Chapter Text
It hadn't been his fault, the mission had gone sideways so fast, even he couldn't be expected to react rationally. It had come down to an impossible choice: save Dr. Robotnik or complete his mission. He had apparently made the wrong decision, evident by the multiple agents that dragged him from his hospital bed kicking and screaming.
Agent Stone had been AWOL for days before Robotnik finally demanded to know where he was, only to be met with the infuriating answer of "it's classified". He had hacked into G.U.N's main system, only to be met with "data recorded on physical medium" when he looked into Stone's file. They had switched to paper just to keep him in the dark, and he was forced to give up when said paper file wasn't in the records room or Commander Walters' personal office. Much to his frustration, Ivo was forced to wait for someone to tell him what was going on, which they all refused to do. No matter who he threatened or how severely, he was given absolutely nothing. He even tried boycotting his work, refusing to work on government projects until he was briefed on where his agent was. Instead, they gave him a week off with full pay...
After two entire months of non stop nagging and snooping, Robotnik was forced to give up and wait like any other common plebian he despises with his entire being. He couldn't even tell you why he cared so much about the agent he had only a year before tried to get rid of like the previous agents sent to work for him. There was just something different about Aban Stone that Robotnik missed enough to raise hell to get him back.
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Dr. Robotnik sits in his computer chair, his back to the console as he stares at the door, waiting anxiously for it to open. He had gotten an email that morning informing him that Agent Stone would be returning to work at 2 o' clock. It's currently 1:56, almost 1:57. He counts down the seconds, heel tapping idly against the floor.
The door slides open at exactly 2:00, a shortish blonde man in a G.U.N issued uniform stepping through first. Behind him, Agent Stone follows with a dead eyed look, his gaze hollow.
"Your agent, doctor." The unimportant agent speaks up first, stepping to the side so Stone can pass him. Surprisingly, Stone remains hovering in the doorway.
"Damnit, Stone, come here." He snaps his fingers impatiently, sneering at his loyal sycophant, expecting him to trot over obediently like he always does. Stone glares at him.
Agent Aban Stone, his sickeningly loyal sycophant who's only a little less terrified of him than everyone else in G.U.N, glares at him. Not a quick narrowing of the eyes either; his entire expression darkens in uncontrolled anger. Something about that look makes Robotnik's spine shiver and his skin crawl, the room suddenly too cold as his veins fill with ice.
The most terrifying part of it all? The unnamed agent looks scared, not of Robotnik, but for him. It hits him then.
This is not my Stone.
"What the hell did they do to him?" He snarls, shoving his chair back as he stalks towards the agent, who looks close to pissing himself. Just as he's about to grab the man by the throat, an arm shoots between the pair. He follows the length of it until he's locking eyes with Agent Stone, who seems ready to kill him if he makes any sudden moves.
"I would advise against that, s-sir." The sniveling, faceless, unimportant, replaceable man sputters, eyes wide with fear. He snarls, raising a finger between them angrily, though with an abundance of caution, so as to not set off Stone.
"I will find out what they did to him. Mark my fucking words." He turns on his heels and stomps back to his chair, spinning it around so he can work on whatever useless and uninspired project Walters has sent his way this time.
Stone strides past him a moment later, heading for his quarters. He gives Robotnik a dark look as he passes, what was once sparkling doe eyes filled with admiration are now emotionless dark pits that threaten to drag the doctor down into their shadows. He shudders, trying to ignore the odd ache in his heart.
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The time for his mid day latte comes and goes, without a hint of steamed Austrian goat milk in sight. Ivo has half a mind to call Stone down so he can berate him for not following the schedule, but something about the way Stone had looked at him earlier makes him pause. Instead, he calls for a coffee over the intercom, not specifying what kind, in more of an asking tone than a commanding one. He hasn't been sleeping well lately, and he couldn't seem to replicate the way Stone made his lattes, so he severely depleted on energy and will drink any form of caffeine at this point.
A few minutes later, his agent appears with a coffee mug in hand. Once he confirms that Robotnik has noticed him, he takes a long gulp from it, clearly taunting him.
This asshole made himself a coffee and has the audacity to drink it in front of his boss!
Rage boils under Ivo's skin, his face heating up at the clear insubordination. He opens his mouth to yell or hurl insults, he's not sure which because in the next second, Stone has him pinned to his chair by the throat.
