Chapter Text
Agent Stone loved the doctor. It didn’t take much to see that.
Agent Stone was the best of the best in more places than one, although it's easy to forget that when the agent was answering emails and making coffee for the doctor day in and day out.
As Stone stood in the small kitchen of the remote lab, he thought back to before he was assigned to the doctor. He was a master of combat, having joined the military straight out of college. He told himself that he only joined because they would pay for his education, but perhaps a small part of it was the thrill of battle.
He couldn't help but miss some of the action he faced when out on active duty. He could let his mind drift into a primal state, the worries of the world drifting away to focus on survival. He missed those spikes of adrenaline when he was sitting in the trenches of a war zone, bullets flying as the blood of his allies and enemies stained his clothes. When he would sneak through enemy lines and take out dozens with a multitude of strategies. Stone had to admit, combat was simply written in his DNA.
Now, this isn’t to say the doctor bored him, quite the opposite actually. Robotnik gave Stone adrenaline rushes in different ways. Having him pin himself to the wall while he spat insult after insult, trying and failing to break the agent’s composure. After so many years of duty, being pinned and degraded was nothing new. The doctor’s perfectly smooth egg shaped killing machines on the other hand, well, that took some getting used to.
The Doctor’s machines, or “badniks” as he called them, are Robotnik’s pride and joy. Stone has seen the Doctor patting them and whispering praise on several occasions. They truly are his babies, his prized possessions. Stone secretly wishes that Robotnik would treat him like that sometimes.
The hum of the coffee machine snapped him out of his little reflection. Adding the steamed goat’s milk and pouring the latte into a go cup, he smiled softly as he drew a smiley face in the foam. Stone wasn’t sure if Robotnik was aware of Stone’s foam art, but he figured not. Robotnik never bothered to look at the cup half the time, opting to chug half of it before getting back to work on whatever he was cramming his schedule with that week.
Smoothing out his jacket, he grabbed the cup and headed towards the main lab. Walking in, he found the doctor in the same position he was in when he left. He could only sigh as he looked at the Doctor hunched over tinkering away at some new badnik prototype. Stone knew Robotnik was going to complain about his back later, despite Stone telling him on multiple occasions that it’s his posture.
“Doctor, I have your latte.”
Robotnik grunted, waving carelessly towards an open-ish spot next to him. Stone set down the drink, walking to his small work area in the corner of the lab. While he wasn't a huge fan of the paperwork and emails, it gave him an excuse to sit and watch the doctor work all day without seeming weird.
The doctor was so passionate and animated. Stone loved analyzing the smaller details of Robotnik's body language. Like the way he would cross his left two fingers when he typed, the slight twitch of his nose right before he took the first sip of his latte, how his eye would subtly twitch when he was stuck on something. It was all so… perfect. Stone saw no flaws in his doctor, or rather he turned a blind eye to most of them. He felt honored to be able to witness Robotnik's genius, and even more honored that he sometimes gets to help, even if it is just passing Robotnik tools while he complains about one thing or another.
Stone liked those helping hand kind of days. He would stand at Robotnik's side, passing him the tools he requested, humming along to the doctor's rants. Occasionally he would chime in with his own opinions, but he chose them carefully, trying to avoid turning any of that annoyance onto him.
Stone stared down at his hand, making a fist a few times as he remembered the ghost of the touches he and Robotnik had shared before. Whether that be while passing something over, a tool, a latte, a file, or whatever else was exchanged. Stone quietly sighed, unbuttoning his jacket and pulling up several holo screens, all filled with useless government emails. It was mind numbing, so mind numbing in fact that Stone is surprised it isn't used as a torture method in the government. Maybe it is, and Stone is the most oblivious prisoner yet.
The rest of the evening was quiet. Stone finished his work an hour early, and Robotnik dismissed him pretty quickly, mumbling about him being a distraction. Stone simply smiled to himself as he collected his things, bidding good night to the doctor as he left.
