Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Yelena took a seat at the table, surveying her team as they each ate breakfast, even Alexi, who slept in most days, was there, but one of the seats was curiously empty. “Has anyone seen Bob?” She asked before taking a bite of toast.

“He hasn’t been out of his room yet.” Bucky said, reading the morning paper like a dad.

“Is he okay? He’s usually one of the first ones out here?” A concerned look strewn across her face.

“I don’t know, Yelena. He doesn’t like me much.” John replied.

Ava scoffed, “No one does, but you’re still here.”

“I’m going to check on him,” The blonde widow added, “I’m worried.”

“He’s fine.” Alexi’s deep russian accent boomed, “He is big boy, he can take care of himself. If still not out after breakfast, then go check on him.”

She glared for a moment before standing and walking off towards his room. “Bob?” She knocked, “You in there?”

“Yeah,” His meek voice barely sounded through the door.

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah.” He repeated.

As she twisted the knob, Yelena noticed darkness pouring out from under the door, yet it steered clear of her feet. She opened it and started to walk through, void covered the entire carpet yet parted wherever she stepped. Sentry was curled on his side under his blanket, staring off into space. “Bobby?” Yelena knelt down in front of him, “What’s going on?”

“Just having one of my bad days I guess.” He gave her a weak smile. “And now my bad days have superpowers if I let them affect me too much. I figured it would be better to stay in here than to try and fight it with you guys around.”

“We have talked about this. You do better when you let us help.” She could see the darkness creeping up his neck from under the blanket. Carefully, she brushed some of the hair out of his face and behind his ear and was able to see it retreat slightly.

“You shouldn’t have to.”

“We don’t have to. We’re your friends and want to help.”

“I’m not friends with Walker.”

“Ok, everyone but John.” She laughed and he smiled a bit. “Well, there we go.” She ran her fingers through his hair again and watched as the darkness retreated some more.

“Yelena!” John stood at the open door, “Valentina’s on the line, says it’s important.”

“Tell her I’m busy.”

“She said she won’t take no for an answer.”

“Well she better.”

“But-” SLAM. Bob’s hand was now out of the blanket as he used his newfound abilities to shut the door.

“That’s pretty useful.”

“I didn’t want to tell anyone, but I’ve been practicing little things like that.”

“Impressive. And you still feel okay after using them?”

He nodded and sat up. The darkness that seemed to cover his body retreated much faster now.

“Good. Maybe one day you’ll be able to use them fully while still being able to keep the Void at bay.”

“That’d be nice.” He smiled.

“Buuut, you can’t fight the void on an empty stomach.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him up, “Come on, let’s go.”

“I don’t know.” He sat stiff as a rock.

“Bob, come on. You eat and maybe I’ll help you figure out your powers.” He didn’t budge and she kept pulling, but to no avail. “Booooooob!”

He giggled and stood, letting her pull him into the kitchen.

Chapter Text

“Ok, Bob, even if you don’t want to use your powers, you should still learn to fight with that big muscly body of yours.” Yelena started. The two of them, along with Walker were standing in a triangle in a gym in the New Avengers tower. The smell was a concoction of new construction, rubber, and metal. Yelena was in a black sports bra and leggings, John in a tank top and shorts, and Bob was in a pair of baggy sweats and an old t-shirt Bucky lent him once and he never gave back.

“I don’t know about this,” He started, “I-I mean what if I hurt you?”

“That’s why John is here. He can take more than I can and he’s easier to hit.” She joked.

“You’re pretty hittable yourself, Yelena.” He growled back through gritted teeth.

“What I meant is you are a super soldier, bigger body, easier to hit.” She motioned dramatically to his shoulders. “Bigger surface area.”

“And I’d rather hit you than her.” Bob added, getting a glare from John to which he shyly looked away.

“Ok, ok. Enough with who is hittable and who isn’t. Walker, why don’t you show him how to throw a proper punch, and I’ll demonstrate how to block it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” John replied.

“Alright, watch this, Bob.” She instructed and he nodded small and quickly.

“Ok, first things first.” The faux Captain America started, “You never want to punch with your thumb clenched in your fist, always outside, ok? You’re gonna break your finger if you don’t.”

Bob did as he instructed.

“Good, now you’re gonna want to position your shoulder like this.” He raised his fist, getting ready to strike at Yelena.

Sentry took the same position.

“Elbow down, it’s too high.” Yelena said.

“Yeah, bring it down just slightly,” John grabbed his arm and gently coaxed it down. “Alright, and your hips should be turned slightly, too.”

“Ok, like-like this?” Bob looked down at his feet.

“Yes!” Yelena got excited, “Exactly like that!”

“Now bring your shoulders around and-” John demonstrated a slow punch and watched as Bob followed. “Good, now just-” He put his full strength into the next one, attempting to strike at Yelena when his hand stopped right before it contacted her forearm, just hovering in the air. “Bobby.” He said sternly.

“Sorry-sorry I didn’t mean to.” He looked down and released John’s hand.

“Hey, you’re okay, alright? That’s why we're doing this, to help you learn how to control it.” She assured him.

“Ok, let’s try that again.” The super soldier huffed, “Yelena, if you would.” She put her arms up again and struck her, not too hard, but tough enough to get his point across. “Now you hit me.” He said and turned to Bob before putting his arms up to block.

“W-What if I hurt you?”

“Just don’t hit me too hard, Bobby. I can take it.” He smiled. “I am a super soldier.”

“Ok.” He responded hesitantly, pulled back his arm and swung at Walker, sending him flying across the room, crashing into one of the weight benches. “Oh shit. Did-did I kill him?”

“No, he’s fine.” Yelena mumbled, “Right, Walker?” she yelled and he just responded with a thumbs up. “See, all good.”

“But-but he-”

“He’s fine.” She noticed him look away and flutter his eyes a little bit. “We’re here to learn, alright? That’s why you hit John and not me. He’s hittable, me, eh not so much.” 

Bob chuckled a bit, “Yeah.”

“Yelena, why don’t you take a crack at teaching him.” John said, slouching over.

“Sure. Bob, put your arms up.”

“Like this?” He brought his fists close to his face.

“Close, just a little higher, you want to protect your head.” She grabbed his wrists and pulled them up a bit. “Ok, now I’m going to throw a punch and you just keep your hands there, alright?”

He nodded.

“Ok, good.” She went to hit and her hand got stuck, just like John’s. “Bob, I’m not going to hurt you, I don’t think I can if I tried.” He nodded but her hand was still stuck, “I can’t move, Bob.” Her voice was a little more stern.

“She’s going to hit you.” He heard a voice whisper, “Just like dear old dad. You can’t have that, now can you?”

“Bob?”

