Chapter Text
It really wasn’t like that.
For once, she wasn’t a secret lover shamefully running off to escape a night of drunken regret. Well, she was a lover now, and (except for Golem), kind of a secret…
But even so, she was not running because of shame. Maybe a little bit of fear, from lingering insecurities she couldn’t just extinguish with a night of passion, but at this point she knew Robert well enough to be certain he wouldn’t be ashamed of her, nor mistreat her. In fact, he’d probably get up to do something disgusting and corny like make her pancakes.
….And she’d love it.
Visi stretched, sighing softly so as to not disturb the peace and stillness of the very early morning. She wanted nothing more than to crawl back into the warm space she carved out alongside the battered hero. For a moment, she stared at him. He was in the same position he fell asleep in, with his arm still slung out to hold her close. Robert’s skin was rough, and calloused, and black and blue like the others she’d been with. But she marveled at what a difference it made, knowing those bumps and bruises were from fights where he was the good guy. Robert was a hero- and not like what the Z-Team was trying to be, with chasing down runaway cats and breaking up fights between line-cutters. He had no powers, but he was out there stopping supervillains and murderers. He was a true hero.
And she would be worthy of him.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she stood, dressing quickly.
~~~
“Don’t fuck his life up.”
Chase stared her down, and even though Visi was taller, she felt about as big as a bug. Maybe due to the unexpectedness of seeing him, maybe because she recently let her guard down with Robert, or maybe because she somehow still thought Chase was a good guy even after what he said last night, she didn’t have an immediate snarky reply.
”I’m not,” she protested quietly. “I’m-I’m…” She trailed off, not knowing how she was going to finish the sentence. A hero now? Hardly. Chase had it right last night. She was the one who almost ruined Robert’s life in the first place.
Chase watched her trail off with a cold look, before sighing and running a hand over his face. “Look, I sobered up and came to apologize. To Robert. But I guess I owe you an apology too. You turned yourself into the Z-Team, and that counts for something. It was unfair of me to say you’re not a hero. And you have been a good employee…ish. For never having had a legal job. But,” he shot a meaningful look at her messy hair and ruffled jacket, “you know you’re not there yet. What are you hoping to get out of this? Robert’s a good guy. He’ll stay with you and care for you, probably woulda made you some fuckin’ pancakes this morning-“ (Visi could’ve laughed, or cried) “-and things would have been different, for him. Would you do the same? Can you say you won’t leave if things get tough? This hot and cold attitude gets pretty fuckin’ old after high school.”
Visi was shocked, and hurt, and maybe this is exactly what Chase was talking about, but quickly following the hurt was her outrage. “Almost sounds like you’re jealous, grandpa, am I stealing your baby boy away? They gotta grow up sometime, and last I checked, Robert wanted this too.” She sneered.
”I’m the only family that boy’s got left,” Chase hissed. “His dad was in that suit, you know that? Shroud didn’t just kill his only parent, he left Robert a lifetime of debt and doubt and some big-ass shoes to fill as a child. Robert has grown up, and a little too quickly, so yeah, excuse me if I don’t want some twenty-something who doesn’t know what she wants fucking with his feelings!”
Visi recoiled, Chase’s words having taken the wind out of her sails. She hadn’t known that about his dad, but still, it didn’t change anything. “I didn’t know…But I wouldn’t do that to him. I know what I want, and Robert doesn’t deserve-“
”Exactly,” fumed Chase. “He doesn’t deserve to be toyed with. We both know you’re hiding something, and I don’t know what, but I’ll be damned if you hurt him with it. How many serious relationships have you been in? Do you know how to have a mature, adult conversation when you get into a fight with a partner? He’s been abandoned, and he’s been hurt enough. If you want a fling-hell, even if you don’t! People like you who’ve never been able to slow down think they want something serious, some stability, then you feel cagey and run when you actually get it. Whatever you want, you can get it from a million other men in this fuckin’ city.”
Speechless, Visi stared at Chase. The truth hurts, she knew that, but worse was that she wasn’t even being given the option to try. She was being written off again, without even a chance, just like she had been her whole life up until recently. Blonde Blazer had given her a chance. Robert had given her a chance.
There was a stinging spreading from the back of her throat and up to her eyes, and she would rather go back to Shroud and tell him what she did than have Chase see her cry.
”Asshole!” She told him, pushing past him as she turned invisible, hating that her voice trembled even on that short word.
”What are you doing right now? Leaving, as soon as you’re through with him and feelings get involved!” He called after her, looking in the wrong direction.
Visi flipped him off behind her back, even knowing he couldn’t see her, but she hoped he felt it. Her lungs started to burn as she pushed herself past her normal speed, but she had to get away.
Stability…she could get it (or at least try to get it) with any other man. She knew she might not be perfect or have the correct reactions to everything, but who did? She was becoming a hero, she was working on herself already. How hard would it be to learn how to be a good girlfriend, too? Robert would be patient with her, and she wouldn’t run from him. She watched Coupe and Punch-Up have a beautiful relationship, with plenty of fights, but they didn’t run, or kill each other, and they were both former villains. Maybe she could find someone else to put up with her, but she wanted that chance with Robert, and she knew he would give it to her…if he forgave her for what she did.
