Chapter Text
The man called Stone was hollow.
He had no family to speak of. No friends of note. His apartment was neat and stylish, but impersonal. His clothes were well-maintained and suited him, but there were no stand-out pieces.
Stone was thirty-five. He had no health issues to speak of, no emotional attachments to write home about, and a perfect mission record at GUN. His superiors found him efficient, intelligent, and serious by nature.
(They occasionally included concern in their reports. Agent Stone does not take sick days, nor time off. Agent Stone does not appear to have a life outside of work. We are concerned that Agent Stone is lonely)
When not on active duty, his desk work tended to shape his days. His superiors found him attentive, studious, and committed. His coworkers thought he was a pain in the ass, and a stickler for instructions.
However, there was one particular day that Stone looked forward to without fail. A day his coworkers dreaded and his superiors ground their teeth over, but made Stone feel oddly awake.
“Submit your resumes and reports for the consideration of Doctor Ivo Robotnik.”
And once again like clockwork, Stone smiled like he was taught too, and handed over his reports.
“Don’t look so happy Agent. This could be the year you get chosen.”
If only he could count himself so lucky.
~~~~
“Have you lost your mind!?”
Commander Walters’ face was boiling. Stone wondered if he was going to have a stroke.
“Do you understand the consequences for this, for your career!? Most agents take early retirement after working for Robotnik. They beg for transfers, they say they’ll take any assignment to get away from him. But your reaction to being called up is to accept unconditionally?”
His mind was made up. Had been for years.
“Sir. Working in tandem with Robotnik is a once in a lifetime opportunity. He’s an incredible man.”
If it was physically possible, it seemed that Walters had become even more stressed. “He’s an incredible man—he’s anything but! You have no idea what you’re getting in with, why we’ve even had a…”
Walters voice trailed off and grew small. He went silent, covering his mouth with his hand and Stone was suddenly terribly aware of how old he looked.
“You aren’t happy with your job, are you, Stone?”
He opened his mouth instinctually to contradict Walters, but before he even began to speak, the old man waved whatever he was going to say away.
“I don’t need to hear whatever drilled excuse you’ve got in your mind. I know it. I can see it. Well, fine. I’ll approve your transfer to Robotnik’s department, and I’ll sit in on your introduction tomorrow.”
“Yes sir. Very good sir.”
“You’ll need to pack up your essentials. Robotnik makes his agents work brutal hours, you’ll be spending more time at the lab than anywhere else. We’ve taken out life insurance on your behalf, and please. If for whatever reason you feel threatened at all, please contact us. Better safe than sorry.”
“Thank you sir, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Packing up his kit and prepping his apartment for minimal usage, Stone felt jittery. Walters’ words were playing over and over in his mind, if for whatever reason you feel threatened at all, please contact us.
What on earth did he think was going to happen?
Stone had been dropped into warzones. He had interrogated terrorist leaders, assisted in high-profile assassinations and had covered up incidents that would never be seen onscreen.
But Walters was truly, genuinely worried for him? For his safety?
Well, Robotnik had an ominous lack of a record. Information about him was highly classified, and what Stone could access was heavily redacted. The man was an enigma, his inventions unparalleled.
A genius in every sense of the word.
He exhaled through his nose. It would do no good to get ahead of himself in this way. The prudent thing to do would be to wait for the next day and see what Walters and Robotnik had in store for him.
That night, Stone lay in bed, unable to sleep. Somewhere in the muzzy static of tiredness, it occurred to him that he’d made a choice that would shape the rest of his life.
~~~~
At some point during the night, he must’ve fallen asleep, because Stone’s work phone rang at 4 in the morning startling him awake.
“This is Agent Stone speaking?”
“Get up! He’s already here, he chose to come early for some unknown reason. Dress yourself in all black and if you know what’s good for you, buy a fucking latte!”
He lay deathly still for a moment as his phone clicked off. Then, he jumped up as if he’d been shot, and rushed out.
Riding his motorcycle in while attempting to clutch a latte in a thermos was quite possibly one of the most ridiculous things Stone had done in awhile. He felt like he was late for a meeting with his principal, he felt like a child desperately trying to please a distant teacher.
Abandoning his bike in the middle of the parking lot, Stone rapidly straightened his clothes. Stress mounting through his body, he could hear angry voices. “I’m leaving, this is a waste of my time if he can’t even get his act together quickly enough to be here when I need him.”
“Ivo, this is blatantly unfair, and you know that. You should be grateful…”
A tall man in a tailored black coat whipped around and hissed in Walters’ face. “I don’t need to be grateful that you’ve assigned me yet another imbecile to deal with. I’m leaving.”
