Chapter Text
To say that this mission had been shit was the fucking understatement of the fucking century. Zahir had gotten his hands frozen, and it took him like three fucking minutes to melt the ice off. Janelle had broken several knives, and Colm had gotten food poisoning from all things.
So safe to say that Robert was pissed, this was just supposed to be an easy intel gathering mission but of course that got fucked hard. Of course, Mandy had been busy collecting intel with Katon, so she wasn’t there to help bandage people’s wounds. That’s why Robert is currently wrapping up Zahir’s hands while listening to him bitch about some knock off hero.
“I mean come on! The least they could have done is knock me out! At least then I wouldn’t have to deal with the humiliation!”
Robert just hums as he finished his work on the bandages. “Maybe I should look at your augments; your flames are meant to burn hotter with them. I’ll look over everyone’s augments when I get the chance. With all this bullshit things have been a bit wild”
Zahir of course rolls his eyes, “yeah yea, alright Bob-Bob. How about you go order us lunch?” The arsonist smirks as he says this, while Robert just looks up unamused.
“You have a lot of guts to say that to your boss”
“You’re also my boyfriend”
“The entire team is dating me, it’s a fucking polycule Zahir. Every one on this fucking team has had sex with me” of course Zahir just scoffs, and places a condescending kiss on his boss’ nose.
“I’ll order us all food then, we need a break any way”
“Cool you go do that, just don’t fucking forget to come to the workshop later so I can check up on your augments”
“I got it bitch”
Robert just rolls his eyes, moving to clean up around the med bay. Heroes had been getting bolder lately, attacking gear members at random... always before a serious heist. Robert’s eyes widen.
Of course, Katon and Mandy both make it back to the base at that moment, Mandy only sparing a kiss on Robert’s cheek before heading to do paperwork (unknown to her, Robert had beat her to it). Katon, meanwhile, just follows Robert, his long dark cloak billowing around him, along with the black hood still up.
“Katon, you look like the fucking grim reaper right now, take the cloak off”
“My apologies, ... what is a grim reaper?”
“I’ll explain that later,” Robert mumbles, just another thing to explain, fuck, maybe he’ll leave that to Mandy to explain.
As soon as they make it to the quarters of Janelle and Colm, the duo themselves look up from their maps.
“What are you two planning?”
“Nothing you should worry about, lad.”
“Why does Katon still have his gear on? Isn’t his work for the day done, unless he just got back?” Janelle whispers, resting her chin on Colm’s head, as she drapes herself over his back.
“He just got back, also, I think there’s a mole in the organization... just keep your investigation quiet if you haven’t already started... Don’t kill them, trap them, and set up interrogation when you find them.”
Robert's tone changes, dropping to a deep rasp that sends shivers down Janelle’s spine. “Don't tell anyone else. Got it. If you find them. Let Crimson have a chance at roughing them up."
Colm’s eyes widen before he lets out a chuckle. “Why, you want that vampiric bitch to turn their blood into fuel if they don’t talk? God, that bloke still unnerves me”.
“I get along with them, they seem to get along with everyone too... they’re new, right?
“No, actually, they used to work with my dad before they were transferred to our branch. Turns out they caused a lot of explosions by accident because people kept accidentally ingesting their blood.”
“That is... unusual?” Katon murmurs, wrapping his arms around Robert’s waist and resting his head on the human’s. “If I remember, the consumption of blood between humans is quite odd. Though many do it for reasons I have yet to understand.”
“Victor and Janelle do it because it turns them on.”
“Hol’ up, Victor likes blood too? Didn’t think the lad had it in him with the amount of drugs he does.” Colm chuckles as he lies back and lights a cigar, taking a drag.
“He does, a lot actually, on both fronts,” Janelle confirms, a slight smirk on her face.
“Either way, I trust both of you to handle the mole. Katon, go take a bath. Zahir’s getting us all lunch, so we should all reconvene in the sitting room.”
Soon enough, the entire Z-quadrant is in the sitting room, all eating their respective meals. Though Katon and Herm are both sitting close to Robert, Katon has placed Robert into his lap while Herm leans against the alien. Of course, Beef is running around in between everyone, trying to get scraps.
