Chapter Text
Car horns rushed below him, pedestrians yelping and looking up, someone cussing as the air wheezed past his accelerating flight.
Sentry ignored everything, gaze completely set on her like a locked target. She hasn’t moved from her current position, completely unaware of him closing the distance between them.
It took less than a minute.
But he knew he couldn’t just grab her, not with how fast he’s going. Unlike him, Yelena is not indestructible. She wouldn’t be able to absorb the impact of his mounting momentum, he had to adjust. At a slight lower incline, he twisted his route from a straight trajectory into an arc. He’ll question himself how the hell did he already know what to do, it came to him naturally, like swimming in the same direction of a softly flowing river. But right now, he simply slowed to a pace to minimize the speed difference between them, just the right amount for one particular precise moment.
Bob reached Yelena.
He slipped an arm between her shoulder blades, the other beneath her knees, scooping her into position. He braced himself once her weight settled in his arms. Not that she’d make any difference, but he didn’t want to aggressively wrench her into place.
She barely had time to react as her feet left the ground.
Her breath catches.
“What the fuck—“
Sentry tightened his hold. The concrete ledge beneath his shoes cracked against protesting tension as he lifted from the ground.
Yelena finds herself pressed against his chest unexpectedly.
“Sentry—“
He charged in the air.
The wind gets harsh and cold all at once, a surprising dichotomy with Sentry’s body heat radiating through his clothes.
She stared ahead, the contemplative look on her face going entirely blank. Then, as if the irony is on purpose, she turned to him rather slowly.
He looked back at her.
“If it’s Spider-Man you’re worried about, I’m sure he’ll understand.”
Sentry already knows where to take her. It has to be somewhere private. Somewhere quiet. Because there’s no way they are getting interrupted. Or make Yelena bolt on him before he even gets the chance to say a single word.
He scanned the cityscape around them.
And right there.
A skyscraper erected like a solitary figure ahead, surrounded by mid-rise boxed offices. The roof deck is much higher than the Watchtower’s for at least ten more stories, definitely away from prying eyes.
He corrected his course only a little bit higher until they reached the top. The city’s noise dissolved into a faint murmur, the wind whipping at their altitude.
With a similar slowness upon picking her up, his shoes softly landed on solid concrete.
He released his hold, carefully lowering her until she’s standing. But she doesn’t let go of him right away, the shock hasn’t worn off. It was their shared silence that overtook them for a brief moment.
It had nearly taken a full minute before Yelena trusted herself to move, stepping away. She was breathing pretty heavily. Her hair had become a complete haphazard mess that she had to push back several times with both hands.
He waits for her patiently, just watching as she recovers her breath and straightening her gear.
It was a quick assessment.
Yelena gave herself a tiny grumble of approval and he also watched the surprise finally trickle away from her, getting replaced by something else.
At first, recognition.
Then, came disbelief.
Newfound anger.
She gritted her teeth and took three strides towards him. Before he knows it, her palms hit at his chest, shoving him. Or rather, attempting too.
Sentry doesn’t move an inch. But she keeps pushing anyway.
“What the hell is wrong with you?! Мудак!”
More poorly attempted shoving.
“You are insane!”
“Yelena.”
“Why did you bring me here?!”
He lets his powers recede from his fingertips, the golden gleam in his irises melting away. Bob physically returns to himself, a little more assured of the plan in his head, but at the same time, he’s on edge. There’s just no way to tell how this will go. He hopes the truth and the bit of confidence he reigned in for himself is going to be enough.
“We need to talk.”
She stared blankly at him, mouth opening and closing, her hands violently gesturing at where they were. “We needed to—Bob! You could just tell me back home!”
The words that were begging to come out burned on his tongue.
“You leave every time I try!” It escapes him. “I don’t even see you anymore.” He was louder than he had intended, hanging on the precipice of letting go.
Yelena went very still. Her initial anger faltered, she hadn’t expected it. Him.
