Chapter Text
ROBERT
I can’t remember the last time I had been this happy. Since giving my retirement speech a month ago and hitting the lowest point I can ever remember falling to, it has been just a continuous string of hits in the life of Robert Robertson.
I got a steady job for one. Can’t take that for granted. I got no pto or weekends off as Mecha Man, so this is a nice change of pace.
The suit is coming together better than ever. Sure, the explosion was a little scary yesterday, but I’m alive. I can’t ask for more than that.
I made some friends who feel (somewhat) safe around. I mean, if I can tell them my secret identity, I can call them friends, right?
And… I might finally be getting some romance in my life (if I’m not delusional). I mean, I did just go to the movies with Invisigal just as a team-building exercise (or at least that’s what I’m telling myself).
So it was only natural for this positivity stint to keep moving via Z-team, throwing a party at my apartment against my will. But after 6 lamps, a few cases from SDN’s cafeteria (courtesy of Visi), and Homeless in Heathrow on aux, I started to really feel comfortable here. It began to look less like a bad place and more like a good place. I’m never good with adjectives when it comes to decor - or anything positive in my life. I have probably thanked Visi and Roy a dozen times each tonight for setting this up with their own little Astral Pulse search crew and computer setup they brought over.
For the first time in probably 10 or so years, I don’t feel awkward at a party. My smile doesn’t feel forced. My conversations don’t feel curt and political. I don't have to wear a mask around them anymore. Maybe it was just the buzz, but I feel pretty fucking good right now. But it’s never been this good for this long, so I’ve just been waiting for the other shoe to drop for the last week and a half.
…
“Bunch of drunk ass Z-Teamers, please. Y'all wouldn't make it past the front door.”
There it is.
…
“There's no guarantee it'll be there tomorrow. We need to go now.” [Visi]
…
“She named you Invisigal. You named yourself Invisabitch and you had it right the first time” [Chase]
…
“I know you're a liar, a criminal. I know you're fucking dangerous. What else do I need to know?”
The room goes silent. Then Chase goes flying backwards into my work computer. The room gasps.
“Oh my God. Visi wait!” I yell.
I start toward the door, then look between Blazer and Chase.
She gives me a look. “We will deal with this on Monday. I’ll get this cleaned up for you. Go find her and talk some sense into her before she goes and does something stupid.”
“You're a lifesaver, Blazer.” I flash her an awkward smile and scan the room for a second before locating my jacket, phone, wallet, and keys.
“Thank you all for coming. You all gave my apartment a nice glow. The lamps are also nice.” I cringe internally, knowing it's definitely not the time for shitty one-liners that sound like the bad dialogue option in a Telltale game. I speed walk out of my apartment before I get a chance to hear their retorts.
Fuck. I guess I didn’t really think this out. How am I going to find someone who can turn invisible at nighttime in the middle of the most populated city on the West Coast? World’s worst game of hide and se-
I see her sulking on the bus bench down the road. I approach her, hands up, not unlike coaxing a wounded and wild animal. I collapse on the cool metal next to her.
I turn and look at her, the beautiful mess she is right now.
Her face is contorted, skin drawn over tight cheekbones and a clenched jaw. I know that expression she’s wearing well. I’ve seen it in the mirror thousands of times over the last 15 years. It’s of someone who is about to break, but afraid to let anyone see the pain - even themselves.
“Courtney. That shit was not okay, but you know it’s ok to cry.”
She lets out a drawn-in quiet laugh and turns to look at me, eyes watery but held together by will and surface tension. Her lower lip quivers, and it looks like she’s about to say something…
And the dam breaks loose as she buries her head into my chest. Heavy sobs and heaves came out of her.
The burden of being a loner is never easy. I’ve known this for years. You are fighting your evolutionary code daily, your limbic system screaming at you to make an emotional connection or at least share a meal with someone. But whether out of pride or seasonal depression or some other bullshit ego reason, you choose to opt out. Visi is just finally paying her emotional piper.
We sit like this for a few minutes - me leaning against the bench, her face buried into my chest. I awkwardly rested my hand on her back (hopefully high enough on it to not be considered an HR violation), and just let it lie there. I thought about whispering some empty platitudes about life and heroism or some Feynman shit, but decided against it.
She eventually goes quiet, sniffling and rubbing her tears and snot on my last clean SDN shirt.
“Do you feel better after that?”
“Robert if you tell anyone I did this I-”
“Relax, this stays with me. I don’t give a shit.”
I grimace. “Not that I don’t care. I mean I do, it’s just that I don’t judge you for crying. Women can cry too, you know, breaking glass ceilings and shit for the emo asshole community. Good on you.”
She lets out that exasperated laugh I love to hear and looks up at me, chin into my chest. “Good. You know I have a rep to hold.”
“Yeah. The girl who punches the elderly. What a rep.”
