Chapter Text
A small noise caught Stone’s attention, drowning under the waves of now heated and raised voices muffled behind the meeting room doors. The repetitive and weighty clicks slowly grew clearer and more distinct. Stone was waiting patiently and dutifully beside the door, back firmly pressed against the wall as her hands folded in front of her hips. She had been waiting for what she guessed to have been approximately a quarter of an hour; she didn’t know for certain as the hallway had no clocks in her line of vision. Despite this, she had let the voices coming from the other side of the wall she leaned against blur together into a single wave of noise that she tuned out. The sudden change in the monotonous past minutes startled her slightly.
It was undoubtedly someone walking, there was no mistaking that, but the paces of the figure’s strides were foreign to her, the typical hasty and purposeful clicking of heels of most of the workers at G.U.N. instead being one with much more delayed and almost leisurely and moody steps. From the now rising volume, Stone could almost make out and visualize a slow and theatrical sway, jerky shifting of weight from leaning on one leg to the other, hips dipping back and forth. It almost sounded irritated, an annoyed rhythm of someone who was making a show out of delaying their destination. Stone assumed this was just the case. She had been instructed by Commander Walters to remain outside of the room until the another “guest” showed up, and Stone could guess that this was that same expected guest. By the way they walked, it was clear they were not in any rush to make their way to the meeting room, instead giving the impression to Stone that this was all a matter of theatrics for them, a simple meeting to attend to deliberately late as to make an entrance.
Stone could see a dark mass out of the corner of her eyes, rearing the corner of the hallway before her. Stone’s gaze shifts up from the floor to look beyond the steadily approaching figure crossing the distance of the hallway, making sure not to lock eyes, but still tilting at just the right angle to try to make out who this was.
Stone fights within herself to maintain her trained blank yet all the same attentive stare, curiosity clawing at her as she restrains herself from letting her eyes wander to properly examine the figure that had so easily drawn in her curiosity, even with something as simple as attention-grabbing footsteps.
Two realizations hit Stone in quick succession; the first being that this would almost without a doubt be who she was being reassigned to work for. Stone had been instructed to wait outside as the other higher-ups got their affairs in order before their guest arrived. It wouldn’t have made sense to make Stone wait outside the room until the other person arrived unless she would have some relation to them, so it was almost certain in her mind that it was because it was who she was being reassigned to. Walters had only given Stone a loose briefing in a curt and flavorless email. After Stone had been requested to be reassigned for her supposed “unfitness” from the General she had worked under, she knew that a meeting would either entail being fired entirely or being reassigned to someone else, and thankfully she had surmised it was the latter through the little information given by the email.
The second realization was one that made her heart sink, she realized it as the figure properly closed the distance between them and she caught a glimpse of her eyes: This was Dr. Robotnik. She was being reassigned to work for the Dr. Robotnik. She had never met her in person prior to this, frankly, Stone never thought she would. She had only ever seen the occasional photograph of the woman and seen demonstrations of her technology; all other accounts of her were purely gathered from scornful blathering and horror stories from her colleagues. Despite this, Stone could have recognized her glare in an instant from anywhere.
By the time Stone was fully reeling as the latter of the realizations set in, Robotnik had fully reached the end of the hallway, positioning herself against the wall, as Stone was, on the other side of the meeting room’s door.
Stone kept her face forward, now with much more conviction and deliberation, terrified to step out of line and stare or gawk at the woman she would very likely be working under soon. She worried the inside of her bottom lip between her teeth as her mind raced, folded hands now beginning to fidget as her thumbs nervously traced up and down each other. Stone could see Robotnik’s crossed arms and furrowed brows ever so slightly out of the corner of her peripherals, only able to clearly make them out from the black blurs faintly in her sight that clashed with her pale skin. She had always heard how the Doctor knew how to make an entrance, after all, so the confusing details began to click into place: the raised voices and overall air of irritation and unease, the hesitation in Walters’ voice, everything. They all feared this woman.
Stone had heard of Robotnik’s treatment of her agents and the plethora of experienced agents she had gone through as the higher-ups desperately tried to find a single agent that would put up with Robotnik and be deemed satisfactory by her. Not as much of a shock to Stone, but from what she had heard, these frivolous attempts to please the woman had been to no avail. And now, Stone was next to be chewed up and spar out by the woman.
