bobbi's rookie
Yelena bruises her wrist with her handcuffs one night when Natalia doesn’t return in time for bed. Yelena sleeps by herself but has a nightmare and the skin around her wrist turns red and irritated as she twisted and tugged in her sleep.
Yelena wakes up at three in the morning when she dislocates her thumb in her sleep when her subconscious tells her that she had to escape the handcuffs.
Yelena can usually pop it back in easily but she can’t get it back in this time. She needed a second person to help her.
Natalia isn’t there and Yelena’s hand throbs.
Yelena’s not going to medical. She vows to never go to medical without Natalia and only then if she was on deaths door.
Still, Yelena needs another person. The list of people she trusts to do this is exactly one but they’re not available at the moment.
Yelena paces slightly as she thinks.
She can either find help in someone she trusts not to physically punish her for her injury or she can hide it and wait for Natalia.
If she sought out help then they’d ask about the mark around her wrist and she doesn’t know if she can explain.
Despite being told not to roam without an escort, Yelena slips out of her bedroom to search for her sister. She plans on going through the vents but she needed to get to a good one she could reach with her injured hand.
Yelena acts like she knows what she’s doing as she roams in her SHIELD-issued hoodie and sweatpants. Nobody spares a second glance at her, in similar states of attire as the time rolls around to three in the morning.
Then Yelena crosses paths with May who stops her immediately.
“Where’s your escort?” She demands.
Yelena shrugs her shoulders, not bothering to reply. May had been ignoring her.
Two could play at that game.
“What are you doing out of your room?” May questioned, raising an eyebrow as she eyes the nearly empty hallways.
“Looking for my sister,” Yelena replies truthfully and May sighs.
“She’ll be back soon, I’m sure. Go back to your room,” May starts but Yelena shakes her head.
“I need her,” Yelena insists and twists to continue on her way.
She doesn’t expect May to grab her wrist. She jerks at the shooting pain that flows through her wrist.
“Don’t touch me!” She snaps at May, breaking the hold with a jab at a nerve on May’s shoulder.
May eyes her hands. “Show me.” She orders.
Yelena scrunches her face up. “Fuck off.” She hissed at May.
“Hands, Yelena,” May orders like Yelena was still her rookie.
Yelena tucks her hands under her armpits, clenching her jaw at the throbbing in her hand. “You don’t get to order me around anymore.”
“I’m still your superior,” May reminds Yelena and the teenager tilts her chin up stubbornly.
“But I’m not your rookie. I’m Bobbi’s rookie. Bobbi can ask me for my hands,” Yelena was stubborn and she wasn’t going to bend on this. May broke her trust. Yelena can’t trust her to show her this weakness. She can’t trust that May won’t use it against her.
“Fine. We’ll go to Bobbi then,” May said and sets a hand onto Yelena’s shoulder to guide her down the hallway.
“I said don’t touch me!” Yelena jerks away from the hand but follows May anyway.
May knocks on Bobbi’s door until the woman answers the door, her hair sticking up as she blinks sleepily at May. “If nothing is on fire or at risk of exploding then go away…” Bobbi yawns.
“Take care of your rookie,” May tells her, and Bobbi’s eyes snap to Yelena as if she just noticed her.
“What?” Bobbi straightens, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” May glances up at Bobbi. “I’ll leave her with you.”
May leaves as quickly as she came and Yelena is left looking up at Bobbi.
“What happened, kid?” Bobbi questioned, leaning on the doorway with a frown.
“I accidently hurt myself,” Yelena tells Bobbi. “I’m looking for my sister.”
Bobbi moves out of the way and gestures with her head for Yelena to enter her quarters.
Yelena steps inside and Bobbi closed the door behind her. “Let me see.” Bobbi orders, moving to pull a first aid kit out from under her bed.
Yelena hesitates and Bobbi glances up at her.
“Is it someplace you’re not comfortable showing me? Your thigh or something?” Bobbi asked when Yelena doesn’t move.
“It’s my hand. I dislocated my thumb,” Yelena said and Bobbi frowns, shifting to reach out toward Yelena’s hands.
Yelena lets Bobbi take her good hand first, watching Bobbi tug the sleeve of her sweatshirt up and inspect her hand before reaching out for the other one.
Yelena jerks her hand away automatically and Bobbi’s hands pause. She can feel Bobbi’s eyes on her.
“I’m not going to hurt you, kiddo,” Bobbi said before slowly reaching for Yelena’s hand again. Yelena makes an effort to sit still.
Bobbi grasped Yelena’s forearm and tugs the sleeve of her sweatshirt up to reveal the damage.
It was quiet and Yelena watches as Bobbi inspects the damage on her wrist and her thumb.
Bobbi’s fingers run along Yelena’s palm and thumb, inspecting the dislocation. “Right. I can pop this back in no problem. Is that okay?”
Bobbi looks up at her and Yelena hesitates.
Bobbi could break her thumb just as easily as popping it back in. Yelena takes a moment to think about it and Bobbi just keeps a grip on her arm as she waits.
Finally, Yelena decides that she trusts Bobbi enough to do this. She gives a curt nod and Bobbi gives her a smile.
They both knew the kind of power Yelena was giving Bobbi and Bobbi silently swore that she’d never misuse it.
Bobbi pops Yelena’s thumb back into place, her thumb gently massaging her hand as Yelena flinches slightly. “Atta girl. You barely even flinched.”
Yelena expects Bobbi to drop her hand now that her thumb was back in place. Instead, Bobbi keeps a grip on her forearm and instead grabs an instant ice pack from her kit and squeezed it to activate it before pressing it against Yelena’s wrist.
