Chapter Text
“How's it looking, team?” Robert's voice rings in their comms. A sizable group is in hot pursuit of a villain named Stop Watch. He had performed a series of bank heists and had yet to be caught. His powers hadn't been recorded in the SDN database, but the time theme seemed like an obvious one.
Naturally, the team had taken bets on what his powers are.The most popular guess had been a time dilation power which allows the guy to be perceived as moving at fast speeds. There was also a guess of him being able to freeze time for people, spaces, objects. The most stupid answer in Prism’s opinion—and Sonar had insisted it had to be this—was that the guy had created an object that worked like the remote control from the Adam Sandler movie Click.
No one had guessed the guy could create portals. They look more like bubbles, if someone had asked Prism, but they acted like portals. So portals.
It still isn’t fully clear how his powers function. One moment he pops into a portal and then a few minutes later he pops out of another portal. Based on some of the previous heist footage that Robert reviewed, he guessed that there was some kind of spatial limit for where the guy could create portals and pop back out of them.
The other downside of Stop Watch’s power, the team chasing said villain discovered, is that it takes time for him to create a portal large enough to step through. He could run like a motherfucker, though.
“Fucking bad, Robert. This guy is annoying as fuck!” Malevola says while chasing after him.
“Why does this guy have a time themed name? He just makes portals.” Prism runs across rooftops and makes bridges of light where the rooftops end. She is generally unimpressed with the guy's dissonant theming and naming conventions. His outfit is just black and yellow stripes! It's the shoddy work of someone who desperately needs a branding coach.
“He could be jumping through time in those portals,” Robert says.
“He doesn't even do the portal part often!” Malevola huffs. “He's just fucking running!”
“We can jabber about this shit after we nab the fucker,” Flambae says into the comms, flying overhead.
“Boy, shut up!” Prism yells. “You’re not the one running.”
“Yeah, but if we fail this, we lose big fucking points!”
“Points? Who died, and made you Robert's pet bitch? You fucking teacher's pet!” That gets a laugh out of Malevola.
“Pour one out for the pet bitch that died before I knew they existed,” Robert says dryly. Prism will not laugh at that.
Over the past few months, Flambae had become more serious about missions. Most of the time it was fine, but there were moments where he’d be fucking extra about success rates, more annoying than Robert ever was about it.
Alice has a hunch as to what is going on, but she is going to wait for ‘Bae to tell her rather than asking. If it is what she thinks it is, saying something might make the whole thing way more complicated than it needs to be right now.
“Hey Prism,” Flambae says. Prism glances up at him and sees him flipping her off. She grins, letting out a snort she'd been holding back.
“There's an abandoned warehouse up ahead,” Robert’s tone shifts to serious. “Herd him in there and you have a better chance of grabbing him.”
“Got it, Roberto.” Prism makes additional copies of the heroes to block off alleyways and alternate paths. Malevola’s copy is good at teleporting to the next available alley and blocking that off. They manage to get the guy squirreling away into the building.
Flambae bursts through the door. Stop Watch looks around, desperate for an exit.
“You're done.” Flambae’s hands burst into flames. “Surrender and we'll do this the easy way.”
Stop Watch starts forming a bubble in his hand, creating a portal.
“Get him!" Prism yells.
Both Flambae and Malevola race towards the man, trying to get to him before the bubble becomes big enough for a human to fit through. A black-gloved hand shoots out of the small bubble and starts grabbing at Stop Watch. The man yells and throws the bubble down like he just noticed a bug on it.
Rather than the throw putting distance between him and the gloved hand, the bubble expands as it's yeeted across the warehouse, and a person squeezes out of the bubble. A man in an all black skin tight super suit with a cowl crouches in the warehouse. The man’s eyes snap to Stop Watch, and he lunges for the villain.
“Fuck no!” Stop Watch yells and jumps out of the way. He scrambles for the bubble, making it inside before disappearing with a pop.
“What's happening?” Robert says. “I don't have eyes yet.”
“Stop Watch got away, but he left someone behind?” Prism says, confused. Flambae lands next to her.
The man stands up. They can now see an unmistakable M stretched across his chest.
“Well,” the guy groaned, stretching his back. “That didn’t work.”
“Is that..?” Prism looks over at Flambae. He's staring, mouth half open in shock.
“Mecha Man.”
The man looks around the room at the three Z team members in front of him.