Good.
The wind continued to rustle and tug at his curls and jacket. Nature’s own way of reminding Bob that this is going to be the moment. He swallowed, he had to keep going. Because if he stopped and let the fear grip around his throat like barbed wire, he knows he’ll never be able to say everything he should have said since Yelena first walked away from him.
“I thought giving you space was the right call,” He started, voice hushed. “Natasha said you’d come around eventually. And I believed her because you’re her sister. She knows you best but…” He made a helpless gesture with his hand. “Every time you leave to go out with Spider-Man, it feels like I’m losing you more and more.”
A humorless laugh he couldn’t have avoided left him.
“It sounds really stupid. I know because you always come home the next day and then leave in the morning.”
Bob shakes his head like he couldn’t believe what was already happening.
He couldn’t stop talking now.
“You’re not there to tell me lunch or dinner is delicious. You don’t sit next to me on the couch. We don’t raid the kitchen at midnight. We don’t watch shitty movies we make fun of when one of us can’t sleep…”
She looks away, but he doesn’t.
“I miss it. All of it,” His voice trembles with longing he has kept inside him for so long. “I miss you, Lena.”
He’d like to think that he’s a patient man. But he has been functioning around the Watchtower pretending things were fine and he can’t take it anymore.
It’s not an option. Not with Yelena.
“I would do anything to get it all back. To get you back,” He takes another deep breath to steady himself. “Because I don’t want you to become a stranger. I want you cranky after team meetings. I want you shit talking Walker after a training session. I want you caring. I want you stubborn. I want you angry… I don’t want to get used to not having all of you.”
Her eyes had glistened then.
He keeps looking at her.
“That’s why I brought you here. Because I don’t want to be a coward about it anymore. Not when it comes to you,” He takes a deep breath, reels in his nerves. “I have so many things I want to say. Just… Please hear me out.”
She chews on her lip, a contemplative but nervous look on her face. “Okay.”
Bob is just as nervous, if not, more.
“You’re my best friend, Yelena. But… At some point, that stopped being enough to describe what you are to me. I… I’m in love with you.”
For a second, his confession laid on her feet. That was that. He did it. He finally said what he has kept hostage in his chest and trapped behind his teeth for a while now.
Something quick and molten flashed in Yelena’s eyes.
“You can’t say that.” She uttered, growled.
Her simmering tone took him aback. His eyes widened. “What—why?”
“Because I heard you!”
“You heard me…?”
“Yes!” She admitted with devastating defeat, like she’s been carrying this with her for so long, the weight heavy and impossible on her shoulders. “You and Nat! At the roof deck. You were telling her that you love her… She even laughed and said that you were rambling…”
Understanding slowly reaches him as the memory that physically makes him cringe returns with firm clarity.
But her anger arrived faster. She bares her teeth at him like a caught wild cat, glaring sharply. If it wasn’t for his impossibly fast reflexes, her fist would’ve perfectly collided with his face.
“Yele—“
“What are you trying to pull here? Are you playing games with me? Trying to cheat on my sister? Because I did not take you for an adulterer, Bob! I’m very disappointed.”
“I—“ His forehead creased. “Cheat on your sister?”
“Don’t play stupid with me! I know what I heard! You two are together, yes?” She crossed her arms over her chest in defiance when it occurred to her she wouldn’t be able to get a hit on him.
Okay. This time, Bob recovered himself faster.
He can’t let her think any of these things.
“No, we’re not together. I don’t like her like that. And I’m pretty sure she feels the same way about me,” He smiles a little, watching her anger melt into confusion. “What you heard was me making a complete fool of myself because I didn’t want to mess up asking the girl I like out on a date.”
She doesn’t hide how rattled she is by this newfound information, a development she probably wasn’t expecting… Her face flushes a little red.
But it wasn't unwelcome either. That’s a good sign, he thinks.
