Archive of Our Own

1. Bucky

Now Bucky never claimed to be some sort of comedy expert. Because if he was being honest, he really wasn’t. A hundred years ago he might have known a thing or too about making a room erupt into laughter, but nowadays he just left the jokes to other people.

All those years of torture had left him a bit rusty.

So, when he found himself sat in the meeting room with Yelena, Bob, Ava and Walker waiting for Alexei (who was in the bathroom) and Val (who was always late) Bucky couldn’t help but listen in on the conversation happening in the room.

Not in a creepy way of course. Because if he wanted to Bucky could easily join the conversation. It’s just that his social battery was already a bit low and Walker’s megaphone voice was extremely off putting. Engaging in the conversation himself would only give him a bigger headache. That’s why he slowly lifted the coffee that Mel had kindly bought for the team to his lips as he started to pay attention to the voices around him as they got louder.

At first, they were just talking about basic things.

What they had for breakfast, anything good they had watched on tv recently, training. The usual stuff. Bucky had almost stopped listening in. Debating whether to grab his phone out of his pocket and finally answer some of his texts as a way to pass the time instead.

Until he didn’t. Because the next thing that happened caused Bucky’s left eye to twitch.

Bob had just told the most unfunny joke Bucky had ever heard (yes, even worse than anything that space raccoon had said to him). It was set up horribly and it was obvious that he had been dying to say it since Ava had shifted the conversation onto ‘Why do you think Alexei is taking so long?’.

 He even had the audacity to have a small grin on his face after saying it, looking around the room for even a pity laugh. Sadly, for him, all he got in return was a cough. From Ava who had an eyebrow raised at him as if she was asking him to elaborate in hopes that maybe what he said could magically become worth a laugh.

The joke was so bad that even Walker had the most pained expression on his face. Not one of anger, or annoyance that he usually had on whenever Bob said something, but instead just a look of plain disgust.  

Now to give the kid the benefit of the doubt, Bucky was pretty sure he was being ironic. Or well he hoped he was. Because Bucky might be able to get this crappy team of rejects out of most of the trouble they found themselves in, but he did not think there was anything he could do to erase the amount of second-hand embarrassment that had just washed over the room.

All he could offer Bob now was a sympathetic, but still judgemental, shake of his head like somebody’s disappointed grandfather.

“Bob what the fuck-,“ John had started, probably about to confront the sweater clad brunette about his atrocious sense of humour.

That was before he was suddenly interrupted by a weird noise.

 It was of a higher pitch and kind of breathy. Like it wasn’t supposed to have come out. Everyone’s eyes moved to the source of the sound. Ava’s confused, John’s surprised and Bob’s with a new sudden light in them.

Because Yelena had started to…well…giggle…?

It didn’t quite sound right in his head, but that was the only word Bucky could use to describe the sound she had made. Which was odd.

Because Bucky had thought, he knew the team pretty well now. Over the months they had been forced to spend together in the tower and out on field missions he had observed them a lot. They didn’t really talk about personal stuff, but Bucky believed that he was pretty good at reading people and getting to know their quirks as fighters and as individual humans.

So, witnessing Yelena Belova, deadly assassin, giggling over a man who on most days looked like the equivalent of a wet dog? Very strange.

Wow, Bucky had thought to himself taking another sip of his black coffee. Even after fighting giant planetary alien threats there still was a first time for everything. 

The girl in question had her hand over her mouth trying to suppress her tiny bursts of laughter. Her eyes were crinkled and she was halfway bent over the table.

“Yelena, babe, there is no way you actually thought that was funny,” Ava stated completely serious, moving her hand across her friends back. Either trying to help Yelena with her breathing, or to beat her for even laughing in the first place.

Bucky for some reason turned his head back to the source of said unfunny-ness and was met with Bob leaning forward opposite Yelena with a smirk on his face and his hand reaching out to touch hers on the table. Looking far to proud for someone who had just invented public humiliation.

“I knew you would love that,” Bob said to her confidently, still with a dopey look on his face.

“Why are you boosting that idiot’s ego!?” John shouted in disbelief, trying to draw everyone’s attention back to Bob being a loser, “The joke made no sense? What are you even laughing at!?”

Bucky hated to agree with Walker, but he was right.

 A polite chuckle, maybe he could have understood – Y’know to not hurt Bobs feelings. But letting yourself get so tickled over what Bucky is pretty sure the teens would call a ‘nothing burger’ of a joke?

Yeah, that was an ego boost that Bob definitely did not deserve.

Ignoring Walker, Yelena just gripped Bob’s hand back and choked out a muffled reply.

“You are soooooo silly.” Is what Bucky made out from in between her squeaking.

“You love it though,” Bob responded back sickeningly while playing with their connected hands.

Yelena scrunched her nose back at him making Bob chuckle.

Ava rolled her eyes as she looked back and forth between them, giving Yelena a playful shove that probably translated to you guys are so peculiar please stop.

Walker, on the other hand, stood up and made his feelings known by being dramatic.

“Just get out of my face,” he said while fake gagging and aggressively shooing their joined hands off the meeting table. Despite his claims of being fine, his divorce must still have him feeling sour.  

Bob and Yelena broke apart while the latter scoffed about the super soldier just being jealous because nobody likes him. A very childish, but affective insult as Walker started to go on a whole rant about how he has lots of friends that totally exist and love him, but they just go to another school don’t live in this state.

While Walker went on his tangent Bucky noticed that Ava was the only one paying attention to his circus act (probably to just rile him up even further after he’s done) as Bob and Yelena just starred at each other with goofy smiles on their faces.  

If Bucky looked under the table, he would bet good money that he would have caught them playing footsie.

“Hey! are you two even listening to me?” Walker said irritated.

“Nobody ever listens to you, Walker, so you should already be pretty used to that,” Ava bit back which is actually kind of funny since she usually does pay attention to him even if it’s the negative kind.

“Hey-“

“My life does not revolve around you, John,” Yelena stated plainly while shaking her empty coffee cup, “It’s too early for all your blabbering.”

“True,” Bob agreed giving a side eye to Walker, “Maybe we should all just wait for Alexei to come in complete silence,” he suggested playfully.

“Good idea!” Yelena said giggling. Again. For some reason. “I already finished my drink, so I can’t deal with any more noise without caffeine.”

Bob silently pushed his half empty drink towards Yelena who excitedly picked it up. She mouthed him a quick thank you before she started to finish his matcha.  

“The first one to speak has to wash the dishes,” Bob said continuing with his idea.

Before Walker could protest, Yelena started to count down from three.

Bucky rolled his eyes but liked the idea of a bit of silence.

Ava also seemed to like the idea as she mimed zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key.

John despite hating the concept, played along with his arms crossed and feet now kicked up on the table.

