Chapter Text
“You can buy them all the drinks money can buy, but they’re not going to trust you fully if they don’t know who you were,” Visi shrugs before downing the rest of her drink. “You should just tell them. It’s not like you busted any of them anyway.”
Guilt curled in Robert’s gut as he looked Flambae’s way. Ever since he started dispatching for the Z team and grew closer to them, he really regretted cutting off his fingers. It’s not like it was on purpose, but it was a casualty he’d prefer didn’t happen. He and the man who “controlled the fire and the flame” were getting very close. Flambae started bringing extra lunches claiming Robert was too skinny and only ate twinkies, which led to them spending lunch together. Flambae would also come over when he’s resting from a dispatch, or Robert would check on him in med bay if he was injured from the field. Basically, the two were getting so close even Beef was coming around to him.
The worst part was that being Mecha Man wasn’t the only secret he was harboring. When the suit was destroyed and he was put in a coma, he also lost his left leg below the knee. Adjusting to his new life was hard and only the people who knew he was Mecha Man knew about his injury. Robert refused to tell the team because he thought they would lose respect for a crippled, but his worldview of the ex-villains was changing. Which leads to now; Invisigal giving advice on how to go about everything. Or at least she was trying before a big sounding guy started looking for a fight. And it was just his luck that apparently everyone wanted to join in.
Robotic arms held Visi by the neck, and adrenaline took over the ex-hero. He found nearby darts and easily stuck them in the distracted man’s neck. From there it was a blurr. Punch up came by to bust his balls (literally). At some point he was dragged to the bathroom and found where Sonar was hiding. Other times he heard Flambae call out his name and torched the people in front of him. Golem appeared at some point, throwing tables and goop at unfortunate villains. After breaking the arms of the first guy, his vision was blurred. Definitely concussed. At least Prism brought good bar fight music.
“Hey, Bob Bob. Don’t fucking die,” a warm arm wrapped around Robert which let him lean against the warmer man’s body. “You okay?” Flambae asked quietly. The man was, well, flamboyant. Arrogant, confident, he was fire in human form. Since they grew closer the teasing didn’t stop, but he has quiet moments that shows he cares.
“Yeah, I think I just hit my head,” Robert says but makes no move to stop leaning against the other man. “I’ll be fine.”
“Guys I’m hungry. We should get tacos!” Malevola says before Flambae could respond.
And that’s how Robert Robertson the third ended up leaning against an ex villain for heat (nothing else) outside a Mexican restaurant begging for his three triple crunch tacos while either drunk or concussed with a sore leg. No one talked about how Flambae wouldn’t leave Robert and kept his arm around the smaller man, they either approved or didn’t care. Visi kept sending Robert glances as if telling him “now’s your chance,” and the dread from earlier swiftly came back. Would Flambae still be here if he knew? But they all deserved to know the truth.
“If you wanted to start a fight, you should’ve said something,” Golem says to Robert when he finally gets his tacos. “I wanted another drink.”
“You’re heroes now. You don’t start fights, you finish them.” Robert savors how the team laughs, especially when he can hear Flambae’s so close. Okay yeah maybe he’s concussed.
“Okay we all know this Robert guy’s a front,” Punch Up starts. “Who are you, really?” Robert looks over to Visi again, already knowing what she’d want him to do. Taking a deep breath, he moves away from the taller man to be able to look at everyone.
“I am Robert Robertson, as fake as that sounds it’s true. But you’re right on me being someone else. You guys have worked hard on being a team, on trusting others when that was rarely an option before. And I want you guys to trust me, so I have two secrets that I think you guys should know.” Taking a deep breath, Robert sat back down and lifted his pant leg to reveal his prosthetic.
“What the fuck?!” Prism was the first to comment.
“You went in a fucking bar fight without a whole ass leg?!” Flambae was next.
“I thought you just had a limp,” says Punch Up.
“Okay yeah, I’m missing part of my left leg,” Robert says quickly to quiet the team. “About half a year ago I got myself blown up. I was in a coma for months and was told they couldn’t save my leg.” To Robert’s surprise, Flambae rested his hang against Robert’s leg in a comforting gesture. But looking at the hand with missing fingers made him feel sick. Of course Flambae would understand, he also knows what it feels like to lose part of yourself.
“So that leads to my other secret,” he took another deep breath, heart beating so hard Sonar could probably hear it. “I’m Mecha Man.” Flambae ripped his hand away, which made Robert look at him first. There were many emotions on the man’s face; anger, disbelief, and betrayal. Robert’s heart clenched, desperately wanting to reach out to the other man.
“Wait, that’s an actual super hero,” Pism states.
“Are we sure that’s really him?” Sonar asks.
“It’s him,” Flambae says quickly. Recognition flares in his eyes and in an instant he stands, letting flames engulf his entire body. Robert thought he was surely dead and didn’t even feel malice towards his potential murderer. But then Flambae shot himself from the ground and flew away. The group was quiet, looking where Flambae stood and then to Robert.