Unintentionally, Stone’s will gave out on her and she accidentally flitted her eyes over to sneak a quick, clearer direct glance at her face. It was barely a second, a small flick of her eyes that went entirely unnoticed by the other woman, but Stone’s thoughts swam with every little detail she took in from that small second
Stone hadn’t realized it quite until she snuck a glance up at her, but Robotnik was considerable taller than her, her lanky stature being adorned in a combination of both form-fitting and loose and flowing black fabrics that she got a wider sciped look at as Robotnik first crossed the distance of the narrow hallway. As she was collecting her thoughts after the quick peek at the woman, her heart raced as she felt the ominous and looming presence of the woman over her, now ever-so acutely aware of her towering height.
Stone had also taken notice to her dark eyes; sharp and angular with irises that looked almost hollow from how little light they were reflecting. She was wearing what Stone assumed to be mascara, with her dark eyelashes covering the majority of the whites of her eyes in a half-lidded and uninterested glare to her left, away from Stone. Stone wondered if she could sneak another quick look while the Doctor was faced away. Robotnik’s lips were pursed into what Stone assumed was a perpetual scowl, one decorated with a defined cupid’s bow and bright red lipstick. It was certainly not a fully made-up face, but Stone undoubtedly could tell that the woman had made some attempt to appear presentable, her accents of makeup complimenting her greased and slick back short hair. Makeup wasn’t all that common for many of the agents, with Stone only tending to occasionally use eyeliner, mascara, and a natural dark maroon-ish brown lip stain. Having someone in the agency wearing such striking makeup, such bright vibrant red lipstick was unheard of. Well, of course unheard of rather than being worn by Robotnik. From the tech of Robotnik’s Stone had used and seen in action hands-on, she knew just how dedicated was to her trademark color scheme, a sleek color palette of exclusively blacks, whites, and reds; and her wardrobe certainly didn’t seem to be an exception in the slightest.
Stone also took notice of all of the lines and wrinkles that mapped her face, with particularly deep smile lines that Stone suspected weren’t from what the namesake would imply. Her dark eyebrows were angled down in such a way that made her nose scrunch, an overall expression of annoyance and superiority painted on every inch of her face that Stone could recall from the quick glance. Every aspect of the other woman spelled out a clear demonstration of her superiority.
Stone felt her stomach tighten as she thought of the woman. Her minds kept turning over each and every detail of her she took in. She prayed more than anything Walters would just start the damned meeting, the tension becoming unbearable as her mind swam with all of the cautionary tales of just how cruel and unforgiving Robotnik was to so many other agents.
The buzzing of the overhead office lights began to rise over the washes of raised voices, the mumbling from behind the plain walls continuing.
Stone suddenly felt sickly uneasy as the acute out-of-body sensation of being distinctly watched prickled at her skin. She knew she was being looked at by the other woman; being torn apart and dissected in her mind. Stone couldn’t blame her, after all Stone was very likely to be her new Agent.
Stone had grown well-versed in the realm of particular stories regarding just how many agents Robotnik had made the lives of a living hell. She knew the number of agents Robotnik had been paired with in the past easily stretched above numbers in the forties. She couldn’t help but to feel some sort of pity for the woman. Stone knew why Robotnik was never able to maintain a steady agent to accompany her side, she’s heard of the verbal and physical hell oh-so many people had been put through, but Stone still felt herself seeing how excruciating that would be from the Doctor’s perspective. Quite admittedly, Stone thought that the other G.U.N. agents were absolute imbeciles, who could blame Robotnik for thinking the same? Stone couldn’t blame the woman for simply having high standards. Stone in her mind knew that this examination from the Doctor was likely just her trying to analyze whether or not Stone was worthy.
She straightened herself up, the realization managing to relieve some of her tension. Stone knew how good at her job she was; she was leagues above nearly every last agent at G.U.N., she didn’t have nearly as much to worry about as the other incompetent and sniveling morons that had likely been assigned to Robotnik before. As much as she had been passed around to work under an array of decorated higher-ups, she knew she’d never had a reasonable explanation of why she was to be reassigned to someone else, a perfect record that many discarded as they simply did not see her as being “fit”.
Part of Stone was newly exhilarated at the supposed proposition, at the chance to truly prove herself worthy to one of the hardest to please in all of G.U.N., it was tantalizing. Stone couldn’t deny either that much of the surfacing excitement also came from Robotnik’s piercing gaze locked onto her, phantom senses tingling along the sides of her neck as Robotnik remained unrelenting and still as her eyes remained fixed upon her in silence.
