Author's Note: Whose excited for yet another POV character that is rarely considered/remembered by the canon and fanon alike? I knew you would be! XD

Once again, self-explanatory title is self-explanatory. I had fun coming up with the dialogue exchanges and I am wondering if you guys picked up on the little detail that one of our characters will in this chapter! It's a small, but very important detail, so we'll see who noticed it and who didn't! C:

As for music, in no particular order:

- Yoru Sou - Black Cat

- Episode Selection - Trauma Center Second Opinion

Alright, that's enough outta me for now, enjoy!

"Aiding and abetting, resisting arrest, assaulting a G.U.N. affiliate, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit assault" Shadow listed in an even tone, his fingers ticking off each offense without breaking eye contact.

"Don't forget litterin' " Vector added, leaning back as much as he could in an uncomfortable metal chair, the light from the hanging lamp only catching his gloves and golden irises.

"Is this is a joke to you?" Shadow shot back, slightly scowling.

"The joke is Omega was the litter, da overgrown toaster" Vector smirked, tilting his head to the side, rustling the cuffs restraining him.

The interrogation room fell silent for a tense moment, Vector's quip echoing off the bare walls as the hanging light illuminated the metal slab of a table between him and his interrogator. Shadow glared at him from his perch, ruby eyes burning with frustration, but he could tell it wasn't directed at the crocodile. Judging by the bandages and scars littered across his body, the only person on Shadow's mind was his illusory opponent. The same man who was the subject of this interrogation, the same man that had brought the Commander of the entire Guardian Unit of Nations to the other side of the glass of that tense, tiny room.

That man was none other than Espio the Chameleon, the new talk of the town for the Upper Echelon, so to speak.

It was they who insisted that he see this investigation through personally, though he would have preferred to let Team Dark do their jobs without constant supervision as that was the best way they worked. But refusing a "harmless suggestion" from his bosses was out of the question, so as always he complied without complaint. However, he couldn't lay the blame solely at their feet. After all, he was just as shaken up by the scrolls of evidence against Espio almost as much as they were.

The Commander didn't know Espio personally, only Sonic and his closest pals, as they had proven themselves to be true heroes above reproach. More importantly, they were phenomenal assets to the government against that damn ovoid madman, Robotnik. But the more fringe associates of Sonic and Shadow were a mystery, one he never cared to uncover. They were all well intentioned kids with a hero complex as far as he was concerned. What was there to investigate or even question, especially when there were always so many more pressing concerns.

Like, "how do we stop this demonic alien overlord from turning every living creature on the planet into food for his army to consume" for instance? Or "where has Robotnik hidden his armada this time and will we be able to do anything to stop him or do we once again rely on Sonic to do our job for us" for another? Or, and this one's his favorite, "what contingencies do we have in place if Mephiles the Dark somehow returns because we can never be sure that he's completely gone because the multiverse is real, by the way?" That was always good for 1 sleepless night... or 10.

The point was, life as the head of this illustrious peace keeping organization was much too complicated and important to stop and think about one of the many ancillary colorful faces surrounding Sonic to notice anything about the chameleon in question. Neither him, nor the crocodile on the other side of the glass, nor the bee kid in the room down the hall, was worth his time or notice.

Until those scrolls were stabbed onto his front door with a knife. And suddenly everything had come to a screeching, whiplash-inducing halt.

The following hours between then and now were honestly a blur for him. And that's really saying something considering how many hurried meetings and secret plannings he's been a part of in his long career in the government. It's his job to have total recall of all these important proceedings as they are all history making and of the most confidential and top-secret in all the world. But each meeting, each debriefing, each phone call and email correspondence, it all blended together in a massive cloud of panicked and frantic knee-jerk reactions from every high ranking government official still living. Even the retired ones.

Everybody wanted to know about the little lizard that had apparently been the sole reason for one of the most famous conflicts in recent Chun-nan history that ended in 2 major factions annihilating each other almost overnight. And even before that, crimes and infamous incidents that were always a question to the United Federation were pinned on him. And with the excruciating amount of detail and the chameleon's skill set fully revealed for verification... it was hard to ignore.

Everything he'd been accused of fit together quite neatly. Like they'd been staring at a massive jigsaw puzzle he could never solve, and suddenly someone mailed them the pieces they hadn't realized were missing. Now the picture was frighteningly clear. What was once just another one of Shadow's background characters was now front and center in the most horrifying way possible.

This reptile had been hiding this heinously dark past this entire time and no one—not Shadow, nor Agent Rouge, not Tails, and certainly not he himself—had known about it. And what's worse, no one had even suspected. Here was this totally unremarkable, insignificant boy—and he was just that: a mere boy—running around pretending to be a hero like all the others. All the while he was hiding from justice, literally getting away with murder, among a slew of other war crimes. It was disturbing, it threw everything into question, made everyone doubt everyone else.

