euphreana

[euphreana]

Let Me Be - Ch 8: Disconnect

ao3 mirror masterpost

-

- Yelena named the conversation "Important" -

Ava: Yelena you forgot to add Sentry to the chat

Yelena: That was intentional. This is about him

Yelena: John, you were right. There IS something wrong with Sentry. They changed him to be completely obedient. And not only that, but he told me one of the lab workers hit him, like it was normal

Ava: WTF?!

John: I TOLD YOU

John: But holy shit, that explains a lot

Yelena: Bucky? Alexei? You two awake?

Ava: I don't think so

John: Old guys need their sleep haha!

Yelena: John this isn't funny

John: Well what are we going to do? It's late

Ava: Where's Sentry now?

Bob: We suggested he go to bed. So he did.

John: Well as long as he stays there, things should be fine for tonight

Bob: Yeah. Yelena says we should discuss this when Alexei and Bucky wake up. Meet in the dining room at 7:30 AM.

Ava: Are we including Sentry in this?

Bob: We should.

Bob: Yelena disagrees. But I think we should.

Ava: Sentry always knows when we're talking about him. Chances are, he'll show up anyway

John: Well I'm going to bed

Yelena: See you all in the morning.

~ ~ ~

Sentry: Bob are you awake?

Sentry: Please be awake

Sentry: I already tried calling Yelena

Sentry: Please call me back

Sentry: Or something

Sentry: It's important

Sentry: Please

~ ~ ~

Bob woke to Yelena's 6 AM alarm going off. He groaned and stretched Yelena's arms, slowly coming to the realization that the alarm had been going off for a while. It was 7:21.

Dang sleeping pills... He thought as he turned the alarm off. At least we got some sleep though, right?

Yelena didn't answer.

Yelena? Still waking up?

Again, no answer from Yelena. That was weird.

"Hey Yelena." Bob said loudly, then smacked her fingers against the side of her face several times in hopes the sensation would wake her up. It always worked on him.

Yelena was still silent.

Yelena? It's morning... Bob thought. He reached out with his mind, trying to make contact with her. Usually, he could sense her presence, asleep or not. But now where her mind should have been... was just empty space.

"Yelena!"

Bob started to panic. Yelena, gone? How could she be gone, this was her body! Had she died in the night, leaving him alone?

"No... no no no..." His mind scrambled, trying to make sense of the situation.

His phone chimed. There was a message from John, asking when he and Yelena were coming, since the two of them were usually the first ones to arrive at meetings. Bob dialed his phone.

"John?"

"Hey, are-"

"Yelena's gone."

There was a pause from the other side.

"Come again?"

"Yelena - her mind isn't here. It's like she's disappeared!"

"But... it's her body."

"I know! I don't know what happened or where she went or-"

"Bob, calm down. Calm down."

Bob stopped and took a long breath. It didn't help, but it gave John an opening to continue.

"Most everyone is here in the dining room. Get over here and we can figure it out."

Bob let the breath out slowly.

"... Okay. "

"And see if Sentry's awake on your way over. I messaged him, but I haven't seen him anywhere."

"Okay."

"See you soon."

"See you."

Bob hung up and took another breath. Things will be fine. Things will be fine...

He glanced at his phone, seeing the string of unopened texts from Sentry. Bob realized the sleeping pill must have knocked him out really hard for him to not have heard them at all. He tried calling back, but got no answer. Nothing was going well this morning.

Bob didn't bother putting clothes on - that had always been Yelena's job. Her pajamas were presentable enough. He did stop to splash cold water on her face to see if the shock would bring her back, but Yelena remained absent.

The door to Sentry's living space was unlocked when Bob stopped in front of it. He knocked a few times anyway, still trying to breathe slowly in an effort to calm himself. The silence from where Yelena should have been was going to drive him mad...

When Sentry didn't answer the door, Bob pressed the button next to the frame to open it himself. He should have paused to gather his thoughts before entering the living space - what he saw left him in dumbfounded silence.

Sentry was on the floor - no, he was wavering several inches off the floor - eyes rolled back, limbs jerking, in the grip of a massive seizure. Bob stared, trying to process what was happening. He'd seen this happen to other people back when all of his friends had been other drug addicts, but this wasn't then. What...

The seizure continued for several more seconds before it stopped and Sentry's limp form fell back to the ground. Bob moved forward.

"Sentry? ... Are you okay?" Bob didn't know why he asked. He knew that someone fresh out of a seizure would be in too much of a stupor to respond. Bob didn't know what else to do, though. On reflex, he waited for Yelena to do something - she'd always seemed to know what to do. But this time, she wasn't here. He was alone.

Sentry lay still on the floor, staring at the ceiling, eyes unfocused. Bob moved to him and waved a hand in front of his face, trying to see if he could get any response. Sentry's eyes moved in his direction slightly.

"Helllllllp..." he said a wispy voice.

Then as quickly as it had stopped, another seizure struck.

Bob finally came to the realization that he'd have to do something himself.

"Hey tower! Call the dining room!"

The tower chimed and opened a voice channel. Bob could hear the rest of the team talking in the background, completely unaware of what was going on.

"Guys! Get over here!" Bob yelled. "Sentry- I don't know why- he's seizing- just- it keeps happening!" Bob said, watching Sentry spasming on the floor.

A chorus of 'What?'s came over the speaker. Bob wasn't in the headspace to explain again.

"Get over here! Sentry's room! Hurry!" Then he closed the channel.

Barely a minute passed before Ava arrived, being able to phase through rooms on a direct route. She stared at the scene in front of her.

"... How long has he been doing this?"

"I don't know. He was like this when I got here."

The others arrived soon after. Like Ava, no one else seemed to know what to do.

"Aren't you supposed to leave someone like this alone and let it stop by itself?" Ava asked.

"It keeps happening though." Bob answered. "This is the third time since I've been here."

Bucky looked up from his phone.

"We can sedate him. We should have at least one of these in the med bay." He held his phone up, the screen displaying a list of viable drugs.

He handed the phone to Ava.

"Go see what we have, and make sure it won't react with what he's already taking."

Ava nodded and hurried off, pocketing the phone before phasing through the wall on her way out.

It seemed to Bob like an eternity while they waited for Ava to return. All he could do was watch as Sentry alternated between jerkily hovering off the floor and then falling back down. John eventually had the idea to stick couch cushions below him to soften the falls. Bob helped. He needed to do something. Without Yelena's calm and collected mind close by, he was struggling to not freak out.

Finally, Ava returned with the supplies needed. They immediately ran into a problem: nobody knew how much of the sedative to give Sentry. There was a standard dosage for someone of his size, but he wasn't a standard person. Would he need more? And how much more? Too much could kill a normal person, although he wasn't a normal person...

It was decided to give him the standard dosage first and then add more if it didn't work. Fortunately, Sentry stopped convulsing long enough to get the syringe in his arm and the drug in his system. Then he lay still, eyes half closed, staring at nothing. Everyone was quiet, waiting to see if it would work. When a minute passed and nothing happened, they decided it had been successful, at least for now.

Bucky and John moved Sentry to the med bay without incident. Bob and the others followed them.

"Okay, so now what?" John asked after they set Sentry down on the med bay's bed. "We can't keep him drugged forever."

No one knew. The only people Bob could think of who would know what to do were the lab people, but he didn't trust any of them right now.

"Maybe... we can plug him in and hack him?" Ava suggested.

It was as good an idea as any. The med bay had a laptop, and the single port on the back of Sentry's neck fit a standard USB plug. The laptop chimed when they plugged him in and an icon popped up in the directory, as if he were a new device or hard drive. When clicked, a text window popped up displaying strings of letters and numbers.

"... So do any of us know how to use this?" Bucky asked.

To everyone's surprise, Alexei raised his hand.

"On old computer, it looked same. I can try?"

John moved to give him space.

"Just don't break him."