“They just keep you around to keep an eye on you. They don’t care about you, about us. They’re just scared.”

“Bob, okay, we can stop now. This is starting to hurt a bit.”

“And now you’re hurting her, because you’re not the one this power was meant for. You were meant to fail, to die, but you held on for some god forsaken reason.”

“Bob!” She yelled before he felt a hard CRACK on his face. It didn’t hurt, but it startled him a bit as he looked to see who did it. John stood there, fist still raised slightly with a worried look on his face.

“John? Yelena?” He watched as she grabbed her wrist and started rubbing it, “What’s-what’s going on?” Bob laughed and smiled shyly.

“You don’t remember?” The widow asked and he shook his head. “Ok, let us call it quits then.”

“But I-I thought you were gonna teach me how to fight?” His face was a little upset.

“We tried that, you did that weird thing that you do.” John said.

“What thing?”

“The thing. Like when you zone out. That happened.”

“Did I hurt anyone?”

“No, Bob.” Yelena interjected.

“But that bench over there-”

“Okay, you didn’t hurt anyone, doesn’t mean you didn’t do anything. It’s fine.” She grabbed his arm and started walking out of the gym with him, “Best to not worry about it.”

“Walker, are you okay?” He turned around to see John walking behind the two of them.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He huffed, “I’ll walk it off.”

“I’m sorry, I-I didn’t-” He turned to Yelena.

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault. It was my idea. John and I knew the risks but we did it anyway. Now we know what not to do.”

“Are you-are you sure?”

“Yes, Bob. We knew we had a chance at getting our asses handed to us by you, it’s not the first time.” She laughed and he smiled a bit. “We can keep working on it if you want, but I think you should see your therapist again before we do. You meet with her what, tomorrow, the day after?”

“Tomorrow. I don’t really like it though.”

“No one likes starting therapy, but you. How about this, you talk to her a bit, we go do something fun afterwards and maybe we try again. How’s that sound?”

“I like that idea.” He nodded as the two made their way down the hall and to the elevator.

“Good, me too. Maybe I should try to get into therapy, again. I was in it for a while, but it all felt useless. It’d probably do me some good.”

“Yeah, I saw in your head. It’s probably not easy living with that.”

“No, but I’m working on it, and everyday I spend time around the team, it seems to get better.” The door opened and the two got in.

“Good.”

“Yeah.”

“Ohhh, I think I need an ice pack.” John said getting on the elevator behind them.

“Walk it off, Walker.” Yelena sneered back, and Bob just laughed.

Chapter Text

Beep boop beep beep boop “Haha, Lena, check dis out.” Alexei leaned over to show his daughter his phone. “Look, I made a little you!”

She looked down to see a character customization game on his phone, and a little pixelated version of herself. “Haha, dat is so cute, let me see.” She grabbed the phone from his hand and proceeded to make him with a large bottle in his hand. “Look. It’s you.” She smiled. Just then the lights flickered and a small rumble was felt through the therapist’s office waiting room they were sitting in. “I should go check on him-” She stood to walk back when her dad grabbed her hand.

“No, Lena, if there was real issue, they would come get us. This is shrink for enhanced individuals, they are equipped for this.”

“They’re not equipped for him.” She whined.

“You don’t know that. Just sit, little one, it will be okay.”

She did with a pout.

“He is fine, okay?”

“I just am worried.”

“I know. It is in your nature to care for those who need it, but right now, he should do this on his own.”

She tapped her foot and waited impatiently until Bob made his way into the waiting room and greeted his friends. “Hey guys.” He smiled.

“Hey, how’d it go?” Yelena asked, standing and walking with him to the door.

“Fine I-I think.” He nodded.

“Great! Bob, we are so proud!” Alexei grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

“It’s just talking.” He laughed awkwardly.

“Yes, but you talk about hard stuff. That is not easy to do.” He kept his arm around him as they walked.

“So I was thinking,” Yelena started, “since we already are out and about, we should do something fun.”

“Oh? We go hunting for bad guys?”

“No, Alexei. I was thinking about going to a mall, or an arcade, maybe ice cream, something normal people do.”

“Yes! All sound like fun! How about it, Bob? We go turn that frown upside down, hmm?” He looked at him through the rearview mirror as they all got in the car, Yelena taking the passenger’s seat and Alexei was driving.

“Yeah.” He nodded and gave them a small smile, “Whatever you guys want to do.”

“You can pick. You are the one who went to therapy.” Yelena said.

“I’m happy with whatever, I just like hangin’ out with you guys.”

“Oh my goodness, he is such cutie pie!” Alexei started, “Alright, we do all three. We find mall with ice cream and games. Yelena, put it in GPS maps or something.”

“Alright, alright.” She laughed, but when she opened the phone, there was a text from Ava that read, ‘Fontaine is here. She’s in a mood so try and keep Bob out of the tower for a bit. Bucky is out too so hopefully she won't be here long.’ to which she responded, ‘Don’t worry. We will be back in a few hours.’

The three eventually managed to find a mall with all the requirements they were looking for.

“Oh wow, it’s big.” Bob exclaimed.

“It is.” Yelena agreed from under a ballcap and sunglasses.

“Lena, what are you wearing?” Her dad asked.

“Disguise. I’ve seen the other Avengers do it.”

“D-does it work?”

“Eh, 50/50.”

“Maybe I should get one too.” Alexei added.

“You change your beard every week, no one will recognize you.” Yelena said.

“But I am Red Guardian. People know me no matter how I look.” They both looked up at him as a swarm of people passed, not one stopping to notice the trio. “Ok, ok, I get it. Now where is shops you two wanted to go?”

“I would like a new sweater so anywhere that has those.” She answered.

“Bob?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “Wherever you guys want to go.”

“Such a people pleaser.” Yelena moaned, “Come on, we’ll find you something nice to wear too.”

“I don’t want to spend too much money.”

“We have Valentina’s card, we don’t have to worry about that.” She grinned.

“Right.” He gave her a small smile and nod.

They all made their way to some chain store that Yelena knew she liked and she held up a cloudy knit sweater. “What about dis? Bob, what do you think?”

“You wear a lot of grey.”

She tilted her head slightly, “Yeah, it’s my color.”

“Bob is right. Should wear something more like this!” Alexei held up a bright pink jumper with checker print sleeves.

“Ew, no, That is wayyyy too much.” She held the grey one up again. “I like this one.”

Bob nodded, “It’ll look good on you.”

“Of course it will look good on her, anything looks good on my Lena!”

“Alright, let us go check out.” She huffed and started walking to the counter with Alexei at her side.

‘She’s mad at you. She thinks you insulted her.’ Bob jumped slightly, looking around yet seeing no one near him. He fluttered his eyes nervously and then went to catch up with his teammates.