Who else were they not paying enough attention to? What other threats lay comfortably in secret around them? Could the next great enemy be just another random guy walking past him in the street? It unraveled everyone, especially the Upper Echelon. Which is why it didn't bother the Commander one bit that they wanted him to take a more hands on approach to this investigation.

Because he would rather eat a bullet than admit it... he too was unravelling. The only way he would ever come back together, was to catch Espio and get answers. Confirm whether this was all an elaborate ruse or if this worst case scenario had become reality.

And the only ones who could get them those answers was currently having a staring contest with Shadow. So that's how today had been going for the Commander, and he had a sinking suspicion that it was only going to get worse from there.

"Espio is a dangerous terrorist, one who's accused of assassination, international blackmail and extortion, selling secrets and inciting wars" Shadow spoke again, using his trademark direct approach. "And you just helped him escape justice". With a dash of blunt accusations. This can only end well.

"Oh, is dat what we're callin' it?" Now it was Vector's turn to scowl.

"What would you call trying to peacefully bring him in and let him tell his side of the story?" Shadow asked, calmly folding his hands together atop the table. As if he hadn't just baited the croc into talking more.

"A disingenuous oversimplification at best, a big fat lie at worst" Vector bit out.

"He was our friend, we gave him maximum benefit of the doubt—all of you had our allegiance. And then you turn around and betray us" Shadow pressed, brows clenching tighter.

"Well, hello there, pot, dis is kettle" Vector drawled on with biting sarcasm, leaning down to the table as he mocked. "Just wanted to let ya know—maybe ya missed it, but— you're black". he flicked his finger to Shadow, voice going flat.

"Where is he, Vector?" Shadow sighed, rolling his eyes in spite of himself.

Vector shrugged. "How should I know? He left us high and dry too".

"Then doesn't that mean we're on the same side? Don't you want to find him?" Shadow held his hand out to Vector, but the croc didn't budge. Merely flicking his eyes down at the offered appendage before flicking them to the observation window. If the Commander wasn't so used to this process, he would've leapt out of his seat at the sudden eye contact.

"Don't matter" he answered simply, voice gravelly. "He don't wanna be found. So he ain't gonna be found. It's a ninja thing" his eye ridges quirked up, to indicate how obvious this fact was.

"That's not good enough" Shadow shot back, his hand curling instantly into a fist.

"Well, sucks ta be you, then".

The Commander remained stone faced as Shadow leaned back in his chair, folding his arms tightly. A telltale sign that he was gearing up for another bout of glaring daggers into his perp. Not to intimidate, but to stave off his growing desire to simply pound their face into a puddle and be done with it. Or that was normally why he would do that, this situation was far different from normal, however.

Vector was Shadow's... acquaintance-type person and he was sure he didn't want to actually hurt the guy, more than Omega had already done (which, kudos to Omega, Vector was brought in unconscious and bruised, but not broken. It was rare for him to show such restraint. Or perhaps Vector was just that tough himself to withstand Omega's brutality. He supposed he'd never know).

So hitting him was out of the question. Perhaps Shadow didn't have anything else in his arsenal and was frustrated he couldn't come up with another approach at the moment. It was true, Rouge was far better at the art of interrogation than him, but Shadow was smart. He would figure out a better approach soon enough, which they needed as Vector was not going to talk to anyone other than Shadow or Rouge in the first place. Plus, Shadow needed more experience in normal interrogations anyway, as opposed to working on people who feared his reputation and would cave under a couple vague threats or even a mean look.

In that regard, the Commander had to give it to the crocodile, he was no pushover. The man stood on his convictions, however misguided, and didn't budge on them. No matter who was trying to break him, he was like diamond. This was going to take a while. But eventually, he'd crack. They all do.

Shadow's face softened as he unfurled his arms and leaned towards his subject. "Vector, you need to work with me here. I'm still your friend, I'm still Espio's friend, I just want to get to the bottom of this". And there's the better approach. Good.

"Haven't you been payin' attention? Dis is bottom. I got no information for ya, I got no reason ta help ya, Espio's long gone. You're jus' wastin' your time" Vector answered back, struggling to prop his head up in his hand against the restraints.

"I'm sorry you feel that way" Shadow breathed calmly, closing his eyes slowly.

"It's not how I feel, it's what I know" Vector corrected curtly. "That's the difference between detectives and government stooges. I can't afford to make decisions based on a bad feeling. I wait for the facts".

The Shadow's nose twitched as he tilted his head lower before he answered back. "We have letters that give excruciating details on the crimes Espio's been accused of. A decade of horrific terrorist activity catalogued to the most minute detail. Pictures, eye witness testimony, notarized and authenticated documents. We've got literal miles of scrolls in evidence".

"And you won't lemme take a look at one yards worth of it. See da position ya put me in?" Vector scrunched his face up in a fake smile that better resembled a grimace.

