Marco glanced over at the chameleon, he seriously doubted that the information from the briefing was causing the usually most straight-laced member of their team to swear. He tried to follow Espio's gaze, but he doubted it was the floor either. A quick scan of the room however, revealed Shadow. Ah.

Without a word of explanation, Marco completely picked up the chameleon and held him in an iron-tight hug. If it'd been Blackbeard, would he have been able to restrain himself enough to wait to make sure that it was the "right" Blackbeard? Probably not, and aside from which, there was no good Blackbeard. Only a dead Blackbeard.

"Just don't go it alone," Marco quietly whispered as a reminder.

That had been Ace's downfall, and the downfall of the whole family in a way. Maybe if he'd never left Thatch's side... tch. Too many maybes and what ifs. He couldn't change the past, but he could learn from it.

"And he might be a different one."

Maybe. Not that it was any consolation. But Espio had a stronger conscience than Marco ever would.

Even so, he kept holding on. Just in case. And because murdering people in a crowded room of officials like this was a bad idea. And more importantly, Marco wanted to remind Espio he was still there for him, no matter what, even no matter how much Espio objected and kicked him in the face for it.