Alexei moved to the laptop and slowly started typing. The screen spit out a bunch of computer jargon in response. Alexei paused, then kept typing.

"Can you see what's wrong?" Bob asked after a minute of Alexei working in silence.

"Not for sure. It keeps saying is busy deleting... 'foreign data'. But then system freezes every time."

"Foreign data? Like a computer virus?" John asked.

"Maybe."

"What if we reboot him?" Ava asked. "Turn him off and back on again. Can we do that?"

Alexei typed some more.

"... Yes. You want me do that?"

Everyone looked at Bucky. Bucky let out a breath.

"Do it."

Just then, Sentry made a coughing, almost choking noise, as if he was trying to say something. Everyone looked at him. His eyes were still unfocused, but they had an alert, frantic look to them now. He flailed his right arm, then clumsily got his hand in position and signed 'No.'

"Sentry?" Ava asked. "Can you hear us?"

Both of Sentry's arms began to move.

"Don't... do it... I... have... her." he signed.

Bob's heart skipped a beat.

"Yelena?!"

Sentry's arm wavered, but he managed to sign one more word before his eyes rolled back and he began convulsing again.

"Yes."

[euphreana]

*3 years later*

Yeah... those plans fell through. Here's the rest of what I'd had at the time, finished art, WIP art, and all.

(sticking under a readmore because this post is already long)

There we go! If I can scrape together the time to pick this back up, I'm going to redo this scene, so for now I don't feel obliged to finish this old artwork.

Tourmaline Chapter 20, Part 4

First Part | Previous Part

Aaand we're back! Today's strip is thanks to my friend and new colorist @rustycottoncandy! Thanks to her, we're scheduled to get some regular strips going again - maybe not every week, but definitely a few every month. Stay tuned!

[euphreana]

Let Me Be - Ch 7: Better than That

ao3 mirror masterpost

John was starting to feel like something was off. It wasn't just Sentry's unusual stubbornness about the new suit - other things began to jump out at him once the two of them got to the kitchen. Sentry suggested doing breakfast for dinner, since he knew from piecemeal memories that Bob liked that. John said that four-cheese pasta and green beans would be better, as it was also a favorite. To John's surprise, he got no pushback on the matter, Sentry agreeing with him almost too quickly.

Sentry continued to immediately obey suggestions throughout the cooking process. 'Salt the water', 'Don't use that strainer', 'Don't cut the green beans so small,' and others were obeyed to the letter, even if an instruction seemed counter-intuitive. John had expected some complaint resulting in 'Do it yourself then' like he'd gotten before when he'd tried to cook with Sentry, but no. It was almost too perfect. John wondered if...

"So about Bob's suit-"

"I'm wearing the new one." Sentry said quickly. That was the one thing he was firm on.

John narrowed his eyes slightly in suspicion.

The elevator door across the group living space opened as Bob and Yelena stepped out.

"Smells good in here." Bob's accent called as he approached the kitchen.

Yelena's accent followed up.

"Is there cheese involved?"

"Four cheeses, to be exact!" Sentry called across the room.

Bob hesitated. After his near-breakdown, the last person he wanted to see right now was Sentry. But the smell of the food was tantalizing...

John carried the pan of cheesy pasta to the table, followed by Sentry telekinetically holding the bowl of green beans in one hand and transporting several soda cans with the other.

Yelena watched.

"Wow, we've got a full meal here..."

"It was my idea." John said, setting the pan down.

"Yeah!" Sentry agreed.

John gave Sentry an uneasy glance.

"Just kidding, it was his idea." John clapped Sentry on the back with a fake smile. "Plate up! Last one eating does dishes."

"Well that won't be me!" Sentry laughed.

Bob chuckled and reached for the serving spoon. Sentry had a quirk about not getting his hands wet, and that meant him skipping out on dish duty every chance he got.

Bob served himself and Yelena an extra large helping of pasta. The smell was so tantalizing, he scooped more onto the plate than Yelena knew they'd be able to eat.

"Oh.. So good..." Bob mumbled through a mouthful of food. He gave Sentry a glance, his misgivings slowly disappearing. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Sentry signed, mouth too full to speak.

Between two super-powered appetites and someone stress-eating post workout, the food disappeared quickly until there was just one scoop of pasta left. Sentry eyed it eagerly.

Yelena gestured to it.

"Help yourself."

Sentry smiled and scooped the pasta onto his plate. He was about to dig in when John spoke.

"Actually, let me have it."

Sentry paused, then set his fork down and held the plate out to him without a word. John didn't accept the plate. He just stared at Sentry with a mixture of anger and alarm.

"No." he said. "No, don't give it to me!" He pushed the plate back.

Sentry blinked.

"You asked for-"

"Yes, I did. But you didn't need to hand it over!"

"But-"

"No!"

Yelena looked back and forth between the two of them.

"What's going on?"

John pointed at Sentry.

"Something's wrong with him. Ever since he got back from the lab, he's been obeying everything anyone says, with no questions. It's scary."

Bob looked confused.

"... Not everything, the suit-"

"Everything, unless it goes against what Valentina wants." John looked at Yelena. "Neither of you have noticed?"

Sentry looked lost.

"You guys wanted me to do stuff. So I did it. Was that wrong?"

"It's not you! You're not supposed to move over on the couch when I ask!" John exclaimed. "Those lab techs, they did something - something wrong. I don't like it."

Now Sentry looked hurt.

"They didn't do anything wrong. They made me able to talk."

"And now he's defending them." John announced to the table. "Does this not bother anyone?"

Yelena put her fork down.

"John, I think you're connecting dots that aren't there."

Bob spoke up.

"No, I think he's on to something."

Sentry slammed his hands on the table.

"There's nothing wrong with me!" His raspy voice hit a volume Yelena hadn't expected. "I can talk now. I'm happy. I'm the same person I was before, just better."

"Better for who?" John asked. When nobody answered, he got up and stormed off towards the elevator, leaving his plate on the table. "This was probably Valentina's plan all along; get an obedient lackey, and then get rid of the rest of us." The elevator doors opened with a ding and John stepped inside. "Don't say I didn't see it coming." He said before the doors closed.

The room was silent. Sentry avoided eye contact as he poked at his remaining pasta with his fork. Yelena wanted to say something, but didn't know what. John's assertion was based on vague proofs, and it was a stretch to jump to conclusions with just that. But it would make sense...

Sentry broke through Yelena's thoughts.

"There's nothing wrong with me." he said quietly. "I'm the same as I was before. Just better. That's what they told me."

"They?"

"The lab guys." Sentry said. "They're good people. Why would they lie?"

Yelena sensed a red flag going up.

"Sentry, you were terrified of going back to the lab before."

"I don't know why. It wasn't so bad. They only hit me once this time."

Yelena's internal alarms went off.

"... They hit you?"

"Only once. I couldn't understand what they wanted, so... it makes sense that they would."

"No!" Yelena found herself on her feet. "Sentry, that's wrong! It doesn't matter how angry someone is, a good person won't hit you!"

"I can handle it though." Sentry said, still not making eye contact. "I'm sturdy."

"That doesn't matter!" Yelena could feel a protective rage starting to kick in. She was ready to go crash the lab.

Bob took control.

"Okay. So now we know. Sentry doesn't go back to the lab again."

Sentry was starting to look frustrated.

"But I can talk now! It was worth it!"

"I'm sorry, Sentry. But those lab techs are bad people. You don't need to defend them."

"I'm not-"

"I'm calling Valentina." Yelena reached for her phone. "I need to know what kind of compliance-coding shit she's trying to pull."

"I'm fine!" Sentry responded. "I'm still the same! Look-" he held his hands up. "I can still be me. Tell me to do something I hate doing."

Yelena paused and looked around the table.

"Go do all these dishes."

Sentry's face twitched. Then he got up and started gathering the dirty dishes. Yelena and Bob stared.

"Sentry?"