Shadow's lips parted silently as his eyes widened ever so slightly. "You aren't authorized to look at confidential—"

"When it concerns my teammate—my friend, that I've lived with for years, I am absolutely authorized" Vector stated emphatically, tapping the table with each emphasized word.

Shadow shook his head, squinting. "That's not how this works".

"And if it was Rouge who was bein' set up an' they had miles'a crap on her? What would you do? Wouldja just sit back, twiddlin' your thumbs, cuz you're 'not authorized'?" Vector asked, stopping Shadow in his tracks.

No. No no no, don't get distracted now.

Shadow looked down at his folded hands, his eyes wide and unfocused and his lips parted even more. Damn it, stay focused, Shadow!

"Or would ya demand to see da evidence for yourself an' put it under da most strict scrutiny possible?" Vector pressed on, passion seeping into his gruff tone. "Not cuz ya don't trust G.U.N. to handle it eventually, but to speed through all'a da bullshit and clear her name. For your own peace'a mind". Now Vector was leaning towards Shadow, trying to will him to look up at him.

Somehow, it works and The Commander was finally convinced to intervene. "Agent Shadow, do not forget your objective. Focus on the matter at hand" he instructed as gently as he could afford to be. Shadow's eyes flicked to the glass for a microsecond before focusing back on Vector.

"I would trust the government that I—"

"Like they trust you?" Vector cut in, stamping out Shadow's voice. "Tell me, did you even see da miles of evidence? Did you get to take a look at them scrolls? Were you convinced by da 'intimate details' they provided?" he pressed, causing Shadow to lean away from him in dawning realization.

Goddamnit! Why would he ask that?! The Commander reeled before barking into Shadow's coms again.

"Shadow! Stop listening to that idiot, he's a perp! Take back control of the interrogation! NOW!" he huffed out, sweat prickling across his forehead.

Shadow stared blankly at his hands his mouth more agape than it had been throughout the exchange, eyes fully open now.

"Or are you just as in da dark about all'a dis as I am?" Vector finished, quirking his eye ridge up at the hedgehog.

Shadow flicked his eyes up at Vector and stared for a moment. And before The Commander could give another order, Shadow growled under his breath and stalked towards the door.

"Thought so" Vector nodded in vindication, as he slumped back in his seat, Shadow pulling the door open with a harsh tug before slamming it shut loudly.

The Commander was already out his own door as Shadow skulled down the hallway. "Agent Shadow, where do you think y—?!"

"To get answers" he shot back over his shoulder.

The Commander sputtered for a second before following after him. "You know protocol on this, you can't just—!"

"Let the Upper Echelon reprimand me later" the hedgehog casually said, causing The Commander to falter a bit. "I need to see the truth. For myself" Shadow finished strong and unbidden.

The Commander fumed behind Shadow before rushing to intercept him. "Don't abandon your post, agent!" he commanded, standing directly in front of Shadow, fists clenched at his sides.

Shadow merely picked him up by his waist, turned to the side, and dropped him back to the floor. All without breaking his gait or his composure. The Commander just looked down at him, shock clear on his face as Shadow spoke up.

"I've had my fill of that post. Just tell Rouge to take over, she's better at interrogations anyway". And with that, Shadow continued towards the evidence room, where the scrolls were being held.

The Commander clutched his face in frustration as he breathed deeply. Damnit all, the one thing that could get Shadow out of that room and Vector pulled it out of thin air. The only way The Commander could allow Team Dark to be the ones that brought in Espio and would be in charge of questioning him was if they remained "in the dark" on the specifics of the evidence. They were given just enough: the crimes lobbied against him, the dates and places of certain key events in this timeline they were given, and the method of assassination in certain cases. That was all.

The Upper Echelon were far too cautious when it came to Team Dark, due to their close relationship with Espio, that they would only allow them to participate in the investigation if they never looked at the evidence themselves. And while The Commander understood the logic behind such a stipulation, he didn't condone it at all. Team Dark were his subordinates, he knew them, they were a solid group. Aside from the ultra-violence addicted robot, of course. He was a PR nightmare.

After everything that they'd been through, Shadow was... well, family. Kind of. And Rouge was his best agent, bar none. This was their friend, their close friend it seems, which made this absolutely their case. They deserved to know everything that he knew about it. But orders were orders and The Commander was anything but insubordinate.

So when he debriefed Team Dark about this very delicate assignment and they asked to see the evidence, The Commander had to pull rank. Tell them how classified and top-secret everything involving the scrolls were. And he had to assure them that he himself had seen the evidence and it was all verifiable. Now, was that 100% true? Not quite, but Shadow and Rouge trusted his word because... he'd never lied to them before. Besides, it was close enough to the truth for it to not make much of a difference to him.

