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Vector sits at his small desk, papers strewn across the surface, a calculator sitting in the corner. It’s that time of the month once again and bills need to be paid. Sure, The Chaotix had a good amount of cases this month, but he also knows that he’s already in deep shit with the landlord, and that if he doesn’t pay in full this month, their electricity is going to get cut.
He’s stressed, searching for anything in the filing cabinet that could help him out. Maybe there was a case they had neglected to document? Or possibly a bank statement that told Vector he had at least a few dollars in savings left?
Vector digs deep into the overflowing cabinet and comes across a mysterious folder, tucked into the back. He pulls it out, coughing as he does. Dang that thing was dirty. Vector wonders what it is. Hopefully it’s a secret wad of cash that they had somehow forgotten about.
He opens it, a large pile of pictures crashing down on the floor by his feet.
“Great, just what I needed.” Vector complains as he squats down to pick up the mess of dusty photographs. He did not have time for this today, bills were due at the end of the week and he was stressing on how tight their budget would be for the next month. Not to mention Charmy would need some sort of birthday present.
As he cleans up and puts the photos back into their original place, he notices one lone picture he had apparently missed. Picking it up he notices the date. This thing was from about a year and a half ago. Flipping it over he is nearly blinded by the bright smiles everyone has in it.
It’s just the three of them, Vector, Espio, and Charmy, sitting outside having some sort of makeshift picnic in the living room. The sun was shining through the windows, the natural light making the room feel golden and warm. Charmy was holding the camera, a wide toothy smile (literally, like one tooth) taking up most of his face. He held it up above himself like a selfie, He and Espio in the background, smiling and laughing with each other, unaware of the photo they were about to bomb. They all look so young.
Charmy was still missing most of his teeth, all except one. And the fuzz on his head was incredibly short. Vector wasn’t sure why he didn’t have his helmet on, he probably got onto the bee once he noticed afterwards. Charmy really has grown up a lot in the past year, his fuzz much longer, almost to the point of reaching his eyes nowadays. And he had many of his adult teeth in, still missing a few, but not nearly as many as before. And he looks much healthier now. At the time this picture was taken, Charmy had only been living with them for six months, but now the scrawny street look has all but vanished now that Vector thinks about it.
Espio looks a bit scrawny too, but much healthier looking than his younger counterpart. And he’s grown to be a bit stockier in the present as well, now that Vector thinks about it. And he’s smiling. Sure Espio still smiles on occasion, but to get it on camera? That’s basically gold. He’ll have to show the chameleon once he gets done meditating. He also notices that Espio’s purple is a bit darker in the photo. It could be the lighting, but Vector knows he has taken on a substantially lighter hue in recent months.
Then Vector looks to himself. The large bright green crocodile holds his stomach, mouth open wide in laughter, frozen in time. The chain around his neck holds a new sheen to it, being much newer at the time. Vector looks down at the necklace he still wears nearly everyday. It’s lost some of it’s shine in the past year, surface scratched and slightly rusted. He needs to get it cleaned, probably. Though his scales look a bit brighter in the picture as well. It could just be the lighting of the photo again, but Vector looks down at his arms and notices how dull they’ve gotten. Guess the world can do that to a guy who’s been through the ringer. The thing that gets him the most, again, is how young he looked then. Sure a lot can change in a year, but did he really look that young before? It’s hard to imagine, even if the evidence is staring directly at you.
Suddenly, he resents the image of himself. Charmy and Espio look happy in the photo, and Vector has seen their growth as they have developed into incredibly smart detectives, loving friends, and happier individuals. But Vector doesn’t see the same development reflected in himself. He feels the aching bones, the tightness in his chest, the dark bags under his eyes, and only feels bitter. He was only twenty now! Hell, he was practically still a kid!
A kid who had to shoulder the world in a way no kid should, and that’s when it hits him. Maybe he’s still growing, still learning. Maybe he looks older than his years and has dealt with more stress in his short life than most adults ever even experience. But he’s still here, still kicking. And sure, right now he feels weird about it, but later, when Espio and Charmy come down stairs for dinner, he’ll remember why he’s doing all this in the first place. Because he loves them, and no matter what happens. Whether it be good days with solved cases and ice cream in the afternoon, or bad days with bills to pay and stress that amounts, he still loves them.
It’s crazy to see how old they’ve all gotten. The picture, a strong reminder of what once was. But it also serves as a way to see how far they’ve come in just the past year and a half. At this Vector smiles softly to himself. They all really have come so far. And he couldn’t be prouder of his boys.
Tucking the photograph into his glove, he stands, stretching his back as he does so. It crackles loudly.
“Woo man, I needed that!” Vector states, moving to head into the kitchen and start preparing dinner. He pauses and turns back around, eyeing the stack of still unknown photos, hidden within that file. He grabs it before he leaves his office. He’s gotta know what other pictures and inside that thing.
After all, his family is full of detectives, and this mystery is one worth solving.