Loudly, Mel then burst into the room with her clipboard, “I’m back! Val is coming up the stairs now and Alexei just texted me that he’ll be up in five minutes.”

The young assistant looked around the room waiting for someone to respond. She looked towards Bucky for some sort of help on what was going on.

Bucky just shrugged. The game was dumb, but there is no way he was going to be the one washing any dishes.

“Okay…too early for talking, I’ll just sit down then,” Mel shrugged before she moved towards her designated seat next to the monitor.  

Bob gave her an awkward thumbs up.

“Wait,” Mel started, “I thought I bought you that Strawberry matcha?” she said pointing towards Bob’s drink in Yelena’s hand.

Seriously.

Mel thought them sharing a drink was weird?

If that was weird, then what would you call whatever he had to sit through earlier?

2. Ava

For the past few hours Ava had been sat on a hard wooden stool in the kitchen watching Yelena move around frantically.

Growing up in a lab meant Ava had a lot of experience with witnessing projects go horrifically wrong.  So whatever Yelena was trying to do here definitely fit the description of adjectives Ava liked to use to describe said scientific tragedies: Ugly, containing too many components and…possibly alive?

“Are you sure the image at the bottom of that Mum’s blog displays the pudding as obsidian and extremely squelchy?” Ava questioned, picking up a spoon to try and prod the black hole Yelena was calling dessert.

“Ava, I told you that I haven’t finished yet!” Yelena stated annoyed, swatting away the other woman’s hand. Her eyebrows were downturned and she had chocolate on her forehead and left cheek. “But now that you do mention it…maybe something has gone a little bit wrong.”

Ava thought she looked a little bit like that Augustus Gloop fellow from the movie they had watched the other day. It was kind of cute in a gross messy sort of way.

“Now I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, or that person who says ‘I told you so-“ Ava began with a sly grin.

“So don’t be either of those people!“ Yelena shouted with a pout.

“Buuuut, I have to be both, because that pudding looks atrocious as well as a hundred percent inedible” Ava laughed, finishing her sentence, “which could have been prevented if you listened to me, maybe around step…two or three or literally at any point throughout your little kitchen escapade.”

The assassin just let out a large groan as her head hit the kitchen counter with a loud thud.  

“Annabelle said this would be a fool proof plan that any girl could follow to create the perfect chocolate pudding that was sure to melt the socks off of all of my friends and family!”

Ava got off the uncomfortable stool to stand next to Yelena and give her arm a harmless pinch.

“Well, our good friend Annabelle did also tell you to use exact measurements with ‘the correct apparatus’ as well as the ‘right ingredients’,” Ava said now with Yelena’s phone in her hand, squinting as she scrolled through the web page displaying the recipe, “instead of doing what you did which was eyeballing everything and adding extremely strange substitutes.”

“How is pomegranate strange!” Yelena shouted, throwing her arms into the air.  

“Sweetheart,” Ava said enunciating every letter extremely clearly, trying to get her message across as gently as she could, “you are trying to make chocolate pudding, why on earth would you even think about adding any fruit? There is no universe where that wouldn’t be strange. ”

“Okay, but what if I told you that I recently learned that Bob likes pomegranate, would that help you to understand why I did what I did?” Yelena supplied awkwardly.

What.

Like seriously. What.

Ava felt her whole face scrunch up in confusion and her brain start to melt. It was like she was stuck having a conversation with twenty John Walkers. Just a whole lot of nonsense.

Because seriously in what world would finding out that piece of information change anything. Actually, Ava was pretty sure hearing that made whatever the cursed being in that blue bowl that Yelena had just created even worse.

 Because if she wanted to make something for Bob with pomegranate because he likes that fruit, why would she CHOOSE to make CHOCOLATE pudding which very famously includes CHOCOLATE and not POMEGRANATE!?

“Oh my god, that’s what those purply bits are,” is all Ava found herself being able to say out loud, looking right at Yelena, who to her credit did seem to be a bit embarrassed as she gently nodded.

Red color started to crawl up Yelena’s neck as she poked her ‘dessert’ disappointedly. “And the black…uhm…well everything else is the chocolate which is definitely burnt…”

She had probably wanted to make something nice for Bob since the poor lad had seemed quite upset since he had some secret talk with Bucky earlier that morning. The gesture was sweet in theory. Very thoughtful. 

Ava found herself feeling quite endeared by it. By the two of them in general. She had found herself finding them quite cute recently. In a cringey sort of way.

“Yes, it is a bit charred, isn’t it,” Ava replied with a sympathetic laugh. Ava had told Yelena earlier that she was pretty sure puddings weren’t meant to go in the oven. But it was too late to comment on that at this point.

Yelena laughed a little before biting her lip anxiously. She had probably realised that she had just spend an hour of her life creating…well garbage to put it kindly and was probably trying to think of some way to salvage her little sludge baby.

Not that Ava thought that there was any way to do that. But saying that part out loud would make her feel like she was being harsh.

Suddenly, Ava heard the drag of feet making her eyes roll.

“Why the fuck, did I just hear somebody scream pomegranate? I hate those things,” Captain failure said as he made his arrival in to the kitchen known. He was wearing a tank top and shorts meaning he had probably been in the gym. Ew.

“Well-“ Ava began, before noticing Yelena’s wide eyes pleading with her not to tell the other man anything too embarrassing.

“You stink of sweat,” is what she ended up saying instead of some variation of Yelena has gone insane and trashed the kitchen. Although she was pretty sure Walker could infer that last part himself since Yelena’s face and the counter and the floor looked like a crime scene.

“No, I don’t!” Walker said defensively, before sniffing himself and slightly furrowing his eyebrows and twisting his lips, “Well not too much anyway.”

“You are disgusting,” Yelena responded back, cradling her bowl of burnt chocogranate pudding to her chest, trying to hide it from Walker’s line of sight.

“Back at ya,” John said motioning his hand at her dirty face and the massive amount of mess around her, “Some villain called the crap-anator break in and trash the place, or are you creating the next Frankenstein’s monster back there?”

“You’ve read Mary Shelley’s work?” Yelena questioned trying to deflect, at the same time Ava blurted, “Well she has definitely been creating something unique.”

Yelena’s mouth flied open at her betrayal. And honestly Ava would maybe feel bad if the evidence of Yelena’s crime wasn’t plastered all around her and hidden directly under her chin.

“Okay, first, of course I’ve read ‘Frankenstein’ do I look like some uneducated chump to you?” Walker remarked with a little bit of sass making Ava laugh at his theatrics. He then started to move out from under the door frame to come and sit on the stool Ava had been sitting on earlier. “And second, ‘creating something unique’ you said? Is that what’s in that tacky bowl?” Walker asked genuinely curious.

 He must have noticed how Yelena had been trying to use her body to shield whatever she was holding.

“You both are making this a big deal! I tried to make something yummy and then it turned out…not so yummy,” Yelena exclaimed frustrated, her face now very red, “End of story! I will clean all this mess myself so you can both shoo now!”

