Work Text:
When Stone woke up, she was met with that familiar, dreadful pain in her abdomen. She was honestly so caught up with work that she hadn't even realised those cramps she was getting for the past few days were from her period, brushing it off as something she ate or needing the bathroom or something.
So when she tried to find her meds - codeine, to manage her pain - she felt an overwhelming dread settle in her stomach. They were nowhere to be found, and she was constantly doubling over in pain, profusely sweating even though it was winter.
She was diagnosed with endometriosis. Due to her job, she couldn't have the surgery to get it removed as it would render her, one of the best agents, useless, to not only Walters, but also Robotnik. She wouldn't let herself be replaced because of something so trivial. She didn't take birth control because the hormone regulation did nothing to mitigate any of her pain. Normal painkillers like ibuprofen didn't help either, nowhere near strong enough. So here she was, stuck with codeine. It wasn't a super strong opioid, just enough for the pain to lessen a considerable amount. She knew it could be addictive, which is why she only ever used it on her periods. And now, it was gone.
But she couldn't skip work. She couldn't risk getting fired for not doing her job. She couldn't disappoint Robotnik. So, she grabbed the nearest ibuprofen, got dressed, and hauled herself into the lab.
A choice she would come to regret not even 2 hours later. As usual, ibuprofen did nothing, and she was sweating through her suit, dizzy and nauseous with pain. Her uterus felt like it was being stabbed over and over, the same pain radiating through her back and abdomen, even down her legs, and ontop of it all, she had a throbbing headache. She really tried not to snap at Robotnik, but when she blamed something entirely on Stone when she wasn't even remotely related to it?
"I had nothing to do with that!"
...
The silence following was absolute torture for Stone. The stare-down she got from Robotnik might have been worse.
"Excuse me?"
"I.. I'm sorry, ma'am. Please excuse me, I'm not myself today. I'll go fix it right away." She rushed to leave, but was stopped by a badnik floating infront of her.
"I don't recall saying you could leave, agent. Come here." Robotnik demanded. Stone knew she was in deep shit, but god she loved when Robotnik ordered her around like that. She moved infront of the doctor, staying quiet while Robotnik looked her up and down.
She stood from her seat, pressing a metal sensor on the tip of her glove to Stone's forehead, grunting with dissatisfaction at the result.
"You have a small fever. You're sweating, you're pale and you're tense. Do you have a noteable cough or sniffle?"
"Oh, no, ma'am. Don't worry about it. It'll pass eventually." Stone reassured, knowing full-well that this pain won't end until she either gets codeine or her period ends.
"Don't care. What is it then?"
"Ma'am, really it's-"
"What is it?" She shoots Stone a look, crossing her arms.
Stone sighs in defeat. "It's just my period. It's trivial."
"Your fever and paleness say otherwise. Are you in pain?"
"A.. a little, but-"
"Just answer the questions, Stone. I'm 'doctor' Robotnik. I may not have completed the medical phd BUT I got most of it so whatever. Why haven't I seen this before? Surely you've had periods and worked before. You never take days off and you're always in tiptop shape. So what's the difference?"
Stone groans. "I just... used up all my pain medication when I had my last one. I completely forgot about getting more, and I was so hung up with paperwork for this meeting that I misjudged my cramps as something else. It was my mistake."
"So why did you come here instead of going to get more?"
Truthfully, Stone didn't even consider that as an option. "I didn't want to get fired...?"
"...What? Why would I fire you for a bodily function? It may be your mistake for forgetting medication, but it wasn't your choice to practically bleed out once a month. Besides, you're far too useful to throw away. What medication are you taking?"
"Uh, codeine. I'm useful?" Stone tilts her head, trying not to let the ego go straight up.
"No. Go sit down."
Stone sits while Robotnik digs through her medical files, before calling the medicine ward of the government building and demanding they bring some this very second. Meanwhile, Stone had doubled over in pain, and she could feel her stomach bubbling in preperation to vomit. Robotnik turns at the noise, kneeling beside her.
"Come on." She grabs Stone's wrist, dragging her to the lab's singular bathroom and seating Stone at the toilet. "I can't do vomit. You finish puking and I'll get the medicine."
Robotnik leaves, and Stone thinks its horribly in-character for Robotnik to hate vomit and leave her alone because of it.
Her stomach heaves, and the contents of it empty into the bowl. Its awful, the feeling of dry heaving when you have nothing left to give. Coupled with the pain, the sweating, and the feeling that she'd pass out at any moment? Not fun.
When she was done, she wiped her mouth and laid on the floor and groaned. Robotnik peeked her head in holding up a little box of meds that Stone recognised as codeine and threw it at her.
"Take it and go wait in the spare room until it kicks in. Once it does, you can come back to work or go home, I don't care. The only thing I'd have needed you for was coffee today anyway, nothing important." Robotnik listed, and Stone felt immense gratitude, not only because the doctor was gracious enough to let her go home, but also because this was Robotnik's equivalent of saying she cared, the holy grail of Robotnik-speak.
"I won't be going home, ma'am. If I can work, be assured that I always will."
Robotnik raises a brow at this. "I won't fire you. I told you that already."
"I know. I just love working for you, doctor." Stone smiles weakly, and Robotnik flinches a little, eyes wide.
"...Put that stupid smile away and take your meds." Robotnik huffs, closing her eyes and turning away to go back to her work with a visible flush to her cheeks. Stone grinned.
She took her meds, and almost died when she got to the spare room. Robotnik had set up a tall glass of water, a heat pack, and a mountain of blankets. The room was cold, and those blankets looked like absolute heaven. And when Robotnik came to check on her 2 hours later?
Stone was bundled up, glass of water depleted and heatpack nowhere to be seen, presumably underneath the covers. The only part of Stone visible was her forehead and hair. Robotnik sat on the bed in an internal conflict - should she wake the agent up? She said she wanted to work, after all. Or should she let her sleep? She probably needs it. She deserved it. Stone never took days off. She deserved a hard earned nap.
Robotnik left without waking her.