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Yelena was tucked into the corner of a café that had just opened up near the tower. The place was quite cozy with a brown and green color scheme. It was also quite crowded since she was pretty sure it had gone viral recently on tiktok.
Sat at one of the secluded booths the blonde woman adjusted the black baseball cap that sat on top of her head. Ensuring that it casted a shadow across most of her face. Impatiently she tapped her fingers on the wooden table her hot chocolate was resting on.
“Do you mind?” Walker grumbled, wrapping a large hand around his black coffee. “This shit was $5.00; I don’t want it to spill because you’re fidgeting like my one-year-old son.”
Spitefully, Yelena tapped her fingers harder and faster on the solid oak. Smiling sweetly at the blond man sat opposite her.
“Oh, sorry,” she chirped. “Is this bothering your super sensitive super soldier hearing?”
“Yelena,” Bucky said plainly looking up from his newspaper with an annoyed look. It was a funny sight. She hadn’t thought people still read physical copies of the news. It was such a Bucky thing to do. Very old and practical. Like him.
Walker smirked shaking his finger in her face like an idiot. He mouthed the words ‘I told you’ back to her aggressively, feeling validated by Bucky calling the widow out as well.
Rolling her eyes, Yelena placed both her palms flat on top of her thighs. The whole team had decided to have brunch to celebrate reaching fifty missions together.
It had been Alexei’s idea that Bucky surprisingly had agreed to. Predictably, John and Ava had pretended to think about it, but the team all knew they would eventually cave in. Even Bob had agreed to come when Yelena asked him to. Even though he wasn’t officially a member of the team he was basically the reason they all had come together. She knew he didn’t really agree with that sentiment so hearing that he still wanted to come made her happy. Lately he had decided to do a lot of things outside of his comfort zone. It was pretty crazy how much had changed since their meeting in the vault.
Yelena smiled at the memory of Bob in his oversized lab pyjamas. She drew her shoulders together as she looked into her hot beverage. He hadn’t arrived at the café yet as he had a therapy session to attend to first. They all had reassured him that was fine and they would save him a seat. It was important for Bob to start putting himself first.
“That video about the secret drink was a hoax!” Alexei boomed coming over to the table with what looked like a milk shake. “I asked for the mermaid swirl fudge frappe, and she looked at me like I was crazy.”
Her dad’s loud voice made Bucky massage his temple as he closed his newspaper and neatly folded it away.
“I told you that wasn’t real!” Yelena exclaimed turning to her dad with a groan. “It’s not on the menu for a reason.”
John, who had been listening to them while rubbing his chin, decided to but in.
“Now not to play devil’s advocate here, but Cyan- what was it again?” John asked squinting at Alexei.
He was referring to the influencer who had informed the red guardian about the ‘new’ drink.
“Cyan Cerulean,” her dad supplied as he sipped on his diabetes in a cup.
“Ah yes the very reliable sounding Cyan Cerulean,” John joked before continuing. “She explicitly said that the mermaid swirl barf rainbow whatever frappe was on the secret menu, the word secret implying that it wouldn’t be on the regular one, so your point from earlier makes no sense Yelena.”
The assassin pursed her lips before drinking some of her hot chocolate. Technically everything Walker said was true. But-
“That doesn’t change the fact that those internet people lie all the time to get clicks,” Bucky chimed in, tugging the sleeve of his black hoodie. He was making sure it hid his metal arm.
“They’re called views not clicks actually,” John corrected smugly like he was that one nerd who always reminds the teacher for homework.
Yelena ignored him nodding enthusiastically in response to what Bucky had said. That had been exactly the point she had wanted to make.
“Yes! And just because somebody tells you to publicly humiliate yourself doesn’t mean you should.”
“Lena, she started the video saying ‘hey besties’. If she is my friend, why would she want me to embarrass myself? It does not add up!”
“What’s all this about public humiliation?” Ava asked raising an eyebrow as she approached their table with some menus.
Walker laughed as she sat down.
