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Vector stirred awake in the hard wooden rocking chair next to Charmy's bed. He blinked open his eyes and glanced over at Charmy, who was snoring softly.
Vector had fallen asleep again waiting for Charmy to get to sleep. Usually he would head out to his spot on the couch as soon as he'd read Charmy a bedtime story (or two, when the kid could convince him), but ever since the Metal Virus incident Charmy had been more clingy than usual. He didn't like Vector to turn the lights out or leave him before he fell asleep, and so Vector would have to sit up in the chair until the tiny buzzy snores let him know it was safe to creep out. But more than once Vector had fallen asleep himself by that point. He'd eventually wake up with a stiff back and a cramp in his tail, and drag himself out to the couch to finish out the night in more comfortable quarters.
It wasn't the most ideal situation, but he didn't want to leave Charmy alone and scared. They'd all been pretty shaken by the Metal Virus, and truth be told, Vector wasn't super keen on letting Charmy out of his sight anyways. Not after losing him like that.
But his sore back demanded he didn't stay in the chair a minute longer. He stood up with a stretch, muffling a grunt so he didn't wake Charmy. He gave the little guy a pat on his fuzzy head before shutting off the lights.
Out in the main part of the upstairs, Vector shuffled over to the couch. He still wasn't sure how he, the boss of the Chaotix, ended up as the only one without his own bedroom. When he and Espio had first started renting the place, the two rooms were fine. Espio converted the room on one side to a "dojo" or whatever, and Vector had taken the other bedroom. But once they'd found Charmy, it hadn't taken long to convert Vector's room to a nursery. They hadn't been expecting it to be a permanent thing, but going on five years now... it looked like they weren't getting rid of their youngest member anytime soon.
Enh. One of these days he'd make Espio give up his fancy dojo and make him sleep on the couch. One of these days...
As he settled on the couch, he heard a upset, person-in-distress noise. Oh no. Charmy must be having another bad dream.
He started to stumble back towards the bedroom, but paused. The noise wasn't coming from that direction. He stood there for a moment, his brain too tired to do its best detective work, before he realized what that meant.
Espio?
With Charmy, he expected to have to deal with late-night freakouts. Espio, not so much. Vector turned and walked to Espio's room. He pushed the door open.
On his sleeping mat, Espio was shifting and twisting, letting out distressed grunts. "No, no," he mumbled, shaking his head. "The virus-- Don't go!"
"Espio?" Vector walked over. "Hey, Espio." He reached his hand out to shake him awake.
Even in his sleep, Espio's ninja reflexes were alert to the movement. He sprung up, eyes flashing open, and leapt back into the shadows. "Get-- get away!" he yelled, voice almost incoherent. "I won't be infected!" His hand reached for one of the decorative knives hanging on the wall.
"Hey! Hey, Espio, it's me! It's okay!" Vector jumped back towards the door, ready to dodge a flying blade. But Espio finally seemed to come to reality and let his hand fall back to his side, although still clutching the knife. Vector softened his voice. "It's okay. It's just me. The Virus is gone."
"...Vector?" Espio asked, his chest heaving. The knife dropped from his hand. He stumbled back against the wall and sank to the floor. "You... you were infected. Everyone-- there was no one left-- "
"It's over now. Remember?" Vector walked carefully over, knocking the blade aside with his shoe. "We're all okay."
Espio stared up at him, his eyes glistening in the moonlight. He flung himself against Vector and buried his head in his chest.
What the--? Vector stood there in shock. Espio had never hugged him. Sometimes, on good days, he wouldn't shrug away from a friendly side hug, and he usually accepted hugs from Charmy. But he never initiated one.
"Don't leave me alone," Espio whispered. "I can't lose you guys again."
Vector wrapped his arms around him. "I won't," Vector said. "It's okay, pal."
"I don't want to be alone again."
Espio had been the last of the Chaotix left when the Metal Virus struck. They'd lost Charmy first. Vector had barely been able to hold onto his own sanity when they lost the kid. Espio had to keep him going, keep him from completely losing it. And then... Vector had gotten turned as well.
And Espio had been all alone.
He hadn't even thought about how hard that must've been.
The first time he'd met Espio, he was just a kid fending for himself. No home, no friends, barely even speaking English. Even now, he almost never talked about his family, and when he did only in the most vague terms.
Maybe Vector and Charmy really were the only people he had.
"I won't leave you alone," Vector said. "I promise."
They sank to sitting on the edge of the sleeping mat. Espio's breathing slowly relaxed. He unclenched his arms from around Vector, pulling back. He coughed slightly.
"I'm fine. My apologies for the outburst."
Outburst. Right. Typical of him to think that was something to apologize for. But Vector didn't let go. "It's okay, Espio."
Espio's eyes widened, but the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. Vector had known him long enough to recognize his way of smiling without actually smiling. Espio settled back next to him. They sat there in silence, for just a bit allowing themselves to actually share a moment of connection.
Vector always made sure he consciously thought of Espio and Charmy as his coworkers, his team. That's what they were, right?
But the walls started to crack. For just a second, a different term flashed through his head.
My kids.
The thought was hard to blink away, especially with Espio all but snuggled against his side.
It wasn't long before Espio sank back into sleep. Vector wriggled down so he was lying on the sleeping mat, Espio laid sideways with his head resting on Vector's stomach. Vector closed his eyes.
He could probably shift him back onto the mat and sneak back to the couch to get whatever bit of sleep he could tonight. But he'd promised. He wasn't going to leave him alone.
At some point in the night, Vector stirred to the sensation of a fuzzy lump with tickly antenna wiggling its way into his arms. Half awake, he grinned and pulled Charmy up against his chest.
In the morning, everyone quietly untangled from each other. There was a silent consensus to never speak of it again. But the warm, familial feelings would persist for long afterwards.