Against her better judgement, Stone let her head slowly turn to meet the gaze that she felt burning into her. Her dark eyes reflected the overhead lights with a sparkle as she stared up at the Robotnik, head slightly tilted as her chin grazed against her shoulder. It was no more than an expressionless yet curious glance, her usual fake courteous smile missing from her face.
After the returned glance from Stone, Robotnik quickly squinted her eyes shut and lifted her chin to straighten it away from Stone. As Robotnik returned to her blank straight-forward, Stone followed her and did the same.
The door swung open between the two, briefly blocking their view of the other, a wrinkled hand palming in a swipe against the edge of the door to catch it before it swung back against Stone. Commander Walters stepped forward to reveal himself from behind the door, turning between Stone and Robotnik.
“Great, you two are both here, we’ll start the meeting now. I know you are a… very busy woman, Robotnik, so we’ll make this quick.”
Robotnik quickly rolled her eyes and scoffed. “It better be…” she grumbled before dipping behind the man to follow him into the room.
Stone did the same, following dutifully behind the two higher-ups into the small neutral walled meeting room, a large wooden round table in the center surrounded by a ring of surrounding leather chairs. Stone glances to the other few faces in the room; a few she didn’t particularly recognize but could see decorated in an array of badges, and the uninterested frown of General Flint. She felt a growing uneasiness of once again being seated across from the man she was working under not even over a week ago, with, what she presumed at the time, was no issue. She just wanted to know why she was being reassigned, but she had a hunch that curiosity of hers would remain unanswered.
In a re-examination of the room, one figure sitting beside Flint was not decorated as all the others, instead in what Stone could easily recognize as the get-up of a fellow agent: a nondescript, black three-piece suit. ‘ My replacement, ’ she realized with a newfound twinge of scornfulness in her mind. The man looked young and was practically twitching from nerves in his seat, clearly not as experienced as Stone. Clearly, not “fit” to defend someone at as high of a position as the General. That was when Stone began to grow bitter, now she knew she was truly not at all responsible for her reassignment.
She filled an empty seat beside Robotnik, Walters making his way around the rim of the table to position himself in an empty seat between the two major parties; Stone and Robotnik, and Flint and the other agent. There was a brief shuffling of chairs as the three that entered got situated.
“Thank you all for joining us today. As per request of General Flint, we have decided to take protocols to reassign you two agents to new superiors to work under. Agent Smith, we hope that your new path of working under General Flint proves beneficial for all of us,” Walters said. Stone took quick notice of the notably bland name of the equally bland and spry agent sat across from her. “Do you have anything in particular you’d like to say, General?” Walters asked.
Flint gave a small shake of his head. “No, I don’t think I have anything to add, Commander.”
“Well then… Apologies for the… long wait. I suppose we ironed out most of the details before our other guests joined us. I’ll have one of the directors,” he motioned his hand to the few faces across the table, “lead you back to your station and fill your new agent in on his duties.”
Stone was biting her tongue now. She wanted more than anything to speak out of turn, to ask Flint, Walters, anyone why she was always being reassigned. Stone was getting exhausted with the array of similar responses that boiled down to whatever superior simply “not thinking she was best for the job”. She felt a tad more inclined to prod the General for details, as she had been working under him for nearly half a year to be on a whim requested to be assigned someone else to fill her spot, for someone who looked like he only had six months of experience. She couldn’t bring herself to choke out the questions that were clawing at her throat as she wordlessly watched from across the table as the two men raised from their seats.
After some quick courteous handshakes, in nearly an instant, the two left the room, leaving Stone beside Robotnik, the two seats across from them now empty. With the new open space at the table, their closeness became unignorable to Stone. She could feel the warmth being exchanged between their arms as they rested just an inch apart, Robotnik’s crossed over her chest in an immature protest and Stone’s leaning on the rests of the chair. Stone nearly jumped as she felt her calf lightly grazed by the leather toe of Robotnik’s heeled boots, her legs crossed over one another as the knee-high leather lightly squeaked against the other.
Walters’ hand grazed the back of his chair as he once again pulled it out to take a seat.
“Now, where were we…”
“You said it’d be quick … Commander,” Robotnik said, biting sarcasm in every word. He seemingly ignored Robotnik’s small retort.
“As you could likely assume, Stone, we’ve decided to reassign you to work alongside Dr. Robotnik,” Walters said.