“So what now?” Malevola asks.
“I honestly didn’t think I’d live this long to think about that,” Robert admits. He looks at his other two tacos, suddenly not hungry enough for them.
“Well I’m Courtney,” Visi breaks the silence.
Robert looks to her with pride, seeing how far she’s come to be a part of this weird ass family. “Nice to meet you Courtney.”
The rest of the Z team goes through reintroducing themselves before heading home, having enough chaos for one night.
____
Robert wakes up slowly feeling pain in his… everywhere. There’s a weight on his chest he later finds out to be Beef, happily asleep on top of his owner. To his right is Royd sitting against the medbay’s wall and looking like he fought in war. Closer to the bed sat Chase, looking down with a regretful look on his face. A pang of fear shot through Robert’s chest; the last time he woke up from his suit exploding, he lost his leg and Chase’s demeanor wasn’t giving him much hope.
Robert slowly reached his arm towards Chase, not being able to pick it up fully yet as he was still waking up. “Do I still have most of my limbs?” Robert meant to make a joke but his voice was dry and scratchy.
The two men look up in surprise. Chase immediately sees Robert’s hand and moves to hold it in his own. “Yeah kid, you’re still at three and a half. Fuck, you gave us a scare though.” Chase must have noticed Robert’s weak grip because he squeezed harder.
Robert turned his attention to the other man in the room. “How long was I out?”
“About fourteen, fifteen hours I think.” The bigger man could barely meet Robert’s eyes.
He slowly sat up making Beef move to lay at his side. “Why do you look worse than me?” Royd was bandaged far more than Robert, and he looked so sad. It was discerning seeing the joyful man so upset.
The bigger man looked down as if ashamed. “I can’t do it, I can’t make the pulse. And without it, I can’t make the man Mecha.”
“I believe in you, Royd.” Robert tried to be encouraging, but he could tell Royd wasn’t buying it.
“This not a little league game, bruddah. This real life.” The bigger man stood up and slowly started making his way to the door. “I hurt you, could have hurt the team.”
“Royd,” Robert says gently, grabbing the bigger man’s attention. “You did your best, I can’t ask for anything else. Thank you.” He lifts his arm to offer a fist bump. The other man hesitated for a moment before gently accepting, then leaving Chase and Robert in the small room.
“Heard the fucker crying in the bathroom,” Chase is the first to break the silence. “Do you know how awkward it is to take a shit when someone is crying in the next stall.”
“I’m sure it’s very awkward,” Robert gives a small laugh, which just reminds him that his everything hurts. “How is everyone? Was anyone else hurt?”
Chase laughs bitterly. “No, everyone was fine. But your boyfriend keeps walking by and pretending he’s not checking up on you.”
Robert stares at the older man completely drawing a blank. “My boyfriend?”
“Flambae,” Chase provides. “I think I’ve seen him walk by four times now.”
“Oh, he’s not my boyfriend.” Robert takes the heart monitor off and pulls off the blankets to find his prosthetic is gone. “He started hating me again since he found out I’m Mecha Man.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that since the fucker is walking this way,” Chase shrugs.
Robert quickly looks up to see that Chase was right. “Shit. Where’s my prosthetic?”
“It was destroyed, Royd is making you a new one but I brought your crutches from your apartment.” Chase puts himself between Robert and the door. “Do you want me to make sure he doesn’t come in?”
“No-“ Robert finds himself answering that way too quickly. “I just didn’t want him to see me like… this.” Robert looks down at himself. He was shirtless with countless scars littered everywhere. He was skinnier from the coma, something the team loved to poke fun about. He wanted to see Flambae but part of him was worried how cruel the hot headed man’s jokes would get. “I’ll be fine, I’ll see you up there in a bit.”
“You are not fucking working today,” Chase says while looking like he was going to hit the younger man. Flambae was now standing at the doorway, obviously waiting to get Robert alone. “Try not to fucking die, you’ve been having a hard time with that recently.” While Chase said it as a joke, his eyes turned sad as he scanned Robert’s scars and missing leg.
Robert chose to ignore it, not wanting to unpack that right now. “Yeah yeah unc, we’ll see.”
Chase took that as a goodbye and left the possible HR violation. Flambae closed the door behind him, scanning the smaller man. Self consciousness burned through Robert, forcing him to look away and instead focus on Beef. The traitor saw Flambae and ran to the end of the bed for the man’s attention, which he gladly gave.
“I can’t believe I didn’t know you were missing your leg,” Flambae broke the silence while scratching the dog behind his ears.
They were both staring at his stump now. “I didn’t want anyone to know. I thought you guys would look at me differently,” Robert says. “And by the time we got closer, I didn’t know how to tell you. Same for me being Mecha Man.”
