Chapter Text
~ In the breakroom~
“Has anyone seen Bobert yet?” Sonar said, looking around the office nervously.
“No, not yet. Probably woke up late or something,” Invisigal waved him off, scrolling on her phone.
“ B-But.. Boss- Robert- isn’t…la- he’s punct- he’s on time,” Waterboy stammered.
“Probably wondering how to get you back for recording his singing yesterday,” Prism snickered, reapplying her lipstick.
“Don’t remind me.” Sonar groaned, his fears not disappearing.
“Sonar. My guy, chill out. I think you’re overthinking this,” Malevola said, trying to calm her friend down.
“ I seriously don’t understand why Bob-Bob is being a bitch about us finding out he can sing,” Flambae commented, putting his lunch in the fridge.
“ Perhaps, maybe the Third Robertson is shy about his insecurities. Like how I’m insecure about my anatomy,” Phenomaman chimed in.
“That could be it. But we won’t know for sure,” Coupe added, cleaning her knives.
“ Aye, lass. Maybe with time, Robert will open up more to us.” Punch Up said, finishing his coffee.
“Don’t stress about it too much,” Golem added, peaking his head from outside the breakroom.
“Easy for you to say,” Sonar said, continuing to mope.
I could love you with my eyes closed. Kiss you with a blindfold. Figure you out~
Sonar, snapping out of his existential dread, hurriedly shifted through his pockets to turn off his phone. He looked at the screen and saw that it was the man of the hour calling him. Confused and shocked, he hung up the call. He put his phone back in his pocket and slumped in his chair.
“I see you still have that ringtone on your phone.” The same voice as the ringtone commented, his voice seemingly loud in the silent breakroom.
Sonar jumped from his seat and turned to see Robert, with no emotion in his face or eyes, as he lowered his phone from his ear. Sonar was somehow glad he couldn’t sweat because he could feel the nerves creeping around his body. He let out a chuckle, which sounded forced, because it was.
“UH.. Hey Boberto. How are you this morning?” Sonar asked, trying to divert the conversation.
“Fine,” Robert said, not engaging with the rest of the conversation.
“Your shift starts in 10 minutes. You guys have a great day and be safe in the field.” Robert said, addressing the entire team before leaving the breakroom with Beef in tow at his heels.
“Is he pissed or just hasn’t had enough coffee or something?” Invisigal said, noting how Robert wasn’t in a particularly good mood.
“Honestly, it’s hard to tell” Malevola answered, not sure either.
“I’m going to die” Sonar whined, knowing Robert was out of earshot.
“Come on. This is Robert we’re talking about. Ain’t no way that he would sabotage you just for recording him. Let’s just get this first shift out of the way,” Prism said, getting up and heading out of the breakroom.
“This is true. He fought for us to stay when they wanted to cut someone from the Z-Team. I don’t think he would go back on his word for a minor inconvenience.” Coupe agreed, following Prism out with Punch Up.
“With the bullshit we do every day, I’m surprised he hasn’t snapped already.” Invisigal nodded, walking out with Golem.
“He’ll just have to learn to get over himself. Like the bitch that he his” Flambae added, walking out as well.
Sonar felt a wet hand touch his shoulder. He looked at Waterboy with a raised eyebrow.
“It’ll be ok,” Waterboy said, trying to comfort the man bat. His voice is not stuttering like usual.
Sonar sighed as he got up to follow Waterboy and Phenomaman.
“Maybe you guys are right.” Sonar said, trying to reassure himself.
~Timeskip~
The morning shift went somewhat smoothly, minus Invisigal accidentally forgetting her inhaler, and she needed to run back to the office to get it. Robert was behind the desk, directing them with the same calm demeanor as every day before. This made Sonar relax a bit. Maybe he was stressing over nothing after all.
The evening shift was a completely different story with Punch Up being sent to stop a neighbor dispute over something petty. Which ended up with both neighbors trying to hurt each other, and Punch Up had to restrain them after a swift punch to the gut.
Then there was Prism being set to be added security for a celebrity. Unsurprisingly enough, Prism got more attention than the celebrity when they went to the mall and were surrounded by fans. It was only heard after Prism left that the celebrity made a complaint about being overshadowed, which Sonar scoffed at.
