Chapter Text
Moving to the Watchtower has been a ride for sure.
She in particular did not have a reason to be against the idea of sharing a space with her team, after all, they've been literally through the worst together and maybe she didn't know all of them very well, not in a deep personal way yet, but the government named them a team so now they will have to act like one because a bunch of misfits like them didn't have options.
Not one better than being the Avengers.
Yelena had experience with roommates since she was little. The first one she remembered sharing a room with was her sister Natasha and it was absolutely fantastic. Natasha was incredibly creative at playtime, she'd imagine a whole world with a storyline for them to play. Yelena had a role and so Natasha did, they went on different adventures around mythical worlds for hours until they heard their mom calling them for dinner.
The room was always covered in blankets and Christmas lights, toys spread on the floor and more than one pillow fort here and there. Melina always got mad and ordered them to tidy the place up but Yelena always knew that behind that strict mom, she was happy to see them have fun.
Now that she thought about it, it was as if Natasha had trained her somehow because she would correct some attacks when playing catch the prey. She was a very good hunter even at that age, but Yelena was only six years old, she only wanted to play with her sister.
She never knew her biological family so she didn't grow up in an isolated snowy mountain like the rest of the snow leopard hybrids. She never learned to be distanced and calm like them but she sure had the playful behavior all the snow leopards have. She remembered scaring Alexei when he came home from work and cutely biting Melina's legs when she was reading on the sofa. Climbing the tall furniture like the bookshelf or stealing cookies from the tallest shelf on the kitchen were normal things to do for her because no matter how hard you tried to be more like other species, your true mutation always brings you back where you belong.
At that age, she didn't wonder why the members of her family weren't snow leopards like her. Alexei was a russian grizzly bear and Melina was a raven, while Natasha was a Siberian tiger. Little Yelena found coincidences in her sister's appearance and hers, both have little round ears on top of their heads, but Natasha's were orange and hers were white. They also have similar tails but her sister's were thin, elegant and had black stripes, while hers was big, really long and fluffy with dark spots on it.
She didn't question it, it was enough proof that they were sisters.
Until they were handed to the Red Room.
There, having roommates wasn't as fun. They all slept on grey boring bunk beds, sharing a room with other three people. They weren't allowed to have personal items with them or personalize their space, almost forcing them to not have singular traces. All the girls in the Red Room would have to wake up at the same hour and go to sleep the same way, no playtime at all, only training. She didn't get to see her sister that often, sometimes she'd see her through the window of her classroom when Natasha had camp training or at lunch time, when they had granted a few minutes of conversation.
Her roommates weren't as fun but she didn't blame them, with time, she lost that playful spark too. Yelena was agile, energetic and obedient. Being a snow leopard in a brutal training facility like that one, had its highlights. Climbing or chasing missions were easy for her, weapons handling became an easy routine for her since her agility and fast reflexes helped her, also, it was hard to surprise her because her feline ears would pick on every sound near her, detecting enemies way before they attacked her. Yelena quickly became the perfect spy but that only cost her the lives of her friends, or well, the lives of the girls that lived with her.
Mission after mission she tried to forget the horrors but when her room was empty except for her, she understood that she would never have roommates again, that her room was not a special place. It was only a bed to sleep in.
But in her time there, unwanted or not, she got to meet many other hybrids of all kinds. The training room was also filled with different hybrids and the classroom and essentially, she learned to adapt her life and her particular needs to other people with different lifestyles.
Being in the same space with five other people, and one of them was her dad, will be the easiest thing.
And then the moving happened and she remembered that the problem wasn't their abilities or their mutations, not even their breeds but their shitty attitude.
John really enjoyed making everything the hard way and if he could drag the others, then it was a mission completed. He whined because Valentina didn't have him permission to live on the top floor. He alleged that it was necessary for his eagle hybrid training and that having access to the exit will ease his way out of the tower but Valentina said that the arrival of helicopters was priority and that he would have to settle for a regular room like the rest of them.
John was pissed and was complaining about getting the closest floor to the top for himself but Ava wanted the farthest floor for her because according to her, she needed privacy. Arguing with her wasn't the best idea because she was firm like a mountain and sustained her ideas very well. And to everyone's disgrace, they were casually fighting over the same room.