“Hello Doctor Robotnik. My apologies for being late, the unexpected change threw a wrench in my plans. Here’s the latte you requested.”
Stone distinctly felt like he was being sized up. Robotnik’s eyes were cold and dark, void-like, and while he was a handsome man, Stone felt as if he wasn’t truly there.
Robotnik was someone you could just pass by on the street and not truly notice, unless those eyes saw and pierced you.
“So. You’re the new one they’ve tossed to me. Hello, you already know me, you know what to do, blah blah blah. Whatever self-inflating twaddle you were going to say is useless.”
There was deathly silence in the room. Walters looked like he wanted to shrivel up and die, and Robotnik was preening. Stone was completely taken off guard. So this is what he was really like. A childish, stuck-up, too smart for his own good, asshole.
“I think I’ll enjoy working for you, sir. Whatever you ask of me, whatever you need, I’m happy to comply.”
Robotnik stepped into his personal space and Stone lifted his chin to meet his eyes. The older man’s eyes flickered across his face, taking him in, and Stone worked to consistently meet and match his gaze.
The Doctor does not enjoy eye contact.
“You’ll be no different. So don’t even try.”
“Never say never, sir.”
Robotnik’s eyes widened slightly. He’d surprised him, Stone realized. It felt good to surprise Robotnik, and a pleased warmth spread through his hollow chest.
“Walters will give you the necessary files and security clearance to my labs today. You start tomorrow at 8am sharp. Don’t be late, or the badniks will get you.”
And without another word, Robotnik snatched the coffee out of his hand and swept out of the office, leaving Walters and Stone bewildered.
~~~~
When Stone had arrived that morning, he had vaguely entertained the hope that it might be a good day. They’d be productive. He’d work it all out.
How wrong he’d been.
Robotnik loathed having someone in the room with him. He loathed when another person spoke to him while he was working. The Doctor did not have any logical filing system, and his finances were all over the place, but he expected whomever was working for him to intuit what was to be done with all of this instantly.
He also quite obviously had migraines, and what must be the beginnings of arthritis. Neither of which was acknowledged or cared for. The caffeine could not be good for him and yet Robotnik insisted on it anyways.
The moment Stone shut the door on his own apartment; he heaved a huge sigh of relief. For the first time in a long time, going through the motions of filling out his own paperwork, working out in the gym and cooking a meal felt soothing, instead of monotonous.
Once his routine had been accomplished, it was game on.
Cracking open his laptop, Stone started in earnest to search for information on Ivo Robotnik. It seemed like his family had been wealthy, but had fallen into disgrace and he’d grown up in an orphanage in Eastern Europe and had moved to the States at eighteen. After this information, not even the cyber skills Stone possessed could’ve broken through the firewall.
Something was here that a very powerful person didn’t want anyone else to see.
Creating a backdoor for himself, Stone flicked over into Robotnik’s academic history. A known polyglot, multiple doctorates, record-breaking LSAT and MCAT scores. He could’ve had any number of jobs, but he’d always chosen to focus on research and design.
It was almost like he couldn’t stop himself from creating.
No current personal life. No partner. It wasn’t even clear if the doctor lived anywhere other than his lab.
Stone sighed, shifted lower on his bed. Tomorrow was going to be interesting. All this effort of not setting off tripwires, or letting his superiors know he was snooping, and nothing to show for it.
He was about to close his computer and go to bed, when something caught his eye.
A flickering had begun in the corner of the screen, leaking blackness, and Stone was suddenly, terribly aware that someone knew what he had seen in Robotnik’s few personal files.
Desperately trying to break the hacker’s control, Stone realized that even with the best training in the world, he was in over his head. This computer’s going to get fried.
The screen went totally black, and then tiny red letters scrolled across the page.
Curiosity killed the cat, you know.
The computer emitted a faint hiss, and Stone was left alone in his room with the sinking feeling that something disastrous was going to happen at work tomorrow.
~~~~
Stone was nervous as hell when he walked into the lab that morning. He thought that his contract with Robotnik would’ve been terminated immediately. After all, it could have been no one else who would’ve done such a thing. GUN, mindlessly bureaucratic as it was, would have simply called him in for a meeting.
Robotnik should’ve thought of something pettier, nastier, and meaner.
It was only when he’d gone an entire week without Robotnik exploding that he began to accept that he just might be in the clear.
And that was when the real work could begin.
It steadily became clear that the time to work on managing Robotnik’s assets and creating an archive of his projects was when he was hyperfixated on whatever new toy he was constructing. The time to work on developing a coherent security protocol for the badniks was when he was attending any kind of meeting and Stone could connect to the badniks remotely.
