/ᐠ. ｡.ᐟ\ᵐᵉᵒʷˎˊ˗

You felt lost.

Alone.

There was nothing for you—no one.

The name carved into your wrist would disagree as you traced the letters. It was still here. How could it? You had searched everywhere to no avail.

The universe had to be mocking you, playing a time game and laughing in your face. But you had time. Nobody could take that from you.

“Excuse me, Ms.” You lazily looked up, smacking your lips in the process as you knew what was coming. “Would you mind company?” The man flashed you a smirk, his body leaning against the bar.

You hated this. It started becoming harder with each time not to just roll your eyes at every single walking suit that tried to shoot his shot—by buying you one.

You’d thought the 1940s would have been better than earlier times. Well, you were quite disappointed.

Spreading your lips in a thin smile, you squinted your eyes at him. “Sure.” His eyebrow twitched, a small breath was sucked in through his teeth like he expected this reply. “As long as the company is your friend from over there.”

You grabbed your drink, raising it to your lips and nursing on it after pointing to a brunette woman with wavy hair. Her red lips wrapped around a straw as she sipped on her cocktail.

You hid a cocky smile behind the glass when the man’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion, staring at the woman.

“I—Well—” He stuttered, a breathy chuckle escaped his mouth as he looked down at the bartop, anxiously drumming his fingers against it.

You almost wanted to laugh at how he started sweating from the realization that you played for the same team as him.

You had no interest in men. Yet, in every time period you had visited—which was all of them—they’d never let you be.

Your clothing did not seem to give them enough of a hint either. There was nothing about dresses and skirts that could entice you to wear them.

It had caused you to be blatant from the get-go. As much as you could manipulate time however you wanted, you did not want to lose it on pointless conversations.

“Good talk.” You tapped his shoulder while getting up, taking steps toward where his companion was sitting.

His baffled face followed after you as he stood frozen in his place.

She looked gorgeous.

You had seen multiple pretty women in your life. Different time periods, different countries and cultures, different types of beauty.

But this one caught your attention for longer than just a passing glance.

The hope sparked in your chest at the possibility.

“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” Sliding into the chair next to her, you flashed her a confident smile as she moved her eyes to you.

And were they beautiful.

Your heart skipped a beat at the sight, completely missing the eyebrow that quirked at you.

“Attempting to be a hypewoman.” She answered, her fingers delicately held the straw as she mixed her drink with it. “Unsuccessfully, as it seems.”

Her eyes wandered over her shoulder and to the man you had left alone at the bar. Her hand waved at him slightly before she moved her gaze back to you with a pointed look.

Her personality was pulling you in more and more, making you yearn to find out every little detail about who she was.

Your laugh spread around the table, making the corner of her mouth twitch up as she took a sip again. Her eyes glued to you as a deep breath left your mouth.

“Apologies, my dear—”

“Peggy.” She quickly corrected you, casually introducing herself. Her back leaning on the chair. “I’m not your dear yet.”

Your head tilted in intrigue at the choice of her words. It was going the good way as it seemed—good for you.

“Peggy.” You repeated, bowing your head and raising your hands in a defensive manner. “I just happen to have eyes for—more feminine figures.” The way your gaze dropped lower her chin only added to your words as sparks started igniting in them.

Her brown irises turned almost black from how her pupils dilated. They skimmed over your body, making you feel like there was little to no clothing covering it.

It was exciting.

Very different from the way your life had been through most of it.

“Is that so?” Her voice turned sultry as she turned her body, crossing her legs, and leaning more toward you. You nodded in confirmation, making the woman place her finger under your chin as she ran her tongue over her upper teeth. “In that case.” Her face inched closer to yours, lips ghosting over each other. “I’d love you to take a look at mine .”

A wide smirk appeared on your face at the words.

You could not wait to see where this would take you.

It had taken you farther than you thought. But not as far as you would’ve liked to.

It had been the greatest three years of your life with Peggy. Everything had been perfect, from the way things seemed simpler with her around to how you could easily understand each other without words.

You’d never thought it would’ve been possible to love someone that was not destined to be yours. Neither had she. Somehow, you’d found a half in a different shape, but one that fit quite well.

Unfortunately, it’d had to end. The excitement, joy, love—it all had been there. But you both had felt the unavoidable void.

It’d hurt. She knew you like nobody else. Every detail of your life. You had even confided in her about your powers.

Still, the time to go your separate ways had come when she’d confessed her soulmate mark had glowed upon the new recruits’ arrival.

It hadn't been the reason for your breakup, however. You both had been aware of the huge elephant in the room that neither of you had wanted to talk about.

It’d been so good, so comfortable, so content.

As much as the love you’d shared had been great and unconditional, it’d been very hard to get rid of the feeling that something had been missing.

So, you had ended it on good terms and had promised to visit her in whatever time period you would’ve gone to next.

You’d seen her as a married mother in the 1960s, coming to find out that her soulmate had died quickly after you’d left.

Your heart had shattered at the news. She hadn’t gotten to live with the unbreakable bond for longer than two years. But her attitude had seemed to be good about it.

She’d shown you the organisation she’d built with a few other people. SHIELD was the name of it.

Or rather an acronym you had proposed upon hearing the long name you almost had gotten a headache from.

You’d been proud and impressed—and she’d taken it as an invitation to make you into an agent.

According to her, you’d already had the skills and the time-manipulating power would’ve come in handy. You couldn’t resist when she had looked at you with those doe eyes.

She even had given you a bracelet with the logo—her initials with yours embraced in a heart had been engraved on the inside, melting your heart at the sight.

You’d also found out she had married a fellow agent from SHIELD and had had a family and her happy ending. Her only regret had been not having more time with you—at least as a friend.

But she’d understood why you couldn’t have stayed. She herself had chosen to follow the bond when her wrist had glowed all those years ago.

She couldn’t have been mad at you for trying to find the same.

But you’d stayed with her for a few years, not being able to refuse your first ever love just as she couldn’t have let hers go easily.

Next time you’d seen her had been in the 1980s. She’d been an older widow at that point and you had gotten to meet her niece, Sharon.

That’d been before you ended up here.

Year 2015.

You slowly adjusted.

It’d been a couple of weeks now, getting the hang of most things. There were challenges, but nothing you could not handle.

The drastic change in technology was the only thing that had kept you back for a bit, but eventually, you’d managed to figure it out as well.

Otherwise, your life was going pretty well.

It would be even better if you could finally find your soulmate. The name on your wrist was bugging you every day. The doubts of the person’s existence had started settling in your mind a bit ago.

There was a possibility she was dead. You were not sure how it would affect you or the bond—if the name would disappear or simply haunt you for the rest of your life.

It was torture to live with this uncertainty.

The hope of finding the woman started fizzling the longer you’d been in New York. All those years of traveling seemed pointless now. You hadn’t found her and it wasn’t looking like you would.

You tried not to let it get to you.

You had found out Peggy was still alive and you were coming back from visiting her, getting off the plane at the airport. You were in better spirits after talking to the woman.

There was not much left of her memory, but she had remembered you. She had remembered everything you two had had.

Taking planes and taxi rides gave you a sense of normalcy, but sometimes, you would speed up the time when you did not want to wait for too long.

During your walks, you’d slowed it down, however. People-watching became one thing that did not make you bored. There was always something interesting happening.

”Ladies and Gentlemen, flight DL3026 from New York to Los Angeles is delayed due to maintenance work.” The speaker said, voice booming loudly, but the words could be barely understood. “We apologize and thank you for your patience.”