“Are you our waiter now or something?” he teased gesturing towards the menus Bucky and Alexei had already started combing through.
Ava scoffed.
“When I was coming out of the ladies room the nice man over there told me we had to order food at the counter you toad,” She grumbled, throwing one the menus aggressively into John’s face.
Lazily, he caught the laminated paper and smiled.
“Thank you so much for passing this to me, Aves,” he said slow and passive aggressive.
Ava gagged before ignoring him to look at HD images of pancakes.
“I’m not sure what to get,” Bucky mumbled to himself.
Yelena blinked. She hadn’t grabbed a menu yet since she didn’t want to start without the most important person on the team! Or well…to her but that was practically the same thing.
“But what about Bob?” Yelena found herself asking around the edge of her mug. “He’s not here yet. It will be sad if we start eating without him and then we finish by the time he comes. He’ll have to eat by himself!”
Just the thought made the blonde woman feel bad.
John just stared at her like she was being stupid, “Why have you just created an imaginary scenario to complain about."
Alexei completely enamoured by the loaded breakfast options ignored what Yelena had said all together.
“I-Im just saying that he could feel left out,” Yelena explained tucking strands of her hair behind her ears.
“Babe, they’re so packed that even if we order now the food will probably take awhile to arrive,” Ava stated looking around at the crowded room. “Plus, you could just order for him. You are the resident Bob expert after all.”
Yelena’s felt her face get hot.
“Right, yes. That’s a good idea. Thank you, Ava.”
The brunette woman mumbled 'no problem' as she flipped through colorful pages.
Then on cue as if he knew they had been talking about him, Bob sent a message into the group chat.
“He’s three minutes away,” Bucky stated looking at Yelena, “You can rest easy now, soldier.”
“Phew! I was crapping myself thinking about what we would do if our beloved Bob didn’t get his nutritious oat and fruit breakfast bowl topped off with a drizzle of honey,” John mocked following along one of the food descriptions with his index finger.
Yelena frowned crossing her arms at the teasing. She turned her head to look away from the two men. If John didn’t have super strength and durability she would have kicked him under the table.
A couple of minutes went by, and Yelena had finished her drink and decided what she wanted to order. The chocolate chip pancakes with vanilla ice cream and strawberries looked good. It was quite big so she thought that her and Bob could share it. They did stuff like that at home all the time and he didn’t mind so it shouldn’t be a problem.
“I’ll go give all the orders to save us from having to make multiple trips,” Bucky announced standing up from his seat. “Just tell me what you want so I can make a note of it.”
“Are you paying as well?” John asked hopeful.
“This ones on Val,” Bucky responded casually but Yelena could tell he was fighting back a smile. “Apparently, she wants to ‘help celebrate us as individuals and as a team’.”
As if, they all thought.
But if she wanted to put on an act, the team had no problem playing along. Who in their right mind would complain about free stuff?
After taking everyone’s orders Bucky went to go join the queue. Throwing his hood on just in case anyone noticed his familiar brown bob.
Speaking of brown-haired Bob’s. Yelena’s Bob had just walked into the Café. He looked around with nervous eyes, his lips in a straight line as he tried to find them. He was dressed in a pair of baggy washed out jeans and a forest green sweater with a white collar poking out from underneath that was rolled up to expose his muscled forearms.
Yelena bit her bottom lip trying not to be obvious about checking him out.
“Wait why is he wearing glasses?” John exclaimed annoyed. “What in the performative male.”
“I told him yesterday that were going to try to disguise our identities when we were at the café,” Ava mumbled back with a smile. “I think this is his attempt at pulling a Clark Kent.”
“But he’s not even- actually you know what, if he wants to play dress up then he can.”
Yelena found herself nodding along with Walker as her heart started to pick up its pace. Bob looked really handsome. Not that he didn’t usually, but it had been a while since she saw him out of his pyjamas and robe. His shoulders were straight and he stood to his full height as he rubbed the back of his neck.
John tried to wave the brunette over, but their table was a bit too well hidden.
“I’ll just go get him,” Yelena said trying not to sound too eager.
