Buried Past, Unearthed Future
Bob Reynolds / Reader
Summary: After the failure of the Sentry Project, Bob is one of the many 'dead' sent to the grave. He gets sent to a cemetery in New York, where he awakens in a coffin and is promptly released by you, the very part time worker ordered to bury him. Warnings: None! Just Bob being VERY awkward... though no romance yet! Author's note: I've had this brewing in my mind for ages ever since I watched the movie! I plan on making this multiple chapters long, but lets see how far I go :P
Word Count: 1,161 Prefer AO3? Here!
The huff of your breath appeared in the cold autumn night, your teeth rattling as you shoveled up the dirt at the unmarked burial.
The casket beside it practically taunted you, catching itself in your eye every time you moved your shovel to the dirt mound beside you. It was the reason why you were here in the cold. Whoever paid the graveyard to bury it tonight definitely didn’t want anybody knowing about it. And also wanted you to suffer for it.
As the hole grew deeper you started to make up stories to yourself as to why it was here. Maybe some hotshot crime lord died? Oh, or even better, assassinated. It could even be a supervillain in there, dead after a long standing battle. The possibilities were endless and you went through all of them.
Eventually you finished, leaning against the shovel as you wiped the cold sweat from under your beanie. You huffed one final cold breath before turning toward the casket.
You turned around to go back to the building with the others. You needed some help with the casket, whether you liked it or not.
But that was when you heard it.
A soft thump in the night.
At first you thought it was your imagination, maybe even an animal somewhere in the woods, but then you heard it again. It was soft, as if whoever made it just woke up. You turned toward the casket and you heard it once more, the top of the casket moving with whatever fist made the noise.
“Oh shit…” You scrambled to the casket quickly, unlatching and opening it as you crouched down. And surprisingly, you weren’t met with some crime lord with a fancy Italian suit. Not even some crazed supervillain with a dramatic costume. No, you were met by someone who looked very, very normal.
He had messy, brunette middle length hair that covered some parts of his face. His soft and confused blue eyes matched the patient scrubs he wore. Both your eyes and his widened as they met.
“Oh my god, are you okay?”
“I-” He paused as he looked around, dazed, “W-Where am I?”
“You’re at the cemetery.” Your eyebrows pinched in worry, “But don’t worry about that, we can catch up inside... You must be cold.”
“N-No, I-I’m not really-”
You grabbed his upper arm to help him up, though both of you flinched. He was warm. And not normal warm, fever levels of warm. Maybe worse. You touched his temple to be met with the same, him flinching once more.
“Oh crap, I think you have a fever, too.”
“I do? I-uh feel alright.”
You tilted your head and pulled your hands away onto your knees, “Are you sure?”
“Y-yeah.” He slowly rose up, you following suit. As he stepped out you noticed he was also barefoot. He looked back at the casket, “You need help burying it?”
You lightly laughed, “You just got out of a casket and now you want to help in your own funeral?”
He shrugged, “M-Might as well.”
Your eyes looked to him with worry, but before you could ask anything he turned to close the coffin and grab one end it. He lifted it with ease, surprising both of you.
“Wow, they must’ve made this out of scraps.”
You gave him a look as you went for the other side, “It took three people to carry it.”
“Really?”
You both heaved the casket up, carefully watching your steps as you made it to either side of the hole. You both slowly lowered it before letting it drop. You dusted your hands off of your pants and looked at him.
“You sure you don’t want to go inside? It’s 30 degrees out and windy.”
He nodded, “I-I’m sure. If I uh do something it helps me feel more grounded.” He looks down and fiddles with his hands, “M-Makes this feel less like some really, really weird dream.”
You bit your cheek a bit as you grab the second shovel— the one that your coworker was supposed to use before he bailed— and handed it to him. His hands shook a bit at first, but they grew firm as he shifted it towards the dirt mound, tossing the rubble into the hole. You copied him, and soon you both grew a rhythm.
At your third toss you turned to him, “What’s your name?”
He flinched, “O-oh, I’m uh Bob.”
You smirked, “Just Bob?”
“Y-Yeah… just Bob.” He shoveled some of the mound, “What’s yours?”
As you told him he hummed. You both tossed the dirt at the same time.
“How’d you get here, Bob?”
“That’s the funny part, I’m uh… not sure.”
“Do you remember anything from before you woke up?”
His brows knit together as he thought for a moment, “I-I think I was in some sort of lab.”
“Damn… Maybe you were a part of some MKUltra level experiment.” You giggled.
He chuckled nervously, “Yeah… maybe…” His voice trailed.
You smiled, “You don’t know what that is, do you?”
He smiled nervously, “N-No not really.”
You giggled, “Then I might just have to introduce you to the art of conspiracy theories.” You huffed as you set your shovel to the side to lean on once more, “After we finish, though.”
“A-Alright.”
You looked up at him. He was concentrated, brows knit, cheeks flushed. He looked silly in his scrubs, now slightly tarnished from the dirt. He seemed a lot more relaxed than before, though he was still tense.
“Where are you from, Bob?”
“Oh, uh, Florida.”
Your eyes widened, “Shit, you’re a long way from home.”
“Y-Yeah… Where are we exactly?”
“New York City.”
His movements stuttered as he looked at you, “N-New York?”
“…Yeah?”
“The lab I was in was in Malaysia.”
Your jaw dropped, “Oh, then you’re a really long way from home!”
He looked back down at the grave with a frown before moving back to tossing more dirt. A silence settled for a moment, the only things heard being your tired breaths and his shovel.
Eventually you started to move again and realized that he was already almost done.
“Do you have anywhere to go here in New York, Bob?”
“N-No, not really.”
“You can stay at my apartment for now, if you want.” You glanced up at him, “I have a pullout couch.”
His movement stopped completely as he looked up at you, setting the shovel before him. His eyes were wide in disbelief, “…A-Are you sure? I don’t want to burden you.”
Your eyes softened, “You won’t be burdening me at all, don’t worry.”
He looked down in thought as he tapped against the handle of the shovel before nodding, “Y-Yeah, alright.” He nodded again as if to reaffirm himself and looked up at you, “I-I can stay at your place.”
You smiled, “Alright.” You looked back at the mound, “Now let’s pat this down and get out of here.”