Stone wasn’t used to getting off at a decent time. Robotnik often worked him to the bone, sometimes keeping Stone there for days at a time, only allowing small half hour naps just to make sure Stone was able to function enough to help. Climbing into his car, he decided to treat himself to dinner. He debated for a moment to see if the Doctor wanted to come with, already knowing the answer would certainly be no. Well, a man could dream.
Stone reached for his phone to see what restaurants are within a reasonable distance when he realized he had forgotten it back in the lab. Sighing, he unbuckled his seat and headed back towards the entrance. That’s when he noticed something odd. The door to the lab was half open, a brick of some sort being wedged in there to stop it from closing.
Stone felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand as he drew his gun, crouching down into the brush a bit. The sun was setting at this point, casting the lab in a dim golden glow while also conveniently backlighting him, helping him hide better. Listening carefully, he heard several voices coming from inside. Shouting, harsh laughter, it was all red flags.
Stone felt the familiar thump of his heart against his ribs as he moved to the side of the lab, picking up a rock and tossing it at the front. He put his gun in its holder before pulling out the knife he kept on his thigh. He figured a silent approach would be a better start. The voices went quiet before footsteps approached the door. He waited with baited breath as a figure stepped out, looking around.
Stone moved fast. The minute their head was turned away, he moved and grabbed them, one hand over their mouth in a choke hold when the other pressed the knife up to their face. That’s when it settled in, the rush of mind numbing adrenaline washed over him and he shushed the intruder and dragged them around the corner. Voice low and quiet, he leaned into their ear a bit.
“You get one chance to talk. If you scream, I’ll cut out your tongue. Understood?”
The person nodded, shaking a bit. Stone thought it was pathetic.
“How many of you are here?”
Stone carefully removed his hand from their mouth, ready to silence them in the blink of an eye.
“Like I would ever tell you” the person spat, trying to seem intimidating. Stone covered their mouth and shoved the blade into their thigh, trying his best to muffle their screams.
“Let’s try that again. How many of you are here?”
“Fuck! Three!”
“What are you here for?”
The intruder grit their teeth, struggling a bit in Stone’s grasp. Stone simply covered his mouth again and twisted the knife, blood pouring out of the wound and draining into the pavement below. The intruder let out another scream, this time sounding more like a sob towards the end. They didn’t wait for Stone to remove his hand before they spoke.
“We’re here to take the doctor”
That’s all Stone needed to hear. Pulling the knife out of their leg, he grabbed the intruder's hair and tugged it back, slicing across their throat in a swift calculated motion. Dropping the person, he left them to bleed out, knowing they wouldn’t be making any sounds other than gurgling out for help, a rather silent act.
He could feel it now, the heightened senses, the bloodlust, the cold calculated thought process that told him to kill . It was like a drug to Stone, he couldn’t get enough.
Slinking inside the lab, he took a quick scan of the area. The badniks were powered down and tucked away in their charging ports. One was missing, weird. If it was in the doctor’s possession, he wouldn’t need to be here. Peaking into the main lab, he found what he was looking for. Two men, one that was picking apart the missing badnik with no sense of hazard, and another, presumably the leader, who held Robotnik’s gloves in his hand while the other held a gun to the Doctor’s head.
Stone put his knife back, drawing his gun instead. It was dark in the badnik’s charging room, something he was thankful for right now. Looking around, he found a loose screw and threw it at the tampering one, drawing his attention.
“What the- hey, who’s there?”
Robotnik scoffed, rolling his eyes dramatically.
“What, do you think someone is gonna reveal themselves just because you asked? You are the worst criminals I have ever been held hostage by.”
The big one grunted, pressing the gun against his temple a little harder.
“Shut up, you government dog. You, go check out that room again. Perhaps the bots have awoken.”
The small one nodded, heading into the bot room. Two steps in, Stone slammed his gun onto the back of the intruder's head, making him shout and stumble forward. Stone moved quickly, grabbing the sides of the criminal’s head and twisting it sharply to the right, a loud crack echoing throughout the room. Dropping the now suffocating man, he didn’t bother to hide anymore as he walked into the next room, gun drawn and ready to fire.