“So, where do you like to shop?” Yelena turned to ask her new friend as they stepped out of the shop.

“Oh, I don’t-I don’t know. I usually get my clothes from thrift stores. It’s all I can afford.”

“Well, we’re on Valentina’s tab, we can afford to get you something new.” She said with a smile. “What about there? I’ve heard about that store before.” She pointed to one across the way with men’s clothes.

“Sure.” He agreed.

After the three finished with their shopping, they made their way to the other end of the mall with a big arcade. It was loud and flashy with games galore. “Come on, Bob, I win you toy.” Alexei said jovially, walking towards one of the rows upon rows of claw machines. “Which toy you like, hmm?”

“You don’t have to.”

“Of course I do! Now, which you want?”

He looked down the way and walked over to one with a pastel blue axolotl in it. “How about that one?”

“Ah, lizard, good choice.” He put a dollar in, maneuvered it on top of the toy and got the claws around it. It got pulled up and then… it fell. ”Blyat.” Red Guardian exclaimed and tried again, just for the same thing to happen.

“I don’t think the claw is strong enough.” Yelena said, “Not enough grip.”

“Bob, you should try and make claw stronger.”

“No, don’t do that, Alexei.” Yelena groaned.

“I can try if you want.” Bob perked up, “It shouldn’t be too hard.” So Alexei put in another dollar, and as the claw closed down around the plushie, Bob squinted his eyes a bit and focused on keeping the toy in the claw, which made its way over and over until it dropped into the prize shoot. “YES!” The Russian man yelled as he grabbed it and gave it to Bob. “For you, friend!”

Bob grabbed it and squeezed it close to his chest. It was big and soft and nice to hold. “Thanks.”

“You did all heavy lifting, I just spent the money and grabbed it a couple times.”

Bob nodded, “Right, yeah.” He laughed.

“Lena, let me win you something now!” Alexei turned to his daughter and said.

‘You shouldn’t have that. You cheated. You lied. They’re just keeping you around to use your power for their own gain.’ 

“That’s not true.” Bob whispered

“Bob?” Yelena turned around to see him standing in the same spot, “Who are you talking to?”

He shook his head and smiled, “Don’t worry about it.” He caught up with them and Yelena rubbed his arm a bit.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine, yeah.”

“Well, you tell me if anything is wrong.”

“Ok.” He nodded. Bob did end up using his powers again to help Alexei win Yelena a pink bunny stuffed animal. After the three finished their time in the arcade and got ice cream, they made their way back to the tower.

“Oh, good, Ava just texted me that Valentina left.” Yelena said as they pulled into the garage, “She should be out of the building by now.”

‘She’s the one that wants to use you the most.’

“I-I didn’t know she was here.”

“Don’t worry, she is gone. You can relax. Hopefully nothing bad happens and we can just hang out today.” She turned around and placed a hand on his knee.

The trio made their way up to their respective floor and Yelena took a seat on the couch, checking news outlets and police reports on her tablet to see if anything important was happening. Bob walked into the room a few minutes later and he was very visibly anxious. He sat down on the same couch as her but on the other end and opened his book. She could tell by the way he was bouncing his leg that something was up.

“Hey, do you need to talk?”

He shook his head and kept attempting to read, but she could see that darkness creeping up from under his shirt collar.

“Come here. Come put your head on my lap.”

“Why?”

“You seem upset and I know you like touch. Come here.”

He nodded and laid down, resting his head on her thigh and looked up at her.

“Can you tell me what’s going on?” She ran her hand through his hair.

“It’s nothing.” He laughed nervously.

“Bob, I can tell it’s not nothing.”

“It-it’s mad that I talked about it in therapy today, then it kept saying things when we were at-at the mall.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I can handle it.”

“You can, but is it not easier when we help?”

He brought his shaky hands to his face and rubbed it, “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to tell me what it was saying?”

He shook his head. “I don’t-I don’t remember it all.”

“Okay, well you just relax right here, and you tell me if it rears its scary little head again.”

He nodded and smiled at her. She turned her attention back to the tablet and a few minutes later, she heard a light snore come from him and she laughed a little as she knew he was resting.

Chapter Text

Bob had fallen asleep on Yelena’s lap just a little bit ago, resting after a few hours out when the door opened and someone’s grating voice boomed through the room. “Oh good, someone is actually here .” Valentina entered and Bob sat up confused after being woken up.

“We’ve told you not to come in unannounced, Valentina.” Yelena growled.

“I own this building. You have not responded to my calls and you always leave before I show up.”

“Yeah, because you’re an asshole.” Bob said.

“That’s not very nice, Robert.” Valentina responded.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t listen to her, you’re right.” Yelena reassured him, “Do not talk to him.” she scolded the woman.

“You are so protective of that man-boy.”

“Because of what you did to him.” She reminded her.

“Whatever.” The older woman huffed, “I need the New Avengers to come talk to some press. People aren’t taking to the name too kindly. Where’s Bucky?”

“Out of town.” Ava entered the room with John and Alexei in tow. “Do you really need all of us?”

“I guess a majority of you will work.” She looked at her phone, “Alright come on.”

“Me too?” Bob asked.

“Why don’t you sit this one out? Or you can come if you want.” Yelena answered.

“I’ll just stay here, I-I think.”

“Ok, take it easy, we’ll be back soon.” She ran a hand through his hair.

He nodded and picked up his book as the other members of the team left.

A few hours later, Bucky returned home carrying a few boxes. “Hey, Bob.”

“Hi.”

“Where is everyone?” He squinted his eyes and looked around.

“Valentina took them for some press thing. She was upset you weren’t here.”

“Yeah, well I don’t take orders from her.” He sighed and took his stuff to his room, returning a few seconds later with a small carrier. “I brought someone if you want to meet her.”

“Oh?” Bob put his book down, “Who?”

“This” he put the crate down on the couch as he sat too, “is Alpine. She’s my emotional support animal.” A white cat with blue eyes walked out. Bob carefully put his hand out for her to sniff. She did, assessed, then butted her head against his hand. “She likes you.” The soldier smiled.

“Yeah.” he scratched her head, “She’s really soft.”

Bucky nodded. “I want her to live here from now on. I’m selling my place in D.C. to move here full time.”

“Oh, good. Hopefully the others don't mind the new pet.”

“They won’t. I checked everyone’s records and no one is allergic to cats.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and Valentina will be.” Bob chuckled.

“We can only hope.” He chuckled back. “What are you reading, now?”

Bob grabbed the book and handed it to Bucky then went back to petting Alpine, scratching behind her ears lightly getting her to purr.

“The Hobbit, nice. Sam likes this one.”

