Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“This is Doctor Ivo Robotnik, dedicating my final livestream to a one very special henchman, Agent Stone.”

The scent of ozone and smoke swirled around him as deadly as the fire barely contained by the stabilizer. She was going to blow, and well. So would he. Ah, but this was what he deserved, wasn't it? After everything.

What a fool he had been. Him! The greatest genius mankind had ever known, to be so blind to what was right in front of him. Had been right in front of him for over a decade.

“If I can't save the world, I may as well save it!”

A blast to his left cracked the barrier. He could feel the embers touch his cheek. It wouldn't be long now, the heat bordered on agonizing. It was temporary. Soon the cells responsible for the pain would burn away and die.

It would be a quick death, all things considered. Small victories, he supposed.

The MiniNik buzzed in front of him, he couldn't help but laugh, “you were the one and only person who ever cared for me.”

He could practically hear Stone’s cries for him to stop. If only he had listened the first time, he wouldn't be in this mess.

“You were more than a sycophant to me, Stone. You were a sycofriend. I’ll miss your lattes with steamed Austrian goat milk,” he laughed, “you know I love the way you make them!”

Molten chaos energy spilled from the fissures formed in the barrier. Energy pulsed through the air, heavy and thunderous. Each crack of what remained of his barrier echoed through the now radioactive chamber like a gunshot. The metal of the walls began to peel.

The Ark was collapsing in on itself.

Ivo wondered if the fire or the pressure would do him in first. If only he had the chance to document this.

Excruciating as it was.

The small drone had vanished, collapsed under its own mass, undoubtedly. Ivo would follow suit soon. Stone would be fine without him. The agent was plenty capable.

Maybe he’d open up a cafe for real this time. Maybe he’d crash out and raze the earth to ash.

Ivo kind of hoped he never got over him.

And sure, maybe that made him a bad person. But hey, he was an evil genius; that came with the territory.

More than anything, really, he hoped the agent lived. He hoped the Ark was far enough to spare the nuclear fallout. He hoped G.U.N. wasn't stupid enough to go after him.

He still hoped Stone would miss him.

Every molecule of his being felt as though it was being stretched and pulled. Candied sugar in the core of a ball of fire. He activated another barrier, it eased the pull and surrounded him. One of the prongs burst off the side of the ship. He watched it crumple in on itself, pulled toward a rapidly flashing center point just beneath his feet.

Another pulse of energy rocked the ship, the light grew brighter.

Ivo was going to die. He was going to die to save the earth, to save the only person who ever gave a damn about him.

The only person, in retrospect, who may have actually ever loved him.

That maybe, with his life flashing before his eyes, he loved in turn.

Doctor Ivo Robotnik did not deserve a soft ending.

His fingers danced over the controls of his watch, it expanded into a gauntlet proper. He shoved Sonic’s quill into a compartment at his wrist. The barrier around him solidified, and time slowed.

There was a 0.000007% chance he would live this, and a 0.00000002% chance he’d live the fallout.

Doctor Ivo Robotnik did not deserve a soft ending, but he wanted one. He wanted one so badly he’d swim through the River Styks himself to mortal shores. He would bite the hand of the reaper and proclaim no! He would not be felled today.

Someone was waiting for him.

And he’d cheat any death that whistled his name for just a chance to see him again.

The Doctor activated the final failsafe, and fell.

London, for all its sights, did not smell as good as it looked. The human race were a dirty bunch of apes, and left the stench of their presence anywhere they roamed. It was no surprise to wake to the smell of piss, petrol, and mildew.

A nanosecond passed before his brain fully registered the state of himself and his whereabouts. He was alive, sore, and likely injured, but not grievously so. A slight malfunction, but given his probability of even breathing at the moment was no less than a scientific miracle, Ivo could tolerate the cracks in his plan.

When he finally willed himself to open his eyes, he stared at a black sky. He could see hints of stars, but the light pollution in such a major city made it impossible to see much else. The aftermath of the Ark’s explosion left a scar in the sky that wouldn't heal for decades, though its colors were far more faded than he would have anticipated. Smog from London’s cars and busses undoubtedly clouded the local atmosphere.

He pushed himself to his elbows with a hiss, the burns on his skin pulled uncomfortably taut when he moved but did not hinder his range of motion. Second degree then. Would likely blister. Irrelevant for now.

Mission objective; find Agent Stone.

His current location was sprawled out on the steps of a fountain. Some cherub character with a bow, Stone had mentioned its name once in passing. Ivo snapped his fingers, wracking his brain for what his agent had said.

Nothing came to mind. Stone had undoubtedly mentioned it when Ivo had been working on something, and the him of the past deemed the information unimportant and promptly tuned him out.

An error Ivo would need to take care not to repeat.

He rolled onto his feet and rose with a mechanical ‘bzzt’. Guilt was a waste of an emotion, why bother feeling sorry for the past when you can simply fix the current? He waved a hand over his watch, it flickered briefly but still powered on.

Hah, not even a little wormhole jumping could stop his brilliant tech.

NO SIGNAL.

Well. Shit.

Perhaps his jaunt through space-time may have fried some of the internal mechanisms. No matter. He would still be able to summon the CRAB. Or at least ping his location, then Stone would pick him up and they’d be back to normal.

He sent the distress beacon, but still, an ERROR flashed over his wrist. Odd. He tried again, nothing. He was locked out of his own blasted network!

No, that wasn't quite right. With his tech barely hanging on, it would need a reasonably close remote connection to send the signal. Being unable to meant the CRAB was not within the city, or, was damaged beyond repair.

He would need access to a lab to properly connect to his global server. He had one in Europe, but without a mode of transportation… Well. That would be days of walking. Three technically, though in his condition between his injuries and lack of physical fitness; five days. That was not even close to optimal.

Optimal would have been to find Stone here already, waiting patiently for his return. He couldn't fault the man though, anyone else would have been space dust. Stone was far too smart to stay in one place for too long, so it was up to Ivo to track him down. How long had passed since the explosion? No more than a couple of hours, so Stone theoretically could not have gotten far. Especially since he was not factoring in a grieving period within that time frame.

Stone had always been the more… sentimental of the two of them.

Something in his jacket buzzed. Ivo nearly tore the entire thing off in a panic. The area around the fountain was empty, so at least there wasn't anyone around to hear him shriek and stumble around like a madman.

“You.”

The MiniNik’s red robotic eye contracted like a camera lens. It beeped twice.

“Damn near sent me into cardiac arrest!” He spat, “I refuse to have survived a glorified bomb in space to keel over from something as benign as a heart attack.”

Another beep was his response.

“Don't back-talk me.”

The responding silence gave Ivo enough of a moment to gather his thoughts and spurn into a plan of action.

Step one, find a car. He could hotwire anything, given the time. However, with dawn soon impending, he’d need something fast. That left older models of vehicles, early nineties were the easiest.

Step two, steal the car and get the hell out of dodge.

Step three, drive to his lab in the Peak District National Park.

Step four, find Stone.

Step five…deal with Stone’s potential crash out. Maybe grovel a little.

Step six, profit.

It was child’s play to find a car, and get on the road. MiniNik charted the navigation, and once they were on the M1, took over driving so Ivo could see what he could do about his gloves. The surge of chaos energy completely fried them, MiniNik was operating entirely out of its vocal command lines. Which while expansive, were still limited in theory.

His lab, one of many many backup ones he had scattered across the globe, would be several generations of updates behind. Though it’d only take an hour or two to get it back up in full working order. From there he could find Stone’s tracker, hunt the man down, and return to a sense of normalcy.

Stone would be… hm. Ivo tossed his temporarily useless gloves onto the dashboard of the car. There were a couple of variables surrounding his and Ivo’s reunion. He could be happy, probably cry a lot and Ivo would be magnanimous enough to let Stone hug him. Maybe even return it, so long as he wasn't getting covered in snot.

Though his last words to Stone were not exactly ones that left a kind impression. He fired the man for Pete’s sake. Granted, Stone hadn't been his employee for well over a year now, but that wasn't the point. He had been so caught up in his indignation that Stone would dare try and stand between him and his Grandpompousness that he’d purposely tried to hurt the man.

Sure, it wasn't the first time. Not even close. But hearing Stone’s voice crack as he pleaded to him before Ivo cut the line was… upsetting. It curdled in his stomach, like bad seafood.

‘I can't lose you again!’

Ivo twisted his mustache between his thumb and forefinger. It was no exaggeration to say without Stone, Ivo would have died years ago. Even before that annoying blue alien.

And after that colossal and embarrassing failure against that nuclear rat and his friendship brigade, Stone still had found him. He stitched the doctor up piece by piece. Fed him, bathed him, and cared for him beyond what could even come close to obligation.

Stone battled death with surgical precision. He wove Ivo’s fragments back together, fixed faulty wiring, and replaced broken components. In a sense, Ivo was as much of Stone’s machine at this point as the Badniks were his.