“Hold on, why ain’t Courtney here? She’s normally the only one who uses the sitting room while the rest of us are on missions.” The she-daemon points out, before taking a bite of her burger, her sharp teeth tearing through the meat and bread.
“Don’t know, don’t care, Bruno, Mal, you can go find her if you want.” Zahir leans back on the couch, his long hair running down his shoulder as he leans forward.
“Damn, she was supposed to help me pick out some clothing for my next performance. Zahir, you mind joining?”
“Can’t, my niece has a show.”
“... Why am I not surprised.”
“I can go!”
“Thanks Mal. What about you, Robert? You got any plans?”
“Meetings, boring shit like always.” He explains, leaning against Katon. “If you don’t mind, you think you could hand over Katon’s measurements to your tailor? It would be nice if he had a better wardrobe.”
“What’s wrong with my current one?”
“It’s mostly your gear and lounge wear; someone needs to get you clothing, self-expression, big guy.”
“I see”
Katon-ur looks down at his food before resuming to eat. Everyone else also starts to focus on their meal and conversation.
Soon enough, their lunch break is over, Robert goes back to his workshop while the others get back in their gear, Zahir following Robert into the workshop.
“So, you going to take a look?” He smirks, undoing his shirt and letting it fall to the side, the red and orange augments following the line of his spine and muscles.
“Zahir, if this is an attempt to seduce me. I must remind you that now is not the fucking time.”
Robert walks forward and starts to inspect the augments, his hands tracing along the metal of the devices, circling Zahir.
“Odd, nothing seems wrong.” Robert stands back, humming to himself as he thinks. Zahir just smirks.
“So do I get a kiss for being a good boy?” Zahir wiggles his eyebrows, and Robert rolls his eyes and kisses the other man.
“Yeah, either way, our downtime is over. I’ve got a meeting, and you’ve got some shit to burn.”
Zahir obviously pouts; his hope was to get some more attention from Robert, but it’s fine, he gets to burn shit after all.
Robert walks over to his desk full of monitors, loading up the info panels about who’s working and where:
Vanish: Unknown
Inferno: Disposal – junkyard
Tidal wave: On break
Coupé: Investigation - base
Punch Up: Investigation w/ Coupé - base
Engima: Off duty
Blaze: Off duty
Sonar: Gathering Funding - Downtown LA
Mal: Weapon maintenance - Armory
Golem: Off duty
Prism: Obtaining clothing - *Stand in location*
Robert's eyes narrow as he looks at the screen... Courtney was offline, entirely. Robert sighs; he had a feeling she was the mole. He's disappointed nonetheless. The quadrant seems to have grown fond of her over time. This would tank morale and also fuck up things with... him. God, Robert is not in the mood to deal with his daddy issues.
He sighs, rolling his shoulders as he pushes away from his desk, dragging a hand down his face as he groans. He was already burned out as shit, his father's coming to visit doesn't help at all. No matter what he does things just always seem to get worse. Robert stands up, taking a moment to stabilize before heading to do paperwork. His footfall nearly silent as he makes his way through the building. It's a mix of an old factory and an underground bunker. Hard to find and has tunnels that connect it to the rest of Los Angeles. Robert takes a few side passages before walking into his main office, looking down at the papers on his desk and walking past them. He takes off his coat and rolls out his shoulders. He opens the safe and takes out the blueprints for everyone's augments. Soon, taking them to the workshop and looking over them
He soon calls in Janelle so he can check hers. He has her extend her wing out so he can check every connection point.
"Have any of your knives gotten chipped?"
"Not yet, but one of my wings has been spasming slightly from time to time. Don't know why." Janelle relaxes, relaxing against the blankets that she's lying on as Robert checks her wings.
"I think that's because your wing got nicked." He whispers as he gently inspects the wound, observing it to see how deep it is. "Head over to the medical wing soon to get that fixed. Only you and Zahir seem to have had problems recently, that I know of at least." He muses, getting off the table and washing his hands.
"Thank you again, Robert. It's nice to have a boss that sees you as a person, not just a weapon." She smiles softly, standing up and flexing her wings to check their condition.
"Not a problem. I hope you find the mole out soon. If they work for the SDN, though, spare them." He warns, looking over, his expression getting serious.
"The SDN aren't our enemies, I'm working on a deal with them... just figure out who's ratting us out to the police. That's all I need."