“Yeah, Sam?” He smirked at him.

“What?” Bucky shot his teammate a confused look.

“It-It’s just, you and Captain America seem…close.”

“Did Yelena put you up to this?”

“What? No, I-I just mean-”

“Sam and I have just been through a lot together.”

Bob pursed his lip and nodded, “Yeah, okay.”

“There’s nothing more going on between me and him.”

“I didn’t say there was.”

Bucky put his hands on his hips and started walking away, “I’m gonna go put my stuff away.”

“Hey, Bucky?”

“What?”

“You know it’s legal now, right?”

He stopped, glared over his shoulder, and walked away. Alpine curled up on Bob’s lap and he continued to pet her, grabbing his book and picking up where he left off. It was about twenty minutes before Bucky came into the lounge area again, huffing and sitting down in his chair. Without being prompted, he started, “It’s just that Sam is Captain America, and Captain America is supposed to be part of the Avengers.”

“Mhmm?” Bob smirked.

“So why won’t he at least consider joining us?”

“Probably because of Walker.”

“It’s not cause of Walker.” He ran an exasperated hand through his hair. “I asked and he refused! He thinks we shouldn’t be controlled by the government, even though we’re not!”

“Right.”

“It just seems like we are because of Valentina.”

“But we can’t tell the public that.”

“Exactly! And I explained that to him but he thinks that it’s going to look like Captain America is being controlled by the government no matter what the actual situation is.”

“Well that makes sense, I-I guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we have government appointed Captain America, government appointed Captain Russia, you who was controlled by Hydra, and Yelena who was controlled by the Red Room. You were all controlled in some aspect. The people know that.”

“So?”

“So it doubles down on the idea that we are a group that needs to be controlled, hence Valentina taking that role, even if it’s superficial, the public doesn’t know that.”

Bucky rubbed his eyes, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just wish Sam would listen.”

“It would be nice to have the real Cap on our team.”

“If it comes down to it, I know he’ll help us. Just wish he would start now and not wait for a world ending event.”

“When’s the last time you talked to him?”

“I tried calling him on my way back, but he’s busy.”

“What about before that?”

“I don’t know, it’s been a couple weeks.”

“Damn.”

“He’ll call me when he gets a chance. It’s fine.”

“Is it?”

“It might be.” Bucky sighed, “Don’t do that. Don’t look into my soul.”

“I’m not?”

“Then how do you know all this?”

“It-it’s obvious. It doesn't take looking at your deep dark secrets to see that you care about him and want his approval.”

“The way you want Yelena’s?”

Bob shrugged his shoulders and nodded, “Yes, because her approval means that-that I’m doing better.” He bunched in on himself a little bit, “I think that’s what you look for in Sam.”

Bucky sighed again, “I’ll try to call him again later.” He leaned over and pet Alpine.

“Good.”

Chapter Text

If any members of The New Avengers wanted private time in the gym, it was a struggle, but Bob was able to figure out that most of them worked out early in the morning or at night if they couldn’t sleep, so when he decided he wanted to test out his powers again, it was a late afternoon when everyone else was busy. He snuck down quietly and set up different weights varying in size to practice his telekinesis. The first one he attempted to move was sent flying into the wall. “Well, at least I can do it.” He huffed, wanting to not exert so much power, rather wanting to learn to control it. He went to test the second one when he felt a presence enter the room. Not the overbearing sense of dread the Void brought, but someone else. “Ava?”

She appeared out of thin air. “How did you know I was here?”

He tilted his head at her, “Because you are.”

“But I was invisible?”

“Were you spying on me?”

“I spy on everyone, love, but most of them don’t have a sixth sense.”

“Why?”

“I’m bored. I spent most of my life in labs, I have a hard time interacting with people so watching everyone do ‘normal’ things helps me understand to be normal.”

“I don’t think you’re gonna learn about normal from watching me.” He laughed.

“You’d be surprised. The three supersoldiers eat as if they’ve never eaten in the history of ever. And Yelena, goodness, she works out all the time, patrols the halls like a psycho, and doesn’t sleep until everyone else does first. But you, you just sleep a lot and talk to yourself but I don’t need to spy on you to know that. No offense. You just snuck off to the training room by yourself, which you’ve never done before, so I followed you.”

“W-why didn’t you just ask?”

“Would you have told me?”

He shook his head, “I guess you’re right.”

“So what are you doing down here besides blowing holes in walls?”

“Uh, I’m trying to figure out how to control my, um, power.”

“Well, you’re not doing a very good job.” She looked at the flung dumbbell.

“Thanks.”

“Here, let me help.” She stood next to him.

“What do you know about this?”

“This? Nothing, but I know about control.” She phased away, and reappeared on the other side of him. “It’s not only about knowing your target, it’s about knowing what’s around it. Try moving that one.” She pointed to the next weight, “But focus on where it’s going instead of the object itself.”

Bob brought his hand up, and focused part of his attention on the weight and the other half on a few feet behind it. He was able to get it to move little by little.

“Look at you go.” She encouraged him, “Try going a little faster.”

He squinted his eyes, trying what she said before sending the weight into the wall again. “Shit.”

“Well, it was better than the first time.” She laughed.

“What the hell is going on?” Yelena burst in.

“Training.” Ava responded. “He was by himself until I got here.”

Yelena shot a curious look to Bob and he shrugged and looked away. “Why would you not say anything?”

“I hurt you guys last time, so, I figured I’d try and do it myself.”

“What if you hurt yourself?” She asked with more worry.

“I’ll get over it. I-I just think it’d be a good idea for me to learn, but,” he fluttered his eyes a bit, “I won’t do it anymore if you think I can’t handle it.”

“That’s not what I’m saying, what if you’re hurt and no one is around to help? I get you don’t want to hurt anyone but I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” She rubbed his arms, “Now, what were you trying to do?”

“I-I was just trying to move it.” He turned back towards the weights, “Just a little bit, but I keep putting too much force into it.”

“I see that.”

“He was doing okay for a minute, then I told him to speed up and it didn’t work.” Ghost added.

“S-sorry.” He looked down.

“Don’t be. Why don’t you try again?” Yelena put a hand on his back as he lifted his hand and focused on the next obstacle. “Breathe, you’re holding your breath.” He let out his breath, focusing on what he was doing, he pushed the weight slightly like he just had. “Good. Can you get it to touch the wall without ruining Valentina’s drywall?”

He chuckled at that comment.

‘She thinks you’re going to fuck it up again.’

He jumped and sent the dumbbell flying off in another direction. Ava phased as it almost hit her shin. “Bob!”

“Sorry, I-I don’t-”

‘You almost hurt her. You shouldn’t have this power.’

He stopped talking and threw a hand over his mouth.

