Work Text:
They were all summoned to the conference room. Prism was scrolling through her phone, occasionally showing Waterboy funny videos; Malevola was filing her nails; Invisigal was rolling back and forth in her chair, staring at the ceiling. Flambae tapped his fingers on the table as if counting the rhythm of his irritation. Sonar was telling Phenomaman about studying at Harvard, and Golem… was just sitting on the floor, as always.
No one knew why exactly the Z-team had been gathered. Everyone only knew that Coupé and Punch-Up had taken a month or two off to prepare for their wedding. Each of them already had an envelope with the invitation. Nothing critical, it seemed, so why the urgent meeting?
Soon Mandy and Robert walked in. She held a stack of papers; he carried a coffee mug that said “#1 Dad,” the one the team had given him a few months ago. He rarely let go of it now.
“Good morning, everyone,” Mandy said with her usual smile. A soft murmur of greetings moved across the room. “As you know, Punch-Up and Coupé won’t be working for the next month, and the period, well… isn’t the easiest.”
“We can handle things without them,” Invisigal scoffed, straightening up.
“No one is diminishing your achievements,” Mandy corrected quickly. “But the number of emergencies keeps growing. The city is practically being rebuilt, and we’re… simply understaffed. So…” She nudged Robert with her elbow, passing the word to him.
All eyes turned to him. Even Flambae stopped tapping his fingers and leaned forward, narrowing his eyes.
Robert reluctantly put his mug on the table, cleared his throat, and picked up the papers.
“I’m no longer your dispatcher,” he said sharply.
Shouts rippled through the room. Flambae jumped up so fast his chair nearly tipped over.
“What the fuck does that mean?!”
“Oh come on, Bobert, did we really wear you down that bad?..” Sonar almost whimpered. “It seemed like things were fine.”
“M-m-maybe it’s m-my fault?.. I d-didn’t… real-ly…” Waterboy squeaked, already shrinking into himself.
“No, sweetheart,” Malevola said instantly, patting him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry.”
The room turned into a cacophony of voices. Robert even stuck a finger in his ear.
“Enough!” Mandy barked, turning red with strain. “He’s not leaving us completely. He’ll just… temporarily be doing a different job.”
Silence fell. Robert exhaled in relief.
“A different job?” the team repeated in unison.
He tossed the documents onto the table — his dossier.
Invisigal grabbed the folder first, beating Flambae, who reached for it with a squint, as if already suspecting something bad. She opened it and her eyes nearly bulged out.
“You’re… what..?”
“I’m becoming another member of the team,” Robert said, and only then did the corners of his lips twitch into a faint smile. “as Mecha Man.”
And absolute silence followed.
Flambae stared at him like at a stranger. Not surprised, but as if unsure whether to be angry or relieved.
Phenomaman was the first to approach, picking Robert up by the shoulders like he weighed nothing.
“This is phenomenal, Robert Robertson! We will finally fight side by side!”
“P-phenoma… put me… down…” Robert wheezed as the alien squeezed him.
After that, everyone “pounced” on Robert: Visi appeared right in front of his face, Malevola slapped his shoulder and hugged him; Prism already managed to take a selfie with the whole crowd piled onto him. The whole room was celebrating.
Everyone except Flambae.
He sat still, elbows on the table, fingers interlaced. Staring at Robert, unblinking. Unreadable. Not angry. Not smiling.
Just watching.
The next day, Robert woke up earlier than usual. Beef licked his nose, demanding breakfast. After feeding the dog, Robert packed his things into a box. Beef, of course, lay down on top of it.
“There you are, kid!” Chase’s voice rang out as Robert walked into the hall. “I thought you changed your mind! And hey… without that hideous blue shirt, you almost look human.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Robert snorted. “Will you watch Beef?”
Chase immediately snatched the dog.
“Of course! Sometimes I think you don’t deserve him at all, you fucker…”
Robert smiled, shook his head, and moved on.
Royd presented the new suit — the same navy military-style with the “M” on the chest, but reinforced and so tight that Robert kept trying to adjust it every ten seconds.
No one expected to see Mecha Man inside the SDN building. Eyes followed him, whispers never stopped. He felt… like he was on stage. And he didn’t like it.
“Nice ass!” Visi shouted.
Robert jolted.
“Royd made it too tight,” he muttered, trying to adjust the suit around his butt. “I feel like a stripper.”
Before Invisigal could yell something else, a voice came through the loudspeaker — the workday had begun.
“Alright, guys, hello,” Mandy said through the comms. “Haven’t done this in a while.”
“Don’t worry,” Robert replied. “I trained them well for you.”
“Hey,” Flambae cut in, irritated. “Watch your fucking mouth.”
But his voice held something sharp beneath the annoyance. Something restrained. Maybe hurt.
“There’s a kitten stuck in a tree,” Mandy continued. “Mecha Man, think you can handle it?”
“First day at work and I’m rescuing a kitten from a tree…” he sighed. “Fine.”
The others got their assignments too. And the usual chaos began:
“Hey Bobert, can your thing work like a fuck-machine?” Sonar asked.
“A… what?” Robert sounded genuinely lost.