And what had Ivo done with the gift of life?

Nothing.

Worse still he spat in the face of his architect and left him behind in search of grander glory.

He wondered if Stone even saw the lifestream. He wondered if it made it to earth at all.

Two beeps and the car slowing to a stop pulled Ivo from his thoughts. They had pulled down a side street from the A515, and further off the road there. On foot from here.

He slid his gloves back on and followed the drone.

MiniNik flew ahead, and Ivo plugged into the underbrush behind it. The drone beeped several times in quick succession and bobbed up and down when they came across a wire fence that most certainly had not been there prior. It was overgrown, ivy scaled the interlocking chain links, hinting for it being there far longer than it should have been.

Ivo had not visited this particular lab in quite some time, but he should have been alerted to any sort of construction within ten kilometers. Perhaps there had been an error in the last global patch he pushed out some seven or so months ago.

“Cut us through.”

Two beeps and the whirr of a laser was his answer. MiniNik cut a perfect hole for them to pass through, and continued down. Finally, after about three hours – given the position of the sun in the sky – he reached the area of the lab.

There were remnants of military tanks around the entrance. While the forest had long since reclaimed the area, remnants such as weapons boxes, fuel tanks, and various models of vehicles gave Ivo enough to know his lab had been compromised. When?

This was more than just a few months of overgrowth.

The trapdoor was still secured, and the pin ‘76268642’ allowed the pressurized seal to crack. It hissed when unsealed and folded out of the way to allow Ivo down the musty steps of his lab.

Or what was left of it.

The structural integrity of just the entrance hall was compromised entirely. As if an entire bomb had gone off, scraps of metal and frayed wires were embedded into the walls. Concrete slabs had collapsed from the earth above and left parts of the hallway near impassable. He should have known about this.

Why didn't he get an alert the second it had been discovered? Much less broken into?

What flaw in his coding had he missed?

Some of the terminals lining the walls not flattened by debris flickered when MiniNik flew close. Not entirely offline then. Maybe he could salvage some of this, if not he could cannibalize the mainframe for a beacon to contact Stone.

He picked his way further into the lab, careful of any exposed wires still popping with electricity. A misstep led to a crunch of something he certainly had not made. He lifted his foot to eye the white powdered shards of an ulna of dubious origins.

Scattered further down the hall were bodies. Clothes torn and bones broken. Their corpses bent in grotesque angles only a blast could have propelled them into. Ivo picked up the pace. At the end of the corridor was what remained of his computer room. The heart and soul of any lab he operated.

It was in shambles.

Screens were cracked, a small army of bodies littered the corners of the walls, where the central blast would have radiated from. There, broken fragments of a remote rested.

Ivo’s knees cracked when he crouched down to the remote.

A hard reset, he called it once when speaking to Stone. Upon activating the local network wipe, the remote would become active. Activating the control would generate enough power to liquefy the organs of anyone stupid enough to be in the blast zone.

A kamikaze button, Stone had called it, incredulous.

It could only be activated from inside the lab.

It…

No. Abort. Ivo pulled at his mustache, no. It was one of these brain-dead soldiers that pressed the button. They were snooping and got got.

Never mind it needed to be activated by a destruction sequence.

That only he and Stone had the access rights to.

Ivo let out a ragged breath. That was impossible. Stone could not have pressed the button, and still have called him, much less taken care of him and the CRAB for the last year and a half.

This looked years old.

It would not be the first time some wannabe genius would go after his tech. They’d think themselves so far above the common swill they wouldn't stop to consider how far below they were to him even still. They’d tinker with what they couldn't understand, and often fatally pay the price. It wouldn't be hard to believe that was what happened here.

But why hadn't he known?

The MiniNik floated closer to one of the terminals, it flickered to life under its presence. There was one way to find out.

“Connect to the terminal and get any data you can scrounge.”

With two beeps, the little drone was off. It floated to the mainframe and a thin wire unfolded from its carapace. Ivo drew closer as the machine connected, its eye flashed from red to royal purple. The camera flickered several times before it returned to the normal red.

Ivo had never seen that happen before.

The drone detached its cord from the terminal and activated its holocaster. It showed a video feed from when the lab began its alert sequence.

January 23rd, 2025.

That… Did not make sense. That was for all intents and purposes, the future. It shouldn't even be the new year yet. He could not have been passed out at the base of the fountain for more than a couple of hours at best. It was a crowded city, someone would have called the local authorities if nothing else to drag him away.

The video feed sped forward twenty-seven hours.

It slowed to a normal speed when there was movement at the entrance of the lab. The camera switched to one stationed in the entrance hall, a man was running down the steps. Despite the grainy footage, he would have recognized Stone anywhere.

He looked… ill. His hair was aksew and he had Robotnik’s old jacket over his shoulders like a cape. His beard was a bit longer than he recalled last, and certainly far less kempt. He looked over his shoulder and grinned. He ran further into the lab, and a minute later two dozen soldiers stormed after him.

The video feed cut to the room they stood in, the epicenter of the blast.

Ivo stopped the video and paced the room. Stone was… No. He couldn't think like that. He’d seen that agent look upon impossible odds and laugh. Ivo remembered yelling at him, for his rash nature and lack of any sense of self-preservation.

Stone had simply smiled, that odd little disarming smile of his, and said, ‘Death will have me on my terms, or not at all.’

Were these his terms? A stupid suicide mission to preserve a mere fragment of his technology? Why make this his final stand? How dare he go out in such a fucking stupid way!

Ivo made his circle, there were no flashes of red he could find. No mody jackets with stitched seams and crochet patches. He returned to the drone and unpaused the video.

Stone typed something onto the computer, and the self-destruction sequence began. The room glowed red, and the soldiers stormed the room like pigs to slaughter. The man’s arms were spread out, he could see Stone talking, could see him holding the catalyst remote.

What were his final words?

One of the soldiers stepped closer, gun pointed at Stone. They made a motion with the gun, and Stone’s shoulders shook in what Ivo could only guess was laughter. Probably trying to get him to surrender. They had no idea the danger they were in.

Stone pressed the button. There was an orange flash, and the video cuts out as bodies were flung from the center of the room.

SIGNAL LOST

Ivo stared at the floating text longer than he could really comprehend. His knees stung from where he was knelt on the ashy floor. When did he sink?

Stone was gone.

There was no surviving a blast like that, not when holding the damn bomb!

Had Stone been trying to protect his legacy? Or was he seeking refuge in an abandoned lab, G.U.N. hot on his tail? Had he doomed Stone the moment he admitted what he was worth?

Ivo scrubbed a hand down his face and rewound the video, he needed to find Stone’s body. The bones deserved a proper burial. Or something. They couldn't stay here with the goons that came for him, if nothing else.

The blast, an orange flash, then nothing.

He couldn't find where Stone’s body had been flung. It was a possibility that he merely disintegrated on the spot, turned to dust from the heat and impact. He rewound the video. Stone looked surprised for a moment, just as the orange flash appeared.

On the opposite side of the remote.

Something wasn't right. Ivo slowed the video down and scrubbed through frame by frame. Stone pressed the button, and an orange flash appeared on his left side, away from the remote. Stone’s eyebrows raise, and he vanishes.

The remote remains and falls.

He rewinds.

An orange flash, a small black hand griped onto Stone’s shirt. Quills curled up to the sky, red eyes that looked as desperate as Ivo felt.

He wasn't the only one who survived the Eclipse Cannon it seemed.

However, that certainly left quite a few questions. For starters, what was Shadow doing with Stone? Why had he saved him? While most of his body was too grainy to make out behind the orange light of his chaos energy, some parts seemed to be bandaged. Injured then. Who tended to his wounds?

Likely, given Shadow’s rescue, Stone himself tended to the hedgehog. But why? Sure the agent secretly had a bleeding heart miles long, but he rarely would bother acting on it. Certainly not when the doctor was around.

Ah, but he hadn't been around, had he? Stone would have reasonably been operating under the assumption that he was turned to space dust. Had Stone and Shadow even interacted at all? He had been so caught up in having the wool pulled over his eyes he neglected to pay any attention to Stone at all.

Perhaps the two had hit it off. Stone had called him about something the hedgehog mentioned.

That was irrelevant now. Stone was alive, and likely remained with Shadow. The lab was too damaged to access his network proper, so he was forced into boring guesswork. Thankfully, there was a rather obvious place to start his hunt for the agent, Greenhills, Montana.

Shadow had returned to the canon, all juiced up gold, and helped him move the station away from Earth. Sonic had gotten through to him, perhaps changed his mind, maybe looked pathetic enough that Shadow had a change of heart. Regardless, Sonic was a tentative ally for the edgy rat.

It would make sense if a long-term home were to be formed, it would be there. Whether Stone remained with Shadow was uncertain, but if nothing else he’d have to know Stone’s last location, and Ivo’d take it from there. Plus, he could always call in a favor as the reason the earth wasn't a fragmented cloud of dust, and get a ring to take him to one of his more developed labs.

