Work Text:
What can I change in the direction of flight,
In the curvature of the trajectories, in the mad pupils of the pilot.
In a strange confluence of fates, in an even number of lilies,
What can I add to the gray dust cloud.
If suddenly a blast wave will interrupt our dreams,
If it will cross out our plans.
What if I won't have time to tell you
About the most important thing.
Fleur — Blast Wave
(my translation of the lyrics of a song by the Russian music band - Fleur - Взрывная волна)
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"I've missed you, Stone."
The agent decides that he misheard, while he is still trying to recover and catch his breath after a few punches from the doctor, so he decides to ask again.
"Sorry, what?"
"Did something happen to your hearing while I was gone, sycophant?" - Robotnik chuckles, taking another sip from a latte, without taking his eyes off the agent, so that Stone can see the sly wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. Okay, so the doctor is teasing him rather than being angry. — "I said, thank you for reminding me that I've never met my mother."
"That's not what I'm talking about..." — Stone swallows a little nervously, not wanting to delve into a dangerous topic that the scientist is clearly provoking him to, but the agent does not want to risk it now, because he desperately needs to find out if he really did heard what he heard. With his heart pounding with excitement, he still decides to clarify.
"Before that line. Could you maybe repeat that? The thing you said before?.. Please?"
The doctor is in no hurry to answer, smiling wryly and taking another very slow sip from the cup. It becomes clear that he understands perfectly well what is going on, but the torment of the agent gives him pleasure. — "Hmm, what exactly?" - he makes a fake frown, pretending to remember. — "That I missed my beloved punching bag while I was searching for a way home from another dimension?"
The lack of air after being poked in the gut is nothing compared to how Stone chokes after these words. Completely forgetting that he needs to breathe at all, he looks at the still grinning doctor with his eyes wide open. The other man is clearly amused by such a stupor of the agent, and he continues, openly smiling already: — "What? What are you staring at? Does it surprise you that I was homesick? Believe it or not, when you have only mushrooms and rocks to talk with for eight months, that makes you start to appreciate some things…"
"I... It's just... But you said..." - Stone clears his throat, unsuccessfully trying to swallow the lump formed in his throat, and smiles a little crazy and embarrassed smile. — "It's just you always said you won't miss when…"
"Oh, so sometimes you actually did listen to what I was saying." — Robotnik defiantly rolls his eyes, setting the empty cup aside. — "So what do you want from me now, smart guy, a reward for a good memory?"
"No. No, I'm just..." - Stone lets out a nervous laugh and rubs his neck with his hand, shaking his head in disbelief. Then he looks up at the scientist with warmth and smiles. — "I'm just really glad that you're home." — Robotnik does not comment it in any way, continuing to look at the agent with a slightly condescending smile, crossing his arms over his chest. Stone barely takes his eyes off him and looks around the space of the coffee shop/secret lair around them. — "Although, this place can hardly be called home… I tried to restore at least a part of what was there in the lab. I wish I could have done more…"
"Although it flatters me that you think that I am so attached to my work that I consider the lab my home, but this is not truly the point." — the doctor sees the puzzled look of the agent and continues, sighing, demonstrating feigned irritation at the fact that he is forced to explain the obvious things. — "You see, in my case, the definition of such a primitive concept as "home" is somewhat more complicated and implies not a certain place, but rather... a certain person."
Stone's head starts to spin slightly, and colored dots flash before his eyes while he unsuccessfully tries to take a breath and wrap his head around what was just said.
"Hey, hey, are you going to faint or something?" — the doctor suddenly appears next to Stone and significantly slaps him on the cheeks a couple of times. — "Come on, breathe in, breathe out! Sure, I realize that I am irresistible and make a strong impression, but not to such point..." — the doctor takes a step back when he sees that the agent is recovering a little and his gaze becomes conscious again. — "Well? What kind of reaction was that, agent? Explain yourself!"
