Chapter Text
Sam buried his head in his hands, eyes squeezed shut almost painfully. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and slowly looked up. Sam began to talk, but Bucky cut him off instantly.
“No.” Bucky said. “This isn’t your fault. The tower was supposed to be the safest place, no one could’ve see this coming. And at that time of night as well.”
“This just keeps getting worse.” Sam sighed, “And seeing him back in a hospital bed… I don’t know, Buck, it’s messing me up.”
“Hey,” Bucky said, waiting for Sam to make eye contact with him, “Maybe you should take a break and step outside. You’ve been here all night.”
“No.” Sam shook his head, “I can’t go anywhere.”
“Sam…” Bucky said gently. “It’s okay. He’s gonna be okay, again. Kid’s tough.”
“Yeah, I know. Doesn’t make me feel any better for putting him back in the emergency room once a year. He’s too young to have been through this 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦.”
“You didn’t put him anywhere. This is bad, I know, but it’s not like last time. He’s hurt but he’s fine, it’s a shot to the shoulder. He’ll be up and running in no time.”
Sam began to protest when Reed came through the door, “He’s right, you know. The kid’s going to be okay.”
Sam nodded, “thanks, Reed. How’s Johnny?”
“Johnny?” Reed asked, slightly confused. “Was he hurt too?”
“No, no, he was just pretty friendly with Joaquin that’s all.” Sam corrected.
Reed frowned at himself, disappointed that he had been so stuck in his work and research on doombots that he hadn’t even realised Johnny had gotten close with someone. “I’ll go see him.” Reed said, excusing himself from the room.
────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────
Reed felt his shoulders sag in relief when he finally caught sight of Johnny.
“Hey, you okay?” Reed asked, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Sam says you’re friends with Joaquin.”
“Yeah, how’s he doing?” Johnny asked with a small smile plastered on his face.
“He’ll be fine, it looks worse than it is.” Reed assured him.
“Okay, okay. That’s good.” Johnny said, pausing for a moment. “… It just came out of nowhere, I barely even saw it and he was down-“
“We’re gonna stop him.” Reed interrupted. “Doom will pay for everything he’s done.”
Johnny just nodded, rubbing his eye.
“Hey John- Sorry am I interrupting?” Peter asked as he walked through the door.
“No, no, you two catch-up.” Reed replied, “I need to find Sue.”
“Thanks, Reed.” Johnny said earnestly, Reed shooting him a smile in response before heading out.
“Have you seen Bob?” Peter asked, “Yelena says he didn’t come to training.”
“Training?” Johnny asked, confused.
“Yep. Thunderbolts teamwork stuff, I don’t know much.” Peter shrugged. “Help me find him?”
“Sure, he’s probably going insane now that the love of his life is in medical.”
Peter huffed a breath of amusement, “You gotta quit with the jokes, Johnny, at least for as long as Joaquin’s unconscious.”
“Jokes?” Johnny questioned. “I’m not kidding.”
“Right.” Peter replied, rolling his eyes behind his mask.
────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────
Peter knocked on Bob’s door and called out, “Bob! It’s us. Can we come in?”
“Yeah, let us in Bobert!” Johnny added.
After a pause the lock clicked in the door and it opened, revealing a slightly disheveled Bob.
“What?” Bob asked quietly.
“We just came to see you, pull you out of your misery,” Johnny began but Bob shook his head.
“I’m not in misery.” Bob responded.
“Then why do you look like that?” Johnny asked, causing Peter to shove him lightly in disapproval.
“Like what?” Bob challenged.
“What he’s trying to say,” Peter said, “is that you don’t have to worry because Joaquin is fine.”
“Reed just said so,” Johnny added, “and he knows what he’s talking about.”
“You don’t get it.” Bob replied, sitting on his bed. “It’s my fault. I should have been there.”
“What?” Johnny protested whilst Peter took a seat next to Bob.
“Bob, in no way is this your fault.” Peter said, “Even if you were there, you probably couldn’t do anything, it was so fast.”
“Yeah, and like, by that logic, you’re saying it’s me and Webs’s fault-“ Johnny shrugged.
“No, no.” Bob interrupted, “I just… I could have stopped him. Maybe. I don’t know.”
Peter sighed before continuing, “You know, I’ve been there. When someone- when my aunt died, I couldn’t sleep for weeks, thinking about what I could have done differently, what I should’ve done, if I had been faster or stronger or… smarter. But it all leads nowhere. The bad things happened, and we can’t change it. I know it’s hard, but you have to stop replaying it, you’re only hurting yourself.”