“‘Alongside’ is a bold claim…” Robotnik mumbled, crossed arms tensing as her gloved hands scrunched the loose flowing sleeves of her trench coat.
Unbothered, Walters continues, “In a way, you’ve already worked alongside one another.” Walters turned to directly talk to Stone. “The battles you fought against the coup in Azerbaijanistan were won from your troop using Robotnik’s tech, after all. You could think of having already worked with an extension of the Doctor, in a way. Overall, we think that your perfect record could be a perfect match for the Doctor, as we know just how… high her expectations can be.” He turns to once again address both of them. “You have both had… issues remaining with a fixed partnership in your time working here, so I’d say you two already seem the perfect match. We are hoping that you may finally find a stable position with one another. We think Stone could truly be just what you are looking for, Dr. Robotnik.”
“If she has a perfect record, why hasn’t she been able to stay to one assignment?” Robotnik flatly introjected as soon as Walters finished.
Walters lowered his voice to a hush. “It isn’t any fault of hers. She’s been simply seen as… unfit by many, just as how you deem so many of your agents.” Stone swallowed dryly, unsure if she was intended to be able to hear what Walters was telling Robotnik.
”I have reasons to want my agents fired. If she hasn’t been able to keep a job with a perfect operational record, there’s no way in hell you aren’t lying to me.”
Walters let out a hushed breathy sigh. “It’s— it’s not as simple as that, Robotnik,” he sighed. He pursed his lips and after a pause turned back to Stone, resuming his normal volume, almost like he was trying to avoid Robotnik as she prodded him with deft and deliberate questions. “I’m sure you’ve heard quite a lot about the rising head of technology, though, Agent. I can send one of the directors to the lab to—“
“You won’t be doing that,” Robotnik dryly interrupted. “I’ll inform her of what’s expected of her all on my own.”
Walters mouth hung slightly open wordlessly before he closed it. He pursed his lips and gave a small nod. “Very well, if that’s what you’d deem best fit,” Walters sighed. “Would either of you like to add anything before you continue with your work day?” The silence that hung in the room for a few seconds answered Walters question. Stone hadn’t spoke a word since she had first seen Robotnik. Even if she wanted to choke out any small thing to introject, she didn’t know if she’d be able even if she wanted.
“Well… You two may resume your work, thank you for joining us, best of luck.”
Robotnik snickered. “ Luck ,” she mocked under her breath. As they rose from their seats, Walters extended a hand for a handshake, to which Robotnik made a show of not returning. Stone reached over the length between them and firmly shook his hand.
“Thank you too,” Robotnik said, a faux peppiness in her voice. As she reared out of the room, Stone could catch a faint mumbled, ‘ … for nothing ’ as the woman brushed past her, feeling the cool breeze from the air around her shifting. After a second of hesitation, she followed behind Robotnik, who was now walking at a much more brisk pace, no longer the slow and theatrical stride from earlier. Her expression remained uninterested and irritated as she made her way to the elevator with defined clicks from the heels of her boots. Stone’s own stride practically harmonized with hers, the less distinct sound of her dress shoes punctuating each step following behind every one of Robotnik’s footfalls in a staccato.
Robotnik’s gloved finger reached up to tap the button to open the elevator door, the metallic tip scratching against the plastic coating of the button with a click and a screech. Stone remained behind her, looking up at the back of her head as Robotnik waited impatiently for the doors to glide open.
Something about Robotnik drew Stone in, she was so unlike everyone else Stone had worked under. Hell, she was completely unlike anyone she had ever seen at G.U.N. before. The enigmatic rumors swirled in her head as she slowly processed she was going to be working with the single most feared woman in the organization, and she was beyond exhilarated. Somehow, she knew that Robotnik would be different , she didn’t quite know exactly how, but nonetheless, she reveled in that thought.
They stood before two hulking metal doors to Robotnik’s lab. Stone’s hands neatly folded in front of her as Robotnik flicked her fingers in a sequence of deliberate motions to unlock the door.
Stone had heard talk of Robotnik’s gloves; the technological marvel that they are, how she would dig the metallic fingertips into skin, how she choked and grabbed anyone who dared step even a touch out of line, out of perfection, with them. Seeing them in action herself, however, was truly marvelous. Stone couldn’t help but to admire the way each joint of her slender fingers contorted the leather gloves with any slight adjustment.
“Agent?” Robotnik snipped. Stone hadn’t realized, but Robotnik had already begun making her way into the lab, now with several steps between them as Stone stood absentmindedly in the doorway.