As she stood up to go and guide Bob to their table her eyes widened in disbelief. An unfamiliar feeling bubbled in her gut. She felt her hand’s fall to her side as she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
One of the employees had gone up to Bob with a small grin.
He jumped slightly, looking a little spooked at the attention before remembering to smile politely.
The woman then moved closer to Bob as she gently placed one of her hands on his arm as she ‘showed’ him the different places you could sit. She made sure her hand was glued to him as she guided his gaze across the room. She was around the same height as Ava and had silky long black hair that flowed down her back. Her eyes were a light brown color and she was looking directly into Bob’s eyes like she wanted to eat him.
Which was cannibalism and disgusting.
Yelena felt her hands ball into fists and her eyebrows knit together. Since being released from the red rooms control Yelena had felt a lot of things for the first time. But the burning sensation in her stomach that was screaming at her to go and snatch Bob from that strangers grasp, so she could keep him all to herself was especially new.
“Oh my god!” Walker nearly shouted as Bob nervously nodded along to whatever the woman was telling him. “She’s hitting on him, attaboy!”
The widows jaw twitched. Why did Bob have to be so attractive and charming and perfect!
“I thought you said Bob was like a soggy bagel literally yesterday.”
“And chicks dig that vibe, Ava. The proof is in the pudding,” Walker said nudging his head towards Bob who was awkwardly fidgeting with his hands as the employee laughed loudly at something he said. She pretended to steady herself using his forearm because he was just soooooo hilarious. Bob looked startled at the action but was still holding conversation.
Yelena grit her teeth.
He was supposed to hate public interactions.
Bob then tried to walk away in the complete opposite direction to where their table was, but the woman stopped him. Which you could argue Yelena should have been happy about. And maybe she had been a little relieved assuming their interaction was wrapping up. But then she noticed how the woman had grabbed onto his broad shoulders to get him to turn back around.
Yelena wanted to scream. That had to be illegal! Or at least a violation of her rights as a human being. What was next she was going to lift his shirt up and start touching his surprisingly sculpted abs?
Before her nails drew blood from how hard she had been clenching her fists, Yelena not wasting anymore time, made her way out of the booth. She was just trying to speed up Bob’s searching progress. He didn’t need another woman touching showing him where they were when Yelena could just do It herself. Bob didn’t really need anyone else to do anything for him when he had her, the suspiciously green colored monster inside her head hissed.
“Should we try and stop…that?” Walker asked hesitantly watching Yelena weave through the crowd to get to Bob. The short woman’s stride was a big indicator that she was clearly annoyed. “I was trying to subtly flan the flames of her jealousy because I thought it would be funny but uh now I’m not so sure if that was a good idea.”
“Good entertainment, but we have to deal with pissed Yelena and oblivious Bob for an hour afterwards,” Ava sighed her eyes locked onto her friends back. “I can’t decide if I want this to get messy or not.”
***
Bob had entered the café anxiously trying to find his friends. He had just walked here from the tower after a session with his therapist. It had gone well so he was in a good mood. Excited to see the others, especially Yelena as he wanted to congratulate them on hitting fifty missions. It was a huge deal even if the team for some reason played it off like it didn’t matter. They had saved so many people including him. So, he had promised to come to their brunch even if he felt a bit like an imposter.
Looking around for the table they were sat at, Bob awkwardly hovered in the empty area by the entrance. The place was packed. Ava had told him they were all in disguises so he would have to look closer than usual to spot them. Pushing the glasses he was wearing up his nose; Bob scanned the room squinting.
“Can I help you, sir,” A woman asked softly, startling him. She looked him up and down grinning. She was tall and had dark hair and eyes. Obviously, she worked at the café since she was dressed in a green shirt with a name tag that said ‘Amy’ clipped on to it.
“Hi, I uh I’m looking for my friends…” Bob said sounding unsure.
Amy laughed looking at him with a strange gleam in her eyes that he couldn’t decipher.
