The first few days Bobbi had gone back to school had been hard. Even though nobody said anything, she could feel the eyes of her classmates on her, curious about her long absence. She was still fighting random flare-ups of anxiety, often times over things that didn't even make sense, and seeing Skye's nerves didn't help hers much, either. She felt behind in her classes, since she had about two weeks' worth of material to catch up on, and the fact that exams were hurtling around the corner towards her didn't exactly help take the pressure off her to make up for lost time.
Her friends were great, of course. Natasha was close by her side when she could be, Clint cracked jokes to take her mind off things. Mack checked to see what she needed every chance he got, Elena, who had pretty much become a permanent member of their little cluster by now, was always happy to talk soccer or rehab with her to help keep her focused on things besides her problems, and Hunter… well, he was just Hunter, and that was more than enough for Bobbi. He felt familiar and consistent, and Bobbi couldn't fully express to him how grateful she was to him for making at least one thing at school feel normal.
The only thing about him that had changed was the fact that now, when they sat next to each other in bio or history, he stretched his knee over just a smidge more than usual, so that his leg brushed against hers under their desks. One time, when he noticed her breathing get sharp and her fingers start flexing as they ached for something to twirl, he slid his own hand over towards her beneath the tabletop and twisted his fingers into hers, letting her squeeze until the urge to twirl had subsided. She didn't know if it was because she appreciated the silent supportiveness of the gesture or because her heart skipped a beat in a way that thrilled rather than terrified her at the touch, but Bobbi surprised herself with how much she liked having her hand in his.
They had to be careful about when and where they shared those moments, of course. They were still just friends as far as anybody was concerned, and still taking things slow between the two of them. As much as Bobbi wanted to hold his hand more often, maybe even kiss him again, she knew she wasn't quite ready to dive into all that. And Hunter was content to be patient and steal small bumps of the knee and sideways glances for now, so it worked for them, especially because it meant they didn't have to face any awkward questions from the rest of their friends about their relationship status, or non-status, as it was.
Bobbi suspected that Natasha had them pretty well figured out, both because of how much she already knew about how Bobbi and Hunter felt about each other and also because Bobbi suspected there wasn't anything that got past Natasha most days, and they'd had a couple close calls with Mack already. One day at lunch, towards the end of her first week back, he'd raised an eyebrow when Hunter had, without thinking, pulled out Bobbi's chair for her before his own.
"Since when did you become so chivalrous?" he asked with a slight smirk. Bobbi's mouth went dry, but to her relief, Hunter answered quickly, saving her from having to come up with a convincing cover story.
"Since Bob's chair legs were tangled in mine," Hunter said breezily. "Had to move hers to get mine out. Don't worry, mate, I'm still just as self-centered as ever."
"They didn't look tangled to me," Elena pointed out, dubious of Hunter's excuse, and Mack didn't look all that convinced either. Thankfully, they were saved from further interrogation by the arrival of Clint and Natasha, who both were biting back grins, their eyes electric. Excited faces, for sure.
"We have news," Natasha announced as she and Clint took their seats at the lunch table. Clint was rummaging in his backpack for something, practically bouncing up and down in his seat while he looked.
"Are we supposed to guess, or are you just keeping us in suspense for the fun of it?" Mack teased.
"Hold your horses, speedy, I'm working on it," Clint chided. Elena laughed slightly.
"I don't think I've ever seen you so impatient, Mack. You're usually such a turtleman."
"Excuse me for being excited for the news," Mack protested. "It's obviously big, whatever it is, and if we have to wait for Clint to find something in his backpack before we can hear the announcement, we're going to be here all day. Dude's backpack is a black hole."
"You leave half a ham sandwich in your backpack one time…" Clint shook his head. "You guys have never let me live that down."
"It was in there for almost a month," Natasha pointed out. "It was practically petrified by the time we found it."
"Geneva wanted to arrest you for growing a biological weapon with that one, mate," joshed Hunter.
"I'm pretty sure Switzerland isn't personally responsible for enforcing the protocols of the Geneva Convention."
"Whatever, you know what I meant."
"Not that this isn't a gripping conversational detour," Natasha interjected, before an argument could break out in earnest, "but we still have news to deliver. And Clint finally found the letters, so—"
"Drumroll, please," Clint said dramatically. Everyone obliged him, pattering their hands on the edge of the lunch table, until he whipped out two official-looking letters from his backpack with a flourish. "Ta-da!"