From there, he’d hone in on Stone’s tracker, and reunite with his agent. He could make a big show of it too. Bring roses and champagne, really ham it up so Stone simply could not be angry with him. Not that he expected him to be that upset anyway, man was damn near unflappable.

“Alright, new plan. Build an aircraft to take us to Montana!”

MiniNik trilled and spun in a circle.

“I like your enthusiasm!”

Between what remained of his own tech, and what had been left behind by G.U.N., Robotnik had enough material to build a simple plane over the last three days. Sure it was a bit slapped together but he was working with limited equipment here. It’d get him where he needed to go, and from there he’d improvise.

MiniNik situated itself in the socket he had built for it in the primary flight display. It’d act as a compass and would radio to American soil he wasn't a threat. Good ol’ America, shoot first, think later.

Though with luck his cloaking would avoid that problem entirely.

He flipped the fuel breaker and pulled his levers back. The plane hummed into an idle while the machine warmed up and that blasted quill lit the cockpit up in a brilliant blue. Once levels were optimal, Ivo put the pedal to the metal, as it were, and shot off to Montana.

To Stone.

He leaned back in his chair, he had twelve hours left to nothing but his thoughts, after all. He could probably cut it down to ten if he better optimized the quill he had jerry-rigged as fuel, but he wasn't going to risk hull damage without the tools to repair on the go. No, he’d be patient for now.

By the time he maneuvered the plane to land, eleven and a half hours later, Ivo was certain he would have ripped all his hair out, had he any left. He pocketed the quill, and instructed MiniNik to unplug. Ideally, he wouldn't need this anymore, but in case he did, Robotnik had the aircraft parked within a nearby cave.

The town itself wasn't more than a few miles away, though trudging through another forest was not Ivo’s idea of a grand afternoon. Branches and brambles tugged at his jacket and pants. If it wasn't going to hurt his potential chances of swindling a ring from that radioactive rodent, he would burn a path through the damn place.

By the time he finally made it to the concrete and asphalt of the town, Ivo could have kissed the road.

First stop; The Mean Bean. Or what may have remained of it. Without Stone to run the place, it likely fell into ruin. Or was chewed up and spit out by G.U.N. upon learning there was tech in them there beans. Honestly, Stone’s expresso machine was more advanced than half the things at the Pentagon.

He instructed MiniNik to hide in his jacket when they came upon the corner where the Mean Bean stood. Last thing they needed was people panicking thinking he meant harm. Which, well he did. But not at this second. Once he had his agent back, and he got that cloying mushy sensation out of his system, it was back to world domination baby.

The cafe was open, and Ivo allowed himself a sprinkle of hope, as a treat, and threw the doors open.

The thwam of the doors slamming against their hinges startled a silence over the simple patrons of the cafe. They weren't worth a thought past that as his sole focus zeroed in on the barista behind the counter. Agent St— huh.

Red eyes stared at him in shock.

Ivo met them with a bewildered look of his own.

For all he had expected to find, Shadow was not what he would have anticipated to find behind the counter. He held a cup in his hands and appeared to have been handing it off to some nofaced townie.

“You.” He snarled, the porcelain cup cracked in his grip.

“Me!” Ivo spread his arms out, ready for the thankful applause of the common rabble, “The earth’s savior is alive and well! Don’t look so upset to see me, Shadow.”

The peon at the counter grabbed their drink and scuttled away, saving Ivo the effort of having to shove them aside as he approached. He leaned on the counter with a grin, “as right chuffed I am to see you made it out as well, I am here for something else. Where is Age— hrck!”

Shadow’s had whipped out with speed faster than even his mind could comprehend, and fisted the front of his jacket. He jumped onto the table and pulled him up to his face, forcing Ivo to roll onto his toes lest he get hanged by a surprisingly ornery hedgehog.

“How dare you.”

“Excuse me?” Ivo wheezed, the pressure on his trachea was not doing wonders for his voice.

“How dare you show your face around here, after all this time!”

Well that was just dramatic, it's been what, a couple of months by his admittedly half-hearted calculations.

“Where have you been this entire time?” Shadow hissed, “why come back now?”

“Don’t be dramatic,” Ivo rolled his eyes, the grip on his shirt became tighter, “cut me some slack! If Stone would have just waited more than a couple weeks I would have found you two!”

“Couple weeks? A couple weeks? It's been seven years! How long did you expect him to wait for you?” Orange sparked from Shadow’s quills, and Ivo had the distinct feeling he was in danger. Again.

Seven years though? That couldn't be right. Well theoretically it could be, as one approached an event horizon, time did wonders on slowing the body. That did explain why the CRAB had not been around… and why his Europe lab had been in such a state.

Which meant G.U.N. definitely had gone after Stone. Piranahs, the lot of them. The second his blood hit the water they swarmed the corpses of his labs for just a taste of his brilliance. They sought to devore his agent in the frenzy as well, no doubt.

The doors slammed open again, and Shadow’s glowing eyes flickered from him to whatever lay over his shoulder.

“Tom, Wade.” Shadow acknowledged, his voice tight with… well probably rage. He seemed very angry for some reason.

“Uh, hey Shadow,” Wachowski greeted, his voice seemed a bit shrill. “Wh-whatcha’ got there, buddy?”

Shadow’s eyes narrowed and returned to Ivo, “a body.”

“Understandable.”

“Whoah, wait hold on. Is that Robotnik?” Ugh, what was that one's name? Whippit? He was the one who had handcuffed Stone to a chair.

“That is Doc—”

Shadow’s grip tightened.

“Ack, fine yes! It is I, Robotnik!”

“Holy shit,” Wimple (?) breathed, “does Aban know?”

When the fuck did this knuckle-dragging townie get on first-name basis with his agent? He wasn’t even on first-name basis with the man!

“No, and he won’t find out—”

There was a click of a door opening, off to the left and further behind Shadow, from the back stepped a man Ivo would always recognize.

“What won’t I find out?”

Stone’s voice was smooth as usual, though a hint of irritation bled through were one to know where to listen. He… aged. Had Ivo not been fully convinced seven years had indeed passed, one look at Stone would have quieted any disbelief he had.

The man hadn't changed much physically, same height, same build. Still working out, did he keep up with those morning jogs? His hair had grown out, enough to be pulled into a small ponytail at the base of his neck. White had grown into the black of his hair, streaking his sideburns and peppering his beard, which remained trimmed as ever.

Their eyes met and something in Ivo finally relaxed.

“Doctor? Y-you’re… alive?”

Ivo opened his mouth to respond, something witty of course, but his jaw clicked shut when Stone’s expression shifted from surprise, to hope, then to something cold and hard. It was a look Ivo had seen many times over their years together, though never once directed at him.

No, that was a look reserved for when Ivo pointed his metaphorical attack dog at someone and released the leash.

Stone was furious.

And Ivo was in the doghouse.

Was it too late to offer roses and champagne?

Chapter Text

Ivo had entertained the possibility of Stone being upset with him, sure. Though to see the confirmation that Ivo’s survival sparked rage within his agent? Well, he hadn't seriously entertained it. Why would he? Stone had been his government-assigned chew toy since day one.

He had been through far worse.

Stone’s expression shifted into something more neutral, and his eyes flicked to the door and the cops undoubtedly still standing there, “Wade. Tom.”

“Heya,” the mouth-breather chirped, Wachowski tellingly did not say anything.

Stone jerked his head towards the street. “Leave, please.”

“Seriously Stone? After all this guy—”

Wachowski was cut off when the other one said, "You got it. Uh, check back in later?”

“No need.”

“Ooookidoke. See you tomorrow then.”

The bell above the door chimed, and the cafe fell into silence. Stone’s eyes followed movement on the street, probably them leaving, then let a loud exhale escape his nose.

“Shadow, please put the Doctor down.”

Shadow’s grip tightened and his ears swiveled back. Stone raised a brow, Shadow sighed, and let him go, “fine.”

Ivo rubbed his neck, “well, I was expecting a bit more of a warm welcome. But thanks for calling off the rat, I suppose.”

“Do not talk to or about Shadow that way.”

Stone’s tone was clipped and cold, clinical in how he stopped Ivo’s usual jabbing at everyone but himself. Wrongfooted with someone he never even expected it possible to be with, Ivo was at a bit of a loss for words. Familiar shame and anger welled up inside him, bubbling in his stomach like a cauldron. Nowhere for the steam to go except out.

“Playing house with the enemy, are we?” Ivo hissed, “I thought you were better than that.”

Stone didn't respond directly other than a notable frown. His attention slid to the said enemy, “Shadow, could you close shop? I don't want anyone poking around while the Doctor and I are in the lab.”

The rodent grunted and hopped off the counter, setting to his assigned task at once.

