Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

20th jan, 2025. 1 month post Eclipse Cannon.

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The badnik floats from its charging station, making its way to the bathroom where Stone was residing. He is sitting on the counter, staring down at something in his hands, when he looks up to the badnik it reveals the heavy bags under his blood shot eyes, it was clear that he had been crying not too long ago.

“U-um, well-” his voice comes out uneven and broken, so he coughs.

“I guess, uh.. This is agent Stone, filling in for the doctor to give an update o-on, um,” he takes a steadying breath. “An update on his project to create an heir to the Robotnik name…” with shaky hands Stone held out the item he possessed to the Badnik. It was a pregnancy test with two lines on the small display, indicating that it's positive. The agent took another deep breath while lowering the test.

“So y-yeah, the last attempt to conceive was a success.. And since that was roughly a month ago, that means…” he trails off, his expression going blank as his mind wonders.

After 4 minutes and 55 seconds, Stone snaps back to reality, his back straightening to stand at attention.

“In other news, i am currently stationed in one of the doctors' smaller bases located south of london, i was able to retrieve the Crab from GUN after they fished it out of the river. The vehicle it is currently attached to has been stripped of all trackers, and I am trying to come up with a plan to get back to America since…” Stone sighs, bringing a hand up to wipe away tears before they can fall. “Why am I explaining all of this? No ones gonna watch these.. The doctor's dead and you’re the only person in the entire universe to have access to his servers…” he mumbles before shoving his palms of his hands into his eyes. He tries and fails to suppress a sob while ordering the badnik back to its charger.

. . . .

23rd jan, 2025. 1 month and 3 days post eclipse canon.

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The badnik floats from its charger and makes its way to the kitchenette.

Stone stands at the stove, dressed in mostly his usual suit, except for the jacket which had been switched out for the one he patched up for the doctor. He was shuffling the pan back and forth on the stove as he cooks himself some scrambled eggs.
When he finishes he plates a small portion for himself and puts the rest in a container, petting the badnik as he passes by to sit at the table. Stone starts by picking at his food, taking the smallest bites possible but eventually he takes a bigger bite, he pauses and rests his free hand onto his stomach.

“Of course you like eggs…” he mumbles while taking another proper bite of his food.

Once he was done, Stone dumps his plate in the sink to be dealt with later, he shoves a few more mouthfuls of what he had put in the container in his mouth before dumping his fork as well and puts the leftovers in the fridge.

As he leaves, the badnik follows; silently observing the ex-agent as he settles at the main computer, pulling on a pair of control gloves before starting to type away.

. . .

Half an hour into his work, Stone suddenly stands and rushes to the bathroom. The badnik tries to follow after him but is stopped by the bathroom door closed in before it could enter. It beeps in worry as it processes the retching on the other side of the door.

When Stone emerges from the bathroom the badnik bumps up against him, once again beeping in concern. He pets it gently as he chugs down the rest of the water he had been drinking.

“I'm alright, honey… no need to worry yourself…”

The ex-agent orders the badnik back to the charger as he returns to his work.

. . . .

1st feb, 2025. 1 month and 11 days post eclipse canon.

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Stone stands in front of the main console, he finishes off typing before turning around to face the badnik.

“I’ve finished repairing and cleaning out the crab, so I can travel.. Landing will admittedly be a bit difficult due to the loss of the legs on the crab, but I'll manage.” He sighs and crosses his arms. “I’ve already packed what I need, so I'll set off on my journey today, it's just…” he moves to rest his hands on top of his stomach. “I'm dreading the trip, they’ve already been giving me a run for my money just as is, who knows what’ll be like with limited resources while in flight….”

Stone shook his head.

“Whatever, i’ll deal with it. I just…. I need to get out of this country, away from GUN headquarters…”

Stone walks off, the badnik returns to its charger.

. . . .

3rd of feb, 2025. 1 month and 13 days post eclipse canon.

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Stone spun around in his chair, holding his hands out for a badnik to land in.

“Hello darling, enjoying the new base aren't you?”

The badnik beeped happily.

“Yeah, it's been pretty nice to have a bigger space. Especially useful when I'm trying to create two brand new robots from scrap…” he sighs, placing the drone into his lap and spinning back around, continuing on with the programming.

