"UGH, LET ME GO!"

Vector's eyes widened in realization and he turned his head from the TV as Charmy looked up from his book.

"Vector," Charmy sounded worried while he placed down his book on the coffee table. "isn't that…"

BLAM!

The door was slammed open and in came Knuckles as he dragged in a very drunk chameleon.

"ESPIO!" Both croc and bee hopped/flew off the couch and ran to help their friends out.

"LEAVE ME BE!" Espio kept on screaming. "I WANNA GET LOST AND DIE!"

"Espio, calm down!" Knuckles groaned and turned to the other two in the room. "Uh, care to tell me what you guys did to make him want to make himself drunk?!"

"Vector's fault!" Charmy pointed at the crocodile immediately.

"What?!" Vector was taken back with the accusation. "What the fuck did I do?!"

"You said it yourself, Vector! You and Espio were arguing before he left!"

"Why, in the name of chaos, were you arguing?" Knuckles asked, raising an eye brow as he carried Espio over his shoulder to keep him from running off.

"NUUU!" The purple chameleon was squirming but the echidna's grip kept him from falling.

"Well," Vector looked embarrassed, guilty even. "I kinda got mad at him for hiding so many things from me and Charm. I mean, I told him my past and Charmy here told us his past but Espio gave us nothing. I just want him to talk, ya know?"

"I can understand that you wanted to see if you could trust Espio, Vector, but if he doesn't wanna tell you, don't force him. It'll only make things worse," Knuckles looks back at the drunk mobian, who was still fighting him furiously, with a sigh and a groan. "A lot worse,"

Vector frowned. "Look, I'm sorry that I got 'im an' you into this, Knux, I just couldn't hold my anger and patience in anymore,"

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to him when he gets sober. In the morning,"

With that, Knuckles smacked Espio on the couch, immediately knocking out the chameleon while Charmy and Vector screamed.

"GAH!" Charmy quickly flew to his room. "GOOD NIGHT!"

The bee's bedroom door slammed and all was silent, with only Espio's breathing heard through since it was a little loud. Vector looked down at his only best friend, guilt in his golden eyes as a sigh escaped his snout.

"Alright, well," he rubbed the back of his neck. "thanks for bringing him back, Knuckles,"

"No problem," Knuckles nodded and turned. "I'll be back tomorrow to check on him with a friend of ours. 'Night, Vector,"

"Good night…" the croc could only watch as his red echidna friend left the house, closing the door.

He looked back down at Espio, guilty before walking to the ninja chameleon's room to get a pillow and a blanket. He gently placed the pillow below the head of the knocked-out chameleon, who lightly squirmed but soon relaxed as soon as his head was placed on the soft cushion.

'Phew!' Vector sighed in relief for a while then he placed the blanket over his teammate to keep him from freezing.

Espio felt the warmth and cuddled the cloth. The crocodile felt his cheeks heat up at the sight.

'Damn.' he gulped. 'Is it wrong to think your best friend adorable?'

He then smacked his head with a groan. 'What the hell are ya thinkin', Vector?! He's your BEST FRIEND! Stop bein' a jerk! Ya already made him drunk! Don't make it worse!'

With that heavy thought, he went to bed to call it a night.

X

Light shone through the curtains of his room, hitting his face as he began to wake up. He blinked for a while to make his vision clear then he got up and stretched.

'Man, what a night!' he thought, getting out of bed to eat.

As soon as he opened his bedroom door, he was surprised to see his chameleon friend already up and was sitting down on the couch with his head low.

'But then, this IS Espio I'm talking about so…' He shrugged it off and went over to greet the now-sober ninja chameleon.

"Hey there, Esp—"

"Stop."

Vector froze with wide eyes as he now clearly saw Espio, who was holding and twirling a kunai in his right hand as he looked down at the floor.

The crocodile felt more guilty than the previous night, knowing that the chameleon was going to blame him for what happened at the bar.

"Espio, I…"

"Look, Vector," Espio sighed and stood up, keeping the blade to not seem threatening. "whatever you heard yesterday, forget it. And…I'm sorry if I haven't told you anything about myself. I'm just…not ready to handle another trip down memory lane…"

"No, Espio," Vector sighed and walked closer. "I'M the one who should be sorry. I should have been a little more patient…"

"You've been patient enough, Vector. It's been 6 years already. It's time for me to tell you and Charmy,"

"Tell us what?" the two turned to see the 14-year old bee fly over to them, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he landed on the couch.

Espio smiled and sat down by Charmy's left, patting the head of the exhausted Bee as Vector sat down by Charmy's right.

"Tell you both…my life," the mobian chameleon sighed. "My life in the past…"

Charmy was fully awake now, eager to know. Vector held his breath, the guilt still looming and aching his head and chest but he managed to keep himself together.

"Many years ago," Espio began his long tale. "two chameleons met on an Autumn twilight. One was a navy blue male with amber eyes while the other was a crimson red female with yellow eyes. The male was Ekano, a brave, honorable samurai chameleon and the female was Shina, a sly, loyal ninja chameleon. They were…my parents.

"Months after their wedding, I was born in my parents' home. I was a lotus flower, in their eyes, and they were the greatest beings in mine. Our life was simple yet I embraced every minute of it. My mother taught me to be a ninja, using my camouflage to good use. My father, on the other hand, taught me how to use the skills I learned to good use. I was happy, very happy that my parents loved each other and me equally. Life was happy…well, at least, it was.

"One day, when I was 5 years old, it was mid-noon and I had been playing with my parents' wooden toys outside for a while. I noticed the humidity getting intense so I picked myself up and headed to our house. The moment I stepped in, however, I was greeted with the most horrific sight…"

Espio paused with a hitched breath, his eyes watery before he sighed and continued.