Bobbi doesn’t ask questions. Yelena knows she wants to. She knows that the curiosity burns at Bobbi. But Bobbi grins at her tiredly as she ices Yelena’s wrist.
“It was a nightmare,” Yelena offers the information freely, pleased when Bobbi gives her a reassuring smile.
“Nightmares suck,” Bobbi comments and Yelena nods her head in agreement. “Was it a dream or a memory?”
Yelena looks down at Bobbi’s hand pressing the ice to her wrist despite the fact Yelena was able to do it herself. “Memory.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Bobbi asked and Yelena shakes her head before shrugging. “Some people find it helpful to talk about it.”
“Are you one of those people?” Yelena inquired and Bobbi smiles.
“Sometimes. Some of my memories are really personal and I feel like they’ll only invite pity because they just don’t understand,” Bobbi was being honest with her, Yelena didn’t have to analyze her body language to know that.
“Will you tell me one?” Yelena hesitantly questioned and Bobbi was quiet for a few moments before nodding.
Bobbi shifts to sit next to Yelena on the bed, pulling Yelena’s arm into her lap to continue to ice it. Yelena tilts her head up to look at her.
“I was really close to my parents growing up. My father was a detective and my mother was a nurse…” Bobbi starts, taking a deep breath before looking down at Yelena. “My father was the best detective I’ve ever known. But he got involved with a case with some bad men. I was a child at the time. Nine or so. I was kidnapped.”
Yelena gives Bobbi a few moments to collect her thoughts, wondering if she was pushing Bobbi to do something she didn’t want to do.
“They roughed me up and I remember feeling very helpless. I cried for my father and my mother. They threatened to cut my tongue out if I didn’t be quiet. They even showed me a really big hunting knife…” Bobbi trails off for a few moments before sighing. “I dream about it sometimes. Being tied to a metal chair in my Ninja Turtle pajamas. I’m not the only person to ever be kidnapped at SHIELD but none of my colleagues have been kidnapped as a child. It’s different when you’re a child.”
Yelena bumps her shoulder against Bobbi’s. “I was kidnapped as a child.”
Bobbi’s head jerks to look down at Yelena. “Yeah?”
Yelena nods her head. The icepack against her wrist had gone lukewarm but she doesn’t want Bobbi to move her hands. “Yes… when I was eight and again when I was twelve.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Bobbi asked and Yelena figures that she owed Bobbi something in turn for the woman opening up to her.
“I was on missions. The first time was because I was sloppy and only had two years under my belt. The second time was because I was too injured to fight them all off,” Yelena said and Bobbi lets her wrist go finally.
Yelena misses the contact for some reason and doesn’t know why she’s happy when Bobbi wrapped an arm around her shoulder instead.
“And tonight? What was your memory in your nightmare tonight?” Bobbi coaxed and Yelena leaned her head against Bobbi’s shoulder.
“The day they took me from my sister,” Yelena murmurs, tensing up when she feels Bobbi’s hand touch her hair before relaxing when the woman simply stroked her hair.
“You love your sister a lot, anybody can see that,” Bobbi said and Yelena nods her head. “I know that SHIELD has her really busy at the moment but she’ll be back soon.”
“What is she doing?” Yelena asked and Bobbi lets out a regretful sigh.
“Sorry, kiddo. It’s classified,” Bobbi said and Yelena can’t fault her for that.
“Yeah. I know how that works…” Yelena grumbles slightly. “I didn’t mean for May to wake you up.”
“It’s alright. You needed me,” Bobbi shrugs her shoulders slightly.
“But I’m not your rookie. I’m just temporary,” Yelena points out and feels Bobbi shift.
“Temporary or not, you are my rookie. But more than that, you are my friend. You needed me. I hope that if I need you then you’ll be there for me the same way,” Bobbi said and Yelena tilts her head up to look at her.
“Of course I would,” Yelena tells her. “I--” She hesitates. “I trust you.”
Bobbi grins at her and it was clear that Yelena’s words meant a lot to her. “Thanks, kid. I promise that I’ll try my best to not break it.”
“I should probably get back to my room,” Yelena said after a few moments. “Thank you for helping me.”
“Anytime. You’re welcome to come to me for whatever you need,” Bobbi pulls away and stands. “How is your hand?”
“Better.” Yelena flexes her fingers.
Bobbi leads Yelena back down the hallways and toward her quarters.
Natalia had showed up while Yelena was gone. She grabs Yelena’s face between her hands when Yelena opens the door.
“Where were you?” Natalia demands and Yelena glances over at Bobbi. Natalia glances at Bobbi and gives her a curt nod before pulling Yelena into their bedroom and closing the door.
“I dislocated my thumb from a nightmare,” Yelena folds her arms. “Where were you? I needed you.”
Natalia looks guilty and any anger Yelena held drained out. Yelena unfolds her arms and wraps them around Natalia’s torso instead. Natalia instantly holds her closer, cupping the back of Yelena’s neck.
“I’m sorry,” Natalia whispers and Yelena pressed her face against Natalia’s neck.
“I don’t want them to take you away from me,” Yelena whispers against Natalia’s top.
Natalia strokes her hair and rubs her back. “I’m right here. They won’t be able to keep me away from you. I will fight to make it back to your side until I draw my last breath.”
“I love you,” Yelena murmurs, shoving her nose against Natalia’s neck.
Yelena froze when she feels Natalia’s fingers slide under her shirt to rest on her bare back. Then she feels a series of taps and quickly identified that it was morse code.
I
L O V E
Y O U
Yelena curls her fingers into Natalia’s shirt as tears fill her eyes at the words tapped on her back.
Natalia can’t express it verbally but she will ensure that her sister has no doubts as to just how much she loves her.