Chapter Text
It really is foolish, the things love can bind you into doing. Elliot should have known better—known better then to get himself tangled with Robert fucking Robertson Junior.
He didn’t know what it was about Robbie that drew him in when he sat down next to the man in that first class but he really was unlike anyone Elliot had ever met. A kind and confident man with a charming face, it all felt so cliché but at the time it felt so right.
He was larger than life, he was charming and crafty, he always saw Elliot as worth his time. Sly smiles when he managed to get his hands on a good piece of junk and infectious laughter as he roped Elliot into another idea that would probably blow up in their faces. Robbie was his best friend, eventually more.
He called Elliot’s augments amazing, as rudimentary as they were back then. Just simple strength and endurance enhancements that maybe the heroes could use. Elliot himself had one installed in his head, he had this enhanced pattern recognition ability that made it hard not to overthink and the augment quieted it down.
No one was ever comfortable with his readings and predictions so no one really gave his augments that chance to revolutionize the age of heroes, no one really gave him the chance to help people.
Robbie gave him that chance. Robbie called him a genius. He said he was lucky that Elliot wanted to stick by him. Despite all the people Robbie drew in, Robbie always chose Elliot.
On top of that, he was a hero. Oh the wonder he felt when he learned Robbie was Mecha Man, a real fucking superhero. Brave and bold, doing what he could for the public even if it got him nothing. And he wanted Elliot to help him, to stick with him.
Robbie made Elliot feel like he was important, made him feel like he could be worth something. Every little thing from being handed a wrench to a hand finding its way around his waist. Robbie made Elliot feel… worthy, like he actually could matter to this world.
Like he could make a difference.
Like he could be a hero, just like him.
Maybe that is why he let himself be strung along for so long.
He liked being a mechanic. Robbie was brilliant, sure but it wasn’t exactly a secret that Elliot was far superior at it. Robbie needed help with the repairs and some upgrades, and what better pair of extra hands than his own boyfriend.
Robbie’s mistakes were… predictable. He was always rushing in a bit too often or trying to take on too much. He was too much of a hero. It worried him but he kept telling Elliot that's how it would have to be. The city needed Mecha Man, Robbie always said.
But Mecha Man was alone. Mecha Man needed someone too, so Elliot would be that someone.
As the years went by, he finally got it through Robbie’s head that he couldn’t keep sticking this out alone. It would kill him eventually and Elliot didn’t want to bury his husband just yet. He can understand Robbie’s distrust in Superhero agencies (Robbie got extremely defensive when one tried to poach Elliot from him) but surely, there were other ways of gaining support on the field? It wasn’t like Elliot could do anything in that regard (not that Robbie would let him).
So, using the connections he’s made as Mecha Man, Robbie formed the Brave Brigade.
An independent hero group, noble and courageous, ready to serve the public.
A bunch of A tier assholes.
He’s pretty sure only half of them even knew his name, most probably just knew him as “Robbie’s husband”. Still, Robbie trusted them and so Elliot would too. He became the unofficial mechanic for the rest of the Brave Brigade as well. His augments seem to be what the other members found the useful, and that's about where his importance ends.
He tried to be civil still, have some class. They didn’t know each other very well—come to think of it, Elliot thinks they didn’t really talk to each other either—so of course things would be awkward. Elliot could look past the… dismissals and being ignored. He could.
They were heroes after all. Risking their lives every day so those who couldn’t protect themselves wouldn’t have to. That's all that matters in the end.
All Elliot was doing was playing with tools and metal. Fixing their gear and Robbie’s suit.
And creating their systems and firewalls.
And managing inventory in medical.
And watching over the comms during emergencies.
And filing their reports and paperwork.
So yeah, why would he matter?
Robbie was spending more and more time out being Mecha Man so Elliot had more things that needed fixing. Robbie was the leader but he was also the only normie. Robbie never liked the reminder that physically, he was weaker then powered people, he always pushed himself to prove his strength. Reckless.