The large man looked surprised, mouth slightly opened. Robotnik was also a little shocked, seeing his agent casually walk in covered in blood that clearly wasn’t his. Robotnik took a second to assess Stone a little more before the action started. His breath was silent, his chest barely moving as he stared unblinking at his captor. The calm, cheery agent he knew was long gone here, a cold, calculated soldier standing in his place. Somehow, Stone’s eyes had dulled and darkened, Robotnik decided to blame the lighting.
This. This was agent Stone. The top ranked soldier with two dozen medals and a stack of redacted folders under his name. This is the agent the government had so lovingly beaten into submission. The agent that once endured months of torture and never even cracked. The marksmen who never missed unless he wanted to.
Growing impatient, the doctor finally snapped.
“Agent Stone, enough dilly dally. Save me already. I have work to do and I'd rather not waste any more of my precious time on this waste of space that calls himself a criminal.”
Robotnik hissed as the large man grabbed him by the hair, tugging his head back. Before any words were spoken, two gunshots rang out. Robotnik was released, hunching forward and sucking in a wounded breath. He wasn’t shot, but someone definitely had been.
Stone was across the room in a second, straddling the captor and started throwing punches. As Stone started to dissociate, he felt his mind drift away from his body, watching himself throw punch after punch at the man. What was happening? Stone was never this messy, opting for fast, quick kills. He felt something else thumping next to his heart. A new emotion, one he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Possessiveness.
Stone couldn’t help but flinch at the sounds that echoed through the lab. The man was attempting to plead, but was choking on his own blood. His lips were busted, nose clearly broken, blood vessels in his right eye completely burst. Looking closer, Stone could see that his own knuckles had broken open, only adding to the bloodbath now pooling on the floor of the lab.
“-ne?”
How long had it been since he had fought so… savagely?
“-tone!”
Now he wanted to take control back, get some better, sloppier hits on the guy.
“Agent Stone!”
Robotnik pulled the agent back by his shoulders, effectively throwing him back into his own body, the pain and exhaustion settling in agonizingly fast.
“Doctor, are you hurt?”
Stone internally winced at his tone of voice, still a bit cold and apathetic. Robotnik huffed, looking over his agent’s face for something, Stone wasn’t sure what.
“I’m fine. Stone, what the HELL was that?” Robotnik talked through gritted teeth, gesturing towards the bloody corpse on the floor behind them.
Stone felt a wave of guilt wash over him.
“I… apologize for the mess, doctor. I will see to it immediately.”
Stone went to stand up, but Robotnik kept his hands on his shoulders, forcing him back down.
“Stone.”
“Doctor.”
“You’re hurt.”
Stone was silent for a few seconds, not breaking eye contact with the doctor as he flexed his hands a bit, feeling the cold air of the lab hit his fresh wounds.
“I'll make sure to clean and bandage these properly, they will not affect my day to day performance, sir.”
“Sir? Don’t ‘sir’ me right now, Stone. You just got shot and then beat a man to death while yelling insults that made no bloody sense.”
Yelling? Stone didn’t remember yelling. He remembered beating the guy, but he was looking at the scene from behind. Wait. He was shot?
“Stone, stay with me now. I refuse to have another body to deal with.”
Stone found himself blinking slowly, the wave of nausea hitting him like a truck as he sat back on his feet, bringing a hand up to his side. He felt his own blood gush out of the wound, silently thankful he couldn’t feel it yet. He was growing tired, the room getting darker. He could feel the doctor shaking him, his mouth moving, but Stone couldn’t hear him. He let himself drift into the peace of unconsciousness, knowing the doctor was safe.
.
.
.
Passing out was a lot easier than waking up. Hurt a hell of a lot more, too. Stone groaned as he tried to sit up, only to flop back down as the pain in his side punched him in the gut. It was far too bright in the room, he could feel the headache starting to form behind his eyes as he looked around.
He was in the doctor’s bedroom. Stone had only seen it once by accident. It’s hidden away behind a series of locked doors with complex codes to each one for maximum security. Stone never imagined this is how he would end up here.