The badnik beeped, nudging into the man's stomach.

“Hm? Is something wrong??”

The drone scanned Stone's abdomen and beeped again.

“Can you sense them?” Stone softly smiled.

The badnik played a small 8-bit tune as its optical lense shaped into a heart, Stone hugs the bot close to his chest. His eyes unfocus as he gets lost in thought.

Suddenly he stands, tucking the badnik under one of his arms as he walks to the hangar, grabbing a sheet of metal, he lets the badnik start floating as he pulls on a welders mask.

“You can head back to bed, I'm gonna start actually building their body before I get too big..” Stone says while pulling up an image of the bluesprint he had created.

The badnik nudged Stone's cheek before following the command.

. . . .

12th feb, 2025. 1 month and 22 days post eclipse canon.

Stone dumps the empty casing of the newly built bot onto the main console.

“Egg drones, meet you new brother!! Working name, Cubot. I'll try to come up with something better, but uh… it's good enough for now.”

The drones curiously scanned the shell, beeping questionably at Stone when they bumped against it and it didnt turn on.

“Sorry guys, I'm afraid Cubot hasn't gotten his wiring just yet, usually the doctor did that so I'm not the most familiar with it…”

The badniks beep sadly and hoard around Stone, who gently coos at them despite not knowing what had upset them.

“I’ll start working on his wiring tomorrow, but I'm exhausted…”

The drones all beep in acknowledgement and works as a hive mind to pick the man up and carry him to the bedroom.

. . . .

14th feb, 2025. 1 month and 24 days post eclipse canon.

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Stone held up two cupcakes to the badnik, both of them topped with a candle shaped like a four. The badnik extended its taser and used it to light the candles.

“Thank you Darling, and happy birthday to me… just one year ago i had just removed the last piece of the cast from the doctor…. Oh how time flies..” Stone laments before taking a deep breath and blowing out the flames.

He takes a bite from one of the cupcakes, and offers the other one to the floating drone, who beeps happily, extending its claw to pick it up and squishes the treat into the top of his shell. Stone laughs softly, grabbing some paper towel to wipe the mess off of the Badnik.

Once the small celebration was over, Stone put the badnik back in its charging port while he returned to work.

. . . .

20th feb, 2025, 2 months.

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Two drones float into the bedroom where Stone stands, shirtless, looking at his reflection in the full length mirror, at his command one of the badniks pulls up an image of his side view (which he had taken during his stay in the crab). he studies the image for a moment before mimicking the pose, turning his attention to his reflection. When compared to the old image of himself, Stone noticed the roundness forming at the bottom of his abdomen, he stares in awe.

“This is really happening….” he ran a hand through his hair. “I'm gonna have a baby..”

He frowns and gently rubs his stomach as his eyes start to fill with tears, causing the badniks to beep sadly and snuggle close to him.

“I have so much to do and such little time…” he sniffles, trying to wipe the tears away as they fall, when the tears get heavier, Stone ends up burying his head in his hands and begins to sob. The badniks surround him, trying their best to comfort him.

Chapter Text

23rd feb, 2025. 2 months and 3 days into the pregnancy.

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A badnik hovers around Stone, observing him as he solders wires to a motherboard. He gags slightly as he accidentally bumped the soldering iron to the rubber casing of one of the wires, when the smell of burnt rubber lingers, he gagged again, dropping the iron so he could cover his mouth as he ran to the bathroom. The badnik unpluggs the iron before following after.

Stone sits hunched over the toilet as his body forcibly expels the contents of his stomach. Once he stops actively throwing up he sits back, his eyes glassy and unfocused as he shifts so his back is against the wall. The badnik beeps in concern as it nudges Stone's leg, who simply reaches out a shaking hand and pet them, while not actually acknowledging their presence.

After a moment his eye focuses on the drone.

“Sorry you had to see that darling…”

Stone stands up, walking to the sink, keeping his eyes glued to the counter so as to not see his reflection in the mirror. He grabs a cup that was on the counter and fills it with water and then chugging the liquid down, only for it to immediately come back up. He bends over the toilet as he throws up. The badnik lets out a concerned trill as Stone stands back up.

“I'm fine, I promise… I should have known to drink it slowly..