"We got into college," Natasha beamed, taking one of the letters from Clint and holding it out so the rest of the group could get a better look. "Both of us just heard back from Lawrence yesterday, and we got in."
"What?"
"Dude, no way!"
"That's awesome!"
"Bloody fantastic, that is."
Natasha and Clint glowed at the overlapping excitement and congratulations that buzzed around the table.
"We're still waiting to hear back from a few other places, but the fact that we both got in…" Natasha shook her head and grinned. "I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around it."
"Well, wrap it, baby!" Clint crowed. "The kid who spoke nothing but Russian and nearly dropped out of middle school and the kid who forgot to turn on his hearing aids for most of freshman year are going to college!"
"The financial aid is decent," Natasha continued. "They have some good academic scholarships that I qualified for—"
"—And they even have a scholarship for people who are hard of hearing," added Clint, with a tap towards his own ear. "Who knew, right?"
"Plus the soccer coach there has been recruiting hard to get Clint to play for them," Natasha cut back in.
"It's D-III, so not quite as competitive as some of the other schools I've been talking with," Clint shrugged, "but I really like the coach, and honestly, I wouldn't mind being able to play soccer without it being the only thing I eat, sleep, and breathe at college. D-I sports are intense, and I'd rather have a social life."
"It sounds perfect," Bobbi smiled. The joy that was radiating off of her friends was contagious. "Do Wanda and Pietro know?"
"The letters came in the mail yesterday while Wanda was still at work, and Pietro made us wait to open the letters until all four of us were home together," laughed Natasha. "He usually hates waiting for stuff, but he knew she would want to be there when we opened them."
"Wanda promised to make us whatever we wanted to eat from now until January," Clint said dreamily. "I can already taste the cabbage rolls and the khachapuri."
"We were going to be making sufganiyot in a few days anyway," Natasha said, "but I bet we can convince her to make some early. And I know I heard her asking Pietro to bring home walnuts today, so we're probably getting povitica, too."
"Basically what I'm hearing is I need to be coming over to your house for food," Hunter joked. He made a face. "My poor mum got her proportions wrong the last time she made beef stew, so we've been eating bowls of boiled potatoes and carrots since the weekend."
"So your cousins are pumped," Mack said with a nod at Natasha. "What about your parents, Clint? You told them yet?"
"Not yet," admitted Clint. Some of the sparkling bubbles around him seemed to pop, and he deflated slightly, his shoulders sloping downwards and his mouth flattening into a tense line. An embarrassed face, maybe, or an avoidant one. Either way, Bobbi could tell that his happiness had fizzled away somewhat. Not surprising, she reasoned, given what she had pieced together about Clint's relationship with his parents.
"I got my letter sent to Natasha's house, so there was no way my folks could find it on their own. I'm going to tell them," he added. He held up a placating hand at the worried crease in Mack's brow. "I just have to figure out when the best time is. And make sure my bed's ready at Nat's house, since there's no way I'm staying at mine after that conversation gets had."
"Your bed's always ready, dummy," Natasha said quietly. Even though she had called him 'dummy,' there was so much soft kindness in her voice that Bobbi knew she meant it the same way that Phil meant it when he called one of them 'sweetheart' or called May 'honey.' "And you know I'm happy to go with you when you tell them."
"I know. But I'm not going to subject you to that," Clint smiled, a little forlornly. "They're going to be mad at me no matter what, and if you were there, too, they'd just blame you for getting in my head and brainwashing me into staying the hell away from Iowa. Totally ignoring the fact that it's theirs and Barney's fault I decided I'm never going back there if I can help it."
"Their lack of self-awareness always manages to amaze me."
"Well, your parents probably won't say this to you," Mack said then, injecting his voice with joviality and clapping Clint on the shoulder, "but we're proud of you, man. Both of you."
"Yeah, congrats," Elena smiled. "I can't wait to tell Joey, he'll be so excited for you guys."
"And Appleton's not all that far away," Bobbi pointed out. "Not as far away as Madison or anywhere in Iowa. So you could come back and visit. If you wanted to, I mean." She'd heard Natasha and Clint talk about college a few times now, but it was only just starting to sink in that they'd be leaving half a year from now. The reality of it made her sadder than she'd anticipated.