"I... I, I, I... I'm sorry, I just..." — Stone takes a deep breath and exhales, clenches his fists, and finally, completely pulls himself together, his tone becomes confident and professional again. — "Forgive me my emotions, doctor, it's just that I haven't seen you for so long… I still can't quite believe you're really here. It's still hard to believe that this is all real, that it's not another dream, after which I will wake up and realize that I am still alone and still don't know where you are... But now you're here and you're saying such things.. which go somewhat against what you said before all this, and it's just… Just a little too much for me, sorry."
"Enough with apologies for today." — the doctor waves him off. — "Okay, I admit it, that statement could sound somewhat shocking from someone like me, given it... sentimentality..." - He winces at the word and turns away from Stone with a shrug. — "But nevertheless, I'm not going to take it back." — after these words, the scientist suddenly abruptly turns back to the agent and begins to drill him with an even closer look. — "To be honest, I expected a bit different reaction from you. I thought my confession would be flattering for you, you'd start jumping with joy and beaming with your trademark idiotic smile…"
"Huh, yeah, sorry.. I mean..." - Stone cuts himself off under the doctor's displeased gaze when he finds himself apologizing again. — "That is, I want to say that I'm glad, really, and extremely flattered, it was just unexpected, that's all."
"Hmm.." — Robotnik sing songs in response, thoughtfully twirling his mustache with two fingers and looking down at him, slightly squinting his eyes, as if doubting whether to believe this statement or not. - "Something have changed in you, Stone." — he says it without any emotional connotation, just a matter of fact.
Stone quickly shakes his head negatively and hurries to explain. - "Not exactly, sir. I can assure you, my attitude to this job, to the position of your assistant, as well as to... you personally, has not changed a bit." - he smiles a rather bitter smile. — "As for myself… Well, you're probably right. A lot of things happened during this time and this... forced separation from you hit me really hard. Probably it's that I had to pretend for too long to be someone else, to suppress my real feelings, covering them with a friendly smile, so that none of these primitive citizens would know what I was hiding here." — Stone takes a convulsive breath through his nose, again unconsciously clenching his hands into fists and looks at the floor with a glassy stare. — "I knew why I was doing it, and I don't regret anything, but sometimes it all became just too much. Sometimes it got me and I almost gave up on all hope. Sometimes I just wanted to..." - he forcefully closes his eyes when the sensations from that moments roll over him like a wave, causing an attack of nausea. — "...just to blow up this fucking city with all its stupid, overly cheerful rural imbeciles to hell, and myself along with it… If only it would all be over." — Stone realizes that he finishes the last sentence in a muffled whisper from the fact that he says it into other man's shoulder.
He freezes, his whole body seems to be paralyzed, while his brain is chaotically trying to realize that what is happening at the moment is true. It's true, the doctor is really hugging him right now, putting his arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer, putting his head on top of his head. This position is so comfortable and feels so right, as if they have always done so. As if that's how it should be. — "It is over now." — the agent hears a low, confident whisper in response, feels the other's breath in his hair. — "It's already over, do you hear me? I'm here." - Stone closes his eyes even harder, afraid that if he opens them, the vision will disappear and everything will turn out to be a dream. He presses his face harder into other's shoulder, and hesitantly hugs the man around the waist, making a strangled sob and biting his lower lip to blood, in an attempt to restrain the ongoing breakdown. — "Okay, that's it, that's it, calm down... Just listen to me carefully, okay? This little, smelly shit of a town has already taken too much from me, and I'm not going to let them take my only one.. uhh.. assistant as well. Is that clear? So, come on, get your shit together and bring my trusty, annoying, hyperactive sycophant back, wherever he is. Because I'm here, and I need you here, too. Is that clear?" — Robotnik gently removes the agent from himself, holding him by the shoulders at arm's length. Stone just nods, still unable to speak, smiles weakly and blinks quickly several times, trying to imperceptibly get rid of the moisture in the conor of his eyes, while his boss mercifully ignores it. — "Great. And now get back to work, we have an alien to catch, and people to take revenge on."
