#lee!bob

"Just smile for the picture, Walker," Bucky sighed, a sound as aged as the man felt in these moments, surrounded by children such as the Thunderbolts*.

John flexed his arms out of Bucky's grip, "'m not smiling." Ahh, as petulant sounding as the aforementioned children.

"We haven't done a smiling one yet," Bob offered hopefully.

"What you mean no smiling one? I've been smiling every time," Alexei sounded downtrodden, betrayed by his kin.

"Enough! Okay, ready? One, two, three!" John blustered through the inane conversation to just get this over with, eyeing the camera person in the hopes they'd get the hint.

A flash.

"I blinked."

Ava laughed as Yelena smirked ever so subtly, as it was the Red Room's own who admitted her fault.

"Great," Walker glared at Yelena past a highly amused Ghost and a grinning Bob, "No, yeah, that's hilarious. Well done," he deadpanned.

"John, I think you would strengthen your reputation if you took a joke every now and again," Yelena commented.

"Quite hard since he's been the butt of the joke all this time," Ava added just under her breath, but loud enough so that the whole group could hear.

"Alright, you know what?" Walker broke through Bob's meager defenses separating him and the women of the team and he now stood directly in front of Yelena and Ava. And they were both so proud of themselves. He straightened his shoulders, trying to intimidate, though he knew deep inside it would never work.

"Hey," Bucky also intervened, wrapping his arm around John's waist, giving it a tug back towards his spot for the photo.

John whipped around, "Easy, Bucky."

"You ready to do this now? Huh? Or are you not through acting like a schoolyard bully?" Bucky was not phased by a thing John Walker did or said.

The air buzzed with tenseness not lost upon Bob, who was eagerly waiting for this storm to pass.

John wasn't moving. And Bucky wasn't above manhandling him again to get him to where he belonged. He reached out his metal arm and was only able to graze the soldier's side before John slapped his hand away and menaced again.

"Take it easy," Bucky raised his hands in defense.

"Just stop putting your hands on me," Walker's cheeks were turning pink.

Huh. Odd.

"He's not done with his tantrum yet, Barnes," Ghost sidled closer to John.

"Aw, big bad Agent needs time in a cooldown corner," Yelena brazenly poked the pointer fingers of both hands in sequence against John's stomach.

"W-Would you-- stop it!" John backed up into what he assumed was going to be Bucky, but turned into Ghost sliding her hands onto either of his sides and squeezing them. Goddamn matter phaser.

A gravelly sound made it out of Walker's throat, a laugh perhaps, but he buried it as soon as it had come.

Every time John thought he had an escape, Yelena or Ava would circle him and prod him til his senses were confounded and he could hardly defend himself. He was soon bright as a tomato and grinning ear to ear, huffing out complaints and curses.

"He can smile," was what Bucky decided upon, himself sporting one as he watched the antics. He ran fingers through his hair, sighing through his nose fondly.

"Good! Bring him here!" Alexei commanded, pointing to the original poses they had held, "Cherubic angels, everyone, come now. Bright new day of the New Avengers."

Yelena and Ava were having as much fun as anyone could as they corralled John into his spot.

Bob was giggling now at the antics and he wanted to join in on the fun, pinching Yelena's side when she got nearer to him.

"Hey! Bob, no," Yelena herself chuckled and immediately switched targets, getting Bob's ribs as the young man let out a surprised shriek, "How could you?" Bob's laughter was bright and more panicked than any noise John let out.

"Children," Bucky mumbled, firmly standing in his spot. John had regained some of his composure now that Ava also laid off of him when Yelena was torn away. He glanced at the Winter Soldier beside him.

"Don't even try it," Bucky stared straight ahead towards the waiting camera. His super senses caught the movement of John's wandering, curious arm and sequestered said appendage before any damage could be done. Bucky even gave a few firm claw squeezes onto John's ribs for retaliation. John jumped and did laugh. "Told you," Bucky admonished.

John, amid the chaos, felt a hand touch his back. Ghost repositioned herself for the photo, grinning up at him. Bucky had pushed himself closer to John on his other side in their brief scuffle.