"Aw, shucks, Bobbi, I didn't know you were going to miss us so much," crooned Clint in a dewy kind of voice. Natasha gave his arm a light shove.
"Don't tease her. We're going to miss you guys a lot. But that's one of the reasons I liked Lawrence in the first place. Not too far from home. I wanted to be able to get back to Wanda and Pietro without any trouble if I needed to. And dropping in on you all is a given."
"Gotta check in and make sure you guys don't sink the soccer team in my absence," Clint teased, He scooped up an abandoned plastic spoon off the table and used it to flick a few leftover peas from Mack's lunch tray at Mack and Hunter. Mack managed to duck his head out of the way in time, but Hunter didn't realize what was going on fast enough, and a pea smacked him in between the eyes before bouncing off harmlessly and falling to the tabletop. Hunted scowled at Clint, who just laughed and reached over to smush the pea with the back of the spoon. "And we definitely have to see Elena and Bobbi tear it up on the field next year once they're both healthy again."
"Plus we'll call and text and all that good stuff," Natasha added, a quiet promise that reassured Bobbi more than Clint's glib comments. Bobbi cast her eyes Natasha's way, studying her face for sincerity. "Once I get a person in my life, I don't like to lose them," elaborated Natasha. "I've lost too many people one way or another already; I'm not losing you guys. And you're not losing me."
Lose, lose, lose. Bobbi fought the urge to parrot the word out loud, but she felt her tongue curl into the 'L' shape inside her mouth as the word echoed internally. She didn't want to hold Natasha and Clint back from going out and seeing the world, of course, but she would be lying if she said it didn't fill her with warm confidence to hear Natasha promise so plainly that they would still stay connected. She didn't know if it was because Natasha had seen how painful it had been for Bobbi to lose her foster family, even for a short while, or if it was because Natasha understood and shared the same old wounds Bobbi did, wounds left by people who were no longer around for one reason or another, but either way, Natasha seemed to know precisely what she needed to hear. Even if she was going away for college, she wasn't going anywhere from Bobbi's life, and the assurance made Bobbi's heart swell.
"Flower power, on your six," Hunter said suddenly. He was staring hard at something behind Bobbi, his eyes narrowed. Curious, Bobbi twisted around in her seat and followed his gaze across the cafeteria. There, framed in the doorway, with the floral pattern on her dress swirling slightly under the fluorescent lighting, was Raina. Bobbi's breath hitched in her chest. She hadn't seen any sign of Raina since she'd been back at school, and none of her friends had much of anything to report on her either, except that she missed several days of school around the same time Bobbi had. It was hard to tell from this distance, but Raina seemed almost lost to Bobbi, like she wasn't exactly sure where to go. It wasn't a familiar look for her, as far as Bobbi knew, and Bobbi furrowed her brow at the odd sight. After a few seconds of looking around the room, eyes scanning, Raina appeared to find what she was looking for, and she began to make her way towards their table
"What's she coming over here for?" Mack wanted to know.
"She's got some nerve showing her face after what she did to you and your family," glowered Natasha. Something dangerous flashed in Natasha's eyes briefly, but Clint's steadying hand on her arm seemed to soften her expression.
"You want us to head her off, Bob?" Hunter asked quietly. "You don't have to bother with her if you don't want."
"It's okay," Bobbi murmured. She didn't really want to see Raina, not after everything that had happened, but her curiosity was getting the better of her and she wanted to know what Raina was up to. Plus, if Bobbi was being honest, she knew she needed to apologize to Raina for the way she'd accosted her in the hallway the morning Skye and Jemma went missing. If she was going to keep herself from turning into her dad, apologizing for her actions was a good place to start.
"What do you want, Raina?" Natasha, the de facto spokesperson, it would seem, since no one else spoke right away as Raina drew near. There was something hard and icy in her tone, almost surgical, and Bobbi fought the urge to hunch her shoulders up towards her ears at the harshness.
"We need to talk." Raina's reply was short, blunt almost. Very un-Raina-like, as far as Bobbi was concerned. She forced herself to look up at Raina's face, and she saw that Raina's eyes were boring into her already. There was no question who Raina meant when she said "we."
