Archive of Our Own

Robert had learned to recognize the subtle change in the atmosphere when Courtney entered a room while holding her breath, allowing him to set the scalding hot cup of coffee in his hand down a second before she materialized in the breakroom next to him.

He knew she'd just come from the infirmary, hoping that this round of physical tests would be the last and she'd finally be cleared to be dispatched on any calls, without restrictions. The look on her face gave him a good idea of how it had gone.

"Shit, I'd ask how it went with medical, but I think I can guess."

She shoved the form she was holding into his hand. "Cleared for 'restricted duty, at dispatcher's discretion.' Whatever the fuck that means."

"It means no calls where shit has a good chance of going sideways."

"That's most calls, this is bullshit," she leaned into him, gliding her fingers over the back of his neck. "Of course, it does say 'at dispatcher's discretion.'"

"And your dispatcher is emotionally invested in your well-being, and isn't about to take any chances on you setting back your recovery, or getting hurt again." He caught her hand and kissed it lightly.

"My dispatcher should remember that I know where he sleeps." Courtney pouted. "Besides, aren't you worried that people will think you're giving your girlfriend preferential treatment, sending me on easy calls?"

"I would be, if I thought that anyone would believe my girlfriend wanted easy calls." Robert said with a shrug. "I know you're frustrated, but this isn't permanent. You've been waiting to get back in the field, at least you've made it this far."

"Getting a kid's balloon out of a tree and picking up coffee orders barely counts as being back in the field."

"No balloons in trees, actually. Nothing that involves climbing." Robert corrected. "Actually, coffee orders might be too dangerous, unless it's iced coffee."

His admittedly weak attempt at humor clearly didn't land.

Courtney let out a frustrated groan, sucked in a breath, and vanished before storming out of the breakroom, checking Robert with her invisible shoulder as she went.

"What the hell was that?"

That time, he did spill his coffee, narrowly avoiding getting it all over his shirt.  "Jesus, Chase. You scared the shit out of me."

Chase hovered behind him, having floated in without making a sound thanks to the borrowed amulet. "Yeah, yeah, Mandy said she's gonna put a bell on me or something. Can't even let me have a little fun with it. Now what was all that about, you making stupid jokes when your girl was clearly upset?"

"Since when do you take her side?"

"Since I can understand where she's coming from. Not be able to do something you love, or that you've worked hard for, it really fucking sucks. Temporary or not. You should be able to understand that too."

Robert let that sink in for a moment. "Oh. Shit, yeah, I didn't really think about that. I was just trying to help her see that it's a temporary setback."

Chase gave him a classic you're an idiot look. "For fuck's sake, kid. Despite all evidence to the contrary, your girlfriend is a grown-ass woman. Her being upset isn't a problem you need to solve, unless she asks you to solve it. Otherwise, you just shut the fuck up, listen to her when she needs to let some shit out, and then do whatever it is you do to help her chill out a little. You don't always have to fix everything."

"That's kind of my thing," Robert said. "But I get what you're saying. Even if it is a little weird to have you giving me advice on not fucking things up with Courtney."

"Hey, I might not understand what you see in her. But I see the way you two look at each other. She makes you happy, that's all I need to know. Now enough sappy shit, where's Beef? I got a new toy for him, he's gonna love it."

________________

Throughout the first shift, Robert considered Chase's advice. All jokes aside, fixing everything really did feel like his whole thing. 

He hadn't fixed Courtney, of course. She hadn't needed fixing, she'd needed someone to support her and give her a chance. 

If anything, she'd fixed him, parts of him that he'd shut off for so long he hadn't even realized they were broken. She trusted him enough to let him see her, to love her in a way that he hadn't known he was capable of, and to love him just as deeply.

Which was why seeing her so upset and not trying to solve it just felt wrong.

The entire shift dragged by, with a low volume of calls. Despite his best efforts to find something for Courtney, the majority of the calls they did get were too risky for a hero still recovering from an injury.

Another kaiju wreaking havoc on the beach, a wannabe supervillain taking hostages at the grand re-opening of a newly rebuilt hotel, a potential biohazard at the refinery, nothing that he could justify sending her to. The best he could do was send her on a couple coffee runs and other menial errands.