 “I’m sorry for being a Debby downer earlier,” Ava laughed, shaking her head, “So don’t be stubborn, okay? I’ll help you clean up.”

Yelena grumbled an ‘okay thanks back’ as she stepped aside to allow Ava to go behind her to grab some cleaning supplies.

“Why are you mad at us, like we made you make that shit,” Walker said bluntly, stretching over the counter to try and peer into the bowl. His brutal honesty made the corners of Ava’s mouth twitch.

Yelena’s eyes widened as she noticed his movement and held the bowl above her head as she began to move towards the door. Ava had to put the rag she was holding down to move her hand across her face because once again that day she was asking herself: What is Yelena Belova doing? And a very important follow up question of why?

“Uhm not to break the illusion, but you do realise that I am taller than you so if I stand up and take a few steps forward, I will definitely be able to see inside that bowl, so there was no point of you running,” Walker said, very sure of himself as he stood up and did exactly what he described.

Yelena scrunched up her face, realising she let her embarrassment make a very silly decision. Ava had to admire the dedication though. She was stood on her tip toes and tried to take a few steps backwards.

Until she walked back into someone and nearly dropped the bowl and fell onto her face.

“Perfect timing Robert!” Walker exclaimed as he managed to grab the bowl from Yelena’s loose grip as she tumbled towards the floor.

Bob who was in his pyjamas gently grabbed onto Yelena’s waist from behind and helped her steady herself back onto her feet.

“Are you okay?” He whispered to her, but loud enough that Ava could hear it.

Yelena nodded, her face now a furnace.

“Why were you backing her into the hallway?” Bob asked Walker from behind Yelena, clearly annoyed.

John had opened his mouth to respond, but Yelena beat him to it.

“No, Bob I was just trying to get away from him,” Yelena supplied as she walked back into the kitchen. As if that explanation sounded better than what Bob had suggested.

Bob’s eyes narrowed at Walker as he followed Yelena back into the room. “Uhm I won’t lie, that kind of sounds worse.”

Ava nodded, delighted at John’s expression. He looked like what Yelena’s dessert probably tasted like.

“Calm down, Mr Cuddles, I was just trying to have a look at what’s inside this bowl Yelena was hiding,” Walker explained looking right at Bob before he moved his neck to look into said bowl for the first time.

Ava began counting down in her mind.

“What the actual fuck!?” John screamed, partly in horror, partly in delight.

“No! Stop!” Yelena screamed back diving toward the blond, grabbing her bowl back.

Ava just moved away from the cleaning stuff at that point while Walker erupted into laughter.

“You’ve been in the kitchen for nearly two hours. You have so many ingredients out. You have created so much mess. And THAT is all you have to show for it?” Walker spat out through his extremely cartoonish laughter. Ava had to move her hand to cover her mouth because honestly, she had been thinking and saying the same thing earlier.

Bob turned to look at Ava extremely confused. He was asking for some sort of clarification like Walker had earlier.  And honestly, she really had no explanation for him all she could do was point at the bowl. The source of all the mess and noise.

“Okaaay,” Bob stated softy as if he was trying to communicate with a wounded animal, “Yelena, that’s fine. None of us are particularly good at cooking anyway.”

It was kind of a lie since Bob was actually pretty good and usually made the team dinner after a tough mission. Which is probably why Yelena had wanted to make him something for a change.

“Exactly, Yelena it’s really not as embarrassing as you think it is,” Ava said agreeing with Bob.

Yelena’s mouth turned downwards and Ava was pretty sure Bob’s heart was in his throat. He hated when she made that face.

“No, you are both right, it’s not a big deal I just feel a bit stupid.”

Walker finally stopped laughing and looked a bit guilty for a second as he rubbed his right hand behind his neck sheepishly.

Bob moved closer to Yelena and put one of his hands on her shoulder to comfort her. She shoved the blue bowl she was holding the whole time into his stomach in response. He was puzzled for second, as he looked into the bowl and then back at her.

“I tried something knew today and it ended up like this! I followed a recipe and everything,” Yelena said sadly looking at Ava to add something to the conversation since she had been there to witness the car crash.

“She really did try, it’s just she went a bit off script adding a few surprise ingredients to her chocolate pudding since it was for a special someone,” Ava contributed, like she was asked telepathically.

Yelena’s mouth widened at that.

Well shit, was she not supposed to mention the fact that the sludge was actually supposed to be chocolate pudding? Or maybe Ava shouldn’t have talked about the surprise ingredients?

“Special someone?” Bob echoed.

 Oh right.

Oopsie.

“Pomegranate! That’s it!” Walker said a bit too happily, “I heard you two shouting about that earlier- Wait chocolate pudding? That's supposed to be Chocolate Pudding? How do you even- Wait please tell me you didn’t add pomegranate into that,” John asked, even though Ava knew he already knew the answer to all those questions. He just wanted to tell them all about how twisted he thought that all was.

“Okay we get it, I am a bum!”

Bob’s eyebrows shot up as if Yelena had called herself something unthinkable.

“You are not!” Bob exclaimed back completely serious, scowling at Walker before he softly placed his hands on top of Yelena’s on either side of the bowl making it so that they were holding it together, “It smells pretty good actually, and the chocolate is just a little toasty like…s’mores! Plus, I love pomegranate so don’t listen to him!”

…

Now of all the comforting things to say. Ava could not believe that was really what came out of Bob’s mouth.

“Maybe that’s the void talking,” Walker whispered to her, Ava had to stop herself from snorting because seriously she knows that they’re all ‘good’ guys now, but Bob was really pushing it with that comment. But then again Ava thought, he’s technically lying instead of just telling Yelena the truth and encouraging her to try again next time.

‘Who cares if you tried to do something new and it didn’t turn out that well? That’s just human!’ is what he should have said, but clearly the massive sparkly grin that spread across Yelena’s face as she peered up at him through her thick lashes to ask him if he genuinely meant the BS that had just escaped his mouth meant more to Bob then his integrity.  

“Actually, Bob, you were the special person I was trying to make chocolate pudding for, you seemed a bit upset earlier, and I know you like sweet stuff so…yeah,” Yelena explained shyly.

After he heard that, Bob looked like the human equivalent of sunshine and rainbows as he smiled down at her using all the muscles in his face. Ava thought it was actually quite impressive.

“That’s why you used the pomegranate! Because I told you the story about the fruit vendor the other day,” Bob stated with hearts practically bursting out of his eyes, pointing at the bits of color amongst the dark chocolate mush, “I can actually smell it next to the other stuff! you must have bought really ripe ones.”

Ava turned to John who had his face in his palm. She nearly mirrored the action before refraining. She could not be seen twining with John Walker.