Quickly snapping out of her thoughts, Stone scurried back to Robotnik’s side. “Apologies, ma’am,” Stone said calmly. Robotnik paused for a second, finally hearing the Agent’s voice, taking note of its deep and smooth yet slightly nasally tone.
“I don’t need apologies, I need you to follow ,” Robotnik cooed, a certain rasp in her voice on the last word. Robotnik continued her strides across the lab, walking to a front table positioned behind a display of blue holographic screens, a rolling black leather chair placed neatly in the center. Once in front of the work desk, she swiveled around on her heels back to Stone, who had to stop herself with a jerky dig of her heels into the cool metallic floors to not stumble into Robotnik.
“I’m going to explain what you are to do, Agent, and I expect you listen and perform exactly to my instruction. If you so much as falter at even one minute task I place upon you, I could very easily pull the strings to have you fired and make every waking moment of your life a living hell.” Robotnik stepped closer to Stone, making her take a step back as Robotnik continued to lean down to her face, not leaving so much as a single inch between them. Her voice dropped, “I could ruin every aspect of your life with ease.”
‘ I wouldn’t have much to lose, ’ Stone thought sarcastically, holding back a small cheeky grin as her sarcasm swirled with a growing warmth in her chest as it tightened.
“So you better do just as you’re told or you’ll soon find that out first-hand, which I’m sure you’d just love,” Robotnik teased.
Stone’s heart began to race from how close the other woman was. Stone could feel every hot breath as she spit out her slough of threats. Stone had been subconsciously taking small steps back away from Robotnik, which were being quickly returned as Robotnik closed in every inch that Stone backed away from her. Stone hadn’t realized until she felt the cool white metallic walls pressing against the back of her black suit jacket, coaxing out a small stifled gasp from the sudden cold prickling at her skin. Robotnik remained towering over her, still mind-numbingly close. She supposed that the talk of the Doctor having no concept of personal space must have been grounded in reality.
Robotnik jerked a hand forward to tug at the lapels on Stone’s coat, jerking her forward. “For today, you are just to observe . I expect not a word out of your mouth unless I specifically instruct it, understand?” Stone’s hair pressed against the metal wall as her head flung back, to counterbalance the rest of her body as it was tugged forward, tight fabric of the suit jacket digging into her biceps. She could feel the collar of her suit digging into her neck as Robotnik held her close.
Stone couldn’t exactly say she was shocked, but being thrown around within not even an hour of meeting Robotnik left her rather dumbfounded. All things considered, she didn’t mind it quite as much as all the agents that had cried out and complained due to the very thing she was being faced with and was responding with little but apathy to. She’s experienced far worse from her time as a soldier. A little pushing, grabbing, or even slapping if it came to it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.
“I asked you a question, Agent, I expect an answer. If you’re this sloppy already, Walters’s made a horrible choice,” Robotnik hissed out. “ Which isn’t shocking, ” she mumbled.
“I understand what I’m to do today, Doctor,” Stone said, letting her head fall into a firm nod as she spoke, shaking herself out of her thoughts.
Robotnik broke off her contact, letting Stone’s now-wrinkled lapels return to her sides as she stumbled down against the wall. Robotnik took a step back and rigidly pointed a gloved finger at the floor. It was almost as if she was wordlessly instructing a trained dog to sit. Stone hesitated before taking the few steps to stand where Robotnik pointed to, folding her hands as she looked up expectantly to Robotnik beside her.
Robotnik let out a small annoyed hum as her extended arm swung back to her side. “You aren’t as dense as I thought,” she said. Robotnik’s hands reached out to the leather chair and spun the open side to face her. She slumped herself back onto the seat and swiveled to look up at the array of blue screens. “Take in every little detail for every hour that ticks past. I will remained uninterrupted, and you will stand behind me like the loyal sycophant you are, is that clear, Agent?”
”Very much so, Doctor.”
Stone situated herself in the spot, running a hand through her hair to slick it back in place, having gotten slightly disorderly from it rubbing against the wall as Robotnik tossed her around.
For some reason, she didn’t dread the monotonous task of simply observing from behind the Doctor and taking in every little thing she did. The same initial excitement reared its head once more as the minutes began to tick by, as Stone admired any small thing the other woman did. As she remained behind Robotnik, as hours passed, she began to settle into her spot beside Robotnik. She began to get a sense that this assignment would be the one that would finally last.