A deep pit opened up in her stomach as doubt and dread creeped in. What if he didn’t forgive her? She would have ruined his life- but she didn’t, because he had a job now, with friends and a team. He was happy now, right? Did she even have to tell him? No, she couldn’t keep it from him. Visi might not be aware of what goes on in happy and healthy relationships, but she wasn’t an idiot. And she was pretty sure step one of being a good girlfriend was telling your boyfriend when you tried to kill him. She owed him the truth, and as much as it hurt her heart to think about, she owed him the chance to walk away.
She swore to herself she’d tell him… but only after she got the pulse back.
~~~
”What did you do?” Robert leveled Chase with a look, his voice steel.
”I uh, I just told her, maybe, that you would put in work for her that she wouldn’t do for you,” Chase admitted, meeting Robert’s gaze for a second before looking back down at Beef. “And there’s a chance I accused her of not knowing how to communicate like an adult while I, myself, was not communicating like an adult. But hey, I probably got dementia or something, so no one should take what I’m saying seriously.”
Robert shook his head. “Damn it, Chase. She was- is -doing really well. Next time you apologize, you should do it without insulting the person worse than before.”
”Yeah, yeah,” Chase grumbled, holding Beef a little tighter. “I’ll give her a proper apology, maybe give her one of Phenomaman’s edible arrangements next- what day is it today, Sunday? Or Friday?”
”It’s Saturday,” Robert responded, giving Chase an exasperated look. “Don’t play forgetful old man now. I don’t know why you have it out for her more than anyone else. I know she’s hiding something, and I know the choice I’m making. But I…I trust her. And yes,” he said, louder, seeing Chase’s mouth open, “I trusted her before last night. That had nothing to do with it,”
”Nothing to do with it my wrinkly old ass,” Chase complained, but accepted Robert’s explanation. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have butted into things that aren’t my business. All that matters is that you want this, and if you’re happy, I’m happy. I can’t say that I fully trust her, but I trust you.”
There was quiet for a moment, as the two appraised each other in peaceful companionship. Chase technically wasn’t that much older than Robert, and as a kid, Robert had viewed him more as a brother than a father…or grandfather. Still family. And for the last 15 years, while Robert was ignoring his personal life and pouring everything he could into Mecha Man, Chase was out there living life, gaining experience, and wondering how the little snot-nosed brat he once took care of was doing.
With a small, tired smile, Robert finally responded. “Thank you, Chase. I appreciate-“
Both men whipped around as Robert’s computer started to ding.
~~~
Visi reached for her inhaler, hand shaking, lungs constricting. Her heart hurt too, hearing Robert scream her name in her ear. Shroud was pushing this act really far. He wasn’t expecting her to pull this stunt. Was this her punishment?
As if on cue, she heard his steps behind her. He didn’t want her dead, she knew that, but he wasn’t even supposed to be here, and she couldn’t help the shiver of fear that tore through her. Her vision was going dark. Just another couple inches to her inhaler…
With the darkness closing in, and Robert’s voice in her ear, she tried to picture his face. Shroud’s calculations were almost always accurate, but asthma attacks were unpredictable, and if this was her final one, she wanted Robert to be the last image in her head.
She blinks, maybe for the last time, and sees…Chase. Smiling?
She’s picked up, she thinks, and Visi shuts her eyes hard as colors and noises and wind whirls all around her. She might be sick if she had the lung capacity to puke. Nothing is making sense, and her consciousness is starting to take on a dream-like quality. She feels arms around her back and under her knees, and for a brief second she relives a memory of her dad scooping her up and carrying her to bed, giggling and protesting that she didn’t want to sleep yet. It doesn’t feel like she’s being carried normally, though- is Robert-? Where’s Shroud? And why was Chase-? Suddenly, the motion and noise and just general havoc in her mind is over as soon as it started, and she grunts in a wheeze as she is laid- quickly, but gently- against something sturdy. She’s placed in a sitting position, and something cool and a little wet is beneath her right hand, and something smooth and oddly-shaped is pressed into her left. My inhaler.
Visi gasps and coughs, eyes watery, lungs aching. Forcing her eyes to open wider, even if her vision is a little blurry, she takes in her surroundings. A park? Chase.
He’s facing away from her, taking a shaky step, then all at once, collapses. Her thoughts are in a snarl, and tears stream down her face as she takes a puff of her inhaler and then throws it to the side, pushing herself off the ground. Coughing, hacking, gasping still, Visi painstakingly crawls over to Chase. She breathes in deeply, trying to control her breath as she screams Chase’s name, screams for help, screams for how Robert might react, screams just to scream.
Chase- Track Star? She didn’t think he’d be this old yet- was frail, too frail, and Visi struggles to remember her CPR training from Blazer as she carefully turns him onto his back. Panic searing through her entire body, she starts chest compressions, but can only feel her own heart pounding.
Visi turns her head up to the sky and screams louder.