"Okay, here we go," Alexei surged from his spot in the corner, effectively smooshing his companions towards the center.

Alexei smiling broadly, Yelena and Bob mid-tickle at each other's waists but eyes twinkling in delight, Ava's hand on John's shoulder as she held him in place, John's leg half up in the air to evade his attacker, hair and face tousled with a matching smile, and Bucky rolling his eyes fondly, hand buried in John's waist.

He doesn’t realized how long his eyes have been closed, how long he’s been listening to his heart beat out of control even though they’re on the ground. He feels like he had been in fight-or-flight the entire exercise, and his body oozes with the tension he had been building up. He hadn’t even realized Phoenix had been calling his name, her face contorting into the worried look she used to give Rooster all the time, the one she gives to Jake or Javy every once in a while. Approaching ten minutes on the tarmac and Bob’s eyes are still screwed shut, all the pilots having gone to change except Phoenix, Rooster, Hangman, who stood beneath the plane, and Maverick, who slowly climbed up to get to the much younger pilot. 

“Hey, Bob?” Maverick says, tentatively reaching out to touch Bob’s shoulder. Bob doesn’t respond until Maverick’s hand makes contact, his eyes shooting open. 

Bob’s eyes shoot around, catching Hangman, Phoenix, and Rooster underneath the plane, taking in that the rest of the pilots have gone. “Thank god,” he sighs, breathing out.

“Hey, kid,” Maverick says, grabbing Bob’s attention again, “what’s going on?” Bob scrambles for his buckles but Maverick’s hands come up to stop him, “hold your horses, let’s talk for a second.”

Bob looks at Maverick before looking down at the other pilots again.

 “It’s alright, Bob,” Phoenix says, “they came because they’re worried,” she pauses, looking at the ground before looking back up at her back-seater, “we’re worried.”

“I was just-” Bob awkwardly clears his throat, looking down at his hands in his lap, “I just got freaked out. I’ve never crash landed before, being up there just freaked me out.” 

Maverick put a soft hand on the side of Bob’s face, bringing his head up so they could make eye contact. “It’s alright, kid. It’s totally fine to be a little freaked out right now. My first crash-landing terrified me, and so did my most recent one, it’s fine to still be a little shaken up.”

Bob nods, though it’s evident to Mav and the other spectators that he’s not entirely convinced. “I promise you, Bob,” Maverick starts, “you’re alright. The crash wasn’t your fault and it wasn’t Phoenix’s either, neither of you could have predicted that.”

“Yeah, but, how are we supposed to predict it the next time?” Bob asks, glasses beginning to fog.

From below them Hangman lets out a loud, obnoxious laugh, doubling over before he can reel it in. All eyes are on him now, Phoenix and Rooster glaring daggers at him. “I’m sorry,” he clears his throat, straightening his face, “I’m sorry. Bird strikes are like, pretty rare, Bobby-boy, the chances of you and Phoenix encountering another one is like, zero.”

“He’s right,” Phoenix nods, “though he didn’t have to be such an asshole about it.”

Hangman sticks his tongue out at her and Phoenix fakes like she’s going to kick him in the balls. Rooster tries to separate them and ends up pulled into the bickering, suddenly being asked to pick between his boyfriend and his best friend.

Maverick brings Bob’s attention back to him, lowering his voice so the others can’t hear him over their bickering, “between you and I, after my first crash-landing I was scared of water for years. I didn’t get over it until recently, but I know I missed out on some pretty fun times because of it.”

“Really?” Bob asks, tilting his head to one side, “I- I mean, I’m sorry.”

“All good, kid, all good.” Maverick smiles, “but what I’m saying is you shouldn't let fear control you. I mean, I didn’t even get to teach Brad how to surf, those pictures would’ve been great blackmail for you kids.”

Bob giggles, peeking down at his friends as their argument seems to settle down. Maverick shifts, getting ready to climb down, “alright, kid. We’re gonna talk about this, but first I want to get you out of this plane, and maybe get that smile to stick around.” 

Before Maverick reaches the bottom of the ladder, Hangman shouts for Bob not to unbuckle, practically bouncing with impatience as Maverick makes his too slow descent. Hangman takes the ladder two steps at a time, hands grabbing at Bob’s where he had begun to unbuckle his thigh straps. 

