Back To You
Valentina finds a way to control Bob and The Sentry: His wife.
Warnings: addiction (bc, yk, Sentry), thunderbolts spoilers, canon divergence
A sense of foreboding filled her as she stepped into the elevator. The message had been cryptic, but the reward was too good to be true.
The lack of elevator music had the bad feeling in her stomach intensifying. As it travelled up, she checked the message on her phone again. It was the right building in the right city, in the right State.
Part of her couldn't believe it was this building. When her husband first went missing, she didn't believe he would end up here.
Months of searching had led to this moment. He had been clean on her wedding day, all thanks to her support. Cooking him healthy, nutritious meals, taking him on walks.
There were good nights and there were bad nights. A lot of bad nights. Nights were he wasn't her husband, he became someone else. Someone she didn't know.
But she was still there, holding his hand, stroking her fingers over his palm. Bringing him back to himself, running her fingers through his hair and kissing his lips.
But then, one day, after what felt like weeks of bad days, he disappeared. No word, nothing. He just... left, giving her no clue as to where he was going.
But she searched. She searched and searched, turning up nothing. Nobody knew where her husband, the man she loved so dearly, was. Nights spent crying herself to sleep, trying not to go down the same path he did. It would have been so easy to slip, to put herself into his mindset, all for the sake of finding him.
The only thing keeping her hope alive all of these months was the fact that a body was never found.
But then she got this message. The address. He's here. There was only one He it could be, only one He she cared about.
The elevator doors didn't ding before they opened. They just slid open. There was nothing remarkable about it.
Funny, she thought this moment would be something... more.
People, laying on the floor. Some had blood, some had bruises. All of them had the shit beaten out of them.
Wide eyed, she looked from person to person. Why had she been brought her, forced to witness the aftermath of all of this violence.
But then, she looked up.
His hair was longer, blonde, too. The suit was flashy, to say the least. But it was him. It was her Bob.
Before she knew what she was doing, she was running towards him. "Bobby," she said through a gasp as he threw someone to the side like they weighed nothing
It was him. It was her Bob. The same eyes, blue as the deepest ocean, lighting up the moment he saw her.
Nothing else in the world seemed to matter to him. He called her name, a quiet desperation in his voice. When she threw herself at him, he caught her easily.
Eyes closed, Bob wrapped both arms around her. He held her as close as he possibly could and breathed in. Her, it was all her. Her ring was still on her finger, a perfect symbol of what their marriage should have been. His was long gone, pawned off for drug money. God, he had been such an idiot back then.
But, fuck, that didn't matter to her.
She pulled away from him, looked at his face. "You've gone blonde, Bobby," she whispered as she took him in.
There was something so sweet about the way he laughed. His eyes searched her face, as if he couldn't believe she was real, she was really there.
"I looked for you," she said as she settled her hand on his chest. "Everywhere, Bobby. Where did you go?"
"'m sorry," he whispered. "I was tryina get better so that I could come home to you. I don't know what happened after that."
Finally, she looked around. The people on the floor, with the shit beaten out of them, were gone, disappeared into the elevator while Bob was distracted with her.
Her hand touched his cheek, just holding. Soft, familiar hands against his cheek were exactly what he needed, a sweet, gentle touch to heal him. "Doesn't matter," she mumbled. "I found you."
She kissed him, the ground disappearing from beneath her feet as Bob lifted her up. He didn't mean to, maybe it was a sign his control was slipping.
When they touched back down and pulled away from each other, Bob frowned. "How did you find me?" He asked.
She scrambled to pull her phone from her pocket. "I got a text telling me where to find you," she said.
His arm dropped to her waist as he pulled her against him. His way of keeping her safe. "You brought her here?" He asked Valentina.
Valentina looked behind the couple, at Mel. Of course this was her doing, her genius plan. What better way to control the power of Sentry than with his wife?
"I did," Valentina said, nodding her head.
Bob reached out for her hand. He gasped it and shook, thanking her over and over again.
But then his attention turned back to his wife. This was where she belonged, by his side. Not in The old avengers tower, but in the apartment they shared.
His job at The chicken place barely paid for anything, and her office job wasn't doing much more. But that was their home.
When Valentina ordered him to kill the others, Bob refused. Why should he, when they were no threat to him? Besides, he had something much more important by his side.
"C'mon, Robert," Valentina said. Her fingers danced across his wife's shoulders before she gripped her arm and pulled her back. She moved too fast for Bob, even with all of the power he had.
But he couldn't risk hurting his wife.
Valentina had found his weak spot and exploited it. For the safety of his wife, Bob would do anything.