The drone lets out a trill again and nudges Stone's side, earning them another pet from the man as he refills his cup and takes a small sip from it, sighing in relief when it doesn't immediately come back up.

He heads back out to his work bench, plugging the soldering iron back in before sending the badnik to its charging station as he gets back to work.

. . . .

26th feb, 2025. 2 months and 6 days into the pregnancy.

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Stone sits at the main desk, typing away at the code for Cubot, a badnik happily in his lap. He had a holoscreen off to the side just playing the news just to fill the silence.

His hands cease their typing as his ears pick up on the words being spoken on the news.

A celebration being held to celebrate team sonic saving the world-

Stones clenches his hands into fists, the badnik whining as they fall from his lap when he stands up. He opens up a new screen to look up the celebration in question, when article after article mentions nothing but the space pests, Stone slams his hands down on the desk in anger.

“YOU UNGRATEFUL BASTARDS!!!”

Stone screams while shoving all the items on the desk onto the floor, the badnik beeping in worry as he storms over to a small closet where he pulls out the empty shell of a robot version of the blue rodent and dumping it onto the desk, the shell had been the last thing the doctor made. (well aside from the artificial womb currently inside of Stone)

“I’ll make them all pay.”

He pulls up the blueprints for the metal hedgehog.

“He didn't die just for that stupid. Fucking. Rat. to take all the credit.”

He scans over the circuitry it would require.

“The world will feel the wrath of the doctor's empire.”

The badnik trilled in concern, bumping into Stone.

“Not now sweetie, I need to focus.”

The badnik beeped sadly and returns to its charger.

. . . .

1st mar, 2025. 2 months and 9 days into the pregnancy.

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A badnik activates as Stone storms into the bedroom, it takes a moment to observe the state of the main lab, scanning over the smoking shell of the metal doppelganger, the scan telling them that it had overdrawn its power and burnt out its mother board. When it gets another alert, it floats into the bedroom.

Stone lays on his stomach, burying his head in the pillows as he screams, the badnik nudges his side, he sobs loudly into the pillow before sitting up to look at them, It beeps sadly and bumps into his side again.

“Do you need something?”

The badnik turns back and forth, mimicking the act of shaking one's head, beeping as he scans over Stone's stomach, causing him to draw his knees up to his chest, shielding it from the drone.

“T-they’re fine…. Dont…” Stone stares off to the side.

The badnik lets out a sad trill.

“Stop.” his hands clench onto the sheets.

“Stop acting like you care, stop acting like you understand…” his eyes fill with tears. “Stop pretending like you know what it's like to know that the universe hates you.” he growls and slams his fist into the headboard before grabbing at his hair. “How could i be so FUCKING Stupid?! Of course he was going to leave, in one way or another…” he angrily wipes away tears. “Of course he wouldn't even think about the possibility of me carrying his child, he thought got what he wanted and more from Gerald, why would he…” he sniffles, laying down on his side with arms wrapped around his stomach as he curls in on himself. “why doesn't he….” Stone sobs.

The badnik beeps in worry but is shooed away so it returns to its charging port.

. . . .

4th Mar, 2025. 2 months and 13 days into the pregnancy.

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Stone growls angrily as he runs a hand through his hair, Staring down at the powerless metal hedgehog.

“What am I doing wrong?! I’ve followed the blueprint to a T!!! It should work!!”

The badnik nudges his shoulder, he stares at it, his eyes sunken and blood shot.

“Why isn't it enough…”

He cradles the badnik to his chest, and it lets out a sad beep. Stone sighs, tucking the drone under his arm as he pulls up the blueprint once again.

“Wait wha…” Stone re-read the chicken scratch in the image. “He needs… of course. Of course he would need a quill to work!!! It makes sense- how could-” he growls in frustration, tearing off the control gloves as he storms off to the nearest wall and punching it with all his strength.

The badnik beeps in alarm, trying to push Stone away from the wall but just gets pushed away by him.

“How. could. I. be. So. Stupid?!” He punctuates every word with a strike at the wall.

He punches the wall until his knuckles are raw and there's a noticeable dent in the metal.

The badnik trills in concern and projects an image of a med-kit, Stone sighs.

“I know… return to your charging port.

The badnik rubs against Stone's face before following the order.

. . . .

8th Mar, 2025. 2 months and 17 days into the pregnancy.

