A Curious Robot

(Carter POV)

The dust from the battle had barely settled when the Teen Team landed in front of us. Their arrival was marked by the sharp clang of metallic boots hitting the pavement. 

The sky was still thick with smoke from the initial invasion, and the remnants of Flaxan forces littered the ground around us. Mark was breathing heavily beside me, his slightly torn and singed suit, but his eyes were filled with the triumph of our victory.

But that victory felt somewhat hollow to me. It wasn't the weight of what I'd done in the Flaxan dimension, of the lives I'd ended; nothing gnawed at the edges of my mind. It was more like dissatisfaction, but I shook off the feeling. I had more pressing concerns.

Robot, the team's leader, approached first. His metallic frame moved with a precision that bordered on eerie, the soft hum of his servos barely audible over the distant sounds of the city in ruin. His green eyes flickered as he scanned the battlefield, processing the carnage left in our wake.

"Impressive work," Robot said, his synthetic voice neutral. "I estimate you and Mark neutralized over ninety percent of the invasion force. Flaxan forces are retreating or are already rapidly aging, and the remaining portals are collapsing. No need for us to engage."

"Yeah, no thanks to you guys," I muttered under my breath. I was slightly dissatisfied by the fact that it took them so long to get here, which may have been a bit unfair, but teleportation technology does exist in this world.

Robot's head tilted slightly as if he had heard, but he didn't respond. Instead, he turned to the rest of his team. "Secure the area. Ensure no Flaxans remain. Atom Eve, Rex Splode, Duplikate, spread out. We don't want any stragglers."

Rex Splode, never one to miss a chance to get the last word in, grinned as he shot a look my way. "You know, if you guys keep cleaning up before we get here, we're gonna be out of a job." He tossed a small, glowing sphere into the air, letting it explode into harmless sparks for emphasis.

"Nice to meet you, too, Rex," I replied, forcing a smirk. He was cocky and obnoxious, but he was also damn good in a fight, and we both knew it.

Atom Eve, however, wasn't as amused. She floated down beside us, her expression concerned. Her eyes swept over the battlefield, then lingered on me.

"Are you two okay?" she asked quietly, her voice tinged with worry. You look tired."

I glanced at her, caught off guard by her question.  Honestly, it felt strange to have someone even slightly worried about me. The only other person who did was Wayne, but I was quite literally multiple multiverses away now.

"I'm fine," I said, brushing it off. "Just a long day." Mark just shrugged as he began looking for stragglers while muttering something about how it's always me or something?

Eve didn't look convinced, but she nodded, respecting my silence. "If you need to talk, I'm here."

"Thanks," I replied, more out of politeness than anything else.

As the team spread out to secure the area, I stood beside Robot. Despite his calm demeanor, I could almost sense the calculations running through his mind. 

The guy was always thinking three steps ahead, planning for contingencies and predicting outcomes. It made him a great leader, but sometimes, I wondered if he even remembered what it was like to be human, given that he has nearly a brain and a jar with a meat suit that is quite literally the definition of dysfunctional.

"You didn't just destroy the portals, did you?" Robot asked suddenly, his voice low enough that only I could hear. "You went through them."

I stiffened. Of course, he would have figured it out. Nothing got past Robot. "Yeah, I went through. They were stronger and more than I had expected. I couldn't take the chance that they'd come back."

Robot's gaze fixed on me, his eyes glowing faintly. "And what did you do once you were there?"

His question hung in the air, heavy and unspoken. He wasn't just asking about the battle; I could tell he suspected more. Maybe it was the way I was carrying myself, or maybe he'd caught a hint of something in the data he was always processing. Either way, he was fishing, and I wasn't about to bite.

"I did what I had to do," I said, my voice flat. "The portals won't be reopening."

Robot studied me briefly, then nodded as if accepting my answer, though I could tell he wasn't entirely convinced. "Understood. The mission objective was achieved, and Earth is safe. That's what matters."

"Yeah," I muttered, more to myself than to him. "That's what matters."

The conversation ended as quickly as it began, with Robot walking off to oversee the rest of the cleanup. I was relieved, but a part of me still felt uneasy. 

It was one thing to keep secrets from Mark; he was my brother, but he wasn't the type to dig deeper unless it was right in front of him. Robot, though, was different. He wouldn't let this go, not completely.

Shaking off the tension, I turned my attention to Eve, who was busy using her powers to repair some of the damage to the nearby buildings. Her energy constructs shimmered in the air, mending broken walls and sealing cracks in the pavement. It starkly contrasted with the destruction that had just occurred, a reminder that there was still work to be done.

I walked over to her, trying to push away the lingering thoughts of the Flaxan dimension. "You seem to be good at putting things back together."

Eve smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Someone has to be. You and Invincible are pretty good at breaking them."

I chuckled, appreciating the levity. "Fair point. This city needs someone like you. At least they'll probably thank you for saving them millions in taxpayer dollars."

She glanced at me, her expression amused. "We all do our part. Not all of us can shrug off lasers after all."

Before I could say anything, Robot's voice came over the comms. "All Flaxan forces have been neutralized. The area is secure. Good work, everyone."

Eve sighed, clearly unsatisfied with leaving things where they were, but she let it go. "We should head back. The GDA will want a debrief."

"Yeah," I agreed, though my mind was already elsewhere. I knew that returning to the base meant facing more questions and more scrutiny. The GDA would be watching, waiting for any sign of weakness or betrayal, especially after what happened to Dad and the Guardians.

Back at the base, the mood was tense. Mark had gone to check on Dad, leaving me alone with the Teen Team. Robot was busy debriefing the GDA, feeding them data from the battle, while Rex and Duplicate were already bickering about something trivial.

Eve, however, stayed close to me. She didn't say much, but her presence was comforting in a way I hadn't expected. It was like she knew I needed someone to be there, even if I wasn't ready to talk about what was really bothering me.

"Your Carter aren't you? she asked softly, pulling me aside as the others dispersed. 

I met her gaze. " Are you sure you should be asking this question right about now?" Eve simply leaned against the wall.

"Well, it's not exactly easy to meet up with you. You don't really talk to people much. You remind me of robot in that way." Her answer did little actually to answer the question, but before I could say anything more, she continued.

"It's not hard to identify you if you look close, but the costume is good. It hides every aspect of your face while also distorting your voice, and because I know that that's Mark in the other costume, it doesn't take Sherlock levels of intelligence to figure it out. So, do you still wanna have that talk?" 

So, looking her in the eyes, I answered, " I would mostly because I would like to understand how this hero thing works. It can't all just be busting bad guys, right? But in all seriousness, I actually do have a project for school due in a couple of days."

She actually started chuckling, which brought a small smile to my face. "Well, you've got yourself a deal, Mr. What exactly is your code name anyway?"

That was a good question. After she says that I immediately went into high-speed mode and began thinking of a name for myself as well. I'm not going to go out as a hero very often. I am going to need a name.

I began to walk in circles, thinking about a name I could use. I never really thought that I would really need one. 

But after a couple of minutes, which for her would've been nanosecond, I returned back to my original position and answered.

" Well, my rather overpowered friend, I was thinking of using Atlas." The name does seem to surprise her for a moment, but she nods to herself and begins to leave.

" Well, it's nice to put a name to the hero mask. I'll see you tomorrow at school, by the way, Carter. I hope your dad gets better." I give her a thankful nod, and she walks away. I am just going to go out on a limb and blame teenage hormones for the fact that I can't stop my eyes from looking downwards at her legs.

Then, I walked back to the hospital room, totally not thinking about anything else.