Yelena didn't want to be part of this, if Bucky couldn't solve it, Valentina would have to and it wasn't like she was a threat but she sure knew how to put everyone in their place. John once was a really loyal soldier but Ava was fearless so the final battle probably would be a sight to see.
Until then, she decided to install herself on a floor near the center of the tower. She has always been a height enjoyer, overviewing the city was a nice hobby. It helped her to relax to remind herself not to stress too much about anything, it cleared her mind and her lungs. The city lights were beautiful and the sunsets surprisingly stunning even when being cut off by tall buildings, but she also had to be not so far from the floor. If she has to run out, it'd be easier that way.
Her dad had a similar idea and was possessed by the idea of living near his daughter. For him, being neighbors was like a dream come true because that way, they could visit each other whenever they feel down or organize weekly family reunions and drink together or watch American shows. Yelena was content with the idea because she didn't want to lose him again, not after feeling deeply utterly alone.
After Natasha's death, coping with solitude has been a hard task. She wished someone was there when she needed a hug or to tell stories about her sister to keep her memory alive because to her, that cute little cub of Siberian tiger and unconditional sister of hers will always be by her side and she didn't want to live with the remorse of disappearing when Nat needed her the most.
She was the universe's great hero but to her, she was her beloved sister. Her best friend and her family.
Alexei was a reminder of that small family they had. Yelena knew he still loved her the same so her passing must be hard for him too but he was better than her to hide it. Still, she hoped that one day he was the one reaching out to her to talk, until then, being close would be enough. She missed her dad too.
The only regret was that she was close enough to hear him blasting either old Russian music or white girl music, nothing in between. He enjoyed destroying his eardrums with viral pop music full volume or recap his better days with the speaker’s sound resonating through the whole Watchtower. She once tried to tell him to turn down the noise but he answered saying “Oh Lena! Join the party”
She had to see how he decorated his room with red Soviet souvenirs and flags while screaming the ‘Taste’ lyrics at the top of his old but still strong lungs.
And there was Bob, of course. The most quiet resident of the tower, pretty much okay with whatever that was going on. Technically, Valentina was legally in charge of him since he signed as a volunteer for her experiments but he was now under the New Avengers protection and they gave him the chance to choose his floor and room first, the problem was that he didn't know what to do with that privilege. He only said “I'm fine with anything, you choose first guys” and John didn't waste the opportunity.
He was by far, the nicest of them all. Agreeing with design decisions and considering everyone on his own decisions, as if picking a color for his walls was a whole team concern. He never listened to music out loud, he actually had sound cancelling earphones that he wore most of the time, and knocked before entering someone else's room. Something so basic that not all of them did, specially Ava who apparently loved to jump scared them phasing through the wall randomly.
Bob didn't have a lot of belongings, he said that all his things were retrieved from the body bag he was in back in Malaysia and they all fitted in a smaller plastic bag. He had left everything behind for the promise of becoming a better person with a little help from the shady organization so his things were reduced to the earphones, a toothbrush and a damaged special brush for his fur.
According to his shifting personality, most of the time a docile one, he was a dog hybrid, a breed that many considered well behaved and very cute. Bob was cute, everyone admitted that, even John, but he still has those freaky powers and a fragile mind.
For him, therapy was mandatory, just as Bucky's and he was actively working to be better. Yelena never had thought that there was something wrong in him or that he needed to force himself into becoming a better person. He was already a good person, caring enough for himself and them by not killing them all in the Void and living with them, being himself trying to help despite everything. He kept practicing with his powers and started to train like the rest just so he could be in control most of the time, or defend himself when needed.
He really made an effort and he had problems of course, but his biggest flaw was probably how he kept thinking that he was alone or that he was a burden for a superhero team. Hugely ignoring the fact that none of them were superheroes, literally the only one with amazing super human powers was him.
Still, he was nice and often would invite her to his room to listen to music. He liked calm instrumental music in general, something to let him think but he was also a fan of rap because they would express a lot of feeling in such a short time, just like when he was anxious, Yelena knew she should not have laughed at that because he was making jokes with his trauma, but it was funny.