And to make matters worse, her bad mood seemed to be affecting the rest of the team. All of them, whether it was out of frustration at the continued extra work, some twisted sense of solidarity, or just bad vibes, were getting on his last nerve. Even Waterboy talked back a couple times.

Meanwhile, Courtney had taken to skulking around the bullpen, clearly desperate for some way to pass the time. He could sympathize, of course. Despite the image she tried to project, he knew how much her work with the Z-Team meant to her, and he could easily understand that being back at SDN but not being able to work freely alongside the rest of the team had to be some kind of torture for her.

Still, just because he could sympathize didn't mean he could ignore the effect her boredom and frustration were having on everyone around her. 

Clearly, an attitude check was needed. He was just going to have to help her find a way to get some of that energy out.

________________

As she passed the storeroom near the stairwell, the door suddenly swung open and a hand reached out, grabbed her wrist and pulled her in. The door closed and she found herself pushed against the other side of it. Fight or flight started to kick in before she recognized the body pressing into her and she raised her fist, only for Robert to grab it and pin her hand to the door.

"Asshole," she hissed, squirming against him futilely. "What the hell?"

"You need to calm down," he murmured; leaning in close to speak right against her ear.

"That's kind of difficult when some idiot suddenly attacks me and pulls me into a dark room," she continued struggling until she felt him press hard against her.

Emphasis on hard.

"You're not going to get away from me," he rasped against her ear. "But feel free to keep trying."

Irritation quickly gave way to confusion, then surprise, then to excitement.

"Robert, are you serious?"

"About getting you to relax a little? Absolutely." He pulled her away from the door and towards the back of the room, leading her down the last row of shelves until they reached the far wall. His lips crashed against hers in a demanding kiss. 

She couldn't believe it. All the different strategies she'd been working on to break through his incredibly frustrating self-control, and all she actually had to do to goad him into fucking her at the office was be miserable and sulky about being on restricted status? 

Robert broke the kiss, breathing heavily. "Face the wall, put your hands on it and spread your legs," he whispered roughly.

Even in the mostly dark room, she could see the look on his face clearly, and it sent a pang of arousal straight to her core. She was already wet and he'd barely even touched her. It would have been embarrassing if he hadn't looked every bit as turned on as she was feeling.  

Shrugging out of her jacket, she let it fall to the floor, then undid her pants and pushed them down, kicking one leg free as she followed his instructions, bracing herself against the wall and swaying her hips towards him invitingly.

"Good girl," he stepped behind her, roughly forcing her legs further apart. His lips attached to the back of her neck, sucking lightly where he knew she was most sensitive. She knew he felt her shudder at the first touch of his hands to her waist, sliding up under her top to tease her nipples through the thin fabric of her bra. He leaned in close to her ear. "Is this okay?"

Damn if he didn't know how to make her heart flutter in the most unexpected ways. Even when he was taking control, he never failed to make sure she felt safe. 

"Are you kidding?" She did her best to keep her voice even. "Yes, this is so much more than okay. I'm expecting to wake up any second now, I can't believe you're actually going to fuck me at work."

"Like I said, you need to calm down. You're stressing everyone out."

"Oh, this is totally professional? You're just taking one for the team?" 

He bit down lightly on her earlobe. "No, that's what you're going to do."

"Shit, I walked into that one," Courtney laughed breathlessly, unable to resist trying to rile him up more. "So you're not getting anything out of this?" She punctuated the question by grinding back against his still-covered erection.

His hand came down on her ass, sharply enough that she knew it would leave a mark. "I get to fuck you so hard you're going to feel me inside you for the rest of the day."

A soft, surprised moan escaped her lips. He was undoing her way too easily. "And you think your dick is going to cheer me up? Make me feel all better?"

"I've never heard you complain before."

Hearing the clinking of his belt buckle, she turned her head to watch him unzip his pants and work them down just enough to pull his thick cock out of his boxers, running his hand up the length. No matter how many times they were together, seeing him prepare to take her never failed to get her excited.

She had to bite her lip to stifle her moan when he pressed himself against her lower back. One hand held her waist, steadying her while the other traveled down over her abdomen, pushing her panties to one side and moving lower, until his fingers reached her entrance and slid inside without any resistance.

