Chapter Text
Bob can’t remember the last time he’d been in such an awkward car ride. Hell, last time he was in a vehicle, he’d been alone in the back while trying to escape Val’s vault.
Somehow, he’s got more nerves just being alone with John than he had when he played sacrifice. He can’t even bring himself to look in John’s direction and see if he’s noticed how awkward Bob is feeling. Maybe his ‘looking out the window, mysterious and angsty style’ act (Yelena’s words) was working. Just how far was the airport? Or was it just because New York traffic sucked?
-
With the Watchtower having to undergo even more renovations (wonder why that is), the team had been told it might be a few weeks before the building could be livable, at least not without hearing endless workers putting in overtime. Val rebranded this situation as giving them time to get their affairs in order and pack up what they’d need for when they all moved in.
“It’s a blessing in disguise, guys, I’m sure that most of you have stuff to bring in,” she said with her tight smile that screamed I’m trying to not get mad because now we have to work together, “so, this gives you all time to go get a U-Haul and break those leases! Mel will contact you once we have the OK to have you all start moving in. Until then, don’t show up on the news… At least not for anything bad. Sometimes, not all press is good press.”
With that, Val left the team to figure out what their next moves were. Ava had told them she was going to be stopping in San Francisco for ‘nothing you all need to worry about’... so they left that alone. Bucky hadn’t said much, just that he needed to take care of his apartment and ‘something else’; Yelena had whispered to Bob that ‘something else’ might have to do with Sam, as she’d seen Bucky call him pretty much right after the New Avengers announcement. Yelena herself was going to be going with Alexei, to catch up on lost time as well as help him clean his apartment due to his… ‘messy ass apartment’, as she put it.
“There’s no other way to put it, yeah, it’s a pig sty,” she said deadpan, “It’s like Hoarders in there, but, I’m sure underneath most of the mess, there is stuff to be salvaged.”
“Sounds like something Val would say about us.” Bob quipped.
Yelena barked out a laugh, “Ha! She’d make that our tagline if she could.” She paused for a moment before adding. “By the way, Bob, I feel like I already know the answer, but do you have anywhere you need to go? I know you were in Malaysia for the study, but did you have any…?”
Bob shook his head. He got the idea of what she was hinting at, “No, I… I don’t have anywhere to actually get to. When I left the States, it was pretty much just the clothes off my back and a few of my ‘worldly possessions’, I guess. Nothing really important, though, so nothing to go back for? Not that I’d have remembered anyway. Sorry.”
“No need to be sorry, you’re not in trouble for being, well…,” She cut herself off, “I was asking because for the time being everyone’s gonna be splitting up before we all move in. John actually asked if you had anywhere you needed to be.”
Bob’s eyebrows shot up at that last bit, “John asked? Why?” John had asked about him?
“Yeah, I was surprised too,” Yelena continued, “he was asking if you didn’t have anywhere to be, you could go stay with him at his place in Atlanta while we wait for the OK.”
Bob was skeptical, “And he said all that?”
“Well, his exact phrasing was, ‘He could come with me, I guess, I could use the extra hands packing. ’” Yelena laughed, “So, I may be exaggerating it a little, but John gives the impression of a guy who cares, even if he’s an asshole.”
Bob let out a small laugh, but was a bit apprehensive, “I don’t know, we don’t really uh, get along too well. I don’t want to be a burden on him, that he has to take with him.”
“Hey, you’re not a burden. I wasn’t lying earlier; we’re sticking together from now on. We may be working as the “New Avengers”, but we were a team even before that. We want you around. Also, he asked, so actually, he’s the burden on you.”
That got another laugh out of him, “Well, I guess I can’t argue that… Thanks, Lena.”
“Anytime, Bob. Sorry that I can’t take you along, but I’d rather spare you the suffering that is Alexei’s apartment in Baltimore.”
“I TOLD you,” Alexei cut in, exasperated, “Baltimore is not until next block over!”
Yelena put a hand on Bob’s shoulder, “It’s only for a few weeks, anyway. Time will pass faster than you think.”
Bob knew it made sense for him to go with John, but they’d both had a pretty rough first impression. Even though Yelena had reassured him, he still felt like he was being pushed onto Walker. He didn’t want anyone to feel like anyone was being forced to deal with him, but he’d just have to suck it up. For all intents and purposes, he was homeless. While it was very likely in the budget to put him up in some cheap motel, he didn’t think it was his place to be making those kinds of requests to Val of all people.