"I have to- I have to clean all these." Sentry said to himself.

Bob grabbed Sentry by the shoulder.

"Sentry, stop!"

Sentry stopped. Then he turned to Yelena.

"Something's wrong with me." he whispered, tears in his eyes. "Something's really wrong."

[euphreana]

Oh. Huh. Heh.

Hey Tourmaline peeps (if any of y'all are still around,) what if I said I found 2 short strips I'd already done but never posted - would you want them together at once, or posted on a schedule?

(I think I'd been planning on doing a 'Steven Bomb' kind of thing with them and so had wanted to finish the third strip (still a WIP) before posting them so y'all weren't left hanging mid-sequence.)

[euphreana]

Let Me Be - Ch6: Costume Conditions

ao3 mirror masterpost

-

It took some time for everyone to get used to Sentry's new ability to speak. Even Sentry would forget that he could, and would default to ASL at times. At other times, he'd give up on the complexity of speaking altogether and use ASL still. It was familiar, and he was more used to it.

Several days passed and there wasn't any word from Valentina on whatever next steps she wanted to take. Not that anyone wanted to hear from her, but Sentry wanted in on the New Avengers action now that he felt useful, and they all knew their PR manager would have a fit if they made an announcement without his careful planning.

"Let's get you used to being in public first," Yelena told Sentry, "You don't want to get overloaded by words in the middle of a mission."

Sentry had said he'd wanted to go public sooner than later, but he agreed to Yelena's suggestion. He needed to make sure he could control his new abilities.

Over the next week, the team made individual efforts to leave the tower for mundane tasks, like getting groceries, instead of having everything delivered. Sentry, wearing a medical mask to disguise himself, went with whoever went out, and seemed to be doing well in the new environments. Often, his eyes would light up in recognition of an item or place from one of Bob's memories. He was piecing the world together, and Yelena found that encouraging.

This went on for a week before The New Avengers' PR manager sent a message saying they were going to publicly introduce Sentry as a new member of the team in the next few days. He was going to be presented as a 'synthetic human', with no other details given on what that meant.

A delivery arrived later that day - apparently the suit that Sentry was supposed to wear for the announcement, and which would become his uniform for missions.

Bob was unhappy.

"What's wrong with my design?" he asked aloud, sitting on the couch in Sentry's living space while Sentry changed in the bedroom.

John, standing by the door, shrugged.

"Hell if I know. I liked your look."

Yelena didn't know either. If Sentry was supposed to be taking up Bob's mantle, wouldn't it make more sense for him to stick with the same look?

The door to the bedroom slid open, revealing Sentry in his new suit on the other side. He stepped into the main room, giving a little turn to show off the whole outfit.

"Well?" he asked with a nervous smile.

Bob leaned back, trying to not show his disappointment on Yelena's face.

"... They put the cape back on." he said in a hurt voice.

Yelena looked the suit up and down. Cape aside...

"They did keep it similar to your design, Bob."

"Yeah, but the cape..."

Sentry fidgeted.

"I like the cape."

There was a brief silence. Then Yelena spoke.

"If you like it, that's all that matters."

Sentry smiled.

"There's a note with how I'm supposed to do my hair too. It-"

"Please don't tell me they want it bleached!" Bob bemoaned.

Sentry looked taken aback.

"No... just gelled back. ...Did you want it bleached?"

"NO." Bob said quickly. "It's better you don't remember that part."

John added his two cents.

"They can't force you to change your hair if you don't want to."

"... But I want to." Sentry said. "They put a lot of time and effort into the look."

"But do you like it?" Yelena responded.

"...Yeah."

No he doesn't. Bob thought. How could he? I hated that look.

He isn't you, Bob. Yelena replied silently. Let him choose for himself.

IS he choosing for himself? Bob asked. Or is he trying to make Valentina happy because she gave him a voice?

Yelena paused.

I guess we'll find out.

~ ~ ~

Bob: I can't believe he went with the cape!

The Boyfriend: Why do you hate the cape so much?

Bob: It's too much. I'm not supposed to be some big important person, I'm supposed to be a regular guy

The Boyfriend: Sure but you're not the one wearing the suit. Sentry is.

Bob: He was supposed to use MY suit though. Not some new one

The Boyfriend: He can do what he wants, right? He's a different person

Bob: But he's still part me. And the part that's me wouldn't like the cape

The Boyfriend: Why do you even care so much?

Bob: Because that suit is me! If he changes things too much, there won't be anything of me left. I'm already disappearing from the world. Soon everyone's going to forget all about me and who I was

The Boyfriend: I won't forget you

Bob: But everyone else will.

- Bob has turned on Do Not Disturb -

~ ~ ~

Even in her zoned-out state, Yelena could feel an overwhelming grief from Bob. She brought her attention to the present, finding herself sitting on the side of her bed, phone in her hands. There were tears running down her face.

What's going on? She asked.

Nothing. Bob answered, drying his tears on her sleeve.

Bob. I can feel what you're feeling, and it isn't good.

Yelena could feel Bob clench her hands as her chest grew tight.

"I just... I'm never going to be able to wear my suit again, Yelena!" Bob cried out. "The suit I designed and was going to wear forever. It was everything I wanted to be - and now it's gone!"

"... I'm sorry." Yelena couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I hate this. I hate that they put a kill switch on me. I hate that it got set off. I hate..." There was a pause. "I don't hate Sentry. I just hate that everything happened like it did."

Bob threw himself backwards onto the bed, hand still gripping his phone. Yelena could feel the tightness in her chest getting worse.

Do you want to go work out? She asked, jumping on the first thought in her head. Burn off some steam? Would that help?

I don't know.

Let's try. Won't hurt.

... Okay.

~ ~ ~

John found Sentry in the common room. He was playing a video game alone, finally able to understand the mission objectives on the screen.

"How do you like the game now?" John asked after watching him play for a moment.

Sentry glanced up at him, the hood of his sweatshirt falling off.

"There's a lot to remember, but I'm getting used to it."

"Nice..." Then John noticed something else. "Did you change your hair?"

Sentry grinned.

"Do you like it?"

"Is that how Valentina's note said to have it?"

"Yeah." Sentry said, then quickly added, "I like it though."

There was a moment of silence before John spoke again.

"It would really make Bob happy if you wore his suit for the announcement. And just in general. He really liked that suit."

"I know."

John blinked.

"You know? But you don't care?"

"I care. I just really like the new one. It was specially made for me."

"So that's more important to you than Bob."

"No..."

"Bob gave up a lot for you to be here. He could have made you take him back, but he's letting you live your own life."

"Take back?" Sentry paused the game. "How would that even-"

John wasn't finished.

"Being one of The Avengers means giving up things you like so that other things work out. You know that, right?"

Sentry was quiet for a moment.

"So you're saying either I'm happy or Bob is. One of us has to give something up." He thought for a moment. "Wait, why can't he just wear his suit? Someone could probably sew it to fit Yelena."

John groaned.

"Yelena already has a suit."

"But she's also an Avenger - she knows she has to give up things for other people, too."

"That's aside the point."

"What is the point?"

John huffed in frustration.

"Bob's having a rough time right now. It would be good if you did something nice for him."

"I could make him a dinner. That would be nice." Sentry glanced up. "You want to help?"

John was quiet for a moment.

"You know what, fine. Let's make him dinner."

~ ~ ~

The Boyfriend: Hey, you hungry?

The Boyfriend: The tower says you're in the gym. Stop by the kitchen on your way back

- Bob has turned off Do Not Disturb -

Bob: Ok

[euphreana]

New sticker incoming!

I got invited to table at Boone Comic Con again in October, so of course it's time for some new merch!

This one should be up in the store within the next two weeks - plus there's more coming down the pipeline!