Johnny’s lips parted in surprise. “Dude, I…”
Bob turned to Peter with a small smile, “Thanks. For the advice and also for making Johnny speechless for the first time in weeks.”
“Enjoy the peace while it lasts.” Peter smiled back wryly.
“Okay, wow.” Johnny said, “I would roast you guys, but you’re clearly going through it right now.”
“Thanks for your consideration.” Peter joked.
“That’s not all the advice we have for you.” Johnny continued.
“What?” Peter and Bob asked at the same time.
“What do you mean ‘what’?” Johnny asked Peter, “tell him the thing.”
“What thing?” Bob asked.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Peter said simultaneously.
“What are you doing? This is embarrassing for both of us. The ‘thing’.” Johnny said, making confusing hand expressions.
“Oh, what, that? No, that’s stupid. And all you. I have nothing to do with that.” Peter shook his head.
“Okay, lie to my face.” Johnny rolled his eyes.
“Seriously, what are we talking about?” Bob asked.
“Have you gone to see Joaquin yet?” Johnny asked instead.
“No… he probably doesn’t want to see me.” Bob shrugged.
“That’s bullshit. Me and Webs have a plan.” Johnny replied.
“No. No we don’t.” Peter protested.
Johnny ignored this and continued, “I’m gonna pretend to be you,” he said, motioning towards Bob, “And Webs here is gonna be Joaquin.”
“This is why you’re single, Johnny.” Peter grumbled.
Johnny acted as if he hadn’t heard and put his hand on Bob’s shoulder, “eye contact is very important. You have to make eye contact.”
Bob just furrowed his eyebrows in confusion while Johnny removed his hand and turned to Peter, looking him in the eyes.
“Okay, so you’re here, you’re looking at Joaquin.” Johnny explains. Peter reluctantly looks back, a frown on his face.
“And then, you say, ‘I’m in love with you’.” Johnny finishes.
Bob blinks. “That is the worst idea I have ever heard.”
“Thank you!” Peter cries.
“And I live with Alexei. And Walker.” Bob continued.
“No one appreciates my help.” Johnny complains, before straightening up. “Wait, you didn’t even try to deny that you love him.”
Bob shrugged, “Ava said everyone knows.”
────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────
Joaquin blinked awake, taking in the sterile white surroundings. Joaquin sighed at the realisation that this must be another nightmare of the missile incident. That was, until Mr Fantastic crowded next to his bed. That didn’t usually happen.
“¿Joaquín, cómo estás?” The Dr asked him.
“Reed?” Joaquin replied, throat painfully dry.
“You were shot in the shoulder during a doom-bot attack in the tower last night. You needed stitches, but you will make a full recovery. I just need to run some quick tests first.” Reed replied gently.
“Oh, okay.” Joaquin replied, the events slowly coming back to him, remembering Johnny lugging him around the corridor frantically calling for help. Shit, this was not a dream.
“Okay, what year is it?” Reed asked, Joaquin squinting in confusion at the question.
“I’m testing for a concussion. You took a long time to wake up.” Reed explained.
“Right. Uh, 2028.” Joaquin replied.
Reed continued to ask him obvious questions, seeming more relieved at every correct answer from Joaquin. After shining an annoyingly bright torch in his eyes, Reed opened his room for visitors. Sam immediately came in, checking up on Joaquin and bringing his favourite coffee.
“You really worried me this time.” Sam smiled wryly.
“Trouble seems to find me.” Joaquin grinned.
“You should not look so happy about that.” Sam scolded, unable to keep the relief and fondness out of his tone.
Sam sat down and they talked for a while, about the last basketball game Joaquin watched, about Bucky, about the next steps in the doom-bot situation, and eventually they fell into a comfortable silence.
“Hey, have you heard from Bob?” Joaquin asked.
Sam furrowed his eyebrows. “Robert? The superman guy? Why, something happen?”
“Nah, I just… haven’t heard from him in a while. Doesn’t matter.” Joaquin shook his head.
“O-kay.” Sam replied. “I can check on him if you want?”
“No!” Joaquin said quickly before wincing at himself. “No, that’s fine.”
“I have so many questions, but you just got shot so I’m gonna let you off.” Sam shrugged.
Joaquin simply sighed in response. After Sam left, he got plenty of shorter visits, some of them expected like Bucky patting him on the back and Johnny coming to annoy him, “look who finally decided to wake up!”, but surprisingly also Alexei, “Mr Falcon! Good to see you!”, and Ava wanting to “double check he was alive.”
Every time, Joaquin felt a little pang in his chest that it wasn’t Bob and immediately felt guilty afterwards.