Your eyes rolled at the poor souls who would have to wait. As much as your powers were a constant reminder of your goose chase after your soulmate, you were happy when they came in handy in situations like this.

The floor beneath you rumbled, causing you to stop while looking down. Everyone around seemed to be just as confused and concerned, staring at others like somebody would have an explanation.

They got it soon after when a giant piece of metal flew through the glass wall, crashing it to pieces.

Your eyes widened in horror, seeing the object flying right at you. Like in a puff, you found yourself away from it in a second, using your powers.

Time manipulation was more than just speeding up and slowing down time. After years of practice, you had found out teleportation had been one of the possibilities.

It came in handy, just like now.

Everyone around you erupted in screams, running to the escalators and stairs, trying to get to the exit.

The airport turned into chaos within a millisecond. People were pushing others, grabbing the hands of their loved ones to pull them into safety.

You were turning a full circle in shock. Your eyes skimmed over the place before falling on the metal object that had flown inside. It dug a line in the floor from the impact.

“That’s gonna be expensive.” You remarked to yourself, your eyebrow quirking quickly as you stared.

Your instincts kicked in when a screeching sound rang through the place. Your body automatically got into a fighting stance, observing how the object slowly moved a part of itself, then another.

Your head tilted with a confused look.

A robot?

It looked like one. When it finally stood on its feet, a head spun back and forth before sparks flew from it. It locked in place as your mouth hung open, taking it all in.

“Get out of here!” A male voice yelled out from the floor below, guiding people to safety as he tried to get to the escalators.

Your head whipped to him, his blue costume caught your attention as you watched how quickly he was getting through.

A metallic-like groan made you look at the robot again, seeing how it turned around, twisting its head before scanning the place.

His white eyes stopped on you, switching to red instantly. “Elimination in process.”

Huh?

You did not have more questions when its arm raised, aiming at you. A rocket flew out, coming your way and making your eyes go wide.

Teleporting again, you avoided being bombed in the head. Thankfully. This was not how you imagined your day to go.

This was much worse.

“Going in!” Another voice echoed in your ears before a red cloud flew past you, making your head snap in bewilderment.

What the hell was going on?

You would love to know when the man from before ran in, going straight for the robot. He had to be suicidal. That little shield would not help him take down this crazy machine.

Your mind changed quickly when you saw red tendrils wrap around the metal limbs. One by one were overtaken and twisted as you watched in shock.

This was insane. You’d never seen anything like this.

Just as the man was almost at the object, it ripped from the magic that had held it captive. The robot swung his metal arm, taking a step forward and smacking the blue-costumed guy.

His body arched inwards before slamming against a pillar, breaking it and causing it to crumble on him.

“Shit.” You breathed out, a bit terrified.

But it did not last long when you saw the monster fight the red magic again. Looking up, you saw a brunette with a scrunched face. Her arms were extended, red wisps flying all over her fingertips.

The dots finally connected in your head. She had powers. Just like you.

Her yell snapped you out. The robot’s arm turned into a sonic beam as he directed it right at the brunette. Her body fell to the ground, staying still to your horror.

You hoped she was still alive.

But you had no time when the machine took you as its target next. You did what you should’ve done the very second it had come flying in here.

You quickly teleported behind it before slowing down the time. You could take eternity finding the wire panel. But it was easy. Right under the back of his head.

You opened it quickly and pulled all the wires, causing sparks to fly at you as the time went back to its normal pace.

The machine malfunctioned, causing the metal body to convulse before shutting down—to your satisfaction.

Hopefully, it would not come back to life.

You were fast to run up to the woman, kneeling at her side. Her groans made you breathe out in relief. At least, she was alive.

“Are you okay?” Her head whipped to you, fear was swirling in her eyes as she stared at your face full of concern. She did not seem to care about it, however, when she quickly lifted her hand. “Wow!” You let out loudly, getting back on your feet and slowing down the red blast she threw at you.

Her eyes widened at the sight before it scrunched. Another blast came from her other hand, causing you to use your powers to stop it as well.

“We have an enhanced on the floor!” She yelled out hysterically, pushing fingers against her ear.

You looked at her confused. “Hey, I’m just trying to—” Your sentence could not be finished when she threw another blast, quickly getting up as you dodged it. “Damn!”

The attacks only got worse when she stood to her full height. Red tendrils wrapped around different items as she angrily stared at you.

Fuck me.

“In your dreams.” Your head tilted at her in puzzlement when she seethed out.

Two pillars were ripped out of the flooring and ceiling before she pulled them inside, trying to squish you.

She would have to put a bit more effort if extermination were her idea. You vanished from your spot, appearing to her right.

You cockily smiled to yourself upon seeing her eyes jump all over the place in an attempt to find you.

By any means, this was not how you wanted it to go. However, she clearly was not friendly—at least, not to you.

“Ugh!” A yelp sounded through your throat when a body collided with yours, arms going around you in a tight squeeze.

The landing was hard as your head hit the tiled floor, making you groan in pain. There was no time to think about it when the man in a blue suit shifted, straddling you before his fist was going at your face.

His clenched teeth were on display as he delivered a punch—which hurt like a bitch. Your jaw tensed in anger.

He was about to find out to what extent your powers could go.

His fist was coming back before it stopped. His eyes snapped to it in confusion as it began turning in his direction. It connected with his face a second later, knocking him off of you.

The action repeated, over and over again, letting you get up as you checked your face for blood. Fortunately, there was none, even though your nose still hurt.

“Wait!” You said, arms extending with palms facing the brunette whose hands raised at you.

But she did not listen, trying to blast you with magic again. Her eyes were jumping in panic between her hands when red tendrils halted right at her fingertips.

Desperately, she tried to let out more of them, but nothing was coming. Her arms were shaking as it did not stop her from trying.

“Who are you?” Her question made you stand to your full height, finally feeling safe.

“A magician.” You told her jokingly, but quickly switched the approach when her unamused eyes squinted at you. “I don’t mean harm.”

“You could’ve fooled me.” Her irritated eyes went to the man whose fist kept punching him in the face before looking at her hands.

She could not be serious about this.

A scoff left your mouth at the accusation.

“Oh, right, because you didn’t start this.” Her head tilted at you in annoyance, eyes squinting like she wished to punch you in the face.

“How was I—” The continuous groans made her lips press together as she closed her eyes for a second. “Can you stop this?” She gestured to the man in blue, staring at you angrily.

You debated it for a second. They clearly were here together. Who knew how many more they had with them.

But in the end, you would not get anywhere if you did not show cooperation. So, you stopped the loop on the man.

His nose was bloody by now, but a huge sigh of relief escaped his mouth when the self-assault came to an end.

“Thanks.” The brunette woman said, her voice barely appreciative.

“You!” The man limped to you, his anger had his teeth grinding.

You looked at him warily, eyes jumping all over him to see any possible signs of danger. But it went out of the window when your eyes fell on a logo on his uniform.

Your eyes scrunched in puzzlement just as his face took the same expression when he stared at your bracelet.

“Where did you get this?!” You both asked in unison, mouths falling agape before your gazes met.

How could he have it? Could it still exist? Did he know her?

So many questions were running through your head.

“Everything under control.” He said, pressing his fingers against his ear as he suddenly froze in his spot. You heard a voice on the other end, very muffled.

A burning sensation ran on your wrist, causing you to hiss as your eyes snapped to it.