[euphreana]

Let Me Be - Ch5: High Pass Filter

ao3 mirror masterpost

-

The promised morning call from Sentry never came. Even when Yelena tried calling back, nobody picked up. Valentina wasn't answering calls either, though she did respond to an angry text with a 'I'm not at the lab. Try calling the number I gave you'. Yelena replied that she'd already tried calling that number but it wasn't going through. Valentina didn't respond after that.

Yelena tried tracking the number for the lab, but it wasn't registered to a fixed location. And of course, Valentina didn't respond to queries on the lab's location either.

Maybe Sentry's still sleeping? Bob thought hopefully.

If he is, he's sleeping too long. Yelena thought back. That would also be bad.

As much as Yelena hated to admit it, there was nothing she could do but wait. She tried to busy herself with work, but couldn't focus. Nobody in the tower could focus. The unknown status of their teammate was too pressing, and the fact that everyone had chosen sides on a course of action the night before had created tension. Around midday, John picked a fight with Alexei that Bucky had to break up. Ava had nearly joined in, but Yelena had intervened before she could get involved.

Yelena's patience was ready to snap as she picked at her lunch. Ava was nearby, likewise trying to navigate lunch with a head full of anxiety. It was eerily quiet.

Yelena put her fork down and picked up her phone, aimlessly scrolling through social media. The hype around 'Yelena's New Boyfriend' had died down over the past few days after The New Avengers' PR rep had replied 'No.' to the viral question. Some people were still speculating on Sentry's identity, but there was nothing notable.

Yelena wondered how Valentina was planning on bringing Sentry back into the spotlight, since giving him the ability to talk would certainly make him more 'presentable'. Would she tell the public the truth, that he was Bob's reanimated corpse? Or would she try to pass him off as another altered human, or maybe a clone?

Suddenly, the tower chimed.

"Incoming message from. Lab. Would you like to open it?"

Yelena and Bob both tried to yell 'YES!' at the same time, but their mis-matched timing made the word inscrutable. Ava told the AI to read it.

"Message says: Sorry about not calling last night. Slept in. On my way back now. Eta 2:13 pm. -Sentry"

Yelena's jaw fell open. Sentry had sent a text message? Did that mean he could read now?

"Hey tower, reply to that." Yelena said quickly.

"What would you like to say?"

"Can you call right now, question mark."

"Sending."

A minute later, a response came back.

"Message says: The chopper's too loud. I'll see you guys soon. Smiling emoji."

Yelena felt a surge of excitement from Bob.

IT WORKED! He could have been screaming, he seemed so happy. IT ACTUALLY WORKED! I told you he just slept in!

Yelena felt the tension drain from her shoulders as she gave a satisfied sigh.

Okay, yes, you were right. She smiled as Bob's contagious excitement grew stronger.

Ava was smiling too.

"Hey tower, full broadcast." she said, "Everyone, Sentry's on his way back!"

~ ~ ~

Yelena stationed herself on the tower's landing pad at 2:00. She wanted to be ready for Sentry's arrival. The others trickled upstairs after her until they'd all assembled by 2:10.

"Is that him?" John asked, pointing at an approaching speck on the horizon.

Yelena shielded her eyes against the sun. It sure looked like a helicopter. But was it his?

She felt herself growing tense as the shape grew closer. She'd heard Sentry speak before when he'd mimicked other people - sounds that had been meaningless to him, but he'd repeated anyway in an effort to connect with others. The only words that had held meaning had been his name and 'Hey'; the word he'd used for everything. What was it going to be like now, that familiar voice that had once been Bob's, long since made raspy and slightly distorted by whatever that lab had done to keep the corpse from rotting...

The helicopter grew closer. Yelena could just make out the OXE symbol on its side when its door suddenly slid open midair and something - no, someone - jumped from the open doorway.

"Sentry?" Yelena whispered.

The airborne figure didn't fall - it flew from the helicopter that now seemed to hover in confusion as its passenger shot from its side like a bullet. It was Sentry, once again wearing the tan shirt and jeans he'd left in, hoodie tied tightly around his waist. He sped towards the tower rapidly, picking up speed as he came closer.

"He's gonna crash!" John yelled as Sentry kept coming with no sign of slowing down.

Sentry didn't crash. He shot past the tower, looping past it and circling the building several times before touching down in the center of the landing pad. There was a huge grin on his face - he'd never flown outside the tower before.

Despite wearing the same clothes, he looked different now. The empty spaces on his scalp had been filled in, his mechanical eye now had a prosthetic cover that matched the other eye, the patchiness of his mottled skin had been smoothed over, and while still unnaturally pale, the lab had done something to his complexion that made him look less like a walking corpse. But still, it was him.

Yelena rushed forwards, closing the distance between them and throwing her arms around him. She was laughing, tears of relief running down her face.

"Sentry! I'm so glad you're safe!"

Sentry hugged her back, also laughing. Then he turned and waved an arm to the helicopter still in the distance. The chopper seemed to get the signal and turned to begin its trip back.

Alexei clapped a hand on Sentry's shoulder.

"Hey! Our Sentry is back!"

Sentry smiled.

"Hey guys. Glad to be back."

There was a beat of silence as Sentry's words sank in. Then Bob let out an excited whoop. Ava gave Sentry a high-five. John rubbed Sentry's head with a remark of 'nice hair'. Bucky was smiling. Sentry could talk.

~ ~ ~

"The suit should still fit - you should try it on later!" Bob said excitedly. "I don't know if you remember, but I designed it myself - completely messed with Valentina's 'super-person' look."

Sentry was keeping his hands in a neutral position, habitually ready to sign an answer despite not needing to.

"I remember... bits and pieces." he rasped, his voice the same despite his cosmetic improvements. "You got rid of the cape, right?"

"Yeah! Pissed Val off so much!"

Sentry laughed.

"I don't remember that."

"Well you've got plenty of space to make new memories." Bob gave a slight smile. Yelena sensed a twinge of remorse.

Alexei's voice came across the room.

"Pizza is here!"

Sentry took off towards the smell of pepperoni, leaving Bob and Yelena on the couch. Yelena leaned back, nodding her head to the music coming over the room's speakers. She could feel Bob's regret clearly now, strong enough to affect her own emotions.

You okay? She asked silently.

Bob blinked and shook Yelena's head.

Yeah, I'm fine.

Mmhmm.

No, really. I'm... I'm fine. Let's get some pizza. The feelings of remorse faded slightly.

Yelena sighed and figured she'd ask again if the feelings resurfaced.

Sure, in a moment.

Everyone else was clustered around the table, opening pizza boxes and trying to discern who had ordered what.

"What the f- are those ANCHOVIES?"

"Yeah? What of it?"

"You are so messed up, man."

"At least I don't leave the crusts behind."

"Who the hell eats crusts?"

"What is wrong with crusts?"

Sentry took several of the slices he'd ordered and went back to the couch, retaking his spot next to Yelena. He glanced at Yelena's plateless hands.

"Don't you want some?" he asked.

Yelena waved dismissively.

"I'll get some later."

In reality, she didn't want to pry her way past her teammates to get to her pizza. Better to wait for the rush to be over. Besides, she was the only one who liked sliced tomato, so she knew it would be left untouched.

Sentry shrugged and dug in. Bucky and Alexei sat nearby, Alexei discussing the merits of his own pizza toppings. The song that was playing in the background ended and another began.

"Hey tower!" Ava's voice called, "Turn up the music!"

The tower chimed and raised the volume.

John protested loudly, yelling something about Ava's choice of song. Ava retorted something about John's pizza choices being worse. Yelena wasn't paying attention. She was watching Sentry out of the corner of her eye. The construct was starting to curl in on himself, hunching over his food as the argument went on in the background.

"You okay Sentry?" Yelena asked.

Sentry was breathing slowly, staring into space. He set his pizza down.

"Too much." he signed. "Too loud."

Yelena looked around. The two background conversations plus the singing of the music wasn't bothering her, but she'd had three decades of learning to filter the sounds vying for her attention. Sentry hadn't. The sudden onslaught of information was an overload for him.