“It's gotta be Prime, right?” Malevola puts down her sword. “Or Astral? Maybe?” It’s a big jump, in Prism's opinion, to think that the motherfucker who popped out of a bubble dressed like Mecha Man must be one of the dead ones.
The man chuckles. “Not quite.” He pulls off his cowl to reveal a head of brown hair greying at the temples with a familiar notch in his ear. He has a pretty severe scar running through his right eyebrow and down his cheek.
“Holy shit.” Prism’s mouth drops open. She slaps Flambae in the chest. “Holy shit.”
The guy gives them a sheepish look. “Would one of you be able to give me a ride to the SDN office?”
***
The greying man sits in Mandy’s office, idly looking around the space. Robert and Mandy stare at him through the glass of the office door.
“What do you think?” She tilts her head. “Do you believe he’s the real deal?”
Robert doesn’t know what to believe. The man seems so calm for someone who supposedly got transported back in time. He can’t hear it from here, but it looks like the guy is humming and tapping a beat with his finger. Has Robert ever felt the need to hum in his life?
“I don’t know,” Robert eventually says. At some level, it's hard to believe he'd live long enough to go grey. “He seems… off.”
The humming shifts to full blown whistling. Has Robert ever whistled??
“He does seem less depressed than you,” Mandy notes.
“That's a low bar,” Robert comments.
“I wasn't going to say it, so I'm glad you did,” Mandy says with a smile. Her smile shifts to a look of concern when Robert’s pensive expression doesn’t change. “What’s wrong?”
Robert can’t put his finger on it, but he feels like there’s something he’s missing, some piece of information that would make all of this make sense.
“Let’s say this guy is me from the future,” Robert starts. “Even if that’s the case, why is he so calm? Does he have some kind of plan or scheme?”
Mandy hums thoughtfully. “Well, if he's you, I’d probably let him do whatever he's planning.”
Robert looks at Mandy in disbelief.
She shrugs. “You always mean to help, not hurt. I trust you to make good decisions, so I’d be okay with trusting him too.”
Robert shakes his head, though the sentiment makes him feel warm. “Let’s go talk to him.”
They finally open the door to the office and step in. The man sitting down glances over at them and nods.
Mandy sits down at her desk, but Robert stands halfway between the desk and the door.
“So,” Mandy puts her hands together. “SDN’s time department has confirmed that you are from the future and from this timeline.” Robert didn’t even know they had a time department. And apparently whatever is happening with this guy is so low on the ‘things-that-break-the-fabric-of-reality’ scale, that it hadn’t warranted more than a cursory scan when they called the department.
“Have they confirmed my identity?” The man asks.
“That’s not something they can do easily,” Robert says. More like they didn’t care and told the branch to figure it out themselves, but hey, Robert isn’t going to tell this guy that. “We were hoping you could do that yourself.”
The man rubs his chin. It brings attention to his short beard speckled with grey. It doesn’t look too bad. Should Robert grow a beard?
“If I remember this incident correctly,” the man hums. “It's been a year-ish since Shroud got locked away again.” He points at Mandy. “Star Blazer is currently operating as part time hero part time dispatcher while Mandy continues working as management, and things haven't been fully settled as to how Mecha Man is going to be a hero again.”
Robert clenches a fist, but his expression doesn't change. Robert had been putting off the official return of Mecha Man for a while, but he hadn't realized it'd been over a year since his retirement announcement. “So you know about our situation. Anyone can know that.”
The man grins. “You wanna ask me a question, or do you want me to start sharing facts about myself?”
Robert doesn't move, waits to see what this guy will offer.
The man's eyes flash with wicked mischief. “I can give you a fact about your love life, if you want. If I'm remembering the timing right, things didn't work out with Visi, but you currently have your eyes set on-”
“That's enough,” Robert snaps.
Things were mostly okay with Courtney after they decided to end things, but there were still moments where the two of them freeze up, worried about crossing a boundary and making the other uncomfortable. No one needs to know about their business. And no one needs to know about his interest in a certain pyromaniac on the Z team.
He and Flambae had been working on different types of training these past few months, whether it be combat skills, CPR training, or best practices on handling civilians. It had been a good refresher for Robert. During the sessions, Robert had gotten to see a different side of Flambae. The pyro had always been at the very least diligent when it came to his job, but Robert got to watch in real time as the man became serious about improving his skills as a hero. The training was paying off as Flambae’s standing on the leader board steadily climbed.
