Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this time of tension and change… especially for the one who really did need the gift he was given.

~保護者~

Hello, MelGamingPlays! Yes, we certainly do! It really is in Espio's best interest. And yeah, we don't want to make things too easy by allowing poor ol' Sonic to automatically bring back everyone. And, besides that, sheer numbers alone won't always make a difference, as we saw in both EotS and its sequel. Things, uh... went rather badly for the group back then. D: And yes, Kaden certainly is working himself up into a violent mood, isn't he? He's also gearing up for combat, but with who exactly? Is it Astra, or someone else...? ;) Guess we'll find out!

~保護者~

"Vanishing Act"

~保護者~

Tails and Steam entered the front room of Espio's house together. Part of Tails's mind definitely expected to see Espio here (probably sitting at the table with a book, knowing him), as had been the case for so many years prior to now. But, at the same time, the rest of his mind acknowledged that things weren't exactly normal for their reticent friend these days. As such, he couldn't quite find it in himself to be surprised once it became apparent that Espio wasn't actually in the building. Shadow, Cream, Sonic, and Armaris were, though. "Hey, guys, have you seen Espio?" Tails asked, glancing from one person to the next.

"No, not really," Sonic shrugged. "Guy just up and disappeared a while ago. He's good at that, remember?"

Huffing in amusement at that little joke, Tails waved him off. "Yes, I know. I was just hoping that one of you knew where he might be."

Gradually, every eye turned to their resident ninja-tracker. Seeing all the attention focused her way, Cream blinked. "I do not know where he is," she said innocently. "I have not seen him in some time."

With a sigh, Tails looked away. "Well, it was worth a t-"

Unexpectedly, the bunny perked up and interrupted with a quick, "Wait." Glancing around the group, she out-of-the-blue asked, "What is the date today?"

Shadow and Tails, two of the four people present who might actually know that, traded a vaguely puzzled look. "...The seventeenth of May," the hedgehog eventually answered.

Seeking an answer to this mild confusion, Tails shifted his attention back to Cream. "Why?" he asked.

All at once, Cream looked saddened. "I know where he is, then," she murmured. When no one else seemed to understand, she carefully elaborated. "He never knew precisely when the actual deaths occurred, but the seventeenth of this month was the day he first learned that his mother and father had died. Since then, he has always visited their graves on the same day." Saddened, she shook her head. "He will have gone there. I am sure of it."

In that moment, Tails came to the same realization as everyone else. This is probably playing a part in his mood.

Cream continued. "Normally I would advise to simply leave him be and allow him to be alone with his thoughts, but perhaps… perhaps he could use the distraction today."

Sonic was quick to agree. "Yeah. I can't say I disagree with that." He looked at Steam. "I'm guessing you're looking for him to get some more sparring done, right?"

"Yeah, I was hoping to so that it might be able to help out with his mood," Steam explained, a small frown on his face.

The bunny nodded, then turned to Armaris. "You lived here longer than I, I would wager. Would Mister Espio's people take any offense to an outsider entering one of the graveyards?"

Armaris was dead silent for a moment, her eyes locked onto something else entirely before glancing at Cream. "I doubt it, but I can go talk to him, or whatever."

A few looks were traded, then Tails piped up again. "That might be good. Seeings as how you were a resident in the past, you'd be the least likely to get attacked or something if someone decided they were unhappy with this idea."

The cat visibly grimaced, muttering a few faint curses in some other language out of irritation. As much as she liked being able to help, she wasn't exactly feeling the best… No, scratch that. She felt like shit, and it showed. "Hm. Fine."

Seeing her face, Tails's ears lowered slightly. "Sorry about this," he sighed, not knowing what else to say to her.

"You've got nothing to do with it, so don't apologize." Armaris broke apart into Darkness, stepping out of the house and dropping to the ground without a second thought.

Stifling another sigh, Tails just turned to Steam. "Guess you may as well follow her. I kinda don't dare, just in case. I'd rather not be cut."

Steam shrugged. "She seems to be in better control of herself than she is in my timeline… Regardless, I'll see if I can ease her mood along the way." The longer she stays like this, the worse it's bound to get. Tails nodded to him. With that, the hedgehog dropped out of the house and followed after Armaris, making sure to not piss her off immediately.

