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Robert was practically wasting away behind the screen at his desk. His head set felt like it had suddenly gained 40 pounds since this morning when he put it on.
In total he’d spent 7 hours behind the desk and he couldn’t go home until this finally mission was done. And of course, Flambae was taking forever.
“Flambae, you can fly, why are you going so slowly” Robert grumbled into his head set microphone.
“Damn bitch, can’t a man take his time under the stars” Flambae is clearly just mocking him.
Robert groans loudly, taking off his headset for the moment. He laid his head down on his desk beside his keyboard and tried to pretend he was at home in bed instead of working so late.
He doesn’t pick his head back up for a while, when he does, the little tracker that normally follows Flambae is gone. He picks his headset back up and puts it on, taking a moment to adjust the microphone.
“Flambae? You there?” He asks, when he gets nothing he tries again “Flambae, you can’t just drop off the map without permission first”
He clicks around the screen, desperately searching for another way to find Flambae. Eventually an alert pops up on the screen, telling Robert that a distress signal had been sounded from near the ocean. It’s gone before he can even click on it.
He rushes to hack into cameras nearby where the alert had disappeared. All he can see off in the scene is Flambaes small, golden colored ear piece laid on the ground and cracked in half.
Robert freezes, swallows hard, and then gets up. He sprints as fast as he can to the basement where the Mecha Man suit is stored nowadays.
He knows he needs prior permission to take the suit out. Hell he’s the person that set it up so he couldn’t just run off on missions all on his own like he used to before his time at SDN. But he had to go find Flambae and he didn’t trust any of the night shift hero’s to do it.
As fast as he can he pulls on his flight suit and climes into the hulking machine. Soon the suit is powered up and rocketing out of the nearby access door. The lock and the door on the lock are both broken, but he doesn’t care.
Piloting the mech is like second nature to him, but under the pressure he fumbles the controls slightly. He can’t manage a single second lost. Flambae could’ve been taken anywhere by now.
Robert arrives at the ocean side and starts to scan the small docks that jut out into the pacific. He spots one dock that seems out of place.
For one it’s absolutely soaked and for two, it has a chain tied around one of the posts at the end of the dock. The chain disappears under the ocean’s surface. It’s clearly new.
Robert stares at the chain for a moment before surging forward. The mech suit hand grabs the post and breaks it off of the portion still imbedded under the water. He uses the post to pull the chain up and up until the other end becomes visible.
And thank god, it’s Flambae. He’s unconscious, with the chain around his chest and a cinder block tied around on ankle to keep him weighted down into the water.
Robert places him down and then climbs out of the suit. He drops to his knees beside Flambaes body and shakes him a little. He finding the man’s body is cold and limp. Then he turns to rubbing Flambaes chest but quickly abandons that plan when there’s no response.
He tears off his glove on his right hand and checks his pulse. Flambaes pulse is slowly coming back, but it’s still a little weak.
Robert frantically pushes the distress button on the neck of his flight suit, silently calling for medical. Then he leans down and presses his dry, chapped lips against Flambaes own, much softer ones.
He begins to breathe for Flambae, trying to revive him. When he finally feels water come up he pulls pack, gasping for his own air. Flambae’s body jolts, coughing up water against his body’s control. Robert tries to rub his chest again, trying to wake him up.
Thankfully an ambulance finally arrives to the scene. They scoop Flambaes half conscious body away, leaving Robert alone on the pier. In a daze he climb back into the Mechaman suit and flys home.
-
He sees Flambae the next morning at the SDN medbay. He’s laying on the bed and doesn’t seem very happy with being contained to a hospital bed. Robert walks in and sits beside Flambaes bed.
“How are you feeling?” He asks, seeming sad. He had never expected to see one of the teams strongest heroes so wrecked.
“Take a while guess Bob” Flambae says, rolling his eyes. Robert is quiet for a while before speaking again.
“Look, I’m sorry, I should’ve gotten you sooner” Robert looks down at his hands where they sit in his lap. “If I just-“
“Oh my god, can’t a man get some silence around here” Flambae says, looking annoyed. “Just forget about it, it went as good as it possibly could’ve”
He leans back into the stiff pillows behind his back, crossing his arms with a huff. Robert gets a small smile on his face. Flambae may have nearly been drowned to death but at least he’s still aware enough to make fun of Robert, and that’s good enough for him.