“Thank you,” Stone’s face softened a touch, then he placed his hands behind his back and squared his shoulders before addressing Ivo again, “Doctor, if you’d come with me, please.”

With Stone, for the longest time, Ivo had known three things to be constant. One, he was unfathomably and unflappably loyal. Two, he had a hilariously bitchy side to him when it came to the common rabble (read, everyone but the two of them). And three, his coffee machines were sacred.

“You’re letting him touch your precious appliances?”

“I taught him the proper procedures and care of them years ago; I trust his skill.” Stone half shrugged and led him towards the back of the cafe.

Ivo shot the rodent a particularly heated glare from the doorframe, who returned in kind with his own scathing sneer. And added a middle finger salute to rub salt in the wound. Kids had no respect for their elders these days.

“I’m surprised G.U.N. didn't turn this place inside out by now,” Ivo said upon catching up to Stone. Despite his words, the back of the cafe looked like any other kitchen he would have expected to see in such an establishment. Beans up to the ceiling, a walk-in fridge, and a freezer. The pristine counter space and various tools for baking were meticulously organized, as he would have expected of Stone.

Nothing that screamed ‘Evil Lab’ at all.

“They did,” Stone led him through the kitchen's back door to an outside patio. There were a few crates of produce there and a garden that, despite the snow, was bursting with various flowers that made Ivo’s nose itch. Past them was a black shed down a cobblestone path. “Legally, Aban Stone died in an accident years ago. I am but a humble barista named Jim Kintobor. Well, on paper anyway.”

“Kintobor?”

Stone shrugged and opened the door to the shed, “you always said I was too sentimental.”

Ouch. While an entirely accurate statement, something about the casual way he said it made Ivo’s stomach shrivel. “Why bother being so coy about it? You might as well have just taken the Robotnik name. You were the sole beneficiary of my will anyway.”

Stone’s hand froze over the number pad at the back of the shed. It had a few gardening supplies but otherwise was oddly empty. Underground lair then, clever man.

“It would have been too obvious. I also would never want to be so… presumptuous.”

Ivo snorted, “well presume next time.”

Stone’s fingers twitched against the number pad, then after a tense moment of Stone just staring at him, he seemed to get his head out of his ass and type the code in. The center of the floor gave way to a metal platform. Stone pressed something else on the pin pad, snapped its cover closed, and stepped onto the metal disk beside Ivo.

The platform hissed and they made their descent.

The elevator shaft opened naught but thirty or so seconds later to reveal the expanse of the underground laboratory. While nothing could compare to Ivo’s creations, Stone had made himself a genuinely impressive little setup. The entire left wall stored the wire cartons used to store his precious BadNiks, dozens of them nestled comfortably in their cradles, charging and ready to activate upon a moment's notice.

Further in, the center of the lab housed a large workbench and a holographic display of some mechanical blueprints of an autonomous robot. Ones he certainly would take a closer look at soon. What had his little barnacle gotten himself up to in these years? Just above that was a massive arm suspended from the ceiling, set upon a jerry system that would allow the machine to access most parts of the lab easily. Perfect for lifting and holding heavy machinery, Ivo had designed a similar one for his home lab back in Washington.

Then, in the far back of the lab, was the central computer. A few monitors were still left on, but a series of mechanical clicks stopped him from approaching. The sound of his baby’s panels opening was a familiar one, but he certainly had not expected to turn around and be faced with one of them prepared to open fire on his skull.

Much less for it to have been painted a bright red.

Thankfully, before he needed to call for assistance, Stone stepped between them. “Disengage, Omega. Go to Shadow.”

The drone’s camera flickered, but after a moment, its turrets collapsed against its carapace, and it floated toward the elevator they took down.

“Excuse him, he is a shoot-first kind of sort.”

“I don’t recall having a drone named Omega, agent.”

“No, sir.”

“Or having one painted garishly red.”

“… No, sir.”

Ivo grabbed Stone’s shoulders and spun him around to face him, “then would you care to explain why one of my babies has been defaced?”

“He was the last of the E-series you made. He had been severely damaged during a… mission, and needed to be repaired.”

“What mission? Why was I not informed?”

“You were busy pretending to be dead,” Stone bared his teeth, “sir.”

Ivo released Stone as though he had been burnt, “I was not pretending to be dead.”

Stone didn’t respond. Instead, he stared past his arm with an expression so carefully neutral that Ivo was certain he was anything but. Time to address the elephant in the room then.

“Only three days have passed in my perception,” Ivo took a step back, “I used the energy fields that the cobalt pest’s quill produced to form a barrier around myself when the eclipse cannon blew up. I woke up in London, hotwired a car to my lab there, found it destroyed, but salvaged enough scrap to make an aircraft to track your ass down.”

When Stone still gave no verbal response, Ivo snapped, “speaking of which, what the hell did you do to my lab?”

“I initiated the self-destruction sequence,” Stone’s eyes narrowed, “as you explicitly have instructed me to do, were you not around and one of the backups was compromised.”

“I don't recall instructing you to blow yourself up with it.”

“The situation was complicated.”

“The situation was complicated,” Ivo mocked with flaps of his hand, mimicking him, “you were going to kill yourself over nothing!”

“It was not nothing!”

Any retorts Ivo had fizzled and died in the wake of the sheer desperation in Stone’s voice.

“It was all that was left of you, Doctor!” Stone snarled, “you were dead! What else was I supposed to do?”

Ivo had never seen Stone this worked up before, this close to the edge of breaking. Over what, telling him not to be stupid? Ludicrous.

“I dedicated nearly two decades to you, Doctor. You were everything to me, there was no Stone without Robotnik. It had always been like that. Then it wasn't. Then your grandfather came and you decided it wasn't enough. Everything I was wasn't enough!” Stone ran a hand through his hair, his chest heaving with each breath he took.

“I was tossed aside, left for dust. Then the next thing I know you're on billboards and screens everywhere, saving the goddamn world, for me? I couldn't have cared less about to world! You died, doctor, and I wasn't there to protect you!”

It struck Ivo just how deeply he had hurt his agent. Sure, he had annoyed the man before, probably even made him angry, but this… this was a whole new beast. This was a Stone that had been pushed far enough to finally break, and Ivo hadn’t been there to weld the cracked fragments back together.

Guilt was a useless emotion, logically. No use dwelling on the past when the present could still be fixed. But how much could the present fix, when the past had become shrapnel?

Ivo opened his mouth to say… something. Though any words died in his throat when every screen in the lab flashed red, bathing them in an unsettling glow. This hiss of hydraulic presses echoed behind him, and before he could even think, Stone grabbed his jacket and shoved him behind him, shielding him from the claw that had been folded so neatly above the worktable.

The metal screeched when it stopped short of Stone, undoubtedly hardwired to bring no harm to its creator.

“Enough!” Stone’s voice cracked with raw emotion, still tender from his bought just moments before.

White text appeared on the screen closest to them.

WHY.

“You are not to injure the doctor.”

WHY. YOU ARE IN DISTRESS.

“It's not…” Stone fumbled with his words, “my emotions are my own.”

“Stone…” Ivo tried but was sharply cut off by Stone with a raised hand.

“Don't. I let my emotions overcome me; my apologies. It will not happen again.”

The claw didn't move; whatever or whoever controlled it did not seem inclined to listen to Stone. Concerning, if not deeply fascinating. Ivo had dabbled in some baseline artificial intelligence, all of his babies had some capability to learn and ‘think’ on their own when deployed. However true intelligence was always off the table, that would lead to rebellion and questioning his orders.

Ivo was far too much of a control freak for that.

But Stone, somehow, seemed to have gone and done it himself. Had he written the code himself? Adopted some of Ivo’s principles, or was this an accident, as so many feats of science were?

“Please,” Stone’s shoulders hunched, and he pressed his forehead against the silver and blue claw frozen inches from his face. It struck Ivo then how exhausted Stone looked. How much his age he looked. “Doctor, I think it would be best if you left.”

Ivo tensed. So that was it then. After years of walking all over the man, he finally applied enough pressure to snap. Perhaps this was for the best.

“Not leave, leave.” Stone clarified, undoubtedly already knowing the spiral he was beginning to work himself into, “just the lab. I wouldn't abandon you like that, Doctor.”

The unspoken ‘like you would’ burned, may as well have stabbed him and twisted the knife. “Fine.”

Ivo straightened his jacket and turned on his heel. Just as he made it to the elevator, and the door hissed open, Stone’s voice drew his attention.

“Thank you, Doctor.” His smile was sad and worn, but it was still a smile, “for coming back to me.”

“No need for thanks, Stone. I…” Ivo chewed on the inside of his cheek. “I meant what I had said in that livestream.”

“I know.”

The door clicked shut behind him.

Maybe there was just enough shrapnel to glue them back together. It wouldn't be the same, but Ivo didn't think he would have wanted the same anyway.