Robert had also realized that one quality he found very attractive in a person was competency. The skills Flambae had accrued made for a hero that could respond quickly and efficiently to a variety of situations. It didn’t help that the man’s chest was on display nearly all the time. It is fleeting fancy at best and lusty desire at worst, but if Robert doesn't do anything about it, there will be no need to report it to HR.
Mandy stares at them curiously, but doesn't press.
“Give us something real,” Robert insists. “Something only I would know.”
The guy shifts in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. “We were four years old the first time Dad told us that we were going to be Mecha Man. Not in any sit down, serious conversation. No, it was at breakfast while we were eating cereal. Cheerios, I think.”
Robert crosses his arms and stares down at the man. He never told anyone about that, but it is still a clear memory in his head. He could picture Robbie eating the bacon and eggs his mom had cooked, telling his son ‘no, you can't become a veterinarian when you grow up, you're going to be Mecha Man.’
Robert nods. “Okay, I believe you.”
Mandy assesses Robert’s expression, then nods. “So, we've established you're Robert Robertson III.” She taps a finger on her desk. “Now we have to figure out what we're going to do with you,” Mandy says.
“The time department verified it's a closed loop, right?” Older Robert says.
“They did,” Robert confirms.
“I more or less remember how to get out of the loop, but it's going to be a few days. It's probably in your best interest to just keep me here at SDN. I can lay low. Maybe find something to keep me busy?”
Mandy thinks about it. “We've been meaning to reorganize the records room for years now and haven't had the manpower.”
Older Robert grimaces. “I was thinking something a little more active. A desk job?”
Mandy raises an eyebrow. “You want to play dispatcher while you are here?”
“Sure,” he says cheerfully.
“If you're dispatching a team, that's not really laying low,” Robert points out.
“What if I dispatch a team that already knows I'm here?” Older Robert says. Robert stares at him blankly. “You didn't exactly put a gag order on the three from telling the others about me.”
Fuck, Robert closes his eyes. That's what he forgot to do. All of Z team definitely knew future Robert is here by now.
“Besides,” Older Robert says. “I’d like to help out while I’m here.” Robert opens his eyes and stares at the man.
“How?” Mandy asks.
“I want to offer an opportunity to you,” he points at Robert, “to figure out what you want to do with Mecha Man.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” Older Robert starts, “if you have a dispatcher for Z team, doesn’t it mean you can go out in the field?”
Yes, yes it did. Robert narrows his eyes.
“That’s the fastest way to figure out if being on a regular roster is something that Mecha Man should do,” Older Robert shrugs. “With a team you trust.”
The question of what to do with Mecha Man had been a creeping problem Robert wasn’t sure how to solve. It felt easier to bury himself in dispatch work, walks with Beef, dinners with Chase, hangouts with the Z team. This is the perfect opportunity basically being dropped right into his lap. He no longer has any more excuses to put off deciding whether or how he needs to start being Mecha Man again.
He stares at this older version of himself. He’s not telling Robert how things will go but giving Robert the opportunity to figure it out for himself. Which is what Robert needs because being told to do things makes him stubborn. And future Robert would know that about present Robert because he is also Robert. The whole set-up makes him suspicious.
“I for one think it’s a great idea.” Mandy says, standing up. “How about we have you do a “training” shift with Robert?”
“What if I don’t trust him with the team?” Robert asks. “I don’t want to put the them in a position to fail or get hurt.”
She looks over at Robert. “You can take the afternoon to decide. Use the training shift to make up your mind.”
Robert stares at her then sighs. “Fine. Mandy and I will go talk to the team, and then we’ll figure out the rest.”
“Great,” Older Robert says, eyes sparkling. “Mandy, you wouldn’t happen to have an extra dispatcher uniform, would you?”
***
“What do you mean there are two Roberts?” Visi demands.
The rest of the Z team got called back early due to the situation in the warehouse, and they all squirreled away in a conference room to hear the hot goss. Flambae is still reeling from the experience.
“That's just it!” Prism throws her arms in the air. “We were chasing this villain and bam! An old ass Mecha Man appeared.”
“He wasn't that old,” Malevola notes. “Just some greys here and there. Kinda gave off dilf vibes, honestly.”
“So you guys think he's from the future? Another dimension?” Punch Up asks.
Flambae is lounging in the corner, arms crossed. “Fucking something like that. He came out of a time villain's portal, so he has to be from another time.”