“I asked if he ever jerked off in the suit!” Invisigal added.
“Oh, there’s nothing to ask,” Flambae snorted. “Of course he did.”
“Hey! I fight in this thing!” Robert protested.
“Right now you’re only saving pussies,” Malevola smirked.
Mandy was already boiling.
“Let’s focus, please. Prism, Flambae, head to the abandoned warehouse. What’s left of the Red Ring is still—…” she fell silent, suddenly focusing on something else. “Wait…” Mandy stared intently at her screen. “We’ve got a call. Fire. School number thirty. Mecha Man, go now.”
“Already on my way,” Robert answered.
“Thirty?” Prism’s voice tightened. “That’s Flambae’s niece’s school… oh fuck.”
But no answer came.
“Flambae?” Mandy called. “You there?”
“He left his assignment!” Prism said. “I’m going too! Come on! Waterboy!”
“O-on it!..”
Mandy sent the others to different emergencies. Tapping her foot nervously, she listened to the comms — breathing, wind, crackling flames.
“Fuck…” Flambae exhaled.
“We’ll make it,” Prism said, pressing a finger to her earpiece. “We’ve got Waterboy. And Robert’s already there. Baby, it’s going to be okay.”
Flambae didn’t answer. But his clenched fingers whitened at the knuckles.
Robert was already on-site. Children and teachers crowded at the entrance, but he didn’t see Flambae’s niece among them.
“Bo— Mecha Man!” Flambae’s shout cut through the noise. The big robot turned toward him. “Where is she?!”
“There are still kids on the upper floors,” Robert replied. “But I can’t break the entrance, the building might collapse. Can you absorb the fire at the doorway?”
He barely finished when the windows on the upper floor exploded outward, flames blasting through.
“Oh, fuck me…” Flambae breathed. “I’ll try. Bitch, GO!”
He raised his hands, absorbing the torrent of fire. The corridor near the entrance cleared, and Robert dashed inside.
Almost nothing was visible. Smoke layered the air, walls cracked from the heat. Robert followed the sound of cries. First classroom; the door jammed by a fallen cabinet. He shoved it aside and kicked the door open, freeing two people.
With every step, the robot overheated, warnings beeped inside the helmet, but Robert ignored them. Flambae absorbed fire through the windows whenever he could, creating brief corridors, but the flames always came back.
Robert broke down door after door, carrying children out, but he still didn’t see the one they were looking for.
Then… a sudden, familiar scream.
He turned instantly and ran, overheating suit be damned. The door to a small room had nearly melted, but he still rammed it open with the robot’s shoulder.
In the corner, pressed to the wall, sat the girl, the last untouched spot in the room. The robot knelt, chest panel opening.
“Climb in!” Robert extended his hand. The girl grabbed it with shaking fingers, pulled herself up, and crawled inside. He seated her on his lap and closed the panel before smoke flooded in.
He turned — but the corridor back was blocked entirely. Fire everywhere. The ceiling collapsing.
The window was the only way.
Robert turned, holding the girl with one arm, operating the system with the other. Mecha Man smashed the window frame, glass shattering outward.
The internal siren screamed about overheating. The metal glowed. Engines whined on the verge of failure.
“Hold on,” Robert said, stepping through the broken window.
Fresh air hit the overheated robot like a wave. He managed only a few heavy steps across the roof of the annex and jumped down into a cloud of dust.
Firefighters and teachers rushed to them. The chest panel opened, and the girl leapt out, coughing but safe.
Flambae was there first — and only then let himself breathe.
“Is she…?” his voice cracked.
“She’s safe,” Robert answered from inside the overheated robot. Only now did he allow himself to feel how badly his hands shook.
Flambae pulled his trembling, coughing niece into his arms, and Robert could clearly hear the tremble in his voice on the exhale.
Robert turned away, feeling as if he absolutely shouldn’t watch family reunions, and instead focused on Waterboy assisting firefighters and Prism checking the rescued children.
Finally, he closed his eyes. The trembling eased.
After everyone was cleared by the medics, Mecha Man, Prism, Waterboy, Flambae, and his niece returned to the SDN building. Mandy met them, exhaling as if she hadn’t breathed the entire time.
She approached and knelt in front of the girl.
“Hi, sweetie. We need our doctors to check your burns, okay?” she asked gently.
The girl looked at her uncle first, but he just nodded and let go of her hand. Mandy took her by the palm and led her to the medical unit, giving Robert a long look over her shoulder before leaving.
Flambae and Robert stood a little aside near the vending machine. Robert, by habit, grabbed a pack of Twinkies.
“Your… suit overheated,” Flambae said, breaking the silence.
“Yeah,” Robert shrugged lazily.
“But you still went after her,” Flambae added after another minute of silence. “That’s…”
“I couldn’t leave her, Chad,” Robert said softly. He almost never used his actual name and that didn’t go unnoticed. “Mecha is stable now.”
Flambae spun toward him sharply, like he was about to punch, but instead… hugged him.
Robert’s eyes flew open in shock. His arms dropped to his sides, he had no idea what to do.
Flambae pulled away just as abruptly, looking aside.