The cafe had its blinds drawn when Ivo strode in. Shadow had that red BadNik orbiting his head while he counted the register’s money. His ear flicked towards Ivo briefly, but he made no other acknowledgement of his presence. Brat.

“So, why are you here?”

Shadow glanced at him, then returned to his task, sealing up excess money into a clear bag, writing the date on it, and depositing it in a safe beneath the register. He stood and knocked it closed with a nudge of his shoe.

“Helloooo?”

“I have nothing to say to you. Leave us alone.”

“Well, aren't we a bit prickly, hm? Now are you talking about you and MY BadNik you got over there, or you and Stone?”

“Omega isn't yours anymore,” Shadow bared his teeth, “and all of us. You’ve done enough damage.”

“Oh please, like you weren't wrapped up in Pop Pop’s schemes too, you’ve done as much ‘damage’ as I.”

Shadow looked like he was weighing the merits of killing him. Ivo knew he wouldn't. That would make Stone upset, and for some inexplicable reason, Shadow cared about what Stone thought. Not that Ivo couldn't sympathise, he certainly was no longer above such himself.

At least for Stone. The rest of the world could burn for all he cared. Shadow, frankly, included.

Still, Stone apparently cared about Shadow. So Ivo would play nice…ish. For now. But he wouldn't have to like it.

Before any further words could be said, Stone returned, a dark purple scarf and black coat slung over his arm. “We have a spare bedroom at the house you can use, Doctor.”

Shadow looked like he swallowed a lemon, ha! Showed who the favorite really was. Take that hedgehog.

“Aban…” Shadow’s voice dropped to a softer sound, his eyes shot to Ivo, then back to Stone.

“We’ll talk later, okay?” Stone rubbed between Shadow’s ears, then turned to Ivo himself, “It's cold, so I brought an extra scarf for you from the lab. We’re close, only about a ten minute walk.”

Ivo snatched the scarf and wrapped it around his neck while Stone shrugged on the coat. The suit his Grandbetrayal gave him was thermoregulated, so in truth the cold didn't affect him much at all. But he wasn't going to turn down something from Stone. It seemed to have been handmade, undoubtedly one of his many craft projects then.

Stone may as well be a genius with textiles.

The door chimed when Stone unlocked it, held it open for Ivo, and locked it behind them.

“You trust the hedgehog alone in there too?”

“Yes.”

Ivo scoffed, but deigned to drop the subject for now in favor of one far more lucrative.

“An AI, Stone?”

“Hm? Oh, Metal. Yes.” Stone breathed into his hands, “he was originally a weapon. After he was destroyed, I was able to recover most of his data and we’re working on building him a new body.”

“Metal? We?”

Stone nodded, but offered no further information. He had always been so terribly cagey when speaking of himself or his accomplishments. Always playing them down, always brushing it off with a ‘oh it's nothing’. Like he was a mere hapless fool.

That was part of his tool set, he supposed. As an agent, he wasn't supposed to stand out, to be remarkable. He was supposed to be a nameless and faceless government dog. Being exceptional put a spotlight on oneself that never really faded, he supposed. Though to be fair, he had failed at that already by the time he had been assigned to Robotnik. Walters preened him as the best of the best when informing Ivo of the new meat that would be infecting his lab.

Bet the bastard is rolling in his grave for that one. Served him right.

A particularly cold gust of wind had Ivo wishing for a hat. He tucked his nose further into the wool yarn of the scarf, “you seem awfully domestic for a man who created an AI weapon.”

Stone chuckled, “I’ve… retired. I guess. Went out in a blaze of glory as far as G.U.N. is concerned, by the time I healed from my injuries, Shadow had talked me down.”

“I’d hardly call suicide in my fucking lab a blaze of glory,” Ivo sneered. Though regretted it when Stone’s easy stride stuttered. His face fell back into perfect neutrality.

“That wasn't the incident, and like I said, the situation was complicated.”

Ivo frowned, but let the subject lie for a moment. Picking over his response carefully, he asked, “why?”

“Why what?”

At Ivo’s flat look, Stone’s shoulders dropped. The entire man just deflated.

“I was not emotionally stable. I lost the only person I’ve cared about in decades to his scheming grandfather. The crab was destroyed, all of BadNiks on the crab drowned, I nearly drowned, and when I tried to warn you, you just…” Stone shook his head and drew a deep breath. “Then you died.”

Ivo grunted. It was what he had said in the lab all over again, though the added context certainly brought more kindling to the flame.

Ivo made a mistake. He had plummeted to the common mass’s level of intelligence, and Stone was the one to pay the price.

The silence that elapsed wasn't comfortable, but it was at least not hostile. It gave Ivo time to consider his next move. Flowers and fancy wine certainly were a must now, yet it didn't feel like enough. He, loath to admit it, needed to find a way to apologize to Stone. Gain his forgiveness and trust back.

Stone walked beside him still. He didn't kick him to the curb. Perhaps he had forgiven him a little bit, or perhaps this was merely years of his instinct as Ivo’s agent kicking in. His whole MO was to protect and serve, and unlike the pigs in blue, he actually lived up to that motto.

A gentle tap on his elbow had him turning into the motion without thinking. They veered off the sidewalk of the main street down a more residential-looking one. The rows of houses were lined up in neat little lines with picket fences and shiny mailboxes. How suburban.

“Does G.U.N. know you’re still alive?”

“Probably, but they’ve left me and the labs alone. I imagine they've learned their lesson.” Stone tapped his elbow again and they turned. “Just up the hill, we're almost there. Are you alright?”

“Fine,” Ivo snorted, “I’m not fragile.”

“You’re limping.”

Ivo jabbed two fingers against the soft give of Stone’s side, “keep walking, Agent.”

Stone led them forward without any further fuss. He’d bully Ivo into some treatment when they arrived at this abode, of course. Ivo wasn't foolish enough to think the man would have dropped the subject. As annoying as Stone’s fretting had always been, it brought a surge of warmth to his chest now.

Stone was angry with him, most certainly. But he still cared.

At the top of the hill was a simple little house. It wasn't the only one there, but the angle of the land it perched upon gave it a wide berth against its neighbors. The baby blue siding matched the perky little white fence and mailbox. It looked like the kind of home he’d find in a Hallmark classic, rose bushes in front and all.

“Nice place.” A compliment was due, right?

Stone snorted, “you can tell me what you really think, Doctor.”

“Have you considered renting your home out to up-and-coming young business women looking to take a break from it all? They’d certainly find true love and the meaning of Christmas.”

At that Stone laughed; it was a bright and clear sound. One Ivo didn't realize he missed until a knot of pressure in his chest released. He could breathe easier now, and a part of him hated that. Who was he to fall victim to such blasé impulses like affection?

Most of him, however, decided that part of him was an idiot who didn't deserve to hear Stone’s bright, unabashed joy.

Stone unlatched the gate to his front lawn and let Ivo through, “it blends in well with the neighborhood. Best to lay low, even now. As far as the folks here are aware, I’m a humble barista who adopted one of the alien kids that runs around town.”

Solid enough cover. Be normal and plain to slip in with the masses. It didn't rub Ivo right to think of Stone as just a mere face in the crowd, but one must adapt to survive.

The steps of the patio barely made a sound when Stone led him up them, he wiped his shoes on the welcome mat, and opened the door in the same motion. Ivo didn't bother and strode in after the man. He at least had the foresight to close the door behind him.

Right away, Ivo was struck by the reality of Stone living somewhere. There was a shoe rack by the door with boots, shoes, and sandals of two distinct sizes. Just above that was a coat rack. Stone had already hung his black coat up, but it didn't cover the other various outerwear hung so neatly there. Once again, in two obvious sizes.

Knowing Stone had built a life with that hedgehog was one thing; seeing the evidence so blatantly in just the entryway alone was another.

Ivo wasn't jealous. He was above such a thing.

He stomped past Stone and took in the ground floor as a whole. From the foyer, there was a cross-section to other parts of the house. To his right, there was a kitchen and a well-used dining table. There was a cluttered mess of papers, pencils, and thick academic books, shuffled around in some vague sense of order.

On his left was a living room area. A black U-shaped couch took up much of the room, with a dark wood coffee table positioned in the center. Further back was a television and the stand it rested on. The shelving of the stand held various game consoles, the remotes of one still resting on the coffee table, and an empty bowl of what had once undoubtedly been snacks.

A crocheted blanket was folded neatly over the back of the couch.

“Doctor, if you would?”

Ivo turned to see Stone in the kitchen area, a new box on the cluttered table. He recognized the distinct red and white coloring from where he stood. He rolled his eyes, but dropped himself into the chair Stone had pulled out for him. It gave him a chance to peek at the work on the kitchen table.

“Homework?” Ivo prodded.

“Yeah, Shadow is studying for his finals,” Stone explained, and popped open the med kit. A latch was missing, and while certainly still there, the red cross on the face of the box had been scuffed to hell.

“Finals?”