In the corner of the room, Robotnik was passed out in a loveseat, bent awkwardly in order to fit his long limbs halfway onto the furniture. Stone felt more at ease knowing the doctor was present and okay. He took a moment to assess his own body. Looking at his hands, he found an I.V. hooked up to his right forearm, a mixture of fluids and pain medication being pumped into him. His knuckles were bandaged. By the feel of them, they had been scabbed for at least a day or so. Peeking under the blankets, he was in a T-shirt and boxers, his abdomen heavily bandaged.
Stone heard a little beep. Looking up, he saw a badnik with a red cross on its side. A medical badnik, how cute. The bot beeped a few times as it scanned over him, checking his vitals before going over to the doctor and bumping into him a few times. Stone felt a strange tug at his chest as the doctor stirred, grumbling at the bot to go away and let him sleep. Stone chuckled, the sound alerting Robotnik who immediately stood up at lightning speed and knelt down at Stone’s- Robotnik’s?- bedside.
“Stone, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
“I’m alright, doctor, it’s okay.”
“Okay?? Stone, you were shot! You nearly died in my arms no 48 hours ago. You’re lucky the medical badniks are quick to wake up.”
Stone only hummed, rolling his head towards the doctor with sleepy eyes. Robotnik looked exhausted. His hair was a mess, he clearly hadn’t showered, and his mustache was messy, having clearly been tugged at. Robotnik lowered his head, avoiding eye contact as he mumbled.
“You could’ve died, Stone.”
“I know.”
Robotnik’s hand twitched, his breathing uneven.
“You… you should’ve died.”
“I had full faith in you, doctor. Besides…” Stone gently put his hand down next to Robotnik’s, letting his pinky rest on top of the doctors, “I would gladly lay my life down for you.”
Robotnik looked up and sneered at the agent, but didn’t move his hand.
“You imbicile, you absolute moron, you idiotic- ugh! When did I ever give you permission to die?”
“Uh, what? Sir-”
“Agent, when have I ever said that it would be okay to be killed?”
“Never, sir. But-”
“THEN WHY DID YOU TRY?”
The room fell silent as Robotnik hung his head, resting it against the bed in defeat. He was tired, having worried about the agent for two days now. He hasn’t been able to focus, passing the time by obsessively checking Stone’s vitals every ten minutes to make sure he was still breathing.
“Doctor, I…” Stone made a brave move and grabbed Robotnik’s hand, ignoring the burn of one of his wounds reopening with the movement. “I never intended to die, sir. I would never want to leave you alone like that.”
Robotnik said nothing as he stood up, starting to walk away. Stone went to sit up to talk but Robotnik held up his finger, silently telling him to wait. He walked around to the other side of the bed, toeing off his shoes he climbed into bed, staring at the ceiling. Stone opened his arm as an invitation, and to his shock, Robotnik scooched over and curled into the agent’s good side. Stone felt that tug at his heart again as he rested his head on top of the doctor’s.
“Agent?”
“Yes, doctor?”
“Don’t die… please.”
Stone smiled, snuggling a little closer to the doctor and closing his eyes as the lights in the room dimmed significantly. Glancing at the medical bot in the corner of the room, it gave a knowing nod-like gesture towards him.
“I won’t let you down, sir.”
As Stone started to drift off, he could feel Robotnik move his head onto his chest, relaxing at the sound of his heartbeat. He felt the doctor lightly pat his chest, humming softly. The last thing Stone heard was Robotnik mumbling a soft praise to him, one he was not intended to truly hear.
“Thank you for saving me, Stone… I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Stone hugged the doctor close as he peacefully drifted off. The doctor was safe, and to Stone, that’s all that mattered. However, going forward he’ll have to be more mindful about his own safety. It seems his safety is now vital to the doctor’s. It was now clear to Stone that the two needed each other to keep going. Stone had barged into Robotnik’s life and set himself there as a helpful hand. Now he was a part of Robotnik’s life, and Stone couldn’t be happier.
Agent Stone truly did love his doctor.