“But Stop Watch’s -powers-abilities aren't confirmed,” Waterboy points out nervously. “So we don't know who or what it is.”
The door opens to reveal Robert and Mandy walking in. They close the door behind them.
“I hope you already placed your bets because we're here to confirm that the man in Blazer's office is in fact Robert Robertson III from the future,” Robert says.
Everyone groans. They forgot to start betting.
“You didn't give us enough time!” Sonar accuses.
“So what's going to happen with him?” Coupé asks.
“He's going to be sticking around SDN for the time being,” Mandy says. “While his presence isn’t exactly a secret, we’d like to limit the sharing of his identity or the fact that he is even here.”
Everyone murmurs their agreements.
There is a knock at the door. It seems like Old Bob bob broke containment. Mandy looks surprised, and rage flashes over Bob bob’s face only to be smoothed out into annoyance. Flambae raises an eyebrow. He knows Robert can be a control freak at times, but he hadn’t expected Robert to react so viscerally to his older self.
“I guess I’ll be introducing you to your new coworker.” Mandy opens the door.
Outside stands the man in a pair of khakis and a SDN shirt. He grins.
“Nice to meet you, I'm Robert Robertson.”
He shuts the door behind himself, and the room explodes with comments and questions.
“Holy fuck, Mal, you were right about the dilf comment.”
“What’s with the uniform? Where did your costume go?”
“Can two Roberts even be in the same room without creating a time paradox?”
Flambae stares, scrutinizing the guy. Now that the initial shock has worn off, he can actually get a good look. The older Robert has a few more scars and weathered lines on his face, but standing next to Robert makes Flambae feel uneasy. Their stance is similar, but the older man’s posture is a fraction more relaxed. Older Bob bob is wider and just a little bit taller, and the shirt seems a tad too tight. He also seems to default to smiling more often, and his eyes sparkle with something Flambae can't place. He's almost too happy to be Robert, which is fucking depressing to think about.
The noise in the room reaches a fever pitch.
“SHUT UP!” Robert yells. “Christ, it's like fuckin’ toddlers came to work today.”
“Why don't you raise your hands if you have a question?” Old Bob bob offers.
Malevola’s hand shoots up first, and she speaks without being called on. “How long are you here for? How old are you?”
“A few days and,” Old Bob bob hums. “Late forties. I won't get more specific than that.”
Coupé raises her hand. “Why should we trust you are who you say you are?”
“Robert already confirmed I'm Robert, so.” The man looks to Robert who gives a single nod. The old man shrugs. “You'll have to trust him.”
“What are we supposed to call you?” Punch Up asks. “This is already gettin’ confusin’.”
The Roberts share a look, which again, uncanny valley that makes Flambae shiver.
“I've been calling him old man Bob in my head,” Golem offers.
“I go by Rob more nowadays than Robert,” the old man says. “Rob and old man Bob are fine. I can be Robert #2 if I have to.” So the man can be good-natured about nicknames. Fucking suspicious.
Robert shrugs, not seeming to care.
“Any tattoos or piercings?” Visi asks.
“Wouldn't you like to know,” Rob grins and shakes his head. “I won't say. A man's gotta have a little mystique.”
“Can you give any details on the stock market in the coming years,” Sonar rests his hands together, fingers steepled. “I will also accept info on any crypto currencies that will make it big.” Flambae rolls his eyes.
Rob stares at Sonar for a moment. “Tell you what. Get me some Gabapentin from your underground channels by the end of day, and I'll share one insider trading secret.”
Malevola and Mandy look shocked and upset.
“What the hell!”
“Sonar, you are not required to do anything like that,” Mandy points at him and stares down Rob. “It's an abuse of power to ask employees to do anything illegal.”
Rob nods, looking chastised. “I understand. I apologize.” Robert stares at the man with a raised eyebrow.
Behind Mandy's back, Sonar shoots a thumbs up. When Mandy turns back to the group, Rob gives Sonar a wink. Robert closes his eyes, as if he expected this.
“Take the rest of the morning as part of lunch break. We'll regroup for the afternoon shift at the usual time.” Blazer says. “We three need to finish our conversation.”
The three leave the conference room. Punch Up takes a look at his watch.
“Fuck, we still got 3 hours before second shift. Who wants to go to Chili’s?”