Eventually, they return to their usual pace again, synchronizing with each other and restoring the working atmosphere that has always been between them. The doctor's in the chair in front of the holo-screen, programming codes, making projections and tracking systems, and Stone helping out as always, facing the other screen, finishes monotonous codes, cleans up traces and manages to serve coffee in time. During one of these coffee pauses, while the agent is conjuring with a coffeemaker at the bar, he continues to reflect on what has remained unspoken.
Maybe now is the right time? After what had just happened, after what he had heard. Maybe this is the chance he's been waiting for for so long? But what if it ruins everything? What if he's wrong, what if the doctor will be mad at his another display of emotion, what if it offends him so much that he just kicks the agent out for good?.. — Ouch! Damn it... — too immersed in his contradictory thoughts, Stone almost scalds his hand with boiling water, but manages to pull it away at the very last moment, so that only a couple of drops fall on his skin. Okay, enough with it, he needs to focus and stop panicking. He needs to assess his chances sensibly. Maybe it's not that bad. If the doctor didn't kick him out after such an emotional breakdown, maybe he will treat his other revelation with leniency.…
Stone picks up a cup of freshly brewed latte with hearts on coffee foam, exhales sharply, gathering his courage and trying to calm his pounding heart, and returns back to the lair. He puts the cup in front of the scientist and stands behind him, looking at his back and clasping his hands in front of him. He watches Robotnik grunting approvingly as a sign that he has noticed the drink, takes a cup and takes a sip, without looking out from the screen and typing commands at breakneck speed, and the agent's heart squeezes with aching tenderness because of this painfully familiar sight. Is this what the doctor meant when he spoke about the definition of "home"? Stone takes another short breath and decides. It's now or never.
"Doctor."
"Mhm?"
"There's something else I need to tell you. Something important."
"Well? And?" — after a short pause, Robotnik asks again with irritation, still continuing to work in ten simultaneously open programs. — "Will something follow this, or?.."
"That is… You see, it's not really…"
"What are you mumbling about, Stone? Speak normally already, what else is there? Have the Pentagon unicellulars cut us off from something else vital?"
"No. You see, it's more personal, and I'm afraid that you… I don't want there to be a misunderstanding, or..." - Stone rolls his eyes and mentally berates himself for not being able to pull himself together. - "Doctor, could you look at me? Please..." — the agent wants to scream in despair when he hears how pathetic his trembling voice sounds.
But nevertheless, it works, Robotnik turns to him and raises an eyebrow in surprise. And perhaps Stone is deceiving himself and sees what he wants to see, but it seems to him that something flashes in the scientist's gaze, that is very much similar to... worry.
"I'm... sorry to interrupt, but this is really important to me." — the agent continues a little more confidently, now that all the doctor's attention is focused on him. It's too late to retreat, he has to do it. — "And I'm afraid that I may not get a chance to do it later, I've been dragging this out for too long. And if something happens.. again, if something goes wrong… I want you to know. I don't want to regret anything, I don't want to think, what would it be like, if I lose everything again... and won't have time to tell you about the most important thing."
The Doctor continues to look at him with a mixture of surprise and growing irritation. He opens his mouth to reply, probably something ironic, but he is abruptly cut off.
The door to the utility room opens with a bang and an alien echidna appears from there with an irritated growl. — "How long are we gonna wait? I'm tired of waiting." — he turns to the doctor, clenching his hands into fists in anger. - "Nothing happens on that little magic map you gave me! The blue dot only flashes and does not move from its place! I'm a warrior, I'm not used to waiting! When will we start acting already?"
"You..." — the scientist is already beginning to respond to his forced ally, intending to put him in his place, when he hears a quiet outburst behind himself, the agent speaking through his teeth, with barely restrained rage, — "Damn porcupine, may you fail..." — the doctor grins slightly and continues, — "You will do exactly what I said, as long as it will be necessary if you still want to find and catch our common enemy." — Robotnik quickly raises his index finger in front of the echidna's nose, warning all his objections and forcing him to listen further. — "Answer me, my impatient friend, how long have you been, I remind you, completely to no avail, looking for that blue thick-headed hedgehog? Exactly… So if you really want to catch him and take your revenge, I advise you to trust the genius, continue to fulfill your task and keep quiet." — the doctor waves his hands at the disgruntled, but silently puffing Knuckles, indicating with this gesture that it's time for him to go back to the back room. — "That's it, shoo, you have an extremely important mission, surveillance, intelligence and everything like that. Go and keep an eye on that blue dot on the magic map and don't you even dare to distract me from doing my job anymore."
