Chapter Text
When Agent Stone opens his eyes, he's oblivious to where he is.
A lab, certainly, but not one that is familiar to him. It's a mess, first of all. It looks like a storm has recently rolled through; there are tools and machine parts everywhere, scattered over the floors and tables haphazardly as if they'd been thrown up into the air just to see where they'd land. Chairs and smaller tables are toppled over, one of the chairs bent almost in half.
As alarming as the state of things seems to be, the more Stone looks around the more he recognizes the engineering design and unique technology surrounding him on all sides. It's unmistakably Doctor Robotnik's, that much is clear, but the lab itself looks almost cobbled together. Hastily made and kept. It's not like the Doctor to settle for anything less than perfection, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And Stone can only assume these are desperate times. His memory is still hazy, but the last thing he remembers clearly is the Doctor appearing like magic in the Mean Bean, rippling with currents of green electricity and unhinged power. Then they were being surrounded by their former colleagues and coworkers, but they were no match for the Doctor's incredible power. After that…
Stone sits up, slowly, expecting pain to follow soon after. Fortunately, he feels absolutely fine. No broken bones, not even a scratch from what he can tell. He's relieved, of course, but what about the Doctor? What the hell happened in Green Hills?
A shrill beeping from the doorway gains Stone's immediate attention. Relief floods him almost instantly - a drone. If badniks are around, surely Robotnik can't be too far away. "Where's the Doctor?" Stone asks the drone urgently, but the badnik simply continues its beeps and trills and glides into the room, circling around Stone's head. It almost seems happy to see him. When it finally settles in front of him, Stone gets a better look at the little robot. It looks a little different than the usual combat drones - it's still white and egg-shaped, but it has an additional red stripe running over the top of its dome, and next to the stripe, a sizeable dent. Stone frowns and reaches out, rubbing his thumb over the indentation. He tsks softly.
"What happened to you, buddy? Looks like you had a nasty crash."
Rapid footsteps sound nearby and stop abruptly. Stone looks past the badnik as Robotnik - no longer pulsating green electricity, and how did his hair grow back so fast? - stops in the narrow doorway. Stone is overjoyed to see the Doctor unharmed, but more urgently, he's taken aback by the Doctor's expression.
Stone expects to be reprimanded, or to be subjected to a long-winded tirade about something or other - probably something hedgehog related - but instead, the Doctor stands stock-still, silent, his eyes wide and locked on Stone with undetermined purpose. If Stone didn't know him better, he looks almost… lost. Frightened, perhaps, which was startling in of itself. Stone has the wildly inappropriate urge to rush over to him and pull him into a hug.
"Sir, are you alright?" Stone asks, concerned. He stands up - was he laying on a work table? - and suddenly his vision spins, his entire body feeling suddenly heavy and unsteady. He shoots a hand out to find the edge of the table to stabilize himself, but before his fingers find the cool steel of the table, the Doctor rushes to him and holds onto his arm, tightly.
Stone's breath catches in his throat. Robotnik rarely touches anyone - Stone is the sole exception, and even then it's usually to discipline him in some way - and he's certainly never seen the Doctor so concerned about something as insignificant as a dizzy spell.
"Stone," Robotnik says, but his voice is strained, almost a whisper. "Sit - sit down. Here, just take it easy."
The Doctor helps Stone to sit on the work table, though Stone would have been perfectly capable of doing so himself. He would never say so, however.
"Doctor, what happened? Where are we, is this a new lab? What happened to Sonic, or Commander Walters? What–"
Doctor Robotnik presses his pointer and middle finger against Stone's lips, silencing him. This is the kind of touch he's more acquainted with, but there's still something seriously wrong. The Doctor is looking at him like Stone is something precious - the way Stone usually looks at Robotnik, actually - and it's unnerving. With his free hand, Robotnik snaps at the dented badnik. "Scan him," he hisses, and the badnik immediately complies, scanning Stone in a web of blue light.
Without moving his fingers, Robotnik speaks softly to Stone. "You remember that?" he asks, and at first Stone isn't certain what he's referring to. His confusion must have shown on his face. "What happened at the coffee shop lab, you ignoramus. After I absorbed the Master Emerald?"