It couldn’t be. The letters. A fade gold was sparkling on them.

But how?

A million thoughts were running through your head. You had to be close. She had to be near. Your gaze started jumping as gears kept turning, but you had no answers.

The voice stopped, but the man just kept staring at you. His chest was rising high from his breathing as you waited to see what he would do.

“Make room for one more.” Your eyebrow arched at him as the brunette’s head snapped in his direction at the words. “We will have company.”

“I asked about your name.” He seethed out angrily, his hands falling heavily on the table as he leaned on them. “Don’t make me ask again!”

The facade he was trying to put up did nothing to you. It’d been a while since this had started. And it was getting nowhere.

It was more than clear that his ego was getting bruised with the way your face stayed emotionless as you boredly switched your gaze from him and to the white table.

Everything in this room was white. You felt like they had brought you to some psychiatric facility. It wouldn’t be the first time someone considered you a freak. Especially, after what you had pulled back at the airport.

You never understood how your powers made others so hostile toward you. You had never used them to hurt anyone—unless in self-defense.

But it wouldn’t make sense for them to be like that. The brunette girl had some kind of magic as well.

“Did you lose your hearing?” The woman in question spoke up, pushing herself off a wall as her arms stayed crossed. “Answer the question.”

Their aggressiveness was not causing the effect they would like. It only made you less inclined to cooperate. Or answer questions in general.

Tilting your head, you huffed out a small laugh, irritating them both further.

“Are you guys new?” Your wrist was lying against the table as your finger pointed at them both. “It’s supposed to be a good cop and a bad cop.” Your eyes squinted as you puffed out a breath before smiling. “You both wanted the bad cop, huh?” Your voice sounded muffled as you spoke through your teeth, the corner of your mouth lifted before sucking in a breath.

“Listen, you—” The blonde man yelled out as he grabbed you by the collar, lifting you off the chair and pushing against the wall.

“Ah, ah.” You let out, wiggling your finger at him. “First of all, this is an abuse of power.” Your smart-ass comment made spit fly out from between his clenched teeth as he seethed at you. “Second of all, if you don’t want the airport flashback to get realistic, I suggest you take your dirty hands off of me.”

Your head lowered as you stared right into his eyes. He was around your height, making it very easy for him to see the shift in your blue irises before they flashed green at him.

His stance faltered, but he quickly fisted your shirt again before letting go and turning away.

“Huffing and puffing will get you nowhere, boy.”

His head whipped quickly to you in fury. “Don’t you call me a boy.” It was fun to taunt him, he was very easy to rile up.

Normally, you would try to be as friendly as possible in this situation, but that had flown out of the window as soon as they had attempted to turn you into a pile of dust.

The blindfolded airplane ride—or whatever that machine was—had not been very hospitable either.

If they wanted to be tough and mysterious, you could play that game with them.

“Hard not to when you’re acting like one.”

You were surprised his jaw was still intact from how much he clenched it upon hearing your words.

“You—” He took a step, his arm swinging behind him, making his intentions clear.

You were ready. He knew very well how it would end.

But before it could escalate, the door slammed open.

“Rogers!” A loud, female voice stopped him immediately, his arm freezing in the air as he stared at you with rage. “Is that how we interrogate?”

You could not help the cocky smirk that spread on your lips as you lazily moved your head, looking right back into his eyes.

“Is it?” You whispered, wanting to see how much he would be willing to break their rules.

You had no idea what they were, but judging by the lady’s words, his methods were not very acceptable.

But he did not move an inch—besides lowering his arm back to his side as he exhaled slowly.

Your eyebrow quirked quickly at the reaction.

“If you need a five—” A blonde lady came into your view when he turned to look at her as she spoke.

But her voice cut off when your eyes connected with her blue ones. Your head tilted as your eyebrows pulled together. Something about her seemed familiar.

The hair, the face.

Like you had seen her before.

“Oh my God.” Her voice wavered as she said. “Riley?” Your confusion only deepened when your name fell out of her mouth.

How did she—

“Sharon?” Your wide eyes went all over her, trying to understand how possible this could be and not some trick they were playing on you.

She exhaled loudly before a grin spread on her face, taking fast steps toward you with open arms.

This could not be. Could it? What were the odds?

But your mouth opened as a happy sigh left it. You spread your arms, going toward her. But any thoughts you had were knocked out of you when your back slammed against the wall harshly.

You grunted in pain, squeezing your eyes shut.

“Maximoff?!” Sharon’s bewildered voice reached your ringing ears before you saw her wide eyes snapping to the brunette in anger.

“She’s dangerous.” The woman replied sternly, her hand directed at you as she gave you a stinky eye.

An unamused, maniac-like laugh passed your lips as you tilted your head back. Everyone’s eyes jumped to you, looking at you like you were crazy.

Maybe you were.

Or maybe you were done with always being the only one labeled as a threat.

Your sigh was exaggerated when you moved your gaze to the brunette.

“That would make two of us, darling.” The cocky smile that spread on your lips made her jaw clench.

It was a second later when her face scrunched in rage, her hands raising as red appeared at their fingertips.

But before the blast could even began flying, she cried out in pain as your eyes turned green. Her hands hung loosely as she stared at them.

Your teeth gritted, feeling a spark of guilt in your chest at what you just did. But her attitude started getting on your nerves.

“What did you?!” She yelled out to you, hints of tears appearing in her eyes as she stared into yours, her fingers burning red like fire.

“Made your little magic go back where it was coming from.” You told her pointedly, face void of emotion. “Without reducing its strength.”

You could manipulate anything. That was how great your powers were. After all, you’d had years and years of practice. Anything that belonged to time belonged also to you.

Her magic existed in time. Therefore, you could mess with it however you wanted to.

In the corner of your eye, you saw Sharon’s shocked face as she stared at you. Your throat tightened, feeling like you just disappointed your own child.

She was the closest thing you had to family besides Peggy. Even though you hadn’t seen each other for years, she was all you had. Maybe all you would ever have.

Your head lowered in shame as you could not bear looking into her puzzled eyes.

“Wanda!” A new female voice sounded through the room, making you look up just to see a redheaded woman run up to the brunette.

Her face was full of concern as she embraced the brunette with one arm, looking over her face.

And you could not look away from the redhead’s. The feeling was enticing. Strong. Electric. Everything in you was buzzing, screaming for touch.

It felt like life was injected in you for the very first time.

“Ah.” Your body squirmed, causing your eyebrows to pull as you breathed in through your teeth, grabbing your wrist that stung you like a hundred heated-up needles would poke it.

But anything you could possibly think of was gone in a split second when you saw your mark glow under the sleeve of your long shirt.

Impossible.

Could it finally be?

Your eyes snapped up to the women who stood together, focusing on the shorter one like on a prey. You could not help yourself. She was pulling you in.

They were too occupied to notice anything as they talked, the features on the redhead’s face slowly changed from concern to anger.

The fire in her eyes burned deeply, making them turn almost red from rage. Your stance faltered when it was directed at you, making your eyes finally blink.

“Lock that bastard right now!” Her finger pointed at you angrily, her jaw almost popping from how hard she was clenching it.

“We’re not locking anybody—”

“She hurt Wanda!” The redhead’s fury switched to Sharon, sparking frustration within you.

“And Wanda hurt her.” But the blonde was handling herself well without your help as she replied pointedly.

A proud smile almost broke out on your face as you watched them interact. Your interference would not bring anything good anyway.

They saw you as a threat. An enemy.