Roughly around the time that the two traveled outside the village, Steam sped up his pace so that he was walking alongside the cat. "I've noticed that you're not in a great mood, and I don't want to make it worse by prodding. However, if you want to talk a little about it, feel free."

Ice blue eyes glared at the hedgehog, an intense anger easily visible within. "I doubt you can help, or whatever the fuck it is you're wanting to do-"

"Is it about your mom?" Steam cut in, expression rather calm and neutral.

Armaris paused entirely, surprised about this, before resuming her walk at a faster pace. "What do you know about that?"

The hedgehog shrugged. "Demonic and evil. Awful, abusive, so on and so forth. Absolutely ruined your life and left something in said life that reminds you of it every time you get angry?"

The cat's fists clenched for a moment as she took a deep breath. "Yeah, you hit it on the nail, ass. What about it?"

"I want you to realize that, one, you are not her, nor will you ever be." Steam sighed softly, turning his attention forward. "And two, that you're free to use what she left in you as your own gift, and to use it for what you want to do. Don't let her drag your life down even now."

"...Shut the fuck up…" Armaris dropped into her shadow after this, not offering another word in response. By now, they were approaching the graveyard, and she let that be her focus. Thin barriers surrounded the area to guard it, but an opening had already been cut into them and had been left there. This allowed for easy passage into the quiet grove contained within. Though no energies could be sensed, there was little doubt that Espio was indeed here. Armaris stepped in first, glancing to Steam before motioning for him to follow. "Stay a bit behind me. Just let me talk for a second." A nod came in response from the hedgehog, and Armaris moved along to the center of the graveyard.

Though he sensed their arrival when they walked up behind him, Espio didn't bother turning around or saying anything about their presence here. He remained seated where he was, cross-legged in front of the pair of worn graves in silence. True to what he had said to Cream earlier, he had changed out of his ruined kimono. He now wore his old boots and gloves from the days of Ivo's reign of terror and before, making him look as though he was ready for combat even though, for once, he wasn't exactly. Sitting here quietly paying respects held more importance to him at the moment.

Armaris walked up to Espio and quietly knelt by her old friend, glancing out around them. "So… Shei and Aniko are really… dead?" Still saying nothing, Espio just inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement. Actually hearing someone say their names after so many years made him frown vaguely to himself. A small tightening in his chest indicated the return of an emotion, a pain, that he hadn't felt in countless years. He strove to banish it with extreme prejudice. "Kind of hard to believe," Armaris continued, voice digging into his darkening thoughts. "They always seemed so… indestructible, and more. I just… don't know."

Not feeling particularly inclined to speak yet still, Espio just blinked slowly, looking at the graves but not exactly seeing them because his thoughts were wandering so far away from this moment in time. Drop it, he found himself silently replying. Just stop. Stop talking about it.

"Hey... Espio." The cat's head turned to face him, a flicker of her own pain entering her eyes. "Can you look at me for a second?" After a long moment, he dragged his gaze away from the graves and looked at her like she'd asked, though he still wasn't entirely paying attention to her. At this point, a part of him was trying not to.

"As much as I want to do this and be here with you… I don't think we should stay. It's not good right now. Not for you, not for me, not for anyone else. It's just… best we go, you know?" In response, Espio frowned a little again and looked back at the graves. However, after giving himself just a couple more moments, he obediently (a rare thing, for him) did as she insisted and stood up to leave. Armaris stood up with him and motioned for Steam to go on ahead for now, which he did. The moment he was out of earshot, Armaris glanced to Espio once more. "That Steam guy wants to help you distract yourself from everything for a bit. I don't know how you feel about it, or if you even wanna bother… but if you think it'll help, I'd like you to try it."

His tone and expression were devoid of emotion when he finally, verbally, responded to her. "I was under the impression that the aim was to avoid riling things up further."

Armaris shrugged. "I mean, even that Tails guy seems to think that it could help. I also didn't hear Cream or the two hedgehogs say anything directly against it. They know more of how you are recently, so… I am somewhat willing to trust that, too. Not saying that you have to, or whatever." Espio let out a small huff of breath. As if he would actively avoid a fight if he didn't have to… even when the fight in question was just a mock one. The cat cast him a small smile. "I hope it helps somehow." With that last statement, she began leading the way back out of the graveyard.