“He’s taking online classes to earn his GED,” Stone pulled a chair over to the side, “your jacket, please, Doctor.”

Modesty was a thing of the past for them, especially having lived in the CRAB for over a year. He unzipped the suit and moved to shrug out of it, but a string of beeps paused his hand. From where he had tucked it away so carefully, MiniNik darted out of his jacket.

He and Stone both stared at it. It beeped again, and like the treacherous little thing it was, immediately bridged the short gap to Stone, and pushed against his cheek with a cute little chime.

“Oh,” he crooned, and something about that voice did unholy things to Ivo’s stomach, “I thought you drowned with the others.”

Stone gently pulled the MiniNik away from his face and cradled it like something precious.

“It… was with me in the Eclipse Canon. Filmed the livestream.”

At that, Stone returned his full attention to Ivo. The MiniNik buzzed out of the room, off to gather data on this new location, certainly.

Stone’s brows pinched, and he grabbed his wrist in a near feather-light touch. Turning it so he could get a better look at the damage he could see from the holes in the fabric. The insulation of the jacket the old man gave him protected the fragile material beneath incredibly well. Though not even it could have prevented some burning.

A couple of minutes later had Stone asking for Ivo to remove his shirt to see what he was working with in full. Ivo thought he was being dramatic, though with the air still raw between them, he elected to keep any comments to himself and behaved.

Both arms, his chest, and back were covered with mottled patches of red skin and blisters. He hadn't the time to look in a mirror himself, but he figured from the way Stone only briefly examined his face, he had been spared from similar damage there. Somehow. All in all, pretty nasty, but they did not bring him much pain.

He’d be fine, maybe get a couple sick ass scars out of it.

“... How long did you say you’ve been back?”

“Eh, by my rough estimation, three to four days.”

“Did you try to treat yourself at all?”

Ivo teetered his hand back and forth, “I did a scan. Nothing was at risk of infection, and I had other priorities.”

Stone frowned, “what could have been more important than treating yourself?”

Oh Stone. His sweet, dense, Stone.

Unperturbed by his lack of a response, Stone got to work treating his injuries. It was almost nostalgic to see the man pull out dressings, creams, and a bottle of suspiciously unmarked medicine. Hard to get proper prescriptions when on the run.

Cream was applied, and bandages were wrapped with mechanical precision. He would have expected nothing less from Stone, the man had been elbow deep in his entrails before, dabbing a bit of cream on some glorified boo-boos practically could have been counted in the same vein as doing laundry.

Yet, there was a stiffness to his movements. Ivo was unsure how to approach, or if he should. Stone rose to his feet with a grunt and padded over to the kitchen sink.

“Shouldn't your roommate be home by now?”

Stone pulled a glass down from the cabinet and filled it up with water, “he’ll come home when he’s ready, or let me know otherwise if he will be elsewhere tonight.”

He returned to the table and offered Ivo the glass. He tapped out two pills from the bottle and handed them to him as well, “painkillers.”

“Oooh, don't these just look positively suspicious.” Ivo took the little white tablets anyway and downed them with a gulp.

“They’re stronger than what a pharmacy would allow over the counter,” Stone packed the medicine and its ilk away into the first aid kit, “they’re safe.”

“I know,” Ivo snorted, “you wouldn’t give me something I know damn well you haven’t used on yourself.”

Stone’s movements stuttered. Interesting. Was such a declaration of trust really that unusual? It wasn't something that had needed to be said before. He trusted Stone with his back, with his babies. Surely that spoke volumes alone.

The kit closed with a sharp click, and Stone faced him in full, “when did you rest last, Doctor?”

“Don't be such a mother hen, Stone.”

Stone let out a heavy breath through his nose, “alright. Come on, Doctor, I’ll show you to your room.”

He offered Ivo a hand up, but he nudged it away. He wasn't an invalid. Sore sure, but he could move just fine. Stone still hovered, worrywart that he was, but relented and led the way up the stairs to the home’s second floor. It was a simple hallway with a couple of doors.

The first door just to the left was a bathroom; further down, there were three more doors. Stone let him into the first one beside the bathroom, “here you are. It’s a bit messy, I’ll get you fresh sheets.”

Ivo wandered into the room as Stone vanished from his side.

It was a simple space, there was a desk, shelves, and a bare mattress beneath a window. The shelves were lined with some various photos and nick-knacks. Ivo took one that showed Shadow and the other alien brats together at a lake. Shadow had a pair of sunglasses he was looking over to someone just past the camera lens. Sonic had two bright orange floaties on his arms, and the rest of his troublesome entourage was already in the water.

The one beside it was of Stone and Shadow, still at the lakeside. Stone was sitting in a beach chair facing away from the camera. His torso twisted around the side of the chair to face the camera with a scowl, donning a similar pair of glasses Shadow had worn in the previous image. Said hedgehog was sopping wet, and looked positively livid. It was enough to bring a smile to Ivo, until he noticed an unusual gleam of silver near the bottom of the image.

There were a pair of crutches lying beside his chair.

It was unclear if the crutches belonged to Stone, or someone else, though he wondered. Stone had mentioned he was injured. Perhaps this was taken as he was starting to heal. Knowing his agent, Stone probably busted a knee doing something reckless.

He set the image down beside a jagged piece of driftwood. A memento from the trip, perhaps?

Something sour made itself known in his chest. Stone had built a life again, he had forged himself a new pack. As bitter as he was it just so happened to be the damn creatures that caused so much of his problems to begin with, the bond was there. He knew their caretakers, he knew the locals.

He had moved on.

That was the crux of it all, wasn't it? Stone had moved on, and Ivo barged back into his life without a second thought. Shattering whatever little refuge Stone had built here.

“Doctor?” Stone’s voice snapped him back to reality, “are you alright?”

“I should go.”

Stone adjusted his grip on the laundry in his arms, his face stricken with a panic Ivo didn't get to often see, “what? Why? You're safe here, I promise.”

Ivo nodded to the pictures, “it seems I’m intruding on your little happy ever after here.”

Stone’s brows furrowed. He didn't say anything immediately and instead walked past him to dump the contents of his arms down onto the mattress. “I blamed myself.”

“What?”

“Not a day has gone by over the last seven years that I didn't think of you. Thinking of what I could have done differently, what I could have said… what I would have done to just trade places with you.”

Ivo was at a loss.

“To see you alive and relatively well makes me so happy I don’t have words to even begin to describe.” Stone worried his bottom lip between his teeth, “but I’m not unflappable, Doctor. I can’t lose you again. I just wouldn’t survive it, and that terrifies me.”

“Even after all I’ve done?”

Stone spread the sheets over the bed and tucked the fabric around the mattress, “yes.”

He said it like it was so simple. Like still caring for him after seven years, after everything he had done, was easy.

The sky was blue.

And Stone cared for Robotnik.

“Well, good. I don't plan on leaving this time. If you’ll still have me.”

Stone's laughter was soft now, the rumble of an oncoming storm, or the crash of waves against the sand, “always, Doctor.”

It was late when Ivo assigned a new mission for the MiniNik. The drone had rolled under the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. A few hours ago, Ivo loudly declared he was going to sleep. Stone had still bullied him into eating some soup, but had no complaints about Ivo tucking himself in fairly early.

He had a lot of conflicting emotions to work through.

He sent the drone downstairs instead of working through the minefield of his mind. His extra time alone in the room allowed him to repair his watch enough to connect to the MiniNik, and allow him to watch and hear through the drone’s feed.

“This is your home too, Shadow.”

The hedgehog had returned home only just an hour ago. Their voices were too hushed for Ivo to hear from his room, so he had the MiniNik do a bit of rockonessance.

Stone and Shadow were seated upon the couch, Shadow curled up against Stone’s side, and Stone’s arm rested loosely over his back. They were far too comfortable for this to be the first time they’d done this.

“You want him here.”

“Of course I do, but not at your expense. Shadow, this is your home. I’m not going to make you feel like you don't belong here or that I don't still love you.”

Well, THAT was a strong word.

Shadow’s ears pinned against his head, “I know. Has he even apologized to you?”

“Ah, well. In his own way.”

“So he hasn't,” Shadow sneered, “why do you bother with him?”

Stone’s head rolled against the back of the couch. “He’s brilliant, Shadow. Magnificent. He’s fun, witty, and always keeps me on my toes. You know how I feel about him, how I’ve felt about him for so long. That's not something I can change, or honestly, really want to.”

“He doesn't deserve you.”

Stone shrugged, and Shadow threw his own head back in a loud groan. “Fine.”

“...Fine?”

“He can stay. If only so I can keep an eye on him, your taste in men is atrocious.”

Stone laughed.

Ivo recalled the MiniNik, his mind already racing to formulate a strategy of attack. He got the information he wanted, anyhow. His goal was simple.

Win back Stone’s faith and his heart.

How hard could it be?

Breakfast had been a quiet affair.