“When you said you were joining us, I wanted to punch you. I still haven’t forgiven you entirely for my fingers and my tooth, and now… this. Fuck, I wanted to kill you on the spot. I already struggled to separate bitch Robert from Mecha-bitch, and now…”
Robert said nothing, still blinking like he was catching up.
“I didn’t want to work with you at all,” Flambae continued. “Thought I’d take a month off. But… ” he pressed his lips together, trembling. “If not for you… If… not for Mecha Man, I’d have lost her. And she… she’s the reason I ever joined this program.”
Silence fell between them again. Too dense. Too heavy.
Then Robert carefully took Flambae’s hand and offered him a sealed pack of cream-filled sponge cakes.
“I’m sorry for how things went,” he said quietly, referring to the fingers. “Really. I didn’t know what I was doing… A bit more and I wouldn’t have been able to hold back. It was the only option. I’m sorry.”
Flambae didn’t look up, but a short laugh escaped him.
“Don’t you dare tell anyone I cried,” he muttered, voice back to its usual sharpness. Flambae wiped his tears with the back of his hand. “I’m serious. Or I’ll burn you alive in your own fuck-machine.”
Robert smiled faintly.
“I still have no idea what a ‘fuck-machine’ is,” he said, tilting his head. “But I can say for sure — you look pretty even without the missing tooth.”
Flambae’s cheeks reddened instantly. He snorted, slapped Robert’s arm, but snatched the Twinkies without any fight.
“Fuck off,” he said, heading to the exit. But when he reached the doors, he turned back. “But… you know… your ass really does look good in that suit.”
Robert raised his eyebrows and glanced over his shoulder at his own butt just as another laugh echoed from the hallway.
The second shift was about to begin.
“Everyone here?..” Mandy asked.
“Barely cleaned the soot off my suit,” Prism complained.
“I-I had t-to… d-do… something…” Waterboy appeared.
“Sonar’s here,” Malevola answered for him. “Had to drag him out of… somewhere.”
“He-ere,” Visi sighed.
“And I’m here! Had to pick up my melons. I still have two months left on the subscription! Anyone wants one?” Phenomaman chimed in.
“Flambae?.. Mecha Man?..” Mandy pressed her lips.
“Here. But I’m with my niece. I’m skipping the first assignments.”
Mandy sighed.
“Mecha Man?”
“Here,” his voice finally came through. Too calm for someone who’d nearly burned alive inside his own suit. “I’m in the med bay. Mecha isn’t fully responsive yet. I… might too skip a few assignments.”
He turned off his mic and earpiece, watching through the glass door as Flambae talked to his niece. Her hands were wrapped in bandages, but her face was peaceful and smiling. Even Robert couldn’t help but smile.
Flambae met his gaze. After a long moment, he nodded, calling Robert over. After hesitating a bit, Robert stepped inside, still in his mask.
“Mecha Man,” the girl breathed, like she was seeing him for the first time, as if he wasn’t the one who’d pulled her out of the fire.
“Hey,” Robert wanted to stay standing by her bed, but Flambae pushed a chair toward him, so he sat. He was still a bit awkward. “How are you? Did the doctors take good care of you?”
“She’s fine,” Flambae answered for her, fixing her curly hair. “Second-degree burns on her arms and palms. Her mom’s on her way. Hopefully she won’t kill me.”
The room grew quiet again. Flambae listened to his niece’s breathing, he was still burning with the fear of losing her.
Robert pressed his lips together. Should he say something? Do something? Comfort Flambae?
Then he noticed the half-eaten Twinkies on her bedside table and smiled.
“Your uncle told me you’re my fan?” Robert finally said, breaking the silence.
Flambae and the girl both turned toward him. Now he could see the striking resemblance between them.
“Just don’t tell anyone, okay?” Robert whispered, starting to remove his mask.
Flambae stared at him like Robert had grown a second head, but said nothing. Not even about how Robert’s short hair puffed up, or his soft blush, or how Flambae’s heart skipped a beat.
Robert leaned forward a little, offering the mask to the girl. She took it with a trembling hand, hardly believing it.
“For me?..” she breathed.
Robert would swear he had never seen such happiness in someone’s eyes. He smiled softly.
“For you. And my name is Robert. What’s yours?”
The girl looked at her uncle again, but he, seemingly mesmerized, couldn’t take his eyes off — for now — the ex-dispatcher.
“Zainab,” she said, grinning so wide you could see another resemblance — the missing tooth.
Robert stifled a laugh rising in his chest and glanced at Flambae.
“I should go. Royd is probably fini—…” He stopped, staring into the eyes across from him, and swallowed at the… soft, almost loving look. Robert went speechless for several seconds, but Zainab’s giggle snapped him out of it. “I… I’ll go… See you, Chad… bye, Zainab.”
Robert almost bolted out of the room, trying to hide from prying eyes, but the blush on his cheeks was unmistakable.
Flambae exhaled. Like he hadn’t breathed the entire time.
“Mom will be very happy about what I’ll tell her,” Zainab whispered conspiratorially, grinning at her uncle.
“You won’t tell her anything,” Flambae hissed, but his voice was so soft that she only laughed harder.