“You’re lucky I can phase or I’d-”

“Ava, shut up.” Yelena interrupted her. “Bob, what’s wrong?”

He shook his head but couldn’t look her in the eye.

“Your hands are trembling.” She grabbed his wrists.

“Are you okay?” Ava asked.

He nodded but still didn’t say anything.

“It’s okay, you can tell us.” The widow stepped closer.

He took a shaky breath, “I’m sorry, I messed it up.”

“Well, I’m fine.” Ava huffed, “Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“That is what’s happening, isn’t it?” Yelena asked and he didn’t respond. “It’s the Void, isn’t it?”

He squeezed his eyes shut and looked away, nodding.

“For what it’s worth, you did good. It’s a lot better than not moving it at all.”

He looked up at her.

“You wanna try again?” Ava asked, throwing her dark hair up in a ponytail.

‘Don’t. You can’t. You’ll just hurt someone again.’

“I don’t think it’s uh-a good idea right now.” He nervously rubbed his eyes.

“Ok, well the guys are up on the balcony. John insisted on grilling. I was coming down to get you guys when I heard the loud noise.” Yelena offered.

“Yeah. That sounds nice.” He nodded and so the three made their way back up the tower and to the balcony where they found the rest of the team. 

John was grilling while joking and talking with Alexei as Bucky texted on his phone. “There you guys are. Hey, Bob, can you help me with something really quick?”

“I don’t really know how to grill.” He responded.

“You don’t know how to grill? Didn’t you grow up in America?”

“Well, yeah, but I’ve just never done it.”

“Ok, Bobby, come here, let me show you a thing or two, it’s not hard.”

Bob walked over and John handed him a pair of tongs, “You just want to make sure nothing burns so just flip the hotdogs every few minutes. Keep an eye on how dark the skin gets. I like mine not too dark but Alexei insisted on having his burnt.”

“That is how you get most flavor out!” The Russian yelled, “Otherwise just boring old hotdog.”

Bob laughed and grabbed one of the sausages and flipped it. It was a little charred but not too bad. “Should I take it off?”

He placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned down a bit, getting pretty close to Bob. “When the other side looks like that you can take most of them off, leave a few for him to burn.”

He laughed and kept watch as John continued  on with what he needed to do to finish preparing dinner.

Chapter Text

“This is so pointless, we already know who is going to win.” Yelena whined as all of the New Avengers stood side by side, all in gym attire, at the end of a race track on one of the many, many floors in their tower.

“No, we don’t.” Alexei growled, “I have been training, getting stronger! Who knows, maybe Red Guardian will beat the Sentry!”

“I-I don’t think so.” Bob said nervously.

“Yeah, Bobby definitely has us all beat.” Walker agreed.

“No, Ghostie! She can beat him! She goes vwoosh vwoosh, you know?”

“It’s not teleporting,” She butted in, “I’m still moving through space, you just can’t see it.”

“Maybe I’ll just sit this one out, you guys can see who's the fastest between the actual members.” Bob offered.

“Woah, hey you are an actual member.” Yelena reassured him.

“Really, because I never help with anything? I can’t without-” He motioned silently in the air and made a face.

“That doesn’t matter.” She said, “Just race with us.”

“Why are we doing this again?” Bucky asked.

“I start an Avengers YouTube channel.” Alexei announced, “This will be our first video.”

“Alexei, you can’t be serious.” John groaned.

“What?”

“We can’t show off Bob’s powers. Not until he has them figured out!” Yelena said.

He walked over to where he had a camera set up, “Then I don’t post. We should still do this. For fun!” Everyone got in a stance, ready to take off. “Tri, Dva, Odin!”

They all took off, except for Bob who didn’t realize Alexei was counting down in Russian, then he rushed past the whole team, barely being able to stop himself as he neared a wall. Whether he flew or ran, even Bob didn’t know. Turning around to face the rest of the team, he smiled to see that he beat everyone by a landslide. The order now was Bucky, John, Yelena, Alexei, with Ava out of sight, but Bob could sense her just behind the Red Guardian. He stood at the end and cheered them on as they finished with the order only changing once as Ava just barely passed Alexei.

“See, it’s no competition, Bobby is going to win every time.” John huffed.

“Yes, our Sentry is very strong, very fast.” Alexei announced proudly, slapping Bob on the back.

“Yeah, well, only if I can control it.” He laughed nervously.

“You will, someday. I believe in you strongly!” The Red Guardian said. “We just need to train you up more.”

“If only we had someone a bit beefier you could spar with.” Ava mentioned.

Yelena looked at Bucky and gave a suggestion, “Why don’t you call up Dr. Banner?”

He looked at her confused, “You’re asking me to call the Hulk?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“What makes you think I have his number?”

“You were friends with Steve and Steve was friends with him.”

“She’s got a point.” John said.

“I don’t have Dr. Banner’s number. Why don’t you have his number, wasn’t Natasha dating him?”

“Ew, no. She just flirted with him to make sure he didn’t leave the team. It was an order from Fury.” She replied, “How hard do you think it would be to sneak Ross off of the Raft?”

“No, Sam already won't talk to me, I don’t want to make things worse.”

“If-if it matters,” Bob started, “I don’t really want to fight a hulk.”

“Oh, it would just be for training because none of us are a match for you. You wouldn’t actually be fighting the Hulk.” Yelena noticed Bob stiffen up uncomfortably, “Besides it’s not like we can get a hold of one. We’re the Avengers and we can’t even get in contact with a hulk, and there’s like three of them now!”

“Four if you include Blonsky.” John added.

“Oh, Abomination! We could try him!” Alexei said excitedly.

“No, Bob said he doesn’t want to fight a hulk, let’s leave it at that. Besides, he’s also in prison.” Bucky sighed, “And do we really think Valentina would be okay with us destroying more of this building?”

“No, you’re right. I just think we should match Bob up with someone who matches his strength at some point.” Yelena said.

“It would be smart.” Ava added, then looked at the topic of the conversation, “What about a giant?”

“Scott, really?” Bucky asked exasperatedly.

“It’s better than nothing.”

“Why don’t we just let Bob get used to having powers first before we put him up against someone else?” John said.

“Yeah, I-I’d like that.” Bob concurred.

After the team finished training, they all went back to the locker rooms to get changed. Bob was now standing in front of a mirror shirtless, just staring at his own body.

The void was speaking to him. ‘You don’t deserve to learn how to be in control. You don’t deserve these powers or this body. It’s too strong for you to handle. Anyone else could do this, but not you. Not little Bobby.’

“What’s up, Bobby?” He jumped as John started talking to him, “You seem like you’re zoning out.”

“I’m just not used to this still.”

“Used to what?”

