I wasn't meaning to take so long to upload this chapter. There were various things that got in the way. First, some personal things got in the way. I don't want to bore you with details, but let's just say it's related to the thing that happened that delayed me the last time. If anyone is curious, more details will be included in the end notes.

Second, as I kept editing, I kept finding things to fix. The chapter was originally a lot longer, which put more time and pressure for me to edit. This way I can have this chapter out sooner and the next chapter a lot quicker. Yes, this fanfic will be finished. I have most of the ending written already.

With a nod, Silver followed Vector into the agency's office. After closing the door behind them, Vector pulled a chair in the front of the desk for Silver. Silver accepted the chair. Vector sat at the chair behind the desk, hands clasped on top of the wooden surface, wearing a serious expression Silver wasn't used to seeing on the jovial crocodile.

Silver grew nervous from being brought to the office instead of the informal living room. Going somewhere special to talk often usually involved talking about something that certain people weren't meant to hear. From the expression Vector wore, Silver wondered if he was about to get some bad news or if Vector was going to let him have it for something he did.

"Charmy mentioned you were asking about some things," Vector said, not giving Silver a chance to prepare. Vector narrowed his eyes at Silver. "Such as Matrix."

Silver grimaced, wondering how angry Vector was. "He did?"

"Yeah, but don't hold it against him. I noticed him acting weird and grilled him on it. Took a couple tries before he cracked. Told me some of what he told you." Vector's gaze focused intently on Silver, unnerving Silver into stillness. "So tell me. How much did he tell you?"

A lump that formed in Silver's throat made him stutter for a bit, not knowing where to start. He swallowed the lump down to speak more clearly.

Silver, sensing that Vector was watching for any signs of lying, told the whole truth. About how he saw a photo Espio liked to keep around and it being first time Silver saw Matrix. How he knew Matrix and Millie were Charmy's parents, which also made him Vector's nephew. How Silver guessed Matrix was in a coma after being hurt from what Charmy told him.

Once Silver started, he couldn't stop blabbing as if his words were gushing out of a leak too large to plug up at all. Vector's mere presence was also enough to keep him in line. Each time Silver noticed Vector keeping his face straight during he revealed, he grew more wary, the fear of not knowing where this conversation was going to go making him more antsy.

When Silver finally finished telling Vector what Charmy and him talked about, it felt like a heavy load was lifted off his shoulders. The pleasant feeling was spoiled by the tension as Silver waited for Vector to say something. Anything! Any sign Vector had heard all of what Silver said.

Nothing came out of the crocodile. All Silver could hear was his own heart beating rapidly. He held his breath, thinking Vector would yell at him to leave. But Vector didn't.

Instead, Vector just spoke. Quietly and slowly, as if he wasn't surprised.

"Okay. Well..." Vector started again. This time he paused for a long while, staring into space. Then he shook himself out of his thoughts and refocused on Silver. "Well, that does complicate things."

Silver blinked. His eyes widened.

He was expecting a scolding, or maybe even a rant. Not a simple statement.

"I guess you know too much for me to play it all off, huh?" Vector asked, frowning at Silver. Vector sighed deeply. He gazed down on his desk, thinking.

For the longest moment, neither of them said anything.

Then Vector looked up and leaned forward, scanning Silver with his eyes. He rested his chin on his palm and his elbow on top of the desk.

"Tell me this…" Vector said, wearing a thoughtful frown. "Why ya wanna know so much 'bout us? What's your motive?"

Silver tried to answer, but no words escaped his mouth. A cold feeling ran up his back.

Vector leaned closer to him, eyes locked onto Silver, making him feel like a deer in headlights. It was then that Silver remembered Vector was the leading detective of the agency. A position that often required reading people well.

Silver took a soothing, deep breath as Espio taught him plenty of times. Silver knew, as used as he recently was getting to hiding his own intentions from Espio, that that he knew he had start being open again. At least around Vector for now.

"I've just been concerned about Espio is all," Silver said, making eye contact with Vector to show his sincerity. "He…"

Silver stopped himself, his gaze dropping to his lap. He debated if he should tell Vector the truth about the nightmares. If Espio wanted Vector to know, Espio would have likely told Vector already, not ask Silver to hide it. Silver decided with a half-truth to make things easier.

"He seems like he has a lot on his mind," Silver continued, keeping his face as straight as he could as he looked back up at Vector. "Especially the recent times I've been here."

Vector gave him a stare for a few seconds, as if wondering if Silver had more to tell. "Yeah, I think I noticed it too. Guy's been keeping to himself lately. I mean, more than usual. Keeps saying something about needing to train when I ask. I wonder if he says that just so I don't feel bad about not hanging with him and Charmy as much. Been extra busy since the agency picked up steam."