Though even if he was being pushed off onto Walker, it might be more insulting to make a big deal about it. It could be considered rude since he is offering. Yeah, he’s not John’s #1 fan, but from what memories he can piece together from the Void rooms, John at least cared on some level to even go in to save him. This could be an opportunity for them to clear the air before they eventually all live together.
As he went to talk with John, he searched for any sign of apprehension in the blond’s eyes, but found none. He actually carried a genuine look in his eyes as they discussed the ‘game plan’, as John called it, for what the trip would look like.
“I was thinking we take a plane down to Atlanta, you’re good with planes, right?”
“I can do planes, yeah.” He could, didn’t mean he wanted to. The flight would only be a couple of hours, though, so he could tough it out.
“Great, we'll stay for a while, pack up my place there, and then drive back up to New York in the truck. We could do some sightseeing too, if you’re up to it, ever been to Atlanta?”
Bob shook his head.
“You should have a good time, plenty of stuff to do and see there. With an extra pair of hands, packing will be a breeze, so there’ll be downtime.” John smiled, “I’ll book the tickets, be ready to roll out soon.”
-
Back to the present.
The ride to the airport, even with all the nerves, wasn’t too bad. Perhaps it was the quiet just amplifying all his thoughts in a way he wasn’t used to after so long of using less than healthy methods of stomping them out. The Uber driver hadn’t even turned on the radio, so he couldn’t even try to focus on anything else as they slowly made their way to JFK.
Bob decided to muster up the courage to glance over at John. He was also looking out the window, a lot more relaxed than Bob was. He sees the man had been smart and had wired earphones, listening to something on his phone. Thinking about it now, when had Bob last seen his phone? Sometime before the study, probably. Likely destroyed now. Or lost. Either answer was very likely.
As Bob mourned his lost phone, John had turned and locked eyes with him. Bob froze up a little, caught in the act. He couldn’t get a proper read of the expression on John’s face as he looked Bob over. After a moment, he pulled out an earphone and offered it to Bob.
“Want to listen along? It’s probably gonna be another while until we get to the airport.”
Bob would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a bit curious about what John had playing, “Thanks, man.” Putting the earphone in, he recognized the band; John was listening to The Killers. Bob was pretty amused, “I’m not gonna lie, I was half expecting you to be listening to something country.”
“I’m a man of many multitudes, Bob. I actually have a few of their CDs in my collection.”
“A whole collection, huh?” Bob chuckled, “We gonna be packing all those, too?”
John’s face morphed into a more serious expression for just a second before responding again, “Heh, maybe, depends on if I even have them in my place in Atlanta. It’s pretty barebones, can’t even remember the last time I just… relaxed there.” There was a sad look in his eyes as he reminisced, “You know, as ridiculous as it sounds, I’m a little glad we have this time to go back to our houses. Back when we left the-” He paused, remembering that an Uber driver was listening in (that the author totally remembered was there as he was writing), “...where we met, Val’s uh place, I was honestly thinking I had to just leave everything behind. Everyone was; just split ways, and that would’ve been it. In that situation, I hadn’t even thought about my house. I was thinking about my wife- er, ex-wife, my kid, y-… what Val had planned for you, you know.” John looked out the window, “Even if it's not in an ideal way, I’m glad we’re getting this chance again, but it’s weird that I almost had to throw everything away.”
Bob hadn’t really thought about the situation from his perspective, everyone’s perspectives. Lots of the events leading up to now were fuzzy; only bits and pieces of memories had been resurfacing; he knew they were essentially mercenaries working for Val, working in the shadows. He himself had put New York into the Void, albeit unintentionally. The fact that they all had been given this second chance, while in less than ideal circumstances, was the kind of miracle he’d been looking for when he signed up for the study. A place to sleep at night, surrounded by people who cared for him, it was nothing short of a miracle for Bob.
But for the others, they had their own lives before this, even if it wasn’t glamorous or marketable; they were still their own people. Even if John and his family were separated, it was still his family. While Bob had his own… “complicated” relationship with his father, he saw how John would talk about his own son. Full of so much pride and joy. His void room showed Bob that while John was an imperfect man, he was ashamed of the hurt he caused those he loved, or at least that was what Bob saw it as. If John saw it that way, though, is another story entirely and was up to him.
In the end, Bob shut his eyes and let the silence sit as he listened along with John, and John just stayed looking out the window for the rest of the ride.