Attention all readers: I have a set number of chapters for this story—over 50, the last time I counted—so just keep that number in mind while these updates keep coming. I intend to end this story one way or another! :)

All characters, save for my OCs, belong to either SEGA or Craig Bartlett and Nickelodeon.

Espio and Brainy: Repetition

Three, two, one...

BAM!

THUD!

Yep.

Right on time...again—with Espio cringing every time he heard that noise. It made the ninja in him want to facepalm so badly.

Peeking over the side of a building, the invisible chameleon spotted something in the adjacent alleyway far below: the splayed out form of someone in familiar light brown, their arms spread out like the wings of a fallen, wheezy eagle.

The ninja also did not miss an even more familiar form of yellow and pink stomping away from the person. Helga G. Pataki had struck again—with a comatose Brainy as the casual casualty.

Again, Espio wanted to facepalm so much. 'Does this kid have a death wish? Or is he just masochistic?'

Who knew?

Either way, Espio chalked up the brief altercation he'd just seen as...the 100th attempt or the 101st? He'd lost count. No, he wasn't stalking the kid. He had a thousand better things to do than that.

On the contrary, that kid—Brainy, to be more exact—had personally asked him (well...as articulately as a guy with asthma can ask) for backup. Espio wondered whether he'd meant backup as in extra muscle or as in a one-man clean-up crew.

This scene sure looked like a case for the latter.

'I'm not even sure why I agreed in the first place.'

With a roll of his eyes, Espio expertly scaled his way down the walls until his feet touched the bare, dirt floor of the alley, undoing his invisibility after he touched down—not that it would've made a difference for Brainy, who was already getting himself back up, his scrawny arms lifting his body from the ground, albeit with some difficulty.

Espio did the boy a favor by helping him up and stabilizing him once he could stand up again.

The purple Mobian inwardly winced, though, when he noticed the cracks in the lens of Brainy's glasses; they were so numerous and, in the case of some of them, so large that the boy's eyes couldn't be seen anymore. The ninja instantly wondered how much money Brainy's parents spent replacing his glasses...and Espio had a good hunch that Helga would break more pairs to come.

'For his folks' sake, I hope those things come cheap.'

Storing that thought away in the back his head, Espio remained silent as he followed Brainy out of the alleyway.

Just before they came out onto the street, the chameleon had offered to help the boy find his way, but Brainy surprised him by quickly pulling a hand out to silently refuse and showing his ability to walk around himself in spite of his impaired vision. He even managed to point out the traffic crossing they were heading towards.

Espio was speechless! 'How on Mobius...?'

He shook his head to wipe away the shock clouding his thoughts. Just in time, too—he just managed to grab one of Brainy's arms to keep the kid from walking into the street still brimming with honking, screeching cars. He released a deep sigh of relief.

'He's certainly not part bat; that's for sure. Still, up until the street, he was doing just fine without my help.'

He must've gotten practice at handling blindness, no doubt on account of how often he had no one to help him up and along.

That thought triggered some unease in Espio. Did Helga ever stop to think about how Brainy would care of himself without working glasses?

Espio shifted his thoughts to the number of times Brainy brought himself into such a situation. He looked to the child standing beside him. His face had its usual, toothy, oddball grin, his posture suggesting no resentment whatsoever. He almost looked as carefree as Eugene.

Maybe he didn't have a death wish.

Maybe he wasn't masochistic.

Maybe—in a bizarre way—he let Helga have a go at him every time to show that he cared for her.

That theory made no sense at all to Espio...yet it fit anyway.

Another thing that strangely fit: Brainy's home could be reached through the alleyways, no streets involved. So why then did Brainy, since he knew a safer way back home, choose to walk down a route filled with more dangerous obstacles for someone with his disability?

'His mother said he's been doing that ever since he was three, no matter how many times she and her husband tried to walk him themselves at first.' At least Espio could rule out neglect. 'But she also said he usually resisted by heading out by himself.'

Yet Brainy never did that with Espio...and why?

Epiphany hit the chameleon like a truck as he and Brainy crossed the now clear crossing. Espio felt a rare smile come to his face. 'He trusts me.'

Knowing that warmed Espio in ways the reptile never believed would've been possible if Charmy, Vector, and everyone else of his allies hadn't proved him wrong before.

Looks like he could now add Brainy to that ever-expanding list—in an also rare moment of tenderness, the chameleon grinned wholeheartedly at the child as he shook his head in brotherly amusement.

"You know kid...," the purple reptile remarked, catching the kid's attention, "I'm not sure whether to call what you do stupidity or insanity."

Confused but touched, Brainy only breathed once as he and Espio reached the other side before he answered.

"Uh, thanks...Espio."

Yes, I'm a sucker for friendships between unlikely characters. How could you tell?