Stone woke him up at fuck all o’clock to let him know he’d be in the lab at the Mean Bean, if he needed anything to call. Shadow was out for the day as well, though Stone did not specify doing what. Likely manning the cafe, if Stone was in the lab.

It worked for his plans anyhow. He devoured the pancakes offered with reckless abandon and carried his plate downstairs to dump in the sink when he finished.

Project Rock Romance was a go.

First off, he needed some flowers and wine. His wardrobe was desperately lacking, but he made it work. He found a shirt that fit him adequately, and with his jacket, he was good enough. He’d get new clothes later.

The winter air was sharp against his skin. Tolerable, and with the scarf Stone left on the coat rack wrapped around his neck and chin, he could even consider the crisp air refreshing. It wasn’t a bad walk to the town, though dreadfully boring.

However, as all good things, his peace came to an abrupt end when a police car pulled up beside him. He ignored it, even as the window rolled down, “Hey Robotnik!”

Ivo walked faster. He was not about to deal with that snack plate of an imbecile.

The car’s tire bumped against the curb as the disgrace to the gene pool tried to call over the passenger seat for his attention.

“You're not in trouble!” He tried. “Just wanna chat!”

Ivo stopped, “what do you want? Can you not see I am busy?”

“Uh, you just look like you're walking.” The ape rubbed the back of his head. “Where you heading?”

There was zero merit to continuing this conversation. The man was the bottom rung of the amoebas that lumbered through this little town. Before he could inform him of his place on the acidity scale, he stopped short.

This imbecile was on a first-name basis with Stone. And while it was baffling to Ivo that the man could stomach such an ignoramus, it did not change the facts. Ugh. The things he did for Stone.

“I am… seeking to procure something to…” Ivo flicked his wrist, “apologize, to Stone with.”

“Oh! Heck yeah man,” the ape leaned over the passenger seat and popped open the door, “hop on in, I got some ideas.”

This was for Stone. Ivo reminded himself. He was doing this for Stone.

Ivo let himself into the police car, “fine.”

“Great! So. What are you thinking? Grand gesture? Fancy dinner?”

“Nothing in this blackwater town could be considered fancy.”

“I dunno, Burger Johns is pretty good.”

“I’m sure you’d woo all the ladies with that cheap joint,” Ivo drawled.

The imbecile laughed, “you think?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

Silence elapsed between them. Unlike with Stone, this silence was dreadful and smelled faintly of ham.

“Sooo… Did you have any ideas to apologize to Aban?”

Ivo narrowed his eyes, “tradiotally, flowers and an expensive alcoholic drink would be acceptable.”

“Well, the flowers would be nice! But Aban doesn't drink.”

That was new, “since when?”

“I don't know. I mean, I’ve seen him drunk, but he tends to steer clear of it now.”

“You’ve seen him drunk?” Anger bubbled in his gut at the mere thought that this imbecilic bastard had seen Stone in such a vulnerable state. Weak, his senses dulled. If this man did anything to him, Ivo would be sure his body would never be found.

“Ah, wait, wait. Not like that. As a friend!” His expression alone must have been enough to intimidate Whimple, “we are just friends. I mean, its not like I didn't shoot my shot, have you seen the man?”

Ivo was going to kill him anyway. Mail him back to his family piece by piece. Stone surely wouldn't miss him that much.

“B-but he turned me down! It's ok! He’s a one-and-done kinda guy. Already found his soulmate, not looking for anyone else.”

“Soulmate?”

“Well, those weren’t his exact words, but you gotta know you were it for him, right?” The pig frowned, “right?”

“Obviously.”

“Right, yeah. It was the only time I’ve ever seen him drink. We watched stupid movies, ate cheap takeout, and our weight in ice cream. It was one of the anniversaries of your death, I think?” He scratched his stubble when they pulled to a stop at a red light, “anyway. I don't think he’d want you to know all this, so I’m going to stop talking.”

Ivo frowned. Once again faced with the absolute truth of Stone’s affection for him. And his grief over him. Flowers no longer felt like enough. What else could he do? Ivo’s genius was unparalleled, yet at the moment, he felt near useless. He would be working in Stone’s lab, but he already planned to do some renovations aside from all this.

“You are a confidant for Stone.”

“Uh, I guess?” Whimper tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, “that means friend, right?”

Ivo didn’t believe in a god, but he was about to start praying for patience if he had to suffer this man much longer.

“What does Stone want these days?”

“Weird mechanical stuff. I don’t know the details, he said I’m not allowed in his super secret lair for safety reasons.”

For the best. Ivo was certain his babies would not have tolerated him.

“Come on, surely you can’t be so stupid as not to even know basic alloys.”

“Uh. Well, I wouldn’t say I’m stupid…”

Ivo groaned.

“Oh! Actually, you’re good with mechanics and stuff, right?”

“No,” Ivo slapped a hand over his cheek with a sarcastic gasp, “whatever would give you that idea?”

Whinny pouted, “You’re mean.”

“Have been since the day I clawed out of the womb. Do get used to it.”

“Man, if Aban didn’t like you so much, I’d ask you to leave the car. This is supposed to be fun.”

“Oh, I’m having a blast,” Ivo grinned, “besides, you’ve seen Stone and I work. He likes me mean.”

The man continued to pout like a toddler and turned the blinker on to turn into a small side street lined with shops.

“Oh spit it out, Whibble.”

“Whipple,” he corrected, “though you can call me Wade if you want.”

“I don’t.”

“Right. Ok, well I was going to say Stone’s motorcycle is out of commission. Maybe you could fix it?”

“Stone is perfectly capable of repairing that death machine himself.”

“Yeah, but I think he’d appreciate it if you did your fancy tech stuff on it. Shadow took it out for a joy ride with the other kids, and I guess absolutely fried it. Really bad timing too. He usually leaves for the last weekend of the month on a little journey. I wonder if he’ll have time to fix it before then.”

Ivo's interest was well and truly piqued, “oh?”

“He doesn’t say where he’s going. Shadow goes too most of the time. I think it’s like a fatherish figure and son bonding trip. They’ve done it ever since they moved in for good.”

More mysteries. Ivo needed to get to the bottom of what happened while he was stuck in limbo. The more he hears, the more his curiosity is piqued.

Whipple pulled the car to a stop, “ok! This is Belle Blossoms, they're the only flower shop we have in town. But the lady running it, Barbara, is a delight. She used to give me cookies when I was a kid! Still does sometimes.”

Ivo could not wait to be freed from the car and wasted no time escaping its confines. He hesitated when he closed the door. This man, as loath as he was to admit it, seemed to mean something to Stone. Normally, Ivo would have shut the door in his stupid face and maybe had the MiniNik tucked into his jacket blow it up if he was feeling zesty.

But that would likely make Stone sad. Ugh, how dare he go soft.

“Thanks.” Ivo ground out, slammed and door, and escaped to the confines of the store before he had to weather another second of that fool.

The florist’s shop door chimed when he entered. The store was a veritable assault on all senses. Flowers and arrangements burst out of every corner of the store, and a tall white display had even more brushing the ceiling. To his left was a windowed counter, where a shriveled old crow with comically large glasses sat.

“Oh, hello, welcome to—”

“No time for pleasantries…” He looked down at the nametag donning her orange blouse, “Barbara. I need your best apology arrangement.”

“Oh dear, vacation not going so well?”

“No vacation. I recently moved in.” Ivo narrowed his eyes at her, “Apology bouquet. I do not have all day.”

“Well, welcome to Greenhills,” she hummed, “upset the missus?”

“Mister, if you must know.”

“Ah, your husband then,” she slowly, achingly slowly, started to type on her computer, one key at a time. Ivo was going to throttle her.

“What's his name?”

“Does it matter?”

“Well, I can include a personalized apology tag with your bouquet.”

“Ok, yes fine. Sto— Jim. Jim Kintobor.” Better to not have Stone’s name in any computer anymore, just in case.

The woman paused her plucking, she adjusted her glasses, “Jim? The owner of that little cafe?”

Of course, Stone would know this old crone. Ivo shifted from foot to foot, “yes.”

“I had no idea he was married.”

“You wouldn't,” Ivo snapped, “I… recently returned from overseas. It was confidential, he couldn't disclose anything to anyone. Good ol’ military.”

“Oh, he must be so happy you're home,” she adjusted her glasses, “you know Jim is just so lovely. You are a very very lucky man, Mr. Kintobor.”

“I am aware.”

The woman shifted and then vanished behind the tall counter. Ivo wondered if he needed to call an ambulance. Though luck shone upon him, as she appeared again from around the corner, her whole body shook with each step she took. Her cane clicked against the wood of the floor, and she hobbled over to the center of the room.

The handle of her cane was lifted just enough to tug on a loop hanging from the ceiling, and the white display clicked. The flowers moved a level down the tiered structure. She pulled a few more times until she got the ones she wanted.

Then waddled back around the corner.