"I'm sure Espio understands," Silver replied. "I've seen him smiling more when he talks about the agency doing better nowadays. At least when he's not…seeming distracted at that moment."

Vector let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, he's a complicated guy. "

"I want to help him, but I'm not sure how," Silver said. "Whenever I want to befriend anyone, I try to learn more about them. See what makes them tick. See what they're comfortable with. I know I likely can't fix everything for the person, but I can try finding ways I can help. Or at least try to help in a way they prefer. Even if it just takes listening to them. Whatever could lighten burden off their mind." Silver rans his hand through his quills nervously.

"Espio seems to be… struggling," Silver continued, his heart a little heavier. "And I want to make it better. I want to be there for him. Don't get me wrong. From the beginning, I genuinely liked hanging with the guy. Espio's not just a project for me. I do think of him as a good friend. I don't like seeing my friends suffer. I know I can be awkward at times. I'm not some charismatic guy that can sweet talk anyone into feeling happier on the fly. But I…I try my best with what I can."

Vector frowned deepened, clearly thinking about something.

"I'm guessing that explains why you were questioning Charmy," Vector said, nodding his head.

"Yeah…" Silver looked away from Vector, feeling uncomfortable. "I've been happier with all the stuff going on with me, which is a nice thing to get used to. And I guess I want Espio to feel happy like this too. Or at least be able to be content most of the time. I get someone always being happy isn't realistic."

Silver lowered his head once again, fidgeting with his fingers. "Espio's…we've come a long way. I know he's let me in to an extent. That I should be grateful. But he keeps pushing me away. I can only get so far." Silver shook his head sadly as he glanced up at Vector, noticing that he was back to smiling like usual.

"Well, you seem pretty determined to help him at least," Vector said. "I guess only another stubborn guy could keep up with a stubborn Espio. Don't take it too personally. If it makes you feel better, you made more progress than most people. You're a good guy, Silver. I could tell for a long time." Vector chuckled. "You're not a good liar, but you mean well at least."

"Oh." Silver's cheeks flushed. "Sorry about all this. If you want me to back off—"

Vector raised his hand to stop Silver. "No, it's fine." Vector leaned back in his chair, glancing up at the ceiling briefly before looking back at Silver. "If I tell you some things, there's some rules that need to be set. Are you Okay with that?"

Silver sat there a few moments, surprised that Vector was willingly offer that kind of information.

"Y-yeah, I understand," Silver replied once he recovered enough to speak. "What are they?"

Vector put up one hand with just his index finger raised. "First rule, whatever I reveal, I don't want you bringin' it up to Espio, Charmy, or Millie. Not unless they offer it to you unprompted. I don't want any of them feeling down for no good reason. And I already risk upsetting them just by telling you. Got it?"

Silver nodded. "Got it."

Vector put two fingers up on his hand. "Second, I have full right to veto any questions. Nothing personal. Some things just ain't my place to tell ya."

Silver nodded. "I understand. Thank you."

Vector briefly looked away with a sigh then looked back at Silver. "Fine. Ask away."

"Well, let's start with something easy. How about some basics about Matrix? What was he like? He's your brother, right?"

"Yep, older brother. By ten years. And, as Charmy told you, his dad. Taught me a lot about detective stuff. I kinda grew up watching a lot of mystery movies and shows with him. Taught me a lot about how to think like a detective. Did you know he was the one that started the Chaotix agency here in the first place?"

Silver shook his head, surprised. He always thought Vector started it. "No, I didn't know that. I guess it explains why he and Millie were outside the agency with you guys in Espio's picture."

"It's likely the picture we took when it first opened," Vector said. "I think Ma took it for us. The Chaotix agency is kinda named after Matrix too."

"Really? How is it—"

Vector put his hand up to stop Silver. "I'm getting to that." Vector put his hand back on the desk. "Before Matrix started this agency, he worked as a police detective in another city. He was already a great detective and all. But one thing that earned him a reputation was his weird streaks of luck. Combined with his great detective skills, it helped him solve many cases. But—"

"Oh, so he was very lucky!" Silver said, smiling.

"Well…" Vector paused to rub the back of his neck nervously. "Kinda. The weird thing about him was that he had a tendency for random, unusual things to happen to him. His luck could swing between good, bad, or somewhere that can't be defined at any time. I guess it usually winded up being more in favor of being good in the end, but the guy was put on his toes a lot."