However, he had to realize with a start, that if it were his friend... he wouldn't settle for anything less than 100% irrefutable proof. Shadow and Rouge were good agents, but they were better friends. They would burrow themselves in that small sliver of doubt and they would live there until they'd gone through everything with a fine tooth comb, before making a move on Espio. And that was not acceptable, not with the uproar this whole thing had caused. So The Commander did the only thing he could do to satisfy both parties.

He lied.

He used his relationship with Shadow and Rouge to convince them to go along with the assignment on blind faith in his word. His word against their friend's entire character. And it would only be the worst case scenario if they retroactively looked at the evidence themselves and find a discrepancy or two. But at least Espio would be in custody and they would already have answers by then. Nobody could have predicted that Espio would escape Team Dark. And nobody could have predicted that Vector would say the one thing he needed to say to get Shadow out of the interrogation room and doubting The Commander's word.

How? How did he know Shadow hadn't seen the evidence for himself? The Commander fumed as he slammed a fist into a nearby wall. Now what? Do I try to restrict access to the evidence room? Do I detain Shadow now? With Rouge in the middle of her interrogation? And Omega in the middle of repairs? How's that going to come across to the rest of the agency? I can't afford that drama right now! But if I allow him to just go in with no resistance, that'd get back to the Upper Echelon and I'd never hear the end of it! I might even lose my job, they're so tense about this whole thing!

This was all going wrong. This was all going so horribly wrong. And he was not making it better by losing his cool.

With experience and control, The Commander calmed himself and weighed his options as he made a beeline back to the interrogation rooms.

Agent Shadow was in the midst of interrogating the perp when he approached a stalemate in the process. He left the room to cool off and let the perp stew, so I went to check on Agent Rouge's interrogation which was being conducted simultaneously. I had no idea that he was going to the evidence room to look at the scrolls, and I had already given the order that no one was to look at the scrolls until the Upper Echelon approved of it.

It's not my fault Shadow teleported in there and snuck the scrolls out to take a look. He disobeyed direct orders without my knowledge and used abilities that we have yet to formulate defenses against. By the time I was aware of what he'd done, it was already too late.

The Commander rubbed his temples as he approached the observation room overlooking Rouge's interrogation. Plausible deniability: the G-man's best defense, he recited inwardly before entering the room.

"Charmy, we can help him" Rouge offered, sitting right next to her subject, her voice soft and gentle.

"Like ya did back at the house?" the boy shot back flatly. "Yeah, no thanks" he scooted his seat away from Rouge.

Oh lord, even the kid is hardboiled?! He hasn't said anything yet?! What is with these people?! The Commander groaned inwardly before plopping down in his seat. This was gonna be another rough one.

Rouge, ever poised and composed, shrugged her shoulders as she replied. "He forced our hand. You all did, remember?"

"No, he just wanted to run away cuz you wouldn't stick up for him. I thought you were our friends" the bee pouted, slumping down in his chair and crossing his arms. It came across cuter than he no doubt intended.

"We are" Rouge reassured, gently sidling up to the child's side again. "We tried to be as peaceful and understanding as we could, but Espio went off the rails. You saw. We had all agreed to come here peacefully, but he suddenly escalated the situation and caused an all out battle". She extended her arms out to emphasize just how all out the battle had been.

Once again, judging by the kid's injuries and the state of Rouge's usually pristine appearance, The Commander knew it was no exaggeration.

"A battle I tried to stop!" the boy spoke up, pointing his hands at his chest emphatically. "But you wouldn't listen! None'a you would listen to me! And now Espio's gone!" he flopped his arms on top of the table in a rough clatter of frustrated limbs.

Rouge looked down at him silently before replying, her face calm and controlled. "That's right, you tried to stop it. You wanted to do good, you wanted to get to the bottom of this and clear Espio" she said, the boy nodding with every point she made.

"Yeah!" he shouted, in a way that made it clear he had said this all before.

"Then if you still want to do that, you need to work with me here. You need to tell me where he went" she continued, refocusing the conversation.

The bee flung his once limp arms above his head as he yelled. "I don't know where he went! He's a ninja that turns invisible, he could be anywhere! He could be in this room, right now! Nobody would know!" he flailed his arms around the room before bringing them back down on the table in a heap.

"I would know" Rouge placed a delicate hand on her chest. "I would be able to hear him, just like I did at your house".

The boy scoffed before putting his hands behind his head and throwing his feet up on the table. "Well that's a neat trick, or whatever, but if Espio really wanted to disappear, he would'a. Ya never would'a heard him or nothin' " he boasted, shaking his head with a smug smirk on his face.

Rouge blinked a few times at this before sitting straight up. "What're you saying? That he let me catch him? That he wanted to start that fight?" Rouge asked, brows furrowed.

The bee's eyes darted off to the ceiling dramatically. "Uhhhh, yeah" he nodded before squinting at her. "Duh".

"For what?" Rouge asked, scrunching her nose up at him.