***
“So, what do we think of Boberto senior?” Prism asks the group. They’re sitting out at a long patio table, so Golem can join. They all got margaritas with their lunch—but only one! They had to go back on shift in a few hours, and they collectively decided the professional decision was to have only one drink rather than going back to work drunk.
Visi slurps through her straw and shrugs. “Seems fine.”
Flambae glances at her. That was frosty compared to the interest she usually has in Robert. Or had. She blows hot and cold now at the strangest times. They were dating at one point, but now things aren't as clear. Flambae isn’t sure where the two of them stand, and neither Courtney nor Robert disclosed an official break up to any of the team. And, as Flambae keeps telling himself repeatedly, it isn’t his business. He takes a sip of his marg.
“Fine? He’s daddy material,” Sonar says, texting. That wasn’t what Visi meant, but clearly Sonar is more invested in finding this drug for old man Bob than in the conversation.
“Yeah… I stand by my dilf comment,” Malevola eats a fry.
“Compared to the Robert we know, the guy seems downright cheery,” Punch Up says. “I heard him whistling as they went into Blazer’s office. Whistling! Are we sure that's actually Robert and not a fake?”
Coupé steals one of Punch Up’s chicken crispers. “If Rob is in his late forties, that's a nearly fifteen if not twenty year difference. A lot can change in that time.”
“Well, sure, but I'd imagine the kid becoming more stoic, maybe losing his sense of humor,” Punch Up says.
“He has one now?” Prism mutters. Flambae agrees that Robert has a stick up his ass half the time, but it isn't fair to say he has no sense of humor. The bitch could be devastatingly snarky when he chose to be.
“Also, Robert vetted him,” Coupé adds. “He wouldn't clear a future self without proof.”
There are murmurs of agreement around the table, and Flambae sees more than one person relax a fraction. Robert's trust is worth its weight in gold, but Flambae can’t put the way Robert reacted to the guy out of his mind. He may have supported the guy with words, but Robert’s body language told another story. Flambae is surprised that others haven’t said something about it.
“Older Robert seems to be an experienced warrior,” Phenomaman comments after finishing a bite of his burger. “Still of short stature but… less small.”
“Where’d you get the warrior vibes?” Golem asks. “He’s got more scars, but that’s not warrior shit.”
“No, I see it,” Coupé says. “He was constantly doing visual scans of the room, and his relaxed stance would allow him to jump into combat at the drop of a hat.” That’s not how Flambae would interpret Old Bob bob’s stance, but he wasn’t raised to be an assassin from a young age.
Malevola points at Phenomaman. “Phen is onto something with the less small part too. Did you see his tits? Those puppies were straining that shirt.”
Prism laughs. “One good flex would’ve popped a button.”
Flambae shoves another bite of quesadilla in his mouth. Oh, he noticed. Robert has always looked like a well built twink verging on twunk. But the old man? He looks like the twunkiest twunk to ever twunk. Put next to an actual twink he could maybe pass as kind of bearish. When Flambae could get past the uncanny and the suspicion, Rob bob made his mouth water. He wanted to put his hands and mouth all over that man. Fuck, it was a surprise that Robert’s chest could even get that big. It only proves Flambae’s theory that if Robert just took better care of himself, he could be sculpted into art. Flambae needs to figure out how to start feeding Robert in a non-weird not-getting-reported-to-HR way.
“You've been quiet, ‘Bae,” Prism says, grinning. “Thinking perverted thoughts about Robert's big naturals?”
Flambae washes down his bite with more margarita. “No,” he lies, “I was thinking about how fucking relaxed that old bitch is acting. If you get transported back in time, shouldn't you be freaking the fuck out?”
“If the SDN spac- time department isn't interfering, then maybe it's something minor?” Waterboy offers after finishing the margarita that everyone bullied him into getting. “If he’s from this timeline then Robert- Rob probably knows what’s going to happen because he already experienced it.”
“There's a fuckin’ time department at SDN?”
Waterboy raises an unimpressed eyebrow at Punch Up. “It's in the SDN handbook. They're part of the national sta- organization. They deal with time and reality relate- specific problems.” Flambae grins. Tequila makes Waterboy sassy. Good to know for future use.
“So it's not a big deal. He's just here for a good time, not a long time,” Visi says, stealing some of Golem’s fries.
Everyone exchanges glances with each other.
“No!” Invisigal says quickly. “We are not doing a bet to see who can fuck him first!”