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Stone sits at the main console, a half eaten breakfast lays abandoned to the side while he tinkers away at the folded up form of Cubot. When a badnik beeps he starts talking.

“I’ve been testing out Cubot, he seems to be functioning as he should, but upon research to program him with proper child caring abilities do i realise why the doctor designed him a friend, it's simply not an easy single person job, which is….” he takes a deep breath, “encouraging…” sarcasm laces his tone. “So I guess I'm gonna start building Orbot..”

He sighs and rests his bandaged hand on his stomach.

“It still doesn't feel quite real…. I know, logically, it is but.. It's like i'm in some sort of limbo, I'm still just standing there, by that statue in London, but yet at the same time, I'm here, working in the lab…”

The badnik beeps sadly and snuggles into Stone's side.

“I'm sorry darling, this is all just…” he sighs.

The badniks fans let out a low whine.

“I'm alright, promise..” Stone idly rubs his stomach while he gets lost in thought.

The drone lands in his lap.

“11 weeks, huh? Seems like such a small amount of time when you put it like that..” he softly laughs, “and yet i'm on the way to the last month of the first trimester..”

He stares down at his stomach, at the more noticeable bulge at the bottom where the buttons on his shirt begin to strain to contain it, and he frowns.

Chapter Text

12th mar, 2025. 2 months and 21 days into the pregnancy.

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Stone sat hunched over the main console, tinkering away with the insides of the metal hedgehog, his movement messy as his eyes drooped, his head bobbing as he fought to stay awake.

Stone sucks in a breath through his teeth, dropping his soldering iron as he pulls the thumb he burnt to his mouth and bites it, the badnik beeping in alarm and brushing up against his side. The ex-agent sighs, dropping his hands into his lap.

“It's late I know… I just need to…” Stone groans, bringing his hands up to scrub at his face. “I just, want him back… if I had just known what would happen, i knew Gerald was suspious!! And yet I still let the doctor go with him..”

The badnik let out a sad trill.

“God, this is pathetic….”

The badnik nuzzled up against Stone's side, he brings a hand down to gently pat its hull before standing up. He shut down all the equipment and computers, once he finishes he pats the metal hedgehog's shell, ushers the badnik back to its charger and then makes his way to the bedroom.

. . . .

16th mar, 2025. 2 months and 25 days into the pregnancy.
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Stone once again sits at the main console, tinkering with the shell of Orbot, making sure the robot can properly fold down to its simple ball form. A badnik beeps as it bumps against the folded form of Cubot that was sitting on the ground.

“They seem to be physically stable, no joints about to come undone by movement, evenly balanced so no risk of them tipping while floating, I've just about finished the circuitry on both, leaving their programming to be done..”

The badnik trilled happily, coming up to bump against Orbot.

“You’re excited to meet them aren't you?” Stone smiled softly, the badnik bobbing up and down in an approximation of the nod.

Stone folded up the circular robot and set it next to its cube counterpart, turning back to the main console and pulling up the program for the two bots to look over it.

Stone fixes a few mistakes in the code but doesn't get very far before being distracted by another badnik coming out of its charger and scanning over his stomach.

“Is something wrong?” he asks, his brow furrowing with worry.

The badnik that performed the scan projects a screen, which just displays grainy black and white picture.

“Huh? I dont-”

The first badnik extends his claw and grabs Stone's wrist, bringing it to his stomach, twisting uncomfortably to try and get it under the fabric of his shirt.

“W-wait, give me a second!”

The badnik holding his wrist pauses, allowing Stone to undo the bottom 3 straining buttons on his shirt, exposing the pronounced roundness of his stomach.

“Alright, you can continue..”

The badnik moves his hand around, which causes the image on the projection screen to move, Stone stares at it, mesmerised. Eventually a blurry image pops up in the grainy black and white void, Stones eyes went wide.

“This is an ultrasound…”

Both badniks let out an affirmative beep, Stone gasped, using his free hand to cover his mouth, his eyes watering as he stared at the blurry shape of the fetus on the screen.

“Oh my….”

The badnik that was holding his wrist let go, but he didn't move an inch. The border of the screen suddenly turned pink.

“It's a girl??” he gasps, his hands shaking as he starts to silently sob.