“I’m gonna throw her into Hulk’s cage myself then.” Her lips pressed into a thin line as her angry eyes stared at you again.

But your head dismissed everything she said besides the word Hulk, making your eyebrows scrunch. What the hell was a Hulk?

“You’re gonna do no such thing, Romanoff.” A male voice spoke from the door, making everyone’s gaze snap in that direction.

A tall, black man with an eye patch was slowly making his way in. A long, black coat was covering his body as he threw it back.

All four people became instantly quiet, their gazes lowering in obedience as you gave Sharon a questioning look.

You wished you could know what the hell was going on.

“We don’t throw our teammates into cages.” Well, that seemed to peak everyone’s interest back in as each person, besides Sharon, started arguing.

You could only stare in shock as you tried to figure out what the hell this strange man was saying.

He quickly silenced all of them with one louder word, both women and the blonde man looking at each other in anger, their jaws clenching and teeth gritting.

The man’s eyes—only one really—looked right into yours as the corner of his mouth tugged into a smirk.

“I’m Nicholas Fury.” He decided to introduce himself as his chin raised. You had no idea what was about to hit you. “How would you feel about working for me?”

You had been at your new job for a month now. A SHIELD agent. When Fury had told you what organisation he’d been leading, you couldn’t have believed how the universe had brought you back to Peggy—her legacy.

You’d wanted to agree right away upon hearing the name, but it’d been unclear how much had changed since your past lover had stepped down.

Fury had seemed very determined to get you on his team, especially, after he’d found your old files from being teammates with no one else than one of the founders—Sharon had been right behind him, pulling every possible trick to make you stay.

And it’d worked. You’d agreed, gotten your own room, and a badge.

You had come to find out a group called the Avengers had existed a few years ago, but it had been disassembled due to several governments’ doubts about it.

Every member had become a SHIELD agent instead. They even had separate quarters in the facility’s building. Your bedroom was located there—along with all ex-Avengers—as you had been assigned specifically to the ‘special force’ team.

To you, it just sounded like a rebrand of the Avengers—a bit more legal one.

Your qualifications were high enough to be on level 8, but Fury’s precautions had made him put you at level 6. He hadn’t been sure how much he could trust you for now.

But you did not complain.

You only agreed because of Peggy and Sharon.

If you ever went back in time again, you would tell Peggy how much of an asshole her soulmate was. The blonde man, Steve Rogers, was her soulmate.

He had been found frozen in the middle of nowhere after nearly 70 years. You did not like him. If he had been anything like this around Peggy, you were not surprised anymore she hadn’t told you much about him.

But there was also another reason why you joined.

The fact that the person you’d been looking for your whole life was here.

Hating you.

“I’m using this.” The redhead’s small body swiftly turned around as she took a seat at one of the machines at the facility’s gym.

Just as you were seconds away from doing your workout on it.

“I was literally about to—”

“Well, you’re not anymore.” Her eyes squinted at you as she tried to find a comfortable spot.

You stared at her with a clenched jaw before rolling your eyes, sighing. You could only pick up your water bottle and find something else to do as her arms spread and quickly pressed against the pads before she started pulling them inwards.

“I hope you pull a muscle, you asshole.” Your mumble was quiet but loud enough for her to hear.

Her irritated features quickly changed as a smirk appeared on her lips.

“On your settings? I don’t think a squirrel would pull one.”

This would go nowhere, so you decided to go somewhere else. You did not have time to argue with her. Not again.

Her girlfriend—as you had come to find out quickly after joining the institution—had not been much better.

“Excuse me.” The brunette said, pushing you against the kitchen cupboards in the common area.

Her body had no reason to collide that harshly with yours—or at all—since there was plenty of space.

But she wouldn’t have had you spill your coffee on your shirt if she had walked like a normal human.

Your mouth froze slightly open before your entire face tensed in anger. Pressing your lips tightly together, you threw a deadly glare to your right where she stopped to get tea.

Hiding words in your thoughts would be pointless since you had been told she could read minds.

“Are you blind?” The annoyance was clear in your voice.

It increased even more when she took a bite of a sweet bun, looking at you innocently.

“Hm?” Her eyebrow raised at you in fake puzzlement like she didn't know what she just did. Your entire hand was pointing to a huge stain on your white t-shirt that was now clinging to your body. “Oh.” She giggled, covering her mouth. “No, I just don’t like you.” She batted her eyelashes at you with a sweet smile as she tilted her head to the side.

She grabbed another bun before waving at you only with her fingers, turning on her heel, and leaving you with the mess she had caused, making your eyes roll.

“Likewise!” You couldn't see her reaction, but just yelling it out helped your soul.

It didn’t bother you greatly on normal days. Sure, it was annoying, but nothing that could make it too much of an inconvenience to live with.

It became a problem when this behavior continued during meetings, missions, and briefings.

You felt like you were fighting two wars at the same time.

“You were supposed to cover me!” Your loud voice could not be missed as the brunette was standing right next to you.

It was getting out of control. You could look past a lot of things, but this? No.

Her hip was jutted out as she stared at her nails in boredom, eyes rolling at your words.

“And I did.”

Your jaw dropped before you clenched it, your face turning red from rage that started spreading through your body.

“Are you kidding me?!” She had to be. “You left me alone in the building!”

She had been nowhere in sight when enemy forces had come out of nowhere, swarming the hallways.

You’d had to fend for yourself to survive. Fury had forbidden you from using your powers on several missions, wanting you to practice defending yourself in a human way.

So, it had been hell of a time getting out of that place.

“Don’t yell at her because you can barely save your own ass.” Natasha’s voice cut through to you, making your head whip in her direction.

Sometimes, it was hard to listen to her insults. Other times, you simply could not stand her, but your head would not shut up about wanting to be close.

“Oh, if it’s not the troll defender.” Your lips formed into a tight-lipped smile, having had enough for today already.

You did not need both of them to piss you off more. Wanda was doing great on her own.

The redhead’s eyes squinted at you at the name. “Can you mind your words?” She was not asking despite what it might have seemed like.

But you didn’t care.

“Can you mind your business?” You bit back quickly, giving her a raised eyebrow. You already knew the answer and did not bother to wait for her response as you turned around to walk away. “Let’s see how Fury likes to hear about this.”

He hadn’t liked hearing about it. They both had gotten a warning—and a threat of being put on desk duty.

But that had been a month ago. They’d gotten better during missions, but nothing had changed in your day-to-day life.

Besides the fact that the bond had been making you more and more impatient. It had become harder to stay away from the redhead.

You had no idea there would be any side effects to this. Well, you were finding out in real time every time she would give you a death glare, throw an insult at you, or avoid being anywhere near you.

It made you feel like a werewolf who wanted to claim their mate. You just wanted her to be yours—like the universe intended.

Keeping it a secret was eating you alive. You knew she hated you—and frankly, you hated her too for how cruel she was sometimes—but not saying anything was taking a toll on you.

You’d been looking for her your whole life. Now, she was within arm’s reach.

You were tapping your fingers against the table in Tony’s tinkering lab, your eyes focused on a random object.

“You’re gonna lose all teeth from clenching them so hard, kid.” The man with a goatee said, snapping you out of your trance and feeling the tension in your jaw for the first time. “You okay?” His eyebrow raised.

Were you? Of course, not. You felt like shit.

It’d been only two months, but you felt comfortable with him. However, you could not tell him about the soulmate bond. Not now.

