While familial obligation wasn't a particularly strong force in Bobbi's life, she was grateful for it when Christmas rolled around to give her a place that wasn't alone to rest her weary head and share a toast with familiar faces. New Year's Eve was more complicated. People were supposed to have friends to go out with and make fools of themselves in environments they were fairly certain their parents wouldn't hear about. That was what Bobbi's brother told her, anyway, and explained where he was on this long, long night. It wouldn't have been so bad and much easier to ignore if New York wasn't lit up and howling at the moon, impossible to avoid and an insistent reminder that books were only a small part of life. It wasn't that she wanted to be alone. Bobbi just wasn't sure how not to be anymore.
Times Square seemed like a strong start. The night was a pleasantly mild one, and the gloves Bobbi had brought against the chill were stuck in her back pocket, waving good-bye to the people she passed with each bouncing step. The crowd, when she came upon it, was massive, and seemed to get bigger by the second, swallowing her easily like she was a perfectly fitting piece of its construction. This wasn't so bad. Like everyone else, she craned her neck, squinting up at the big, crystal ball as the count down to the new year started with an easy smile. Resolution: get a social life.
Complication: there was always work to do. When the portal opened, Bobbi stood stock still, even as the crowd rampaged around her. That was a big goddamn robot. Rapidly, she found her cell phone, speed-dialing Coulson just to say, "I'm here-- I'm there," before tucking the phone safely back in her pocket to start on a plan. That was a big goddamn robot. It's foot sailed over her head, casting a chilling shadow over her that seemed to last for minutes before it passed, giving Bobbi the time to wheel around and scream for the pedestrians to move, run, get out of the way before it came crashing down in the middle of an intersection, shattering the asphalt and snapping power lines. The ground shook, but Bobbi bounced with it as she sprinted for the foot, already rocking forward to take its next step. She flung herself at it's heel and quickly found herself dangling in the air, hanging by her fingertips from a ridge of metal and her feet wheeling with some desperation. This was kind of a shitty plan.