Malevola and Coupe were sent to the docks, where a supposed drug deal was going down. Sonar was glad that Robert didn’t send him. Even though there were days that he wanted to do drugs, Malevola was there to remind him that doing them would slow his recovery and put him two steps back. They ended the deal swiftly, with all the conspirators arrested.
The rest of the team had pretty tame tasks, like Flambae making an appearance at a birthday party (The whole team knew that Flambae was good with kids), Invisigal helping to find a lost dog and returning it to its owner, Golem helping to plant trees in the local park, Waterboy putting out a fire at a restaurant downtown, and himself going to talk with the BoneZone.
By the time everyone made it back, they were all tired and definitely going to sleep well tonight. Sonar was ready to go home, look at his crypto stocks, and see if they improved.
“Good work today, everyone. Get some rest and see you tomorrow. But before you go, Sonar, do you have a moment to talk?” Robert said, his voice not giving away how he’s feeling.
Sonar’s heart sank into his stomach as he followed Robert into an empty conference room. He would’ve made an indecent joke at that moment, but he decided against it. Robert closed the door and closed the blinds. Robert walked to an empty chair across from him. Before Sonar could speak, Robert held up his hand to stop him.
“Before I get to the main point of this conversation, I want to say a couple of things first. First, you’re not in trouble. Two, you’re not going to lose your job. You work hard to improve your life, and you’re an important part of this team. So please don’t worry about that.” Robert said, saying what had been bothering Sonar all day.
This made him feel a bit better. However, this did not explain why they were here.
“You’re probably wondering why I pulled you aside, anyway?” Robert asked, seeing the puzzled look on his face.
“Well, I’ll explain myself. Whatever’s being said here, you can share it with the entire team if you want. It doesn’t bother me if you do. I just want to get this feeling out of my chest,” Robert said, taking a breath.
“I’m not mad about the voice recording. I know we, myself and the Z-Team, joke around the office a lot, and I believe that this wasn’t done out of maliciousness. I’m sorry if my behavior contradicted itself or if I acted unprofessionally today,” Robert apologized.
“Woah, woah man. You’re fine. You didn’t-” Sonar began to reassure Robert before the man put up his hand again.
“Please don’t interrupt me,” Robert said, stern but calm.
his caused Sonar to eat whatever words were in his throat.
“I’m going to try and explain this in the best way possible. Not exactly ripping off the band-aid or giving a whole monologue. That would take forever, and I’m sure neither of us will get overtime.” Robert added, getting a small chuckle from Sonar at the last bit.
“To put it in simpler terms, I guess you can say that I’m-” Robert started before pausing, trying to find the word.
“Insecure about that part of me” Robert finished his sentence, finding the right word.
Robert took a deep breath and continued on.
“I know I rarely want to talk about my father, but for this, I feel like I have to,” Robert sighed.
“You see, my father didn’t want me to engage in anything that wasn’t involved with becoming Mecha Man,” Robert persisted, his voice cracking.
“I didn’t go to school. Said it was ‘too distracting’, which resulted in me being homeschooled,” Robert started.
“ I was taught how to disassemble and reassemble the suit, so by the time I was like 10, I could do all that in an hour or so. I don’t really remember,” Robert said, pausing to remember before going on.
“From sunrise to sunset, it was hours of physical training until my body-” Robert paused, his hand beginning to tremble.
“So naturally, there was no time for other pursuits. Distractions that would deter me from my ultimate goal. Becoming Mecha Man, carrying on the family legacy. Getting rid of the man and being part of the machine,” Robert scoffed, but calmed himself.
“It was only when he wasn’t home that I was able to do what I wanted. Chase, who looked after me most of the time, let me experiment with different activities. One of those was singing. Chase, don’t tell him I told you, can’t sing at all. But it was something I enjoyed. Being able to put your feelings into words. And letting the melody move you,” Robert said, his eyes showing a bit of an emotion Sonar couldn’t figure out.