Stone nods slowly. The Doctor's expression twitches. "What else do you remember?" he asks, and finally removes his fingers so Stone can speak freely.
"I can't remember anything after that," Stone replies uncertainly.
"How about before that?" the Doctor continues urgently. "How is your memory of the days before? The years before?"
"Wha - Years?" Stone's brow furrows in thought. If the Doctor hadn't brought it up, he wouldn't have even thought to check. Had he hit his head when they were attacked? Stone thinks back. As far as he can tell, his memory is intact. His childhood, his adolescence, his combat training, meeting the Doctor - Honestly, not much mattered before he met the Doctor. His life had forever been changed then, and he no longer gave his previous life much attention. "I can recall everything just fine, sir."
"You're certain?"
Stone considers for another moment, and then nods. "I doubt I could tell you the name of my third-grade teacher, but I'm pretty sure I never learned her name in the first place," he says, hoping to lighten the mood. The Doctor seems distressed, and he's still not sure why. "What happened in Green Hills, sir? Was I injured in the attack?"
The Doctor falls silent. The expression he wears is foreign to Stone; he might have thought the Doctor looked sad, or relieved, or both, but that was ridiculous. He's seen the Doctor furious, excited, even giddy on occasion, but never sad. Stone is pretty sure Robotnik isn't capable of that emotion. Too human, too vulnerable.
As if to deliberately prove him wrong, Robotnik reaches out and grabs the back of Stone's neck, yanking him in close. Finally, Stone thinks - a normal reaction from the Doctor. He's about to be threatened, or shoved face-first on the table, or –
The Doctor presses their foreheads together, breathing a trembling sigh through his lips. "Shut up, Stone," he mutters, but there's no bite in his words. He sounds broken down, almost on the verge of tears, and the sound of it shatters Stone's heart into several million pieces.
Stone chances reaching up to hold the Doctor's face in his hands. The absurdity of the situation demands risk, and he can't possibly hear his Doctor in distress without acting, damn the consequences. Fortunately for him, Robotnik doesn't seem to mind. In fact, his breathing hitches, a tremble flies through him and Stone worries he's somehow made it worse. He's flying blind, though, he isn't sure how to navigate this situation. He's never seen Robotnik like this. All he knows is he needs to do whatever he can to break the Doctor out of whatever this is, he needs to fix it. He must fix it.
Stone rubs gentle circles over Robotnik's jaw with the pads of his thumbs, focusing on the Doctor's uneven breath that falls lightly over his neck. "I'm here," Stone says, unsure if such a sentiment will bring the Doctor any comfort at all. It seems to; the Doctor's shoulders seem to relax and he drags another trembling sigh through his teeth. Stone moves one hand to the back of the Doctor's neck, mirroring the gloved hand still curled around his own. If the Doctor needs this right now, Stone will give it to him. He'd give him anything. "I'm here, Doctor."
"Stop stating the obvious, idiot," the Doctor growls weakly, barely above a whisper. Despite his obstinance, he remains standing between Stone's knees, forehead resting against Stone's own. Stone smiles.
"Sorry, sir."
"You caused me a lot of trouble, Stone. I'm exhausted, so - so I'm going to stay here until I get the energy back to move. I don't care if you're uncomfortable."
"I'll try to bear with it, sir. Take as long as you need."
Robotnik swallows thickly. He moves only to rest his forehead on Stone's shoulder, his entire body relaxing into him, and at this point, Stone is willing to risk punishment for wrapping his arms around the Doctor and pulling him closer, sliding further back onto the table so that the Doctor can curl into him more comfortably. To his amazement, the Doctor follows without complaint. His own arms slide under Stone's and grip the back of his shirt.
Stone tries to push the dozens of inquiries he has about the current situation from his mind, but with Robotnik in his arms, he finds it both extremely easy and terribly difficult to do so. He doesn't want to question it. He should, but he doesn't. Whatever happened back there, it's affected the Doctor in a way he has never encountered before.
But he's here, they're together, and at the moment that's all that seems to matter.