He moves the hand cupped over his mouth to push back his hair, the movement of his hand reveals the cheek splitting smile on his face, even as tears stream down his face. He let out a small shaky laugh, the badnik projecting the screen stops when Stone leans back in his chair and stares up at the ceiling. The badniks snuggle close to the ex-agent.

“I wonder what the doctor would think… if he was here..”

The badniks beep in acknowledgement.

“I know he wouldn't necessarily care about the gender, but I wonder if he would be excited..” he softly laughed, “what am i thinking? He’d probably say something like ‘has the fetus absorbed your last remaining brain cell? If you really think I would care about what genitals my future successor, then you’re even more of a lost cause than I originally thought, agent.’” Stone sadly smiled. “Yeah.. that sounds like something he’d say…”

Stone sighs, ordering the badniks back to their charger as he gets up and heads out of the lab.

. . . .

21st mar, 2025. 3 months and 1 day into the pregnancy.

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A drone exits its charging station and floats down to the kitchen, where Stone stands at the stove, stirring a pot full of liquid, wearing only in his boxers and the doctor's patched up jacket. The badnik perches on the man's shoulder, scanning over the stew on the stove before pulling up the nutrition facts about the food. Stone looks over the list and hums before nodding.

“It's good enough….”

Stone scooped some of the stew out, letting the extra liquid on the spoon drip off before bringing it to his mouth, blowing on it to cool it off and then put the scoop into his mouth. Nodding then repeating the action, but holds the spoon up to the badnik on his shoulder.

“What do you think, darling?”

The drone leans onto the spoon, causing it to tip and spill onto the drone and the hand Stone was holding under it. The ex-agent gasps but chuckles when the robot's optical display turns into a thumbs up. He put the lid on the pot before walking over to the sink and washing his hand, drying it on a towel before grabbing the paper towel to clean off the drone.

He grabs a set of bowls, setting them down as it starts to fill them, pausing as we went to fill the second bowl, frowning down at it.

“Old habits die hard, huh?” Stone sadly laughs at himself.

He puts the lid back on the pot and grabs the already filled bowl, leaving the empty one on the counter as he goes and sits at the table.

. . .

Stone pushes the half eaten meal away from himself, holding his arms on the table and resting his head on top of them. The badnik beeps in question.

“Lost my appetite…”

The badnik beeps sadly and nudges Stone's arm, who simply just buries his head in his arms.

“I just can't help but think that… maybe he survived…” Stone sat up so he could put a hand on his distended stomach. “And that I don't have to go through this alone…”

The badnik nuzzled the arm still resting on the table, the humans eyes going glossy as he gets lost in thought. He sits there for a few moments before his eyes go wide.

“Shes gonna have to come out of me…”

He stands, pulling the jacket around him closed as he marches out of the kitchen, the drone following close behind. Stone heads down the hallway to the lab, pulling on a pair of control gloves and pulling up the folder of digitalized blueprints, opening the file at the very top. The blueprints for an artificial womb appeared, Stone's eyes scanning over the words. After a moment he closes the image and sighs, bringing a hand to rest on his stomach.

“It's designed to have a natural birth, when labor begins the anal cavity will act as the birth canal. Which, honestly i’d prefer then having to get a c-section, i doubt if that was the plan that the doctor would have already programmed the med-niks with the proper information. And who knows what would go wrong if I tried to do it…” Stone softly scoffs at himself, plopping down in the chair while waving away the badnik

. . . .

5th apr, 2025. 3 months and 15 days into the pregnancy.

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Stone groans and slides a hand down his face, slumping in his chair.

“This sucks…”

The badnik beeps.

“I need to acquire the proper vaccinations that the baby will require when she's born, so that means…” he huffs out a frustrated breath. “Going on a mission while 3 months pregnant. Which is just great.” he shoves the bottom of his palms into his eyes.

The badnik lets out a whine and bumps into Stone's arm, who lowers a hand to reveal a teary eye.

“It's not fair.. I mean, the morning sickness is only just starting to settle down, it-” he sighs, slumping further in his chair. “I wish the doctor was here… he would create the vaccines himself, and probably make it ten times better….” he covers his face. “Or at least he would be able to get them himself….”

“I wish he was here…” Stone mumbles.