“Spoilsport,” Malevola says without heat. No one says anything further on the subject.
Golem pats Visi on the back.
They all settle their bills and walk back to SDN with 30 minutes before shift. Flambae is lagging behind Golem who has Visi on his shoulder.
“Hey girl, you okay?” Golem asks.
“Yeah,” she sighs, leaning on Golem’s head. “Did I make lunch weird? I feel like I made lunch weird.”
“Nah,” Golem says. “Everyone’s taking their cues from you about Robert. If he did something to you, the team would fuck him up.”
Flambae agrees internally. Regardless of how involved in training he’s been with Robert recently, scumbags who do or say scumbag things to his teammates get their car set on fire. He’s pretty sure Bob bob doesn’t have a car, but there’s more than one way to commit arson.
Invisigal laughs. “Nah, he didn’t do anything like that. It’s just. It’s weird trying to figure out how to be friends after a relationship, you know?”
Oh shit, Visi and Robert weren't a thing anymore. He's heard it directly from the source. Flambae does his best to keep quiet, ignoring the fluttering feeling in his stomach, trying to listen.
Visi taps a nervous rhythm into Golem's shoulder. “Because I’m trying to make it be the kind of thing we were before we were a thing but-” she breathes a sigh. “Before we were a thing I was still kinda hard core flirty, which I don’t know how much is too much so. Yeah.”
Jesus, she is way more fucked up about this than Flambae expected.
“Well you can’t be what you were before; that’s gone. You have to be something completely new,” Golem comments. “Find the new that works for you two.”
“Damn, that’s pretty good,” Visi says. “Rhymes too. How’d you get so wise?”
Golem chuckles. “I was made that way.”
***
They’ve smoothed out the details. Rob will be “training” with Robert, and if Robert feels comfortable with Rob’s performance, he’ll green light Rob taking over tomorrow.
Robert had thought that was all the details they needed to sort, but then Rob had asked Mandy if SDN could put him up in a nearby hotel.
She was surprised. “You mean you don’t want to stay with Robert?”
“No.” Rob gave her a look that was more like a deadpan expression that Robert had seen in the mirror than any of the other faces Rob had made in the last few hours. “No offense Robert,” he quickly turned to him then back to Mandy, “but I know what kind of shithole he’s currently living in.”
“Hey.” To be fair Robert couldn’t argue that his place was in the best of shape. He owns a mattress now, though.
Rob shook his head. “I’m too old to put up with that crap. I’d like a nice hotel bed, please.”
After all that was arranged, Robert takes Rob to his cubicle.
“I’m sure you remember this,” Robert gestures to his work station.
Rob's eyes get wide. “Oh my god, Beef!” He leans down to the doggy bed under Robert’s desk and gently scoops up the snoozing pup in his arms. The dog blinks awake from his nap, snuffling.
Rob holds the little guy to his chest, his face smushed in the dog's fur. When he finally exhales, he pulls his face away. Rob runs a hand over his back, looking down at Beef with a complicated expression. Rob notices Robert staring and seems to snap out of it.
“Sorry,” he tries for a smile, but it’s watery. “It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to hold Beef.” His shoulders tense with some held back emotion, but no tears break his water line. The dog licks his face which makes the man chuckle.
Any lingering thought that this man might be a fraud is put to rest with that reaction. The thought that one day his dog will die is a terrifying one to come to terms with.
“How long?” Robert asks. He’s not sure what he’s asking, even less sure that he wants to know the answer.
“He lives a good life,” Rob says, still stroking the dog while receiving more puppy kisses. “He will live longer if he loses some of this weight.”
Robert squints at him. He’s not sure if Rob is trying to influence Robert into putting Beef on a diet or implying that Robert will put him on a diet in the future.
“Robert, who is this asshole?” a voice from the cubicle over makes both of them turn.
“Chase?” Rob says, eyes wide. That reaction hurts Robert worse than Rob’s shock of seeing Beef. He definitely doesn’t want to know the timeline on that.
“Well? Who’s this old ass fucker?” Chase is decked out in his Star Blazer outfit with a grin. Rob puts down Beef and pulls Chase in for a hug. Chase chuckles and returns the hug.
“Now who’s letting strange men hug them?” Robert says with a smirk.
“Fuck off,” Chase says without any heat. He looks Rob up and down. “Damn, you’ve done pretty well for yourself, haven’t you?”
Rob laughs. “Yeah. Things got a lot better.”
