Archive of Our Own

“Are you sure you don’t want to sit with us?”

Bob looked past her into the theater, where people were still filing into their seats before the movie premiere, and bit his lip. The lights were still up, and every row was packed with people talking over one another, waving to friends, and trying to find a place to put their weapons. He pressed his lips together, then gave her a small, uneasy smile.

“Lena, all the seats are already taken.”

“So? I can kick Walker out of his.”

“What? Why me?”

“Because you were complaining the entire trip here about how you hated sitting behind Thor.”

“He’s freakishly tall; can you blame me?” he sneered.

“And you will not be asking Sue Storm if she could turn and stay invisible,” Bucky warned, probably for the fifth time since they left the Watchtower. Walker groaned loudly, throwing his hands up in the air.

“Oh, my fucking god, I wasn’t going to! It was a joke!”

“A terrible one,” Ava snorted. “I’m surprised you didn’t suggest that to me.”

“Please, like you could hold it for more than a minute?”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you too,” he shot back.

Ava turned to Yelena with one hand planted firmly on her hips. “Is there a vote on this matter by chance? Because you should kick Walker out and give it to Bob. You can sit next to him, and I’ll sit with Shang-Chi and Princess Shuri. Cheap arse wouldn’t even buy his own popcorn.”

“Because I know you’re not even going to finish yours!”

“Bloody hell, why do I have to sit next to him again?” Ava asked, turning to Bucky. “Switch me.”

“You want to sit with me instead, Ghost? It would be an honor!” Alexei brightened instantly, hands thrown open as he tried to bear-hug Ava, who managed to phase and dodge it at the last second. “Always so quick! Good, good, I share my snacks with you.”

“Which you smuggled in here,” Walker said.

Alexei looked offended. “Who is paying these crazy prices, eh? Americans!”

“You’re not even paying, it was on company card anyway!” Walker exclaimed. “Who the fuck cares?!”

“No, I meant you sit with Walker,” Ava told Alexei, trying to steer the conversation back. “I’ll sit with Bucky.”

Walker folded his arms and scoffed loudly. “Yeah, I bet you’d love sitting next to—”

Ava tipped her entire tub of popcorn over his head.

For a second, nobody said anything.

Popcorn caught on Walker’s shoulders, slid down the front of his jacket, and scattered across the carpet between his shoes just as Sam Wilson passed by. Sam glanced from the popcorn on the floor to the popcorn still clinging to Walker’s shoulders.

“Dude, the movie hasn’t even started.”

Walker opened his mouth. “I—”

Sam raised a hand.

“Actually, don’t tell me. I don’t want to be involved.”

When he walked away to greet Joaquin, Walker was practically fuming now.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Ava grinned widely. “I slipped.”

“You fucking didn’t! I thought me and Captain America were cool, and now look what you did!”

“A pity.” Ava examined her empty tub. “Get me another one. And this time, make it a large.”

He gawked at her. “Seriously?”

“Should I accidentally slip and stab you?” she asked sweetly.

“Ava,” Bucky tried, but it didn’t faze her in the slightest.

Walker stared at her a beat longer, then narrowed her eyes. “I hate you.”

“Don’t care.”

He brushed a fistful of popcorn off his shoulder, muttered something that made Bucky close his eyes, and stalked back out toward the concession stand. Alexei watched him go and then turned back to Ava.

“I do not mind switching if you want to sit next to Winter Soldier! Your seat is pretty good. Two rows down from Lena, near the center,” he boomed loudly, drawing a few people to look over at him in annoyance.

“No,” Bucky said. “You need to sit next to me so I can keep an eye on you.”

“What? I am no child!”

“You tried to bring a whole roast chicken into the theater just before,” Yelena stated stoically

“It was already cooked!”

Yelena looked between them, then at Bob, who had gone very quiet beside her.

“Leave it to fucking Val to give us shitty seating where we’re all separated,” she grumbled. “I heard from Mel that Val requested that we be booked in at the last minute for the premiere of our own movie; can you believe it? Actually, I don’t know what I asked. Of course she would.”

“I know!” Alexei said. “And Lena got the best seat, too. Right in the center!”

