boundaries
Yelena feels like every single female SHIELD agent she forms a connection with either dumps her or betrays her.
So Yelena starts testing Bobbi once they’re back to training. Yelena wants to see just how far she can push before Bobbi loses it and dumps Yelena too.
It doesn’t take much for Yelena to rub Bobbi the wrong way. Bobbi gets frustrated and short-tempered but she doesn’t yell at Yelena and she doesn’t break Yelena’s rules.
Around the fourth time that Yelena purposefully ignores Bobbi, the woman lets out a sigh. “Okay, that’s it.”
Yelena glances at Bobbi.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you today but I have given you ample time to either tell me what you need or punch it out of your system. I know you’re not great with identifying your feelings but continuing with this behavior is unacceptable.” Bobbi tells Yelena firmly, her hands on her hips.
Yelena stares up at her. “What are you gonna do about it?” She challenges.
Bobbi raised an eyebrow at her response. “I’m gonna run the rude out of you.”
Running was hardly a punishment but Yelena does glance at the rule on her board that stated she wouldn’t be pushed to the point of vomiting.
“Follow me,” Bobbi turns on her foot and Yelena follows Bobbi down the hallways and, surprisingly, outside. “This is the intermediate obstacle course that agents levels four to six run.”
Yelena eyes the obstacle course before glancing over at where what she assumed were medium-level agents were being dressed down by their handler.
“That group messed up during simulation training big time. They’re being forced to run through the obstacle course as many times as their handler deems it necessary,” Bobbi continues. “You are going to join them.”
“I’m not an agent between levels four and six. I’m not even an agent,” Yelena reminds her.
“Then maybe this will teach you to not blatantly disobey me,” Bobbi said, setting a hand on Yelena’s shoulder to push her over toward where the set of agents were lining up.
“Agent Morse!” The handler greets her. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here today.”
“Agent Mackey, this is Rookie Agent Belova, my rookie. She’s gonna be joining your guys today for punishment.” Bobbi introduced Yelena.
Mackey gives Yelena a once-over. “This is for the big kids, Agent Morse. Maybe you should run her through the beginner course.”
“I don’t tell you how to handle your agents, don’t tell me how to handle mine,” Bobbi gives Mackey a grin with too many teeth.
“Right.” Mackey glances at Yelena. “Get in line then.”
“Shit man, what did you do?” The agent next to Yelena questioned her when she lines up. "You're just a little rookie stuck with the big kids."
“I murdered four people,” Yelena snarks at him and the man laughs before he’s interrupted by Mackey telling him to go first to demonstrate to her how it was done.
Yelena observes the man stumble his way through the course. By the time he makes it back to the beginning, huffing and puffing, their handler barely gives him a moment to catch his breath before sending the rest off.
Yelena’s never done an obstacle course before. She struggles to get through the first time, coming in last as she lines up with the others. She glances at Bobbi who gestures at the handler who gives them a moment to rest before telling them to do it again.
On Yelena’s third time through, it starts to rain. The other agents complain and groan about getting wet but Yelena takes it in stride, not stopping when the rain picks up.
Mackey tells them to do it again and the agents protest about the rain.
Yelena’s the only one who got a headstart because she didn’t stop to complain. She had struggled at the same point each time, trying to scale a wall with a run and jump. Yelena knows that she’s short and small but she can’t seem to get enough momentum to go the first few times. The wall is now slick with rainwater and Yelena’s grip slips and she hits the ground, splattering mud on her face and clothes.
One of the agents stops to help her up and gives her a quick boost with their hands. Yelena doesn’t understand why they stopped. If this was a real mission, Yelena wonders if they would have done the same thing or if they would have left Yelena for dead.
Most of the agents are muddy now, soaked and complaining. Bobbi and Mackey share an umbrella with SHIELD’s logo on it.
“One last time. First person to reach the end will be let off the hook,” Mackey gives stakes to it this time. “Ready? Go!”
Yelena tries her hardest this time but the other agents have done this time and time again while this was Yelena’s first day ever doing it.
Yelena ends up being the third to finish. The first two clasp her on the shoulder and congratulate her for keeping up with the big kids. The fourth to finish gives her a high-five and a grin.
Yelena doesn’t understand. She beat them and they’re still happy. They’re not mad at her for beating them. Then again, the first two aren’t gloating over Yelena either.
“You’re gonna go far, rookie,” Mackey tells Yelena as they gather their agents up. “Thanks for joining us today.”
Yelena is left with Bobbi. Yelena’s soaked, still trying to catch her breath as she shakes and shivers from the cold and exhaustion.
“You did good, kid. I’m proud of you,” Bobbi said, holding the umbrella out over Yelena’s form.
“W-what?” Yelena squints up at Bobbi, taking a shaky breath.
“I’m proud of you,” Bobbi repeats with a grin.
Yelena stares at her in disbelief. This was her punishment. Yelena didn’t even win. She embarrassed Bobbi by not winning and Bobbi isn’t mad.
“For what?” Yelena blurts, wiping a strand of hair that clung to her forehead out of her face. “I didn’t win?”
“It’s not all about winning,” Bobbi shakes her head as she starts to walk Yelena back toward base. “You did your best.”
“And I still lost. If I was in the field then that could have killed me. Not winning is unacceptable,” Yelena shakes her head, bumping into Bobbi when the woman stops.
Bobbi turns to look down at Yelena. “Did I tell you once today that I wanted you to win?”
Yelena thinks it over before shaking her head. “No…”
“Something is bothering you and you obviously feel like you can’t approach me to talk about it. That’s okay. What’s not okay is your blatant disrespect for my authority and ignoring my orders,” Bobbi sets her hands onto Yelena’s shoulders. “If you were in the field then that would have gotten you killed. I need you to trust me that I’m not going to steer you wrong. I need you to trust me to train you.”
“I do trust you…” Yelena replies before shaking her head. “But I didn’t win. You said you were gonna run the rude out of me.”
“I didn’t mean it literally, Yelena,” Bobbi sighs. “I probably could have explained this better. I brought you to the obstacle course a punishment. You had energy that you needed to get out and I couldn’t help you do that. You were talking and interacting with fellow agents of SHIELD. You were a team.”
Yelena peers up at Bobbi before ducking her head down. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m not upset. Do I look upset, Yelena?” Bobbi grabbed Yelena’s chin to pull her head back up. Yelena eyes Bobbi before shaking her head. “Do you think you can tell me what’s on your mind?”
“I’m waiting for you to leave.” Yelena admits, watching Bobbi’s brow furrow in confusion. “I feel like every time I make a connection with a female SHIELD agent then they end up dumping me or hurting me. I just thought that if I sped the process up with you then it wouldn’t hurt so bad when you left.”
Bobbi’s face softens. “Oh, kiddo.” She reaches forward and wraps her arms around Yelena.
“I’m all wet!” Yelena protests when her clothes soak Bobbi’s relatively dry ones. Still, Yelena doesn’t pull away from the hug.
“You’re stuck with me, kid. Nothing you do is going to make me drop you. Not even disobeying or insubordination, do you hear me?” Bobbi questioned and Yelena nods her head against Bobbi’s shoulder. “Good. Let’s go get you a hot shower. You did good today.”
The pair head inside and Yelena feels so much better than she had that morning.