"Isn't it obvious? He wanted to beat you guys up for doubtin' him" the boy pointed both hands at Rouge as his smirk returned.

Rouge leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs as she turned her head to the side. "I doubt that".

The bee shot to his feet in the chair and slammed his hands on the table leaning into Rouge's face. "See!? That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Espio got fed up with you guys threatenin' him and callin' him a bad guy!" he pointed a stubby finger at her face.

Rouge didn't flinch, much to her credit (and against The Commander's), as her brows tightened and her nose scrunched up even more. "So he fought us, government agents who are also his friends, to convince us that he isn't a bad guy?" she asked bluntly.

The boy's finger fell and his eyes widened before his eye ridges curled up and his mouth hung open. "Welllll..." he droned as his eyes wandered around the room for a moment. "Yeaaaah...?" he shrugged, finally leaning away from Rouge.

"That makes sense—" Rouge said dryly. "Look Charmy, if you tell me everything you know right now, you won't be in any trouble. You and Vector can go back home with no strings attached and nothing bad will happen to you. I promise" she smiled gently while placing a hand on his shoulder.

The bee, Charmy, actually stopped and thought about her offer. His little hand rested under his chin and his eyes darted to the corner of the room as he silently considered the offer. And just as it seemed like the kid would take the bait, his face fell and he pinned Rouge with a pointed stare.

"What about Espio? What's gonna happen to him?" he asked warily, a skeptical look on his face. He was halfway joking before, but the kid really was hardboiled. Either that or extremely loyal.

"... are you gonna cooperate with me, or will you force our hand again?" Rouge stated plainly, stripping off her mask of concern.

Charmy, still on top of the table, crossed his arms and flung his head away from her. "I already told ya, I don't know nothin' and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Espio's my friend and I don't turn on my friends" he peeked his eye open to glare at Rouge from his peripheral. "Unlike some people in this room".

Rouge stood to her feet and placed a hand on her hip. "How noble" she bit out. "And just where has this loyalty landed you, Charmy? Where's Espio's appreciation of this loyalty?" Rouge challenged, walking around the table carefully.

Charmy remained silent as he glared at her making her way around.

Rouge put up her fingers as she began listing. "He started a huge fight for the sole purpose of getting you two arrested and avoiding capture. He doesn't have to answer any uncomfortable questions, while you and Vector have to explain his actions like you're doing now. He's leaving you to rot in juvenile detention and Vector in federal prison for the rest of his life" Rouge stops and leans towards Charmy on the table. "That's your reward from your good pal Espio".

"... you're wrong" Charmy muttered, an edge to his tone as his scowl became sharper.

"You're in a GUN interrogation room, there's a laundry list of crimes pinned on you, and if you refuse to give me anything, then I promise you the next place you'll see is the inside of a cell. And it's all thanks to Espio. What am I wrong about?" Rouge chuckled, a dash of salt on an open wound.

"Espio didn't abandon us. He wouldn't do that" Charmy gritted through his teeth, refusing to look away from her.

"All evidence to the contrary".

"Well, you can take your evidence and shove it up your pie-hole. Espio isn't a bad guy and he doesn't betray his friends" Charmy said louder as he dared to get closer to Rouge's face.

"Then how do you explain what he did to us?" Rouge asked incredulously, a laugh hanging on her words.

"You betrayed us, first, genius" he said in a tight voice, jabbing his finger at her with every emphasis."He knew you weren't gonna find the truth, so he's gonna find it himself. And he had to leave us b'cuz of you guys, not because he wanted to" he finished, placing his fists on his hips to mimic Rouge's current pose.

She sighed deeply while shaking her head. "I guess I was right about you, brat. You really are just a naive child" she sauntered over to the door, lingering deliberately. "Blindly trusting anyone who asks you to".

Charmy suddenly barked out a laugh, causing Rouge to jolt for the first time. "Wrong again! Cuz no matter how many times ya try to scare me or how many times you tell me Espio's a bad guy..." Charmy stood up to his full height, the light dangling dangerously close to the top of his head. "I won't trust you" he said, all amusement gone from his voice.

Rouge stared up at him, her expression indiscernible, until she turned back to the door. "... Get comfortable, you're gonna be here a while", she said, a bite to her tone. Rouge quickly opened the door before slamming it closed, not allowing Charmy a chance to respond to her directly.

The boy plopped down on the table and crossed his arms. "Fine with me..." he muttered anyway, glaring at the door.

Before The Commander could get up, Rouge opened the door of the observation room, her expression tight, whether through frustration or pain he couldn't tell. She looked at a fellow agent sitting in the corner and pointed at the child.

"Put the cuffs back on him" she said quickly.

The agent paused, likely remembering her interrogation began with her asking them to take the boy's restraints off as they would be "unnecessary and counter-productive".

"But, you said—"

"Put. The cuffs. On him" she forced out between gritted teeth, cutting off the agent's reply.