“The muscles, the strength, all of it. One day I was an underweight meth addict, the next I woke up in that vault, bulletproof and looking like this.” He stood up a little straighter and motioned to his bare chest, “I-I’m not ungrateful, I’m just not used to it.”

Bucky met him at his side, also without a shirt. “I know what you mean. I was never skinny but to wake up one day and you suddenly don’t recognize your own body in the mirror, that can be scary.”

Bob looked over at him, his arm, his chest and all the scars that inhabit it.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I love it.” John added, grinning smugly in the mirror.

“Yes!” Alexei grabbed all three from behind, “It is great to be strong!”

Bob laughed, “I’m not saying it’s not, it’s just…odd is all.”

Bucky looked at him and sighed, “You’ll get used to it eventually.”

Chapter Text

Bob awoke to an unusually quiet morning. Normally, someone was in the kitchen making breakfast by now with whatever music playing through the walls was chosen by them, but now, it was quiet, and Bob hated that. He put on his slippers as the hard floor made his feet cold, and walked out. No one was in sight and he feared that the worst had come to pass.

‘You lost control. You hurt them, or worse.’

He shook his head and saw a note sitting on the counter where the mugs were.

‘Hey, Bob. We got called into a mission pretty early and won’t be back until later tonight. Use Alexei’s DoorDash account if you want.

-Yelena.’

He sighed in relief, heading for the cupboard and grabbing a poptart out. He made himself a cup of coffee as he waited for it to cook in the toaster. As he sat in his normal seat and flipped on some morning cartoons, he found himself growing more and more bored. He opened his phone to see a few messages in the Avengers group chat, mostly about the mission, but one from Bucky that said, ‘Text us when you wake up.’ He smiled and replied, ‘good morning i hope you guys win and have fun :)’. Figuring that his team was busy, he wasn’t expecting a reply anytime soon but as he set his phone down, it vibrated with a message from Ava. ‘Good morning, Bob. It’s going well but everyone else is a bit busy at the moment. We’ll update you when we have time.’ Turning his attention back to the TV, he lost interest after only two and a half episodes, so he looked around and decided to get some housework done. “No dishes need done, I vacuumed yesterday-” He huffed, “I could dust.”

With the new construction, the dust seemed never ending, especially in the hard to reach spaces. He wiped down the counters, tables, endstands, above the TV and even the doors. Everything was done with relative ease but when it came to the kitchen, the large fridge was slightly too tall for him to reach. Bob sighed and went looking for a step stool that was kept in the supply closet, but for some reason, it wasn’t there. He sighed and went back to the kitchen. ‘I could leave it alone.’ He thought, ‘but it would bother me if it wasn’t done.’ He stepped closer to the fridge and started to hover just a few inches off the ground, then a little higher, and a little higher until he could reach the entire top of it to clean it off. He smiled to himself then landed, knowing he had a little control in this instance. 

He went back to watching cartoons until lunch time rolled around. He knew that there was easy to make food in the pantry, or he could use Alexei’s doordash account, but as he contemplated what he wanted to do, Bob stared out the window and noticed how nice of a day it was, so he quickly got dressed and headed down the elevator. Since the building was so huge, other operations took place on floors far below the Avengers’ quarters, thus, the group had their own private elevator that got out at the back of the building. He walked down the street knowing that the public never truly would recognize him until he made his hero debut, but he still tried to look down and avoid eye contact anyway, at least that’s the reason he tells himself why he does it. The coffee shop he entered was nice and inviting with plants everywhere and soft jazz playing over the speaker. He had been here with Yelena a few times so he knew what he wanted, ordered and sat down. 

He opened his book and he was barely a few words in when a young woman with dark hair approached him. “Hi, you’re Bob, right?”

He looked up at the young girl and smiled nervously, “I-I am but I’m not really supposed to talk about my involvement with the-”

“Oh, no, that’s not why I’m talking to you. I’m friends with Yelena. She always talks about you.” She held out her hand, “I’m Kate Bishop, by the way. Mind if I join you?”

“Go ahead.” He smiled and nodded. “Yelena has talked about you too.”

“Yeah, what’s she say?” Kate asked as she sat.

“Oh that Kate Bishop,” He started in a very poor Russian accent, “always causing trouble.”

She laughed, “Yeah, is that the reason why she didn’t ask me to join the New Avengers?”

“Well, you are young.” He laughed.

“I’m 25!”

“Hey, I didn’t choose the team.” 

“Well, I’m taken anyway.” She started, “Another girl, Kamala, asked me to join her super team.”

“Oh?” He squinted curiously at her.

“Yeah, and I accepted it, but then I heard that Yelena started a team and didn’t ask me! And she called it the Avengers! She knows I was Hawkeye’s apprentice! I should be the new Hawkeye!”

“That’s impressive.”

“Right? And she didn’t even ask me.”

“Well, she doesn’t really like him.”

“But she likes me!” She took a bite of her sandwich and continued, “And she’s been in New York this whole time and she hasn’t visited me once!”

“Have you texted her?”

“Yeah, and every time I ask to hang out, she’s busy!”

“If you want, I-I could ask her to do something and I can invite you too. She usually makes time for me.”

She looked suspiciously at him, “Who are you, by the way?”

“I-I’m Bob. You said you knew who-”

“Yeah, I know that, I mean why are you always around the Avengers? You’re in all the press and paparazzi but when it comes to fighting, you’re never there.”

He just shrugged at her.

“Oh don’t give me that.”

“I-I can’t tell you.” He smiled and shrugged again, fluttering his eyes and looking away.

“What if I ask Yelena? I could get it out of her.”

He shook his head, “I don’t think you could. An-and she’s the one who really wants the public to not know.”

“But I’m not the public.” She winked, “I’m Hawkeye.”

“That really doesn’t help you.”

“Ugh, this is impossible.” She threw her head back, “Well, can you tell me something about you?”

He contemplated for a moment. “I like Animal Crossing.” Bob smiled.

Kate just glared. “Anything else?”

“I don’t know. I can’t really tell you anything you want to know.”

“Do you have powers?” She asked eagerly.

He looked down and away, fluttering his eyes again, “I-I can’t tell you.”

She gasped, “You do! I knew there was a reason they kept you around!”

“Ok, ok shh.” He put his hands up, “I’m not supposed to talk about it.”

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.” She smirked smugly.

“Kate!” A voice called from the door. A young brown skinned girl ran over to them. “How’s it going?”

“Good! This is Bob, Yelena’s friend.” She motioned towards him, “Bob, this is Kamala, the girl I was talking about.”

“Great to meet you!” She sat down and held her hand out for him to shake, to which he did. “Wow, strong grip. So, how do you know Yelena?”