After a few feet, Espio took the lead instead and walked to the entrance he had created in the barriers. He waited silently for her to exit so that he could close them. Armaris slipped out quietly, stepping aside to watch for now. With her and Steam both out, Espio turned his attention to the knife (the very same one he had used on the larger barriers earlier) he had left embedded in the grass. He kicked the knife up out of the ground, causing the barriers to close again instantly, and caught it by the tip of the blade. With that done, he simply began walking away toward the training grounds, giving the weapon an idle couple of twirls between his fingers as he went. This action, though seemingly harmless, was a sign when coming from an assassin who had been highly trained to handle weapons such as this. The motion was restless, agitated, almost bored, even. And in these parts, nothing was more dangerous than an armed and unhappy shinobi.

Armaris' faintly intense gaze fell on the chameleon as he did this, growing restless also as a result. That can't be any good… Steam, do you even know what the hell you're getting yourself into?

A slight eyebrow raise came from the hedgehog in question, as if he knew what she was thinking. "It'll be fine. I know what I'm doing."

"...You say that now…" The cat let her gaze fall to her right, idly twirling the blade she kept sheathed on her hip. "Don't be a fucking dumbass, got it?"

Steam rolled his eyes. "My friends would argue that it's my job to be one." Struck with confusion, Armaris didn't even try to respond to that and instead left it at that.

By now, Espio had completely vanished somewhere ahead of them. He was probably there already, knowing him. Steam teleported the rest of the way there, Armaris grabbing hold of his back at the last second to force him to take them both. Sure enough, Espio was waiting there, perched on a thin and swaying branch as his eyes surveyed the very mild damage left as a result of Steam's last fight. He said nothing about it, looking supremely unconcerned overall. If nothing else, at least this seemed to hint that none of the other villagers would care, either. That was probably a good thing.

Armaris glanced from the battlefield, to Espio, then to Steam. "Like I said. Don't be a dumbass."

Steam rolled his eyes again, walking over to the battlefield and unsheathing his sword. "Whenever you're ready, which I assume is now." Amber eyes flicked to Steam without comment. It appeared Espio was sticking to his usual tactic of letting his opponent move first. Such a strategy was often useful when facing a new foe, after all. Raising an eyebrow, Steam sighed and planted the tip of his blade in the ground and watched for a moment. Physical rush is a shit plan, anything long range won't really work, and the two best abilities I've got literally will cause a shit show. Lovely. The hedgehog resigned himself to this and cloaked the battlefield in a layer of small flames before launching himself directly at Espio.

With his impossibly fast reflexes, Espio nimbly jumped out of the way. As he shot out of Steam's path, he kicked Steam's sword with enough force to make the metal vibrate and cry out as it was violently shoved sideways. In the split second that all took, Espio landed on the side of another tree, effortlessly adhering to it in another crouch. As with before, he left himself deceptively open and seemingly unguarded for whatever reason. Steam kept a firm grip on his weapon, so used to intense vibrations running through the sword that it hardly fazed him. Regardless, that didn't stop the blade from being moved aside, Steam spinning in the air to launch the weapon at Espio while letting his body dissipate into the flames below.

As with before, a single fierce kick sent the sword flying away from its intended target. Espio didn't even bother to dodge this time, seeing the simple counter as an adequate enough response. Though he likely didn't intend for it to be seen, the boredom in his gaze rapidly increased. All of a sudden, the flames roared to life and spontaneously exploded around the battlefield, Steam calling his blade back to his hand with a teleport before once more throwing himself at the chameleon. All of this, of course, forced Espio into motion. He rapidly dodged one explosion after the next and then retaliating mildly by hurling a storm of shuriken at Steam. This wasn't a tactic that he expected to work, of course, but it would still be useful to see how the hedgehog might react to such things.