Your fingers started tapping harder as your entire body tensed when you came to a decision.

“I gotta go.” You quickly got off the chair and almost ran out of the lab, not giving the man a chance to say anything else.

You’d had enough of this. You couldn’t keep it away from her—and yourself—any longer. Maybe all this stupid rivalry and insults would stop if you told her.

You were not full of hope, knowing the nature of your relationship. But what could happen? She would understand you were not an enemy.

It could take some time to get to a good place, but you were sure that the bond would change her approach. At least a little bit.

At least to the point you could finally start liking her as a human and stop despising yourself for hating your soulmate.

“Natasha.” You called out, seeing her at the kitchen island in the common area going through some papers.

Fortunately, no one was around.

The redhead did not care to even acknowledge you, but you knew she heard your voice.

“Natasha.” You repeated, coming up to her as she flipped a page. “We need to talk.”

Her eyebrow raised as her gaze remained on the document. “I don’t do charity work.” It was so hard not to just walk away and drop it all.

But you were aware that doing it would be equally as hard.

“I’m serious, it’s important.” Her behavior was aggravating. She did not care about what you had to say.

“Yeah?” She chuckled out, sparing you a glance. “What? Are you a fairy now? You have a secret lover you are dying to let me know about—” Her mocking was irritating you as she was laughing in your face.

“You’re my soulmate!” You finally burst, wanting her to shut up.

And that she did. Very quickly. Her wide, green eyes stared at you in bewilderment. She could not believe what she was hearing—and you could not believe that you finally said it.

It was freeing. You could finally breathe with your lungs’ full capacity, not feeling like you were choking on words anymore.

They were out in the world.

But your face dropped when she erupted in laughter again. “That’s a good one, you almost had me.” Her dismissal made your eyebrows pull together.

She went back to the papers as you stood confused. She didn’t care? She thought it was a joke?

“Can you not take anything seriously?” Your face leaned closer to her in irritation. Why did she have to be like this even now?

“Oh, I can.” She said, taking a bite of her snack before turning to you. “Just not you.” Her face scrunched up in a cute way like she did not just slap you with an insult right across the face.

“What’s going on here?” Great, exactly what you needed. One more of them to mock you.

“Riley’s delusions are worsening.” The redhead laughed out to Wanda as the brunette came to a stop at her side.

Her confused eyes squeezed slightly as she spread her lips in an unsure smile.

“You are my soulmate!” You could not hold it in any more and screamed, wanting her to finally hear you.

But it might not have been the best idea when her head whipped to you with rage all over her face.

You could not tell if it was because of your tone or your insistence on the bond.

“Whatever meds you’re taking, you probably should stop.” Her eyes squinted at you as she spoke, crossing her arms over her chest.

You could not believe her ignorance and dismissiveness. All those years of searching just to get this.

Your jaw clenched hard like never before. She would not diminish the bond you two had. She could insult you however much she wanted, but you would not let her take this away from you.

“Then look.” Your sleeve went up your arm as you harshly tugged on it.

The glowing mark was revealed with letters spelling the redhead’s name. Your angry and determined eyes stared at her face as she spared the mark only a short glance.

Her teeth gritted, her features tensed as she looked angry and in disbelief. Wanda, on the other hand, seemed to have her eyes frozen on the glowing letters.

You felt like she was tracing them with her gaze before her eyelids faltered.

“Can’t you see that you are my soulmate?”

“And Wanda is my soulmate!” The redhead screamed out in your face, getting up from her chair. “Not some useless, time-traveling weirdo who is so unwanted—

“Nat.” Wanda breathed out with wide eyes, trying to stop her girlfriend as she finally snapped out of her trance.

But she continued, staring right into your eyes. “—that she has to lie about her mark for someone to pay attention to her.” She took a step closer to you, her head tilting up as she made sure you would not look away. “I bet you scribbled it on there with some fucking highlighter.”

“Natasha!” Wanda’s voice almost yelled out as she stared at the redhead in disbelief.

Her words were laced with malice, pure hatred sipping from them as she directed it solely at you. You physically stopped your mouth from twitching, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of getting a rise out of you—of getting anything out of you.

It was all in her eyes, clear as day, getting more and more vivid the longer you kept staring.

“I could never be your soulmate.” She seethed out at you.

You were not sure how it was possible, but it felt like her words physically hurt you.

Poking out your tongue, you wet your lips before smacking them. Your head nodded slowly as you stared into her eyes.

“Understood.”

Your heart was breaking as you turned around to take your leave. The ringing in your ears started becoming unbearable. Your head got dizzy as you fought the tears that tried to come out of your eyes, blurring your vision.

That was it.

She hated you. She hated you enough to reject the bond. Because that was what she had just done, right? She refused you.

And you could not help but refuse to believe it.

You had gone out of your way to avoid both women since the conversation—if you could even call it that.

It didn’t seem to bother the redhead. The insults still would be thrown your way whenever you would find yourself in the same room.

But you made sure to leave as quickly as possible.

You could also see others giving each other questioning looks after two weeks of you barely saying a word to Natasha and Wanda.

Lately, you hadn’t felt physically well which was a great excuse. Frequent headaches and dizziness accompanied you almost every day.

They had been getting gradually worse with a few better days here and there. But the intensity could be unbearable at times.

You tried to focus on something else than the pain.

“Do you want to spar?” A ringing noise was traveling through your head like a damn bell as you held it in your hands. “Riley?”

Your head shot up from looking at the floor, mouth agape as you stared at the man in front of you.

“Huh?” Your eyes squinted as you lifted the corners of your mouth. The light seemed to be extra blinding to your eyes today. “Sorry, I didn't hear you.”

Your palms went to your forehead before you slid your fingers over your eyes, trying to get rid of the stinging feeling.

“I asked if you wanted to spar.” Sam’s voice barely reached your ears as you tried to fight the high-pitched sound in your head.

“I uh—” You determined the risk of him completely beating you up due to the state you were in today. “Sure, one round.” And the answer was that it would do you no harm in the end.

Maybe he could get rid of that stupid sound with a good punch.

You quickly got up from the bench and followed him to the mat before getting into a fighting stance.

He seemed a bit blurry, but you blamed it on the sunlight coming through the window.

“You ready?” His cheerful voice made you snort as a smile broke out on your face for the first time in the last few weeks.

Your fists raised lazily as Sam’s body distorted, splitting in two.

“Bring it on, grandpa.” Your fingers made a wave motion as you felt your legs give out.

“Riley!” Sam’s tilted, running form was the last thing you saw before everything went black.

“Ugh.” Your eyes could barely open as multiple groans of displeasure kept leaving your mouth. “Where am I?” Your raspy voice let out while you tried to rub your forehead as cables dangled in front of your face.

Everything was blurry, slowly getting into place the more awake you were getting.

Your head was banging, causing you to hiss when you lifted yourself up the bed. Looking down, you realized it was a hospital bed.

Your gaze started jumping all over the place, noticing the machine on your left that kept beeping and the cupboard with medicine and injections.

“Slow down.” Sam raised from the chair with extended arms as he tried to calm you down. “You are in medical.” He gently grabbed your arm before helping you up to sit more comfortably on the bed. “Doctor Cho said there was nothing wrong in the scans and you can go, but you should come for a check-up in a few weeks.”

Medical?

Scans?

Check-up?

Your eyes squeezed shut before blinking rapidly.

“What happened?” You finally started asking good questions.

It would be good to know what the hell was going on.

