🪐beezie🌑

“Most heroes avenge their family. You, did the opposite. You killed their legacy. How disappointed would your dad be if he were here right now?”

The blue hue of Channel 7 news dimly lights my apartment. I sit cross legged on my couch, drinking a glass of wine while my cat lays next to me. It’s the first time Mecha Man has spoken to the public since waking from his four month long coma, and reporters are ripping him to shreds.

“These people really have no empathy.” I mumble to myself.

I’ve been watching the news about Mecha Man for over an hour, purposely torturing myself.

These reporters only see him as a failed hero. Not as a person. Not as Robert. They don’t know who he really is.

But do I? Not really. Not anymore.

——

“And then he…spit in my face.”

“He what?! Oh my God, Blazer.” I fail to stifle a laugh.

“The night ended well, though! He breezed through the interface. Those new glasses worked like a charm, thanks to you. He should be arriving at any moment now, I hope.” We walk to the main lobby of SDN. I hear idle chatter and the familiar sound of Phenomeman’s SDN commercial. It always cracks me up seeing him glance at the cue cards. And since there is no way that girl is making it to band practice.

“He better. Wait, so who is this guy again? You never told me his name. And what’s this big project you’ve got for me? You’ve been way too secretive.”

“Oh, perfect! Here he is. Wasn’t sure he’d show up. Stevie, meet-“ And there he stands. In the middle of the lobby next to a very wet man in goggles.

“Robert…” I cut off Blonde Blazer and stop in my tracks. She looks at me, confused. And I realize I just used his real name while he’s dressed as Mecha Man.

“Stevie?” We lock eyes. I stare at him in disbelief, unable to speak.

“You two know each other…um well, I’d let you catch up, but I’ve gotta start his onboarding” Robert doesn’t take his eyes off me until he almost trips. I would laugh if I weren’t in complete and utter shock. And if it hadn’t been three years since he last spoke to me.

Blazer excuses herself from the man in goggles as he stutters, clearly starstruck. She turns back to me and gives a worried smile.

“We’ll talk later?”

“Uh..yeah.” I nod and turn away, making my way to the lab. I nervously toy with my sweater while walking through the halls of SDN. I say hello to those who walk past me and try to calm myself down.

As I get off the elevator, I still can’t take my mind off Robert. Besides seeing Mecha Man on the news, I haven’t seen or heard anything about Robert in three years. He buried himself in hero work so much that he just stopped all communication. So, I eventually stopped reaching out. I know why he did it. Fight crime, save lives, distract yourself from personal trauma. It’s something he always did, but I didn’t think it’d mean he’d push me away. He had done that to everyone else in his life, but not me. I was somehow blind to the fact that he one day might shut me out too. And it was fucking heartbreaking.

We had been through so much together. Waiting for our parents to get back from unrelated hero missions while being babysat by Chase. My own mother’s death and then his father’s. I was there whenever his suit needed repairs after getting his shit rocked by some villain. It got to a point where Robert and I only had each other. But then he just disappeared. And I was alone.

I’m pulled from my thoughts when I hear Royd’s booming voice.

“Wassup Stevie! You hear about da new guy Robert?” He gets up from his desk chair to greet me.

“Morning, Royd. Yeah, just found that out.” I say failing to hide the dejection from my voice.

“What’s wrong? Dis new project gunna be awesome. Fixing da Mecha Man Suit!”

“We’re what? That’s the project? Fixing his suit?” He’s confused by the shock on my face.

“Blonde Blazer not tell you?”

“No, she was keeping it a surprise. Shit! I need to talk to her.”

Royd awkwardly goes back to his work, having no idea why I’m so tense. I set down my bag at my desk then grab a coffee from the lab break room. I try to take some deep breaths so I don’t enter Blazer’s office with frantic energy she doesn’t really deserve.

Obviously, she doesn’t know my past with Robert, but this is still a fucking crazy coincidence.

I look at my watch. Blazer should be finishing up with his onboarding soon and that means it’s time for answers.

——

“What the fuck, Blazer?” I shut her office door, only slamming it a bit.

“I didn’t know you two knew each other! You never talked about him.” She raises her hands in defense.

“Yeah, well it’s a sore subject.” I cross my arms.

“I can tell. I’m sorry…Chase didn’t say anything. About you knowing him.”

“Chase?” I say, surprised.

“He’s the one who recommended Robert.”

“That fucker. Is everyone keeping something from me?”

“I’m sorry! I wanted it to be a surprise because I thought this project would be exciting for you! Fixing the Mecha Man suit! You always have to work on projects for SDN that the higher branches don’t want. They’re not nearly as intriguing as this!” She walks up to me calmly and puts a hand on my shoulder.