“Yes! Exactly, I even modified the recipe just to fit them in for you!” Yelena practically sang. Even though the bigger question was why she didn’t just make a pomegranate desert in the first place instead of going through so much trouble to corrupt a traditional one.  

Now, everything that Ava had described already sounded incredibly ridiculous. She was sure Bucky would have a mount Everest sized migraine if he was here. So, you would think it would end there, but no. Somehow the situation escalated further.

“I’m so glad somebody finally noticed how much work I put into this!” Yelena stated pointedly, giving Ava and John a look that clearly said, ‘I told you it wasn’t that bad’ before turning back to look at Bob with her big green eyes, “That’s why you are my favourite Bob.”

Except it was that bad and Bob was just being a big suck up.

Bob’s shoulders suddenly straightened due to Yelena’s praise making him seem even taller than he had been just a few seconds ago and his eyes now had a new gleam in them.

“Well, since you went through all that trouble for me,” Bob said looking down at Yelena with a smirk, “Then I better try this pudding out.”

No. Way.

“Yes!” Yelena shouted.

What about the lumps!? Ava wanted to scream.

“Plus, it looks and smells like the stuff I usually like, so I bet I’ll really enjoy it.”

Ava had the sudden urge to punch him.

Looks and smells like stuff that he ‘usually liked’?

What was that man on about?

 Bob had to have been referring to meals he had eaten in the past while under the influence. Because there was no way he had ever chosen with a completely sober mind to eat anything that looked even remotely like what Yelena had cooked up.

But then again, what was that famous saying?

Love is blind? Well, love must also have no taste buds, or any sense of danger. Because Bob had lost it.

Ava had to look back at Walker again, just to check if what she was watching was indeed real.

“Is he serious?” Walker mouthed to her. Looking concerned for the first time since the shame rooms, about Bob’s wellbeing and mental state.

Bob ignored them both as he moved forward and placed his ‘yummy’ new dessert on the kitchen counter as he sat on one of the stools. Yelena did a little dance as she went to go grab him a spoon. He was staring at her as if she hung the stars in the sky and not at all like she was about to give him the world’s first case of radioactive food poisoning.

Yelena passed Bob a spoon before she leaned across from him with her face in between her hands. Excitedly, waiting for him to put the potentially deadly food(?) in his mouth. Ava bet Bob was feeling extremely grateful for being invulnerable as he scooped up a bit of the pudding and brought it to his mouth.

“Wait maybe we should get Bucky before you-“ Walker said snapping out of his state of disbelief.

However, John’s suggestion came too late because Bob had already shovelled a massive amount of Yelena’s very much burnt chocolate pudding with pomegranate chunks into his mouth.

 Not a single ounce of fear in his eyes. Just pure adoration for the women in front of him. At that point you might just have to respect the guy’s dedication.

“So, what do you think!” Yelena asked clapping her hands together.

But Bob didn’t stop there he just kept going.

Even Yelena started to look concerned as he chewed without stopping. She still had a smile on her face, but her eyebrows started to furrow slightly as she moved to come sit next to Bob and rub his back softly.

Walker even went to go get him a glass of water.  

“Bob you really do not have to eat it all,” Yelena said sweetly moving her face closer to his, “I already appreciate-“

“No, it’s…It’s really…amazing!” Bob chocked out between bites, using his free hand to grab hers.

“Really?” Yelena gasped surprised.

“Oh my god! You can’t seriously believe him,” Walker said exasperated, “There is no way that stuff is good when it looks like that!”

Ava nodded, silently showing her support. She wasn’t afraid to voice her opinions, it’s just that if Yelena loved living in the land of delusion, who was she to stop her.

“This actually just shows how we should not judge books by their covers, John,” Yelena quipped back as if she was teaching a child some great life lesson.

Bob squeezed her hand in agreement. Because of course it wasn’t enough that he was eating the monster throw up she had made him, he also had to show he agreed with what she had said so she felt supported.

He was starting to make Ava sick. He really had no sense of shame.

After a few minutes of torture, Ava finally noticed that Bob had ate everything in the bowl, no purply chunk, or crumbly black part left behind.

“Bob are you sure you feel okay,” Ava asked hesitantly.

Bob just nodded as he turned to Yelena with a satisfied grin, “That was the best thing I’ve eaten in a while,” he said sounding way too sincere. Except his lip twitched slightly.

He had to be lying!

Yelena actually said the word ‘yipee!’ out loud as she threw a fist bump into the air while making exploding sound effects (probably what the bathroom on Bob’s floor of the tower was going to sound like after-)

“Unless you’re the raccoon Alexei has been going on about behind the building whose been eating our trash from the dumpsters, I doubt that,” Walker stated calling Bob’s bluff and interrupting Yelena’s celebration.

“You’re just upset because you got proven wrong, my desert was life changing AND you never got to try it!” Yelena exclaimed confidently.

Bob nodded along pathetically, “Exactly!”

“Oh no poor me, I didn’t get to eat any of the sewer leftovers,” Walker sarcastically responded back.

“Ignore him, Yelena,” Bob said bringing her attention back to him, “Maybe one of these days you could teach me how you made your pudding and I could teach you how to make one of my recipe’s.”

Yelena seemed to like that idea as she swiftly grabbed her phone off the messy counter, “Yes! I love it! Let’s do it on Saturday, I’ll add it to my schedule, so I don’t forget!”

“And we can go shopping together before that,” Bob suggested trying not to seem too desperate.

Walker moved closer towards Ava, walking past Bob and Yelena as they for some reason were now hugging.

“Are we sure this isn’t some new social experiment that we are being forced to participate in,” Walker asked her, starring at Bob and Yelena.

Ava shook her head, “It’s weirder because that isn’t what’s happening.”

3. John

Walker was sat in the living room trying to decide what movie to watch after having a shit day. He didn’t want to curse since he had been trying to cut back on that ever since Mel had brought the idea up, apparently it would help him with his public image somehow, but there was seriously no way to sugar coat it. The day he was having had just been that bad.

First, he had woken up late with a sore neck. Second, he went to go train with the rest of the team only to end up getting beat by Bucky during sparring, who gloated way too much for someone people liked to think of as down to earth and quiet. And then to top it all off and make matters worse he had just got off the phone with Olivia after arguing for an hour about if he was going to be allowed to ever see his son again.

The thing that hurt the most is that John had not even wanted to argue. He and Olivia despite having ended things on a particularly bad note had been communicating again the past month. Only after John had done a lot of apologising, of course. Because the truth was that he had messed everything up. Not only for himself, but selfishly for his ex-wife and son as well. So, he had started to try and patch things up as he wanted to make things right now. No matter how late he was.

Becoming a part of the new avengers had helped him come to terms with the fact that he needed to put in more effort to become a better man. And the team had helped him come to terms with that in an odd way. He wasn’t exactly ‘besties’ with them all, but he felt supported by them in the same way he hoped they noticed that he was trying to support them as well. As best as he could.