Villains had been getting stronger somehow, Robbie was coming back to base more and more injured and the suit more wrecked. The suit’s current power source, something Robbie’s father had built in his garage, couldn’t keep up with all the upgrades and enhancements Elliot added onto the suit to keep Robbie alive.
Robbie was always big on the whole “normie but still a hero” thing the Mecha Man legacy was built on, Elliot admired it but right now it was frustrating him. Especially since Elliot was the one who had to patch the damn suit back together while Robbie dealt with other superhero bullshit.
Still. Deep breaths. This was for the greater good, wasn’t it?
It was in the middle of trying to guide Robbie through the comms that an idea hit him. It was risky, sure but he could help this way. People were made up of patterns and habits that dictated all their choices. With the right tools, their choices could be… predicted. He’d be able to see the fist before it swung. He could help.
He could be a hero too.
Just like those heroes he admired. Just like the Brave Brigade. Just like Robbie.
All it would take was a few enhancements to the augment in his head, and some extra training. By letting the calculations and thoughts come in instead of trying to silence them he could open his eyes to the patterns and predictions and just maybe, he could be out there with them.
Saving people. Getting to do good. Getting to be seen. Maybe that last one is a little selfish but, it wouldn’t exactly hurt to be more than just Mecha Man’s mechanic.
Robbie laughed when he suggested it, over one of the very few dinners he’s managed to get with the man over the last few years.
Elliot wasn’t built for that he said, it might be for the best you don’t he said.
You could teach me, Elliot responded. I could be out there with the rest of you, Elliot said.
“I love you, Eli, I’m not letting you get hurt like that.”
Elliot remained a mechanic, but he kept trying. Repair the mech. Repair the weaponry. Fix the suits. Watch the comms. Watch the reports. (When did Elliot go from working on machinery to managing this entire team.)
It took awhile but he sort of got the augment right, it took some adjusting to his new brain function. It wasn’t much but Robbie of course freaked out the first time Elliot fainted from the overload of it all, he didn’t like the augment. Elliot told himself he was worrying too much about him (and ignored the calculations in his head that said it was distrust).
The next time Elliot asked Robbie again, his husband told him that he’d have to hold a vote with the rest of the Brave Brigade. Standard protocole apparently (as if he didn’t start this damn group with Elliot’s help, Elliot knew every fucking protocole but whatever made Robbie’s trust issue ridden ass happy).
It was fine. Or it would have been if the vote happened.
But it was getting postponed.
Elliot, diligent and loyal Elliot, still worked. Made sure his work never faltered. In fact it improved. The new augment was helping in something atleast. Elliot finally found a solution for the issue regarding the suit’s power source; making a new one.
It was complicated. Robbie eventually caught on to the fact Elliot was losing sleep over it and stepped in to try and help. The astral pulse was what they were going to call it. Elliot was determined to get this to work.
Robbie said that this might be what gets him officially on the Brigade.
Elliot loved and trusted Robbie, so he threw himself deeper into this project (ignoring those calculations and warnings telling him it was a lie).
He would earn a spot on the Brave Brigade. Next to Robbie as a hero, not in his shadow as an unknown mechanic and a husband he never wants the world to know about. He just needed to do this (and ignore the feeling of being used and left behind).
He could have revolutionized the hero scene by now if he had gone out and ventured on his own instead of staying with Robbie.
So months and months of experimenting and failing and failing and failing but he and Robbie pushed on. (It's stupid that he felt happy working with Robbie again, he shouldn’t be so selfish and feel happy that his husband is giving him the time of day again).
This would work. It had to. He could do good for this world. He just needed this chance to prove he could.
And he did get it, the astral pulse was a success. The suit was more powerful then ever. His greatest success, it was like the power of a nuclear bomb fit into a small battery.
He ignored the signs that Robbie still wouldn’t fulfill his promise (Robbie was his husband. Robbie loved him. Elliot had been by his side since the beginning, he wouldn’t do that right…).
The vote was postponed again. How predictable.