“Your ass knocked itself out before I could.” Sam said amusedly, getting a deep chuckle out of you. It quickly turned into a coughing fit that made the man get back up in horror. “You good?”

His concerned voice was completely different from his terrified face which caused you to laugh again.

“I’m fine.” His eyebrow quirked as you laid your head back down and tilted it to him. “I get to see your ugly face again.”

His face dropped at your words as he pouted. He was your closest friend here. You hadn’t known each other for long, but it was safe to say you did not trust anyone else more than him—besides Sharon.

“I will take my leave now, thank you.” His head shook at you in a sassy way before he got up from the chair.

“Don’t be a baby.” You could use some more help. Especially, with reaching your room.

His laugh erupted in the room as his arms hung loosely at his sides. “I’m just gonna get you some clothes for a change. I’ll be right back.” He tapped you on the shoulder before leaving the medbay, making you stay alone with your thoughts.

They did not waste time swarming your head again like hornets.

You had passed out. Maybe those headaches had been more serious than you'd thought. But there was nothing in the scans. You hadn’t suffered any head injury.

It did not make sense.

But one thing was sure, you needed rest. Exhaling loudly, you let your eyes fall closed.

Whatever was happening, it would figure itself out. You had worse problems—one called Natasha.

You had way too much free time at hands. Fury had heard about the gym incident and immediately had put you off any upcoming missions for the next two weeks.

That quickly had changed into a month when you’d tried to argue with him. You’d hoped Sharon would’ve helped you with convincing Nick, but she’d been worse than him, not wanting to even listen to your great ideas and excuses.

Her stance had been clear and firm, no budging possible. As much as it’d made you annoyed, you couldn’t have helped the smile on your face at how much she’d reminded you of Peggy.

You were proud of her. And she was making sure you would stay away from danger while sick.

So, you decided to drink your ‘sickness’ away at the common area’s bar. Tony would have to restock everything since bottle after bottle kept going empty in your hands.

You were not sure why you were doing this to yourself. Alcohol did not have much effect on you. Your powers altered your DNA to the point that things like aging and getting drunk were irrelevant—different.

Maybe it was the taste that made you keep going. Or maybe the tiny spark of hope that—at one point—it would start working.

“Hey.” Your head turned to the voice, ready to greet whoever was coming before you saw the person’s face.

A grunt passed your lips before the bottle connected with them again as you looked straight at the bar, the liquor pouring down your throat when you tilted your head back.

“You might want to slow down.” The brunette chuckled out upon seeing all the empty bottles, but you sensed the nervousness in the tone as she took steps toward you.

Her words were not appreciated, making you give her a side eye before taking another sip.

She quickly cleared her throat as her fingers fiddled anxiously. “I heard that uh—” Her voice cut off as she swallowed. “—you were rushed to the medbay.”

She sounded cautious, unsure, like she did not know what was okay to say and what would make your anger unleash on her.

Your head slowly turned to her, raising an eyebrow as the bottle clinked against the marble bartop.

“I don’t need your pity.” Your eyes squinted at her. “You can go back to not giving a shit for all I care.” Your bored voice was muffled by the glass pressing against your mouth as you took another gulp of alcohol.

She could save herself—and you—time by leaving you alone. You hadn’t needed her company before and did not need it now.

Her stance faltered, gaze dropping to the floor as she pulled on her sleeve. You could see how her mouth dropped open, her tongue pressing against her bottom teeth before she clicked it.

You stopped yourself from reacting, but it surprised you when she slowly took a seat next to you. Her fingers held the sleeves as she put her hands on the bartop.

“Do you have one more?” Her voice sounded small, like she was scared to say anything to you, pointing at the bottle in your hand.

Your eyes studied her for a second as she stared at you. It was different. No usual malice behind them. You sucked in your cheeks before reaching over the bar and grabbing a bottle.

You handed it to her without a word, her hand wrapping around the item gently.

Despite the silence, you did not feel awkward. But frankly, you had enough of feeling out of place for no other reason than somebody disliking you.

“How do you feel—”

“What do you want, Wanda?” You did not have time for whatever game she wanted to play this time.

You were tired, annoyed—and pretty hopeless. Your life had been in shambles for the last few weeks. It was not necessary to add more to it.

As much as you kept repeating that it was Natasha’s choice, it hurt. The pain felt like never before. If you counted all the headaches and whatnots, it’d been quite miserable.

Her finger tapped against the glass as she stared at it. “I want to say I’m sorry.” Her eyes moved to you as her lips formed into a tight-lipped pout. “I was horrible to you and had started all of this—animosity.” Her jaw popped as she clenched it.

It genuinely surprised you. You did not expect her to apologize or take accountability—to do anything really.

The look on her face seemed like she tried to hold herself together while she stared blankly ahead.

“If I hadn’t attacked you at the airport, it could’ve gone differently.” She nodded, but more to herself than you. “What Nat said was unacceptable.”

Your throat tightened before you swallowed harshly. “I don’t really want to—”

“I’m sorry for that.” She quickly cut you off as her voice wavered. You looked at her confused with a tilted head.

“It’s not your apology to make.” The corners of your mouth tugged up before falling as your eyes blinked quickly. “And I don’t care anymore anyway.”

Your dismissal was followed by the bottle of alcohol pressing against your mouth as you took a long swing.

“That’s not true.” Her voice was gentle, but the words ticked you off, making your features switch quickly.

“And how can you know how I feel?” You almost seethed out at her, letting the anger get the best of you.

You could not help it. This topic was not your favorite and continuing it only made you more frustrated.

“Because I don’t know if I would survive if she did that to me.” Her fingers curled around the sleeve before she pulled it up, revealing her mark.

The words were glowing, letters spelling the same name as on your wrist.

You stared in shock. This whole time, you had thought their relationship was of convenience. That Natasha had lied just to get rid of you.

“I—” Your gaping was so intense it could be considered impolite at this point. “But—” You quickly rolled up your sleeve, seeing the same name.

The glow was still there but dimmer than before.

“I don’t know how it’s possible.” The brunette let out, sounding like she tried not to cry. “It’s the only thing I could think about for the last few weeks, but I have no answers.” Her shoulders shrugged as she smiled sadly at you before letting out a dry chuckle.

It did not make any sense. Two people with the same bond, the same person. It went against everything you knew about the soulmate bond—which was not much—but you did not expect this out of all things.

“I want you to know that I am really sorry for everything I’ve said and done.” Her eyes looked sincerely into yours as she spoke softly, her body turning to you on the barstool. “I would like to start over if you’ll have me.” It sounded almost like a whisper as she stared at you warily.

You were not sure what to say. Should you agree? Or was it better to stay away from her?

It was not very smart to have enemies on your team. She also seemed genuinely apologetic.

But what if she wanted a relationship now only because of the marks?

“Is it because of this?” You pointed at your wrist, then hers. It would not surprise you if that was her goal.

You were not sure what to trust anymore.

Her tongue poked out to wet her lips. “I would want to understand what and why it happened.” Ah, of course. “But it’s optional.” Your eyebrow raised in question as she raised her gaze to you. “I want to get to know you.” Her green eyes staring deeply into your blue ones. “Not the person I thought I knew you were.”

To say you were caught off guard was not enough. This entire day had been a surprise.

But this—this whole conversation—it was the biggest one.

You had a choice to make. You had to choose wisely. But you already knew the answer as you let a small smile break on your lips.

“You don’t do friendly fire, do you?” Her laughter erupted around the place as she threw her head back.