"Jesus, you're already soaked," he groaned before sucking in a deep breath. "Is that just from me grabbing you?"

"S-shut up," she gasped out, struggling against his firm grip on her waist to grind down on his hand, desperately seeking more friction. He just held on tighter, fucking her with his fingers at the same achingly slow pace, the wet sounds echoing off the shelves surrounding them.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's not like I didn't already know all that talk about you being the pegger was just a front."

Her retort died in her throat when his thumb pressed hard on her clit. Not that there was any point in arguing. He knew her mind and body so well already, just a few months into their relationship.

He sank his teeth into her shoulder, hard enough to leave a mark. "Tell me what you want."

"I need more. I need your cock inside me." 

"Soon," he promised. "I want to make sure you're ready for me, for what I'm going to do to you."

"Fuck," she breathed out. The anticipation was making her dizzy. She rode his hand shamelessly, squeezing around his fingers. Her eyes fluttered shut as he hit the perfect spot inside her, just as his teeth grazed the pulse point on her throat. 

Just as she could feel herself starting to get close, his fingers slipped out of her, only to be replaced before she could protest by something considerably larger. He pushed into her with one snap of his hips and immediately set a brutal pace, his cock stretching her out over and over. His hand jerked from her waist to cover her mouth just in time to muffle her ecstatic cry.

"Normally I love how loud you get," he whispered, rocking his hips against her. "But we don't need the whole building to know what we're doing." The fingers that had been inside her moments before now moved to rub her clit in time with his thrusts.

She moaned into his hand, the sensation of being filled by him made even more intense by the feeling of being completely under his control, knowing that she could trust him entirely. She eagerly met his thrusts, taking his entire length.

"Fuck, yes, that's it," he growled. "You feel so good around my cock."

Every word he said went straight to her core. Her fingers flexed against the wall in front of her, seeking some kind of stability as he began fully pounding into her, the slap of his hips against her ass growing louder. He was hitting every sensitive spot inside her effortlessly, drawing screams out of her that his hand barely covered.

His pace, the force of his thrusts, it was all almost too much. If she hadn't been so wet that her thighs were slick, it would have been painful. This was a side of him she'd only seen hints of before. She was used to him pinning her down carefully, whispering absolutely sinful things in her ear while he moved inside her slowly, building her up to a powerful release and then holding her through it. His dominance had always been quiet, measured.

He'd been holding out on her.

"Harder," the word was muffled by his hand still firm over her mouth, but he understood anyway, and gave her what she was asking for readily. She spread her legs wider and arched her back, gasping when the shift caused the tip of his cock to graze her cervix on a particularly deep thrust. The slight sting of discomfort intertwined with the pleasure he was giving her, driving her closer to the edge.

"Is this how you want it?" Robert whispered against her ear. He sped up even more when she nodded, moaning roughly. "It's going to drive me crazy all afternoon, knowing I'm sending you out on calls with my come inside you, dripping out of you."

If her mouth hadn't been covered, she would have asked him how he expected to send her on calls after fucking her so hard that she felt like she was on the verge of passing out. Instead, she just rolled her hips back against him, squeezing his cock inside her. He cursed under his breath, then slid his free hand up under her shirt to her breasts, firmly cupping one, then the other, pinching and rolling her nipple between his fingers.

He was grunting with every deep stroke into her cunt, clearly completely lost in her body enveloping him. "Such a good girl for me, letting me take you like this."

She wrenched her head to one side, shaking his hand off her mouth. As much as she loved how vocal he was, letting him have complete control without pushing back was out of the question. She prided herself on knowing just what to say to make him let loose. "Don't stop, please, it's so good." 

His chest pressed against her back, hard enough for her to feel his heartbeat as he bit down on her shoulder again, stifling his groans that were getting louder with every thrust. Grabbing his wrist, she pulled his hand from under her shirt and guided it back between her thighs. Every nerve in her body seemed to come alive as soon as his fingers pressed her clit. She was close, so close-

All at once, he pulled out of her and flipped her around, pinning her back to the wall.

"What the fu-"

He cut her off with a kiss, panting hard against her lips. "I want to see how beautiful you look when you come." With that, he lifted her up, urging her to wrap her legs around him before he slid back into her soaked cunt. 