"There, in the living room, stood my father, a bloody blade in his hands as my mother laid on the ground around a pool of blood, which came from her open stomach as the blood nearly reached the door. I was horrified, frozen with wide eyes. My father looked at me in fear and told me not to scream.

"Lucky for him, I was too frightened to scream but when Auntie Soba, my mother's sister, came into the room, she yelled out bloody murder. My father became alarmed and sliced her throat, making me yelp then I fell to my knees and began to weep. My father tried to console me but I was too panicky to listen as I kicked him away. The last thing he did was sigh then he sliced his stomach and cut his head off.

"I was scarred. I ran out of the house, still in tears, and roamed the streets. I had no one and had to scavenge for my own food and water. Those were the only things I was sure I needed to survive. Those were the only things taught to me, anyway…

"One night, while I was starving but still sleeping in an alley way, I was founded by a rat and brought down to the sewers. I was then presented to…Ferrell, the leader of the pack of underground sewer thieves, who smiled at me and took me in his pack to raise and train. I became like a son to him…

"In the pack, there was a 4 year old lime hedgehog that Ferrell was also raising. He became my best friend and he was like a brother to me. Our skills on stealing were nearly at the same level. He was great swiping while was no one looking and my invisibility became my weapon on snatching/distracting victims. Everyone in the pack was surprised to see us getting along and working together than fighting to see who was better. Ferrell was proud of us and couldn't decide who was his favorite but he and I didn't care. We became close for 11 years…

"Days after I turned 17, I was out on the streets, going on a hunt alone because Ferrell went with my best friend to scavenge a few things for the pack. That day was the day I me you, Vector,"

"M-Me?!" the crocodile was taken back with wide eyes.

Espio nodded. "Yes, it was the day I met you. As you and I remember correctly, I tried to steal your headphones and golden chains while you were sleeping then when you woke up, I was running away and you were chased after me. You caught me and threatened to call the cops on me, correct?"

"Correct." Vector nodded.

"Well, what you didn't know was that I was desperate by that time,"

"Desperate for what, Espio?" the bee asked, tilting his head.

"Desperate to eat. Desperate to drink. My hunt was unsuccessful that night because I wasn't really used to going out without my best friend to help me out. I was starving so I wanted to sell Vector's headphones and pawn his golden chains to get some money so I could eat and drink. Unfortunately, as I said, Vector caught me so I went back to the pack, famished,"

Vector froze, guilt pulling him down more than ever as the chameleon continued. 'Crap! So I'M the reason I found him on the streets, looking pale than ever…'

"But, of course," Espio sighed and shook his head. "I lived in a pack of thieves. They don't share so they didn't give me anything. I went out on the streets to beg for food but he aristocrats weren't having any of it. I don't remember all but I do remember a certain pair. It was a magenta female hedgehog and a yellow dog with blonde hair. I didn't know who the girl was but I knew he male. His name was Bartleby, an aristocrat famous for being snobby.

"Anyway, the female wanted to give me food but Bartleby said that they were in a hurry and that I was in the lower class. I tried begging harder, which only made him growl and kick me. Other aristocrats saw this and copied his actions. The last thing I heard was the girl screaming for them to stop before I was knocked out. THAT was how you found me injured, Vector,"

"Oh," the croc gulped. "I…I see…"

Espio bit his bottom lip after seeing how guilty it made his reptilian friend but shrugged it off as he coughed to continue.

"I was saved by Vector and brought in to eat and drink. As I remember, Vector, you told me everything about yourself. I listened quietly but when you asked about me, I wept, not saying a word. I couldn't say anything for my mind hadn't gone through memory lane in years…

"After a few hours, I returned home to the pack. That was a bad idea, I know, but they were still the family I had so I couldn't leave them, no matter what they did, or better yet what they didn't do. My best friend was still there too. If I wanted to ever escape, I'd bring him with me and I DID want to escape that very night with him. But, as I should have known, fate had different plans for us both…

"When I got back, no one was there. I tried to search for them but no one was around. Not even Ferrell. I called for them to come out, if they were hiding from the police, but they didn't come out nor did they shush me to not attract any attention. I was walking and searching for hours until my best friend came to me and demanded to know what happened. I told him that I wasn't around for a while and that I was out hunting. He was immediately mad and slapped me, scolding and accusing me of being a traitor to the pack. The last thing he ever told me was to leave and never return.

"I felt betrayed again and obliged with no hesitation. I moved in with Vector, lying that I had JUST lost my old apartment. We stayed there until we had no more money and Vector was fired from his job. We were evicted from his place but luckily found this shack. We moved in and cleaned the place to make it feel homey. We did that for at least two weeks. We still had no job and had to eat sardines for a while. Life was all dull…until you entered our little family, Charmy,"

"Me?!" Charmy was taken back, surprised. "What did I do?!"

"You were a child. We had to take care of you. I legalized an adoption so you could stay with us. We both learned responsibility and I was brought back to the path of honor and dignity; the very thing I lost when Ferrell found me and misled me into his ways. I thought everything was going to be alright from now on but then again, maybe not…"

Espio took a deep breath then sighed. "I knew Vector was getting suspicious and irritated of me. He told his story, Charmy told us his and I told nothing. I knew this talk was gonna come, someday…"

"Look, Esp," Vector spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck nervously and guiltily. "I'm sorry if I pressured ya ta tell us. I didn't know you went through so much ta get here…"

"It is alright, Vector. I don't need your pity,"

"But, Esp…"

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!