Yelena turned towards John and Ava.

"Hey! Guys! Quiet down! Hey Tower, lower the music."

"Not you too!" Ava protested as the music went back to background levels.

"It's too much for Sentry." Yelena replied, "Too many words."

The rest of the team went quiet. Sentry seemed to relax.

"I'm sorry..." he said quietly.

"Don't be." Alexei said from his seat. "You tell us if we are too much."

Sentry nodded and resumed eating.

John stopped in front of the couch, eyeing the lack of space with an annoyed expression.

"Hey Sentry, scoot over." he said.

Sentry glanced up at him and for a moment, a playful smirk flickered across his face, reminding Bob of the last time John had told him to move and he'd refused. Then to his surprise, the smirk was quickly replaced by a neutral expression as Sentry moved to the side, making space on the couch.

John stared.

"Well that was easy. We should've gotten you talking a long time ago."

Sentry looked at him quizzically. John waved a hand.

"Never mind." He said as he took his seat on the couch. There was pizza to be had.

[euphreana]

I'll never forget the time a guy who was a prolific writer but had never published or even posted a damn thing started criticizing the way I put stories together. I was like, "yeah but I actually have a bunch of happy readers who keep coming back."

He stopped talking to me a few months later when I told him his 30-opening-pages-of-backstory manuscript wouldn't sell.

[euphreana]

Let Me Be - Ch4: Things Left Unsaid

ao3 mirror masterpost

-

Sentry's video call came late in the evening. Yelena and Bob would have already been in bed had they not been waiting for him. Everyone else had already gone to bed but, as instructed, the tower's AI woke them all up when the call came through.

Sentry seemed to have lost his prior fear of the lab when he showed up on the screen. His hoodie was gone, replaced by a set of generic scrubs, but he was smiling as he greeted the team with his typical raspy 'Hey'. It looked like he was on someone's laptop sitting in front of a white wall, based on the angle of the camera.

"Everyone is being nice," he signed after everyone's greetings, "There was even someone who could talk to me earlier."

Yelena was still worried.

"What are they doing to you?" she asked.

"I don't know the words." he replied. "Checking and copying?"

Copying? Bob thought. What...

Making backups? Yelena thought in response.

"That makes sense." Bucky signed. "Is that all?"

Sentry grinned.

"I copied the guy in charge." he signed, referencing his habit of blindly mimicking the phrases he heard around him. "Everyone thought it was funny."

There were several faint chuckles from the team.

"Just be careful." Ava signed.

Yelena added her two cents.

"Remember they said you can leave whenever you want. If something feels wrong, get out."

Sentry nodded.

"Don't worry. I've got this."

"Wrap it up." A voice came from offscreen. "We're on a schedule here."

"Hey, let us talk!" Bob called through the screen.

"You have one minute." came the voice.

Yelena wanted to protest, but knew she'd just be wasting time. The others gave him a quick, silent rundown on what they'd been up to.

"Ten seconds." the offscreen voice said.

Sentry's mis-matched eyes darted offscreen briefly. For a moment, Yelena recognized the nervous confusion he'd had when he'd first come to the tower - the knowledge that things were going to happen, but not knowing what they were.

"He said that's it." she signed. "Call us tomorrow."

"Will do. See you then." Sentry replied.

A moment later, an arm reached into view and the video call ended. Yelena wasn't sure what to think. Things seemed to be going well, but...

Alexei spoke.

"Well, good as can be expected."

~ ~ ~

The next day passed in a blur. Yelena was able to keep her mind off Sentry for the most part, but she kept getting the gnawing feeling that something was wrong. The call that night only heightened her concern. Sentry looked tired as he gave his usual 'Hey'. His smile had faded, though he still looked glad to see the team when the video came on.

"They're trying." he signed when John asked how things were going. "But they're not happy. They keep plugging me in and doing updates, but nothing is happening."

"Is everyone still being nice?" Bob asked.

Sentry hesitated. Alarms began to go off in Yelena's head.

He shrugged.

"The person who could talk to me didn't come today. So nobody is happy with anyone. Equal treatment."

"That doesn't make it okay." Ava signed.

"But it makes sense." Sentry replied.

Yelena broke in before anyone else could say anything.

"Do you want us to come get you?"

"No." Sentry's expression was firm. "I told you, I'm fine."

He's fine, Yelena. Bob thought. Let him handle it.

If Yelena could cross her arms and still sign, she would have.

The rest of the call went like the previous day's; some quick back-and-forth on what had happened at the tower. Sentry couldn't talk much about what was happening on his side on account of not having the signing vocabulary to explain or simply not understanding what was happening. All Yelena could gather was that the people involved were getting frustrated.

Do you think they even can fix him? she thought to Bob.

Valentina had said they said they’d made advancements. Bob responded, sounding hopeful as ever. Despite having missed his chance of getting his body back, he still wanted Sentry to be happy.

The conversation seemed to go longer than it had the day before. Yelena assumed whoever was in charge of the call was too tired to care. Eventually, the familiar offscreen voice told them they had a minute left. They wrapped up the conversation, and the same arm from before reached in front of the camera to end the call. Right before the video cut out, Sentry's expression changed. Yelena froze as the screen went to black.

"Did you see that?" she asked quickly as Bucky shut down their end of the video call.

"What?" Bob replied through her voice.

"When the call ended - he looked scared."

There was a pause.

"Are you sure?" Bob asked.

Yelena wasn't sure. He could have just been changing gears, but she'd thought she'd seen ...

"Are we recording these?" she asked. "Can we play it back?"

"I can record the next one." Bucky said. "Right now they're just calls."

"Let's do that." Yelena said.

"Damn." John said, "We should have been doing that from the beginning."

"I'll get the next one." Bucky assured them.

Yelena got up and headed to her room.

You're sure you saw that? Bob asked en route.

Yelena shook her head.

I thought so. I hope I'm wrong. But I wouldn't put anything past the lab.

We'll ask him tomorrow. Unless something really is wrong, and he leaves.

I hope you're right.

~ ~ ~

The next day, the usual time for Sentry's calls came and went. Yelena waited, but by 10 pm she began to wonder if he was going to call at all.

"Hey tower, full broadcast." Yelena said, prompting the tower to turn on the intercom to every room. "I'm calling Sentry." she announced, "I'll be in the common room. Five minutes."

By the time the team had assembled, Yelena had set up the system to record the screen and was ready to dial the number Sentry had called from. She pressed the 'call' button and waited.

The screen idled for a solid minute before someone answered - a stranger in a lab coat.

"What?" the person asked in an irritated tone, and Yelena recognized him as the voice who'd told them when to end their calls.

"We want to talk to Sentry." Yelena stated firmly.

The lab tech groaned and rubbed his face.

"The Sentry Unit had a major systems update and is resting."

John butted in.

"And? He'll still want to talk to us."

The tech gave the camera a tired look.

"I can't just wake it up."

"I thought you said he was resting?"

"Sleeping. I meant sleeping."

Ava cut in.

"Sentry's a light sleeper. What do you mean you can't wake him up?"

"... I can't discuss proprietary methods-"

John interrupted.

"Proprietary metho- did you knock him out or something?!"

"I can't discuss-"

"If you hurt Sentry-" Alexei started, but the lab tech interrupted.

"We'll have it contact you in the morning. Good night." The tech slammed the lid of the laptop, ending the call.

The room fell into silence. Yelena stood.

"Something's wrong. I'm going over there." She started for the door.

"What?" Bob responded aloud, forcing her to stop in her tracks. "I don't think that's a good idea - what if we barge in and mess everything up?"

"I think that would be a good thing." Yelena stated, trying to take another step forward. "He never should have gone in the first place."

"What are we even going to do though? Yell at the lab techs?" Bob kept her feet rooted. "And what if Sentry doesn't want to leave? He told us not to come get him."