“I can help you with that,” the woman replied fluttering her lashes, as she moved closer towards him. She then gently placed her hand on his bicep. “Can you describe them to, me?”
Now Bob didn’t really know how to react to that. He didn’t really like strangers touching him, but this lady was trying to be nice and help him out. She was even speaking to him in a strange tone which he assumed was her customer service voice. So, it felt mean to say she was making him feel uncomfortable. So instead he decided it was just really awkward and made him feel stuck on what to do about her hand.
“Sure, there’s five of them, three guys and two girls,” Bob explained trying not to sound like an alien that had just crash landed on to earth. “All three guys are pretty tall. One bald, one blond and one brunette-”
“Like you!” Amy exclaimed cutting him off with a high pitched giggle.
“Uh yeah,” Bob nodded robotically, “But his hair is much darker and a bit longer, oh actually one of the women is a brunette as well – she has long hair though.” Bob gestured the last part dumbly with his hands.
The woman found his actions really funny. So much so that she removed the hand she had on his bicep to steady herself on his exposed forearm instead. Her touch was cold and felt odd. Nothing like the warmth of Yelena’s small, scarred hands whenever she-
“And the other woman is blonde a really gorgeous one with short hair,” Bob found himself continuing happily with a smile. Gently shrugging the other woman’s hand off of him. “She’s also got these pretty greeney-hazel eyes and a cute upturned nose and-“
He turned back to look at Amy as he finished his sentence but trailed off when he noticed her eyebrows wrinkled.
“Hmmm I’m not sure if I’ve seen anyone like that in here…” She murmured her tone prickly, as she glanced towards random tables.
That was weird. If Bob worked here, he was sure he would have immediately been drawn to Yelena as soon as she walked in. Not because he was a creep or anything. The widow was just that breath-taking. Sometimes at the tower he found it hard to do anything properly when she was around.
“That’s fine, I’ll just wander around for a bit,” Bob laughed waving a hand casually. “I’m sure I’ll bump into one of my friends eventually.”
There were five of them. The chances of Bob being able to pick out at least one of them from the crowd should be high.
“I do appreciate your help,” Bob said just in case he came off as rude, fiddling with the frames of his glasses before turning to take a sharp left.
“Wait!” Amy exclaimed grabbing on to his shoulders with an impressive amount of force, startling him in the process. If Bob didn’t have powers she might have left a mark on him.
Was she getting paid extra to help him or something? The brunette turned back around to look at Amy puzzled. He didn’t want to get in the way of anyone getting their bag, but he was kind of getting frustrated. Bob just wanted to go sit down and eat some food with Yelena the team without being manhandled.
“Wha-“
“You should just text them and wait here,” She advised with more eyelash choreography. Flipping a section of her hair over her shoulder as she leaned up towards his face. “I’ll wait with you! That way it’ll save you time and energy.”
Bob blinked, slightly irritated as he took a step backwards. Running a hand through his hair he was about ask: how will you do your job if your waiting here with me? But then his eyes latched onto a familiar figure strutting towards him. It was a woman wearing a grey oversized shirt paired with black jeans shorts with tights under them. Bob’s eyes widened as he made contact with a pair of half lidded green eyes under a baseball cap.
It was Yelena! Bob let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. She had come to save him from forced politeness and the prison of social interaction. Not only that but she looked really….nice. Bob’s tongue dragged across his bottom lip awkwardly. He hoped the way he was checking her out wasn’t obvious.
“Aren’t you going to get your phone out now,” Amy asked poking him playfully. Bob was broken out of the spell Yelena’s presence had put upon him as he tried to kindly wrap up the conversation he had been having with the employee.
“I-“
“Robert,” Yelena murmured as she pushed past Amy to wrap her arms around his neck. Bob felt his brain malfunction. He loved whenever she said his full name with her accent. It always sounded like honey, sweet and dripping with affection. “Your late.”
Not sure what to do with his hands Bob moved them to grip the widow’s waist. They were usually quite physically affectionate at home, but Yelena didn’t really initiate much touching when they were outside. Val had instructed the whole time to be ‘lowkey’ whenever they were out with Bob. He never minded since he never wanted to draw too much attention anyway.