"She doesn't have to talk to you if she doesn't want to," Elena said hotly. "Some people prefer not to ruin their lunch by spending it talking with a snake."
"I'm no snake," Raina snapped. "And you'd be better off if you learned not to insert yourself into other people's business."
"Pot meet kettle," grumbled Hunter under his breath.
"Can we talk or not?" Raina asked, firmly reorienting the conversation back to where she wanted it to be. She scowled around the lunch table at Bobbi's friends for a moment before returning her gaze to Bobbi. "I'd rather not include the peanut gallery."
Maybe it wasn't the smartest decision, to go off and talk with Raina alone, especially after the number of times she'd counseled Skye against that very thing, but there was something about Raina's demeanor, something that felt different to Bobbi from Raina's usual sly silk, something almost urgent, that propelled Bobbi to nod. "Fine. Let's take a walk, then."
"If you're not back in ten minutes, we'll come find you," Mack said quietly, one part promise to Bobbi, one part warning to Raina. Bobbi squinched one corner of her mouth upwards at him, trying to signal that she was okay and he didn't need to worry quite so much. She wasn't sure it was very effective, since Mack's lowered brow and tense jaw – stern face – didn't relax as she stood up and began to trail unevenly after Raina, picking past crowded tables and stray chair legs while trying to be cautious about her unbraced knee. She was glad to be free of the brace again, hopefully this time for good, but Bobbi had to admit that walking around without it left her feeling more vulnerable than she had anticipated. Or maybe that was just the fact that she was walking off with the person who had managed to blast her new family apart with seismic-level force using only a few carefully selected, poison-tipped words.
Raina led her out of the cafeteria and down the hallway, taking a couple quick turns until they reached a maintenance door near the back of the school. Raina pushed it open, the heavy metal of the door groaning in protest against being opened, and inclined her chin to the outside.
"After you."
The door led out to a back parking lot – the teacher parking lot, Bobbi realized, once she'd gotten her bearings. This was where Phil parked when they came to school every day. She couldn't help but be keenly aware of the fact that the lot was more than a little secluded.
"Sophomores aren't supposed to leave school during lunch," she offered, a feeble rebuttal against Raina's instruction.
"You and that hotheaded boyfriend of yours ditched school and drove off to another town not that long ago, if I recall correctly," Raina said coolly. "Standing in a parking lot for five minutes won't kill you. Besides, your foster father's a teacher. They'll go easy on you."
"Fine."
They stepped out into the parking lot, the remnants of Monday's snow still piled in some of the corners, already greyed by car exhaust and iced over into a crystally, slushy gunk. With nothing but some cars to block it, the wind whipped around their ankles and scorched across Bobbi's cheeks, and she shivered slightly. She hadn't thought about bringing a coat.
"Well, you wanted to talk," she said flatly, after the silence went on a beat too long for her taste. "So talk."
"Well I just…" Raina faltered. She shifted back and forth slightly, and the fingers on her right hand fiddled with the cuff of her flowery sleeve. Bobbi had watched enough people to know that Raina was uncomfortable with the situation. Suddenly, though, Raina seemed to snap herself out of it, because she dropped her hand and straightened her posture abruptly. She zapped her eyes into Bobbi's, and it took all of Bobbi's willpower not to look away. "I just thought you should know: I've been looking for Cal for almost a week now and haven't heard anything from him. I don't know exactly what went down the other week when Skye went to go see him, but if he's vanished, then he's still out there and dangerous—"
"Cal's in jail," Bobbi interrupted. She maybe should have tried harder to soften her tone, but she didn't really have the energy to focus on avoiding her robot voice. "And 'what went down' last week was that Skye and Jemma went to go see him, because you blackmailed Skye, and he kidnapped them. He shot Jemma, did you know that? He shot her. And he nearly took off with Skye for good, except the police got there in time. They arrested him, and he's being held until his trial." That was true. Izzy had called them the other day to let them know that a judge had ruled for him to remain in custody while they waited for the trial, given his record and flight risk.
"He's in…" Raina fell silent for a minute. "That's… that's good. I thought, when I didn't hear from him, and then you all were gone… I wondered if he had taken Skye and left town. He always said that's what he wanted to do, you know. But then I heard that you all were back, and I… I didn't know he was locked up. I thought he might try and come back for her."