She was more of a punk or rock listener. Energetic music filled her soul and gave her the strength needed to train or accomplish a mission. Also, she loved rock concerts where she could be as crazy as she wanted and the rest would be okay with that. She even offered a private concert with loud music, a brush as a microphone and an air guitar. He politely clapped at the end.
Yelena enjoyed being around him, it was really good to have someone as Bob with them because he would often act as a mediator.
So yeah, moving with them has been good and bad, she hoped for more good than bad but she was convinced when she found out that having different hybrids under the same room lead to catching them acting weird.
For example, Bucky was a wolf hybrid and he would often mark his things by rubbing them against his cheeks instead of labelling them like a normal person. The rest of them would not smell a thing even if he bathed them with his scent because they didn't have those receptors in their noses, maybe Bob could do it sometimes. Yelena noticed when he was about to grab a mug mindlessly and returned it right away when his nose got close and he made a face, that mug was Bucky's.
She wasn't sure if he did it on purpose or was just a habit but it was very weird seeing your mentor, or your leader or whatever he was to them, acting like that.
Once she caught John puffing his feathers in a very bird-like way. She had never seen a bird hybrid doing that. It happened on a rainy night. They were all ready to sleep when John asked to turn up the thermostat because he was freezing. The mammal hybrids like her, did not feel the cold due to their thick layer of fur so neither Bob, Alexei, Bucky or her, knew was he was talking about but Bucky told him that the thermostat was being fixed so he would have to wrap himself with a blanket or something.
John got annoyed but didn't say much before leaving the room. A few minutes later, when Yelena was leaving as well, she found him in the corridor shaking his massive brown wings and getting bigger with every second until he became a rounder version of John Walker, using his puff up wings as a shield against the cold. She never thought they could do that and was about to laugh when he noticed her and threatened to not say a word to the others.
She watched him wobble back to his room and couldn't help but to laugh loudly.
Ava had her things too. She was a reptile hybrid, a chamaeleon one and she had a curled tail behind her, very long. They had never seen her acting like an actual chamaeleon so they thought that maybe reptiles didn't have behavior related to the mutation, like the rest of them but Yelena, Bob and John once catched her sleeping on the back of the sofa very much alike of a chamaeleon resting on a branch.
They agreed to watch a movie together if John got to choose the movie and Bob the snacks. For that, they would use the common living room without knowing that it was already occupied. The TV was turned on, long forgotten by Ava in comfy clothes lying not on the soft cushions but in the back of the sofa with her limbs spread across it.
“What the hell?” John muttered.
“Better leave her rest”
And the three of them slowly walked away to see the movie anywhere else.
Until that day, Ava still believed that no one had seen her doing typical chamaeleon things.
Oh and Alexei, he didn't even care to hide that he was a grizzly bear. He was very proud of that so he naturally would huff or slap the ground with his foot when he was uncomfortable or upset. In winter it was noticeable the amount of hours he slept even when they had to attend to a mission and he liked sweets a lot especially if they were berry made. Alexei was also very protective of his daughter now that they were together again but Yelena tried to ignore that or directly tell him that she was not a baby anymore.
She, on the other hand, did not have any need or behavior that could bother the others or left her humbled by how weird it was. She was very clean and tidy like a normal person not like a cat and she would never think of licking herself as a way of bathing. Surprisingly, the urge to climb things kept relegated to mission or training exclusively so she wouldn't do it on a daily basis. Other than that, she would dare to say that she was the most normal resident there.
To pass the time, she would pick a living room from all of the floors that have one, and lazily lay on the sofa watching 80’s slashers or listening to music. She was also very good at making snacks so most of the time, she'd prepare something and go chill in front of the television for a while.
Still Yelena was a professional and trained assassin with heightened senses, really hard to surprise even when relaxing the way she was on that fateful day when Bob entered the room, making no sound at all and gasping loudly right in front of her.