“Fuck you for that, by the way.” Flambae’s voice lacked any heat behind his words. “Even though I know who you are, it doesn’t take away my feelings. I couldn’t get through the day without thinking about you all the time. When I was making us lunch, looking at the treats I bought for beef, walking past your cubicle…”
“Do you hate me?” Robert finally asks but he hates how small he sounds. Hell, he hates how vulnerable he is right now but if anyone deserved to see him like this, it’s Flambae.
They stared at each other for what felt like minutes but could only have been seconds, a tension filled the small room uncomfortably. But the tension melted away quickly when the taller man sat next to Robert and wrapped his warm arms around the smaller man. Robert let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Relief flooded his veins so fast that he made himself light headed, and quickly reciprocated Flambae’s touch.
“I didn’t know how to feel about you,” Flambae admitted while resting his chin against the other’s auburn hair. “But when I heard about the suit exploding with you in it, it was obvious that despite the past I still care about you. I was terrified.”
Robert realized how Flambae’s warm hand soothed the aches on his scarred back, turning him to putty. “Oh shit,” Robert exhaled while leaning heavily onto the other man.
“What?” There’s an urgency in Flambae’s voice and he pulls his hands away. “Did I burn you?”
“No, it helps,” Robert mumbles into the man’s neck. “Put them back. Please?”
Flambae scoffs but does what the other asks. “Already begging for me to touch you bitch?”
Robert just laughs quietly but because he’s so close, Flambae can hear it clearly. They stay like that for a few moments. Robert enjoys the warmth of the other man and how it eases the ache his scars have given him, and Flambae doesn’t seem to mind holding the man. The spell is broken when Flambae curses under his breath and touches his ear.
“Blazer is sending me out, I should get going.” Flambae pulls away slowly as if letting Robert adjust back to the cold room.
“Fuck, yeah.” Robert reaches for his shirt and starts working the buttons. “I should get up there too.”
“Not to be a Debbie Downer,” Flambae says in a very unapologetic tone. “But you literally got fucking blown up yesterday. I don’t think you should be working.”
“It’s just a desk job. I hate sitting around and feeling useless.” Robert looks around for the crutches Chase was talking about and sighs when he sees it leaning against the wall by the door. He gets up slowly, leaning against the side table to help with his balance.
“Fuck, okay stop.” Before Robert can even attempt to get to his crutches, Flambae grabs them for him. “I literally just said I care about you, can you stop fucking trying to kill yourself?”
Robert rolls his eyes and kisses the other man’s cheek. “You’re cute but you’re dramatic. I’m not going to die.” Flambae seems to be in shock and trying to gauge how he should respond. Meanwhile Robert fits the crutches to his forearm and has a steady grip on the handles. Flambae comes back to himself to open the door for the freckled man and his chunky dog. The two were quiet until they got to the elevator, the entire time Flambae had his arms reached out slightly in a helpless attempt to support Robert.
“Look, you’re known for pushing yourself way too fucking hard,” Flambae starts as he pushes the button for correct floor. “So are you sure you’re up for dispatching?”
Robert scoffs and glares at the other man. “I appreciate the concern, but I promise I’m fine. I also don’t want you to treat me differently because of my leg, that was the main reason why I didn’t tell you guys in the first place.”
Flambae defensively crosses his arms over his chest. “You don’t take care of yourself, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“Again, I appreciate that. But you don’t have to look at me like I’m going to fall over at any second,” Robert sighs and starts walking to his cubicle when they get to the right floor. “I’m crippled, not useless.”
“No one would ever think you’re useless,” the hero assures while walking Robert to his cubicle.
“What are you doing up?” Blazer gets up to hug the man gently. “You really gave us a scare.”
“Turns out I’m completely fine. I just time traveled several hours in the future where I feel pretty rested.” Robert chooses to ignore the scoff made by the man behind him. Blazer does not.
“I thought I sent you out on a mission.” The hero crosses her arms and gives a pointed look to Flambae.
“I was checking on Robert and making sure he got up here fine.” Flambae looks to the other man with a hint of concern still laced in his eyes. “I’ll head out now.”
Robert looks to his cubicle. “How’s the shift going?”
“Good?” Blazer says with very little certainty. “Um, challenging made worse by all the enhanced villains we’re dealing with lately. I have a whole new appreciation for you.”
She pulls out a chair for Robert which he quickly takes. “Yeah, I’ll get on it.” Blazer takes his crutches and leans them against his cubicle where it’s easy to reach.
“I’m sorry about the pulse,” She says quietly. “Give us some time. Royd’s a little down but I’m sure we can come up with alternate power sources.” He nods in response as she starts to walk off. “Hey, really looking forward to tonight. Perfect timing.”
“Yeah same-uh what?” By the time Robert realizes what she fully said, the woman is gone.
Robert turns to his computer and finds a bottle of alcohol sitting on his desk. A note from the team congratulating him on not dying makes him smile fondly. The last 48 hours have been intense but he can help his team now and Flambae doesn’t hate him so things are looking up.