So, that’s why after a lot of progress John was a bit frustrated with the argument he had just had with Olivia. He didn’t blame her or anything for not trusting him. He understood that. It was just that they had planned for him to meet up with her and their soon sometime soon, but she was having second thoughts. If anything, he just felt disappointed with himself and the thought of becoming some kind of deadbeat absent father.

“Are you using the remote?” Bob asked startling John and breaking him out of his thoughts. Bob was standing next to the arm of the couch he was sat on and was holding a can of sprite. “Just asking cuz you’re on Netflix, but…nothing’s playing soooo.”

“Why would I have the remote next to me if I’m not going to use it, Bobert?” John stated in a clipped tone, grabbing the remote and waving it around in front of the other man.

Bob shrugged and went to go sit on his usual spot on the other blue coach. He was wearing a stupid t-shirt with Sonic the hedgehog on it (even though it was common knowledge mario was better) and matching blue shorts that had ‘gotta go fast!’ printed down the side of them.

“I mean you were like daydreaming or something,” Bob said.

Or he was just thinking. Like humans do all the time.

“That’s because I haven’t decided what to watch yet,” John responded as if that was obvious, “I’m about to choose a movie now.”

“Okay, cool I’m not picky,” Bob nodded with a friendly smile, cracking open his can.

John’s hand holding the remote itched. Now he had to pick something that they both liked.

“This wasn’t supposed to be a group activity,” John said while looking forward, scrolling through the different movie categories.

“This is the living room though?” Bob snarked back still smiling, “The whole point is that it’s used for people to do things together.”

John just rolled his eyes. Bob had gotten a lot chattier over the past few months since they had all met. It was kind of nice since he was less creepy and felt more like a dorky roommate you would have in college, instead of an unstable lab experiment. However, if John was having a bad day, it could still be a bit annoying. Which wasn’t mean to say or anything since he was pretty sure that feeling was mutual.

After a few more seconds of scrolling, he hovered over the movie ’10 things I hate about you’. It was Olivia’s favourite movie, and although John no longer had any more romantic feelings for her, all the memories they had together still meant something to him.

“My mom liked that movie,” Bob said sounding a bit sad before taking a sip of his drink.

“Shi-S- Sorry,” John apologised. He knew enough about Bob’s childhood to know that it was something he never wanted to purposefully bring up. Yet, somehow, he kept accidentally doing it. The nickname ‘Bobby’ ringing in his head in a pathetic voice.

“No, it okay!” Bob said in a tone John couldn’t make out, “actually it’s uhm the movie it reminds me of a good memory, or well kind of a good one, good-ish.”

John raised a confused eyebrow.

“One night my dad wasn’t home and we watched it together,” Bob elaborated, “We didn’t talk or anything, but she had her head on my shoulder, and it was nice.”

John blinked slowly. The story still sounded a bit upsetting to him. The unsaid implications. But Bob was sharing something he considered ‘nice’ so John nodded in response and opened his mouth to share something in return.

“My uh Ex she loves this movie as well,” He began, his voice wavering slightly, “I pretended I was to macho for romcoms back then, but I actually liked this one, if we had a girl, we were going to name her Kat.”

That was all John felt like he could share without wanting to throw up. It was so dumb. He hadn’t been through nearly as much as anyone else on the team. And yet his voice was still shaking talking about stuff that anyone else would see as ordinary. It was weird that just mentioning a memory of when his life had felt so normal and put together made him feel uncomfortable.

“That’s really sweet actually,” Bob said warmly, “Maybe we could watch it again now since it’s been a while and I’ve forgotten some parts.”

Wordlessly, John put the movie on and turned to Bob to give him a tiny smile. Not cus they were buddies now or anything, but after their little trauma dump session it just felt like it was the right thing to do.

Bob returned the gesture, before a notification came from his pocket.

It wasn’t any of his business, so John just paid attention to the movie. The nostalgia already making his mood slightly better.

Bzzzt…BzzZZZttt…BzzzTT

The noises from Bob’s phone kept coming as he loudly typed away as the movie played. John, contrary to anything Ava said, was actually not stupid so he could infer that Bob was texting someone and they were responding quite enthusiastically hence the sound coming from John’s left.

Now was Bob’s phone being loud actually bothering John that much. Well normally it wouldn’t, but since he had come in the living room to relax and forget about specific things – one of those things including a conversation that happened on an iphone! – it was getting on his nerves just a smidge. But only a smidge.

“Do you mind lowering the sound of your keyboard?” John asked not trying to make it a big deal.

“My keyboard is the normal-“

“It’s just a bit grating cuz im tryna watch the movie and-“

“No I get it…I think. I’ll just put my phone away now anyway; since she’s coming here.”

John squinted at Bob.

“Okay…” John stated slightly confused, “Who’s she?”

Except John mentally slapped himself for even saying that, because seriously?

Bob mentioning a ‘she’?

Who else could it even be but-

“Yelena!” Bob excitedly exclaimed standing up to go greet the short gremlin as she entered the room with a pink bag, “You didn’t miss much, the movie barely started.”

Yelena hugged the idiot as she peered up at him.

“That good! I thought of you when I was out, so I brought back some gummies.”

Bob looked down at her softly as he hugged her back.

“We needed snacks, how did you know?” He joked.

“I’m just that good.”

At what, John had no idea because for some reason they liked to talk in riddles sometimes.

Yelena untangled herself from Bob’s arms before pulling him back towards the couch he had been previously sitting on.

 From what John had heard from Alexei, Yelena had only left the tower around two hours ago. Bob had literally been glued to her side before she left.

Yet they were acting like she had gone to war or something.

 So unnecessary.

…

Or maybe Bucky was right and John really was just sour.

The pink bag on Yelena’s lap rustled as she passed Bob some candy. He opened some gummy worms, shoving them into his mouth as he snaked one of his arms around Yelena’s shoulders.

Wow. Cassanova over here trying to be discreet, John thought to himself.

In the beginning he had thought of Bob as a very shy person, but he had clearly been wrong. The guy was pretty bold when he wanted to be.

“You can have some too grumpy,” Yelena said, throwing a packet of gummy bears at him aggressively.

Bob laughed at that because he was a simp

John obviously caught the little lumps of sugar easily. His son used to have a little baby onesie with colorful bears on it. It had been a gift from Lemar.

“Thanks,” John said, tearing the candy open, “I guess today can be my cheat day.”

John didn’t really need to go on diets anymore since he had taken the serum, but it’s not like they knew that. It was good to keep up appearances. Made him seem more disciplined.

“Wait you did not pause the movie while we were all talking!” Yelena exclaimed with wide eyes, pointing at the tv.

“That’s because I wasn’t expecting interruptions!” John responded defending his actions, “Me allowing Bob to watch was already pushing it.”