Yelena was listening to music, a bit loud honestly and she kept her eyes closed while munching on a spicy chip the very moment he surprised her. Her ears would pick on the minimal sound, but she was too focused on the music to pay attention.
“Oh my God, Bob you almost got me a heart attack” she placed her hand on her chest dramatically “What are you doing here?”
“I heard your music and came to see if I could join you” he had a big smile on his face.
“Yes you can stay here” she invited him in “jeez you really startled me. You're very sneaky”
Bob let out a snort and started laughing without a reason. She was happy that he was happy but she'd like to know what was so funny.
“What?” She asked half smiling because his laugh was contagious.
“Nothing” he stood upright again “Is just that you were biting your tail” he laughed again and Yelena was dumbfounded.
“What? No I was eating chips” she pointed to the sofa but the chips remained untouched in the table and so her drink was. Therefore she wasn't munching on a chip, probably she was really biting her tail. She inspected it and she had a wet spot resembling teeth.
“Damn” she covered her face, humiliated and very shy about it “Sorry you had to see that”
It was true that snow leopards have very long fluffy tails, useful for equilibrium and warmth. It helped her to balance when she performed her attacks or shift her weight swiftly when ambushing the enemy. It also served as a scarf to warm her face when going to colder zones, specially when waiting for days in the snow for a mission but under any circumstances it was not a toy, definitely.
Kids usually play with it because it was one of their first instincts or would chase each other’s tails but adults, well behaved and formed with the society rules, didn't have the need to play with it or bite it. She knew some adults would do it too, out of habit and indoors but she was sure she wasn't one of them. Or was she?
“Why? It's really cute”
“No, I can't be cute!” she lamented “I'm a black widow, a former assassin and now a superhero!”
“Yeah but you bite your tail like a cub,” he pointed out.
She couldn't help but snort too and laugh right after because it was so foolish. Nobody has told her that before, nor her dad or Nat, they both surely have seen her doing it. She wasn't aware though and now she would have to be more cautious around the others if she didn't want them to find out but if someone has to know, Bob was perfect for it.
“Pff have you seen yourself? Your tail comes with emotional subtitles” she joked and Bob also laughed at that too. It was true that whenever he felt really happy or utterly sad, his tail would speak for him.
Together, they stayed in that living room with the loud music as a background noise, alternating between classical music and anarchy anthems while talking about their odd habits or things related to their mutations, typically animal behavior and commenting occasionally the things they've seen the others do. Bob didn't want to talk about them, like gossiping about them, he didn't like the idea of being criticized the same way by them but the conversation with Yelena always flowed effortlessly.
It wasn't as if they were saying bad things, they just pointed out the highlights and lowlights of being part of a very varied group and how they could improve their coexistence under the same roof. Both agreed that staying together felt right, as if being a team was something fated to be, they have a lot of things in common as much as differences and that was good.
They would have to work on their communication skills but sooner or later, they will become a true team.
Then, someone interrupted them.
“What is that weird shuffling playlist that you're hearing? It's horrible” John gave his unrequited point of view when he crossed the door.
“Next time, talk when we ask you ok?” Yelena greeted him but didn't tell him to get lost. Spontaneous gatherings like this would often happen and they all let them happen because they were aware that spending time together was mandatory.
“Let me show you real music” and he connected to the speakers with his own personal training playlist plagued with songs full of testosterone. A very John thing to do.
“Ugh who let John near the speakers?” Ava complained a few minutes later “What are you all doing here?”
“I catched them hearing horrible music so I volunteered to teach them”
“What are you? The music police?” Yelena started the bickering.
“John, you don't have good music taste either!” Ava rolled her eyes.
“Hey!” The rest of them took offense.
“We have impeccable taste in music and to your information we were talking about weird habits” Yelena declared and everyone took a seat on a spot on the sofa. Today was a cold lazy day and she bet none of them did a thing after training, so they were all in comfy clothes.
“Oh I saw Yelena biting her tail a while ago” John raised his hand without waiting to actually organize turns.
“Damn what?! How? When?!” She was concerned.
Only there she knew that not only she was caught but that probably all of them had seen her and after all this time, no one said anything.
