving them! Hm...would you like more fluff scenes in this story? I'll consider adding some more fluff scenes if you'd like that! :D
Mickfang27: It's okay - I understand completely about the reviews getting a bit shorter. I love any sorts of reviews short or long. Thanks so much for reading this story! I didn't know that you're a Sonic fan too! I looooove Vector, there's something kind of attractive about him, isn't there? And you also support VectorxEspio? Awesome! :D When I posted this for the first time, nobody liked the pairing, haha. Thanks for reading!
SurroundedInDarkness: Oh my god, so you've gotten into Sonic? Yay! :D I love Sonic so much, haha. Who's your favorite Sonic character? Eh, to make a long story short, my parents tried to keep me under their guardianship despite the fact that I turned 18 at the beginning of the month, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. How's going cold turkey on the meds going? That must be hard. Have fun in New York! I have a friend that lives there and I've always wanted to go there actually. I haven't seen Planes yet, but I kind of want to. I'm still wondering why they didn't just make a Cars 3 instead though. Are you going to see it?
Chapter III
~ Espio's POV ~
I'm almost able to drift back off to sleep when I hear another loud whoop from the room adjacent to my bedroom. Gritting my teeth together, I pull on the edges of my pillow so that it's placed even more firmly over my head. Unfortunately, my efforts to block myself from Charmy's excited screams don't do me much good since the bedroom door whips open a moment later and and none other than Charmy himself invades my privacy with a huge grin on his face.
"Guess what?" Charmy exclaims, flying over to my bed and hovering in the air only a few inches away from my pillow.
Seeing that I'm never going to get any rest with this buzzing bee flitting up and down by my ear, I toss the pillow off of my head and roll from my stomach to my back so I can face Charmy. Raising a sleepy eyebrow at him, I point out, "What did I say about not playing video games this early in the morning?"
"Oh. Sorry, Espio," Charmy apologizes, looking quite sincere despite the fact that he'll probably play his video game tomorrow morning again. "Guess what though? I just beat level nine on the 'Chaos Invasion' game! Can you believe it? It took me three whole days to complete that level!"
"Wow. Three days," I echo sarcastically, still blinking sleepily as I stretch my arms over my head.
"Yup, three whole days!" Charmy beams, not detecting my sarcasm and looking quite proud of himself for beating level nine on his game. Charmy buzzes over even closer to me and asks as if it should be an obvious thing, "So are you going to get up? You said that you would bring me to the park to play with Cream today."
Cream is a young, brown-eyed rabbit Charmy's exact age. I'm not exactly sure how they became friends, but I do know that they're the very best of friends and that Charmy spends most of his free time with her. I'm curious to see how things will play out between them when they get older. Perhaps Cream will become Charmy's girlfriend. Who knows?
Suddenly remembering something, I frown and reply, "I can't bring you to the park today, Charmy. I have to go to work. Can't you go to the park by yourself? It's not so far away."
"Uh, look at the calender, genius," Charmy states, pointing to the calender hanging to the left of my bed. Suppressing a yawn, I twist myself under the sheets so I can peer up at the wall. I locate the date and notice that it's Sunday, my only day off from work. Charmy continues on, "You work too hard! All you ever think about is work and now you're starting to forget what day of the week it is!"
"Working at the cafe is the only way that I can make money to support myself and you as well," I point out, finally forcing myself to sit up in bed. "Unless you want to live out on the streets, I wouldn't complain about my work if I were you."
"Okay, okay, I didn't think that you'd get so offended," Charmy rolls his eyes at me as he continues hovering in the air, clearly waiting me to get up.
Sighing, I roll out of bed and land nimbly on the floor. I ease my white gloves with the large black cuffs on them over my hands, but not before Charmy notices the mangled flesh around my wrists. He stares at the skin there in distaste and curiosity. I give him no explanation of why the skin there is scarred and instead slide my feet into my violet shoes with the black straps on them. After taking a few quick steps toward the bedroom door, I push it open and call to Charmy, "I thought that you were in a hurry."