“Pffft,” Yelena scoffed clearly finding his response funny, “You ‘allowing’?  Walker this is the living room, no? You do not have some sort of authority on who can use their eyes to watch the tv and who cannot.”

“That’s basically what I said earlier,” Bob chimed in amused.

“Wow, you guys can finish each other’s sandwiches, so cute,” John stated dryly.

He was pulling their pigtails, but there was some truth to what he said. Sometimes he did think whatever Bob and Yelena had going on was sort of ‘cute’ in a nauseating way. The way they uplifted each other and just loved being in each other’s company. Grossly sweet.

Bob looked at him like he had grown another head.

“Sandwiches…?”

“Ah! Frozen reference! It’s from the Disney movie about sisters, Bob,” Yelena explained, leaning into the confused man’s side, “Except that was about finishing people’s sentences not about having the same thoughts.”

“Ohhhh, okay, I haven’t seen that one yet,” Bob mumbled around a yellow worm.

“I’m surprised Walker has…”

John found himself rolling his eyes again for the millionth time that afternoon. How uncultured did they think he was. ‘Let it go’ was literally his shower song for the longest time.

After John finished his gummies, he decided to lock in and actually engage with the movie he had put on. Ignoring, Bob and Yelena’s presence since this was supposed to be his #healing time.

However, his heightened senses did mean that he was forced to notice that they kept whispering amongst themselves. It was bothersome, but he just had to ignore them and be the bigger person. After a while, it got pretty easy since he was too busy being invested in Patrick and Kat’s relationship on the screen to even notice that there was two other people, with extremely poor movie etiquette, in the room with him.

They were nearly at the part of the movie where Pat serenaded Kat in front of the whole school when John felt a sudden pressure in his lower abdomen. He was not missing Heath Ledger singing to pee, so he decided to get up before it happened.

“Wait should I pause it for you?” Yelena asked, breaking away from where she had been leaning against Bob’s side.

Bob then turned his head towards John, only now realising that he was halfway out the room.

“Yeah, we don’t mind waiting,” He added.

“Uhm okay, thanks…I’ll be quick,” John replied.

That was nice of them. John felt himself smile over the most basic act of kindness.

Fuck, the others might be right about him being pathetic. He was so used to being hated on by literally everyone that now he’s started to get attached to the roommates he had been trying to convince himself were just annoying losers.

Shaking his head at his own behaviour, John made his way to the nearest bathroom as he didn’t want them to have to wait too long.

Although Yelena and Bob were probably secretly happy to have a moment alone now that he thought about. John nearly found himself laughing to himself while washing his hands like an insane person. The imaginary corny dialogue he had come up with was Oscar worthy. Ava would have folded over. It was that good.

Except it was nothing compared to the real thing.

 John wasn’t laughing anymore as he approached the living room and actually overheard what they were saying. He felt his face contort in disgust. Here he was thinking endearing things about them for once, forgetting how actually irritating it was to be in their proximity when they started to act like that one PDA couple everyone hated at their high school.

“You need to be more careful,” Yelena whispered, except it wasn’t that quiet since John could hear her, “How do you even get a scar like that from chopping carrots, I thought you couldn’t get physically injured anymore.”

Bob’s hand that was behind her on the couch was now in her lap as she gently touched his palm. John could tell the little sonic fanboy was loving the attention as he kept bouncing his foot like a golden retriever wagging its tail.

“It didn’t really hurt or anything,” Bob stated, peering at Yelena from under his bangs, “Plus I think my powers only really work If I’m in the right mind set

John had no idea how that worked but was kinda pissed that Bob was letting himself get fussed over. And also simultaneously pissed Yelena was even fussing over him in the first place.

 The guy had got himself nicked on a knife cutting some veggies big whoop.

“Actually, I’ve got a similar scar on my left hand,” Yelena said, shoving her hand in Bob face playfully, “we are twinning!”

Bob chuckled before starring at her hand and going to hold onto her wrist.

John just grimaced. Still creepily watching without announcing his presence from outside the room. He knew that look.

Bob was about to pull something so cheesy; John would have to go listen to nails scrape across a chalkboard to erase it from his mind.

So, to prevent this John decided he was going to walk into the room and make his presence known.

Except, he then felt somebody else’s presence behind him, causing him to turn around and waste time while being verbally assaulted by Bob and Yelena’s love fest.

As John’s eyes took in Ava in her lounge wear holding a pillow, His ears were forced to hear:

“Wait your hand is so small, how have I never noticed that,” Bob said teasing, while John felt a load of bullets go straight through him.

The oldest trick in the book.

Ava who was about to say something to him, shut her mouth immediately in shock before opening it again.

“Oh my god! The male lead in the novel I’m reading just said what Bob did to the main character,” the woman in front of John said quietly, looking at him like she couldn’t believe it.

Now, John knew Ava had grown up isolated from society, but he didn’t realise that meant that he would have to explain to her that, no, Bob did not invent comparing hand sizes and yes, that is something that is very common and widespread.

But before he could say that to Ava out loud, Yelena from inside the room had spoken first.

“Hey! They’re not that small!” Yelena said feigning offence probably shoving Bob lightly,

Ava moved forward, shoving the pillow she was holding into John’s chest trying to get closer to the conversation John had been trying to stop.

“Sofia said something similar to Ryan!”

John held Ava’s pillow as she grinned.

She genuinely looked excited that she got to witness a low-budget re-enactment of a scene from a book she liked. So much so that John couldn’t bring himself to ruin it for her.

“What a weird coincidence…” He mumbled. Ava nodded back enthusiastically. John felt a weird warm feeling wash over him. He was getting soft. It was strange.

“Okay,” Yelena said in an annoyed tone, “My hand does look kind of tiny, BUT only because your hands are so big!”

Bob was probably levitating at that, and John was so happy he couldn’t see it from the hallway.

“My whole hand literally covers yours.”

This seriously could not be John’s life right now.

He would rather watch one of those crappy Netflix original movies.

What was that really goofy one? Tall girl or something.

Ava turned back to him, beckoning him to bend down so she could say something without being heard from inside the room. John complied, but only because he needed to let everything play through so he could finally get back to finishing his movie.

“What is the chance that the thing I read this morning actually happens later in real life!” Ava said happily, “I mean it’s so specific!”

John still not wanting to burst her bubble just nodded with gritted teeth.

“It’s like you just voided my hand!” Yelena joked bringing John’s attention back to the living room, Bob’s hand probably enveloped around hers.

Bob made a choked noise that sounded a cross between a laugh and a gasp.

Now John didn’t want to sound like that one friend who’s to woke, but comparing your little cringe handholding to one of the most traumatic days of their lives? A bit insensitive.

“But you joke about that all the time?” Ava stated with an eyebrow raised, looking directly into his eyes.

…he must have said that out load.