She sighed, shaking her head. “That was literally not the point.”

The lights dimmed slightly, sending a ripple through the theater as people quieted down and made their way to their assigned seats just as the advertisement started.

“Okay,” Bucky said with a curt nod. “Everybody, head to your seats and settle in.”

“Wait!” Alexei held up a hand. “I have to pee one more time!”

“What? Alexei, you literally went five minutes ago,” Yelena exclaimed.

“And now I have to go again! Winter Soldier, hold my things!”

Poor Bucky didn’t even have a chance to object before Alexei thrust a two-liter bottle of soda into his arms, followed by two wrapped burgers, three boxes of candy, and a bag of chips that crinkled loudly as Bucky struggled to catch it.

“Jesus,” Bucky muttered.

“I’ll be back,” Alexei hurried toward the exit, calling over his shoulder, “Don’t start without me!”

“I’m starting to regret coming,” Yelena announced under her breath.

Ava shook her head. “I am not getting trapped in the aisle when he comes back.”

She stepped toward the row ahead of them, phased through two people still arguing over whose seat was whose, and, in the next instant, sat in her assigned spot. One of them turned to stare at the space she’d passed through. Ava ignored them both, eating the remainder of popcorn in her small bucket.

Bucky watched her for a moment before finding his own seat, leaving Yelena and Bob standing together as the lights continued to fade slowly. Bob glanced toward the packed rows, then back at her.

“You should go,” he said. “You don’t want to miss the beginning.”

Yelena stayed where she was.

“I know where my seat is, and the beginning is boring. Too many ads.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “That’s true.”

She stepped closer. “You know that we can still move people around.”

She’d find a way as long as Bob said the word. They were supposed to stick together tonight. If that meant bribing someone out of their seat, then fine, so be it. It wasn’t like she’d be using her own money.

“I have Val’s card,” she added. “I could make a very generous offer.”

Bob’s smile widened. “Yelena, Mel and Val already tried. There aren’t any seats left.”

“They didn’t try hard enough.”

“Lena.”

“I’m serious. Very, very serious.”

“I know.” His mouth lifted at one corner. “That’s what worries me.”

They stared at each other for a beat before she finally decided to let it go.

“Okay,” Yelena said. “No moving people around.”

“Thank you.” He glanced toward the back of the theater. “But I did kind of get a seat.”

Yelena followed his gaze, surprised. “Really? Where?”

Could she switch with whoever was sitting next to him?

She’d just promised not to move people around, but technically that had been before she knew he had a seat. Plus, she had the best seat, as her Daddy said, so she was sure no one would mind too much.

“In the projection booth. Mel talked to someone, and they said I could watch from up there.” He pointed to the little window above the last row. “There’s a chair and everything so…it’s pretty good if you ask me.”

She looked up at it, then back at him. “You’ll be all alone.”

“I won’t be far away, and I can see your row from up there.”

Yelena studied his face for a moment, still not exactly pleased with the arrangement.

“Is that where you want to watch it?” she asked, tilting her head. “Because if it is only because that’s where they put you, I can still find someone to bribe. Trust me, I’m good at it, and I promise to make sure they’re fine with it too.”

He laughed again, shaking his head. “It’s fine, Lena. Really. It’s quieter up there, too.”

She nodded.

That, she understood.

“Okay,” she said. “But if you change your mind, text me.”

“Text you?”

“Mm, or call me. Or come get me.”

“You’ll be watching the movie.”

“Yes,” Yelena said. “And you’re allowed to interrupt it.”

Bob’s expression softened. “Okay.”

Onscreen, another advertisement started to play. Yelena glanced at it, then back toward the booth window. From her seat, she could turn around and check on him whenever she felt like it, so…

“I suppose it can’t be that bad,” she grumbled. “Better than sitting next to Alexei.”

Bob smiled. “I might still be able to hear Alexei, though.”

“Might? You probably will.” Yelena glanced toward the booth one last time, then stepped aside so Walker could get by, and she couldn’t help but notice he'd only ended up with a small popcorn. “I’ll see you later, then. You promise you’ll find us after it’s finished?”