The badnik beeps sadly as Stones sits up properly in his chair, pulling himself close to the desk as he summons a new holo screen. He waves the badnik away as he starts typing.

. . . .

9th apr, 2025. 3 months, 2 weeks and 19 days into the pregnancy.

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Stone lays on the floor of the lab, holding his phone above him as he scrolls on it, a badnik comes from his charging port and lands next to the human's head, revealing him to be looking at a news article on the eclipse cannon explosion. The badnik let out a sad whine, causing Stone to power off his phone and rest it on his chest while he stares at the ceiling.

“I just can't help but wonder if he's still…” he sighs, "I know he can't be alive, but it would be nice to at least have something to bury…” he frowns, “if i had just done more to protect him… i-i could have saved him..”

The badnik beeps, a few other drones coming from their charging ports and cuddling up to the human on the ground, making Stone smile slightly as he pet each and everyone of them. He takes a moment to just breath deeply before grabbing his phone off his chest and standing up. He groans and stumbles forward slightly, resting a hand on his abdomen once he stabilises himself, the bandiks whirl around him while beeping.

“Im fine, she's fine, I just wasn't expecting the weight, that's all.”

The badniks let out a few beeps, while hoarding around the human, causing Stone to laugh lightly.

“I promise, we’re fine! Scan me if need be, but I promise we’re fine…”

one of the badniks back up so it could do a full body scan, when nothing negative pops up the drone lets out a beep that causes the rest of the horde to back off.

“See, told you. Now,” Stone claps his hands together, "I have a few more things to iron out on the mission plan, and I need complete focus so, off to your chargers.”

The drones comply, all returning to their ports in a nice and orderly fashion, while Stone walks over and sits at the main console.

. . . .

13th apr, 2025. 3 months, 3 weeks and 23 days into the pregnancy.

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A badnik exits its port and makes its way to the bedroom, where Stone resides, staring at his topless form in the mirror, and not seeming to acknowledge the drone as it approaches. He simply turns sideways as he rests his hands above and below his bloated stomach, his eyes wide in astonishment.

“A baby bump… an honest to god baby bump…” he brings a hand up to run through his dishevelled hair.

The badnik presses up against his side.

“And I'm just gonna keep getting bigger…”

The drone lets out a trill, finally gaining the human's attention. He pets the drones and softly laughs.

“My stomachs gonna get as big as you” he laughs once again.

The badnik brings up the ultrasound screen, but dismisses it when Stone shakes his head.

“Not right now, I need to stop wasting time and just.. Go. I'm not getting any less pregnant, now am I?” he sighs, waving a hand to dismiss the drone.

. . .

A group of drones surround Stone as he stands behind the car that was parked in the back lot of a hospital. A badnik returns to the swarm and projects a 3d model of the hospital, one room in particular highlighted in red.

“Thank you, darling…”

Stone pulls up the bottom of his balaclava, leaving only his eyes visible before stepping out from behind the car, his eyes scanning over the building until his eyes lock onto one window. He walks up to the building, the swarm of drones following after. He hands one of them the top part of a grappling hook, and then orders it to attach the hook on the railing of the fire escape. Once the badnik has completed its task, he gives the rope a firm tug before shrugging and starting to climb up it.

When Stone makes it to the top he orders a badnik to suction onto the window as he carefully cuts around the seal with a laser on his gauntlet. When he finishes the badnik removes the glass, and Stones quickly enters the now opened window, feet first. He wobbles slightly as he stands, clearly still not used to the added weight to his abdomen.

Stone orders a badnik to stand guard by the door and another to guard the ground, the rest being sent back to the car.

The ex-agent briskly walks over to a refrigerated cabinet, making quick work of the lock on it with a laser on his gauntlets. He freezes as he hears steps approaching, holding his breath until after he hears the steps passing. He lets out a sigh of relief and grabs a few of the bottles in the cabinets and stuffs them into the bag at his hip.

He shuts the door to the cabinet and starts rummaging through draws, a small growl escapes him when he doesn't find what he's looking for. The badnik lets out a questioning trill, Stone ignores it and opens another drawing, an audible relieved sigh leaving him. He grabs a few of the items from the drawer and stuffs them in the bag, once he's done, he closes the drawer and starts the walk towards the window he came from.