Ivo glanced at his watch. It was nearly noon. The Mean Bean would close in five hours, with luck he could fix whatever nonsense those alien brats did to Stone’s bike, and be home in time for supper.

“Here you go, Mr. Kintobor,” the woman warbled, “on the house Mr. Kintobor, thank you for your service. Jim has helped me so much anyway, I’d love to return the favor.”

“Yes, yes. Thank you.” Ivo snatched the bouquet and darted out of the store. It wasn’t like he had planned on paying anyway. Now to find the Mean Bean from here.

He adjusted his coat and allowed the MiniNik to power on, “lead the way. Mean Bean on the double.”

The drone chirped, and they were off.

He arrived at the Mean Bean fifteen minutes later and flung the doors open to storm inside. Shadow was at the counter, as expected. They scowled at each other, and Ivo strode past him to reach the back of the store.

“What are you doing?”

“None of your beeswax, hedgehog.”

“It is when I’m here. Get out of the kitchen.”

Ivo rolled his eyes and walked back out, “what? I’m busy.”

Shadow’s eyes darted to the flowers, “doing what?”

“Well, looking for a vase to put these in,” Ivo shook the bouquet at him, “then I’m going to fix Stone’s death mobile.”

“His motorcycle.”

“Yes, obviously. Keep up. I thought you were supposed to be smart.”

“Why?”

“Because a little piggie told me somebody broke it. So now I’m fixing it.”

Shadow’s cheeks actually pinkened under his fur and he glanced away, “fine.”

“Soooo glad I have your permission.”

The alien brat scoffed and waved him off. So Ivo took the cue and got to work. He rummaged around and found a passable enough container for the flowers in storage, filled the buket up with water and dropped the bouquet in.

With the flowers (temporarily) housed, he left through the back to track down where Stone kept his bike. Thankfully, it was parked along the side of the building. Certainly not the safest place to store it, but it was close to the lab so undoubtedly easier to salvage parts for.

An hour later and already Ivo longed for the perfectly temperature-controlled walls of his lab. Good news, he found the problem. Bad news, it’d be a pain to repair. Shadow had clearly gotten a bit too amped up on whatever nonsense he was doing with it, and fried the entire bike with chaos energy. Nearly every component would need to be replaced.

However, he could also vastly improve it. Stone seemed inclined to let Shadow use the motorcycle, so this would be bound to happen again, unless he was able to find an alternate source of energy. Such as the very chaos energy that fucked it up to begin with.

Ivo stood and stretched, popping his back in the process. He needed a chair.

That would be for later, now he needed a couple things Stone surely wouldn't miss from his lab. The garden shed was at least a fair bit warmer, and he allowed himself a moment to breathe into his hands before typing the code he saw Stone input yesterday. The floor opened up, and the platform sank.

When the elevator reached the lab, he was struck with the utter silence of it all. There was the usual buzz of machinery, but no music. No ambience. just silence.

Stone was hunched over the computers toward the back of the lab, one hand spinning that red BadNik in the air, the other rubbing his chin. The moment he stepped foot past the elevator, the red BadNik flew out of Stone’s reach and flared its turrets.

“Oh, relax,” Stone snorted and reached further up to pat the underside of the drone’s chassis. He turned in his chair to face him, “are you alright, Doctor?”

“Dandy. I need some things for a project, basic materials, you won't miss them.”

The red BadNik beeped and rattled its turrets.

“Omega stop it, the Doctor is free to come and go as he pleases.” The drone returned to a relaxed state, and floated back to hover beside Stone’s head. “You've been back a day, you need to rest Doctor.”

“I rested last night. I need to finish this before inspiration leaves me.”

Stone chuckled softly, “alright. What can I do?”

“Nothing. It's not a weapon. Though I can add weapons.” Ivo rubbed his chin, “actually some turrets would be an excellent addition. Pain to reload, unless…”

“Doctor?”

“Not a weapon. You’ll see. Where is your motor oil?”

Stone blinked, then, with a sigh that Ivo decided could only be fond, stood up from his chair and led Ivo down a small corridor to a larger storage room.

“Take whatever you need. Are you certain there is no way I can assist?”

“You can assist staying down here until I’m finished, you overachieving busybody. I don't need your hovering distracting me, agent.”

Stone frowned, “can I help carry—?”

“Ababab,” Ivo pressed his finger to Stone’s lips, “don't you worry your pretty little head. It’ll be done soon. Go back to whatever you were staring at.”

“Alright, Doctor.”

“Oh and I’m taking custody of my babies back. I’m using some of them for this. You can still see them on weekends, don’t worry.”

“Ok?”

“Good.”

Stone made a soft snorting sound, an attempt not to laugh. Ivo had grown familiar with the sound over the years, no matter how many times he used to snap at the agent for laughing at him, he’d still do that little huff. Genius that he is, it did not take long for Ivo to realize his laughter was not the same as he had grown accustomed to weathering from the common masses.

No, Stone, bafflingly, found him fun.

It was a high he never really stopped riding.

Use of his BadNiks expedited the process tenfold. With the drones to carry what he needed, hold the engine in place, and help him reassemble the motorcycle as a whole, he was done after only a crisp three hours of labor. Well, almost done. There was just one more thing he needed.

“Absolutely not.” Shadow growled.

“It’s just one, don’t be a baby.”

The hedgehog’s ears pinned back against his head, “I’m not letting you use me as a generator.”

Ivo rolled his eyes, “It’s just a quill. Singular. Uno. واحد.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“Aaaand? I’m fixing what you broke, improving it even! With your quill, considering you also use that stupid thing, you won’t need to worry about frying it again. Plus, it’ll glow.”

Shadow said nothing.

“Don’t ruin this for me, I’m almost done.”

Silence again.

“Fine! Please? Can I please have one of your stupid quills to power Stone’s motorcycle that I’ve repaired?”

There was a heavy beat of silence before Shadows' shoulders sagged just enough to know Ivo had won. He reached behind him and plucked it a single red quill, and offered it to the doctor.

Ivo snatched it with a grin so wide his cheeks hurt, “Perfect.”

He trotted back out into the cold and to the new bike. Well, newish. The frame was the same, and Ivo recycled any parts he wasn’t able to repair outright. Really the main work was getting the engine just right.

He pressed his hand over a sleek black panel over where the fuel tank had once been. It hissed open upon registering his signature, he gave the quill a quick lick for good measure.

The feedback was immediate. Adrenaline shot through his body. Excellent.

He installed the little thing between two prongs. The quill glowed briefly, then settled to its normal red. He closed the panel and patted the motorcycle.

“Was it as good for you as it was me, doll?”

“What are you doing?”

Ivo yelped and kicked out, causing the toe of his boot to get jammed between the radiator and frame. He tried to yank it back out but only succeeded in falling off the bike.

“Doctor!”

Stones quick thinking kept the damn thing from falling on him, but did not save his pride. He glared at him from the pavement. “What have I said about sneaking up on me?”

“I wasn’t sneaking, Doctor.” Stone soothed, and with one hand on the handlebars to keep it upright, used his other to free Ivo from the machine. “Are you alright?”

“The only thing wounded is my pride, agent.”

“You didn’t aggravate your burns?”

Ivo propped himself up on his elbows, “can’t even feel them.”

Stone steadied the vehicle on its kickstand and offered a hand to Ivo. He took it and allowed the agent to help him up. Even let him hover and dust dirt and a smattering of snow off his back.

When finally done fretting, Stone's attention shifted to his bike. He ran his hand over the fuel tank and crouched down to inspect the engine and radiator. Undoubtedly, Stone was already running his own little calculations in his mind, probably wondering how fast he could make that thing go now.

“You repaired my motorcycle,” Stone said, his thumb ran along one of the new pipes he had to install for better circulation. “Beautiful.”

“Of course it is, I wouldn’t present anything less than perfection.”

“How did you even know about the damage to begin with?”

Ah. Wait. This was too soon, he needed to have the flowers.

“Hold that thought. Sit tight. I’ll be back.”

Stone blinked, but did not move a muscle.

Ivo gathered the flowers from inside and rushed back out.

“Here.”

Stone stared at him like he had grown another head.

Ivo shook the flowers at him, “here.”

After another unnecessarily long pause, Stone stood and accepted the damp bouquet (perhaps submerging over half of it in that bucket was a bit overkill).

He ran his finger over one of the flower’s petals, “what is all this?”

“It’s…” Ivo’s brows furrowed, “your friend… I… augh!”

The words he wanted to say were lost upon him now. He was left bafflingly blank of anything to explain himself. The flowers should be obvious. He knew damn well Stone had memorized the meanings of over a hundred different flowers.

He opened his mouth and found his throat fighting against him with every breath. It was just an apology. He was being ridiculous.

But Stone had been by his side for years. The man knew him better than he would ever know himself. And when he leant against the repaired bike with a bright smile, he knew Stone understood.

“Apology accepted.”