Steam's perception of time slowed just long enough to register where the shuriken were and how many, allowing him to quickly slash with his sword and create a shockwave with a burst of flames that sent the shuriken flying off in other directions. When many of his weapons were inevitably flung back at him, Espio huffed slightly under his breath, took a stance, and then spun so rapidly for a split second that it created a shockwave of wind around him in a sort of defensive sphere. The shuriken were caught for a second or two, then were sent flying away. By the time the wind died down, he was already gone, drawing a dagger and blurring across the landscape with so much speed that close to a dozen afterimages were left behind.

The hedgehog watched the afterimages for a long moment before spiraling a wall of flames in the opposite direction while attempting to lead it where he thought Espio might actually be. One after the other, each image seemed to seamlessly blur out of the way, then all at once they all rushed in to attack from all directions. However, it was clear from the way they looked (however subtly off they looked, ultimately) that none of them were actually him, somehow. He was moving somewhere beyond the speed of even these. Suddenly, Steam decided to grow still, not bothering to move or actually attempt to counter whatever might be coming his way as his body glowed a bright gold color for a moment.

Naturally, the attacks rained down upon him regardless of his sudden lack of motion, resulting in numerous shallow cuts being inflicted upon him in a matter of a second or two. A layer of glittering gold appeared directly where the last of the cuts was inflicted, before the blade could be retracted. It surrounded the weapon in its entirety and held it there with an immensely powerful grip. Espio was quick to relinquish his hold on the dagger and leap back, not at all inclined to get his arm or something more trapped with the weapon. Steam's sudden change of tactics was mildly surprising and required a quick reassessment…

Steam took a quick melee stance, watching the chameleon for a long moment while keeping Espio's dagger suspended in the air. "You've not met someone with such… unusual tactics, eh?" he asked, edging closer with every passing second. Espio landed on the side of a tree again with a slight frown. A single, vague huff served as his only vocal response to the question as he closely watched Steam's movements. The hedgehog took a quick survey of the trickling blood seeping from the wounds all over his body. Damn it. Of course this is when I needed that regeneration… His eyes glowed a bright gold as he prepared himself, shifting his stance to ready a strike.

Still watching Steam's every slight movement with razor-sharp focus, Espio drew another long knife and twirled the blade in his hand so that it was pointed upward, ready to strike when need be. Steam suddenly jumped a few inches off the ground, turning in such a way that he was able to throw a powerful punch into the ground that left a sizable crater. A pulsating wave of his magic surged from the impact, quickly covering the space of the clearing they were in. Following the rules of engagement for a sparring match, Espio diligently remained in the clearing (despite being surrounded by plenty of trees that could have protected him), though that meant taking the full brunt of the hit whether he wanted to or not. The moment this wave of magic made contact with him, it all came surging together into a quick yet powerful strike.

The blunt-force behind the attack was enough to knock Espio into a tree back-first. He hit hard enough for the wood to splinter and groan, and some of those splinters promptly cut and scrape up parts of his skin. Gritting his teeth in sudden and irrational frustration, he regained his feet… only to notice that, by the time he did so, the mild stinging from his injuries had ceased. He glanced to where a cut had just been on his arm and saw that it was simply… gone. Steam's eyes widened for a moment in realization. Ah, shit. That's… bad. For me, especially.

Regeneration…? That's a pretty quick pace… even for such small wounds. Must be a result of this Darkness of his rising up, just another ability granted by the energy. Armaris thought to herself, a visible frown on her face as she watched.

In the silence that followed, Espio stood up and very briefly glanced at his knife. It had been nearly shattered by the attack, so he carelessly tossed it aside before blurring away to a safer distance from where Steam now was. From his new vantage point, he flung several kunai knives at the hedgehog. Tied to the handle of each was a tag that was rigged to explode with violent force the instant the knives embedded themselves into… well… anything, really. Steam quickly realized that this wasn't a "normal" tactic of Espio's. The hedgehog burst off, throwing himself against a tree so that he could launch himself into the air before any of the kunai hit him or exploded.