Kate leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“Oh, oh oh oh! That Bob!” She smiled, “Hi, my name’s Ms. Marvel, I have cool light hardening powers. This is Hawkeye, like Clint Barton but not Clint Barton.”

“Better than Clint Barton.” Kate said.

“Better than Clint Barton.” Kamala repeated.

“We were just talking about how he totally doesn’t have powers.” Hawkeye started again.

“GASP, What can you do?” Ms. Marvel leaned across the table excitedly.

“I-I’m really not supposed to talk about it.” He started to bunch in on himself nervously.

“Right, right,” Kamala nodded, “Would you, non-super-person, like to join our team?”

“Kamala, we don’t even know what he does!” Kate whined.

“We can figure it out.” She whispered back then turned her attention to Bob again, “So, whaddya say? Wanna join the Young Avengers?”

“Can you use that name?” He laughed, “The Government appointed us as the real Avengers and we’re still having branding issues.”

“Well it’s not set in stone yet. We’ll work out the legality later.” Kamala waved dismissively, “So will you please please please join our team?”

Bob laughed, “I’m already on a team.”

“But they clearly don’t utilize you.” Kate butted in.

“D-don’t you think there’s a reason for that?” Bob said.

“What is the reason?” Kamala inquired.

“I can’t get into it.” He took a sip of his drink.

“Bob, listen to me,” Ms. Marvel started, “you’re around teammates, you can trust us.”

“I’m not joining your team. I’m already on one.”

“But you could be on a better one.” She whined.

“Who else is on it?”

“Well as of right now, it’s just us.” Kate admitted, “But that’s even more of a reason you should join us. You could be one of the founding members! You can’t say that about the normal Avengers.”

“I don’t really care about that. I like my team.”

The girls both sat defeatedly, until Kamala perked up again, “Well, let’s at least take a picture together.” She pulled out her phone and took a picture of the three of them together.

“Send me that, I want to send it to Yelena.” Kate demanded, “Oh, and Bob, what’s your number, we’ll send it to you too.”

He gave it to them and they enjoyed the rest of their lunch before Bob headed home. Entering his bedroom, Alpine was asleep on his bed, purring in the sunlight pouring through the window. He grabbed his game system and booted up Animal Crossing before his phone vibrated.

‘DO NOT JOIN HER TEAM! KATE BISHOP IS A TROUBLE MAKER!! SHE IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU!’ Yelena messaged him.

He laughed and texted her back, ‘i didnt lol’

‘WHAT’S THIS?’ She sent a screenshot of a text message between her and the girl. It was the picture the trio took at lunch with the caption, ‘Since you didn’t ask me to join your team, we’re making Bob join ours.’

‘i ran into her at the cafe. she was with a friend and they kept asking about my powers but i didnt tell them anything i promise but they asked me to join their team anyway. i didnt tho’

‘Oh, I’m going to kill that Kate Bishop.” 

He chuckled quietly and continued to play his game.

Chapter Text

“Drop off the Avengers’ outfits, double check our booked photographers for the event, figure out what news outlets will be there and make sure at least two are on our payroll, check on the shipping for the decorations, pay the rest of the fee for the venue, and get Valentina a cappuccino.” Mel stood in the elevator ascending her way through Avengers’ tower as she went over her busy to-do list for the late afternoon. Accompanying her was a clothes rack with two dresses and four suits, an outfit for each member of the team. Valentina had set up a banquet to help integrate the New Avengers into the public eye and invited many other already known superheroes, so the freshly formed team had to look their best. It wasn’t for a few more days but it was best to get the outfits dropped off now in case any of them needed alterations. “And no one should be here, so I can slip in and out without having to try to navigate small talk with some of the most powerful people in the world.”

She entered the floor with the team’s living quarters and entered Alexei’s room first. It was plastered with memorabilia new and old, as well as many, many pictures of the team doing fun things together. There were old Red Guardian figures as well as new toys of each active member of the team. Mel smiled at how charming it all seemed and hung his dark maroon suit on the back of the door.

Next was John’s room. She cringed at the sight of an American flag on his wall, finding it tacky, but then noticed the many pictures of his son, him meeting important political figures, and quite a few medals. She hung up his suit, baby blue with a deep red button up.

Ava’s room was beside his. Her room was slightly messy with cables and cords hooked up to all kinds of technology that Mel didn’t quite understand, but assumed it was to help her condition. On top of that, her bed looked quite comfy with a heated blanket, soft pillows, and a plushy or two. Her outfit for the upcoming evening was a long, black dress with long lace sleeves. Mel carefully hung it in her closet as she was instructed to do with the dresses.

Then was Bucky’s room. There was a slight musty smell as most of the furniture in his room was antique from the 40’s. It was like a time capsule compared to everyone else’s. He had an old baseball flag and a few pictures of his family and friends around the room. There was even one with him, Steve, and Sam. ‘Best friends with both Captain Americas, what a life.’ She thought. The only thing that stuck out was a very visibly technologically advanced case that was popped open, with an indent for his metal arm inside. She found a spot for his suit, black on black with a red tie, and slipped out.

Yelena’s room was next to his. Mel opened the door to find it neat and tidy. She had a few pictures up as well with her fake family from childhood, some with Natasha later in life, and some with her new team. Some band posters hung on the wall and her bed was made with tons of pillows and blankets. Her dress was definitely going to be the talk of the night. It looked like something out of a fairy tale, pink and silver with flowers and many layers. Very fitting for the leader of the New Avengers.

“Okay.” Mel said to herself, grabbing the last outfit, “Last one.” She stood outside Bob’s door and hesitated. ‘Does he know?’ She thought to herself. ‘Did anyone tell him that I was technically the reason the void was unleashed?’ She sighed and went to turn the knob, it’s not like he was there anyway.

“Hello?” A soft voice asked, causing her to jump.

“Oh.” She paused, “I was under the impression that no one was here at the moment. I’m sorry, I was just dropping off clothes for the gala and leaving.”

“Ok.” Bob smiled, looking up from his handheld game, “Thank you.” He was sitting on his bed on top of his weighted blanket. The walls were a nice, pale yellow and he had figures of each member of the team on a shelf as well as a rubix cube and a few other toys. Many plants sat on his windowsill with a collection of various rocks and trinkets. There was soft music playing from his TV and the whole room had a very tranquil vibe to it.

She nodded and quickly brought in his suit, hanging it in his closet.

“It’s Mel, right?”

“Yup.” She nodded quickly and tried to make an unobvious escape.

“Must be tiring working for Valentina, huh?” He was trying to make small talk, something John suggested he do.

“It’s fine. Pay is nice.”

“She seems like a lot, I don’t know if I could ever work with her.”