Her lips remained downturned in a frown. “And all your secret jokes? What was that?”
He chuckled softly, another tiny sound afraid to burst the tender bubble they were wrapped around in.
“It’s your sister teasing me about you,” He shrugged. “She wasn’t exactly subtle about it. Kinda like when your older sibling finds out about your first crush in second grade.”
She froze with realization, a breath she had been holding escaping her.
“Oh.”
Bob keeps staring.
“Ava told me what you talked about.”
A sudden burst of indignation flashes through Yelena.
“That сука!”
“It was killing me, Lena,” His tone takes on a helpless feeling, something chained and unable to leave. “Having to watch you leave and not do anything about it. Especially when you’re always out with Spider-Man…”
The admission finally caused her to meet his gaze. Somehow, honesty is so much difficult this way. But he knew he had to stand his ground, his hands bawled into tight fists by his sides. A flash of that same green and ugly feeling stirred in his gut.
She notices immediately.
“See? You know what it feels like.”
“Unfortunately.” He echoed with a smile.
Silence follows.
It’s not uncomfortable. It’s not awkward. No jagged edges or sharp remnants of things left unsaid, of leftover traces of anger and jealousy and misunderstandings. It’s just the kind of silence between two people turning over their words and confessions in their heads. Two people finally confronting what they have been putting off. Just Bob and Yelena realizing what they have been feeling for each other all along.
This time, it’s Yelena who spoke first.
Her body had relaxed, looking back at him with something new.
“It was only once, you know? An assignment with Spider-Man. He needed my help because he was dealing with something Red Room related,” She had offered a smile then. “And we weren’t alone. He had his telepathic girlfriend with him. I was third wheeling.”
He became suspiciously very still.
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
Her mouth twitched.
“You wanted to know.”
Yeah... There’s no reason to deny it now. Not after everything.
With a deep sigh, he relented.
“Only a little.”
She laughed.
Bob missed it. That tinkering sound, sweet and real.
“I didn’t know Spider-Man had a girlfriend.”
“Me too. It’s a funny thing actually. When you think about it, we have the same taste.”
He takes on a confused expression, a wrinkle on his forehead that she wanted to physically smooth over with her own hand.
Her face suddenly splits in half with a wide grin. He should’ve taken it as a sign.
“Just saving overpowered superhumans from themselves and falling in love with them.”
Oh.
Oh, okay.
That’s—
His heart drops to his feet.
Bob inhaled sharply.
Now, this—this is something he needs some time getting used to.
Yelena flirting with him.
To add more blessing to injury, she had taken a bold step forward, closing enough distance between them so she could lift her hand to caress his cheek. And Bob is helpless against her touch as he nuzzles against her palm, placing his own hand over hers, keeping her in place, a wordless plea to make her stay.
“You love me?” He asked, a bit breathlessly. He doesn’t bother pretending that he wanted to know, wanted to hear her say it.
“I always have,” She answered, almost shy, also something new for him to get used to. He thinks it’s cute. “I just have a strange way of showing it.”
“You’re telling me.” He gestured around them, reminding each other where they currently were.
It made her laugh again, hand dropping to his chest now. “I was going to ask. Since when could you do that? All the Sentry stuff…”
He laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
“It’s, uh… Just now.”
She froze, gaping at him.
“Bob! Bucky’s going to kill you!”
He shrugged dismissively, a stupid grin on his face. “Worth it.”
“Well, I won’t let him kill you anyway.”
He laughs again. Ridiculous.
“Thanks. Thank you, Lena.” He squeezes her hand, a thought he almost forgot reaching out to him. “So, am I safe now? You’re not gonna punch me in the face?”
She hummed contemplatively.
“I’m still considering it.”
“Okay. Fair enough. Um… I have something for you.”
Before he loses his nerves and ends up actually forgetting, he grabs the slim box resting on the inside of his jacket pocket.