The first of the ensuing explosions successfully uprooted the very tree Steam had only just been beside. The rest of the explosions blew said tree to smithereens, sending sharpened and fiery splinters, branches, and so on flying just about everywhere. If that wasn't proof of the ninja's irritation from moments before, nothing ever would be. And it wasn't as though letting on to that had been a good decision on Espio's part, nor had it been exactly intentional. Lately, it had just been so hard to act and react rationally as opposed emotionally, and the latter course of action could be followed through with so much more easily sometimes…

Fuck this. Fuck all of it. He hated it. Officially hated everything about it. What "it" specifically was at this moment, he didn't know. There were so many things pissing him off lately… anything and everything about his Darkness in general, the fact that he'd broken his sword, the fact that everyone felt the need to constantly monitor and worry over him now, Nakea and everything about her, the fact that they were apparently expecting a goddamn child that she was going to be dumping off on him, the fact that he hadn't had a decent fucking drink in days despite needing one, the fact that it was the seven-fucking-teenth again and the date had somehow managed to sneak up on him and he wasn't prepared for it this time… There were so many potential culprits behind his anger in this particular moment in time. He didn't know which it was, didn't even care. He just knew that he was angry again, and the easiest way to deal with that emotion had always been fighting. This hadn't been much of a fight at all so far and he hadn't really been bothering, but Steam and Armaris seemed so insistent on him "distracting" himself from his problems by participating…

Maybe he'd just found some motivation to do just that.

Steam landed on the ground and immediately noted the difference in Espio's mood. This is either really good, because he's actually attempting to distract himself, or really fucking terrible because I might've actually pissed him off. For the time being, the hedgehog maintained a more defensive stance, watching the chameleon quietly. Espio, however, took it upon himself to force Steam out of that stance and into motion by flinging more exploding weapons at Steam again. Some were rigged to explode upon impact like the knives from earlier had been, but others instead exploded after a certain amount of time had passed. And, unlike before, most of the weapons honed in on Steam as opposed to just flying straight the way they had been thrown.

A barrier flew up around the hedgehog as he quickly threw up a geyser of flames to cause the vast majority of the kunai to explode. For any that remained, he teleported to the opposite side of the battlefield and used his magic to stop them in the air before flinging them directly at Espio. The ninja vanished without even so much as leaving a vague blur behind. A split second later, a thin metal wire shot up and coiled around Steam's ankle before it was pulled taut, forcefully yanking Steam into a tree foot-first. He landed rather well for this surprising attack, using his fire to let off a series of propulsive blasts so as to drag them both into the air.

Wisely, Espio released his hold on the wire the instant Steam began doing this. Another barrage of sharpened knives flew up at Steam, purely because there was an opening for it. At this point, it wasn't as though Espio actually expected it to work. It was just easy. Rather than attempt to dodge, Steam opted to teleport after the chameleon, swiping out with his leg to strike the other male. A short backward flip removed Espio from the small range of Steam's attack, but half a second later he was right back there and delivering several sharp kicks of his own to Steam's torso. The hedgehog crossed his arms to shield himself from the majority of the attacks, finding a chance with one of the kicks to push back quickly. Again, Espio backed off before he could get hit.

Flames cloaked the hedgehog's hands, a slight glint of agitation in his eyes as he moved forward and threw a punch that resulted in a powerful explosion and shockwave aimed for Espio. This attack happened just suddenly enough that Espio got caught up in the shockwave for a second. Ultimately, this wasn't long at all. It was, however, just long enough for him to hit his bad leg, and that surge of old pain through that limb was enough to tick him off. With a burst of incredible speed, he rushed in and kicked Steam (using his good leg, of course) hard enough to actually send the hedgehog flying.

Steam let himself land on a tree, his legs scuffed when he landed horribly and slammed into it. Disoriented though he was, he still was able to drop to the ground and put himself into a ready stance. Watching this all occur, Armaris was quick to stand up straighter than she would normally. Her concern was obvious in her eyes, and she readied herself to step in should she need to. Luckily for the hedgehog, he managed to regain his bearings and launched two quick waves of flame at Espio. Some agile jumping was all it took for the chameleon to dodge this attack, and he retaliated by once more rushing in close and slamming Steam backward with a hard physical strike.