Elliot was left waiting again. Watching Robbie and the Brave Brigade save the day, and leave him behind. Being a hero meant time and sacrifice, Robbie once said, sacrificing time for those you love included. Sacrificing trust as you leave people behind to rot and waste.
He could have been a hero too if he went off on his own, but no one was going to trust a grown man who on paper had been unemployed and not using his degree for years, no one was going to hire someone who could only say they “predicted things”.
He didn’t have the resources to go independent, so he was still stuck waiting.
Waiting and waiting and waiting. He wanted more than this. He wanted to stop sitting around and being left behind like he was useless. He wasn’t. He knew that. The fact every member on the goddamn team was using his shit was proof enough.
He just… wanted a little acknowledgement of that. Couldn’t he have that one bit of selfishness?
He needed something. He wanted something, he wanted to do good like the others; to bring a light into the darkness.
He got the chance, but not in the way he thought.
Robbie had been mentioning how Mecha Man was a family legacy and how it had to be continued. Elliot never thought about actually having kids, kids never really liked him… people in general never really liked him.
Robbie talked about how important this was, how the city would need a new Mecha Man when he eventually passed, how great it would be for them to be able to raise a little one of their own.
The idea of having a family, of having a little one he could love and adore and protect, just bundle them up and hold them close. And he’d get to have it with… the man he loved.
Elliot let himself be enchanted and he agreed. He had made a lot of mistakes in life, but every mistake that got him this was worth it.
His little bird. His boy. His Robert.
From the day he held the small infant in his hands for the first time he swore he would always be there for him. His precious little son.
He wishes Robbie would do the same. He wishes he could say he didn’t see it coming.
Raising Robert was a blessing he never deserved but he took full advantage of. Every little moment was worth a thousand stars. From his first word to first steps to every bedtime story Elliot held it close to his heart.
The astral pulse was a great success, but Robert was his greatest creation.
Robert was a bright little thing. Always watching the world with wonder and awe. He was attached at Elliot’s hip, always following his father around the house and base (he didn’t seem to care for Robbie, Elliot did his best to hide how pleased that made him feel).
He remembers small bright eyes peaking up from him from when the small toddler clung onto his leg in the garage. The bright smile that appeared on his son’s face when he was scooped up and held in his father’s lap. Safe and happy, Elliot wanted to keep him there forever.
Unfortunately his little bird grew into a curious child. Their son’s world was small, he only really knew the house, the Brave Brigade base, and the little park near where they lived. Robbie was barely around and Elliot always kept Robert in arm’s reach, so Elliot’s little Robin had to make do with what he had.
Robert was always poking at everything in their house, being homeschooled the child was always bored and lonely but his wishes his son would just stay put and safe.
He was always getting scrapes and bruises where he didn’t need them (which was everywhere). He kept getting into places he shouldn’t (he managed to get there before Robert put his leg in the wrong place and fell off the tree he was climbing). He was always poking his nose where he didn’t belong (he had to tighten the locks on the lab when Robert found his way down there once).
Robbie wasn’t the best parent, always gone and practically forgetting their son existed. His Robert was always upset when Robbie couldn’t make it to dinner. Elliot would always then set up a movie or a new game for them to cheer him up, he never wanted to see his son upset.
“Why is being Mecha Man more important than me?”
“Nothing could ever be more important than you, my little Robin.”
Years go on, votes are canceled, workload increases. It was annoying how predictable it was at this point.
Elliot will admit, he held some resentment towards Trackstar when the kid was officially added to the Brave Brigade. Elliot has been here since the beginning but yeah, a teenager was added on before he was. Who even lets a teenager be a hero?
At least someone could watch over Robert when the workload got too much. Trackstar was still young and new so wasn’t allowed on certain missions… so Robbie had put the teen on babysitting duty. He was not pleased—at first.
His Robert liked him, apparently Trackstar was “super cool” and his new favorite hero. Trackstar looked proud of that—until he immediately grabbed the cash out of Elliot’s hand and ran when Robert said fuck.