When the door closes behind the echidna, Robotnik rolls his eyes, shakes his head and turns back to Stone, who, with his arms crossed on his chest, watches the alien go with a heavy look from under his eyebrows. — "So, that tablet you gave him does not show the real location of the alien and is intended more for distraction, I presume?"
"That's right, a very astute observation, Agent." — Robotnik grunts in response, looking up at him, swaying slightly from side to side in his chair and connecting his fingers in front of him.
"Why?"
"Would you prefer him to get in the way here?"
"No, I mean, why would you need him at all? He's about as useful as a dug-up body."
"I'll explain later." — the doctor responds and abruptly gets up from the chair, in one smooth movement getting next to the agent, leaning towards his face and looming threateningly over him. — "Let's get back to where we were interrupted. Was there something you wanted to say?"
Stone has all thoughts and discontent instantly evaporate from his head, this sudden closeness makes him feel light-headed and nervous at the same time. — "There was... yes, I wanted to say..." — the agent swallows hard, trying to gather the remnants of courage under this piercing gaze, remembering that he was about to sign his death sentence. — "Doctor, I…"
"I suggest you to hurry up with it, I don't have the whole time in the world. I'll give you three seconds to finally speak up. Well, what is there so vital, or even, how did you say?.. the most important thing? So, last chance, or I'm going back to work. Three... two…"
"I love you."
The line hangs in the air, in the ringing silence between them. Stone, who had his eyes tightly shut while he uttered it in a quick whisper, listens for a couple of moments, but nothing happens. After making sure that he probably won't be incinerated right now, the agent risks opening one eye. The Doctor is still standing over him in the same position, with an unreadable expression on his face. Stone takes a convulsive breath and repeats again more slowly, and more confidently, there is nothing left to lose. — "I... love…"
"I heard it the first time, there's no need to repeat yourself." — the doctor cuts him off sharply and with irritation, and the agent immediately shuts up, dreading his fate. Robotnik peers into his face, as if looking for something there, running his tenacious eyes over his face, studying and analyzing, but it seems that he does not find what he was looking for, so he frowns with displeasure. — "Well? What's next? What comes with it?"
Stone's eyes widen even more in surprise, he silently opens and closes his mouth, like a fish stranded on the shore, not knowing what to say.
"Well, so what? Go on, Stone, why did you stop?" — the doctor asks with increasing anger. — "What should follow this? Let me guess, something like: "I love you, but I'm sick of it all"? Or: "I love you, but this is all too much, I didn't sign up for this, so I guess I'd rather go"?
"What?! No!" - Stone gasps in shock, surprise, and outrage. — "No, of course not! I didn't mean to say anything like that, it's just… That's all."
"That's all?.." - Robotnik looks at him with a condescending, incredulous smile.
"Yes, Doctor, that's all." - Stone answers softly, but firmly and confidently. — "Nothing comes with it, it's just… I know it doesn't mean much to you... But I had to say it, I need you to know."
"Wait a minute..." — now Robotnik pulls back a little, continuing to look down at Stone with a suspicious squint. He is only now beginning to understand what such a reaction from his agent could mean. — "...you mean… You thought I didn't know?! Seriously?" — Stone does not answer, continuing to look at him in complete confusion. — "Nooo… This can't be true, are you kidding me, Stone? You thought… God, what kind of an imbecile do you take me for, Agent, if you think I could have missed such an obvious fact?!" — during his tirade, the doctor switches to shouting, finally pulling away from him, taking two steps back and putting his hands behind his back. - "Answer the question, Stone! Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"N-no, sir, of course not, I just… I thought… I was sure that..." — Stone is frantically trying to overcome his shock and find the right words. — "I was sure that you would kill me or kick me out, if I confess my feelings. You know because… You hate people and their feelings, emotions and all that."
