Chapter Text
Robert Robertson III had a rough couple of months before Blonde Blazer saved him from those skittles chucklefucks. His whole family legacy had been blown out of the sky and he was in a coma for months. Thanks for the reminder, random asshole journalist. He definitely couldn’t pay for the medical expenses, and no longer had a functioning suit to fight crime in. His inheritance had finally been drained trying to keep his apartment while he was hospitalized from a ‘car accident’. Overall, life had been shitty to him.
Of course the job Blonde Blazer had in mind was for Robert to work with the Phoenix Program. Why would he get a nice cooperative team for once? Even with seeing Chase again and using SDN’s resources to fix the Mecha Man suit, it almost wasn’t worth it. Somehow Blonde Blazer and Invisigal apparently felt the need to speed run HR violations between inappropriate comments and treating him like a piece of scarred eye candy.
If he was the beta they thought he was, the amount of pheromones released while they gazed at him changing wouldn’t have been a problem. Instead, he had to pretend the lingering scent of interest didn’t register. He’d probably disappoint them if they ever found out he was an omega anyway. Now if Invisigal would stop trying to scent his desk chair every time he got up, pretending to be a beta would be a lot easier.
When he met the Z-Team, they had laughed riotously at his fucking name. Like they were back in grade school. On the first day, Invisigal had blown off his order to disarm Granny and the guy fried his fucking arm. That was some stupid alpha shit if he’d ever seen it. It was clear the Z-Team didn’t trust him and they definitely didn’t take him seriously.
He almost didn’t blame them. Here he was, some powerless guy they thought was a beta at best telling a group of alphas what to do. He could see why previous dispatchers hadn’t lasted. Robert wasn’t a fool thinking he could pass as an alpha when the team seemed to be composed of only alphas, but he was hoping the team would put less weight behind secondary genders. Hopefully none of them found out about his orientation.
Being a male omega had its ups and downs. He couldn’t get pregnant, which was fortunate. It was nice not falling for rage bait from enemies like an alpha would, and being able to calm himself by releasing pheromones during a panic attack was cool. Even being naturally inclined for comfort and nesting was helpful with victims. But if anyone knew Mecha Man was an omega, he’d end up a victim himself of harassment and probably an unwanted mating.
So far the only one that had seen him act as an omega in any sort of way was Beef. His hospital room had been in the private omega wing, so there weren’t any reporters trying to peek at his identity. They had been looking at the general floors. Back when Chase was watching him as designated babysitter, he hadn’t presented yet. Now, the man assumed he was a beta like himself. ‘Unscented and unbothered’ he had always said. No one in Robert’s personal life knew he was an omega. He still didn’t know if he wanted to tell Chase he was an omega with really strong scent patches and self control.
He noticed most of the dispatchers at SDN were betas. Omegas had a reputation for being unreliable due to their heat and generally heightened emotional state. Alphas had a pretty unreliable reputation as well for their ruts, aggression, and difficulty with receiving orders from others. It was ironic most of the heroes active were alphas.
As the days passed, it just kept getting better and better. Blazer had cleared up the little recruitment ‘misunderstanding’ by presenting her boyfriend, Phenomaman. The guy was the definition of alpha without actually being one. Apparently his home planet didn’t have secondary genders. Robert shook his head after they had taken off. It really wasn’t complicated to tell someone you’re in a relationship. Even if it’s not a happy one, you should respect your partner more than she had.
Blazer wanting him to pick someone to cut was par for the fucking course as well. He almost wanted to just pick the alpha least likely to attack him, regardless of rank. That day, every last one of them started off the shift posturing and fucking with each other. If it really came down to it, a distressed omega smell could cow an alpha any day. He really didn’t want to use his last resort though.
When he had first walked into the conference room, it was clear everyone on the team was a proud alpha. He had met a few of them individually before in the break room and around the office, but he was hit with a cacophony of clashing scents that put into perspective how staggeringly alpha the team was as a whole. The distracting smells led to him being thrown against a pile of chairs as Golem walked in. He took a moment to center himself, noticing his scent drifting out a tad. Robert threw a chair into Golem in a rare fit of aggression and tugged his sleeves down over his wrists, confident he had successfully hidden the scent patches. He could tell he had surprised the team by standing up to Golem’s pushing around. They eyed him silently after he did, likely reconsidering the possibility of him being an alpha that hid it well. Betas really weren’t known for being physically aggressive and male omegas were extremely rare.
He had let them posture for only a minute with Blazer, knowing alphas were prone to do so, before he laid into them verbally. They were scared of losing their second chances, but if they didn’t want to be cut, they needed to get their shit together and stop sabotaging each other.
At the end of the day, Invisigal had come in with a buzzer win, knocking Sonar and Coupé below her in the ranks. Blazer had asked for his choice, insisting it would send a message. Robert argued that the team sabotaging each other just showed that everyone on the team wanted to stay. Blazer had sighed, understanding his point. How could the Phoenix Program show it was effective if they cut people before getting a proper chance?
After his meeting with Blonde Blazer, he gathered the Z-Team in the conference room that doubled as weaponized scent torture, and told them the news. The tension in the room broke with a cheer from Malevola and Prism.
Sonar and Coupé in particular seemed to droop in relief. Sonar eyed Robert thoughtfully, having heard the conversation he had with Blonde Blazer. He had never had anyone stand up for him like that before.
The Z-Team wanted to drink in celebration, offering for Robert to join them. He had passed, wanting to stay late at SDN to work on the Mecha Man suit.
After Robert left the room, Malevola nudged Sonar’s shoulder. “What’s up, babes? You’re thinking real hard over there.”
Sonar shook himself out of his thoughts and addressed the room, “Blonde Blazer didn’t change her mind, he went in there and fought for us.”
“You’re serious?” Prism asked doubtfully.
Sonar nodded, “I know what I heard. She asked him to pick and he didn’t want to.”
“Guess the lad’s not a snitch after all.” Punch Up said with a shrug.
Sonar brushed his thoughts aside, “Yeah guess so. Let’s get trashed about it!”
A collective cheer went up.
Robert paused at his desk when he heard it, a small smile on his face.