Chapter Text
Frankly, he felt like a little kid again. Crammed in a small space, using a shirt as a pillow, and burying his face in it. Every scent but his had faded by this point, but if he turns his face just right, he swears he can still smell them faintly. It was weird not having Beef tapping his claws across the linoleum, but at least he was being properly cared for. He already sent Chase a message on Saturday when he woke up, letting him know what was going on and to watch Beef a little longer for him. He'd definitely need to find a way to get him to finally accept some money for watching Beef for so long, but that's a problem for later.
His dad used to complain about the same thing; it was always Chase not accepting payment. It started happening after Robert nearly got his head blown off by the suit. It was always Chase helping him take care of his ear after that accident happened. It was always Chase who had helped him through some of his toughest moments. He could still hear his dad's disappointment when he wasn't a beta and almost immediately put him on suppressants with a side of scent patches. But it was always Chase who suggested throwing it all away when he complained about using it. Hey, at least the three-month coma helped him through the withdrawal phase of getting off suppressants. Couldn't really get off the scent patches, though he needed those. It was one of the very few things he agreed with his dad on, that his scent is too strong. Hell, half of his scent still bleeds through the best patches his insurance would cover.
Every part of his scent smelled burnt, and frankly, it was not helping his situation. He groaned, burying his face deeper into his shirt and shrinking in on himself as his body screamed out in agony. This was only his third cycle since he woke up, and he already wanted to be on suppressants again. Heats were always an ordeal for Robert, but this was probably the worst one he had had since his very first one. At least he had a bed he could drag into his childhood closet nowadays; he only had a slightly cracked and sun-bleached lawn chair. Not exactly the best condition for having a heat, and parts of his brain screamed he wasn't safe or comfortable.
However, lying in the bottom of the world's smallest closet in his bathroom, he could at least get one voice to shut up. He was just small enough to lie down but too tall to actually stretch out. Though using his SND shirt as a shitty pillow is the best luxury he's given himself in a while. Plus, now time has actually started to melt together in his mind, so hey, things are looking up. It was finally starting to get quiet in his head; his ears felt so stuffed with cotton he could use them as a pillow. It was sort of peaceful for once, just him and his depressing thoughts.
Then what sounds like his damn door being ripped off its hinges cuts into his small moment of bliss. Great, just what he needs right now, someone breaking in and taking his lawn chair, maybe his Twinkie collection he stuffed in the corner closest to his chair instead of his kitchen cupboards. However, the creak of the bathroom door was probably the worst thing he could hear at the moment. He silently swore to himself and to everything that had inconvenienced him in the past hour.
He silently flipped over, looking through the slats in the bottom of the door. The lights flicked on, and he watched a shadow pass by quickly in the light. He's honestly surprised they haven't found him yet. They seemed to be frantically looking for something. But of course, the moment he thinks he might just get a little lucky, the light gets blocked out as someone stands in front of it. Great, just great, y'know what these hands are rated E for everyone for a goddamn reason. And he slowly shifts himself to be able to attack. He could see the handle turn in the dark, and he took a slow, deep breath.
A snarl bubbled out of his throat as he squinted out at the light. He was greeted by the sight of someone staring down at him. Though in a heat-addled state, he frankly couldn't tell who it was, and without second thought, he lunged. He managed to sink his teeth into their arm as they shrieked and desperately started trying to get Robert off. This only caused more growling and his jaws clamping down even tighter. Admittedly, he wasn't thinking straight currently; he was focused on ripping the meat of fuckers forearm clean off the bone with his teeth after slamming him into the floor.
He could almost feel layers of muscle start to separate, the creaking of their bone as they were put under pressure, before someone else grabbed him. The scream he let out as they ripped his jaw open and pulled him off was something primal and completely feral. Being face down on the floor in his living room was not comfortable in the slightest. It took two people to hold him down, but he continued to thrash and scream. If they wanted him, they had to fucking earn it. It took water being dumped over his head to half snap him out of his stupor and start recognizing faces properly.
Punch-up was currently doing most of the job of holding him down, and someone else was holding down his legs behind his small but broad frame. He was talking to Waterboy, who looked pale and frankly horrified about the whole ordeal, looking between Robert and Flambae. Oh God, the blood, as the adrenaline came crashing down, he could smell it so heavily in the air, and began to put two and two together. He froze and went entirely limp, eyes glazing over as he was suddenly shoved to the passenger seat in his own head. That seemed to cause a ripple of alarm in everyone as he was flipped onto his back, and Punch-up held his face, talking to him and everyone else around them. Coopé appeared, taking his place as he ran off to grab something, and she started talking to him, holding his face. It's driving him nuts not to hear anything. There's only so much information he can gather from looking at the ceiling behind Coopé's head. He wanted to scream again, thrash, go and rot away in that damn closet. But no, here he was just trying to will the ability to fucking blink properly because his eyes were starting to burn. Then there was something cold, and he ripped his hand away, watching an ice cube fall on the floor between him and Punch-up. A small wave of 'thank God' passed through the room as he looked around.
"Oh, thank God, lad, you scared the shite out of us." He said, picking the ice cube back up and throwing it behind him, and hitting Phenomaman in the chest.
"How the hell did you even get-" he trailed off, looking past Coopé's shoulder, seeing Prism and Invisgal patching up Flambae and the ears of Sonar behind him. "Is the whole Z-team here?"
