Chapter Text
"Look," Cecil had explained, "I know that nobody particularly likes babysitting. I don't know who else can handle a couple of superpowered teenagers, though. You're the best man- well, robot, for the job. So, what do you say?" By the expression on his face, Robot could tell that Cecil was expecting him to know the answer he wanted to hear. Cecil's weary eyes and slumped posture showed that he was a man at the edge, as always, and these kids weren't helping in that regard.
He understood the concept of leverage, which made being owed a favor or two from the GDA a tempting prospect, so he just nodded and agreed, "I suppose you're right. I'll keep an eye on them."
"You don't know how much this means to me," Cecil said as he clapped Robot on the shoulder and then turned away to leave. As Cecil left after first dropping them off, Robot analyzed his new charges carefully.
Eve was still standing there, smiling politely, hands held at her sides. Rex, however, had already abandoned any pretense of decorum and gone over to one of the tables. He hoisted himself up to sit on it, then leaned back. As he did, he pushed things out of the way. Robot sighed in barely-contained frustration as something fell off with a loud clang.
He could already feel the order of his laboratory, a sanctuary of logic and reasoning, begin to fray. That didn't mean he wouldn't try his best to preserve it, though. "So, while you are here," Robot began, "there will be a few ground rules."
Rex snorted, "Ground rules? What is this, kindergarten? You gonna make us take naps and give us juice boxes?" With disdain, he told Robot firmly, "We're not little kids, tin man."
"Technically," Robot looked directly at Rex, "you are both not fully developed yet. I've been assigned to supervise your activities until then."
Eve bristled as she asked, "So, what? You're gonna tell us what to do all the time?"
"That is not what I said," Robot assured her. "This facility is... delicate, which is my primary concern. It houses equipment and research that are crucial to... ongoing projects. I simply don't want to lose progress on my work due to unforeseen accidents," as he said that, his focus drifted back to Rex, who was still sitting on one of his work tables. The table itself was designed for immense pressure and high heat, but the bits of work that Rex sat next to weren't so durable.
"Okay, okay," Rex grumbled as he hopped down from the table, finally. As he did, though, he knocked more things out of place. "Where am I supposed to sit, though? And what the hell is there to do? There's no TV, no video games, just you and your..." Rex swept his gaze about, his expression a mix of boredom and suspicion, "creepy lab equipment."
Robot considered this. He hadn't exactly designed his space with the intention of entertaining company. His priorities had always been research and self-improvement, for which he didn't need things like comfortable seating arrangements or recreational faciltities to accomplish.
"There is a library," he offered, motioning to one of the doors. The library housed a vast collection of material, though it mostly related to his own interests in robotics and engineering. If they wanted to, they could look into it. He'd kept it meticulously organized for himself, so if they knew what they wanted, they'd have no problem finding it.
"A library?" Rex huffed incredulously, "I haven't read a book since grade school!"
'I can tell,' Robot thought to himself, but refrained from saying it aloud. "There is also a simulation room," he suggested next. It was the best he could offer on such short notice. "The scenarios are intended to be educational, but you may find them engaging." Robot hoped that would appeal to their need for physical entertainment.
"Does it have combat scenarios?" Eve asked, more interested.
Robot nodded to indicate that it did. "Yes, designed to test and improve your quick strategic thinking."
"I guess that's something," Rex grumbled. "Seriously, though, tin man, you've got to get some furniture in here. I know you're like, a creepy sentient robot or whatever, so I'll assume you don't know what relaxation is. Do you even have beds for us?"
"I- well..." Robot realized that the kid had a practical point, even if he was making it in the rudest possible way. He'd gotten so worked up about the possibility of property damage that he'd overlooked the need to figure out how to deal with their necessities. "I suppose I'll have to make arrangements for such creature comforts. Admittedly, I was not prepared for something like this. Besides beds and chairs, are there any other requests for furnishings?"
"We need a place to make food," Eve brought up, looking around the room for a natural place to put a kitchen. "Somewhere to sit and eat it would be nice, too."
"And can we please have a TV?" Rex's voice became almost whiny as he pointed out, "Sometimes, after a long day of saving the whole world, I just wanna unwind and watch some mindless entertainment. Is that too much to ask?" Rex asked.
Robot was taking note of the shift in atmosphere. They'd started out somewhat hostile, but he'd quickly placated them with the offer to update his facility to accommodate them. Maybe this wouldn't be as unbearable as he'd initially anticipated. He still had work of his own to do, but maybe he could keep them out of trouble without losing too much momentum on his projects. After all, with how smart he was, how hard could it possibly be?
Of course, he thought that, only to discover it was one of the hardest assignments he'd ever taken on. Rex needed guidance for his endless energy, and Eve also required someone to listen to her venting, to keep her mood stable as she continued to bicker with her parents.
