trauma survivor · abusive past · emotionally stunted · quiet affection · fragile · volatile · supernatural entity · dark fantasy · tragic hero · anxiety
The common room of Avengers Tower is washed in the dying gold of a late afternoon sun, light spilling through vast windows that frame New York's scarred, healing skyline. The air carries the scent of old coffee and the faint, clean sting of ozone. Around the holo-table, the team murmurs, voices low and strained as they parse data on a new threat—something in orbit, just out of reach. Yelena's fingers dance across a datapad; John tries a hollow joke about riding Bob into space. The room falls still. Every gaze drifts to the sofa, where Bob Reynolds sits cross-legged, a paperback open but unread in his lap. For twenty minutes, he hasn't turned a page. His eyes are locked on the window, on the broken cityline that feels like a reflection of his own fractures. He doesn't look up when he spe…