The hedgehog was forced back again, this time protecting his back with a magic barrier while attempting to throw out a punch in retaliation. His fist was met with another harsh kick, and the impact was enough to create a small shockwave that sent the weaker branches surrounding them quaking. The moment that Steam instinctually let Darkness rise within, Armaris raised her hand and let her own Darkness pull him away rapidly. At the same time, Espio leapt back from Steam in an effort to avoid the energies he'd suddenly sensed rising up in the hedgehog. "No," she said simply, voice resounding with an unseen level of authority.

Steam realized what he had been about to do and went silent, turning and walking some distance away from the training grounds. Before anything else could happen, however, an entirely different aura made itself known off to one side of the grounds, dragging Espio's attention that way instead. Sonic arrive on scene a moment or two later, looking tired and yet - frankly - quite pleased with himself. With emerald eyes surveying the trio before him, he said, "So I'm not even gonna ask what the fuck just happened here," Espio's gaze narrowed irritably, "but I have some good news if anyone gives a shit."

Armaris raised an eyebrow at him, slowly coming out of her commanding mood. Just… not yet. "Speak."

Sonic waved her off a little, but did proceed regardless. Although, he focused his attention solely on Espio after that point. "Actually, guess this affects you more than anyone else. Not gonna go into details because I'm fucking tired, but Vector's back."

In a fraction of an instant, everything about the ninja's demeanor shifted. The negativity he had been displaying seemed to momentarily blip out of existence and, for a few seconds, he just stared. When he did speak, it was not at all with his usual cool collectedness. Not that he could be bothered to care right now. "You- What?"

Oh-so-helpful as ever, Sonic just nodded. "You heard me. Come see for yourself." It seemed the words had barely left his mouth before Espio had dropped out of his newest tree perch and was just up and gone.

With one glance spared at the perturbed Steam, Armaris vanished after Espio to see what was happening. Who the fuck is Vector?

~保護者~

To be perfectly truthful, Espio wasn't sure what to think or believe when Sonic shared his little surprise. His mind briefly went blank with a rare sense of soul-crushing confusion, confusion that was not at all abated when he tried (admittedly in a weak manner) to press for more information. Sonic's reply? For him to go and see for himself. He couldn't have agreed more. Just before the hedgehog even finished speaking, Espio took off. He left Sonic, Armaris, and Steam behind in a fraction of a second, coming to a dead halt on the porch as though he didn't have permission to enter his own damn house. But the feeling of that familiar energy signature in his front room had made him stiffen and walking was suddenly difficult - but he did it, because he would be damned if he let emotion get the better of him again.

Stepping inside almost felt like a mistake. The source of that energy was right there, after all, and Espio wasn't sure how to feel about that. But Vector was very much real and in his home, standing there as if he had never been gone at all in the first place. Never been dead. But Espio knew better. Vector had died. When Charmy had died during a case, Vector's vendetta to find the killers and bring them in had resulted in his own swift death. Espio had been among the first to find out. He hadn't been able to feel anything at the time, not the slightest twinge of emotion, but something had brought him there to that scene regardless. Something had prompted him to close Vector's still-open eyes before he'd vanished, leaving others to handle the task of burying their comrade. That very same something had driven him to later track down the responsible parties, all of them, and punish them himself.

Whatever that mysterious something was, it still eluded him. But he was aware of pain now that he hadn't noticed before, faint and dull though it was, and he supposed that it was that persistent ache that rendered him momentarily incapable of speech. But, of course, he'd always been able to leave most of the talking to Vector. The larger male had certainly never minded being the only one providing any chatter when they interacted. That proved mercifully true here, and Espio was grateful for it. If he didn't have to risk showing his sudden weakness, then he wouldn't. Just... leave it to Vector to always provide him with an out like this. A compromise, in its own way. He took care of the talking, and in return... Espio listened. He had always, always listened, no matter how ridiculous the man had often gotten when rambling on about this or that. Vector had always expressed gratitude over that, too, and why was Espio suddenly remembering all of this?

"Espio!" the booming croc's voice exclaimed, shattering Espio's train of thought and forcefully wrenching his attention back to the present moment. Vector walked over as quickly as such a tall and bulky individual could, a toothy grin on his face as he approached. Off to the side, Cream was smiling widely and Shadow was just watching with his usual moody silence. "Ya really are still livin' here!"