Vector shrugged. "Lots of big things happened to him. Lost your money? He arrives and happens to catch it when the wind conveniently blows it his way. Investigating a mugging? The suspect tries to rob him on the way to the scene. His car gets hit by another car that ran a stop light? Yikes, that's bad. However, he managed to only get a couple bruises from what should have killed him, if not at least seriously injured him. That's good. But he was driving with a large, expensive birthday cake for Ma that spilled all over his car. That's sucks. Then it turns out the guy that hit him was a dangerous suspect involved in a high speed police chase. Matrix was there to take him out. That's good."

Vector noticed Silver giving him a skeptical look.

"In case you're wondering, yes, all those things happened to him before."

"Geez, sounds both exciting and scary." Silver said, only then realizing curiosity and interest made him lean forward from his own seat. He leaned back into his chair for comfort. He wasn't expecting a simple family history regarding Vector's brother to have various stories on its own. "How did Matrix handle all that luck stuff? Did he ever comment on it?"

Vector chuckled again. "He made jokes 'bout it a few times. It wasn't that he didn't take anything seriously. Far from it. He just tried to make the best of whatever situation he fell in. He rolled with the punches with a smile, using whatever happened to his advantage. Especially when he had people to look out for. Likely helped that he knew how to fight good. Made it easier for him to get out of sticky situations. While I rely more on force and all that, he preferred smarts and precision. Not that he was a slouch in the muscle department either. Y'see, he grew up taking different martial arts courses with a childhood friend. Was a good shot with a gun too. He was practically built for detective work."

Silver remembered that Matrix, while he looked a little taller than Vector in the photo, had a leaner athletic build compared to the bulky Vector. People like Vector, Knuckles, and Big could rely on brute force more. Matrix relying on a different fighting style than Vector would make sense.

Silver wondered if Matrix's background in martial arts and having a fighting style with similarities to Espio's helped Matrix bond with Espio in the first place. Somehow, finding this part out made Silver dread finding out what happened to Matrix more.

"All of shenanigans he would get into were why he earned the title of 'The Chaotic Detective' among both his co-workers and even people outside the police force. A lot of people Matrix helped during and outside cases spread it too. Sorta like a hero name, now that I think of it. Not that Matrix intended to take up actual heroism as a profession."

There were official heroes in both the current time they were in and Silver's timeline in the future. They even had training at some schools for it. However, few were successful enough to reach celebrity status. Mostly because some of the strongest villains, like Eggman, didn't go down easily. Sonic was also a special exception who had a superpower that was so powerful and controlled at a young age, fought top tier villains several times and survived, and made a name for himself quickly before even reaching adulthood. As far as Silver and Vector knew, Sonic generally wasn't trying to become an actual hero, just happened to stumble into people being in danger and took charge.

'It sounds like Matrix had some things in common with Sonic,' Silver thought.

Silver thought for another moment then perked up when he thought of something. "So the name Chaotix…is a play on the word 'chaotic'? You know, for 'The Chaotic Detective'?"

"You got it. And the part 'ix' at the end uses part of Matrix's name. Millie helped him come up with it."

"I always thought it was a cool sounding name," Silver admitted. "Now it makes sense."

Vector gestured at Silver with a wave. "There you go. He was also oddly good at finding the missing TV remote too. Don't forget socks."

"Man, if we had Matrix when I had do some tedious fetch quests, I wonder if things could have been easier. Same for Sonic and his other friends."

Vector shrugged. "Hard to say. Would've been nice when Eggman yanked the Chaotix around during one particular case." Vector shivered at the memory of the case that involved a series of annoying missions, saving notorious supervillain Eggman from Metal Sonic, and, in the end, with the Chaotix not getting paid after all their trouble.

The agency started getting good publicity from helping Sonic and his friends during that event at least. Helping Sonic and his friends multiple times after that further contributed to the agency until it started doing as well as it currently was. Not that Vector exactly forgave Eggman for that one notorious case either. Especially when the man had enough wealth to build complex robots regularly.

"Yeah, Matrix's weird luck helped him find some interesting things during some cases," Vector continued. "Like Charmy and Espio."

"Wait, what?" Silver said. "Slow down. How…"

"Oh, that reminds me. You didn't talk to Charmy about him being...you know?" Vector asked, leaning closer towards Silver with a worried frown.

"No," Silver replied without hesitation. "I didn't feel it was my place."

"Good." Vector relaxed back in his seat. "I think Millie and Matrix were going to tell him before. But I guess they didn't get around to it. They first wanted to be careful with him being too young to understand. Then other things got in the way, I think. Millie likely wanted to try doing it when Matrix was…available. I doubted she meant to delay it this long. Matrix either. If it wasn't so, y'know, easy to tell, I would have been fine with waiting until the kid was older. But other kids and their parents can talk at school. Wouldn't want him finding out the hard way."

