Not the right fit
Pairing: Z-team x gn!reader (platonic)
Warnings: cursing, gore, body horror, bullying (z-team style), maybe ooc characters? (first time writing for Dispatch, sorry)
A/N: I don't even know what this is, I just physically can't think of anything else besides Dispatch. So, enjoy this little something I've coughed up! Let me know if there's anything wrong, like with the reader not being ambiguous enough, be it gender, race or appearance wise! Should I write for Dispatch more? I have, like, tons of (maybe) cool ideas.
Next parts: part 2 part 3
Superpowers are an interesting phenomena. Some flashy, some nearly undetectable, some life-altering and others seemingly useless. One thing is for sure - they make the individual immediatelly more interesting. For superheroes, their powers are like their brand, they make them memorable, cooler than your average Joe.
"So...what is your power, exactly?" Visi asked, the skeptical tone in her voice hiding her cat-like curiosity.
"Oh! I thought somebody would have given you the rundown." your voice chirped over the comms.
You weren't exactly a newbie at the SDN. Well, for those who have been with the company for years, maybe. But you started a few months ago, and while your performance on missions wasn't bad for a starting superhero, Blazer had to move you into a couple new teams throughout the short time you were employed. 'Just to figure out where exactly you'll fit best' as she put it. You knew that wasn't really the whole story though.
Everyone at SDN has been nothing but polite and welcoming, and you had no personal problems with any of your former team members or dispatchers...but you weren't oblivious. Every time you entered a new team, it took a few weeks at most, before Blazer informed you that she needed to transfer you yet again. It's not like you held it against your teammates, they always said their goodbyes and wished you and your carreer well, but it would've been nice if they just told you that they were the reason you needed to move on to another team. That they were the ones to fill out the complaint form, because your powers made them uncomfortable.
You knew what your powers looked like, hell, they've been manifesting since your early childhood. It took you years to understand that the children around you weren't trying to hurt you when they sometimes broke into hysterics during the stage of your life when you didn't have as much control over your powers. You just hoped that adults, fellow heroes none the less, would be mature enough to not lie about their feelings towards you.
"It's a bit hard to explain..." you drifted off for a moment "I guess you could say I can create illusions."
Maybe, if you could keep your tone light and answers just precise enough, they would stop asking questions. But at that point, you didn't know just who you were dealing with.
Just like nobody informed the Z-team of just who you were, the announcement a short and general 'A new person will be joining you temporarily. We know there's enough people on the Z-team and we definitely do not want to seem like we are underestimating your capabilities. We just want to see how they work with different people before assigning them to a permanent position.', nobody really told you who you'd be working with, aside the information you had to Google yourself one night - the Z-team was actually a rehabilitation effort under the name The Phoenix program, that was trying to reform former villains.
The last time Blazer had to have yet another meeting with HR concerning your transfer, she sighed. She knew who you were. She hired you, after all. She knew you were smart, polite, kind and agile, practically the perfect candidate for a hero. While she knew the...nature...of your powers, she hadn't seen them in person. But still, she couldn't quite understand just why you seemed to not belong anywhere.
The Z-team was not her first choice when it came to the possible teams she could assign you to. It was supposed to be a part of a rehabilitation program. And when Robert brought on Waterboy and Phenomaman as well, it seemed like he had enough on his hands to deal with. God knows he doesn't need more stress in his life. But, maybe, a bunch of social rejects, who literally nobody else would survive working with was just the place where you could settle.
"Baby, we already have someone who does that." Prism pointed out, like she was correcting a mistake you just made. "Well, my powers are different than yours, of course..." you chuckled nervously.
"Different how?"
Shit.
You didn't reply immediately, brain short-circuiting as it scrambled to find the appropriate answer. One that would not dive into too much detail, hopefully. "Uhm, ah, I can...make people see stuff, kinda..." you decided on, after you realised that maybe you have been silent for a beat too long. "So, like, you make people hallucinate?" Sonar piped up. "Yeah, something like that." you nodded your head, even though none of them could see it.
"Seems pretty cool." Visi ended the conversation, before it was time for each hero to venture out to their respective missions.
If you could just lay low, and not stand out to the others, you could stay here for longer than a month, you thought. Not getting in their way at work and avoiding them outside of it was easy enough, but it would also mean only doing solo missions, which you were not sure your dispatcher, whose name was Robert, if you remembered correctly, would be too pleased about.
