Part 2 How Opposites Meet - Shadilver

Part 204

Espio sat down at the table with a cup of coffee to try stay awake and focused. He looked at the old picture he had taken from Silver as soon they had fallen asleep. He smiled weakly as he saw how happy Silver looked back in those days. So free, innocent and untouched, a child who was having a great childhood without any traumas. Not knowing yet what horrors they'd have to face.

He looked over at Silver who was fast asleep on the couch, hugging their plush tightly. He frowned as he wondered if Silver could ever again be as happy as they had been years ago.

He sighed and laid down the picture. He added the scan he had made the day before of the found fingerprints to his searching program, while he scrolled through the database and history research of the lab from eight years ago. He also searched for every hedgehog that ever worked at or entered the building.

The first fingerprint search led to nothing, which made Espio frown curiously. He knew that everyone who worked at the base got added to the database, and all this information was kept even when they weren't active anymore.

The second search also gave an error, which started to worry him. Even the national database couldn't find a match.

He rubbed his temples and took another painkiller. It was already 4 am and he still hadn't found anything that could get him further.

He made himself a cup of tea, as he was almost ready to call it a night. He felt disappointed, as he'd hoped to at least find something, maybe just a name, a picture, maybe a report from the lab where their parents had worked. It frustrated him that he hadn't gotten any closer at all. He took his cup of tea and went back to his laptop.

He took a sip when his laptop made a positive sound. Espio raised his eyebrows in surprise as he opened the corresponding program. He suddenly spit out his tea in surprise. "No way," He whispered.

_____

"You've been working all night again?" Silver asked sleepily. They rubbed their eyes and sat up on the couch. It was getting a bit lighter in the living room as the sun was slowly rising. The fireplace was dark as the fire had died hours ago.

Espio looked up, startled, as he'd completely forgotten the time while he was completely enveloped in his research. He quickly closed his laptop and gathered his research as he looked at the time.

"I'm sorry, it was not my intention to do so."

"It's okay, I know how important your job is," They said and stretched.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I think so," Silver said and stroked one of their cats, which was still asleep on their lap but started to softly purr.

Espio came over and kissed their forehead. "You want some tea?"

Silver nodded, "That would be nice."

During breakfast, Espio kept a close eye on Silver to make sure they would at least eat something. They still didn't have a big appetite, but they did eat half of an apple and a few bites of cornflakes.

They didn't say much as they were both lost in their thoughts. Espio often looked curiously towards them, wondering if any of his findings were true. He couldn't wait to find out. After freshening up, they made their way to school.

Silver went to the unisex restroom to change into their sports outfit and Espio went to the changing room where students were also getting changed. He got greeted by Shadow who was already changed. Espio looked around with a curious frown as not everyone was present yet.

"Didn't sleep again, I see?" Shadow said while Espio took off his sweater.

"I just can't sit still now that we are getting so close," Espio whispered so nobody else could hear him. "Did you find out anything more about the organisation?"