Within a few days, just as the finishing touches were being made to their liking by the construction drones, Eve decided to return to her parents' home after all, even though her big argument with them had been the primary reason for the arrangement in the first place. They were adamant that Rex had to stay away though, so he remained with Robot. Eve still came by during the day, after she was done with school, but only stayed the night when she'd fought with her parents again. She weaved in and out of the lab like that.
Rex, though, became a permanent fixture. His case file had insisted that he was unmanageable, prone to outbursts and disobedience. He had a long list of previous minor infractions to prove it. Robot could see where that conclusion could be drawn, but thought that perhaps Cecil was being a bit harsh to make such firm declarations about it in writing. Rex wasn't even remotely malicious, he was merely a bit... exuberant. Loud, and impulsive, but he always had a reason for the things he did, even if it wasn't a very good reason. His boundless energy and often abrasive humor gradually filled the sterile facility with a strange sort of warmth.
He treated Robot's lab like his own personal playground, grabbing at and examining gadgets with a reckless curiosity that could be irritating at times. He left fingerprint smudges everywhere, and had accidentally blown up the parts he picked up more than once. The boy had also developed a habit of directing an endless stream of questions to Robot, which ranged from the mundane, ("Do you need to plug yourself in to recharge?") to the more existential, ("Have you ever been, like, sad?")
He tried to pry into what little of a personal life Robot might have, at times, but was usually given noncommittal answers, vague statements about programming and directives. Though, one time Rex asked, "So how come you don't work with any of the main hero groups, anyway? You're like, super strong and super smart. You'd be a major asset to any of them!" which gave Robot pause as he considered the question more thoroughly than most of the more personally intrusive ones. He'd always kept everybody at more than even a professional distance, lest they discover more than he wanted them to.
"I just prefer to work on my own," Robot decided to say, which sounded hollow even in his synthetic voice. "My objectives are... not something that I need assistance for."
"Guess it sucks being stuck with me, then, huh?" Rex questioned, looking down at the ground with an unreadable expression. His usual overbearing bravado had disappeared.
"Your presence is..." Robot paused, considering his next words carefully. He had to minimize the potential for miscommunication with what he wanted to convey. "Your presence is not without challenges. Your disregard for personal property is particularly noteworthy. The way you express yourself without restraint can be... taxing, at times."
Rex started to sulk, shoulders slumping down even more, but Robot wasn't done speaking just yet, "However, I have observed a capacity for improvement, as well as a growing sense of responsibility and willingness to accept consequences for your actions. Furthermore, your questions, while at times incessant and illogical, have prompted me to re-evaluate... certain aspects of myself. To consider perspectives that I would have otherwise overlooked."
Rex's gloom began to pass as he stared at Robot for a long moment in surprise, before a hopeful grin slowly broke out on his face. "So what you're saying is, you like having me around?"
"That is a... generous interpretation," Robot retorted, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the boy might be onto something.
"Whatever, I know what I heard. So, uh, do you want to watch a movie or something?" Rex asked next, the casual invitation betraying his desire for connection.
Robot considered the request. It was outside his usual routine, but... "Very well," he relented, the words coming without resistance, and joined Rex that night to watch a film.
Rex had chosen the movie because it had an explosion on the cover, but it turned out not to be an action-filled romp like he'd been hoping for. It was more of a suspenseful and dramatic thriller, and most of the film was about the intricate investigation to solve the mystery behind the one pivotal explosion on the front of the box. Robot found himself unexpectedly engrossed in the narrative, but Rex had gotten bored. He'd insisted that Robot sit down as well when it started, even though he didn't need to, arguing that it just made what they were doing feel more normal.
As the movie progressed, Rex swiveled in his seat to change positions. He wanted to lie down, but in doing so he ended up laying his head in Robot's lap. The smooth unyielding surface of Robot's legs turned out to be great neck support, surprisingly. When Robot didn't make him move right away, Rex settled in, and they continued to watch the screen. However, Rex did tense up in unease when he felt a cold metal hand begin to touch his head. He glanced up and noticed that instead of watching the movie, Robot was looking downward, directly at him. "What?" Rex questioned, "Do I got something on my face? What're you staring at me like that for?"
Robot snatched his hand away like he was embarrassed to be caught. "My apologies. I just thought it'd be easier for you to see the screen if your hair wasn't obstructing your vision," he explained a little too quickly.
Rex narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He'd already noticed before that, despite not being a human, Robot was capable of lying, and the impassive, unmoving state of his face made him especially good at it. Rex wouldn't be able to explain what tell he was picking up on, but he was pretty damn sure that in the moment, Robot wasn't telling the whole truth. Rex decided to sit up for the rest of the movie, then quickly excused himself to bed once it was done.