She looked inquisitively at him and remembered that someone had told her about his memory issues. “Yeah, you get used to it. Ok, I really have to go.” and she rushed out the door, slamming it behind her.

He watched as she bolted and noticed her phone had fallen out of her pocket, so he grabbed it and followed her out. “Hey!”

“What?” She jumped and turned around, startled to see that he had followed her.

He squinted at her reaction, “Are you scared of me? You are one of the people who knows, right?”

She sighed, “How much do you remember from that day?”

He shook his head, “Not a lot. Did-did I do something to you besides just-” he motioned in the air, “you know?”

“No. Listen, Bob, I really have to get going.”

“Wait,” He held out his hand, “You dropped your phone.”

She gave him an awkward smile and took it, “Thanks.” and headed out to continue the rest of her day.

Bob turned and headed for Yelena’s room, finding her guinea pig, Cucumber, and grabbing it out of its cage to play with it. He sat on Yelena’s bed with the creature and her smell wafted into his nose from her blankets, bringing a little comfort as he worried over what he may have done to scare Mel so badly. “I wish I could remember more,” He sighed to the pet, scratching its little head, “but at least you’re not scared of me.” After feeding Cucumber and ordering food for himself, Bob relaxed in the common are for the rest of the evening, repeatedly checking on his team’s location to know when they’d be back.

Chapter Text

As night settled in New York, Bob anxiously checked his phone for any confirmation of when his teammates may return from their mission. ‘do you guys know when ur gonna be home?’ he had texted them over an hour ago just to jump as he just now received an answer from Yelena; ‘Not until about 2 am your time. Get some sleep, ok?’ He sighed, ‘ok’ and rolled over in bed, turning his light out and shutting his eyes. He hated nighttime, even with a nightlight in the room, hell even sleeping with the normal light on was hard. Closing your eyes and succumbing to sleep was scary for anyone with Bob’s past hardships to do, let alone someone whose trauma manifests into an evil, dark being capable of leveling a city with just a thought. Most nights were fine as long as he knew that one of his friends was nearby, but they had never been gone this long without him before. Usually he came along on missions that would last a couple of days, visiting sites or relaxing in the hotel while the team did their job. He tossed and turned for a while until he eventually fell asleep.

The attic is safe. It is normally safe. Sometimes it’s safe. Once in a while, it’s safe because Dad doesn’t want to climb the stairs. Today, that was not the case. “ROBERT!” His father’s booming voice echoed through the hall. “Robert, you little fucker, you answer when I call you!” He burst into the room.

“I-I’m sorry-” Bob responded in a shaky voice.

“Who the fuck do you think you are? You told your teachers that I hurt you?” He grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him up. “Have you ever thought that there was a reason for that? Do you want them to know how awful a kid you are?”

“They-they asked about the bruise on-on my arm. I swear I didn’t-”

“This bruise?” He grabbed around a mark on the child’s bicep and squeezed.

Bob bit his lip in pain and nodded.

“Next time, you tell them that you're a rotten clumsy boy that fell, you got it?”

“I-I did-”

SMACK. His father backhanded him and before he could try and fight back, Bob felt hands on his shoulders and his eyes shot open.

“Bob, Bob wake up.”

He looked up, staring someone in their face “Yelena?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” The blonde smiled and hugged him. “You were having a bad dream.”

He hugged her back and noticed the rest of the team standing in the doorway, panting and disheveled. “Did-did I do something to you guys?”

“Don’t worry about it,” She said, “we’re fine, just a bit tired from the mission.” Yelena turned around and waved the rest of the team off, “We’re alright, you guys can go relax.” and they all departed. “Are you alright?” She grabbed his face.

He nodded quickly and laughed humorlessly, “Yeah, just-just a nightmare. I’m okay.”

“Do you want me to stay in here tonight?”

“That would be nice.” He smiled.

“I can do that, but I should probably go shower first, I smell like shit.” She laughed and he chuckled.

“Okay. I’ll wait for you.” He grabbed his phone and started to scroll, seeing news about his team’s good work always brought a smile to Bob’s face. The headline read, ‘The New Avengers Save City from Scientist’s Evil Plan!’ “They’re so cool.” He said to himself as he read the article. Mentions of each member helping out in their own special way sent a pang of jealousy and guilt through Bob’s stomach, wishing he could be The Sentry to help, knowing the whole mission could’ve taken half the time if he was there. ‘But you can’t. You don’t know how to control it. Rotten kid.’ He shook his head, trying to get the thought to pass. ‘You’d just mess everything up, make it worse. Robert the hero, who doesn’t know how to be a hero.’

He stood and walked out, heading for the kitchen where he found John and Ava conversing over some instant noodles. “Hey guys.” He greeted, “How’d it go?”

John shrugged, “Fine, would’ve gone faster if-”

‘If you could actually use your powers’

“-the scientist hadn’t run so damn much.”

Ava nodded, “He was one slippery bastard.”

“But you got him!” Bob smiled.

“Yeah.” Ava sighed, “We did.”

The three continued to make small talk, rehashing the mission until Yelena found Bob again. “Yoe ready?” She was in her pajamas and her hair was still wet.

“Yeah.” He nodded and smiled as she grabbed his arm, pulling him to his bedroom. The two laid down in his bed, face to face.

“You need to talk about what happened?” She asked.

“It was just a nightmare, I’m okay. How-how about you guys, did I hurt anyone?”

“Don’t worry about it, you can’t control it sometimes, we know that.”

He nodded but tears started to form in his eyes.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright.” She started to run her hand through his hair, “Come here.” She pulled him into her chest and he started to sob.

“I need to control it.” Bob cried.

“I know, and you will. It takes time to learn something like that.”

“Y-you’re all so strong and confident and I can’t-I can’t even-”

“You’ll learn, Bob, okay? You just have to take it one day at a time.”

It was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, “I had a dream about my dad. That’s-that’s why-” He started to sob again, unable to finish his sentence.

“It’s okay.” She rubbed his back, “You’re alright, take your time.”

“I was just a kid, Yelena. What did I do wrong?”

Her heart broke, “Nothing. You did nothing wrong. He was an asshole and didn’t deserve such a sweet boy as his child. And you didn’t deserve anything he did to you.”

“Y-Yelena, I was so scared of him. It was everyday.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetie.” She sighed, “But you’re out of there, and things will get better.”

“Things are better.”

“Yes they are.” She agreed, “And you are safe, and strong, and in therapy to get better. I’m proud of you, Bob.”

He grabbed her even tighter, trying to hold onto something he felt like could be ripped away from him at any moment. She continued to run her hand through his hair until he finally calmed down enough to go back to sleep. Once his soft breathing was slow enough, she fell asleep too.