"Do it" The Commander ordered, earning an immediate salute from the agent. "You're gonna want to check on Shadow's perp" he continued, walking towards Rouge as she started down the hall.

"What for?" she sighed.

The Commander didn't skip a beat. "The thing got heated and rather than put more fresh bruises on the guy, he walked out. Said he needed a break".

"Right, and I don't, of course" Rouge laughed bitterly as she leaned against the wall, cradling her arms across her chest. The Commander put a warm hand on her slender shoulder.

"If you do need one, then of course give yourself—"

"No" she interjected, closing her eyes tightly. "No, let's..." she brought her hand up to rub soothing circles across her eyelids. "Let's get this done". Rouge stood up straight, adjusted her clothes and hair, then strode to the crocodile's interrogation room.

"While I still have the strength..." she mumbled under her breath, almost quiet enough to where he couldn't hear. The Commander simply opened the door for her, then slipped in the observation room, his stone face showing no cracks, at least not on the surface.

Rouge walked past Vector, who of course stared at her as she went, until finally sitting down in the opposite chair. She stayed silent for a while, refusing to look Vector in the eye, as she slowly morphed her expression. She entered the room nonchalantly, even relaxed, but the moment she sat down, she began shifting into another mood. Like a silent question was plastered on her face and becoming ever clearer. Until finally, she looked Vector in the eye, came right out and said it.

"Why didn't he use a flash bang?"

Vector blinked several times as his mouth became agape. "Huah?" he huffed, his maw twisted in confusion.

"A stun grenade. Why didn't he use that in the house instead of a smoke bomb to get away?" Rouge clarified. "We know he has them, he used them in his tussle with Shadow. And I've fought him before, I've caught him when he was invisible before. He knows I can hear him and catch him" she said, tapping her finger on the tabletop with each emphasis.

"So why didn't he use a flash bang to stun my eyes and my ears?" she opened her hands up, as if presenting the question physically to Vector and dropping it in his lap. The crocodile was stunned, he shook his head slowly while looking down at the question presented.

"I... I don't... know" he stammered.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rouge asked softly, bringing Vector's attention back up. "I wasn't the only one in the room. So were you and Charmy. Espio... didn't want to hurt you".

Vector's eyes shot wide open as his breath hitched in his throat. The Commander couldn't help mirroring the reaction. He... he hadn't thought of that detail before. No one had, judging by the look on the other agent's faces in the observation room.

Rouge didn't let up as she continued. "He didn't want to hurt either of you, not even temporarily. Even if it would mean saving his own skin", she gently held Vector's finger in her smaller hand as he found his breath again.

"Espio..." he marveled, looking down at his side. Like he expected someone to be there looking back at him. Like he got so used to that, somewhere down the line it became a habit.

And as his brain caught up to his muscle memory, Vector's expression fell even more than it already had. He was putty in her hands now.

She softly caressed his knuckles as she continued, "A guy doesn't risk himself like that if he doesn't really care. Trust me on that" her voice was soothing and calm. "And since we know he cares for you, we know he trusted you", her smile warm and tender.

Vector stayed silent and only stole glances of her expression, each look seemed to break him down even more. The Commander could've sworn he saw tears prickling in the crocodile's eyes.

"Which means he must have let his guard down some time and let something slip that can help us find him" Rouge whispered sweetly, scooting closer to Vector. "Before he gets himself hurt... or worse..." her touch was light and delicate.

Until finally, the dam broke. "And you expect me to just give dat information to you? Just like dat?" Vector croaked out, between undignified sniffs.

Gotcha.

"Of course not" Rouge's smile grew wider as she stood up and walked back around the table. "However, you did just confirm that you know something you haven't told us" she casually explained, watching the color drain from Vector's face for the briefest of moments. "Just like that" she giggled so sweetly that it came off as fake. Which it had been, the entire time.

"W-When'd I say dat? I told ya, I don't know nothin', Rouge!" Vector bellowed, his face retaining the faintest blush as he leaned towards her.

Rouge placed a hand on the doorknob and looked over her shoulder. "I'll rewind the tape when I get back, let ya think about how much you care for a wanted terrorist that abandoned you as soon as he could spell able". She winked and slid out of the room as suddenly as she appeared, leaving Vector a stammering mess.

Holy God, she's good, The Commander marveled.

He left the observation room, a proud smile on his face, as he approached Rouge. "Great work, Agent Rou—"

"DON'T" she grunted strongly, leaning against the wall even more than before. She turned her back to him, her shoulders shuddering just a bit as she rubbed her eyelids again. "Just... just don't..." she breathed carefully as she trekked down the hallway.

The Commander merely watched her go, his words dead in his throat as he found his own shoulder's slumping. This was becoming far more taxing than he thought it would. He didn't know if this process was slowly breaking down The Chaotix, or Team Dark. But one thing was for certain: Something had to give. And it was gonna give soon. The Commander merely hoped his agents would survive this trying experience somewhat whole.