You stared at her scrunched up face as she kept smiling, finally feeling good for the first time in weeks as your grin widened.

It had been great three weeks since you had made amends with Wanda. She had been nicer and attentive. Her presence brought a smile to your face instead of anger now.

She would always greet you with a ‘good morning’ and save a gym session to have one with you.

It felt good. It felt better. It finally felt like you did not have to fight for your life every second of every day.

Minus the times you would come across the redhead. You noticed the tension between the two women. It was hard not to. You were positive everyone from the special forces team had noticed it by now.

Their conversations around the team were rare or only a few words would be exchanged. You hadn’t tried to press the topic with Wanda, deciding that she would tell you whenever she was ready and wanted to do so.

“You’re not coming?” The woman in question came up to you with a confused face.

Her eyebrows were scrunched as she loosely gestured to you with her hand.

“Nope.” You replied from your seat, holding a book as you stared up at her. “I’m on house arrest for one more week.” Your eyes widened with your eyebrows raising as your sassy tone made Sam and Bucky snort in the corner of the living area.

It had been a pain in your ass not to be able to go on any missions. You had felt useless, just wandering around the building, trying to get to recruits’ training sessions before Sharon would find you and kick you out.

She had let you help her with paperwork, saying over and over how much trouble she could’ve gotten into if Fury had noticed.

But it was only one more week now. You could do it.

“But—” Wanda struggled to find words—or more like excuses as she pouted. “Your powers would come in really handy on this one.”

“Don’t they always?” Your smirk made her eyes roll before she crossed her arms.

Your eyes slowly averted from her and back to the book when she did the scary head tilt you had come to find out was more serious than you had thought.

“I’ll see you later then.” Her fingers flicked your forehead before she turned around and started walking away.

“No friendly fire!” You shouted after her, reminding her of the conversation at the bar.

You heard her laughter as it slowly faded away in the hallway.

This was torture. Worse than staying at home. You were attacked from every side with blasting guns, but you were not allowed to use your powers.

Doctor Cho had recommended restraining yourself from doing it as much as possible—which to Fury meant no powers at all.

You wanted to bang your head against the nearest tree in frustration as another blast landed next to you.

“You assholes!” You yelled out, dragging out the word and unleashing bullets with clenched teeth like a maniac.

It did not last long when the clicking sound reached your ears, making you realize that the magazine was out.

You tried to quickly change it, but it would not budge, making you anxious as you saw enemy agents running in your direction.

You were in deep shit, making peace with the fact it would be your last seconds on this earth unless you broke Fury’s orders.

But when you saw red cloud surrounding each agent, lifting them up from the ground before they flew miles away from you, you knew there would be no need to break anything.

“Do you have a death wish?” Wanda landed next to you, looking at you like you were crazy.

“I can’t use my powers.” Your head leaned forward as you quickly gestured to yourself, still holding the gun. Your head was shaking as a grumpy look took over your features.

The brunette, however, stared at you blankly, not believing how stupid you sounded.

“Unless in danger, Riley, in danger like five seconds ago.” Her eyes rolled at you as she groaned to herself, but you caught a small smile creeping up on her face.

“Wow, now you work for two?” That was before both of your heads whipped to a familiar voice, causing Wanda’s happy expression to quickly disappear. “I didn’t know you liked to pick up slack.”

The redhead’s words cut through the air as she stared at her girlfriend before glancing at you with a tensed jaw.

Wanda’s body visibly went stiff as she stood straighter, gritting her teeth slightly.

The comment had to hit a nerve, had to be personal, judging by the brunette’s reaction.

“Only for the useless ones I guess.” She bit back, making your lips roll in as she jabbed at the redhead’s words from a few months ago during the argument you and Natasha had had.

You knew she did not mean to insult you. She did not think of you like that.

Wanda’s eyes did not leave the other woman as the brunette started walking, passing the redhead whose eyes were trained on you now.

“So kind.” She mumbled, her tongue poking out as it ran across her bottom lip.

You felt uncomfortable the longer she stared at you like at an animal. But a breath of relief escaped your mouth when she quickly turned around and followed after Wanda.

You just wanted to be back home and rest—far away from the drama.

The redhead’s mood had gotten even worse when you and Wanda had started spending more time together.

Daily walks full of anything-and-everything conversations had been the highlight of your day as you had both laughed more than ever.

Every week, you’d had a movie night together, popcorn and drinks necessary as Wanda threw it at the screen, booing whenever someone would do something dumb.

You’d helped her with cleaning it up after, causing a popcorn fight that would escalate to a pillow one.

It’d been going great.

For the most part.

“Riley!” Your body almost froze in place upon hearing the voice. This was a very bad moment for her to see you. “Where are you going?”

The brunette ran up to you quickly with a smile as you tried not to give away your nervousness.

“To uh—” Your mind was completely blank. There was nothing you could come up with. “I have to talk to Doctor Cho.” You decided to say the truth.

Or some of it.

“Oh.” Her face scrunched up cutely as the gears in her head were visibly turning. “I’ll go with you.”

Well, shit.

“I don’t wanna waste your time—”

“Nonsense.” You did not even have a second to react when she hooked her arm over yours before pulling you to the medbay. “I have all the time in the world with you.”

She laughed at her own joke, making you chuckle anxiously. You sounded stupid, causing you to clear your throat before smiling.

This could go either very well or very badly.

You hoped the first option would work. For your own good.

“Riley, hello.” Doctor Cho’s voice caused your head to turn. “How can I help?”

She gestured for you to sit on one of the beds as she pulled up a chair for herself. You followed the instructions as she put on gloves.

“I just wanted to uh—” Your eyes went to the brunette, causing them to connect with hers as she sent you a warm smile. “—to do the check-up from the last time.” You were choosing your words carefully due to Wanda’s presence.

There was something you did not tell her about. It was not that important—or so you had told yourself.

“Of course!” Doctor Cho grabbed your head, putting slight pressure in different spots. “Did you have any headaches or dizziness? Any other symptoms?”

She seemed focused on you. Just like Wanda. Maybe the witch was too focused when you glanced at her just to see her watching you like a hawk.

It made your anxiety spike as you swallowed thickly.

“Um, no?” You wanted to slap yourself for how it came out. Both women’s eyebrows raised in question. “Besides a small thing.” Doctor Cho stopped for a second as she looked into your eyes, waiting for you to continue. “Very tiny, actually.” Your anxious laughter did not make it better. “I had a nosebleed a few months ago.”

Your fast words were not fast enough for Wanda to miss them. You could tell that by the way her eyebrow raised to her hairline as she folded her arms over her chest.

“Huh.” Doctor Cho let out in thought while your eyes fell down just to see Wanda’s hip jut out. “The scans from the last two check-ups were fine.”

You only nodded, your eyes jumping from the brunette who was clearly unhappy with you to anything else in the room.

“Have you met your soulmate?” Doctor Cho suddenly asked, her expression serious.

“I did.” You said with a lowered gaze as you bit your bottom lip. “But I was kind of—dismissed if I can say so.”

“That could be the cause of your sickness.” Your confused face made the woman fix her glasses before folding her hands. “Any type of rejection of the bond can cause physical illness. It’s possible you are experiencing all these symptoms because your bond is weakening.” If that was true, somebody needed to make new rules. “Our bonds are tied to us, their strength determines our health.”

You were sick because somebody did not want you.

It definitely had to be the craziest news you’d ever heard.