Over the next week, Rex was getting a bit of cabin fever. They hadn't been called upon in several days, probably the longest amount of time Rex had spent cooped up in one place. For once, the whole Earth seemed to be doing fine, which left him terribly bored. Restless, Rex started to wander around for something to do.
His aimless exploration found him at the end of a hallway that he'd never had reason to go through before. There, he found himself standing in front of a sealed, reinforced elevator door. He didn't see any buttons to make it open up. He'd briefly considered trying to force it open, but decided against that and turned away. Only to nearly jump into the ceiling as he discovered that Robot had been silently standing right behind him. For some reason, the sentient machine's energy seemed weirdly tense. "I don't want you in this area," Robot warned, "it's off-limits."
Rex glanced back at the elevator door, then to Robot. "Why? What's in there?" he asked suspiciously, with just a hint of challenge.
"What's in there," Robot said, in a measured tone that was surprisingly curt, "is none of your business. If you meddle further, you'll ruin everything. Do you understand that?"
To Rex's shock, without waiting for a response Robot seized him by the arm and physically dragged him out of the hallway, all the way back to his own room. The machine had gripped hard enough to leave faint bruising on Rex's bicep. That and the chilling intensity of Robot's warnings kept his curiosity at bay. So, even though he was sorely tempted to go back and find out what the big secret was, he never did. His sense of self-preservation had won out over the allure of the unknown for once.
Despite all the added stress, Robot found himself learning to adjust. He installed a state-of-the-art entertainment system, with a massive flat screen TV and a large comfortable couch. He'd designed and implemented not just a kitchen for the teens, but a shower as well, so that they could take care of all their needs. It ensured their comfort and well-being. He'd even started deliberately leaving some of his less-sensitive projects out on purpose for Rex to examine, subtly encouraging his inquisitive nature. It was better to let him tinker and poke around in a more supervised manner, lest he actually blow up something important.
Robot wouldn't admit to actually enjoying their company, but he no longer dreaded their presence. There were times he even caught himself anticipating their surprisingly witty and insightful banter.
The combat simulators became a hub of activity as well. Rex treated it more like a game, knowing that he could take risks within it that he couldn't while out in the field. Eve approached it with a more analytical mindset, using the opportunity to refine her control over her constructs. Both of their approaches left him... impressed. He began creating customized challenges based on their individual strengths and weaknesses, designed to push them to their limits. When they got sent out, he could see the improvements that they were all making, even himself. Not just as separate heroes, but as a team.
Even Eve brought up one evening, after a particularly rough mission, "You know, we actually work really well together."
"I know, right?" Rex replied proudly, then looked between the two as he suggested, "I think it's high time we came up with a team name!"
"A team name?" Robot asked. The idea had never occurred to him, though come to think about it, most teams did have a name they worked under, a label for their collective identity.
"I suppose you already have a suggestion?" Eve asked expectantly.
Rex nodded, his excitement peaking as he declared, "Yeah, and it's the best one ever! Teen Team!" while shaking his hands showily.
Eve tried to hide her cringe beneath a smile. "We're not going to be teens forever, Rex," she pointed out.
"We'll change it when that happens," Rex told her, then looked to Robot and asked, "What do you think?"
"I'm... not exactly a teenager, Rex," Robot told him. He considered if maybe he ought to start telling them some of the truth.
"Yeah, but you're a robot, so it doesn't really matter," Rex said with a shrug, and Robot decided against bringing up the complexities of his existence.
"I suppose so," Robot said flatly, then told them, "I'm okay with whatever the two of you can agree on." Try as she might, Eve couldn't come up with anything better, and they ended up going with Rex's suggestion, at least for now.
The weeks turned into months, blurring into a continual cycle of adaptation. Robot continued his research, and his young wards occasionally joined him on missions to gain more field experience. In fact, Robot found himself taking on more work than he had before, because Rex would get bored and practically beg for Robot to see if Cecil had anything to assign to them.
Keeping up with Rex became a major part of his life, in fact, and even then he faltered at times. Rex had started learning how to sneak around the facility, and around Robot, far better than before. Robot only became aware of just how good Rex had gotten at snooping around when the charges started to show up on a credit card he thought he had misplaced.
If Rex ever noticed the fact that there was a name on the card, he never bothered to bring it up. Robot didn't know how he would explain the discrepancy, so he never mentioned it either. Besides, Rex's expenditures were relatively modest. A nightly pizza, even if they were all added together, was far cheaper than anything Robot would purchase for himself.