Mobians that adopted usually preferred their own species but adopting a different species in the same class wasn't uncommon either. However, adopting outside an animal class, such as a reptile and an insect, was considered unusual and would attract attention.

"I'm sorry," Silver said. "You don't have to tell me anything about Charmy if you don't want to."

Vector narrowed his eyes at Silver, studying him. "And leave you to get the story through an old news article later? Not a chance."

Silver blinked at Vector, confusion obvious on his face. "What…"

Vector's gaze softened as he rolled his eyes. "You serious? You didn't try a local library to look up some old newspapers about any of us? Not even the Internet?"

Silver stared at Vector with a dumbfounded expression for a few seconds before facepalming. Silver groaned as he buried his face in his palm.

'Why didn't I think of that?' Silver thought.

Silver knew there was Internet in the Sonic and the Chaotix's current time period. However, it wasn't quite as good as the one Silver was spoiled with in his own timeline.

Silver also forgot that Internet and the technology related to it drastically improved in a lot of Mobian majority civilizations, including where most of Silver's friends from the past lived, during this specific year. Internet had been used in most Mobian places for a while, but, until the mentioned history-changing improvements, the reliably and speed of the Internet was limited compared to the humans' technology. While humans were able to get the Internet on their phones for years, Mobians had to rely on computers at home or at a local library to go online until just months ago. A combination of Mobian civilizations being more spread out than human ones and frequent villain attacks often damaging infrastructure made it difficult to keep the Internet working at full capacity for most Mobian ran locations previously.

It wasn't until a certain company from the Mobian majority Rainbow Valley, currently managed by a technical genius that revolutionized wireless servers and a variety of technical infrastructures in the timeline Sonic and his friends were in, that Mobian civilizations finally were being put on more equal footing with the humans' modern technology.

Coming from a country where metals and gems were plentiful than other places made it easier for Rainbow Valley to be the technical trend setters for other locations. Those resources were also why Eggman tried taking over Rainbow Valley several times with no success. From the little Silver remembered when he read about it in his timeline, there was little to no details on how Rainbow Valley avoided this. Silver always wondered if it had to do with the rumors of G.U.N. trying to take over the resources years before the current timeline Silver and Vector were in. It also didn't help that Silver's timeline kept changing, so it was difficult for Silver to keep track of what was currently true or not.

Silver was meaning to upgrade his flip phone he used to visit the past to a smart phone when they first showed up in a local phone store at Seaside City a few months ago. But he kept forgetting to do that. Like a lot of other things lately.

If Silver's favorite history teacher at his school found out he forgot all these major historical details, she would be scolding him for acing her exams while fumbling with such important details. She would probably be tempted to assign Silver a lengthy essay assignment on all of it.

"You alright?" Vector asked. He noticed Silver's faraway expression for a while but originally tried patiently waiting it out first.

"Sorry," Silver answered sheepishly. "Just thinking about stuff. We were talking about Charmy, right?"

Vector chuckled, shaking his head at Silver. "You're not a bad detective, but you still got a lot to learn. Maybe I should teach you more stuff in a future case."

Silver had gone to plenty of cases with the Chaotix team but not enough to be considered an official member by any means. Silver learned a lot from these outings, but Vector was right about his detective skills needing work.

Vector smiled faintly. "Right. Charmy. Uh…" Vector rubbed his forehead as if he was trying to soothe a headache. "His parents didn't exactly abandon him. But it's a bit gruesome to tell a six-year-old. Remember, none of this gets back to anyone, got it?" Vector pointed at Silver, a dangerous gaze on the hedgehog. "Espio and Millie already know, but I don't want to risk Charmy overhearing it and finding out that way."

Silver sweat from Vector's gaze a bit, despite not having anything to worry about. "I get it."

Vector glanced at the door, as if expecting for Charmy to be eavesdropping on the other side. It wouldn't be the first time Charmy did something like that. He was supposed to be away, but Vector was still nervous. He figured it was force of habit from knowing the kid so long.

Silver, to Vector's surprise, used his powers to open the door, checking for any eavesdroppers. Silver closed the door back.

"Just wanted to save you the trouble," Silver said as he turned forward in his chair.

"Oh, uh, thanks." Vector briefly drummed his fingers on the top of the desk with one hand. "Anyway, Charmy was only a baby when it happened. One night, back when Matrix worked in that one city I mentioned, he got called for a brutal case on this one rough side of town. Not sure if Charmy's birth parents got caught in something shady or if they were innocent bystanders. Some local yellowjacket gang invaded their house one night and killed the couple living there. Of course, Matrix didn't know they were dead yet. Neighbors just heard screams and gunshots when they called."

