Chapter Text
Shadow remembered days where he couldn’t feel anything but the slow, agonising drip…drip… drip… of the liquid they put into his system and the cold table that they laid him across. He didn’t know what it was, and at one point he didn’t think he cared. He remembered plain white halls and the floating feeling he would always get just before he went to sleep.
He remembered platinum blonde hair and blue wavy skirts.
His body thrashed as another drop set fire to his surrounding tendons and he panted, his veins burning and his muscles spasming. Some part of him desperately wished to hear a soothing voice, one that read him stories at his bedside table and scratched gently behind his ear in just the right place. Shadow grit his teeth as another wave racked through his body, taunt muscles shivering. Something told him though, something ugly and dangerous and mean, that Maria wasn’t here to save him this time.
The table was so cold.
He was so cold.
Shadow opened his eyes and he was greeted back on earth with his lungs deciding to dispel all the ash he had probably inhaled. His chest heaved and Shadow’s arms shook with the weight of his body before he collapsed back in the crater with a cloud of smoke.
His eyes stung and watered, protesting against the dust surrounding him, his mouth was unbearably dry. Shadow curled in on himself and his muscles protested loudly at the movement. Rocks and mud scraped the side of his limbs and Shadow flinched at the contact they made against what he presumed were cuts and scrapes of all sorts.
He wouldn’t be surprised if he had broken a rib or two. Wouldn’t be the first time.
Images flashed throughout his mind. Golden quills and power he could only imagine when Maria talked about characters in her book. The intense buzzing under his skin had lessened now and his mind supplied him with the only times when he felt power like that was when he gained enough speed on his tests.
Shivers racked his frame, a small whine cracked through his teeth and Shadow curled in tighter on himself, a desperate attempt to make himself warm as he let his mind wander away from his body for a while.
He didn’t feel like moving soon anyway. He was too tired. Too cold.
His mind carried him away to a warm den with movies and pictures and fairy lights that twinkle in so many different colours. It surrounded him with warm fluffy blankets that smelled like popcorn and blonde hair that tickled his cheek.
He heard the telltale sound of chaos control, the familiar buzzing under his skin however reminded him too much of machines and wires and undrinkable liquids. He didn't want to go back- It hurt too much the first time, please don’t make him go back- please-
His dreams carried him away softly. His mind was too focused on calming his body to worry about the desperate last ditch attempt to teleport somewhere safe. Somewhere where he could call home. Somewhere with kind soft eyes and delicate warm hands. Somewhere like- like-
His mind hummed with the distant melody of guitar strings and soft vocals. It echoed around him and blanketed his body in the familiar warmth he only knew with blue skirts and blonde hair. He didn’t care where he teleported, only that he barely noticed the air was clean and smelled faintly of coffee beans. The last coherent thought that echoed round, Shadow recognised was something along the lines of; “I’m safe” before his mind blanketed his thoughts in darkness.
—
Agent Stone thought it was a normal Tuesday. Or at least it started off being a normal Tuesday.
He would get up and make himself a coffee. Chai latte with oat milk. Stone would go to the coffee shop floor and prepare the machines. He would warm up the pastries, the chocolate inside bubbling and popping. Warming up many of the other pastries so they’ll at least be semi warm when he goes for the next round for a customer. The floor would be swept. The windows would be cleaned and the tables would be wiped.
He would smile at the summer light coming in from the closed blinds and open the shop at exactly 7:30 AM. Never earlier, never later.
It was all terribly domestic and besides, nobody ever said that routines were all that bad. It made him feel safe, secure and in charge. Running his own coffee shop helped with all that. He loved working for the Doctor, don't get him wrong. Each achievement that they made together had slotted inside him like a perfectly made puzzle piece of his heart. But running his own establishment made him feel more confident and sure of himself than anything he’s done with the Doctor.
However, running his own shop was a tiring effort. He would mess up, often, but he would always get back on his feet. A smile on his face and welcoming arms.
It was the same routine since London. He stayed there for a few hours after the battle. The streets caked with ash from the explosion and people talking about the livestream left, right and centre. It had made his chest clench horribly tight and his palms sweaty.
He had mulled over what had happened before he decided to book a flight back to America and make his way back to his coffee shop in Green Hills. The comforting familiarity of opening the back door to his living room (even if it was the dead of night) had settled his nerves. He had promptly made his way towards his bed and face planted.
He waited for a few days (allowed himself to stay in bed for a whole day watching trash TV and looking on social media) There had been many videos of what had taken place. Over and over again he watched the last words of his Doctor before he had thrown the phone across the room. (it hadn’t helped)
He’d had enough of laying around (it didn’t do him any good anyway) and decided to get back to working at the Cafe.
As he walked up the stairs towards the back room of the coffee shop, the machines blinked at him. He opened the door to the main room and breathed in the scent. The coffee shop looked at him expectantly, almost as if it was saying “where have you been this whole time? I needed you!” Stone paused for a moment, his heart shuddering, before gathering his nerves and marching towards the counter.
As Stone went through the familiar motions of heating up the coffee machines, the steamer and the mixer and the heater. He smiled softly, almost as if he whispered back to the shop “I think I needed you more”
The comforting smell of coffee and the wet pine scent of Green Hills settled deep in his stomach and something in him calmed. Pushing down the nagging anxiety he felt. He found that he missed his job more than he thought he did.
Whilst he thought the Doctor was gone for good, (the first time round anyway) he had made some lovely connections in the small mountain town.
Wade was a regular that always left him with an amused smile.
Jenny was always one to fill him with courage and determination.
Michael never left without a dazzling smile and a croissant in his hand.
Annie always came in on her way to school, wishing him a good day and leaving him with a warm heart.
He didn’t realise how much he had missed the connection.
He didn't realise how much he needed it.
He took it all for granted however whilst his heart was occupied only with his Doctor. Only with Ivo Robotnik. As the memories flashed through his mind, Stone looked at himself through a glass mirror and (threw away) took off the rose tinted glasses he oh so surely had on.
He was in love. There was no denying that. But he forgot to love himself. He forgot to love his life in a desperate chase for what he thought was all that mattered.
(He wouldn’t lie, he would do anything for his doctor)
(he still would)
But love wasn’t just one person, it’s everything around and the relationships that you build. (Not only with people but life itself) and how you think about it all, your perspective, is the most important factor of all.
He heard the telltale jingle of the bell above the door and Stone turned to greet his first customer of the day. He smiled at the person to come through the open doors.
Of course it was Wade.
“Dude! What happened? You’re back in business!” Wade jumped and gave jazz hands.
Stone smiled, already getting started on Wades usual.
“I’m just glad to be back” he winked and slid over the coffee and the pastry as Wade tapped the card reader. Smiling brightly as he waved through the door.
“Glad to have you back, Stone! Oh! ah” he fumbled for some words “Sorry I kinda handcuffed you to a chair.”
Stone waved him off with his own bright smile even if his heart was thumping so loud he could barely make out the cars outside “It’s alright, the past is the past”
He had carried on the usual routine for the next two days.
Many people were asking about what happened, many of his usuals didn’t bother returning, but he couldn’t expect a warm welcome from everyone in town. Not yet. He just has to keep their coffee warm for them until they are ready. And then, he would welcome them just like any of the others.
He was just finishing up with shutting off the machines and calling it a day when a familiar sound hit him face first.
A bright flash of yellow erupted in the corner of the room and a black and red blur crashed into one of his tables.