"That is absolutely correct and absolutely WRONG, sycophant!" — Robotnik answers, leaning his back on the table behind him, wrapping one arm across his chest, bringing the other to his face and massaging his eyes, sighing heavily from the fact that he has to explain the obvious things again. - "How many years have you been working for me, Stone? So, do you think that during all this time I would not have been able to notice your puppy devotion and fascination? Your obsession? Pfft, if you seen yourself as a master of disguise, I have to disappoint you, you were pretty much obvious with your hearts on the coffee foam and in your eyes." — the doctor looks at him with a smirk, and the agent turns away, blushing and weakly smiling back with an embarrassed smile, unable to bear his piercing gaze right now. The Doctor shakes his head. - "Damn it, you really didn't know, did you?.. Yes, of course, I can't stand people, society and it's typical demonstration of something as primitive as human emotions, but haven't you realized in all this time, that I put you a little higher than the rest of the brainless herd of sheep calling themselves humanity?"
"I... really?.."
The Doctor rolls his eyes again. — "Stone, one more such question, and I will be completely disappointed in you. It seemed to me that I was very straightforward in this matter, didn't you learn my manifesto by heart, in which I call you practically a genius in plain text? To be honest, I was sure that we were both above such a banal ritual as confessing our feelings…"
"Our.. feelings?.." - Stone asks in a low whisper on the exhale, and now it's Robotnik's turn to look at him in surprise.
"Don't tell me you expect me to say it out loud, too."
"No, of course not." - Stone lets out a nervous laugh and waves his head negatively. — "I am well aware that you have nothing to say out loud. Of course, I don't expect you to respond to my feelings, it's more than enough for me that you know about them, and I'm still alive and still here. I'm sorry I thought you wouldn't notice that crush of mine, it was unimaginably stupid of me to think that a genius like you…"
"Stone…"
"...won't notice such obvious things, I don't know what I was thinking…"
"STONE! Stop, shut up, finita, halt den Mund, basta!" — Robotnik waves his hands in front of his face, trying in every possible way to stop the verbal flow of the agent.
The other obediently falls silent, looking at the doctor with resignation, waiting for a reprimand for his stupidity.
"Stone." — says Robotnik much quieter, coming closer again, frowning and looking at the agent more closely, as if he sees him for the first time. — "Okay, so, maybe I have overestimated your abilities a little, Agent, as well as our similarity." - He notices Stone's eyebrows rising up in surprise and explains. — "Yes, Stone, I think that we are similar. You, pretty much like me, differ from the gray mass of people with your extraordinary intellect and intolerance for idiots and their strange sentimental customs. But, as it turned out, I had misjudged a little about the latter..." — at these words, the agent winces slightly, closes his eyes and turns away. He hates being a disappointment to the doctor. But suddenly Robotnik forcefully squeezes his chin and sharply turns his head back to himself, forcing him to look into his eyes again. — "I thought that the nature of our long-term mutually beneficial cooperation was crystal clear to both of us, but since it wasn't… Then you should listen carefully and remember what I will say. Because I definitely won't make such statements twice. Is that clear?" - Stone obediently gives him a brief nod, as far as the firm grip on his jaw allows, and forces himself to breathe again, one more time feeling the lack of oxygen because of pure shock. — "Good. You should know that you are absolutely invaluable to me, as well as everything you do here. And I know the reason why you're doing all this and staying by my side even now, when officially you are no longer my assistant. You should also understand, that exactly for the same reason I do not refuse your services and am spelling this all out for you now instead of kicking you out right away and forgetting about your existence... Also for the same reason I gave you my manifesto and my inventions, do you really think I would entrust my babies to someone I don't give a shit about? You know all, literally ALL of my passwords and codes, Stone, I am well aware that at any moment, if it suddenly gets into your head, you can turn my own weapon against me, but at the same time, I know for sure that you will never do that. And we both know why..." — Robotnik removes his hand from agent's chin, lightly tracing his thumb along his jaw line for the last time. He pulls away again, and Stone should be able to breathe easier, but for some reason it's getting even harder for him. It must be because of the slightly sad look of doctor's eyes. - "I don't doubt you and your feelings, Stone. And you don't have to doubt mine anymore. Especially their existence. Do we understand each other?"