But, he didn't dare hold his breath...

Charmy blew raspberries at the guys who clamped the cuffs back on his wrists as they walked back out of the stuffy room. He slumped his head on top of the table as he groaned, first quietly then gradually raising the volume to match his frustration.

How could Rouge treat them like this? Wasn't beating him up enough? What's the deal with all those mean questions and threats? And the lies... so many lies that he just refused to entertain. Espio wasn't evil, Espio didn't abandon them, and Espio didn't want to hurt anybody. It was so obvious, how could Rouge and Shadow not see that?

He brought his face up from the tabletop and glanced at the clock ticking high on the wall across from the window. Without even meaning to, Charmy's mind drifts to a funny memory. Espio tried to teach him how to read clocks like that, the ones with hands instead of just numbers. Charmy didn't want to, so Espio tried to make it into a game. The big hand was for minutes and the little hand was for hours, Espio was the big hand and Charmy was the little hand, for obvious reasons.

He jumped up, threw 12 shuriken around them in a circle and told him they represented the numbers on the clock's face. Espio smiled that little smirk of his and said

"Alright gaki, I will call out a time and you must direct me and yourself to the correct placement on our clock face. Each answer you get right, you may keep a shuriken".

And Charmy was fully invested from then on.

Unfortunately, once Charmy had gotten the hang of it and had taken 5 shuriken, Espio called out a time where Charmy had already taken the shuriken from the floor. So he got confused and pointed at the nearest shuriken to the correct answer. Espio walked up to him and Charmy assumed he would take his shuriken back, but he just patted him on the head and apologized with a sheepish chuckle.

"I now see I have not thought this game all the way through".

He took out more shuriken with a flick of his wrist, just like a magician would.

"Looks like you'll be getting more than 12 shuriken today, chibi-dono".

He jumped up and threw them in the exact spaces as before then landed adroitly by Charmy's side in the middle. He couldn't hold in his excitement and started hooping and hollering, as Espio peeked one eye open and chuckled under his breath before rushing back to his place on the floor.

"Sa, tsugi e!" he called back to Charmy, a wide grin on his face and shuriken brandished in his hand like a deck of cards.

(Come on, to the next one!)

Charmy wanted to joke and say "Hey, if you made this game for me, why're you the one enjoying it the most?", but he just nodded his head and giggled to signal that he was ready to keep going.

Charmy drifted out of his memory, staring up at the clock in the drab room he was literally locked in, studying the big hand and little hand. I guess it's... 5:23 or 24. That's 4 hours and 12 minutes since he woke up here. Or 13 minutes.

Wow, I'm so bored I'm doing math. Like, on purpose... Charmy realized with a start. Well, thanks for teachin' me how to pass the time, Espio, heh heh... He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought of not knowing if he'd ever learn from his ninja buddy again.

Charmy's eyes drifted down to his cuffs, his expression shifting from boredom to animosity toward the dastardly device keeping him prisoner. And just as he was thinking of trying to once again break out of them by force so he could at least have the use of his hands again and make shadow puppets or something... they clicked.

It was so quiet, he barely heard it, even in the small, dead silent room. But if the first click didn't convince him, the next one definitely was loud enough to confirm his suspicions.

"What the...?" he breathed, inching his face closer to the thick metal bracelets. And then suddenly, they clicked louder and loosened their grip on his left wrist.

"Huh—?!" something clamped down on his mouth, keeping him from expressing the depth of his bewilderment. Something soft, but firm against his mouth. Something that smelled like—

"Shh... they may still be listening..." a barely audible voice rang out in his left ear. Slowly, the object blocking Charmy's mouth drifted away as his cuffs began clicking again.

Charmy's face slowly lit up as realization dawned on him. He almost wanted to slap himself for taking this long to figure out it was him.

"Espio! What're you—?" he started, but the final click and release of his cuffs cut him off. He was free.

Espio freed him. He came back for them. Charmy was right, he hadn't abandoned them. Not that he was worried Espio wouldn't or anything, it was just nice to be proven right.

An invisible hand took his smaller one and led him to the door silently. "We do not have much time. Stay quiet, be swift, and stay close to me" Espio whispered in his ear, using his other hand to hold Charmy close to his transparent body.

"Wait, what're you doin' here?!" Charmy whisper-yelled, remembering that they were in the middle of enemy territory.

Suddenly, a figure faded into view next to them, in Charmy's chair. It was... another Charmy. He was faced down on the table, cuffs firmly attached to his wrists. It was almost a perfect copy, except, upon closer inspection... the antenna weren't quite as long as his. A light creaking of the door snapped Charmy's attention back on the chameleon he still couldn't see but knew was there.

"Why'd ya make a fake me outta your mirage magic?" the boy whispered confused as to why Espio would go through the trouble.