“Your birthday is getting close. I wanted to give it to you on the day of but… Today works so…” He swallows around his drying mouth as he watches her take out the silver chained necklace from its box.
“Bob…” She’s examining the necklace with such heart aching reverence.
Still, it doesn’t stop him from getting nervous.
“… Do you like it?”
“Is this a joke? An American thing?”
Well, he doesn’t know what to make of it until Yelena is throwing her entire 5’3” self to him, hurling enough force to knock the wind out of his lungs and a couple steps off his feet, arms wrapping around his neck.
Still, he manages to stay upright as his hands steady her carefully.
When her shoulders started to shake and he heard her sniffing, his body went perfectly rigid with tension.
“Um, Lena?”
“It’s so…” A hiccup. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
It’s nothing fancy, really. It’s just a thin silver chained necklace with a pendant of an asymmetrical infinity represented by a ring clasped to a smaller ring. He found it at a local antique shop by complete accident. It was just displayed out front and it called to some part of him to have it.
Months later, Bob finally knew what it was for.
It was for this exact moment. This priceless reaction. There’s a lot of new things about Yelena he is pleasantly surprised by. He feels giddy with every new discovery.
Bob smiled into her hair.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it,” Yelena says into his shirt, lightly wet with tears. “Put it on me.”
She’s already turning around as he gathers the tiny clasp with careful fingers.
For some reason, this simple act seemed sacred and more intimate than everything he has told her so far. He is yet to say the words, but he knows he will. Right now, he felt a little emotional as his necklace locked around the elegant slope of her neck. Something about it just makes his heart race and any part of his brain capable of thought stops working, overdriven by this strong hungry urge to kiss her nape.
It was more like a reverent press of his lips over the clasp. Just to physically feel it.
“Bob…?”
Yelena’s breath hitched and the tiny sound was enough to jar him back awake.
“O-Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinki—”
“Stop,” She turned to face him now. A matching blush of her own. “Don’t apologize. I like it… You should do it more.”
Bob blinked at her. “Really?”
She laughs that same soft laugh. “Yes.”
He’ll keep that in mind.
Her fingers stroked at the pendant sitting independently just right below her collarbones. He can’t take his eyes off of it.
“I’m never taking it off.”
A shy curve twitched on his lips.
“I-It’s not just that. I, uh… I wanted to do something… Just the two of us. Like dinner, maybe.”
The semipermanent surprise on her face loosened into something more mischievous.
“Bob Reynolds, are you asking me out on a date?”
“Y-Yeah, I am.” He answered with as much poise he could muster, which probably isn’t much. Judging by the clearly amused smile on her face.
“Then it’s a date.”
“It’s a date.” He echoed.
The moment settled gently, barricading themselves where the entire world condenses itself to the hazel green of Yelena’s eyes and the delicate shape of Bob’s lips.
“Bob?”
“Yeah?”
“Before I let you kiss me, I want to say some things too.”
Oh. Oh, okay.
It must be unbecoming. But he physically shakes in anticipation. It couldn’t be helped. Not after what she said as his own eyes dropped to her soft lips.
She snorted.
“Bob. Pay attention.” She playfully taps at his cheek, pulling his gaze away from her mouth.
“Right. Okay,” He clears his throat. “Sorry.”
Yelena holds his hand. Maybe it’s to keep him listening, which is very effective. But she’s also visibly gathering the strength to form the words. It gives Bob comfort in a way, because she is not used to it either—having to confront and deal with these kinds of emotions.
“I want to say sorry. I was terrible to you.”
“You weren’t.”
“Bob, no.” She stood firmly, eyes hardened with steel. “Let me do this. Please.”
And he understood immediately.
Coming to her defense isn’t what she needed, whether he strongly disagrees or not. This isn’t about him. This is acknowledging herself making mistakes and somehow, Bob feels his chest bloom with the warmth of pride over how beautifully human she is in this moment. For someone who has been trained since childhood to become a sharp blade wielded by unspoken men, standing before him now is a different woman.
