Chapter Text
Hamster
New York City never slept.
The echoes of busy streets resonated through the skyscrapers and played in the background as Bob and Yelena were lying on their backs looking at the sky.
They were enjoying a cloudless night on the balcony.
The temperature was still low for March, but it was nothing a blanket and a hot cup of cocoa couldn’t solve. Along with the pillows, it made the whole experience more comfortable.
“I think that is the Big Dipper, and we can also see the little one above it.”Bob said, pointing at the two constellations.
“Mhmm.” Yelena hummed. She could faintly make out their shapes.
Stargazing wasn’t something she had used to do, but she had to admit it felt nice to clear her mind, look at the stars, and figure out the shapes she was supposed to see.
The Big and Little Dipper had been easiest to spot, but then it went downhill from there for her.
There was no way that thing could remind anyone of Pegasus.
“Are you sure it is the Pegasus?” She asked Bob.
“I mean, yeah? That one brighter star, Polaris, is definitely at the tail of the Little Dipper. Then we can see Cassiopeia, and that would mean we have Pegasus right next to it- I am like eighty-three percent sure.”
Yelena grinned.
“What happened to that seventeen percent you are missing?”
“They are thinking about how I am going to mess up my first Astronomy exam tomorrow.”
She sighed. That explained why he looked so nervous today.
“Relax, you got this.” She nudged him with her elbow. “If anything, Harrison adores you.
I still can’t believe how you accidentally managed to end up in a class of someone who knows you are an Avenger.”
“Ugh, don’t even mention it.” Bob moaned.
“It took me a month to figure it out- I am not sure how much longer it would take me, if that girl didn’t ask him about the spaceship rescue during his last job for NASA.”
Bob shut his eyes and rubbed his forehead.
He wasn’t good with faces, and most of what he remembered from that day was how it felt to see his friends again after he thought he was all alone.
“He kept glancing at me when he had been saying how grateful he was to Sentry for saving them!”
“Well, our secret identity plan holds up well.” Yelena stated.
She asked JARVIS to inform her about what social media thinks about Sentry once in a while. The majority believed Bob was an alien.
If they thought he was in a different galaxy, they wouldn’t be looking for him in a shopping mall, and it wasn’t like anyone could tell what he looks like from the blurry photos of him in a suit and blonde, longer hair.
It gave him the freedom to have a normal life and do what he wants.
Although last week, there was an article that mentioned how often an unknown man was seen near the Avengers.
Luckily, Stark had quickly saved the situation by officially naming Bob his intern because of his outstanding results in the engineering program.
Other than their team, there were only a few people who could tell he had superpowers.
“We didn’t take into account the astronauts who had met you personally.” Yelena continued. “But Harrison wouldn’t know who you are if you didn’t get into his class.
To be fair, I thought you knew and chose it because of him.”
“Yeah, Tony thought so too- In the letter the professor wrote to contact him if I want to, but I didn’t want to bother. I didn’t even use the VIP card at the bakery yet.” Bob sighed again.
“It’s so dumb to forget the name of my first fan.”
“Come on, it’s not dumb at all. It’s human to forget. Do you think I remember the recipe for the Mac and cheese I make one in a while?”
“You don’t?” Bob glanced at her and guessed the answer.
When he started cooking, it also took him a few tries to remember the steps.
“Exactly! I look it up on the Internet, and for some weird reason, I keep getting different recipes. Every single time, the steps change slightly. I don’t even bother to remember it anymore.”
Bob gave her a tiny smile. Maybe he could teach her to cook the same way Bucky had taught him.
“Also, about the card.” Yelena added. “You are aware that Alexei keeps taking it to get donuts, right?”
“Huh?”
No, he was not aware.
“I did notice the purple boxes from the bakery in the kitchen a couple of times, but I didn’t know who brought them.”
That was a new dilemma.
Should he stop Alexei, let it be, or give the card back to Mrs. Harrison and apologise?
Yelena could see him thinking hard about it.
“Hey, I am sure they know he is not you.” She remarked.
“If they didn’t want to give them to him, they wouldn’t. Actually, a lot of bakeries make too much, and they are supposed to throw everything unsold out at the end of the day, which would make giving them to Alexei a better option. Problem solved.
Now, tell me more about the sky, there can’t be anything more vaguely shaped than Cassiopeia and Pegasus.”
“You haven’t seen Lynx yet.” Bob said. His voice was still a bit distant.
He continued to tell her about what they could see and even added some Greek myths connected to the constellations.
At some point, Yelena’s eyes turned from the stars above them to Bob. More specifically, to the necklace he kept fidgeting with.
“Do you know what star is supposed to be that one?”
“The one near the head of Orion? It’s Meissa.”
“No. I meant the one you are wearing.”
“Hm?” Bob looked at her confused and followed her gaze to his hand holding a pendant.
“Oh… I don’t know.” He said, turning it around to get a better look at it.
He didn’t even think about it as a star. It was always just Mom’s necklace.
There was a small pearl in the middle with something that looked like tiny golden leaves making a circle around it and four silver spikes below it.
It looked more like an odd compass.
“It’s probably not a star at all.”
“I think it is.” Yelena stated. “It even fits nicely with the nickname Stark gave you. Although my naming skills are superior.”
“You gave me the codename Hamster.” Bob pointed out.
He didn’t understand why she chose it.
“As I said - superior.” She replied confidently.
That made him chuckle.
He held the pendant between his fingers and ran his thumb over the pearl.
Maybe it was a star.
It could symbolise the light his mother had used to bring into his life. It was a small, but bright and unyielding.
After project Sentry, this could be his time to be that light for others who might need him.
He could be that spark of hope in the night’s sky, along with other heroes.
Be there for everyone who seeks the light in the darkness and wait with them until dawn comes.
Because after every night, no matter how gloomy, the sun rises again and a new day begins.