He freezes when he hears footsteps approaching, ducking down behind the closest piece of furniture when he sees the silhouette of a person stop in front of the door. The badnik near lowering to not be spotted as the person outside starts to wrangle their key into the locked door.

As the nurse opens the door and steps inside, they flick on the light but before they could do a full sweep of the room with their eyes, the badnik in the room extends its taser and shocks them. Once they hit the floor, Stone jumps out from where he was hidden and quickly walks over to the prone person, stepping on their back as he puts his shaking hands on either side of their head. He roughly yanks it to one side which causes a sickening snap to wring out in the quiet room.

Stone stands back up and quickly rushes out of the room, motioning for the drone to follow. He hastily climbs back down the rope, once he makes it to the ground he takes off towards the car, ordering badniks to handle driving while he climbs into the passenger seat. He detaches the bag from his hip and secures it in the driver's seat, before he starts shedding the rest of the more constricting elements of his outfit.

Since his hands are free from the control gloves he pops the straining buttons of his top open and rubs circles into his bump while taking deep breaths. A relieved breath leaves him as the car zooms through the empty city.

“I-im fine, she's fine… we got what we came for with only one death and it was just a random nobody, so, mission successful..”

He continues to rub his abdomen in a circular motion, but he nervously looks over to one of the drones. The bot scans him over and shines a green light.

“Thank fuck…” the ex-agent sighs before resting his head against the window.

. . .

When they make it back to the base, Stone hands the bag to a duo of badniks before walking out of the hangar and making his way to the bedroom, where he promptly flops onto his side on the bed and pulls the blankets over himself.

“Big day…” he yawns while shooing away the drones that followed him.

. . . .

18th apr, 3 months, and 4 weeks into the pregnancy.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Stone sits at the main console, a bowl of oatmeal cradled to his bare chest, a holo screen in front displaying a website selling essential baby items. A badnik exits its port and comes to rest in the man's lap.

“Good morning, darling…”

The drone lets out a happy tune of beeps as he runs a hand over its hull, earning a chuckle from the man as he took his hand from the screen to scoop up another mouthful of food into his mouth.

“What else do I need… I have diapers, a few bottles, pacifiers, clothes of all varieties, some bibs, a carrier, and a few more small things already in the cart..” Stone hums in thought as he brings another spoonful of oatmeal to his mouth.

“I guess the most important items to check off are the crib and changing table…” he sighs, “I can't help but think about how the doctor would insist that he’d make the items himself since ‘he could make it a thousands times better then the mass produced garbage they’re selling’ or something of the like..” he softly chuckles before frowning.

He puts the bowl down on the desk, freeing his hands to rest atop of his bump.

“He would have absolutely loved to build stuff for her…” he brings his hands to dig the heels of them into his eyes, “but he can't because I am an absolute failure of an agent.. He would be here if I didn't fail to protect him!!”

The badnik beeps sadly, rising from the former agent's lap to bump into his arm.

“Leave me alone.. I don't deserve to be pitied..”

The badnik whines.
“I failed the doctor. I suspect that the only reason any of you haven't shot me yet is because I'm with child…”

The drone whines again and nuzzles his shoulder. Stone sighs, dropping his hands into his lap as he stares up at the ceiling. He sits like that for a moment, before looking back to the holo screen in front of him, placing his order then standing from his chair. He dismisses the badnik as he walks into the bedroom.

. . . .

20th apr, 2025. 4 months into the pregnancy.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A badnik exits its charging dock and floats over to Stone, who's sitting atop of the main console, embroidering something into one of the baby onesies with a red thread. When the drone beeps in question Stone holds the onesie up to it, revealing the outline of the doctor's logo. The badniks lets out a happy tune and bumps up against it.

“I know its kinda stupid to put all this effort into a piece of clothing that she’ll outgrow in a month but… I dunno, I want to incorporate the doctor wherever I can in her life…”

The badnik beeps and projects a screen to him. The agents lowers the article of clothing back to his lap as he scans over the screen.

“A quilt, huh?”

The badnik beeps, dismissing the screen.

“Yeah.. I think that's a great idea, darling..”

The badnik lets out a happy tune as Stone runs a hand over its shell. He laughs softly before ordering the badnik back to its charger as he gets back to work.