"How nice of you to be concerned." Bobbi didn't always nail her sarcasm, but the derision that dripped from her words this time was unmistakable. Raina's face clouded over.
"It's not like I wanted anyone to get hurt," she clipped. "I tried to get Skye to do it the easy way. But Cal got impatient. He's… a hard person to say no to. Especially when you know what he's capable of."
"I don't get it," Bobbi shook her head. "Why would you ever fall in with a guy like that in the first place? He's obviously dangerous."
"He wasn't always bad. He had things to offer me if I helped him look for his daughter." Raina's eyes narrowed defensively. "Money, a place to stay when a foster home didn't work out and my grandmother couldn't take me. Information, power. I wouldn't expect you to understand, not with your cushy life."
Bobbi let out a harsh laugh. No one had ever made the mistake of calling her life 'cushy' before.
"I was in over my head before I knew what was happening. He still had things I wanted, was still willing to give them to me. But the cost went up. He was nice when it was convenient for him, and dangerous when it wasn't. He was in pain, obsessed with getting his daughter back. He let his temper get the better of him. I couldn't just leave. I had nowhere to go, and anywhere I went, I knew he'd find me."
Bobbi shivered again, although this time it wasn't from the bitter wind. How many times had she thought the same thing about her own father?
"So maybe I worked for a bad guy, a guy who I knew could hurt me the way he hurt other people," Raina finished, "but at least he gave me a roof over my head when I needed one. At least he gave me food to eat when I was picking scraps out of garbage cans and money to buy nice clothes. If keeping an eye out for his long-lost daughter was the price, who was I to say no?"
"You say no when you realize that other people are paying for your choices, for his choices, not just the two of you," Bobbi frowned. "You say no when you realize other people are at risk."
"Maybe you do," scoffed Raina. "Some of us don't have the luxury of high moral pedestals, Bobbi. Some of us are just trying to survive." She paused for a moment, and her shoulders drooped slightly. "But I am sorry. That's really what I wanted to say. I'm sorry things got so out of hand and that your foster sisters got hurt. I didn't mean for things to go so far. It's like I said, Cal, he—"
"I understand." The words flew out of Bobbi's mouth before she realized they were there, and to her immense shock, she really did. She hadn't expected to, but she understood. Raina had done a horrible thing, but she had been in an impossible situation. If she hadn't delivered Skye to Cal, who knows what he would have done to her? Maybe Bobbi wouldn't have made the same call Raina did, but she could at least see how someone in Raina's position might think there was no other option.
"I'm glad they're okay," Raina said quietly. "And I'm glad Cal's locked up. Glad he's gone."
"Gone, gone," Bobbi echoed, just as quietly. She turned away slightly and locked her eyes on the horizon, trying to keep her composure. "He's gone. You… you don't have to be afraid of him anymore, Raina." Her voice broke a little as she spoke, but somehow she didn't feel embarrassed about it. He was gone. She didn't have to be afraid of him anymore. She didn't have to be afraid of anyone, not anymore.
She looked up at Raina then and was surprised to see her eyes, always so captivating and cunning, were wide and shining with emotion. They stood there for a while, neither one saying a word, neither one quite willing to look at the other one as they both tried to wrangle the complicated feelings that swirled around them like the little flurries of old snow that danced at their feet.
Eventually, Raina broke the silence. "You should probably go. Don't want your friends thinking I've absconded with you."
"Yeah," Bobbi nodded, her reply almost a croak. She cleared her throat and paused before she headed back towards the school. "Raina, I'm… I'm sorry, too. For what I did to you in the hallway that morning. I shouldn't have threatened you like that."
"You were worried about your sisters," Raina murmured. "They're lucky to have someone like you fighting for them. Wish I did when I was their age."
Bobbi opened her mouth to reply, but Raina turned on her heel then and slipped away, crossing the parking lot and ducking out of sight around the corner before Bobbi had so much as formulated her first word. A little dumbfounded, Bobbi stood there in the cold for a minute longer and watched the dregs of snow lap listlessly back and forth across the now uninhabited parking lot, washing away any trace that Raina had been there with her at all.
Hello friends :) Hope you're having a happy December (or a different month, if it is no longer December by the time you're reading this...), and I hope you enjoy these chapters!