His son was developing a potty mouth at 8 years old, great. At least Trackstar cared, that's more than the rest of the Brigade could say. He knew Trackstar atleast would always be there for his son.
That barbecue was the first time Elliot and Robbie truly fought in years.
He told him, he fucking told him to make sure that goddamn suit was locked up properly. He told that idiot to make sure the system would recognize Robert. He had made it clear that their son liked to poke around, so the suit better not hurt him.
For as important as Mecha Man was to him–more important than his goddamn family—Robbie couldn’t even do that.
(The sounds of the gun. Trackstar speeding away and then yelling for help. His Robert in Trackstar’s arms crying and covered in blood. His son was missing a piece of his goddamn ear and all Robbie could say was fucking get up-)
He yelled at Robbie then, called him an idiot and reckless and that he couldn’t be doing shit that was risking their fucking child and that Elliot didn’t want him anywhere near Robert—
And Robbie threatened to take Robert away if he dared to even try.
Robbie didn’t need a husband, but he needed his legacy. It wasn’t like Elliot could do anything to stop him. He didn’t have the funds or resources to try and make it on his own, let alone take care of a kid. Besides, what judge would choose an unknown unemployed mechanic over goddamn Mecha Man.
Elliot was the one to fix the damn controls and make sure Robert would be recognized by the damn safety protocols because Robbie still wouldn’t do it. His son didn’t want to leave his side for a week.
His little bird wanted Robbie to pay attention to him so took a hammer to the suit. Elliot was contemplating taking a hammer to Robbie’s skull.
His Robert was 13 when the training began. Robbie finally started paying attention to their son, only because he could only see legacy. Elliot was usually kept away, only seeing their son after—covered in bruises and trying not to cry.
Elliot wanted to kill him. Wanted to rip the bastard’s throat out, but he couldn’t do that to his Robert (could he?). He couldn’t just take his son and leave, Elliot didn’t have much and Robbie had all the resources and influence. He couldn’t do anything.
So Elliot stuck by Robert’s side. There to teach him how to patch his own wounds or to hold up an ice pack. There to teach him how to code and build and repair. If his precious little bird had to be Mecha Man, then Elliot would make sure he had all the skills needed.
(And make sure he had skills to pursue anything other than getting in that death trap).
He would always be there for his little bird.
Getting on the Brave Brigade wasn’t even doing good at this point, selfish as it was. If he could be recognized as a hero then Elliot could gather his own resources and connections. He’d have to be officially recognized. He could get Robert out of this.
Maybe Robbie realized that too at some point. Vote post poned again. He knew it before Robbie even said anything. He knew—but hearing those words again made him snap.
Elliot doesn’t know what got into him. He was just so… tired. Years of waiting and resentment just clawed out of him.
Elliot had been there for Robbie since the fucking start of all this. Always there, always supporting. He repaired the suit, he upgraded the systems, he built the goddamn astral pulse that powered that fucking wreck of a machine.
He stayed and waited and worked and all that and was still stuck and wasting away. So he tried to challenge Robbie—for his spot on the Brigade, for his astral pulse, for his goddamn son—and ended up taking a goddamn beating, every punch hitting harder than it should have.
Robbie gave him that chance. Robbie called him a genius. Despite all the people Robbie drew in and surrounded himself with, Robbie always chose Elliot.
“You are the smartest and most amazing person I’ve ever met Eli, I don’t even know if I’d still be alive without you, so… stick by me won’t ya?”
“I love you, Eli, I’m not letting you get hurt like that.”
He doesn’t even remember jamming open his husband’s storage, all he remembered was staring the bastard down after shooting him with his own gun.
It was a blur from there.
Elliot Connors was arrested, and all he could think about was his son. He should have planned this out better. He should have rigged the goddamn suit or something not this. Anger got the best of him, now what would happen to his boy. Who would take him? What would happen to him? Was he alright? Did he hate him?