"Oh, right. I am in a hurry," Charmy replies although he seems to have lost his energy from earlier as he flies after me out of the door.
Our modest home isn't very large and has only three rooms inside of it. There's my bedroom, Charmy's slightly smaller bedroom, and then the parlor, which is split into the living room and the kitchen by a TV. Decorating has never been one of my talents and I lack the money to separate the rooms with anything other than the television at the moment. Perhaps someday I'll have enough money to do some refurnishing, but for now I'm satisfied with this home as long as it stays neat and clean.
I push open the door to the house and am greeted by a sunny fall day. Charmy flies out of the house behind me, but he is still lacking his normal vigor. His face is scrunched up and I can tell that he's thinking hard about something. It will only be a few minutes before whatever is bothering him comes spilling out. That's just the way it is with Charmy. He can never keep his feelings bottled up for long.
Surprisingly enough, Charmy manages to hold his tongue for an astonishing five minutes, probably a record for him, before he turns to me hesitantly and queries, "Espio, can I ask you something?"
"Yes," I sigh resignedly as I step briskly along the sidewalk, keeping my head down for the most part and sending suspicious glances out from under my eyelids at anyone who passes by too close to me. Turning my full attention to Charmy, I ask, "What is it?"
"Um, well..." Charmy starts out almost awkwardly before he asks all in a rush, "What happened to your wrists? I know that you wear those big cuffs only because you don't want anyone to see them."
A cold chill that has nothing to do with the sudden breeze runs down my spine. Sighing, I lie, "I accidentally burned them in a cooking incident. I've told you before that I'm the worst cook on the planet."
"I remember that," Charmy nods. "Are you okay though? The scars look like they hurt."
"They did," I admit, being truthful this time. "Now they're just memories though."
"Oh, okay. Just as long as they don't hurt anymore," Charmy says optimistically, returning to his cheery self.
I smile darkly inwardly, wishing that the marks had been from a burning incident and not from being pinned down on the bed night after night by my despicable cousin. I still remember the feeling of my hands turning numb after the nights when Bryce decided to handcuff me with a pair of cuffs that were far too tight and dug and tore into my flesh. They weren't the fuzzy type of handcuffs intended for lovemaking couples. Oh no, they were real, metal cuffs meant to bite into my skin and cause me pain along with everything else that Bryce inflicted upon me. Of course, Charmy will never know about this. I will fulfill the duty of being a proper parental figure to him. I'm going to keep Charmy protected from the evils of this world until he's ready to handle them.
I'm so lost in my thoughts, that I take a good ten steps forward without realizing that I've lost Charmy. Damn, where has that little bee gone off to now? I stop in my tracks and look swiftly from right to left. No Charmy. Wondering if maybe he's flown up ahead of me, I squint into the distance. Still no Charmy.
"Espio! You've gotta come see this!" a voice gushes from behind me.
Turning around, I see that Charmy is hovering in front of the bulletin board hung on the side of a large stone building. Charmy has a tendency to get sidetracked much too often. Tapping my foot and folding my arms, I point out, "I thought that you wanted to go to the park, not stare at the bulletin board all day."
"Well, duh," Charmy replies, still not moving as he waves his arm at me frantically, "But you should see this first!"
Figuring that Charmy is looking at an ad for a new video game, I sigh and reluctantly trudge back over to where Charmy is still looking eagerly at the bulletin board. I scan the board and see lots of random papers hung up all over it. Glancing at Charmy, I ask, "Just what is it that you wanted me to see?"
"This! Look at this!" Charmy flies to my right a few inches, jabbing a finger at a paper hung on the center of the board.
The first thing I notice about the paper is that it's been duct taped to the bulletin board. For some reason, this makes me want to laugh. Really, who duct tapes a paper to a bulletin board? Lip curling, I read the crude handwriting on the paper. It's a want ad that says "Wanted: Detectives for Vector's Detective Agency. Interested? Call 515-339-6575". I'll admit that the ad immediately sparks my interest. Ever since I was young, I wanted to be an undercover agent or spy. Becoming a detective sounds very appealing, but what about my stable job at the cafe? My life has finally gotten itself together. I don't really need more turmoil and stress right now.