"I am not your fucking waitress, sir." All the fight he had leaves him suddenly, his shoulders deflating. Something in his heart breaks at the way Stone glowers at him, all that admiration and devotion replaced with disgust and hatred. He wants to lie to himself, to say that this isn't Stone anymore, but he knows that's wrong. This is Stone, at least a version of him. A version Ivo had never had the displeasure of meeting. No, this version of Stone was the same one that put his old charges in the hospital, that snapped at everyone around him for the smallest indiscretion, the version that beat a man half to death because he had the audacity of implying that Stone slept his way to the top of the G.U.N agent food chain.
This is the version of Stone that believes he's above the rest of humanity, the version that painfully reminds Robotnik of himself...
"Let go, agent. I am, unfortunately for you, a valuable asset to the government." He doesn't recognize his own voice, a fearful, cowering imitation of his own boastful arrogance. Stone growls, squeezing just long enough to cut his oxygen off before he let's go, stepping back to smooth out his suit. He smirks at the doctor smugly, as if challenging him to try and order him around again. He concedes, his pride shrinking in his chest.
"You may go now, I don't have any more requests for you, agent..." He turns back to his work, if only to look away from Stone. He doesn't look up even as the man strides off towards his room. The moment he hears the nematic hiss of the door closing, Ivo breaks. He sobs, chest heaving on the emotions he usually forces down with such practiced precision.
Reality seems to be hitting him all at once, bearing down on his shoulders like a train car. It feels like the world has suddenly stopped spinning, as if something has gone terribly wrong in the universe.
His Agent is gone... He had figured that out this morning after he had defended the other agent. That's not what hurt, though. What truly hurt was the fact that Ivo had just lost the only person on this entire God damn planet full of blubbering idiots that he actually trusted. The one person that actually cared about him... is gone.
Fury seeps into the despair as he opens an email draft. He doesn't care if it's classified, he's going to find out what Walters did to his fucking agent.
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Stone had been warned not to kill the doctor only a million times since he returned from his training, but he had made no promises. Reading the man's file and reports his past agents had written about him made it clear to Aban that not killing Ivo Robotnik would be a miracle from God. Everyone said the same things about him: "impossible to please" "tried to incinerate me for getting his coffee wrong" "threw a wrench at my head for calling him sir once" "acted like he was above me". Ivo Robotnik is clearly an egocentric, borderline narcissistic, arrogant, "stick up his ass", smartest man in the world, "I'm better than everyone" type. God, Stone despises men like that, because he himself is one. In his defense, he is the strongest, fastest, most brilliant mind in the world, even if no one else gives a damn. Needless to say, he was already preparing himself for the incident report he'd have to write after Robotnik's "accidental" death.
So when he had finally met the man behind most of G.U.N's technology, he had been disappointed. The doctor had given up almost immediately, with barely any force from Stone. The look in the man's eyes when he had blocked him from harming Agent Rugera hadn't been anger or surprise; it had been something dark and sad, something Stone couldn't name. Perhaps betrayal? But they had never met before, how could he have betrayed the man already?
It didn't matter, so Stone ignores it, simply lounging on his bed, reading a book about physics when the request for coffee comes through the intercom.
That fucking prick! Stone isn't here to be his fucking intern, bringing him coffee and food at the wave of a hand! He's here to make sure the so called genius doesn't kill anybody else or die himself. That's it. He storms out of his room, heading for the kitchen. He can't remember why he knows where it is, assuming he was shown a floor plan of the lab at some point. He brews himself a cup, pouring the rest down the sink so "Robotdik" can't have any. He calmly trots into the main control room, cup in hand.
Robotnik stares at him in shock as he gulps down the still hot bitter liquid. The fucking man opens his mouth to speak and he snaps, the mug shattering against the tiles as he grabs the doctor by the throat.
"I am not your fucking waitress, sir." He snarls, glaring him down with unbidden fury. Robotnik goes slack, eyes wide and wet like he's going to cry. Stone can't believe that this weak, pathetic excuse of a man is the smartest human in the world.
"Let go, agent. I am, unfortunately for you, a valuable asset to the government." God, he even sounds pathetic, groveling for his life without actually begging. He growls, grip tightening just enough to make the man choke on it, before he let's go and steps back, forcefully calming his expression into a cold smirk. He smooths his suit nonchalantly, throwing a smug but challenging look at the doctor. The older man looks away, turning back to his work.
"You may go now, I don't have any more requests for you, agent." Stone doesn't bother acknowledging him, just turns and strides away. Something in the back of him mind makes him stop just around the corner, his door closing when he doesn't step inside. He presses himself to the wall, leaning towards the main room to listen in, an odd sound catching his interest.
Robotnik is crying.
He wants to be proud that he made the most arrogant, boastful, unlikable man in the world cry, but something deep down in his chest won't let him celebrate it. Instead, he just feels hollow...
With a frown, he returns to his room to continue reading.