(All he could focus on in the courtroom was his son’s eyes staring at him. In those eyes once so bright and sweet, all he could see was betrayal and mourning. Mourning for his dead father or the one taken away—he didn’t know.)
Robert only visited him once.
“...why”
“...for you”
He sat in his cell in silence. He was the man who killed Mecha Man Astral. Took down the beacon of hope of LA. They put him in high security, he’s almost flattered considering he’s practically a normie who took out another normie with a normal gun.
The next time he saw his son, was on the fucking news. Mecha Man Blue.
His pride and joy. His little bird. His son. His 15 year old son was risking his life playing fucking hero.
What the fuck was he doing? Where was the rest of the Brave Brigade? Where the fuck was Trackstar? Why was no one stopping him? Who in their right goddamn mind would let a grieving child anywhere near that damn suit? How could a whole team of experienced heroes let his son play hero, he was a child.
He thought the rest of the Brigade could pull their heads out their fucking asses and see straight and watch his damn kid.
Trackstar should be an adult now, Elliot thought at least he would look after his son. Surely moving 50 times faster than the average person would make stopping a teenager child’s play.
And and to think Elliot thought that kid would lookout for his son… he should have fucking known.
He felt like he was back at the house in a way. He felt sick and angry. Stuck and unable to do anything as his son was hurt, knowing that this was all his own fault.
Elliot had supported Mecha Man since the beginning. Elliot was always the one fixing what was broken and left behind, what's one more. Especially if it was his little bird.
So for 15 fucking years, Elliot worked and connected. The thing about people is that the desperate will take anything offered to them no matter the cost—and prison was filled with the desperate.
He built up his network and swore that once he got out of here, he would make things better. A better world for the people and a better world for his son. He would get his child out of that damn suit and make sure he never got anywhere near it again.
He would fix this.
Mecha Man was alone. Mecha Man needed someone too, so Elliot would be that someone.
It upset him that his son would lose so much sleep over him breaking out of prison. His little bird never outgrew one thing from his childhood it seems; he was always chasing after his father. Though this time it was for vengeance… or something. Cute.
15 years passed or not, Elliot raised that boy. He knew how to predict and sway him better than he did anyone else. His son has grown strong and smart, sure, but he was alone, unhealthy, and struggling.
Every report he got back from his lackeys was more concerning than the last. Another reason he pushed Robbie to form the Brave Brigade was because of the money it cost to keep the Mecha Man suit up and running, his son didn’t seem to trust anyone after… that… and so was going into debt trying to keep up this game.
His boy sold the house and everything in it, gave up all of his inheritance, in the name of that bastard.
The only pieces of furniture that existed in his Robert’s sad concrete box of a cheap apartment was a second hand mattress and a plastic lawn chair. The only pillow was being used as a bed for the dog Robert adopted and clearly loves, seeing how much that thing weighs compared to his boy.
He had some of his men watch over Robert, and right on que Robert begins to notice. Just like he knew he would. Robert was chasing after the Red Ring, what better way to find them then to force the information out of a member.
He had Toxic let himself be captured in order to lure Robert to the Steel Mill. He knew he’d come alone. He knew Robert was struggling to keep up with repairs, lacking the funding and resources, meaning the suit would be easy to shake up. He knew his son was a stubborn little thing that wouldn’t give up.
Elliot would have to be the bad guy, and take the great Mecha Man out of commission. Two birds with one stone; he can retrieve his astral pulse and his boy will never ever be Mecha Man ever again.
Invisibitch, despite her attitude and recklessness, was a useful asset and just desperate enough to obey. The suit blew up and his son was sent falling.
It was worrying how easy it was to figure out which hospital his Robert had been sent to, it was even more worrying how easy it was to replace staff and then let himself in. Robert looked so much smaller laying in that bed, covered in scars and plugged into those machines. The doctors ended up having to amputate a leg, and he knows Robert can’t afford a prosthetic.
Oh how easy it would be to just… steal him away. Lock him deep in a safehouse where he couldn’t even try to get back onto the field and he would never be hurt again.