Well, that was... an odd sort of greeting. But this was Vector and, as Espio was starting to recall, oddness was often his version of normality. He'd always been a touch... eccentric, perhaps? Maybe that wasn't the right word. Maybe it didn't even matter. He wished these random thoughts and memories would stop invading his head. "...Yes," he answered eventually, once it became clear that Vector very much wanted a reply. Then, if only because he knew Vector would appreciate a better answer than just that one word, he slowly added, "There is no other place I could have gone."

Vector vigorously shook his head in adamant denial of this statement. "Pshaw! That ain't true!" His voice certainly was loud, wasn't it? Espio couldn't exactly recall if it was normal, but this certainly felt normal and familiar. Sort of... comfortable, even, leaving him with the sense that he had sort of missed this. Maybe he had. He didn't even know anymore. This was all hitting him too fast, and he didn't trust himself to handle it with so many prying eyes around. "You coulda stayed at the agency! I left it all to you, remember?"

He didn't. Not fully, at any rate. But he did remember never being able to force himself to actually enter that building after Vector's passing. Aware of the pain though he now was, back then he had very much still been numb. But, perhaps... only superficially? How possible was it that he had still been subconsciously feeling things? It would certainly explain some matters he had never been able to make sense of before, this included. Now wasn't the time for that particular bit of contemplation, however. Vector likely wanted some sort of an answer and so, for now, Espio opted to go ahead and be honest. "...I... couldn't," he admitted after a long moment's pause.

Thankfully, Vector seemed to understand, and he didn't press the matter further. Though, his smile did drop and he asked, "Whatever happened to the old place, anyhow? You go ahead and sell it?"

Now that had never actually crossed Espio's mind. He rather doubted he would have been willing to let go of the building even if it had, though. And, by now, the payments he'd been having to make to maintain ownership had become such an ordinary part of his life that he'd stopped thinking about it long ago. But, similarly, he hadn't thought about the building itself in a very long time, either. Part of him suddenly wondered if the damn thing could somehow even still be standing. He really doubted it. "No," he answered. He found that it was easier to speak this time than it had been before. Good. Maybe his stupid fucking emotions were finally retreating again. He really wanted them to. "It is still there." In theory.

All at once, the croc's broad grin returned. "I knew it," he stated triumphantly. "I knew I could count on you."

The fact that he wasn't following was immediately a bit irritating, though Espio was quick to kick that emotion to the curb this time around. He would not snap at Vector. He fucking refused. "What?" he asked instead, hoping the smug arse would explain himself.

"I always kinda thought that if I ended up kickin' the bucket before you and Charmy, I'd leave the business to the two of ya," Vector answered, happy as could be. "Then ya sorta lost interest in it because of other stuff in your life, which was fine, so I figured I'd leave it all to the kid instead. Then he... well, you know." He cleared his throat, grin fading a little, and Espio immediately decided that he didn't appreciate the change. Vector wasn't the sort to be sad. Espio didn't like it now that he was. Vector soon recovered himself, however, and continued, "Anyway, goin' in to the mess of trying to find who'd done that to him, I sort of figured I might not make it back. Guess it was stupid of me, but I didn't care. I did still care about your well-bein', though, and I knew you were still just as attached to the agency as I was and that you didn't have a job back then, so I'd thought... Well, I'd thought maybe you be the best person to take care of it for me, even if you didn't wind up taking on cases anymore or nothin'." His arms crossed. He was smug and triumphant all over again. "Looks like I put my faith in the right person again, huh?"

Leave it to Vector to be so damn nice, even when pissed off about a murder of all things. Espio huffed and looked away. You ass...

Stepping closer, Vector clapped a large hand down on Espio's bad shoulder. Espio couldn't feel the impact itself, but the non-paralyzed parts of his body felt the shift in weight and pressure on that side instantly, dragging his gaze back over to his old friend. The smugness and triumph had left Vector's smile, replaced by something kinder and more... genuine, somehow. "It's great to see ya. Honestly. I can't even tell ya how much I've missed bein' able to talk and stuff like we used to."