“That’s different!” John sputtered slightly louder than he wanted to.

He then heard some shuffling and then some actual whispering he couldn’t make out from inside the living room as he clutched Ava’s pillow.

Bob emerged at the doorway, his hand in his hair.

“Why are you just standing out here?” He inquired, still in his silly outfit.

“None of your business,” John said pushing past him, and moving back to his spot in front of the tv.

“Tails is better,” Ava replied plainly to Bob as she also entered the room, choosing to sit at the opposite end of John’s couch instead of subjecting herself to being a third wheel.

“You know Bob’s little furry game?” Yelena asked as Bob’s face went pink.

“Please don’t call it that,” Bob grumbled as he went back to being Yelena’s human pillow.

“There was a single slightly busted console in the lab that had one of the sonic games on it,” Ava stated, grabbing gummies from the discarded pink bag from earlier, “I remember liking tails because I thought sonic was annoying.”

Bob’s mouth twitched at that. Nerd. Or well geek? John kind of just used both interchangeably. But he should probably learn the difference.

“Sonic is not annoying,” Bob argued totally not biased as he sat in said hedgehogs’ merch, “He’s only cocky because he’s legitimately that good.”

Yelena traced the Sonic silhouette on Bob’s shirt, “He is cute! He has speed powers, right?”

“That is what Bob’s shorts tell us, yes,” John deadpanned.

Ava snorted at Yelena’s genuine interest.

Bob pulled his shorts down blushing as he noticed everyone’s eyes now on his legs.

“When I was in Ohio, I wasn’t really into videogames, I just remember liking my little pony and playing outside a lot,” Yelena said after she was done inspecting Bob’s outfit.

John found himself agreeing with her. They had something in common.

“Me too,” John nodded, “The uh playing outside part not the pony stuff, I did like action figures though.”

“Playing outside in my garden was one of the only things I was allowed to do,” Bob added shyly, still not used to talking about his childhood, “I only got into sonic after I had already left home so it’s more of adult Me’s interest.”

“I understand what you mean, most of the things I like are things I discovered after escaping the red room,” Yelena said looking at Bob with gentle understanding.

That was probably one of the reasons they worked so well together, John thought. Due to that level of understanding between them. They both had childhoods that meant they had to miss out on a lot. So, it was a good thing they could make up for lost time together.

“It’s more fun liking things now anyway,” Ava said trying to brighten the mood, “Since we all actually have adult money to spend on our hobbies.”

“That’s true,” Bob laughed, “I can’t believe Valentina is giving me an allowance to just exist.”

“Well, it’s not like the rest of us are doing much either,” John stated honestly.

The missions they were being sent on varied, but none of them had come close to anything world shattering.

“Exactly,” Yelena echoed, clapping her hands together. Her head leaning against Bob’s chest as she looked into his eyes, “Plus you shouldn’t feel bad about draining Val’s pockets.”

Ava nodded supportively, “Better you buying milkshakes then her funding freaky human experimentation.”

Bob paused slightly at the mention of experimentation before nodding.

“But If you feel that bad you can buy me a mini fridge for my room,” John said partially joking.

“Uhm if you really want one that badly,” Bob replied making him sound like he had been begging.

“When did you get such an attitude, Bob?”

“I was being genuine…?” Bob bit back, but he did one of his signature slow blinks paired with a little smirk meaning he was being a dick.

“Yeah, genuinely passive aggressive.”

“You can buy your own small fridge, Walker,” Yelena scolded John, rolling her eyes, “Leech.”

John made an offended gasp at that as Bob laughed.

“I thought you were on a diet anyway, you don’t need a whole fridge in your room for your stupid protein drinks,” Ava said narrowing her eyes at John.

The conversation naturally continued to flow as time started to pass. John didn’t even notice that they had forgotten all about the movie. His mood had just significantly lifted after spending time chatting with the others. Even if he spent most of the conversation as the human equivalent of a punching bag.

Is this why Bob and Yelena were so happy most of the time?

Maybe they were onto something...

And by that he meant that spending more time building human connections was a necessary step towards happiness. Not that PDA should become normalised.

That was still just a them thing.

+1 Alexei

Alexei loved being a part of the new Avengerz. Yes, he would have preferred if they stuck with the name thunderbolts, but getting to be on a superhero team had always been his dream. And now he got to do it alongside his precious daughter Yelena.

The other members were nice too. Very useful on the battlefield. Pleasant roommates. Definitely, much better to live with then the men he was surrounded by in prison. Less stinky, less loud and less aggressive. Although that meant it was a lot more peaceful in the tower. Not that Alexei was complaining.

Peaceful was a good thing.

Especially for his daughter. She had led such a difficult life, being used and forced to do things for the red room. He himself had played apart in hurting her. Only realising that after she had confronted him about it. Which meant that he had to be the worst father ever. Even worse than Walker. Which was a pretty big feat.

Now, Yelena had found a purpose. She was able to show everyone the wonderful and bright person she had always been since she was just a little girl. Bob especially noticed this about his daughter.

 Alexei who had met him way after the others had picked up on the way the young man was drawn to Yelena as soon as they had started living together. Always staying close to her. Being extra attentive to her wants and needs. Spending time with her whenever he could.

It was hard not to notice him.

What Alexei hadn’t expected to see was that his affection was reciprocated.

Alexei of course knew what kind of girl Yelena was. Somebody who felt very deeply and was full of love. But since escaping the red room and then having to deal with their beloved Natasha’s death, his daughter liked to keep up an appearance of being somebody tough who did not need to rely on anyone else. He guessed she wanted to protect herself by burying all her emotions deep down just like she had been trained to do.

That’s why it was surprising to see Yelena be herself around Bob. And not only that, but for her to choose to always want to be with him. She initiated contact, listened to everything he had say no matter how much he stuttered or started to fumble around with his words and often Alexei caught her watching him even when his attention wasn’t on her.

Like the other day when Bob was playing with Cucumber the little gerbil? Hamster…no what was it? …Guinea pig? Alexei was sure that was it. The one that Yelena had saved from OXE and kept as a pet.

Lying on his back, Bob had placed Cucumber on his stomach and was telling him about his day. He had been on top of the rug in the living room as Alexei was sat on the couch next to Bucky who was watching the news. Ava was sat on the other couch next to Yelena who was on her phone. Or that was just what she was pretending to be occupied with.

“Have they mentioned us yet?” Walker had asked as he entered the room.

“No,” Bucky stated, “They’ve only just begun explaining what went down, so they’ll probably mention us next.”

Yelena, ignoring the conversation, just kept starring forward towards the direction of Bob and her little critter. The phone in her lap looking like a prop as her eyes softened looking anywhere but the device and a soft smile spreading across her face.

Alexei was going to ask her why she wasn’t paying attention to the important broadcast but was then distracted as Walker nervously tapped one of his feet.