When Robotnik’s eyes were on him, Stone wordlessly followed any instruction given. He spoke when addressed. He tolerated the punishments.
The punishments.
He’d always known that a man of such genius would have some peculiarities. Perhaps a misunderstanding of some basic social cues. Oddities of any kind.
Robotnik undoubtedly invaded his personal space on purpose. It was intended to rile him, to set him on edge. Whenever he chose to make Stone pin himself to the wall, or crowd into his face, or chop him in the gut while they were in public, the comments undoubtedly followed.
“Crotchety old queen.”
“Stone, that poor sucker. He doesn’t have a clue what he’s signed up for.”
Were they intended to be the humiliation for snooping in Robotnik’s personal file? Stone didn’t think so. That would be something far more drawn out and painful than the whispered comments and looks from the other agents.
Each day was like walking on tenterhooks. Robotnik would rage over the smallest thing, but could be easily placated with a latte or with a well-timed comment of support. He might act like Stone was nothing but a nuisance, however he could see that the Doctor needed to hear that he was doing the right thing.
So, the reported ivy league misanthrope is insecure.
And for awhile, everything went as it should. There was a system. He’d already beaten several other agents in terms how long they’d served with him, and instead of maintaining an entourage of subordinates, Stone had managed to coordinate the badniks.
Everything was working as it should.
He always should’ve known that was never going to work out.
~~~~
“And Doctor, is everything well with you?”
Commander Walters was chatting with Robotnik at some social event they’d been roped into, and Stone could almost see the older man’s social battery wearing down in real time. The Doctor liked to think that he was unreadable, but Stone had realized that certain things were broadcast very easily across his face.
Stone moved into Robotnik’s line of sight, and for whatever reason, instead of including Stone in the conversation as a segway out, he chose to continue chatting. “Well, you know. The usual doom and gloom. But a pesky little thing happened the other day, a real prank was pulled on me.”
Stone’s insides turned to ice. He couldn’t possibly be serious. Walters wrinkled his nose in surprise. “A prank on you? What on earth happened?”
Robotnik smiled a bitter, nasty little smile. “A snooper tried to get into my personal files. I fried their computer of course, but to even get as far as they did must’ve taken some skill. I do wonder if it was one of those incompetents you assigned me previously, but then again, I doubt they were capable of it.”
“This is quite the security breach Doctor. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.”
“Well, I felt I should. Communication with you lot is part of my contract. Thanks for approving my extra funding, it’ll keep you on my Christmas list. See you when I see you.”
Without another word, he stalked out of the event hall, not waiting to see if Stone was keeping up with him.
The drive back to the lab was eerily silent. Robotnik liked to prattle or listen to music in the car, so to hear nothing indicated to Stone that they were going to have it out.
Robotnik’s labs were always kept slightly warm, but now it seemed almost oppressive. It was well past the time when Stone would head back to his apartment, but watching Robotnik stalk into the lab made clear that this was going to be a long night.
“Sir, if there’s nothing else you need—”
“It has been months.”
So they were going to have it out.
“I apologize for letting my curiosity get the better of me.”
Robotnik twisted around, hair mussed and mouth slightly open in an expression of disbelief.
“I knew it had to be you. The only person who could or would fry your computer so you’d be left with a very expensive brick, was me. Why on earth did you say nothing, you simpleton!?”
“Because I think I’ll find working for you interesting.”
There was silence in the room. A vein was pulsing in Robotnik’s forehead, and for the first time since becoming an agent, Stone felt like the walls were closing on him. Then, the Doctor surged forward and shoved Stone against the wall, hard.
“I don’t know what you get out of lying to me. Oh the badniks and the archiving and the—previously disastrous—finances are all good. The others didn’t get that far. But don’t pretend you wanted this. Any of it.”
Stone looked into Robotnik’s eyes. Then he grasped Robotnik by the wrists and turned them around so now the Doctor was pinned. The older man’s eyes widened in surprised and Stone squeezed his wrists until the joints creaked.
“I am many things Doctor. But I do not lie to the people I respect.”
They stood there for a moment, not willing to break the silence. Stone was breathing like he’d run a marathon and Robotnik remained still, merely watching.
He’d raised a hand to a superior officer.
“Fascinating. A GUN officer with a rebellious streak.”
Robotnik met his eyes, breath coming out in short pants. The Doctor tended to invade his space as often as he could, but this was the first time that Stone was aware of the closeness of their bodies.
“I think I’ll keep you on despite our little ding-dong. Mind letting me go?”
Stone almost jumped back and straightened his rumpled suit. Robotnik was looking him up and down, analyzing him completely.
It frightened him. This man saw him completely.
“You know Stone. I think we’ll find each other quite interesting.”