However, that wasn't the extent of Rex's meddling. Robot was starting to suspect that sometimes Rex acted out in minor ways just to get a rise out of him. A misplaced gadget or tool, or rude scribbles along the margins of his notes. At first, he had been irritated, but when he thought about it, he realized that it was almost... endearing, in a way. It was a sign that Rex felt comfortable in his space.
One evening, after a particularly stressful mission, Cecil barely gave them a moment to rest at base before he was updating Robot on another attack at a nearby research facility. Robot had the information sent to a data pad so that he could show the details to the team, and then headed out to the common room to let them know before they got too comfortable. It sounded like they were just one of the teams that were being called upon, so hopefully it would be easy enough for them to get it out of the way.
When he walked in and saw what the two were doing on his couch, he dropped the data pad onto the ground and broke it in shock. The two had already managed to get undressed, and Rex was on top of Eve. Robot looked away before he could entirely take in what they were doing to each other. Eve squealed and tried to shove Rex off of her. "Stop! Robot just walked in, oh my god-" she covered her face as she started to blush.
"Come on," Rex murmured, as he kept kissing her neck. "He's just a robot, I bet he doesn't even know what we're doing," he tried to assure her.
"I am, in fact, very aware of what's going on," Robot told them, struggling to keep his gaze averted. "I don't approve of it happening on the couch, and I certainly hope you're using protection..."
"Ugh," Rex groaned, then grumbled sarcastically, "yes, dad, we use protection. Now, can you give us some privacy, man?" Frankly, Robot wasn't sure what else to do in this situation other than retreat. He'd seen them hold each other, even kiss a few times, and at their ages it should have been obvious there was more going on. But actually walking in on that was a whole different thing. It flustered him just as badly as it had for them, not that he could explain that to them.
Thankfully, Robot's intuition had been right about one thing. The research facility had been rescued by another team without much difficulty.
Disconcertingly, Rex seemed to take the fact that Robot didn't know how to handle this development as implicit permission to keep at it. More and more often, Robot felt like he had to tread carefully within his own facility so he wouldn't walk in on them. Eve was bashful enough that if she knew they'd been caught she'd at be mortified in the moment, but Rex... Robot had to consider if there was more to the exhibitionistic behavior than him just not caring. He had positioned them over the edge of the table so that Eve wouldn't notice right away when Robot walked in, and then he just wouldn't stop.
Instead, he'd looked over to Robot and grinned widely, as he kept rolling his hips into Eve's. Then Rex discreetly leaned forward and planted his hands against Eve's back so she would stay put and not notice they were being watched. Robot didn't want to say anything to startle her, and moving away would risk the same. At least, that's what he convinced himself to be true as he stood in place and silently observed the two for several moments. Eve groaned softly as she arched up into his touch. "Mmhmm, you're really pent up today, aren't you?" she cooed sweetly.
Rex nodded and grunted in affirmation as he lifted a leg to drive in harder and deeper. Both of them were even sweatier and more flushed than they'd been during the fight earlier. Robot didn't know who he was more jealous of. Rex glanced over at him again and fucking winked. Shocked out of his lull, Robot turned and fled.
"Shit, was that Robot again? I told you we shouldn't do this out here!" Eve exclaimed as she lifted herself up a bit to look at the door after it'd closed.
Rex chuckled dirtily. "Don't worry babe, he's already gone," he assured her as he reached around to touch her in a way that made her legs give out again.
Through her moans, she still insisted, "I'm serious though, we should really keep this to our rooms. It's just- ah, rude."
"Worry about it later?" Rex suggested. He hadn't stopped moving while they talked, so she could only gasp and nod in response. Their voices got tangled up in little moans as they ceased using words while they kept going. Robot didn't know why he was standing just outside the door to listen in on it, but he made himself scarce once they had finished.
One evening, Cecil showed up out of the blue. Luckily for everybody, there were no extracurricular activities going on. The director looked around at the facility as he let himself in. The main lab had been converted almost entirely to a common area by then. Robot had moved most of his delicate instruments and experiments somewhere more hidden.
"It almost looks like things are going well," Cecil remarked to Robot with surprised satisfaction, "which is a damn good thing. I've got another superpowered kid on my hands, and I was hoping she could join your little 'teen team.'"
Robot considered the suggestion. It wasn't like he didn't have the room, and most of the groundwork for bringing in new people had already been laid for Rex and Eve. Maybe having a third member of the team, another (mostly) normal human like the two teenagers he was already watching, would curb their more impulsive actions within the facility. "I'm sure another pair of hands would be helpful during missions," he concluded.
"More than just the one pair," Cecil said with a knowing smile. "It'll make sense when you find out what she does. I'll drop her off in the morning." After he'd made that cryptic statement, Cecil left just as abruptly as he'd shown up. Robot could only hope that now he had experience with this scenario, the new girl wouldn't be quite as difficult to bring on.