The invisible hands came back and led him toward the hallway, their grip firmer than before.

"Because I do not wish to be chased while we make our escape".

Author's Note: Yes, prison break! Woooo! Well, technically they're not in prison so it's not gonna be the same as a real prison brea—you know what, never mind, let me have this.

So, The Commander as our POV character for the first 3/4 of the chapter! Who saw that one coming? XD Here's why I went with him instead of any of our previous characters i.e. the ones everybody cares about. It's because I wanted an outside observer for the interrogations, I didn't want to favor one side's inner monologue over the other. Also I wanted the POV character to be present for both interrogations, which means I couldn't have it be Charmy, Vector, Shadow or Rouge, because at a certain point these characters are absent for an interrogation. Therefore I had to have the POV character be one who could watch all the interrogations and give some more details on these mysterious letters/scrolls delivered to the government officials. Who better fits that unique position but The Commander of GUN? Also, I know he's named Abraham Towers in the comics, but I don't like that name. But I also didn't want to come up with another name so I just left him as "The Commander". First name: The, Last name: Commander, no middle name.

This was also my way of trying to fill in a plothole of sorts (bear with me here). In the Team Dark POV chapters, when they reference them receiving the assignment to bring in Espio, there was an important question. Why, oh, why, did Shadow and Rouge agree to go after Espio without knowing the specifics of his crimes? Why wouldn't they look at the evidence in full before they come after Espio? And if they did look at all the evidence, why would they be questioning in their minds if Espio is guilty or not if the evidence was so thorough and detailed to convince them to take the mission of immediately bringing in Espio? Tough question to answer, and I didn't think of it before Omega's POV chapter!

So, The Commander's explanation was my answer to hopefully plug that hole. Team Dark went after Espio without looking at the evidence themselves because, they got the cliff-notes from The Commander, whom they trust enough to obey his orders even when they are morally gray. The Commander doesn't know Espio personally and has no reason to give Espio the benefit of the doubt, but every reason to give Team Dark the assignment to bring him in as peacefully as possible. He was given express instructions by the terrified Upper Echelon that if he wanted Team Dark to bring in Espio as opposed to throwing the entire GUN forces after him, he was not allowed to share the nitty gritty details with them, as they feared that would lead them to question and delay bringing in Espio. And The Commander is currently overseeing the interrogations this chapter so he can be our POV character in the first place, is because the Upper Echelon i.e. his bosses, are on his ass to get to the bottom of this case because they're very scared. And, as quiet as he's keeping it, The Commander is also shaken by the scrolls because of how they were delivered to his doorstep.

So hopefully that all fits together nice enough to excuse Shadow and Rouge going after Espio, but Shadow being convinced this chapter to finally look into the evidence for himself. And he would be the first person to actually know Espio that would look at the evidence and judge it thoroughly. So, maybe it's legit, maybe it's not. We'll just have to see~

Speaking of POV characters, Charmy learning how to tell time is a reference to an earlier chapter where Espio remarks that Charmy cannot tell time at all. Like, to a baffling degree. So I thought it'd be cool for this serious story to take place after that chapter chronologically and for Charmy to in his supreme boredom reminisce on the time he finally learned how to tell time, lol.

Espio creating an illusion of Charmy is just another extension of the buff I gave him in the Shadow fight. He has illusion abilities, therefore it would be very simple to create an illusion clone of Charmy to trick GUN into thinking he's still handcuffed to the table. And if you're worried about cameras catching Espio doing this, don't worry, he took a picture of Charmy sitting with his head down and placed it in front of the camera so it looks like Charmy's just asleep. So it was really only the audio that he was concerned about, hence the whispering and keeping Charmy quiet.

Now, I'm not saying Rouge is the star of the show... but she was the star of the show. XD I loved the idea of her specializing in interrogation techniques seeing as she's the only classically trained spy in the entire cast. Shadow is just a "special agent", who acts more like a soldier, and Omega is... Omega. The rest of the cast isn't even close to being a spy, except for Espio. So yeah, I set it up in a few throwaway lines in the Team Dark POV chapters, and here's the payoff. Rouge being a master interrogator. Even so, Charmy is far too rambunctious and stubborn for even her to get one over on him. He's like her kryptonite XD And that's pretty much it!

Last thing, Espio using a smoke bomb instead of a flash bang in the house was that little detail that means a lot! Who thought of that one? Nobody? That's okay, it was a while back to be fair. But yeah, that's the small detail that Rouge pulls out against Vector to get him to confess that he does know SOMEthing. Again, this is more setup for later payoffs, but yeah, just a small detail that is easy to miss but actually means a lot.

Espio has infiltrated the GUN facility to break out his friends! Will they successfully make their escape or are they out of their depth? Will Shadow learn something new by studying the scrolls accusing Espio or will he chase Espio even more fervently? And what is Espio planning next? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out! See you then! X3