"Hey, uhm, Robert?" you called out, unsure. "Yep?" a smooth, deep voice replied to you. You took a deep breath, making sure the mic wouldn't pick it up, before continuing "Could I...have a request? Of sorts?" You hated how meek you sounded. But how do you go about asking your dispatcher to not pair you up with your teammates, when they're right there, listening to every word? "Uhh, sure? Depends on what it is." the man replied, seemingly as unsure as you. He was waiting for you to ask something really stupid, or make the whole thing into a joke at his expense, something that is a daily occurence in this team, but you didn't know that. And so you sucked up every bit of courage left in your soul and shot your shot.
"Could you not sent me on missions with the others?"
Well, that came out wrong. "What? You ashamed of working with us?" Flambae hissed, the voices of the others quickly joining him with similar statements. "No, no! I'm sorry, that came out weird, I just-" you sighed in frustration "When I use my powers, they don't affect only my target. They affect everybody who sees me. I think, to ensure the success of future missions, it would be best if I worked alone." you explained, as cordially as you could, though you didn't think it would make your new teammates reconsider taking your request personally.
"'To ensure the success of future missions', you're not that special, newbie." Flambae scoffed quietly. The team continued in their light hearted teasing for a while, before Robert suddenly answered, just when you thought your request had been dissmised "Well, if it makes you feel better, you can start out on your own."
This answer was not met with enthusiasm from the rest of the Z-team, Punch up loudly exclaiming "Why do they get special treatment?" with which the group unanimously agreed, before it turned into them asking your poor dispatcher for purposely absurd requests too. You barely got a 'thank you' in before Robert had to raise his voice to get everyone to calm down.
Your first shift with the Z-team was fairly uneventful. Maybe Robert took pity on you, you did seem pretty nervous over the comms, after all, no matter how hard you tried to be nonchalant with the whole ordeal, but never the less, you only got sent out for minor errands and citizen struggles. Cat stuck in a tree, child lost in a busy part of town and not able to find their parents, stuff like that. The others seemed pretty happy about not having to 'waste their talents' on such menial tasks, and so they most left you out of their banter and teasing.
As you prepared to leave work in the locker rooms, Robert was on his way to interrogate a surprise meeting with Blonde Blazer. You seemed okay for a newbie and didn't cause any trouble, so far, Robert didn't have any problem with you, but that was exactly what made suspicion rise in his chest every time he heard you over the comms.
Mandy's eyes widened when Robert walked into her office, after knocking to make sure she wasn't in the middle of something. Luckilly for the dispatcher, Blazer seemed to be finishing up like most of the other workers. "Hello, Robert!" she smiled cheerfully, despite her wide eyes from him showing up unannounced "Is there something-"
"Okay, what's the deal with them." Robert crossed his arms over his chest and cut right to the chase. He wasn't mad, that much was clear, but Blazer knew immediately that not discussing your situation with him beforehand was not a smart move. Her mouth formed an 'o' shape, before the realisation reached her eyes and she sat back down in her chair. "How did their first shift go?" she asked tentatively.
"They did well. Their performance was great for the tasks they were sent out to complete and they didn't cause any trouble whatsoever. Which is exactly my point. Why did they get assigned to the Z-team?" he stared into the blond heroine's eyes as if he was trying to see her very thoughts. Blond Blazer sighed "Listen. I know you have enough going on with your team, and that you have established a comfortable dynamic with them. I also know how much effort that took." a small smirk grew on her face with that comment, Robert's own following suit "They've just had some troubles...settling in, let's say. I was thinking that maybe they'd do better in your team, than the others."
Robert's eyebrow quirked up at that "The others? How many times have they been transferred?" he asked carefully. "Not many, they haven't been here for too long." Blazer smiled, a hint of sadness in her voice. "Why did they need to be transferred multiple times in such a short time then?" the dispatcher pressed again. Mandy decided that Robert would definitely not let this go before she spilled everything she knew to him and clasped her hands together "Well, their other teams have filed a complaint to HR. With a request for a transfer. Every time." "So there's a behavioral issue..?" Robert continued, his voice uncertain, as if he found that hard to believe. The woman before him shook her head "No, no, they are great, it's just...we haven't found anyone here who was...comfortable...with their powers. Yet." she explained, voice low and careful.