However, he found the alternative was a hundred times better.
“Sorry,” Bob apologised quietly trying not to stutter as his face flushed from their close contact.
Yelena peered up at him, her eyes shining as she removed her hands from around his neck to instead rest them on his chest. Bob tried to bite back the choked noise that was threatening to escape his throat. His heart stuttered under the weight of her palms.
She was trying to kill him.
“I missed you,” the widow mumbled her hands radiating warmth.
“Oh-I uh well..uhm I,” Bob cleverly responded back looking into her eyes as his hands still cradled her waist. At the moment he was finding it hard to gather a minimum of at least five braincells together to do anything. Yelena was being really cute, and it left him a bit speechless. Not because she wasn’t always adorable to him. But because she didn’t normally act like this.
“I missed you to,” the brunette finally breathed out. His midnight eyes struggling to maintain eye contact as Yelena analysed his face with the most hypnotising gaze Bob had ever been on the receiving end of. He could get addicted to just the way she looked at him.
(His therapist probably wouldn’t approve of him using that metaphor given his past, but it was true. Bob’s legs were fighting just to stand up straight.)
“I was uh trying to find you guys, but I couldn’t. So that’s why I’ve just been stood here, Actually, uh Amy was trying to help me,” Bob explained remembering the girl who was still standing there watching them.
His mom had always said it was bad to ignore people, so he forcefully teared his eyes away from Yelena, lifting one of his hands to point towards Amy. Hopefully now that he wasn’t alone, Yelena could help him cut the chat he had been having short.
When Bob looked back over to the widow, he noticed her eyes had darkened as she turned her head stiffly. She acknowledged Amy’s presence for the first time with a mechanical smile.
“Hi, Amy,” Yelena stated, her voice void of any emotion as she moved to tuck herself under Bob’s side. Her right hand was now resting on his back as she physically manoeuvred his arm to drape across her shoulders. She was being extremely clingy. “Thanks for assisting Bob, but I’ve got it from here.”
Bob observed the assassin’s deliberate movements; he was no longer flustered and instead amused. His eyes glowing with a newfound realisation, puzzle pieces coming to slot together in his mind.
…Was Yelena Belova actually jealous!? So much so she was trying to stake her claim on him in broad daylight. Bob felt giddy, if he could kick his feet up in the air he would. This must be how Bella felt about Edward in twilight.
That’s why she was being so tactile. Yelena was trying to assert dominance like those animals that peed on things to mark their territories.
Yelena was peeing on him!
Metaphorically - of course, because Bob wasn’t actually into that literally, not that Yelena was either, or that there would be a situation where…You get what he meant.
“Yellaynah was it?” The dark-haired women asked bringing Bob back to reality. Her thin eyebrows drew together as her lips pressed together into a hard straight line. She was clearly annoyed that her conversation with Bob had been interrupted. “No need for any thanks, It was my pleasure.”
Amy said the words pleasure in a way that gave Bob the ick.
Yelena grumbled something under her breath in Russian.
Wait…had she been flirting with him?
Bob’s face paled. He had just thought she was being overly pleasant because that was just a part of her job.
He would have to ask Mel where she bought the glasses he was wearing because he was pretty sure this was all the result of his new look.
“Let’s go, the others are waiting,” Yelena ordered, trying not to seem in a rush. Bob’s stormy eyes studied her face. Yelena who Bob now realised was getting more peeved by the second leaned closer into him with a pout. If they were to get any closer, they would have probably fused together.
A toxic part of Bob loved this side of her. Smirking as he laced their fingers together.
“You’re the boss,” he teased. “I’ll follow your lead.”
Yelena rolled her eyes with a small smile. She used their joint hands to pull him along. Bob let himself get tugged before he quickened his pace so he could walk directly behind her.
“Let me know if you want anything from me later, Bob,” Amy called out after them.
Bob noticed Yelena’s shoulders tighten.