Ava cut in.

"Yelena, I'm worried too, but we don't even know where he is."

"I'll trace the call." Yelena said. "Or I'll go to Valentina's and make her tell me. Now let me move, Bob."

Bob whipped Yelena's head around, looking for more support. His gaze landed on John, who shook his head.

"Sorry Bob, I'm with Yelena on this."

Bob let out a yell of frustration.

"This'll only make things worse! If they see us coming, they could take him away - lock him down for good!"

Bucky spoke.

"Bob's right. Whatever's happening has already happened. Going there won't change that. We're going to wait till morning when we hear from him."

This time, Yelena looked around for support. Aside from John, she wasn't getting any. She glanced at Alexei pleadingly.

"Dad?"

Alexei sighed.

"I know it's hard, but Winter Soldier is right. All we will do is make people angry."

Yelena gritted her teeth and stopped struggling.

"Fine. This is on all of you if things go wrong."

[euphreana]

FINALLY picked up a paint brush again after almost 3 weeks of inactivity. I guess you can say I'm back!

[euphreana]

Let Me Be - Ch3: Terms and Suspicions

ao3 mirror masterpost

-

Sentry still wanted to talk to Valentina in the morning. Everyone told him he'd have to wait - Valentina wouldn't be in her office at 6 am, and neither would her interpreter. Yelena begrudgingly sent a text that Sentry wanted to talk to her though, and asked what time they should call. She didn't have to wait long for a reply.

Val: I have a meeting at 8. Call me at 7:45.

Yelena relayed the information to everyone else. Then she noticed that Sentry wasn't wearing the hoodie he usually wore everywhere - he was wearing a tan T-shirt and jeans, and his patchy hair was brushed back. Even Ava commented that he looked nice.

7:45 came too quickly. Yelena turned to Sentry before they made the call.

"You don't have to do this. We like you the way you are."

Sentry shook his head.

"I don't like me the way I am."

"Dialing in 3... 2... 1." Bucky announced.

The common room's holographic screen lit up. It only rang once before the screen flickered to live video. Valentina and her interpreter were both there.

"Good morning," Valentina began, her words accompanied with sign language, "You wanted to discuss an arrangement?"

Sentry took a small step back from the overbearing screen.

"Yes." He signed, "I want you to fix me. I want to talk and understand."

The interpreter relayed the message. Valentina smiled.

"Very good. I can have someone there to pick you up within the hour."

Sentry didn't wait for the interpreter to finish before continuing.

"Under several conditions. First, no changing my memories. I can ask my friends for the truth, so I'll know if my memories don't match." He hesitated when he saw Valentina's smile disappear. "Second, you let me have regular calls with my friends. No secrets about what's happening." His signing began to pick up speed. "Third, I get to leave whenever I want. If I don't like something, I'm not going to do it." Sentry finished and dropped his hands by his sides.

Valentina paused for a moment after the interpreter finished.

"You're in no position to make demands, Sentry Unit." she said in a casual tone.

Sentry's posture stiffened. Then Valentina continued,

"But I'm sure we can work something out. As a sign of good will."

Sentry could have left it at that, but he wanted to be sure.

"Do you agree to my terms?" he signed.

Valentina sighed.

"Sure. We won't mess with your memories, we'll arrange some calls, and we won't keep you from leaving. Is that all?"

Sentry took a breath.

"I want to be treated like a person."

Valentina stared for a long moment. Yelena noticed Sentry's hands beginning to quiver by his sides.

Finally Valentina spoke.

"I'll tell the labs techs to be nice."

Sentry nodded as the interpreter relayed the message.

"Do I bring anything? Toothbrush? Clothes?" His hands were twitchy now, as if his nerves were about to give out.

"No need." Valentina said, sitting back, "We'll take care of everything."

"How long are we talking here?" Bucky asked, signing at the same time.

"It depends on how well the update takes. It might take several days, or it might be ready by tomorrow."

"Well, we'll be waiting for call." Alexei said.

Valentina nodded with another smile.

"Good. Well if that's all, I have a meeting to get to." Valentina said, then signed off.

Sentry sat down on the couch the moment the call ended. He was visibly shaking, his nerves were so shot. Yelena placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. She wanted to say something supportive, despite not supporting his decision at all. Bob stepped in instead. He moved to where Sentry could see him and signed,

"You did good. You did very good."

Sentry gave a weak, raspy laugh.

"I just hope she keeps her word." he signed, hands still shaking.

"We'll make sure she does." Yelena assured him.

Sentry shook his head.

"She's lied before. I don't want... last time..." he paused, then looked back up at them with teary eyes. "Hug?"

Yelena knelt and wrapped her arms around him tight. She was quickly joined by Alexei, Ava, John, and finally, Bucky.

"You'll be fine." Yelena whispered, more to herself than anyone else. "You'll be fine."

~ ~ ~

Sure enough, a helicopter arrived within the hour to pick Sentry up. Sentry looked ready to back out as they rode the elevator to the landing pad on the roof. His long, shuddering breaths were audible as he reached for Yelena's hand. Yelena held his hand tight. She didn't know what exactly had gone on at the lab before, but he obviously didn't want to go back, despite Valentina's assurance of better treatment. But he wanted to talk so badly that he was willing to face whatever might happen in order to get it.

He'd put his favorite hoodie on over the T-shirt and stuck a bottle with several days worth of pills into the pocket, just in case he'd need them. The team had ordered a box of fresh donuts before his departure too - Sentry's favorite food - and he bit into the one he'd brought in his free hand as the elevator ascended. Finally, the elevator reached the roof and dinged as the doors opened. Everyone had come to see him off, and there were plenty of pats on the shoulder and side-hugs as they exited the elevator.

Sentry froze when the helicopter's door slid open and the person inside beckoned him to climb in. This was it; the moment of decision.

John clamped a hand on Sentry's shoulder, getting his attention.

"Have fun." he signed. "And don't change."

Sentry gave a weak smile and pushed the last of his donut into his mouth.

"I'm going to talk." he signed back with shaky hands, "That's change enough."

Then he took a deep breath and headed for the helicopter. He climbed in, giving a nervous glance back at the team before the door closed. A moment later, he was off. Yelena didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until the helicopter disappeared from sight and she let out a long, anxious sigh. She hoped the Sentry who'd left would be the same person who returned.

~ ~ ~

Everyone was antsy for the rest of the day. They'd been given a phone number for the lab, being told that when Sentry called, it would be from that number. Yelena added the number to the tower's contact list under 'Lab', and told the AI to alert them loudly if any calls came from it.

Bob was strangely quiet after Sentry had left. Yelena finally noticed when she went to make dinner, and he said he didn't have a preference on what to eat.

Thinking about him? Yelena asked silently.

Some. I'm just wondering... if OXE can attach an AI to my body, why can't they stick me back inside?

Yelena paused her carrot-chopping.

Can they do that?

Not from here. I could only do it myself from my old body. But Sentry could probably pull me out, put me back where I belong, if they showed him how.

Would you being there overwrite Sentry though?

I don't know.

Yelena resumed her chopping. Bob's thoughts came back.

I wanted to ask Sentry about it, before all this, but I never worked up the nerve. Now he's going to want to be his own person, since he'll be able to talk. I completely missed the boat.

Well if it makes you feel any better, I don't mind this. Yelena thought.

There was a pause from Bob.

You're fine with me being here for the rest of your life?

Very fine. I have the team, but I still used to feel... alone. I've never liked people the way other people like people. Like the way you like John. But now I have you. And you're a good person to have.

What about John though? Are you fine with him being there too?

If you like him, that's fine by me.

But are you fine with more? If I wanted to reach out and touch him? To hold his hand?

Yelena hesitated.

We'll figure something out. she thought as she picked up the cutting board and scraped the chopped carrots into the skillet. We all have an entire lifetime ahead of us. We'll figure something out.