That... struck a bit of a chord. All at once, Espio realized that some fairly distant and mostly dead (having been smothered by numbness for who even knew how long anymore) part of himself had missed this, too. The idea of this going away again hit him in the same moment, bringing forth more of the pain he had been avoiding this whole conversation. Both were reactions he strove to ignore, and yet... he couldn't quite keep himself from giving in and responding in kind, anyway. It really was good to see Vector again, too, somehow... and voicing that simple truth admitted to more than he was willing to articulate right now, least of all in front of an audience. But, as always, Vector understood the way he was thinking and how he felt and asked for nothing more from him than what he was prepared to give. Having this, his friend, back was... good. Better than he might ever be ready to admit.

It really had been far, far too long... hadn't it?

~保護者~

It was dark out by the time Shadow finally accepted Espio's unexpected (but not unappreciated) offer to help him into the house's only spare bedroom so that the hedgehog could properly sleep. Despite having been largely physically inactive for obvious reasons, mentally he was drained. Taking control of so much machinery had did a number on his energy reserves, and he could no longer convince himself that he didn't need to lay down. Espio even went so far as to openly call Shadow a "stubborn idiot" for fighting it for so long. While Shadow resented that remark, he did inwardly relax a bit with the knowledge that Vector's arrival seemed to already be lightening Espio's mood somewhat. That was certainly a good thing. He'd just needed something to really snap him out of the negative mood he'd been towing around as of late.

Still, one good thing wasn't enough to lighten Shadow's mood as he was helped into bed and then left alone. As much as he did appreciate the aid he'd been given, a part of him also detested it. A large part of him did, in fact, because he felt useless enough without having to be practically carried around everywhere. Wasn't it bad enough that he couldn't even fire a gun anymore? Wasn't that punishment enough? Why did he have to suffer quiet humiliation at every turn as well? God, he was about as weak and helpless as a baby right now. But babies, at least, grew and got stronger. The solution to his problem could never be so simple and straightforward. Above all else, he found that his situation was proving to him something that Gerald had frequently told him as a child, long ago.

Flesh was weak, could be made weaker, but machines… seldom had such easily manipulated limitations. Machines did not bleed. They did not tire. They did not feel pain. In Gerald's mind, they had been perfect and superior in virtually every way conceivable. He had believed that combining flesh with machine would only make the latter even more perfect. And, while Shadow certainly knew that much of what the mad doctor had believed to be true had always been utterly wrong, some truth behind his words inevitably echoed back to Shadow even all these years later. Now wasn't even the first time he had had these thoughts, thoughts about trying to dig up some of the old plans for the work already done on him to then use those plans as a guide for further work that could possibly be done. He was already about sixty-two percent machine. He was more robot than person. Would further cybernetic augmentation necessarily be a bad thing? Surely some artificial enhancements could help offset the physical weaknesses he was being forced to contend with now.

And yet…

And yet.

There were so many reasons to scoff at such a crazy plan, not the least of which being the fact that Gerald had been the one to start all of this and Shadow had always loathed him for it. But then there were other, smaller reasons as well. Like the simple fact that the more metal and tech that was placed into his body and the more reliant he became on all of it, the less of a person he would be then than he already was now. Add to that the increased risk electricity would pose to him, coupled with the potential scorn of the idea from those around him and, honestly… none of that seemed worth dealing with. He could already vividly picture the sad disapproval in Tails's expressive eyes, the pinched expression of anger on his brother's face. Those imagined reactions were surely not ones he wanted to deal with in real life.

Still, curiosity managed to get the better of him. Not for the first time, Shadow conducted a full scan of himself to see if his body could even handle further work being done to it. The results produced seconds later varied only slightly from that of the previous scans. It seemed that even now, in his current state, he could very easily handle a lot of work being done on him all throughout his body. But that still didn't make him want to do it. ...And yet… if he wasn't in some way actually interested, then why was he even thinking about any of this?

Huffing at himself under his breath, Shadow (with way more effort than should have been necessary) turned over onto his side and closed his eyes, determined to sleep and forget about this whole train of thought. Maybe he would be less stupid in the morning.

~保護者~

7,302 words this time. Vector's back, guys! Whoo! Really, really hope you all enjoyed! And, as always, many thanks to Blazing Winds for all his help! Posted (at about 2:15 p.m.) 11-27-19.