“Nuh-uh,” Hangman teases, squeezing the other pilot’s thigh. Bob squeals, trying to jerk away but finding himself trapped. “I think we need to get you a little giggly before we head back. Whad’ya say, Bobb-boy?”

Bob shakes his head frantically, cheeks developing a pale pink tint. He puts his hand on top of Hangman’s and makes an attempt to pry it away from his thigh, only to be given another squeak-producing pinch. 

“Hmm,” Hangman says, stroking his chin, he looks down at Phoenix and Rooster, “he’s smiling, so that’s a yes, right?”

“I’d say he looks pretty giddy for it,” Rooster shouts, Phoenix hums in agreement. Watching as Bob turns redder and redder.

“Make sure to go for his tummy!” Phoenix supplies.

Hangman’s fingers dart down to Bob’s knees and splay over them, spidering around his kneecap and calves. 

“Jahahake! Thahahat tihihickles!” Bob screeches, kicking his legs straight as much as he can. Jake’s fingers just follow him however he squirms, pinching and spidering over his legs. 

“That’s great, it means this is working!” Hangman grins. Bob’s fingers scramble upward, hoping he can unbuckle his chest buckle and fold over to stop Jake from attacking his legs. Hangman’s fingers climb all the way up to Bob’s ribs, and it’s enough of a distraction for him to forget his task, throwing his head back and snorting through his laughter.

“STAHAHAP!” Bob giggles, shaking his head back and forth. All he can do is grab onto Jake’s hands and gently hold on, his restraints reminding him how safe he usually is in his plane, but also how trapped he is now that he’s at Jake’s mercy.

“Hmm… Are you ticklish here?” Hangman asks, leaning in and giving Bob a neck raspberry. Bob’s laughter rises in pitch and his shoulders scrunch in an attempt to block it out. Hangman moves his fingers down to Bob’s sides, “What about here?”

“Ihihit tihihickles! IHIHIT TIHIHICKLES!” Bob screeches, giggles freely flowing from him. “IHIHIT’S SOHOHO BAHAHAD!”

“Oh, really?” Hangman smirks, “do the seatbelts make it tickle more? You can’t even fight me off.”

“It’s not like he would,” Phoenix teases from below, “he always just lays back and takes it.”

Bob’s face is fully red now, all the way up to his ears, and his hands flop around as he tries to figure out whether he wants to cover his face or keep holding onto Jake’s hands. He’s giggling himself silly, and everytime he remembers that he’s practically strapped down it makes it so much worse.

As if reading Bob’s mind, Hangman starts to tease again, because of course he does, Bob just can’t win. “If the buckles are making this tickle more, just wait for this.”

When Hangman’s fingers dart down to Bob’s stomach, Bob absolutely screams, throwing his arms wherever in an attempt to dissipate the feeling. His laughter dips into silence, getting enough air every few seconds to hiccup amidst his laughter.

“Alright, alright,” Maverick calls up to Hangman, “he looks giggly enough to us from here, I think you might kill him.”

Hangman groans, pulling his hands away and ruffling Bob’s already too messy hair. “Alright, whatever you say, Pops.”

Hangman helps Bob unbuckle from the seat before scrambling down the ladder, making sure the other pilot is steady enough to come down after him. 

Hangman meets Phoenix and Rooster at the bottom, while Maverick holds back to talk to Bob. 

“Feeling better now, kid?” Maverick asks, slinging an arm around his shoulder. Bob nods, leaning into Mav. 

“Yeah, a lot better. Thanks, Mav.” Bob says, looking up at Mav, blush still fiery over his cheeks.

In front of them they can hear Phoenix, Hangman, and Rooster bickering back and forth, voices raised and accusatory. Bob catches a few words, grinning. 

“Just wait until we get you like that, Bagman,” Rooster says, “let’s see if you find it easy to take the tickling when you’re buckled up like that.”

The tips of Hangman’s ears flush, but he shakes his head anyways, all bravado and cockiness, “you’d have to catch me first, and with your old bones I don’t know if you could manage.”