Even in the middle of fucking her senseless, he couldn't help but show that sweet side of himself. It only made her buck against him more fervently, craving the closeness with him that she felt whenever they came together. Her hands tangled in his hair, holding on as he scattered kisses over her face, her throat, her breasts. 

"You're so perfect, so fucking hot and wet," his hips began to stutter, a sure sign that he was as close to coming as she was. "I can't get enough of you."

His hand covered her mouth again, stifling her cries as she felt the first pulses of her orgasm building. Pressed so tightly between the wall and his body, she could feel the perfect amount of friction on her sensitive clit just by rocking her hips to meet his thrusts. 

This was better than any dream or fantasy she'd ever had about having sex with Robert at the office, as detailed and vivid as her imagination was when it came to him. She clutched at his shoulders, digging her nails in, starting to vanish and reappear every time he slammed into her. The heat pooling inside her began to spread, growing stronger with each passing second. 

He moved his hand away to kiss her just in time to muffle her scream when she tipped over the edge violently, almost sobbing from the intensity. Her walls clenched so tightly around him that she could feel him twitch inside her as he neared his own end.

She wrapped her arms around him as she came down from her high, running her hands up and down his back. His head dropped against her shoulder, his breath hot on her skin, his thrusts getting shorter and sloppier until he finally reached his peak with a low, shuddering moan of her name. She felt his cock throb deep in her core with every pulse of his come that shot into her.

The air was thick with the smell of sex as they both caught their breath, clinging tightly to each other. Courtney managed to speak first, barely able to form a single thought.

"Holy shit," she gasped out, the force of her orgasm still making her shiver. She carded her hands through Robert's hair, pulling his face up to hers for a kiss. Even as he pulled back to look her over, she kept her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, not ready to let him go.

"Are you okay?"

She exhaled a short, breathy laugh. "Okay? Robert, seriously, there's no way you missed how hard I just came. That was incredible."

He relaxed against her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "As long as I didn't hurt you."

"You didn't, stop worrying. You're right, I have no complaints about our sex life. But now that I know what you're like when you don't hold back, I'm going to need to see that side of you more often."

"Yeah?"

"Fuck yes, I'm talking twice a week, minimum."

"I think that can be arranged." He held her waist and slowly pulled out, adjusting her panties to cover her again before setting her on her feet.

Courtney leaned against him while she pulled her pants up, not trusting her legs to hold her up just yet. "So you're really going to send me out on calls like this?"

He shrugged, letting go of her with one hand to tuck himself back in and pull his pants up. "Do you feel better?"

"Yes, fine, I'll admit I'm in a better mood now. But I'm not sure I can walk, you were fucking feral."

"Then I guess it's a good thing you're only going out on easy calls," Robert said, handing her jacket to her. He pulled her close again and kissed her with none of the ferocity that he had shown minutes before. Sweet and slow, the kind of kiss that always made her feel warm. "And I'm sorry that I was an idiot earlier."

She smiled at that, giving him a gentle push with her elbow. "Yeah, you were. But you were just trying to help, in your own idiotic way. And I do know this is only temporary." 

"It is," he brushed her hair out of her face. "But it still sucks, I get that."

"Yeah it does," she leaned up to kiss him once more. "You'd better leave first. I'll wait a few minutes and sneak out once I can catch my breath enough to hold it." With that, she gently pushed him away and leaned back against the wall.

__________________

Returning to his desk for the second shift, Robert stopped by Chase's cubicle to steal Beef back, knowing that it was pointless and the dog would return to Chase for more spoiling the moment he set him down.

"You work things out with Visi, get her to chill the fuck out a little?"

"Yeah, I think so. And thanks, you were right. I didn't need to fix anything, I just needed to be there for her."

Chase looked up from his computer, his eyes narrowing as he took in Robert's appearance. 

"What?" He'd done his best to clean himself up and look like he hadn't just fucked his girlfriend into oblivion fifteen minutes earlier, but now it seemed like his best hadn't been good enough.

"Nothing." Chase turned back to his screen, muttering something under his breath about needing to be more specific, and something else about where the fuck was HR when you needed them.