[euphreana]

Haven't drawn any art in weeks, so here's a little thing I did based on the latest chapter of Let Me Be.

[euphreana]

Wait, I may have misunderstood the prompt - was I supposed to write in my document or write the lines here?

WIP POLL

Rules: Make a 24hr poll listing the titles of every WIP you want to work on. (It’s fine if you only have one, still make a poll for the vote count). Whichever WIP title gets the most votes, write 1 sentence for every vote received.

tagging @puddlestheduck1 @prodigaldaughteralice @rustycottoncandy @starryswirly @beadmotion (if y'all want!)

[euphreana]

WIP POLL

Rules: Make a 24hr poll listing the titles of every WIP you want to work on. (It’s fine if you only have one, still make a poll for the vote count). Whichever WIP title gets the most votes, write 1 sentence for every vote received.

tagging @puddlestheduck1 @prodigaldaughteralice @rustycottoncandy @starryswirly @beadmotion (if y'all want!)

[euphreana]

Let Me Be - Ch2: Found in Translation

ao3 mirror masterpost

Chapterrrrr!

-

Yelena braced herself. The last time they'd repeatedly ignored calls from Valentina, she had come to the tower herself to get answers in-person. And right now, Yelena wanted to keep Sentry as far away from Valentina as possible.

Sentry had been in hiding at the tower for almost a year now, and while he'd never said anything about his time in the OXE lab, it had obviously been a traumatic experience for him. Yelena was prepared to do anything to keep him from being sent back.

But now, thanks to their unplanned outing, OXE knew exactly where he was and undoubtedly wanted him returned. After all, he was legally property of the company.

Ava suggested they play dumb during the call with Valentina - the only evidence that Sentry with them was a photograph of him and Yelena signing to each other, posted on some rando's social media. They could claim it was an AI-generated image or something. Bucky pointed out that the picture had been taken in public - other people could corroborate that it was a real photo. There was only one way through this.

On the fourth incoming call from Valentina, Yelena finally told the tower to let her through. The holographic screen against the common room's wall lit up with the video call. Valentina was squarely in the middle, with someone Yelena didn't recognize standing off the side, mostly out of the picture.

"I see the Sentry Unit has gotten comfortable enough to leave the tower." Valentina said. "Good job."

There was a collective pause from everyone in the room.

"You knew he was here?" Yelena asked.

"Of course I knew. You really think we'd lose track of a million-dollar asset?"

There was another pause. That was a fair point. No one had known the conditions of Sentry's escape, but the fact that nobody from corporate had asked if they knew his whereabouts should have tipped them off that something was up.

Valentina continued.

"I'm impressed you found a way to teach it sign language. The unit was unresponsive to anything when we had it."

"Maybe he just needed to get out of your fucking lab." John put in. "Did you think of that?"

"Did you think it was a coincidence that it escaped so close to the tower?"

There was another pause in the room. Then Bob spoke up.

"So if you knew the whole time, why didn't you say anything?"

"We wanted it to think it had gotten away. It would have kept running if it knew - and we know you would have helped it. We needed to see if it could adapt in a stable environment."

Valentina's eyes roved the screen.

"Is the unit there now? I'd like to see it."

Bob raised his voice.

"It's a 'he'." he said, "Not an 'it'. And he doesn't want to see you."

Valentina gave a laugh.

"That thing isn't a person. You should know that by now. It's a malfunctioning computer program attached to a meat puppet."

Bucky crossed his arms.

"And you wonder why he didn't respond in the lab."

"Oh, there it is now. Hello, Sentry."

Yelena spun to see Sentry entering the room. He was staring at the video screen, face blank, but jaw locked.

"Sentry!" Yelena hissed, then signed "What are you doing?" He'd previously agreed to stay out of the room while they settled things.

"You're talking about me without me." Sentry signed,"I want a say."

Valentina nodded to the person standing off screen. The person - a slim woman of Asian descent - signed a phrase with a smile.

"Hello. It's good to see you."

Sentry raised his hands, expressionless.

"Who are you?"

"I'm helping V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-A." the woman signed.

Sentry didn't understand finger-spelling, but he got the gist of what she meant.

"Tell her to leave me alone."

"He says to leave him alone." the woman said.

Valentina smiled.

"Sentry, I'm here to help you. To fix you."

The woman translated. Sentry shook his head. Valentina continued.

"Wouldn't you like to speak? To understand what the people around you are saying?"

Sentry looked caught off-guard at that. He seemed to zone out a bit, considering.

"We're doing just fine without you, thanks." John said. "You couldn't fix him before, what makes you think you can now?"

"We've had some technological advances in the last year." Valentina said. "Sentry, think about it. Contact me when you're ready to talk."

Sentry watched the translation, but his hands remained at his sides. No one else responded, so Valentina nodded, and the video cut out.

Bob was first to speak.

"How dumb does she think we are? Like we're going to just hand him over."

Yelena's accent cut in.

"I will fight that woman to keep her from getting her hands on him."

"What are we going to say if she calls again?" Ava asked.

John scowled.

"We'll just say we reject her offer, and to go fuck off."

Alexei broke in.

"We need to get Sentry out of here. I know of place-"

"Hey." Sentry said. Everyone looked. Jaw locked, he slowly raised his hands and signed, "Call her back. I want to talk."

Yelena looked at him in shock.

"You want to go back?!"

"I want to be fixed." he signed, taking a sharp breath of air. "You don't know how this is. You're not broken."

"You're not broken! You're smart! You thought of how to find us getting food!"

"Sentry..." Ava said, then signed, "This is a bad idea. You don't know what they'll do to you."

"If it fixes me, I'll be fine." Sentry replied. His hands were twitchy, like he was fighting a rising fear.

Yelena stared.

"You don't know that. They could shut you down."

"So? I'm not useful like this."

"Sentry," Bucky cut in."Don't-"

"No. I want this."

"You can't-"

"I'm not a child!" He signed with emphasis. "I can make my own decisions."

There was a tense moment while nobody spoke nor signed. Then Yelena sighed.

"Please sleep on it. She isn't going anywhere."

Sentry exhaled loudly and left the room. The room was silent. Then John spoke.

"Fuck you, Valentina."

~ ~ ~

Yelena had to take a sleeping pill that night, she was so anxious about Sentry's situation. He was practically Bob Jr., and she and Bob had grown close over the last year. Sentry was literally family. Yelena wanted to protect him, to keep him from being hurt more than he already had been. But Valentina knew how to get what she wanted. As usual. She probably planned to 'spruce him up' and market him as Sentry 2.0 or something like that.

Bob's phone buzzed a text alert. Yelena's hand picked it up from the nightstand and opened the message. It was from John. Or as Bob's phone had him listed, 'The Boyfriend'.

The Boyfriend: Can't sleep. You up?

Bob smiled.

Bob: Yeah, waiting for the sleeping pill to kick in. What’s up?

The Boyfriend: I can't believe Sentry would want to go back. Crazy. Just glad he can't read the contacts list or tell the tower to call someone

Bob: He'd find a way if he wanted though. He's too smart

The Boyfriend: That's what worries me. OXE is going to dumb him down or something once they get their hands on him. Val wants someone who will take orders, specifically from her

Bob: Maybe we can get her to agree to a contract or something?

The Boyfriend: She'll just say we don't own him so we can’t make demands

Bob: Ugh. I don’t know then. Shit’s fucked

There was a long silence before another text came through.

The Boyfriend: I don’t want him to change. I like things the way they are

Bob: I don’t. I’d rather have my own body. Not that I want Sentry gone or anything

The Boyfriend: Okay maybe that could change. Having two of you would be nice

Bob: Hey don’t make this weird

The Boyfriend: I’m not making it weird. You’re nice to look at is all

Bob: Still weird

The Boyfriend: Well looks or not, you’re the one I like

Bob: ❤️

The Boyfriend: 👍

Bob: Well the sleeping pill’s kicking in. See you in the morning

The Boyfriend: See you

Bob set his phone back onto the charging pad. Yelena surfaced.