"Yes, Doctor." — the only thing that Stone manages to squeeze out of himself in a quiet whisper in response to such a statement. He tries his best to overcome the storm of emotions tearing him apart from the inside, and not to react too violently, for fear of spoiling the moment.
"Great. Then we will not return to this topic again. Agreed?"
Stone nods and smiles, looking at the man with shining eyes, and takes a step forward, entering the doctor's space again, closing the distance between them. Robotnik lets him in, allowing the agent to come closer, so that their chests connect, and their faces are on the same level, because the doctor is half-sitting, leaning on the table behind him. - "Can I say one more thing before we get back to work?" - The scientist rolls his eyes again quickly, but nods. — "I want to apologize for my stupidity and short-sightedness, for this misunderstanding. I'm sorry, Doctor, but even though you think I'm smarter than many people, I probably am, since you say so, but I'm still infinitely far from your level."
Robotnik grunts in response to these words, - "Doing your sycophant thing again, sycophant?" — the smile and undisguised happiness on the agent's face become brighter and he shrugs his shoulders. — "It's not flattery, it's the matter of fact. And yes, you and I are similar, but I will never reach your heights, I will always stand one step lower, no matter how hard I try, so I'm sorry that you had to explain such simple truth to me. But thank you for doing it anyway." — he utters the last sentence in a barely audible whisper almost to the man's lips, leaning a little closer, intending to touch them with his own, but at the last moment the doctor pulls away slightly. Not far away and not sharply, only pulling his head back a little, not allowing the agent to finish what he started, but not separating their bodies connected together. He negatively shakes his head faintly, without saying a word, and raises a frowning, questioning stare from under his eyebrows at the slightly surprised agent, as if he is not sure what the reaction will be in response to this line drawn by him. And judging by how hard and fast his heart is pounding in his chest, so that Stone can feel it even through his clothes, the doctor is afraid that the reaction may be negative. That Stone would decide it isn't for him and just leave. And when Stone realizes this, his own heart constricts and skips a beat. He smiles, gently and tenderly, trying to convey all his sincerity in this smile, and nods. — "It's fine. It's okay, I understand."
The crease between the doctor's eyebrows is slightly smoothed out, but it is clear that he is not completely convinced. — "..You're sure?.."
Stone silently nods again, continuing to smile and not looking away under the doctor's gaze. After a couple of moments, he still relaxes, apparently finally believing, and smiles in response with the corner of his lips.
Sometimes it's not necessary to talk about the most important things out loud.
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Stone wakes up and opens his eyes, looking around and trying to figure out where he is and what's going on. Realizing that he is no longer in the cockpit of a giant robot, he sits up abruptly and immediately regrets it, because everything is floating before his eyes, and his head begins to spin. He closes his eyes again, trying to suppress the nausea and calm his heart pounding with anxiety. Then he opens them much more slowly and smoothly turns his head to look around again and believe his eyes. That's right, he's really in his coffee shop. But the last thing he remembers…
Stone slowly and carefully gets up from the sofa and crosses the living room on the top floor. Slowly, holding on to the handrails, he goes down to the coffee shop.
"Doctor?.." — he calls softly, not really hoping that the scientist will respond, and indeed not getting an answer. The room is empty, everything is the same as it was when he ran out of here — broken dishes near the counter, glass fragments from broken windows, - the consequences of the hurricane caused by the doctor, and the shooting of G.U.N. agents. Stone goes to the window and looks out. He glances at the abandoned remnants of military equipment and government vehicles, looks up and sees gray smoke billowing from behind the forest belt in dense clouds. Screams and the noise of a helicopter can be heard very distantly.