Walker came to see “what the fuss was about” but to Joaquin’s pleasant surprise brought him something from the local bakery, Webs even gave him a hug, and Ben and Sue sat with him for a while, making pleasant small talk. His abuela FaceTimed him for a good forty minutes and Joaquin wondered how she even knew, figuring Sam must’ve told her.
When Yelena popped in later that night, blue eyeliner slightly smudged as Reed ran some final tests, Joaquin decided that he must have done something to upset Bob that caused him not to visit, until he popped out from behind Yelena, shy smile and tousled hair. Joaquin lit up, bright smile gracing his features.
“Hey, you came.” Joaquin said.
Surprisingly, Yelena had a bigger smile in response to his than Bob. She looked Joaquin dead in the eyes as she said, “You’re right. He is adorable.”
Bob’s eyes widened, “I never said that!”
“This is so awkward for you.” Reed said.
“You’re making it awkward now.” Bob grumbled.
“Why are you blushing?” Yelena asked Bob, nudging him.
“I’m sorry about her.” Bob said, finally addressing Joaquin, who was watching the scene with disbelief.
“Reed, we need to go and talk about what I mentioned.” Yelena said, reaching a hand towards the doctor.
“What do you mean?” Reed asked in confusion.
Yelena rolled her eyes, “Seriously, we should leave.” She emphasised, pointing between herself and Reed.
“I’m still running tests.” Reed insisted.
“Take a hint.” Yelena cried, motioning towards Bob with her head.
“Subtle.” Bob muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
Eventually, Yelena pulled the confused and slightly irritated doctor out of the room, leaving just Bob and Joaquin.
There was a beat of awkward silence before Bob sat down.
“Joaquin-“
“So-“
They both began at the same time and immediately stopped.
“Sorry, you go first.” Bob said.
“Nah, I wasn’t really gonna say anything, you can go.” Joaquin responded.
“Joaquin,” Bob began, looking towards the floor, “I’m really sorry.”
“About…?” Joaquin prompted. Was it visiting so late or Yelena’s suggestive comments? Joaquin wasn’t sure but he already forgiven all of it.
“I should have been there, last night. I usually am, I don’t know what happened, I was just-“ Bob rambled.
“What?” Joaquin asked, “No, this has nothing to do with you.”
“Everyone keeps saying that, but after a whole year, I finally started using my powers again because of the doom-bots. I didn’t want to be useless, I wanted to protect the things I cared about, even at the risk of my… other side. But I became Sentry and I still couldn’t stop this. It was all for nothing.”
Joaquin clenched his jaw in thought, staring at the wall. After a moment he said, “It wasn’t all for nothing. You helped so many civilians over the last two weeks, but honestly, I understand that feeling. Being helpless. After my accident, Sam wouldn’t let me fly for weeks and I kept thinking about how useless I was and the things I could’ve been doing, but it doesn’t matter how powerful you are or what you’re capable of because even Thor couldn’t protect his family. Or Wanda. Or Webs. Sometimes, things are just meant to happen, things that suck, and that’s not your fault.”
Bob’s lips twitched up, a barely noticeable smile gracing his features. “Not even getting shot can bring down your optimism.”
“Nope.” Joaquin grinned back.
“How?” Bob asked quietly.
Joaquin looked wistful before answering, “Being happy isn’t the same as pretending everything’s fine. It’s just… I’d rather hold on to the parts that are. It makes life easier—for me, and for the people around me. The best-“ he stopped abruptly.
“Best?” Bob prompted.
Joaquin bit his lip. “What I’m trying to say is, there’s always something good to hold onto.”
“Not always.” Bob said quietly. “Before I found this team, this family, I didn’t have anything like that to hold onto in dark times.”
From the corner of his eye, Joaquin noticed Bob’s fingers twitch where they lay on the armrest of the chair.
“You had yourself.” Joaquin said, “You’re worth holding onto.”
Bob looked at him in the eye properly for the first time that night, and Joaquin raised his head to look back, instead focusing on the white walls beginning to fade up into black. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, looking down to the armrest where his hand had subconsciously slid over Bob’s, their fingers brushing each other. Joaquin blinked and Bob’s hand was gone, replaced by the marble floor of the mall that used to be a close drive from his home in Miami.
“Joaquin, are you coming?” A warm but stern voice asked him, sweet and familiar like flying in the wings or flopping down next to Johnny on the couch in the early hours of the morning.
“Mami?” Joaquin asked, his eyes brimmed with tears as he heard her voice for the first time in years.
“Vámonos, we’re late!”