Charmy, on the other hand, is too young to worry about things like stress. In fact, he's so elated that he's taken to buzzing in circles around my head, causing me to get dizzy just from watching him. Grinning from ear to ear, he points out, "Isn't this great? You've always said that you wanted to be a detective! Let's call the phone number!"
"I said that I wanted to be an undercover agent," I point out, trying to buy myself time to think this through.
Charmy gives me a puzzled look and asks, "Isn't that the same thing?"
"It's close enough, I suppose," I reply, still unsure of what to do at this point. I could take a risk, call the phone number, and pursue my dream job. However, all of that could end up backfiring on me and I could end up in a big mess without any sort of job at all.
"What are you waiting for then?" Charmy asks me impatiently. "Let's call the number and join the detective agency!"
"I don't know about this. I smell trouble," I point out suspiciously. Ever since my encounters with Bryce, I've been much more wary in general. Giving the piece of paper a closer look, I add, "Besides, who uses duct tape to post an ad to a bulletin board? Also, look at this handwriting. What do you see?"
Charmy squints at the writing, not noticing the messy, childlike scrawl. Shrugging, he guesses, "Words?"
"No. Look at the handwriting. It looks as if the letter have been written by a child. This could all just be a scam and if we call that number, we'll have fallen right into it. I won't be seen for a fool. Come on. Let's go to the park and visit Cream," I press, turning on my heel and starting back down the sidewalk again. To my chagrin, Charmy remains hovering in front of the ad.
"Aw, please call the number!" Charmy whines loudly, causing a few hedgehogs passing by on the opposite side of the road to turn faintly interested looks in our direction. Before I can tell Charmy to quiet down, he takes to pleading, "Please, please, please?"
Mainly because I don't want to be the cause of a commotion, I sigh and throw up my hands in defeat before replying, "Alright. I'll call the number, but if this is all just a joke..."
"It won't be a joke," Charmy cuts me off as he zips happily ahead of me back toward our house, murmuring, "Oh boy, I have got a really good feeling about this!"
And I have a really bad feeling about this, I think to myself as I start after Charmy.
Despite my suspicion about the detective agency, I can't deny that a little part of me is a bit excited. I am curious to see if just maybe this Vector is actually serious about running a detective agency. If so, I could get out of my eternally boring cafe job and do the things that I've always wanted to do.
"Do you think that three is too many members for a detective agency?" Charmy pipes up, cutting into my thoughts.
"Three?" I echo, unsure where he's getting this number from until I realize that he's counting himself as part of this unknown detective agency. Uh oh. This is where I draw the line. He's only six years old and I can't have him getting hurt. Giving Charmy a stern look, I shake my head and reply, "No, you're not going to be part of the agency and that's all there is to it."
Charmy comes to a halt right in front of the doorknob that leads to my humble house and folds his arms, taunting, "I won't let you in the door unless you let me join."
"You're being immature," I point out, in no hurry to get inside the house. "It's for your own good, you know. You're not an adult yet."
"Neither are you!" Charmy retorts in a saucy voice. "You're only sixteen."
"Yes, but that's still older than you," I reply evenly. "Now either let me in or else I won't make the call at all. I already have a steady job at the cafe and there's no need for me to trade it in."
Seeing that he's been beat, Charmy sighs and moves aside. I click the door open and step inside the house that I left only five minutes earlier. My memory is quite good and I easily remember the phone number scrawled in the barely legible handwriting across the paper advertising the detective agency. Still unsure if I'm making a very stupid decision or not, I cross the room to the telephone and hesitate for a moment before picking it up.
Turning to Charmy, I give him a wry look as I start punching the telephone number into the phone, pointing out, "Here goes nothing..."
So how do you think Espio's phone call is going to go? Review please? :)