"No. No, no, no, no..." — the agent understands what this means. The giant robot is defeated, they have lost. Where the hell is the doctor? What happened? Why is the agent here?
In desperation, he grabs his wristwatch. - "Damn it..." - it's broken, he doesn't even have a chance to contact Robotnik. From fear for the life of the scientist, the agent's eyes are swimming again, and the body begins to tremble. No, no, he couldn't let panic take hold of him, he has to go there... he has to go back to the battlefield and find him. He pulls the gun out of the inside pocket of his jacket and checks the charge. And as soon as he does this, a soft sound of a running engine is heard upstairs. The agent's heart sinks in hope, because he knows this sound, this is how only the doctor's inventions work. The same moment, he takes off and rushes back to the stairs, putting away his weapon on the move, but a new attack of nausea and dizziness makes him slow down. When he finally enters the upstairs bedroom, he is just in time to see Robotnik struggling out of the egg carrier hovering in the air in front of the window.
"My God..." - Stone breathes out in a whisper and rushes forward to the doctor, who's smiling with a crooked grin, but stops at the last moment, not daring to take him in his arms. The doctor grunts, rolls his eyes and holds out his arm to him, showing that he's allowed to do so. Stone takes that last step and hugs him, burying his face in the crook of his neck and inhaling the smell of burning. The Doctor puts his arm around agent's shoulders, stroking his back soothingly and hiding his face in his hair. — "You're here." — he says softly, exhaling. — "The signal from your watch was gone, and when I saw an empty room, I thought…"
"It's crashed." — Stone answers in the same low whisper, squeezing his grip tighter, — "but if you'd come back a minute later, I wouldn't be here anymore. By the way… Why am I even here? What happened?" — the agent raises his head and peers into the tired face opposite, the doctor's eyes no longer emit alien light, which means that the emerald is no more there…
"I teleported you here with the power of chaos when you passed out." — the doctor answers and pulls back a little, raising his hand with a wrist computer and scanning Stone's head, not too gently turning it from side to side, holding his chin with his other hand. — "You have a concussion." — he concludes, frowning and weightlessly touching the wound on the agent's head with his fingertips.
"I know, it's nothing." - Stone responds, dodging his touch. — "You didn't answer. What happened?"
"Oh, do I really have to voice out the obvious?" — the doctor answers, wincing and evasively shrugging his shoulders, continuing to stare intently at the agent's face, as if expecting that he might faint at any moment. — "Try to analyze what you see, Stone, compare the facts and draw conclusions yourself, will you manage?"
Stone purses his lips and nods gloomily, frowning. He had already managed to assess the most important thing with his attentive glance — the doctor's condition. And he doesn't like what he sees. Especially since the man hardly moves his left hand, and if he still has to use it, this action makes him wince in pain every time. Stone, without further ado, pulls the coat off the doctor's left shoulder and uses the palpation to figure out the damage.
"Ouch! Ouch, ouch... hey! Easy there, jeez... What the hell?"
"Your shoulder is dislocated." - Stone responds. — "We need to pop it back in."
"Thanks for nothing, Agent Obvious, I'm aware." — The doctor responds gloomily. — "So? What are you looking at?"
"I can fix it, I know how to do that." - Stone answers patiently, coming closer again. — "Come on, Doctor, let me do it, it'll get better."
Robotnik sighs, shrugging his shoulders and wincing again from the pain at the same time, and turns away. Stone takes his hand in a special grip and warns: — "Ready? It's going to hurt."
"I'm not a toddler to soothe me down, Stone, just do it."
"Okay, whatever you say. On the count of three. One..." — and the agent makes a sharp movement, an unpleasant crunch is heard, followed immediately by a cry of pain, but the doctor's shoulder pops into place.
"Hell, Stone, what are you, a sadist?" — Robotnik's legs even bend for a second from the sharp pain, but the agent supports him under the elbow. — "Are you taking revenge on me for something? You said on the count of three…"
"Sorry, sorry..." - Stone replies with a soft laugh, letting the scientist lean on him, taking most of his weight while he tries to catch his breath. — "But it's better to do it abruptly and without warning, so there is less muscle tension. Feels better?"