Her past could never be erased. Not really. He has tried. But she has grown very distant from it, so much so, that she’s facing feelings like most people do, instead of targets she has to seduce, to neutralize, to torture.
None of that anymore.
Just a woman telling him she’s sorry.
“I’m sorry. How I handled things was wrong. All of it… The jumping to conclusions instead of just asking you or Nat. Yelling at you. Ignoring and running away. Assuming the worst of you—oh my god, I tried to punch you in the face because I thought you were capable of messing with my sister! You don’t deserve any of it,” She swallowed thickly, clearly mortified of herself. He gives her hand a squeeze. “And you come to me telling me you love me and giving me a birthday gift and being so good.”
Yelena takes a deliberate step closer. It makes all the difference.
“I’m trying so hard not to say that I don’t deserve you and run away again. But… I’m trying this new thing called learning, if you heard about it,” She allows herself to smile, a little encouragement she still needs. “I’m sorry, Bob.”
He smiles back. There nothing else left but to accept everything wholeheartedly. “I forgive you, Lena.”
“And another thing.”
“There’s more?”
His brow furrowed at the way she looked away from him shyly.
“I love you too,” She squeezed his hand back. “If that’s not obvious enough.”
Bob’s expression softened.
He keeps looking at her.
Really looking.
He didn’t think he would hear those words from Yelena right away. He thought they were something he still has to earn, to prove and fight for. Because she used to be a resident from a different plane of existence to him, somewhere far and out of reach. Untouchable.
Now, he kinda only wants to keep hearing her say it to him again and again. Forever, if he’s ever that lucky.
“Lena?” Her name arrived just as soft as her I love you.
She might’ve noticed. “Hm?”
“I love you,” Saying them is just as good. Or even better. His eyes land back on her mouth, reminding himself. “Can I kiss you now?”
“Yes. I would be very upset if you didn't.”
Carefully, Bob rested a hand lightly on her cheek, the rushing warmth in them beckoned by his mere touch. The other pulled her closer by the hip, quite a spontaneous move that surprised them both.
The lighthearted air had long since faded, replaced by a fragility that neither dared to break. Something quieter and more peaceful is slowly taking place, he couldn’t quite identify what it is but it’s making his heart race faster.
His gaze moved across her face without any pattern.
He wanted to remember and conceal the exactness of this moment. Her hazel green eyes, ever changing colors. The faint scattering of freckles on her skin he could see, knowing the scars that marred on skin he couldn’t. The bridge of her nose. The slope of her lips—
Almost immediately, his thoughts seized.
Neither didn’t say anything.
But he moved to lean closer, intentionally slow, still giving her a choice in case she wanted to change her mind.
She didn’t.
Instead, she had licked at her bottom lip and he became painfully aware of that move.
“Lena…” He doesn’t know why he’s saying her name.
“What?”
He almost laughed. Not like something was funny or anything. It’s just—his heart is hammering like crazy and he can take a wild guess that she could probably hear it.
“Nothing. I don’t know.”
She snorted. “Just kiss me.”
“I’m getting there.”
“I hope so.”
With a sigh that she felt in the small and still existing space between them, he made the sweet mistake of looking at her mouth again. It’s almost unbearable, how slowly they were both making it happen.
Her lips partially parted.
His own breath caught.
And right there. That feeling.
The moment gives way to them. Finally.
Their lips met softly. Yelena is warm against him. Solid and real. Kissing back. Choosing this. Choosing him. It’s a battle between surging forward and a shyness that made them pull back so they could press against each other again.
Bob’s hand on her cheek drifted towards her hair, fingers disappearing into the silky strands. He always wondered as his fingertips gently scratched at her scalp with a sensation that caused her to moan softly, an unexpected noise he’ll hear for the rest of his life. He does it twice more so he could keep hearing her.