“Yes. I promise.”

“Good, because I need your opinions on it afterward.”

“All of them?”

“Mm,” she nodded. “Especially the ones you think I will disagree with.”

“That could take a while.”

“I have time.” She reached out, squeezed his hand once, then let go. “See you later then.”

Bob headed toward the stairs at the back of the theater. Yelena waited until he’d reached them, then turned toward her own row, already planning which parts of the movie she’d ask him about first.

Shang-Chi stood when Yelena reached their row, shifting into the aisle to let her through. Shuri tucked her feet beneath her seat without looking away from the screen, where an advertisement for a car had somehow turned into a chase scene.

“Thank you,” Yelena said, stepping past them.

Shang-Chi waited until she’d sat down.

“So,” he said, settling back into his seat. “You and Bob, huh?”

Yelena reached for her popcorn, rolled her eyes, and played dumb.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Really? I swore I saw you holding his hand before.”

“Where’s he seated?” Shuri inquired, leaning slightly closer. “I can switch if you’d like.”

Yelena put a piece of popcorn in her mouth.

“No, it’s fine. Bob is watching from the projection booth.”

“That’s actually decent,” Shang-Chi said. “Can he actually see the screen from up there?”

“Yes.”

“And will you be able to focus the entire time?” Shuri asked with a sly grin while Shang-Chi chuckled. “Or are you planning to spend the entire movie looking behind us?”

She snorted. “I’ll be watching the movie.”

“Good,” Shuri said. “Because if you ask me afterward what happened, I’m not explaining it.”

Ha!

As if she isn’t in the movie herself, but still…

“That’s okay. I’ll ask Bob or see it again with him in a few days,” she answered. A few times, they’d ended up rewatching a movie because she had been so busy watching his reactions that she’d missed half of it. Suddenly, Shang-Chi made a quiet, delighted sound and she turned to him, squinting. “What?”

“Nothing.”

Soon enough, the advertisement ended, and the theater lights went down the rest of the way. Conversation faded around them. Yelena settled back, balancing her popcorn on her lap as the movie finally began.

She lasted perhaps ten seconds before looking over her shoulder.

High at the back of the theater, a light came on briefly inside the projection booth. Through the small window, she caught sight of Bob. He lifted one hand in a little wave with the tiniest little smile.

Yelena smiled and waved back.

Beside her, Shuri murmured, “The screen is in front of us.”

“I know,” she huffed, causing the princess to giggle.

She turned around and, this time, tried to focus on the movie.

She really, really tried, and she liked to think she was doing well.

She kept her eyes on the screen through the opening scenes, followed the increasingly dire situation, and even resisted the urge to ask Shuri or Shang-Chi whether one particular explosion had looked that dramatic when they filmed it.

If anyone asked, she was paying attention to what would probably be the biggest movie of the year. She wasn’t prepared to say whether it could beat Spider-Man, but it certainly seemed determined to try.

The problem?

Watching the movie and wanting to watch it with Bob were two different things.

Whenever someone delivered a line she’d heard a dozen times on set, she wanted to lean over and whisper the version that had made Bob laugh so hard they’d had to stop filming. When a joke landed and the whole theater laughed, her hand moved toward the armrest before she remembered there was no one there for her to nudge.

Shang-Chi was on one side of her and Shuri on the other, and she liked them both, but neither had been beside her when Bob tried to keep a straight face through that scene. And over and over again, she told herself she could talk to him about it afterward.

He’d promised to find her when the movie ended, and she was already collecting things to ask him: whether he thought a certain cut had made the fight look faster, whether he’d noticed the moment Alexei had nearly walked into the wrong doorway, whether he remembered what had made everyone laugh just before the camera started rolling.

There would be plenty of time to compare notes.

Still, when something funny happened onscreen, her first instinct was to look back.

Yelena caught herself halfway through turning her head and faced forward again.

Shuri made a small sound beside her, but kindly said nothing. Yelena took another handful of popcorn and settled deeper into her seat, trying to give the movie the attention it deserved. She was enjoying it.

She just kept wishing Bob was next to her.