“You don’t have to apologize. You didn’t know. And that is exciting. That’s incredibly exciting. And I’d be showing how excited I am if seeing Robert didn’t feel like a punch in the gut.” I dramatically sit in the chair opposite of her desk.

“What happened there? Did you guys date or something?”

“No! No. Nothing like that. We grew up together. We were best friends for the longest time, but he just kinda…stopped talking to me.” I turn to look out the window, remembering that day. So many texts and calls yet…nothing. Blazer kneels down next to me. She looks at me with kind, understanding eyes.

“Maybe you can get some closure now? And look, if you don’t want to see him I can just have Royd do all the talking and handle all meetings!”

“No, that’s not necessary. I can be an adult and talk to him. And you’re right, I have a chance to get closure from this. Plus, it’s a great opportunity, working on the suit. I can handle this.” I say while bouncing my leg nervously.

“You sure about that?” Blazer says in disbelief. I quickly relax, take a deep breath, and stand up. I walk towards her office door and she follows behind.

“I’m cool.” I run my hands through my hair and adjust my glasses. “I’m cool. But I will be having a talk with Chase.” That shithead.

Blazer laughs and gives me a hug.

“I’m here if you need anything” She pulls back and looks at me with a smile. “Except right now. I’ve gotta get back to work. But, I’ll see you at lunch!” She says apologetically and I waive her off.

“See you at lunch.”

I close the door to Blazer’s office and sigh. This is gonna be a tough week. But even though it hurts knowing Robert is here, I can’t help but feel slightly happy to see him. I truly missed him. With everything happening since Shroud busted out of jail, I’ve been worried about him.

I want things to go back to normal. I want to just pick things back up where we left off. But that doesn’t get rid of the hurt. Of the feeling of being abandoned by someone I care about. Someone who I thought cared about me.

I spot Chase around the corner and walk after him.

“Chase? You got time to chat?” I say with clear irritation in my voice.

“Well, shit.” He stops and turns around, “I was hoping I could avoid this conversation today.” I roll my eyes at him.

“You recommended him to Blazer and didn’t even tell me?”

“Exactly. If I told you, it’d stress you out and then you would’ve avoided him for as long as fuckin’ possible. By not telling you, the bandaid just got ripped off.” He crosses his arms.

“I guess, but-“

“Look, kid, I know it hurts. It hurt me too not seeing you both for 15 years. But we move forward. He’s been through some tough shit. You have too. Now you can both stop running from your fuckin’ problems and just talk to each other.”

“Fine, okay, whatever. But I’m still going to avoid this for the rest of the day. I’m not solving this on a Friday. I’ll stop running Monday.” I sigh and Chase pats my shoulder.

“It’ll all work out, kid.” He smiles softly and then heads to his cubicle.

Before heading back to the lab I sneak a peak into the dispatcher offices. I spot Robert talking to Chase and putting on his headset.

“Hey team this is your dispatcher, Robert Robertson. I’m starting my first shift-“ he seems to get cut off. “Can we clear the channel? There’s a lot of overlapping-“ Chase looks over, frustrated, and then says some curses into his own headset.

I stifle a laugh. Working with the Z team seems to be off to a great start. He’s got his work cut out for him, for sure.

——

The rest of the day goes by normally. Royd and I work on plans for the Mecha Man suit. We pass ideas back and forth and start to get into a groove. I struggle with the constant reminder of Robert, but it does feel exciting to work on this suit again. Especially when I have the funding to make advancements.

When it’s finally time to clock out, or really when Royd tells me I need to stop working and go enjoy my weekend, I grab my things, say goodbye, and head out of the office.

Exiting the lobby, I see Blazer and Phenomeman talking to Robert. Blazer hops up into Phenomeman’s arms and then they fly away. Robert stands awkwardly, staring as they take off. I take a deep breath and hesitantly walk forward.

“That seemed awkward.” I adjust my bag on my shoulder. Robert seems slightly startled by my voice.

“Yeah, just a bit. Didn’t know they were dating.” We both look up at the sky.

“It’s an interesting pair.” That I know will be ending tonight after talking with Blazer during our lunch break. And knowing Phenomeman, it will not go well.

“Hah, yeah. Um…it’s good to see you.” He turns to look at me. I keep my eyes on the purple and orange hues of the sunset.

“Mhm.” I turn to him, “I should get going.”

“Me too. I’ll see you Monday?” He looks at me hopefully and I nod. We part ways and I walk to my car.

I sit in the driver’s seat and put my head on the steering wheal.

I’ll stop running on Monday.

——