The Doctor moves his shoulder cautiously and grunts. — "Actually, yes. Much better."
"Good." - Stone responds, connecting their foreheads together. They stand there for a while until suddenly outside the noise of the helicopter's propeller gets louder. — "We have to go." — the agent says, pulling away. — "They're looking for you. We need to hurry up before they notice the egg carrier."
"Yeah, about that..." — the doctor doesn't move from his spot, so the agent stops either, raising his eyebrows in surprise. - "Actually, I need you to do something for me."
"Of course, sir, anything." - Stone responds instantly, straightening up and falling back into concentration and professionalism mode. - "What's the order?"
The Doctor grins and comes closer. - "That's not an order, Stone. More like a request, but you won't like it." — the agent silently waits for further instructions, his eyes radiate determination and stubbornness. Robotnik sighs and continues. - "I need you to go back there, infiltrate their ranks, and find out everything you can."
Stone's eyebrows jump up again in surprise. - "You mean infiltrate the G.U.N.? But why? To cover your tracks?" — the doctor nods silently and gloomily. — "But... what about you?"
"That's why I'm saying you won't like it. I have to lay low for now. And I can't tell for sure, how long this intelligence mission of yours will last."
"But..." — Stone swallows nervously, trying to understand what the scientist is leading to, something inside him shrinks from a cold wave of anticipation. - "But then I'll come back to you eventually, won't I?"
"Of course, you will." — the doctor confirms, but at the same time he still looks at the agent with some doubt, even a little ... guilty. — "When everything settles down, I'll sent you the coordinates."
"All right, then. I'll do it." - Stone answers decisively, and the doctor shakes his head.
"Are you sure you understand what I'm asking of you, Stone? You'll have to become a part of this rotten Pentagon war machine again, you'll have to pretend to be an idiot again, so as not to stand out from the crowd of other idiots, to blur Walters' eyes and distract their attention from me. And with all that, you won't know where I am. It'll be safer that way, also for you."
Stone comes closer and looks into his eyes, showing that he understands, and he is sure about this. — "I'm ready, Doctor. I understand why this is necessary, and this is exactly what I'm a professional at. I can handle it."
"Yes, of course you are, but..." - the doctor sighs and winces with displeasure, because he has to talk about feelings again. — "..you said it yourself, such kind of task hit you hard last time. So, making you go through all that again…"
"It's different now." — the agent assures him, smiling. Now he can truly see that. He can see how much the scientist is worried about him, and he hurries to calm him down. - "Now I know you're alive and you're safe, that's the most important thing. I can put up with the rest." - Stone looks up as the helicopter noise gets louder. — "You have to go. Hurry up before they spot the egg carrier. Everything will be fine, I promise."
"What about your concussion?"
"I'm fine, promise. Really, I can handle it, go."
Robotnik exhales briefly, coming closer to the agent, and roughly grabs his hand. With a jerk, he pulls off the broken useless watch and throws it over his shoulder. Removes his computer from his wrist and attaches it to the agent's hand. The latter watches his actions with a weak, sad smile. Their eyes meet while the doctor still holds the agent's hand in his. The doctor is silent and does not move, but in his gaze the agent sees everything that the man doesn't speak out loud. Stone smiles wider and nods encouragingly, — "I know. I love you too."
Robotnik abruptly pulls his arm, bringing him closer to himself, and Stone couldn't tell, if it seems to him, or if he really feels the touch of other's lips to his hair. All this lasts no longer than a couple of seconds, after which the doctor roughly pushes him away from himself and resolutely walks towards the ship, hovering expectantly outside the window. He never turns back to Stone again, while the agent follows him with his eyes until the little dot of the egg carrier disappears from the agent's field of vision.
After that, Stone quickly collects everything he needs and leaves the coffee shop, turning around on the threshold and looking around the room with nostalgia for the last time. After that, he resolutely exhales and leaves. He has a new mission and a confident knowledge about the most important thing.