Robert was silent for a second, before his voice reached Blazer's ears again "What could be so disturbing about illusions?" the man chuckled, but the sound quickly dissipated when his boss shook her head again. "It's not about the illusions, it's about what they consist of." she spoke softly. Pulling up her notebook, she showed Robert your file. "Their illusions have the power to strongly affect their targets' mental state. We've recorded a wide range of effects, from shock and dissociation to whole mental breakdowns and long term side effects. Though those are rare. I haven't seen them in action myself, but I can imagine that for some of their former teammates their powers might have been...hard to get used to." she finished her speech.
Robert's eyes scanned over the information on the screen. "And you thought putting them in the Z-team was a good idea, because..?" he drawled, eyes fixed on the computer in front of him. "Well, if they won't fit in the Z-team, they probably won't fit anywhere else." she tried to joke, but it sounded more desperate than anything "Besides, I know from experience you are good with challenges. 'Thought you might be getting bored a little with the daily bitch-jokes." she chuckled and patted Robert's shoulder, closing her laptop shut. Robert, however, didn't find her joke much amusing. Rubing the bridge of his nose with a sigh, he looked at Blazer again "And you thought throwing me into the deep end was the best course of action?" he sassed, to which the heroine nervously chuckled. "Yeah, in retrospective, that probably wasn't the best idea. I guess I just didn't want you going into all this with presumptions." The dispatcher only hummed, not forgiving her, but getting the idea. "What happens if the team wants them gone?" he asked his last question. Blazer froze in her movements, her half packed things shortly forgotten as she turned to her fellow hero "I honestly don't know. But if anyone can carve out a place for people who others don't really want to see, it's you." And with a single nod, Robert left Blond Blazer's office.
For the rest of the week, Robert continued sending you to similar missions as the ones on your first shift, focusing more on getting to know you a bit better and letting the rest of the team do the same. You didn't mind. You liked helping ordinary citizens just as much as you liked making shitty robbers and thugs piss themselves in fear. Besides, this was like getting paid for doing good deeds, without really putting in any work, and you wouldn't say no to that. Your stats were rising slowly, but steadilly, and it helped you not interact with the others too much.
The rest of the team noticed, of course. And while they were glad they didn't have to go help a senior cross a busy road or sort out teenagers, who decided getting shitfaced in the middle of the day at the mall was a great idea, they were curious about their new teammate. Robert tried to tell them as politely as possible that he was just letting you get to know the team's dynamic, before shoving you into complicated missions, but, as they liked to do, they ignored all of that. Instead, they gently, or sometimes not so gently, bullied you for being a newbie, who probably couldn't get a punch in if they tried, and that you thought too much of yourself, much to Waterboy's delight, even though the nervous man never participated in the team's prolonged teasing.
It was an early evening towards the end of the week, when Robert got a call from a warehouse security officer, who wanted help warding off a couple of shady looking people sniffing around the place. The dispatcher assured the officer that he would send somebody over right away, before you heard him call out your hero name. "I'm letting you handle this one." he simply said and you could swear you heard a smug smile in his voice. "Damn, scaring off some dumbasses sounds really nice." Sonar, who was on cool down in his mega bat form, sighed dramatically. "You sure you wanna assign this to the newbie?" Punch up asked, as if bewildered that Robert would tell the 'kitten savior' to scare someone off. "I'm sure they can handle thsemself just fine." Robert reassured him over the comms, feeling the beginning of a headache forming at the back of his skull.
"I doubt that." Flambae and Invisigal piped up almost at the same time, before bursting out laughing. Robert let them have their fun for half a minute, before snapping at them to shut up. "I wanna see what they can do." Mal thought out loud and Coupé joined in "It'd be about damn time." Robert only sighed, one hand coming up to rub at his temples "Okay, enough of you all. Are you ready?" his voice then turned to you again and you could feel a smile growing on your face. "Already on my way."
While Blazer didn't seem to care much about seeing you in action, Robert wasn't about to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. When he saw that you had reached the warehouse, his fingers made quick work of the security cameras' protective measures. Je justified it to himself with an excuse about concern for your safety. It was your first bigger mission after all.
