Shitty Nights and Shittier Decisions
Word count: 930 Not ship centric but Winterguardian and Avabishop mention, NOT SMUT Yelena was one to drink—not just drink, but drink to pass out, drink to forget, and drink to numb whatever was left of her tired body. However, when Bob came into their lives just over seven months ago, she stopped—to the point where Alexei saw her aversion to vodka as ‘concerning’. It made her laugh now, but to him it seemed genuine at times.
It had been a tough mission—Ava was still on edge when they played high frequency, Walker was pissed at Yelena for some part of the mission going wrong, and Bucky was annoyed with Alexei over some relationship issues. So, when all of them returned to the Watchtower, Yelena felt that nagging urge. “…do any of you want a drink?” she asked, going into the cabinet to look for Alexei’s vodka. “Lena! My savior,” her father responded with a smile, already getting the glasses. She smiled, only slightly, because her father was happy. “Don’t drink—we can’t really get drunk anyway,” Bucky insisted, but Yelena poured him a glass anyway. “Good—so you don’t have a limit.” Bucky just smirked, taking his glass. Walker just took his, seemingly annoyed, and Ava took hers with a bit of concern. “Admittedly—I’ve never drank before,” she told them, to which Yelena nodded. “I figured. Just don’t have too much—I don’t know what atoms do under the influence,” Yelena joked. She assumed Bob was already asleep—after all, it was two in the morning. She grabbed her glass and collapsed on the couch.
“Salute,” and down the hatch it went. Ava took a sip and shrunk back, rapidly blinking.
“Ugh—how can you drink that? It tastes like—eugh.” She pushed the shot glass to the side, watching as Yelena poured herself and Alexei more. John watched them.
“They’re Russian—it’s like—a cultural thing,” he said, taking small sips. Bucky nodded as well, swirling the vodka in the glass. He didn’t want to drink it—but he sipped anyway.
“…the serum’s only supposed to *enhance* our systems—by a lot, obviously—but we could get drunk if we tried,” John pointed out.
Bucky looked at him, deadpan. “You wanna get shitfaced, Walker? Be my guest.” John looked surprised.
“…is this about the mission—”
“Is the sky blue, Walker?” he asked, grabbing a whole bottle of vodka. Yelena just smirked and chuckled.
“Hey—look, I did what I was supposed to. Yelena—”
“Yelena was ambushed! She couldn’t have given a signal if she tried!” Bucky insisted. “Some things have to be your fault, Walker—”
“Дорогой, calm,” Alexei warned, sighing softly as he drank the vodka. Tonight, it seemed the drink had calmed him down. Bucky whipped around to Alexei.
“Stop—Alexei, don’t call me that,” he growled before turning his anger back onto Walker.
“Bucky, let it go,” Yelena responded. “Walker apologized to me on the jet. It’s fine.”
Bucky just sighed, drinking more as Yelena got a new bottle. Tonight, he needed the alcohol.
“Screw this—I’m going to bed,” Ava declared, getting up. “I am not in the mood to fight with all of you tonight.”
“Alright—goodnight, Ava,” Yelena said a bit too loudly, causing Ava to roll her eyes.
“Goodnight—and call Bishop tomorrow, she left a bracelet here,” Ava told her.
“Got it,” Yelena said, words slurring a bit as Ava left. Alexei looked her up and down, almost concerned as he took a sip straight from the bottle. “Lena—you don’t look too good. Are you okay, умничка?” Yelena turned to Alexei, a hazy look in her eyes. “…’m fine, Alexei.” As they continued to drink, Bucky and John looked up to the sound of shuffling down the hall. Bob. “Hey Bobby,” John told him, eyes meeting the younger man’s, and he noticed instantly Bob’s expression. The look in the eyes, the stare, the confusion, the reaction to the smell of alcohol. “Uh…guys? Maybe we should put the vodka away,” John surmised, turning to the others. Bucky put the bottle down. “…might have gotten a bit too heated.” Yelena looked at them like they were nuts. “Oh—come on, it’s just some vodka. It’s nothing important,” she told them, voice slurring slightly. Bob just sort of backed up at the sight of her. She sighed after the silence, getting up and taking the vodka with her. “Come on, Bob.” Bob reluctantly followed her—only because he was worried about her. She walked into not her own room—but Bob’s. A softer, calmer place. She collapsed onto his bed. “…Bob, why are you…looking at me, like that?” “Uh—like what?” he said, clearly trying to deflect from the question. Yelena looked him up and down. “Come on—you look sad. Tell me, Bob.” she insisted. “…well—I—I just thought you said you wanted to be sober…” he responded, looking away from her. Yelena sighed and sniffled a bit. “…it’s just hard, you know?” “Y-yeah…I get it—“ “And everyone here can be so annoying sometimes,” she growled. “Walker and Bucky and Alexei…they’re all pains in my ass…I’m supposed to be a leader, you know, but they all wave their dicks in the air and want to take it over.” “…I get it,” Bob told her slowly. Yelena sighed, “…thank you, Bob. For not being an idiot.” He was silent as she hugged him, briefly, before passing out in his arms. The next morning, she apologized to Bob profusely. He’d tell her it was fine the whole time…but he didn’t look at her the same way for the next month. In some part of his eyes, he saw more than just Yelena. In some scrap of his mind…he saw them again. Yelena was sober for a long, long time afterward.