“Shit. I guess I did do that. He’s still alive right?” She asks as she leans away from me and into the back of the bench. She lights a cigarette.
“Yes Visi he is alive. It’s a low bar but yes. You didn’t kill the medicare recipient. Do you feel better?”
She takes a long pull on her shitty crumpled Reds. “Where’s your hero speech, Robert? I want a stoic Mecha Man speech, not this snarky bullshit.”
I look at her. She’s smiling, but it's an uneasy one. She’s actually a bit shaken from all of this stuff tonight, I guess. I decided to try and say some earnest stuff.
“You don’t need a hero speech Visi. Courtney. You just need a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen too. You know, like a human does.”
We sit in silence for a few more minutes, staring into the starless sky while Visi’s cig drags provide some light white noise.
Headlights a quarter mile away start fading into my vision. It’s the bus.
She flicks the rest of her cig onto the pavement and crushes it under her heel. “Our rides here. Come on Robert.”
“Where too?” I ask, genuinely confused.
“I want to show you something. You’ll love it. Promise a million.”
I think about it for a few more moments, then shrug. I don’t have anywhere to be. When the bus pulled up, I paid both our fees because, of course, she sneaked on.
I walk to the back row and locate the least dirty seat, and then sit in the one next to it, knowing the cleanest one is already occupied.
Spiky hair and a toothy grin appear in my vision from the aforementioned previous seat.
“Do you know what a Cheshire cat is?” I ask her.
“No. Is it like a sex thing? Or like cheese, maybe.” She says in her outside voice when we are clearly in an indoor space.
I sigh, ”I’ll tell you later, probably. It’s not important. I’m gonna rest my eyes for a bit. Tell me when we get to your destination.”
I lean my head against the window and let the vibrations of skull on glass soothe me to sleep.
Something shook my arm.
“This is our stop.”
*Someone shook my arm*
I blinked into the bright fluorescent lights of the overhead bus lights. I felt shockingly well rested. The buzz from the party has worn off already.
Invisigal was looking at me, boot tapping the ground anxiously.
I grumble some half-assed thanks and Jack Sparrow-walk out of the bus. It’s pitch dark outside. I squint and look around as my low-light vision kicks in. Shipping crates, warehouses, and a distinct lack of anybody surround us. But I hear gunfire down the block, a quarter mile away.
“Visi. Where are we?”
“Where do you think? At the docks.”
I nod, pretending to understand, then come to an actual understanding.
“Holy shit. What the fuck are we doing here? DId you not see the security they have here?”
Visi scoffs, “You have no faith. You are standing next to rank 23 at the SDN leaderboard. This is light-work for someone like me. And we actually have a chance! We can get you the astral pulse back, and you can be mecha again!”
“Visi this is not wort-”
“Shit the fuck up Robert. Will you just get bitchy after we find the thing? We’re already here. Just call Royd, he should still be at your apartment if the plan is still going to plan.”
“First of all, it's shut - not shit. Second, what plan? Punching Chase? Was that a part of the plan too, or a little off script?”
She goes quiet, just looking at me blankly - complete poker face. Thoughts go racing through my head. Was her fake crying a trick to get me to come here? Was this her plan all along? Is Chase ok? Where is the astral pulse on this ship? Am I ready to be mecha man again?
I take a second and then call Roy.
After 3 rings, a voice comes to life from my phone.
“Hey Robert. Was about to call you. I was about to pack all of this stuff up and drive it back to SDN. You find visi? Are you all at the docks?”
“Yes Royd I did. Hey, is Chase ok?”
“Yeah he’s fine. Blazer took him home. Everyone’s gone except for me and beef at the moment. Do you still want to try for the pulse or want to call it off? I’m game either way Robert.”
“Dispatch us in Royd.”
Royd did the mom’s kinda homeless face, and then replied, “Ok. Let me pull up the schematics on your computer. Hang up your phone, and I’ll direct y’all from visi’s headset.”
“You’re a lifesaver.”
…
Visi jumps. “Dammit Royd you don’t have to yell. You are already in my ear.”
I hear a tinny Royd come from her headset. I can’t make out what it says, but she’s responding to it.
Nodding, she says, “Ok, got it.”
“Robert, we are gonna rendezvous at the captains quarters at the top of the ship. You see where that is?” She points to the farthest spot on the ship docked at the very end of the pier. Where all the gunfire is coming from.
“I see it.”
“Great. Stick to the perimeter and sneak around back. I’ll barrel through the middle while invisible. Try and get a gun off one of the lackeys, and please stay alive. Follow me to the ship, and then we will split up.”
We start towards the boat.
I scoff. “I did this shit for 15 years. I know how to be sneaky.”
She deadpans, “Okay chair force, just follow me until we get there. Then you can get yourself killed however you want. Just don’t want your blood on my hands - or clothes. Shits hard to clean out.”
Surely my lucky streak will carry through the night, I think.
…