He watched you talk to the guard at the front gates of the warehouse. The man pointed you in a direction where he last saw the possible robbers in and offered you his flashlight, to which you simply shook your head politely. Robert's eyebrows furrowed as he switched the cameras, losing sight of you only for a few seconds before you stepped into the line of them again, tracing your steps like he was right there with you. It was maybe five minutes after you were just walking, posture relaxed and your pace not exactly hurried, like you were just taking a stroll through the park, before he noticed you straighten up.
"Everything okay?" he asked quietly, as to not startle you. He saw your hand reach up towards your earpiece as you carefully sidestepped closer to the wall of the building. Your voice came through soft, low, almost a whisper "Yeah, I see them. There's only three of them though. Should be no problem." you updated him on the situation and Robert switched onto the next camera to get a different angle of the hall you were in. Two men and one woman stood close to each other, talking quite animatedly, but in low voices it seemed, from their hunched backs and faces only short distance apart. From this angle, he could see that you were quite well hidden in the shadow cast by a nearby pile of goods stored in the building. "Try to wait until they split up. Take them on in groups." he advised softly, his brown eyes lazer focused on the scene before him. You agreed and after a minute or so, Robert reluctantly decided to check up on the others.
He checked up on Visi, Punch up and Waterboy, who were resting after their missions and then he moved to others, who were in action, just like you. Prism needed his advice on how exactly should she entertain the guests at some sort of event the hosts wanted a hero to show up at for a time. She, of course, didn't spare Robert a few comments about how he 'probably wouldn't know a thing about this stuff, being the hermit he is', but she wanted to ask if she should just sing some of her bangers, or if she should implement some crowd work as well. As soon as Robert was done settling on a nice middle ground with her, your voice crackled softly over the speakers "Alright, they split up. I'm moving in."
During the short time you've spent working with the Z-team, you got your bearings much faster than Robert would've thought. While you were very standoff-ish between missions and avoiding everyone on your lunch breaks, Robert was slightly surprised at the level of determination in your voice and the calmness with which you carried yourself. He wondered if, maybe, he went too soft on you. Quickly switching back to the warehouse cameras, he checked the situation. One of the men stayed with the woman in the very hall he had last seen you all in. The other man had left, standing outside at a hole cut in the fencing. A lookout.
You slowly, very slowly rose from the shadows, as if you managed to mould into them during the time you were hiding. Robert was glad he managed to switch back to see your powers for himself. If Blond Blazer was right, and Robert had no reason to doubt her, he was in for quite a show. But he had no idea that it'd already begun.
You stalked closer to the duo, leisourly, as if you had nothing to fear. 'The only thing to be afraid of in this room is you' you repeated to yourself in your mind as your heartbeat rose to the point you could hear it in your ears. The robbers didn't notice you immediately. It was the woman who noticed you first though, turning sharply towards you, catching the attention of her companion. Both of them tensed, hands ready to pull out whatever weapons they were hiding on them. You stood a few paces away from the duo, your voice ringing out clear and confident through the space, despite your throat going dry the moment you opened your mouth. For a split second you thought about just how much of hero work was acting.
"Something tells me you're not working overtime." You quipped, a smug smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. The two robbers didn't respond, their faces turning from surprise to determined frowns. "The guard is watching the cameras as we speak. He's probably calling the police already. I suggest you stay put and-"
The woman whipped out a gun from somewhere in her pocket, her hands slightly trembling as she aimed it at you, eyes furious and teeth clenched. Her partner followed her frantically, pulling out a decent sized knife, gripping it with white knuckles, although he didn't point it at you yet. "If you move a fucking muscle, I'll put more holes in your body that you're gonna make swiss cheese jealous!" she screamed and the smile you tried halfheartedly to suppress bloomed freely over your features. "We said we weren't gonna hurt nobody!" her partner nervously reminded her, although he raised his blade as well. "We're taking whatever the fuck we want and then we're out of here. You," she briefly looked to her accomplice and then back to you with a wave of the barrel "are gonna stay put." she gritted out. Robert watched as you didn't move a muscle, the smile on your face wilting into something more gentle. And you just shrugged. "Suit yourselves." you conceded.
For a moment, the two criminals spent stuffing whatever expensive enough they could find into their bags, pockets and wherever else they could fit it. Robert started to think that maybe this was a bad idea, that maybe you weren't actually going to do anything and he'd just end up with avoidable paperwork he'd have to fill because of a mission gone wrong.