"Sorry about the door." Golem piped up from his left, looking at his door that had mud haphazardly covering the hinges. "You weren't answering, and we couldn't smell anything outside so-"
"He broke it because we thought you were fucking dead," Prism interjected, roughly pulling on bandages being wrapped around Flambae's arm, earning a string of swearing out of the man.
The tension in the room became palpable as everyone's scents soured at the thought. It took Robert a minute to process that everyone in this room, which was almost entirely full of ex-villains, was worried about him.
"You thought I was dead. . ." He mumbled before a look of confusion crossed his face. "How did you guys even get my address?"
"You're like super predictable, Robert," Invisagirl said, leaning against the counter. "You take the same path home every day. I'm frankly surprised someone hasn't kidnapped you yet."
"And this is why you should have several stalking charges on your file." He sighed, slowly lifting himself up before Coopé put a hand on his back to keep him stable.
"And you should get a rabies test with how you lunged at me, you bitch," Flambae hissed, pointing at his arm.
"No normal man lunges at anyone like that, heat or otherwise." Punch-up added before stopping to ponder. "Though I suppose you're no normal man, huh?"
"How do you know about that?"
Silence
"How do you know about that?"
"Blonde B-Blazer and Chase. . . Briefed us.. Told us when we-"
"When they tried to give us some newbie chump as a dispatcher, we decided to pull your ass out of bed," Prism said, walking over to the bathroom, peering around the door to look in the closet. "Blazer was being all corporate on us then she calls Chase, and when he shows up, Beef in his arms, all fat and happy, then it went from "bitch why" to "bitch what the fuck happened"." She paused, looking over at Robert, then back at the closet before turning off the bathroom light and closing the door. "Then he mentions you were in heat-"
"To make a long story short-" Coopé cut in, rubbing a small circle on his back.
"Bitch I wasn't done talking."
"Chase told us. So, we decided to check on you."
"Well, thank you," Robert said, pulling away from her and attempting to stand up without falling. "For the well-being check, but -Jesus Christ," he mumbled the last part, following the popping of his knees and back. "But you guys can go," He finished with a slight hiss in his tone, pointing at his front door.
"Can we at least get you a new door?" Golem asked, poking at his attempted repair. "I feel a little bad. . ."
He sighed quietly to himself. "Does that require you all here?
"Might need some with more dexterity," Invisgal said, wiggling her fingers on her right hand at him.
"I can do a portal so it won't take as long."
"Fine, just. . . be quick," He took a deep breath, a slight growl underneath. "-the rest of you out."
To say that the Z-team scattered quickly through Malevola's portal would be an understatement. Never had they been so thankful to be at Home Depot of all places. They all stood there quietly for a while, either staring into space or looking at the orange sign as it owed them money.
"Sooooooo." Invisgal started leaning past half the group to look at Golem. "Door?"
"Yeah, you guys do that, we're gonna go. . ." Sonar paused, looking at the rest of the group not involved with getting a new door. "Get tacos?"
"Do you really think we want tacos two days in a row?" Prism questioned her eyes, narrowing at the bat hybrid.
"W-What about the b-buffet at. . . on Western Ave?"
Prism snapped her head at Waterboy with a contemplative look before shrugging. "Why the fuck not?"
As they entered back through the portal, the omega sluggishly looked at them from the kitchen, loosely holding a cup. They all silently offered him an awkward smile before quickly getting to work. They did quietly talk amongst themselves as they replaced what they had broken and would sneakily look back at Robert when they had the chance. He was very clearly struggling to stay standing, putting all of his weight on the kitchen counter and "watching" them work. Although his eyes had a glassy and hazed look to them. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he wasn't really there at the moment, and he was only really going through the motions. They didn't choose to comment on it, just continued to work and keep an eye on him.
"Ta-da," Invisigal said, doing jazz hands, turning to Robert, "brand new door."
"And door knob," Golem said before eating the old, broken one and the other metal pieces.
"And door frame," Malevola added, hands on her hips, tail curling behind her. "What do you think?"
That finally seemed to snap Robert at least partially out of his dazed state as he looked between them and the door, blinking owlishly. "Keys." He stated, holding his hand out.
"Keys," Invisigal parroted, walking over, dropping a key into his hand.
He looked at the key, then back to her, giving a very unimpressed look.
"What?" She said defensively.
"The spare key, too."
She grumbled, fishing the second key from her pocket.
"Great. Now you guys can go."
They wanted to argue, they really did, but the pointed look they were given was enough to make them stay quiet. Robert managed to sluggishly corral them out of the apartment and looked at them for a moment.
"Golem."
The construct perked up slightly, turning to face the dispatcher. "Yes?
"Thank you. . . for the door." He said before closing it gently.
They listened to the lock click closed and deflated, making their way out of the apartment complex. Although Invisigal had a pep in her step, walking slightly ahead of Golem and Malevola.
"How are you so. . . Calm about this?" Malevola questioned her as they made it out of the lobby. "Like, come on, Robert's got himself locked up, and we can't help him."
"I mean not necessarily. . ." Invisgal said with a sly smile, holding up a singular key.
"I thought you gave him both," Malevola said excitedly, looking at the key tail wagging happily.
"She made a third," Golem whispered, lightly shaking his head. "Didn't know they had one of those kiosks."
"Yeah, and those fucking kiosks are fucking scam." She said, pocketing the key once more. "Now come on, let's go see if Flambae has burnt down that buffet yet."