“You do it all the time. The other day we were waiting for Alexei to bring the delivery and you were casually scrolling on your phone, in a corner, biting your tail” John shrugged.
“Yeah, remember when it was your turn to do your laundry? I was passing by and saw you biting your tail when you were waiting” Ava reminded her.
“Really?” She asked, very confused with wide eyes. Not even she noticed but the others did.
“Yeah, I thought you did it on purpose,” John suggested.
“Uh no. Maybe I should pay attention when doing things” Yelena started to reconsider every boredom moment in her life trying to recall her very movements and see if it was really that common.
“You mean when doing nothing” Bob smiled at her and she couldn't help but to let the topic go and laugh at herself too. For anyone that wasn't a snow leopard, that was a weird habit.
“Oh no my beautiful daughter” Alexei joined the conversation from the corridor, then he entered the room and sat next to Yelena, passing an arm around her shoulders “You must not change anything. You're as fine as when you were little. Look at this”
And then he pulled out his wallet and fished an old, very damaged picture in which six year old Yelena was lying in her stomach, happily biting her tail and smiling at the camera. She had her long hair falling on the sides and the two round fluffy leopard ears popped out of the ball of blonde hair cutely. She probably played for a long time until her hair got all disheveled and then she laid there to rest.
“She was very energetic but when she got tired, she'd bite her tail to sleep”. Not content with that, Alexei passed the photo to all of them shamelessly, proudly smiling and telling embarrassing stories about little Yelena.
She was mortified, covering her face with her hands wasn't enough but even to her protests, her father didn't stop, assuring her that it was fine for the bonding thing they were doing.
The conversation finally shifted to the rest, sharing curious details about them, starting with Bob who didn't want to let her suffer alone. They contributed, even Alexei said something about himself and the smiles and laughs filled the room with every new anecdote. They finally trust each other with something less risky than their lives but as deep as a life debt, proving that they could be a team.
A few minutes later, Bucky arrived from the Congress and brought the dinner with him. He said he wanted Chinese food and that he felt they might want some as well. It was a blessing since they had started to get hungry just in time. He was tired but still took his time to pass the time with them.
“So, what are you doing?” He asked when everyone got their plates.
“We were talking about weird habits,” Bob updated him.
“About ourselves or someone else's?”
“Whoever you want,” John conceded.
“I saw Yelena biting her tail when we were driving to the last mission” he started “you were in the backseat, looking at the window with the tip of your tail in your mouth, I saw through the rearview mirror”
“Oh come on!” She yelled getting up with her arms raised in the air “I'm done with this”.
Bucky started to laugh, he probably heard everything since his arrival with those super wolf ears and wanted to keep on going with the ‘Bully Yelena game's they all were playing.
But seeing him laugh was a sight to see since he rarely makes facial expressions at all. Not many people had seen him truly happy and they had been blessed to witness it.
After that night, Alexei proposed that they all should pin their funny pictures on the fridge, just like Yelena's and share a story behind it. Maybe that way they could grow as a team. Bucky approved that since he was actively working on making them a team so he was the first one to contribute to the collection with an old black and white photo, damaged on the edges that depicted him with his old army uniform hugging by the shoulder a very young and scrawny Steve Rogers. He would deny it but his wolf tail was wagging behind him.
John didn't have many happy memories after becoming Captain America, but he did have them before that. He added a picture of him holding a champion cup in a football field, spreading his wings and smiling widely.
“So after all, you know how to smile” she told him when she saw the photo for the first time taped to the fridge one morning that they happened to have breakfast together.
John actually had a life before the superhero thing.
The rest didn't have happy memories at all and if they did, they didn't have pictures to prove it, so slowly, the fridge got covered with recent selfies or photos of them, living together in the Watchtower, doing simple things like movie nights or weakly posing for the camera after a rough mission. They took pair selfies or group selfies. Captured pranks they play on each other and unaware moments of their life. At the top of all of them, rested a picture where they could be seen sitting on one couch, filling the entire space, struggling to fit in, smiling at the camera while holding for dear life onto each other.
Yelena felt like she belonged to a family again and that warm cozy feeling gave her a reason to keep going every day.