And then the air slightly wobbled.
He could faintly see it on the camera, the way the footage glazed over for a fraction of a second, before the woman who was doing a pretty lousy job of keeping an eye on you screamed. Robert couldn't hear what was going on through the cameras, but he could hear through your mic the wet snapping of bones being broken and joints popping out of their sockets. At this point, the man looked away from his task as well, his mouth falling open as his eyes filled with horror. Robert could feel his heartbeat speed up frantically, and he hasn't even looked at you yet. Slowly following the criminals' line of sight, he was met with a grotesque scene.
There you stood, straight as a ruler, fingers twitching by your sides as your face changed shape in sudden, gruelling jerks. Your eyes widened, eyelids receding to the point where Robert had trouble recognizing them around your suddenly bulging eyes. Your pupils shrank to needlepoint size, piercing through the retinas of your targets, burning an image into their mind they'll likely keep seeing in their nightmares for a lifetime.
Your skin seemed to droop down, as if it melted off your face, your body trying to escape itself, what it was becoming. Your jaw popped and cracked as it moved lower and lower and then to the sides, bones giving in to your will alone. Inside your mouth, nothing but a dark abyss, a promise of what might happen if anyone makes the worng move.
Your neck seemed to elongate slightly, vertebraes popping lowly with the stretch, your muscles groaning. Back hunching slightly with sickening cracks, your limbs twisting like snakes, each one in a different direction. Robert had to remind himself to breathe, that it was just an illusion, that you were completely fine, still the same you he saw briefly in the mornings with a cup of instant coffe. He had to remind himself that he was safe, that he wasn't the target of the horror incarnate in front of him on the screen.
The woman dropped her gun and the man beside her began screaming. Your smile, stretched wide and thin, but still present, only seemed to grow, the corners of your mouth splitting, tendrils of dark, blood like substance leaking from the small wounds. You made a few slow, unnatural steps towards them, your legs bending in a way no limb should ever do, arms slowly reaching out towards your victims. The two stared into your mouth as if transfixed, cold sweat visible on their foreheads, only managing small steps backwards while you gained in on them slowly.
The man kept screaming, the woman beside him joining him with her own wailing, their weapons and stolen goods forgotten. And still, you continued on. Closer, closer, step by agonizing step, the wet sounds of tissue tearing everpresent. A dark spot grew over the man's pants and his hands trembled violently. And you laughed. A low, reverberating, distorted laugh, that had Robert's heart jumping in his chest, his breath hitching.
But it was like your disgusting laughter was just the thing he needed to snap back into the moment. "Hey, that's enough!" he quickly reminded you over the comms, voice maybe louder than it needed to be. He just hoped he didn't sound as shocked as he was.
And it was over. Just like that.
You reached your completely normal human arm to your earpiece, the other wrapping around yourself, just as the first police officers made it onto the screen, looking more than a little confused at the scene in front of them. "Shit." you hissed, your voice a little panicked "You saw all that?"
Robert swallowed as he tried to calm his still thrumming heart. "Yes. I was watching from the beginning." his eyes zoned in on your face and he could see you turn rigid at his admission. "I wanted to be sure you were safe out-" he wanted to explain, but you ripped the earpiece out and turned it off, taking a few moments to look at it, before turning to face the camera Robert was watching. After that, one of the officers got your attention and started settling the situation out with you. Robert closed the camera view.
You didn't talk to him after that, only turning your mic on to briefly say "The police has all three suspects. Mission successful. I'm heading back." and turning the earpiece off before anyone could say anything. Waterboy stuttered out a 'good job', even though you couldn't hear him anymore, Flambae joining in with a "Huh. I honestly didn't believe kitty-savior could do it.", some of the others joining in with their own faux surprised comments.
You spent your cool time alone, stashed away somewhere the rest of the team couldn't find you. Robert sat at his desk, staring at his computer blankly, his brain still trying to wholly process the ordeal his curiosity got him exposed to. Beef, awakened from his nap by his owner's stillness, was pawing at him with soft whines leaving his tiny snout. Robert didn't even notice Gallen passing by his desk, then stopping to double check what he was seeing, before he felt a careful tap on his shoulder "Hey man, you good? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Yeah. Maybe he did.