By the time Doom appeared, Yelena had stopped trying to keep track of how often she wanted to turn around. The room had gone still around her. Even Shang-Chi, who had whispered commentary through most of the first act, leaned forward without saying a word.

Onscreen, Doom raised his arms.

The Sentinels behind him began to stir, one after another, their enormous shapes emerging from the ground. Somewhere beneath the swelling music, metal groaned as the first of them lifted its head. Yelena knew how the scene had been filmed, and she still felt a chill watching the finished version.

Doom turned toward the camera and the music dropped away.

“For I am—”

A bright, cheerful ringtone rang out from the back of the theater.

For half a second, nobody seemed to understand what they were hearing.

Then a groan swept through the audience, followed by a chorus of shushing that was nearly as loud as the phone. Someone called, “Seriously?” and “No way!” A few people booed, and popcorn sailed toward the back row without coming close to hitting anyone.

Yelena froze, popcorn halfway to her mouth.

She knew that ringtone.

Onscreen, the movie continued on, and Doom was talking, but she had missed the end of the line. Around her, people shifted and muttered, waiting for the interruption to be over. Yelena glanced over her shoulder toward the projection booth.

A faint light flickered behind its little window.

For an instant, she saw Bob’s silhouette bent over something in his hands.

“Wait. Is that Bob’s ringtone?” Shang-Chi whispered.

“No, no, no,” Yelena exclaimed, whipping her hand wildly as if she could push the question back into his mouth. She was sure it was. She’d heard his ringtone enough times to recognize it in her sleep, though she had no idea how it had carried all the way down from the projection booth.

Shang-Chi glanced up at the window, then back at her. “Right…”

Before Yelena could argue, the ringing cut off.

A few people kept grumbling, but their voices faded as they turned back to the screen. Doom had moved on from whatever he’d said, and the Sentinels were advancing. Under any other circumstances, she would have been annoyed to miss it.

Instead, she looked up at the booth again and saw the light behind the glass had vanished.

Needless to say, she lasted only five minutes after that.

Shang-Chi drew his knees aside to let Yelena pass. Gus’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t say anything. Yelena tried to ignore the look as she edged along the row, apologizing under her breath when she stepped too close to someone’s shoes.

From somewhere behind her, Ava gave a low laugh while Walker snorted.

“Lena?” Alexei called, not quite remembering to whisper. “You have to pee already?”

Several heads turned, but she kept moving without answering him.

Though she really wanted to hit him with a baton right then.

“Alexei,” Bucky muttered.

“What? I’m asking!”

Yelena reached the aisle at last. She caught a glimpse of Bucky shaking his head while he tugged Alexei back into his seat, then headed toward the exit at the rear of the theater. She could feel her teammates watching her go, but she didn’t turn around as she left the auditorium.

The hallway outside was quiet enough that she could hear the muffled score through the auditorium doors. She found the stairs at the end of it and followed the narrow landing up to a door marked “projection booth.”

She tried the handle, and of course, it was locked.

Well, that didn't stop her from entering if she wanted to.

Yelena took a pick from the inside of her jacket, worked it into the lock, and let herself in without knocking. Bob jerked in his chair and spun toward her. His phone was in his hand, its screen casting a pale light across his face. He got to his feet so quickly that the chair rolled back an inch.

“L-Lena? What are you doing here?”

“Checking whether you have been murdered by an angry movie audience behind my back.”

“I haven’t.” He glanced past her at the open door. “You picked the lock?”

“It was faster than waiting for you to answer.”

“You could have texted.”

Yelena shut the door behind her.

“To the phone that just interrupted Doom’s speech?” she asked, shutting the door behind her and finally taking a look around. It certainly is much cozier and quieter than the auditorium, that’s for sure.

From up here, the screen filled the booth window, though a small console occupied most of the space in front of it. Bob had been sitting off to one side, with a paper cup on the floor by his fold-up chair.

Bob looked down at his phone and let out a nervous laugh.

“Yeah. Fair. I thought it was on silent,” he said before she could ask. “I checked it before I came up. I swear I did.”

“Mm, I believe you.”

After all, she didn’t see any reason for him to lie.