Chase’s smile warms. “Don’t tell me anything about my future, jackass. I don’t want to fuckin’ know.”
Rob mimes locking his lips and throwing away the key. “Consider it off limits.”
“I hate to put a stop to this love fest,” Robert says. Chase flips him off. “But shift starts in five.”
“Ah, yeah, of course,” Rob steps back and takes the second chair that Galen had gotten for them. “Would you like to get dinner after shift?” He asks Chase. “All three of us can.”
“What the hell, sure.” Chase grins. “You’re paying though.”
Robert rolls his eyes and starts booting up his computer. He passes the second headset they had set up to Rob.
“Are you sure you’re okay with doing this?” Rob asks.
Robert stares at him incredulously. “Didn’t you want to do this in the first place?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to steam roll over any choice you make. This is your team, after all.”
He doesn't bother responding to Rob's question. Robert would have appreciated the sentiment a couple hours ago, but it is too little too late at this point. He’d make his decision at some point today.
“We’re logging in for second shift,” Robert says over comms. “Can I get a sound off of heroes online?”
“Prism here.”
“W-waterboy here!”
“Sonar available. And single.”
“Punch Up and Coop, online! Coop is just turning on her earpiece.”
“Phenomaman logged on.”
“Flambae ready, bitches.”
“Malevola on.”
“Invisigal online.”
“Golem here.”
“Robert Robertson, reporting for duty,” Rob says into his headset.
Everyone crows with delight over comms.
“Robbie! You’re here to join us?” Sonar says over the din of noise.
Both Robert and Rob cringe in stereo. It’s nice to know that the nickname is still annoying years later. Daddy issues truly transcend time.
“I am,” Rob says easily. “Though call us something else besides Robbie.”
“Are you taking over for Mr. Bob himself?” Malevola asks. Robert thinks it's a miracle that the team just moves on from that.
“This is a trial period,” Robert says into the comms. “Depending on how this afternoon goes, he may be dispatching for Z team tomorrow.”
“Consider me a backseat driver,” Rob says cheerfully. “If you fuck up, Robert isn’t going to be the only one telling you how disappointed he is.”
“Fuck!”
Robert hid a smile. The first alert went off. “Look alive, first call. Looks like a school needs judges for a spelling bee. Prism, you up for it?”
“You betcha, Mr. Dispatcher.”
The shift is slower than usual, but the team has found a new game to entertain them. Robert internally is calling it ‘trying to learn about the future from a man who wants to tell them nothing.’ Rob seems to also be having fun confusing the hell out of the team.
“Just tell me, man, what age am I going to get married?” Sonar asks.
“That’s a surprisingly romantic question coming from you,” Robert remarks.
“I need to know when I start cashing in those sweet marriage tax breaks.”
That made more sense.
“Do you want to know when you’re going to get married or when you’ll get divorced?” Rob is watching the icons move on the screen, but he is smiling.
“The question you should be asking is how many times you’re going to get divorced,” Malevola comments.
“That’s easy,” Golem says. “It’ll be however many times he gets married.”
Everyone laughs.
A new alert comes up. It’s for helping an elderly person across the street.
Robert glances at Rob. “You want to assign this one?”
“Sure,” Rob says. “Hey Sonar. Want to help someone cross the street?”
“Is it going to be his first wife?” Coupé asks.
“If her name is Ethel, it’s his second,” Rob says. Robert raises an eyebrow. Rob glances over and winks. He’s definitely bullshitting.
“I never imagined myself as a sugar baby, but an investment is an investment.” Sonar accepts the assignment.
Another alert pops up. There’s a sighting of a man with a gun outside a school.
Robert sits up straight. There’s a couple people who would be good for this assignment. He’s about to assign this to Coupé when Rob nudges him.
“Send Flambae,” he mouths, not voicing the words.
Robert stares at him, then turns his comms on. He assigns the call to Flambae and goes on an individual channel. “I need you to take care of this quickly and cleanly. Can you do that?”
“Of course, Bobert,” Flambae says, but his tone is deadly serious. Robert taps a finger on his desk as he watches Flambae’s icon race across the screen.
Robert mutes his comms and turns his chair to look at Rob. “Why Flambae?” he asks quietly.
Rob also mutes his comms. He watches the icon and hums in the way Robert has come to recognize as a tell. He’s deciding how much information he wants to share.
“Flambae has a niece the age of those kids.”