Meanwhile, Yelena’s hand had fisted on his shirt, just keeping him close, keeping him there.
If she wanted to stay on that rooftop forever, he’d stay.
Kissing someone has never felt like this before. He hadn’t kissed many people, but he could tell the difference in being wanted back, being wanted by Yelena now. Closer, closer, closer.
He has only ever known intimacy as a form of outlet to pass the time, to pass the boredom, because there’s very little they could do while waiting for the drugs to take effect.
It was never this.
Hands in his hair, pulling at each other impossibly closer like they wanted to fuse and meld together into one being. A desperation. A reverence. He doesn’t know which is which anymore. And it didn’t matter.
Bob is kissing the woman he’s pathetically in love with.
The realization struck him deeply, square in the chest.
It’s intoxicating and addicting.
The hand that wasn’t threading through her hair was pushing at the small of her back. Yelena was gripping his jaw, keeping him at an angle that pushed against his mouth deeper. There was nothing tentative left in the way that they moved, only growing restless and hungrier.
Long nights of her absence and short days of being ignored. The aching feeling of missing her voice, her face, her laugh.
Their breathing grew uneven.
Bob felt her smile against his mouth, and something inside his chest collapsed open with a burst of warmth. He smiled at hers too.
The force and intensity of their kiss gradually softened without disappearing.
They didn’t want to end it.
They slowed.
Until he allowed his forehead to rest against Yelena’s, also not separating from each other completely.
They needed a second before they could talk.
Maybe a little more for him.
“So…”
“So…?”
“That really happened,” She’s grinning widely, looking up at him. “You’re a good kisser, Bob.”
His eyes widened before smiling, a bit bashful. It’s honestly absurd.
“Glad I could deliver.”
“I had suspected it, you know.” Her eyes tracked his face. Eyes, nose, mouth. Then back again.
“That I can kiss a girl?”
“I’m sure that’s not all,” She hummed lowly. “What else are you good at, Bob? I bet there are other things…”
Her gaze flicked lower past his mouth, which only lasted for less than a second. But Bob caught it. She’s teasing him, eyes glittering with flirtatious mirth. Because that is allowed now and apparently Yelena is not going to take it for granted.
His chest lurched. It burned with something bright and impossible. A newfound confidence preening over Yelena’s praise and attention.
Bob takes a deep breath, and he doesn’t think about it as he seized her by the hips and pulled her in for another kiss.
No hesitation. Just pure warmth encasing every touch and every press of their lips. Only Yelena. He swallows her surprise, taking the opportunity to slip his tongue in her mouth and groaning at the perfect taste that greeted him.
And she responded back with the same ferocity, it nearly broke him. The quick reciprocation. She didn’t hesitate either.
They simply wanted, trusted and loved each other.
When they parted again, Yelena only allowed her arms to fall into a loose hug, still staying close.
She looked down and gasped, almost laughing as they found themselves floating a few feet higher than the very top of the skyscraper.
“Does this answer your question?” He tilts his head, regarding her with the same playful energy, although slightly awkward.
Turns out she hadn’t expected him to flirt back.
Her eyes gaped wide.
“Bob Reynolds!” She grinned, squeezing his arm. “You are full of surprises.”
He simply shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m trying this new thing called learning.”
Yelena froze.
He makes her laugh, head thrown back in the cradle of his arms.
“You’re so stupid. I love you.”
It made Bob smile brilliantly.
She said the words first.
”I love you too, Lena.”
He’d learn eventually that she’ll keep saying them a lot, whether he makes her laugh with a stupid joke or makes her cry because the Golden Guardian of Good managed to get himself hurt. She’ll even say it when he’s just staring out the window, a dog-eared paperback sitting on his chest.
Though right now, Bob is completely enamored like it’s a rare gemstone.
He’ll find all the ways to keep making her say it and there will never be a moment where he won’t say it back. He’ll always love her. Always.