“That won’t be necessary,” He shouted back without turning around.
Yelena turned her head to grin at him shyly.
Feeling confident, he bent down to whisper in Yelena’s ear playfully. Her breath hitched.
“I’ve got everything I want right here.”
***
Bonus scene:
As she led Bob back to their table, Yelena was extremely grateful for the fact that her hat covered most of her face.
She didn’t want the others to question why her face was so red or ask her why she looked like she was a few seconds away from sweating buckets.
She groaned, embarrassed. This was all Bob’s fault! He was so oblivious that he hadn’t realised he was being hit on and she was forced to go save him. Yelena knew he hated talking to strangers, so she went out of her way to help him escape Amy’s clutches. That was all there really was to it.
What would Bob even do without her?
The man in question squeezed their connected hands humming to himself quietly as she directed him on where to go.
Suddenly, somebody had dropped their tray of food blocking their pathway. That meant they had to step aside and wait for the mess to be cleaned before finally getting to sit down.
Bob was staring at her intensely like he had so much he wanted to say. Yelena also wanted to say something out loud, to pass the time while they waited, but all her confidence from earlier disappeared. Remembering how she had acted only a few minutes prior made her duck her head avoiding the taller man’s gaze.
Yes, she had been ‘all over’ Bob, as Walker would describe it. But that was only because she was trying to let the other woman know that Bob wasn’t interested and that they were busy. If anything, she was trying to be polite and do them all a favour.
“Oh? Is that what that was,” Bob asked raising a single eyebrow, finally finding something to say.
...Of course she had to accidentally say that out loud.
Yelena, looked anywhere but at Bob as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt.
“You’re welcome,” She said trying to keep her voice even. “If I didn’t get between whatever that was, you would have been stuck there like a potato all day.”
Bob barked out a laugh causing Yelena to look at his face.
“Oh you certainly ‘got between’ us,” he teased his mouth tilting upwards into a smirk.
The widow narrowed her eyes, at Bob. His eyes were sparkling with amusement. Yelena frowned.
“What is that supposed to mean, Robert.”
“You were clinging on to me in front of everyone,” Bob explained taking a cocky step towards her.
Yelena’s eyes widened. It was true, but the way he said it made her stomach flip.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.
Actually, y’know what she decided that she didn't care.
Maybe she had thrown herself at Bob, but he was the one who had been lapping it up.
Yelena mirrored the brunette’s smirk from earlier as she also took a step towards him.
“And you loved every second of it,” Yelena taunted her voice low and honest.
Instead of shying away like she thought he would, Bob nodded with dark eyes
“Yeah, I did,” Bob murmured using his fingers to tilt her chin up. “You’re really cute when you’re jealous.”
Yelena’s face erupted into color as she crossed her arms annoyed.
Ugh!
She had been convinced that Bob hadn't picked up on how she felt which would mean that she could stay in denial about her own feelings. But now that he said the word out loud her plan was ruined.
“Sorry,” He chuckled softly, “Was that supposed to be a secret?”
Before she could find some way to regain her honour, Bucky scared them both by appearing in front of them without any warning.
“Wow,” Bucky drawled, “Is my disguise that good?”
Bob smiled moving to put some distance between Yelena and himself before noticing that Bucky was holding plates.
“Oh, have you ordered already?”
Yelena’s heart was still whirring from Bob’s stupid handsome everything. So Bucky spoke next, explaining how he had gone to the counter for everyone.
“Yelena said you wouldn’t mind sharing with her.”
Bob nodded, blinking innocently.
“Sounds good,” he answered taking some of the cutlery from Bucky’s hands. “But we might have to check again with Yelena, if that’s okay with her.”
Yelena let out a confused noise. Just because he was teasing her didn’t mean she would deprive him of pancakes.
“What do you mean?” Bucky asked trying to make it sound like he wasn’t going to blow up if he had to go and wait in the long queue again to make a correction to their order.
“She’s got a bit of a secret possessive streak,” Bob joked, shrugging cheekily.
That jerk!