“But alas, all good things come to an end. My dad found out, yelled at Chase, who was still a kid himself. Yelled at me for what seemed like forever. He eventually banned Chase from looking after me for about a month. He thought it would be a good lesson for me to not stray from the path laid out in front of me. It worked. He got his wish. I stopped and never sang again after that.” Robert continued, trying not to be emotional.
“ What I’m trying to get at is that I-” Robert paused again, trying to rephrase his sentence.
“You want to try and sing again? Find that passion again?” Sonar asked, trying to help.
Robert, unable to find words, nodded.
“Robert, can I do something?” Sonar asked, getting up from his chair.
Robert raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“Is it going to be an HR violation?” Robert quipped, getting up from his own chair.
Instead of answering, Sonar pulled Robert into a hug. Robert was caught off guard as the man hugged him. Sonar somewhat knew that Robert’s life was a sad one. But the extent of it was something he or the team wasn’t ready to handle yet. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that Robert knew he was safe to be himself.
“It’s ok, man,” Sonar said softly.
“ For what it’s worth, I think you have a beautiful singing voice,” Sonar added, which made Robert chuckle.
“What a way to kill the moment,” Robert said, pulling away.
Before any more could be said, a knock could be heard on the door. Robert went to open it, and Sonar could see that it was Chase on the other side.
“If you’re done with whatever this is, I’m leaving, and I’m taking Beef with me,” Chase stated, gesturing to the pup in his arms.
“What happened to you asking before taking him, Unc?” Robert laughed, giving Beef a pat on his head.
“You aren’t going to deprive me of my favorite little guy” Chase retorted.
“ I kinda have to agree with Chase. It’s not his fault, Beef is so loveable” Sonar added, walking up to them and giving Beef scratches on his tummy.
“See, he gets it” Chase said, pointing to Sonar.
“Whatever you say, Chase. See you tomorrow, Unc, bye buddy” Robert said, before walking away from them.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be too?” Chase asked, seeing Sonar still hasn’t moved.
“Oh yeah! See you tomorrow!” Sonar said, moving past them and walking toward the elevators.
~Later that night~
Z-Team Group Chat (Minus Bobert)
Malevola: So bud… How did it go?
Invisigal: Spill the beans, man!
Prism: Did you get sacked or something? You’re being quiet. YOU!
Flambae: MechaDick must’ve scarred him really bad. If that’s the case, welcome to the club
Waterboy: I don’t think Robert would do that
Punch Up: Ya can tell us!
Golem: Let him answer first
Coupe: What happened?
Phenomaman: I’d like to know too
Sonar: Well I’m not fired. So that’s off the table.
Malevola: See? What did I tell ya?
Sonar: Ok I definitely exaggerated a bit
Soanr: Robert said it was ok for me to keep it
Invisigal: He said it was ok? What a twist
Punch Up: Well thats good at least
Golem: There’s more isn’t there?
Sonar: Ok. There is but… You guys need to brace yourselves for this next bit
Sonar: Robert said it was ok to share
Sonar sent off a bunch of texts, recapping everything Robert had said to him and how he hugged him. Sonar put down his phone and went to get some water. From the kitchen, he could hear his phone buzz repeatedly. Once he got his glass, he picked up his phone and saw a whole line of texts that he had to comb through.
Invisigal: Ok I knew his dad was a douche but not at that level
Prism: He’s WAY more than a douche! An asshole to the utmost degree!
Waterboy: Poor Robert
Phenomaman: I feel devastated for the Third Robertson
Coupe: Malevola, is there a way to resurrect the dead? For research purposes
Malevola: Sorry babes. There isn’t.
Punch UP: Damn! I would’ve at least given him a rundown with Susan and Theresa
Flambae: I hope he’s roasting forever at least
Malevola: I’m sure there’s a SPECIAL place for people like him
Golem: So what now? We can’t undo anything that happened to him
Prism: We should go to a karaoke bar!
Flambae: You mean the one off of Magnolia St.?
Prism: That’s the one!
Sonar: You sure Robert would want to do that?
Prism: We just give him some liquid courage and he’ll open up
Coupe: I feel like that would do the opposite
Invisigal: We won’t know until we ask
Sonar: We need to create a battle plan