Silver stared wide-eyed at Vector.

Vector continued, "Matrix was out on patrol nearby, so he was able to catch a couple thugs that tried to flee the scene. You know what made this worse? They didn't just use the guns like you would think. Even with it being dark Matrix could see and smell the blood on their stingers." Vector shook his head. "After Matrix subdued and cuffed them, he left them outside with the backup that arrived. He went inside to try to save the couple or anyone else that might have gotten hurt. Of course, as I already mentioned, they were already dead before he got there. In the nursery of all places. Any time Matrix described what he saw, he always looked so haunted, saying there was so much blood everywhere."

Silver stared blankly at Vector, his mouth agape.

Vector cleared his throat nervously. "Matrix knew the nursery meant that a baby could be involved. Since the toys on the floor looked like they were played with earlier, he worried if that gang did something to them. Just when Matrix was about to check the closet, he heard a noise from a trunk. It distracted Matrix long enough for one of the murderers to charge him from the closet. Matrix had no trouble taking the attacker out, as you likely guessed."

"After handcuffing the guy's arms behind his back—wasn't hard with him being knocked out—Matrix checked the trunk out. Matrix opened the trunk and found a crying Charmy buried in the trunk of toys. His mother, who died right in front of it, likely was trying to hide him from those...those monsters."

"Matrix grabbed the little fella outta the trunk and did his best to comfort him. Then he ran outside to get him to safety. Y'know, in case there were more hiding Matrix didn't know about."

Vector stopped to give Silver the chance to absorb everything.

"That's…that's horrible," Silver said,

"Yeah, what happened to Charmy's bio parents was gruesome," Vector continued, his frown deepening. "But, as cruel as it probably is to say, at least Charmy was too young to remember anything. Then he would have life-long issues he doesn't need. If that was the last thing I remembered about my own folks, I dunno how well I'd handle it." Vector's gaze softened briefly as he thought about it.

"The authorities tried to find family members to take in Charmy, but the few available weren't able to care for him. He would likely have gone to foster care, which was already overwhelmed. Eggman and other villains attacking things didn't help with that system either. Eggman's among the worst of thembut he was never the only one, sadly. Matrix later told Millie about Charmy, who was interested."

"You see, Matrix and Mille couldn't have kids, so they were meaning to try adopting when the time was right. Which they figured would be soon. Long story short, after more talk and double-checking some things, they decided it was meant to be. Luckily, they were already certified as foster parents a little before that, which made the process smoother. Now Charmy's still with us to this day, officialized and everything."

"Wow," Silver replied, shaking his head. "I mean, it's nice that it worked out in the end for Charmy and your family. Still sad, though."

"Yeah, now you see why we'll likely not tell Charmy the full story until he's older?" Vector asked, but not expecting an answer. "Talking about him being adopted is already a tricky conversation on its own. Millie's likely gonna talk to him about it soon. At least that's what she told me. I want to respect that."

"By the way," Silver said, fidgeting in the wooden chair to get comfortable, "were all the killers apprehended? It sounded like there were multiple people involved."

Vector nodded and sighed. "At least the ones we know of. Got lengthy prison sentences too. Even Charmy will be an old man before they get out. Well, if they get out, that is. So that's all for the Charmy origin story. Next question."

Silver spent a few moments to think it over, trying to remember little details Vector told him so far.

"What about Espio? What do you mean that Matrix 'found' him?"

Now for some behind-the-scene notes.

In case anyone is wondering, the tedious fetch quests mentioned was intended as a light-hearted joke on some random stuff you have to do in Sonic games sometimes. A big one I made fun of is how the Chaotix team had to do some annoying missions in Sonic Heroes. Yes, I struggled on some levels in that game.

Also, I like to headcanon Silver as an aspiring history nerd from all the adventures he would get in while exploring the past.

Also, not that I mean to stereotype, I can confirm yellowjackets are mean suckers in real life. They're a big problem in the area I live in.

I will admit the part about the Internet is part of the lore that will come up in an upcoming longfic I'm working on. It sort of helps address some continuity stuff with previous Sonic titles where technology either was more primitive or only someone like Tails was left to build his own version of certain devices for their friend group.

This same lore did partly contribute to the delay too. I heavily debated how much backstory I wanted to save for that for the upcoming fic only and how much I should show in this particular fanfic.

I will admit writing a chapter so dialogue focused for one character without making it boring was challenging for me. It was also partly why I got delayed with posting this chapter. I try to challenge myself occasionally to improve as a writer, but I can hit walls just like anyone else.