Alexei laughed at the other man’s behaviour. He was a super soldier! He should fear nothing.

“I thought you knew the internet already hates us,” Alexei boomed, “You should be excited just to be on Tv! Good or bad.”

A wrinkle appeared between Bucky’s eyebrows at that, but he kept his eyes on the television and kept his mouth closed.

Walker’s face grimaced as he moved closer to the Tv.

“We saved people,” Ava said plainly, “There’s nothing to hate, you can stop pissing yourself over it, Walker.”

“I’m not pissING-” Walker started before he nearly tripped over Bob on the floor causing him to yelp, “Why are you- actually y’know what just don’t let that animal crap on our carpet.”

“Cucumber, would never,” Bob said in a very serious tone, “Isn’t that right, baby?”

The animal made a very cute squeaking noise in response.

 Or that was his daughter.

Alexei couldn’t really tell since she had lifted her phone back up and acted like she was scrolling through it. However, her cheeks were pink as she bit her lip trying to feign nonchalance and prevent herself from cheesing.

“Wait, I think we’re up next,” Bucky said interrupting Alexei’s observation with a squint at the screen.

The news anchor drew all their attention in as she began to describe the teams’ heroic actions that took place during their last mission. Walker looked like a ton of bricks had just been taken off his shoulders as the women praised their performance.

“I told you there was no way for the media to twist that one,” Ava said directing her statement at Walker, “They even used flattering images of us, how nice of them.”

“This is good for the team’s public image,” Bucky added, “We need to keep it up and make sure we don’t make careless mistakes in front of the public.”

“Look, Cucumber, that’s the team on tv,” Bob exclaimed holding the guinea pig up in the air so it could watch like the rest of them, “They did a really good job, right?”

Suddenly, a picture of The Red Gurdian appeared on screen as they dedicated a segment of the broadcast to talk about the specific save, he had done to prevent debris from landing on a school bus. Alexei felt a jolt of excitement run through his body as he shot up from his seat and lifted both his arms in the air.

“ALRIGHT!” Alexei yelled looking around the room.

Bucky smiled amused, “You did a pretty good job.”

Walker clapped him on the back.

 “Maybe I do need to worry about you taking my spot as the best super soldier on the team,” he laughed.

Bucky snorted before shaking his head at the ridiculousness of the statement.

“Oh please,” Ava grinned, “but yes I guess the red guardian does deserve some flowers.”

Alexei beamed before flopping back down into his seat enthusiastically turning to see his daughter’s reaction to his greatness. Except she did not even look like she had noticed what had happened!

Yelena, now having discarded her phone entirely, was leaning her cheek against the palm of her hand as she gazed at Bob tickling Cucumber.

“Yelena!” Alexei shouted devastated, “Why have you just been staring at Bob mess around on the carpet for half an hour! You just missed my main character moment!”

Everyone in the room’s attention suddenly snapped towards Yelena as her face exploded in color and her mouth hung open.

Bob who apparently was the most distracting man alive, sat up so swiftly that he nearly fractured a bone. Twisting his body to also stare at the woman who had just been called out.

“What are you talking about!” Yelena sputtered avoiding any eye contact, “I was- I have been on my phone, so stop just saying silly things.”

“No, you haven’t,” Alexei continued not being able to read the room and sense his daughter’s embarrassment, “You have been watching Bob speak and play with Cucumber in that sickly sweet tone of his this whole time with a shield size grin on your face!”

Walker looked like a cat who had just found its next pray as a look of delight spread across his face. “Ouch! Poor old, Dad!” he exclaimed throwing an arm around Alexei’s shoulders, in mock comfort.

Yelena looked like she wanted to jump off an extremely high building.

“That’s not-“

“I guess Bob is just too handsome and alluring that you couldn’t even spend one minute out of the thirty minutes you’ve been starring at him to pay attention to your daddy,” Alexei continued.

Bob blinked slowly as he held cucumber to his chest. His pupils were dilated as he looked at Yelena fighting back a smirk.

Bucky looked like he was trying not to laugh as he kept his head down at the exchange happening between father and daughter.

“Our Bob is quite the charmer,” John quipped.

“Walker stop,” Ava cut in, “That was supposed to be her ‘secret’ admiring time, if you all point it out then you’re defeating the whole purpose of all her stolen glances.”

Even Bob chuckled at that.

“Yelena-“ Bob began.

“Ugh!” Yelena exclaimed aggressively cutting him off while pulling her hood over head to cover half her face as she stood up, “I hate you all.”

“You are the one who wounded me, Lena!” Alexei stated picking up the remote, “I can not even rewind it now your eyes are not glued to Bob because, Bucky has not asked Mel to buy the better Tv package, yet.”

Ava and Walker couldn’t contain their laughter anymore as the Russians seriousness made the whole discussion ten times more hilarious.

That was Yelena’s final straw as she tried to stomp out of the living room. Except due to the hood covering half her face she walked into Bob who held cucumber out towards Bucky so that he didn’t get squished.

Bucky gently grabbed the tiny animal as Bob gently held on to Yelena’s wrists.

“Where are you going?” He laughed.

Yelena’s bottom lip stuck out as she scoffed.

Alexei was impressed. His son in law had pretty big balls to laugh in his daughter’s face like that.

“Away from the evil,” Yelena said like it was obvious.

“How is your papa evil for wanting to show you his achievements!”

“Are you serious!?”

Bob tugged Yelena to come sit on the floor with him. She complied after half-heartedly resisting for a bit, still hiding underneath her hoodie.

His daughter was quite stubborn, but Bob’s patience mixed well with that trait.

“We were just taking the mick,” Ava supplied from her seat still smiling, clearly finding Yelena’s misery entertaining.

“Well, it’s not really a joke though, is it?” Walker said giddy, “She was lost in her thoughts because she was too busy starring at Bob, it’s a fact.”

“Can you all just shut up!” Yelena grumbled, “Why are you forcing me to listen to this torture Bob? Do you enjoy seeing me suffer?”

“Is it really that bad to just admit you were watching me and got distracted?” Bob cheekily responded back, bumping his shoulder into hers.

“…Okay fine is that what you sick individuals want!” Yelena mumbled, “Yes, I was staring at Bob the whole time, what are you going to do? Shoot me.”

“That’s a bit extreme-“

“Well, nobody said all that.”

John and Bucky said at the same time.

Bob lifted Yelena’ s hood off her head as he smiled at her, his eyes softening.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Bob said with a low cocky tone, “Cucumber and I, are much more entertaining, it’s understandable.”

Yelena’s eyes widened as he winked at her.

John groaned at the pair on the rug as Ava asked Bucky if she could hold Cucumber next.

Alexei could understand why his daughter was infatuated.

Bob was a smooth talker when he felt like it.

Just like he had been back in the day!

His daughter had good taste.