Fuck, Robert didn’t know that. That made a lot of sense with how seriously he took any calls he was assigned to that had to do with children.
Rob watches the icon as it reaches the site of the call. They both sit in silence, watching, waiting.
The assignment icon turns into a checkmark.
“Target secured,” Flambae says.
Both Robert and Rob let out identical sounds of relief. Chase peers over at them.
“That’s really fuckin’ weird when you do that shit.”
Robert ignores the comment. “Good job, Flambae. Wait for the police to come pick him up.”
“Got it, Bob bob.”
Robert rolls his chair back and breathes a sigh of relief. He mutes his comms. “Thank you for that.”
Rob shrugs, giving a half smile. “Whoever you would have assigned would have also done a good job.”
“Yeah, but he definitely brought a level of urgency that resolved the situation quickly,” Robert comments.
“I just happened to know that fact about him,” Rob says carefully. “Knowledge is a double-edged sword sometimes.”
Robert didn’t know how to feel about the fact that future Robert knew details about Flambae’s family. He supposed working with someone for nearly two decades would mean personal details were shared. Just how close are Robert and Flambae in the future? Robert wondered if he could get in on the ask-Rob-questions game at dinner.
“Old man Bob, you son-of-a-bitch, her name was Miriam,” Sonar says, clearly finished with the assignment and the bullshit leads.
Rob unmutes his comms. “I hope you had a good chat. Maybe she knows Ethel? Who’s to say.”
Laughter rang out over the comms.
The rest of the afternoon shift goes smoothly. Robert asks Rob for his suggestion for certain assignments, and his recommendations do well. For the most part, they seem to be the same calls Robert would make. There are a couple that Robert doesn’t see Rob’s reasons for assigning them, but he tries not to ask too many questions. After the Flambae call, Robert feels okay with letting him dispatch tomorrow.
“Alright, that's the end of day,” Robert says as the shift buzzer goes off. “Have a good night everyone.” He watches all the icons go inactive then signs off.
They both take off their headsets and sigh.
“You two have to quit that,” Chase says, holding Beef. “That’s creepy shit.”
“Sorry we happen to be the same person,” Robert snarks.
“We could make it creepier,” Rob remarks, holding out his hands to receive the Beef. Begrudgingly, Chase gives up the pup.
“How?”
Rob shifts so he’s standing just like Robert is, holding the same expression.
Chase shudders. “Stop that, fucker.”
Rob grins and relaxes his posture. “Dinner? Order from that Chinese place on sixth?”
“I could go for some Dim Sum,” Chase remarks.
“Am I ordering two of the same thing I want?” Robert asks.
“Yeah, but add an order of those garlic green beans.”
Robert pulls out his phone and starts typing, but then he spots Flambae standing near the exit, staring at the three of them. Robert waits for Flambae to approach, but he never does. He just watches.
“Here,” Robert gives Rob his phone. “Order for me.”
Rob glances between the two and nods. “Sure.”
Robert goes over to Flambae. “Hey, what’s up?” Robert hopes he read the situation right and that Flambae wants to talk. Otherwise, he’s just being a creepy asshole.
Flambae glances out the window at the darkened parking lot. “I just wanted to say thanks for putting me on that school assignment.” He turns and looks at Robert directly. “I… have a niece who is the same age as the students at the school. This guy has done shit like this before at other schools, standing outside and being a threatening presence." Robert didn't know that.
"He always gets away before the cops come. I was… glad I could deal with the guy myself. So. Thank you.”
Robert nods, unable to say anything. Wow, Rob had been right about knowledge. Robert now feels a pang of guilt that he already knew this fact because Rob shared it. Robert is beginning to realize with quiet devastation that he was also robbed of the opportunity to learn about Flambae from Flambae.
Maybe he didn't actually want to ask Rob any questions.
Flambae nods briskly and then turns and leaves. “See you tomorrow at the gym?”
Robert nods with a small smile. “Bright and early to kick your ass.”
That comment makes Flambae grin. “You better be ready, bitch, or I’ll scramble you like an egg.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Shut up! It means I’ll kick your ass,” Flambae huffs, flips him off, and storms out the door.
Robert watches him go, chuckling under his breath.
Chase and Rob approach. Rob gives Robert back his phone.
“What did he want?” Chase apparently had recaptured Beef from Rob.
“Just a comment about today’s shift,” Robert says. “We ready to go?”