“It was right next to the booth’s speaker.” He pointed to the small speaker beside his chair. “I didn’t realize it until everyone started to groan and throw popcorn, and I realized it was my phone.”

Yelena looked at the phone. “Who called?”

“Mel. She wanted to make sure I got in okay.” He rubbed the back of his neck while she strode until she stood right next to him and wow, she really could see the movie and also everyone sitting right below. “I tried to decline it, but I hit the wrong thing, and then I nearly dropped it.”

“You did turn it off eventually.”

“After interrupting the biggest moment in the movie.”

“It’s fine, they’ll survive.”

Bob gave her a doubtful look.

“Were people really throwing popcorn? I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things.”

“Yes, but no one seems to know it was you. Well, Shang-Chi had a hunch but I denied it.”

Bob’s eyes flicked to hers. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know.” Yelena stepped closer. “Are you all right?”

He looked at the screen instead of answering right away. “I was, until the phone rang. Then I could hear everyone down there, and I thought...” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I thought I made things worse again.”

“Bob.”

“I know it’s only a phone. It’s just that I came up here so I wouldn’t make a scene, and I still managed to make one somehow,” he conceded. Yelena glanced through the window. The audience had settled again; all she could see was the screen's glow falling across the backs of their heads.

“They looked back for about ten seconds,” she said. “Then Doom started talking again.”

“Yeah, but you came all the way up here.”

Ah, that was true.

“Well, that’s because I wanted to see you. Watching a movie really isn’t the same without you there,” she openly announced. He went quiet at that. Yelena reached for his hand, and after a moment he let her take it. “And because I missed whatever Doom said after ‘For I am.’ You’ll have to tell me.”

Bob’s mouth twitched. “You already know what he said.”

“Really?” she asked, playing dumb. “I can’t remember.”

“He literally says, ‘For I am Doom,’” he mused.

“Mm, yes. However, I want your review of how he said it.”

And he couldn’t help but wince. “Oh, that? I missed it too. I was wrestling with my phone.”

“Then we are both going to have to watch it again.”

He squeezed her hand. “In a few days?”

“In a few days,” she agreed. “With seats next to each other but for now…”

She took his hand and led him back toward the chair. He sat when she nudged him down, looking up at her with a question already forming on his face. Before he could ask it, she settled sideways across his lap and he practically squeaked.

“Y-Yelena!”

Innocently, she batted her eyes at him. “Hm? What is it, Bob?”

“There’s a whole theater downstairs.”

“Mm, I know.” She adjusted until she could see the screen through the booth window, then looked back at him with a mischievous grin. “But I told you that I like watching with you more, so…is this okay?”

Bob’s hands hovered uncertainly at her waist.

“Yeah. I mean, of course… I just wasn’t expecting you to stay.”

Yelena leaned against him, smiling when his arms finally came around her.

“As I said before, I like watching movies with you more. Plus, it’s very cozy here; I like it.”

“Are…are you sure?” he asked, swallowing.

“Positive.”

For a while, they watched in silence. Yelena could hear the film clearly from where they sat, and every so often a laugh or a gasp rose from the audience below. On screen, Doom was still causing problems that looked considerably worse than Bob’s phone call.

He rested his chin lightly against her shoulder.

“You know the others are probably going to figure out where you went.”

“I’m sure they knew even before I left,” she chuckled.

“And Alexei?”

“He thinks I had to pee.”

Bob laughed, and she felt it more than heard it. “How long do you think he’ll believe that?”

“With the amount of soda he brought in? He’ll be too busy going to the bathroom himself to notice.”

Bob eased back in the chair, careful not to disturb her.

When a familiar face appeared onscreen, Yelena nudged his arm and whispered the comment she’d been saving since the scene began. He smiled immediately, then whispered one back that made her cover her mouth to keep from laughing too loudly.

Through the booth window, Yelena spotted Shang-Chi turning around to look for her.

He found her almost at once and lifted both eyebrows. She raised a hand in warning—no, no, no—before he could point her out to anyone else. Shang-Chi grinned and turned back to the screen. Bob followed her gaze and smiled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” she said, lacing her fingers through his. “Watch the movie.”