It would be so easy to just force an augment into him, to ease the pain he knew his son was suffering through or give his son a new leg but his son was always too stubborn for his own good. He’d rather die than take any from Shroud and would somehow tear it out and end up in worse condition. That wouldn’t do.
It’d have to be Robert’s choice.
At the very least now that the suit was in disrepair, he would have no way to hurt himself and would have to come back into society. Safe and away from hero work, as he should be.
Every week for 4 months he would visit his son. The explosion combined with all the other, far too many, issues with Robert’s body had sent him into a coma. He had some of his less important subordinates take care of the overweight mutt, a bit of a diet would do the thing good.
His people had told him of some old man named Chase that was searching for Robert. The years haven’t been kind to Trackstar it seems.
Considering his son’s finances and life in general, Elliot took it upon himself to pay off Robert’s medical bills and debt. It was easy enough, his boy could then focus on other things besides his crippling debt. It wouldn’t hurt him to be… dependent on his father for a little while (especially since he can depend on him now).
After 4 long months, his son finally woke up—and immediately discharged himself from the hospital the second he was somewhat able to walk. Left with crutches, medication, and scheduled upcoming appointments (that he knows his son won’t attend).
So little love for himself this child. The desire to lock his boy up was clawing at him but no—he had to be patient. His son was resourceful and scrappy and would hurt himself trying to run, it would need to be Robert’s choice.
Robert was quick to pick up on the fact all his bills and debt have been paid off, and even quicker to pick up on who did it. His son knew better than to try and move though, as if he could even afford to. Elliot wouldn’t mind giving his son a better home but his boy wouldn’t take well to that just yet.
As much as it hurt to see his son struggling, it really was for the best. The explosion did its job, with his current condition couldn’t even think about getting in the field again and the fact he wasn’t taking care of himself was not helping.
His Robert ignores all of Elliot’s contact attempts but Elliot continues to help anyway. What kind of father would he be if he didn’t care for his child?
Paying off Robert’s measly bills is easy enough, Robert moved here because it was cheap after all. It's a bad area though so he has his men continue to watch over him. He’s also been forcing some food into his son’s fridge but predictably, the boy wouldn’t take it.
His son has locked himself away in that sad little apartment of his. He has nothing outside of Mecha Man, and now Mecha Man is gone. He’s frustrated and tired every time his father steps in to take care of him, heaven knows he can’t take care of himself.
And he knows his son knows that. Neither of them will say it out loud. Elliot didn’t have the means to keep him safe then, he has the means now and will use them.
Eventually Robert’s stubborn shield will crack, and Elliot can swoop in and gently sway his son into safety by his side. He just needed a little more time and a little more pressure. The press conference should have been the last crack, reporters were unjustifiably vicious considering they did nothing but sit around and watch others risk their lives, but they would be the ones to get his son to finally give in.
He did not account for fucking Blonde Blazer stepping in and sweeping his son of his feet. (Trackstar found his way, a little far too late but ruining Elliot’s plan anyways).
They’re making his son a dispatcher. His son. His Robert. His boy who could tear apart and rebuild the mech suit at 13, rewrote a company’s security system on a whim, and made a whole new AI for the mech suit so it could fight without the pilot inside. A fucking dispatcher.
Not even for a proper hero team, no. For SDN’s little reform program. They were making his son waste away playing call boy for a bunch of washed up wannabes. Pathetic.
In return, they’d make his Robert Mecha Man again. Seems Shroud will need to prevent such a thing from happening. He could make another astral pulse, but Robert can’t so he can’t let SDN find the old one before he does (and maybe he’s sentimental, a final fuck you to Robbie just feels right).
Fine. If his son wanted to play this game then Shroud will play. His son will be right by his side, safe as he always should have been. He failed to protect his son from Mecha Man once, he will not fail again.
He’s been there for Robert since the beginning, he will always be there to protect him.
Even if he has to drag his son kicking and screaming.