Finally. I’m tired. She rolled over in the bed and closed her eyes.

Goodnight Yelena.

Goodnight Bob.

[euphreana]

Let Me Be - Ch1: Roasted Chicken on Rice

Anyone want another ghost-Bob sequel? No? TOO BAD WE'RE DOING ANOTHER ONE :D

ao3 mirror masterpost

-

It was only a matter of time before OXE found out the construct they'd made from Bob's corpse was hiding in The Watchtower. And with Bob's detached mind still plastered to Yelena's, anything could happen. (As usual, this can be read as a standalone, but is better if you read the others first.)

-

I say we get the chicken shawarma. Bob thought, I've never had it before, and it looks good.

You've never had shawarma before? Yelena thought back, Bratishka, we are getting you some shawarma.

Yelena's face grinned as Bob scrolled through the menu.

Well if you're paying, let's get the... cashew baklava? Is that good?

Of course it's good - everything there is good!

The door to the common room slid open behind them with a whoosh.

"Hey!" a raspy voice called.

"HeY sEntRy!" Yelena and Bob both tried to respond at the same time, Yelena's voice contorting between their two accents.

The construct that had once been Bob's corpse smiled at hearing the two words he knew.

"What's happening?" he asked in sign language.

"Getting food." Yelena signed back. "Want anything?" She picked up her phone and held it out, displaying the menu for the middle-eastern eatery they were ordering from.

Sentry took the phone and scrolled through the menu. He couldn't read the words, but he could get an idea of what there was from the images presented.

"Hey." he said, holding the phone back out. It displayed the entry for chicken shawarma.

Yelena grinned.

"Good choice!" she signed.

Bob's thoughts broke back in.

Shawarma too, go figure.

Yelena shrugged inwardly. As an AI running on patched brain tissue, Sentry did have Bob's aptitudes and memories, fragmented as they were.

He does take after you.

~ ~ ~

The eatery wasn't far, so Yelena and Bob decided to pick up the order in-person. Yelena had expressed doubt that they'd be able to carry orders for six people with her just two arms, but Bob assured her the workouts he'd been putting in would pay off. Besides, it would be nice to get out of the tower for a change, and everyone else was too busy doing their own things to accompany them.

There was still a wait for the food when they arrived, so Yelena ordered an extra side of baklava to munch on while they waited. It wasn't until she'd reached into her pocket that she realized she'd left her phone - and by extension her wallet - back at the tower.

Shit. Yelena thought. So much for that.

Maybe if they recognize you, they'll let you have it for free? Bob responded. For being a hero and all?

You tell me. Charming people is yourspecialty.

Yelena's face gave an awkward smile and as Bob made a show of going through her pockets.

"Oh." he mumbled through her voice, trying his best to mimic her distinctive accent, "I must have left my wallet back at The Watchtower."

The bored cashier didn't blink.

"So no order?"

"Uh, hold on. Let me call John Walker and see if he can bring it over..." Bob shoved Yelena's hand into another pocket. "Shoot. I must have left my phone, too."

Wow. Yelena thought. Real subtle.

If the cashier recognized the name, they didn't care.

"No so order?"

"Hey." a voice behind them suddenly rasped.

Yelena froze, then quickly turned to see Sentry standing behind them. He was wearing a hat and sunglasses to hide his bald spots and mechanical eye, but his patchy, deathly pale skin gave him away. He held out Yelena's phone with its wallet case with a sheepish smile.

"Hey..." Yelena gave a nervous laugh as she accepted her phone. "Thanks." she said, signing the word as she said it. She turned back to the cashier. "Make that two baklavas."

A tap of a card later, and the two figures were standing off to the side of the eatery, eating baklava as they waited for the rest of their order.

Damn, this is good. Bob thought as he took a bite.

Yelena stuffed the rest of the piece in her mouth to free up her hands.

"What are you doing here?!" she signed to Sentry.

"You forgot your phone." Sentry signed back.

"Yes. But-"

Bob took over.

"How did you even find us?"

Yelena was wondering that, too. Sentry had never left the tower before, preferring to hide away from the prying eyes of the public - and by extension, OXE - and the route from the tower to the eatery was a maze of streets.

Sentry pointed at her phone.

"The menu name. I pasted the words into the map, and it brought me here." he smiled. "I'm not an idiot. I know what words are."

Yelena smiled apologetically. Sentry's deteriorated brain couldn't process spoken or written language, but his problem-solving skills were still sharp.

Sentry continued.

"Nobody saw me leave. Nobody recognized my face. It'll be fine."

A child's loud whisper came from across the room.

"Daddy why is that man so white?"

"Shh. Don't stare."

Sentry's head turned slightly as his sunglassed eyes glanced in that direction. He had an uncanny ability to know when someone was talking about him, even if he couldn't tell what they were saying.

"Hey." Yelena got Sentry's attention. "They don't recognize you. The kid says you're very white."

Sentry gave a small, raspy laugh.

"Hey, you're white too."

"Order 625!" someone behind the counter called, setting out several large bags filled with cartons of food.

Wow... Bob thought. That is a lot of food.

Told you I wouldn't be able to carry it all.

Yelena waved Sentry to follow as she headed toward the counter. Between the two of them, they got it all back to the tower.

~ ~ ~

"Well it looks like they actually got my order right." John said as he approached the couch, carton of food in hand.

"Oh god... this is so good..." Bob said through a mouthful of shawarma.

"This is more than I ordered." Ava said from the couch, staring at her open carton.

"Full servings!" Alexei slapped her shoulder as he walked past. "You should try some time!"

Bucky mumbled something as he took another bite of food, eyes glued to his phone.

"Hey!" Sentry waved to get Yelena's attention. He held his carton of food in one hand and gave her a thumbs-up with the other.

Yelena smiled.

"You're welcome." she signed with one hand as Bob stuffed another forkful of chicken into her mouth with the other.

John stopped in front of the mostly-full couch.

"Hey." he said to Sentry, then signed, "Move over."

Sentry spread out on the couch with a smirk.

"Make me."

"You little-"

Bucky suddenly spoke up.

"Yelena." he said loudly. "Did you take Sentry with you?"

"He followed me out..." Yelena said uneasily. "... Did someone notice him?"

Bucky said nothing. Instead, he toggled his phone display onto the holographic screen in front of the couch. It displayed a social media feed, featuring an image of Yelena and Sentry standing in the eatery. Below it was the caption

- #YELENABELOVA 'S NEW BOYFRIEND?!

Yelena cringed. Why did everyone always have to assume...

"It's fan stuff." Bob said, "They always do stuff like this. As long as it stays small and OXE doesn't see-"

"Read the comments." Bucky replied, scrolling lower.

- wait, that looks like @BobSentry?

- no this guys witer

- Look at the jawline. Definitely him.

- isn't #BobSentry dead?

- This guy looks dead enough lol

- maybe it's his brother or smth?

- #YelenaBelova dating Bob's brother?

- it wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's happened

- hey @TheNewAvengers is @YelenaBelova dating this guy?

The final comment had three million likes. The room was silent for a solid minute.

"Do a takedown report." Ava finally said, "Say 'I'm in this picture and I don't like it' or something."

"Censorship fuels conspiracy." Bucky said, still staring at the screen.

"Let's just roll with him being Bob's brother." John said, taking another bite of food. "I mean, he already kinda is."

Everyone looked at Sentry. Sentry looked back at everyone. He set his fork down.

"What?"

Just then, the tower's AI chimed.

"Incoming call from. Valentina." it said. "Would you like to-"

"IGNORE!" everyone yelled at once.

[euphreana]

More linocut tales!

(Is Gaster in Deltarune? I'm so bad at video games I rage-quit early in chapter 2 and haven't watched any playthroughs ha ha ha)

Original drawing