like a radio

part 1: aim for the heart.

for a reunion to happen, so too must a first encounter. cole cassidy and emre sarioglu interact for the first time in a training room at watchpoint gibraltar, while cassidy reflects in the aftermath of their intimate reconnection.

Frustration mounting, Cassidy feels the cold steel of the gun slip into his hands, like shaking hands with an old friend. He jerks his elbow to snatch it away from his challenger’s grip, while Emre tightens his fingers around the barrel for just a brief moment. Giving no quarter, if only for a quarter of a second. Then, he lets go entirely, with a maddening wink. Cassidy grits his teeth. “I don’t gotta prove shit to you.” “Not asking you to prove anything, Cass,” Emre says, saddling his rifle in one arm and tilting his hip to support it against its curve. “A friendly competition with the black ops cowboy would be the icing on the cake of a productive morning. Even better than good coffee.”

pairing: emre sarioglu / cole cassidy series: overwatch chapters: 1/? word count: 10.9k genre: flashbacks, first meetings, enemies to friends to lovers (full tags on ao3)

notes: a multichaptered follow up to necessary, following the development of emre and cassidy's relationship over years, and the current state of affairs between them.

emre is a starving man, yearning for touch and at war with the parasitic entity inside of him. a ghost from his past who knows him better than he knows himself might be just what he needs.

Quiet earned its dominion over the room, with only the barely perceptible flowing of water through the canal and distant car horns rallying against it. “I thought you were the fastest draw in the West,” Emre hazarded a joke with a slight tilt of his drawn weapon, anything to shatter the solemn tension of their reunion. Cassidy’s revolver stayed firmly holstered in the leather belt around his waist. He didn’t make a single move towards it, palms firmly raised to where Emre could see them. “I ain’t drawin’ on you, Emre,” Cassidy drawled, a familiar, sibilant melody. Emre felt gooseflesh break out across what flesh he was allowed to keep. “Sure wish you’d grant me the same courtesy.”

pairing: emre sarioglu / cole cassidy other pairings: embog, emfrej (mentioned) series: overwatch chapters: 1/1 (complete) word count: 20k genre: smut, angst, possession, reunions, trans emre (full tags on ao3)

the shopping trip begins. karim's carefully constructed walls start to drop, and robert reflects on his own childhood.

“Hey,” Robert said, slowing as he followed him out of the dining area.  Stopping, he turned to look at him. “Thanks for, y’know, opening up to me back there. It’s nice to know more about you.” The wall rumbled under the strain, the dam leaking rivulets of truth, droplets of lava rolled down over rock. Dr Sloane had said that Robert might appreciate candour, even as Karim warred against his own desire for connection. It was irritating to see her proven right. Karim managed a smile, and was about to say something sincere in response to Robert’s earnest gratitude. He truly almost made it, but found they died in his throat. Winning the race instead was, as always, an ill-advised innuendo.

pairing: flambae / robert robertson series: dispatch chapters: 4/7 (ongoing) chapter word count: 4.4k total word count so far: 23.9k

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karim picks robert up from chase's and commences their journey to ikea in a very unconventional method of transport.

When they rounded a corner towards an alley buttressing both residential streets on either side, Robert immediately understood.  “What… the fuck is this?” Karim looked physically pained. They both beheld the garish sight of a van that wouldn’t know subtlety if it crashed into its cab. “We have a big shopping list. So I asked for the biggest van they had.”  When Robert tore his eyes away from the monstrosity, Karim’s expression could only be described as penitent, threaded with contrition. “This,” Karim went on, fingers splayed out to indicate the atrocity before them, “was what they gave me.”

pairing: flambae / robert robertson series: dispatch chapters: 3/7 (ongoing) chapter word count: 5.9k total word count so far: 19.5k

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before his ikea trip with karim, robert visits chase, and finds that the reality of his only family's medical situation is particularly difficult for him to stomach. their bond stays strong even amid conflict, even in the grips of less than ideal circumstance.

“My sexuality, it just…” Robert rubbed his jawline with the heel of his palm, trying to massage away the tension where it was set. He closed the magazine, turned its cover face down. “It just didn’t seem important.” “Why wouldn’t it be?” “‘Cause it-” Robert stopped himself before he said how he really felt. Because it’s me. Because I am not important. “It just wasn’t. Isn’t.” “It’s a part of you.” Chase pointed his finger at him, pushing it forward in a gentle jabbing motion.  “Of course it’s important.” It ached how sincere Chase was being, ached right to the core of him and dissolved his defenses. From somewhere buried within him, unbidden and sprouting forth like a weed, came Mecha Man Astral, and the man behind the mask. The circular-shaped void in the helix of his right ear prickled. “Dad wouldn’t have understood.” 

pairing: flambae / robert robertson other characters: chase | track star series: dispatch chapters: 2/7 (ongoing) chapter word count: 6.3k total word count so far: 13.4k

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karim takes robert on an ikea trip while both navigate their own personal difficulties and unhealthy coping mechanisms. the shopping trip does not go as planned.

In the darkness granted by his eyelids, he heard his therapist say, “Do you think you’re something to be afraid of, Karim?” The prison warden who flinched away from the bars every time he made his rounds certainly thought so. As did the civilians running in terror from the flames that licked up whatever public building drew Karim’s ire that particular day. Donning the hero mantle and turning his life around didn’t change that. It didn’t make the fire within him burn any less hot. It didn’t make him any less dangerous. “Wouldn’t you be?” Karim replied as he opened his eyes again, fixing her with a stare riddled with regret. “If you slept next to a volcano waiting to erupt. Wouldn’t you be fucking terrified of it?”

pairing: flambae / robert robertson series: dispatch chapters: 1/7 (ongoing) chapter word count: 7.1k genre: domestic fluff, hurt/comfort, therapy (full tags on ao3)

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