You were still in quite a shock after leaving the medbay. You did not even remember getting to the living room area. Maybe because you could barely wrap your head around what you had just been told.

Or maybe because of the silence that surrounded you during the entire walk as Wanda hadn’t said a word to you.

“How could you not tell me?” Until now. “I thought we were friends, that we were good now.” She was pacing in front of you as you were sitting on the couch.

“We are—”

“Are we?” Her voice was laced with hurt as she looked at you upset, stopping her movements.

It made guilt spark in you. But it had happened shortly after the gym incident. You hadn’t been that close back then.

“Come here.” You gestured for her to take a seat next to you as your body tilted inward

Her grumpy expression almost made you chuckle before she took a seat next to you, her arms folding over her chest.

“I’m sorry for not telling you.” Your words were sincere as she sighed out exaggeratedly. “I promise it won’t happen again.” Her eyes connected with yours, jumping between them as her grumpiness started slowly fading away. “I will give you my medical history as a Christmas gift.”

Her scoff quickly changed into laughter as she looked away from you. Your mouth spread into an open-mouthed smile, watching her head being thrown back before turning back to you.

“You are so stupid.” She playfully smacked your arm as you chuckled louder. Pulling her leg up on the couch, she turned her body to you, leaning against the back. Her face turned grim quickly before she put her hand on yours as it rested on your lap. “I’m sorry she’s causing all of this.”

Your eyebrows scrunched in confusion before the realization dawned on you. “Oh.” Your other arm landed on the back of the couch as your head leaned on your palm. “It’s—whatever.” You smiled at her lightly. “A small hiccup.”

Her lips pressed together as she pulled them in, giving your hand a small squeeze. Her green eyes were staring into yours in silence and you noticed how there was a hint of blue in them.

The dim light of the room lit up her face as the darkness was peaking through the windows. It was nice—content. Your lips were shaped into a warm smile as none of you said a word.

Her expression was soft when her lips parted, causing your eyes to drop to them without thinking. Your heartbeat picked up when her fingers curled, scratching your hand lightly.

Her breath shuddered, making you quickly look back up just to see her gaze directed lower than your line of sight.

You were frozen in place, not knowing what to do or what was happening. But it felt good—and wrong at the same time.

You did not even notice your heads had gotten closer until you could feel her breath on your face.

“Um.” You cleared your throat, quickly turning your head to the side as Wanda’s body immediately leaned back with her gaze snapping to the floor. “Do you want anything to drink?”

The seat felt hot, making you get up quickly as you went up to the bar.

“Uh—I—” You heard her stutter. But you were glad, it gave you time to cool down as you breathed quickly to calm down. “Sure, why not.” She finally said, making you grab two cans of soda.

This was wrong. She was with Natasha, her soulmate—your soulmate.

The thoughts started plaguing your mind as you sat back on the couch, putting some space between as you scootched into the corner.

She took the can with a smile, but avoided your eyes as she popped it open.

This time, the silence felt weird until she grabbed a remote and turned on the TV, surfing through the channels and stopping on a random movie.

You did not waste time getting indulged in it. Anything was better than facing what had just happened.

Everything had seemed to be slow, but you were not sure when the things escalated. Was it even a correct word? Did anything escalate?

Maybe it was only in your head. Maybe she had caught your gaze dropping to her lips. It could’ve made her uncomfortable.

It was wrong. You could not have this happen again. You did not want to ruin this friendship.

Not again.

It seemed the brunette wanted to make it even easier for you as she had barely talked to you in the next week or two.

You hadn’t been keeping track of time too much when Fury had started sending you on more missions.

But it’d been impossible not to notice that Wanda had been trying to get out of spending time with you.

You felt horrible. It only proved the voices in your head that you had fucked everything up by the small action.

Your eyes had done it on instinct. The movement had caught your attention. You hadn’t intended to make her uncomfortable.

It was too late for intentions now.

She’d been acting weird, still having small-talks with you, but the change was big enough for you to fall into the spiral of thoughts.

“Hi.” You said quietly, taking a spot next to Wanda as she stood at the countertop next to the dryer. You made sure to be cautious with the distance and movements, not wanting to scare her away.

Her body visibly tensed for a second before relaxing, sparing you a short glance as you put your clothing into the washing machine.

“Hey.” She replied shortly, letting the silence hang around you two as she kept folding her clothes.

The awkwardness could not be worse. You wanted to just leave, but you had to show her your actions were strictly friendly.

You didn’t want her to think you wanted to break up her relationship with Natasha. They had enough problems as it seemed.

“Do you want to grab coffee today?” Your eyes did not dare to go anywhere near the brunette’s face, focusing solely on the clothes before you closed the machine.

She halted her movements, finally looking at you for longer than five seconds. But she stayed quiet for even longer than that, making you suck in your lips as you pressed the buttons.

You should’ve left her alone—

“Sure.” The speed with which your eyes snapped to her in surprise could not be stopped.

You quickly composed yourself, feeling relief and joy at her agreement as she smiled at you warmly.

Maybe not everything was ruined.

After that day, it had gotten better—back to normal.

She was not trying to get away from you like you were a disease anymore.

Which was a huge plus. Your self-esteem had definitely gotten better again.

Now, you were just jamming to songs while sorting out your DVDs with movies in the common area. It had been such a nice and peaceful day.

The first one in a long time.

“Show me your wrist.” Your eyebrows scrunched in complete confusion as you stared at the tall bookshelf in front of you.

Were you hearing voices? What the hell was happening?

“Riley!” A hand connected with your shoulder, causing you to jump in fear.

“Oh, shit!” You let out, breathing heavily as your wide eyes stared at Wanda. “Don’t scare me like that.”

She did not seem to care as she stared at you with a serious face, her features were tensed.

“Show me your wrist.” Her request was puzzling to you.

Your wrist? She had seen your wrist a million times.

“For what?” The question made her nostrils flare as your head tilted.

She was being weird. Not like a few weeks ago, but still weird.

“Just show me.” Her impatience was showing as she stared at your forearm in anticipation.

Whatever was going on, you were not sure if you wanted to know.

“Fine, but why?” You said, rolling up your sleeve and revealing the name on your skin.

There was nothing new. Still the person who wanted to have nothing to do with you. The only difference was how dim the glow had become, barely visible at this point.

Like you would’ve never met your soulmate in the first place.

The brunette gaped at it, her eyes wide as she stood frozen in her spot. She wasn’t saying anything, she wasn’t doing anything—just staring.

“Wanda?” Something had to happen. Her features turned into anxiety as her breathing staggered.

“I gotta go!” And just like that, she turned around and scurried away.

“Wanda!” You called out, but she was gone in a second like a ghost, leaving you alone and confused.

She had been gone for the rest of the day. It was impossible to find her anywhere. Assuming she had probably left the building, you had gone back to your things and training.

You had visited Doctor Cho for one more check-up, stating that the dizziness and headaches had been pretty much gone by now.

There hadn’t been any other accidents as well.

She had cleared you and had assured you she would let Fury know you were now completely healthy and able to use your powers.

You were on the way to your room after receiving the good news, smiling broadly to yourself.

You could finally go back to doing all kinds of missions, not just stake-out ones.

Loud screaming snapped you out of your happy humming, your head raising in concern as you stared down the hall.

The voices were so muffled you had no idea who it could be. But it sounded serious. Your walk resumed, the yelling becoming louder until it was clear to you it was coming from Wanda and Natasha’s room.

“I’m done!” The door whipped open, causing you to stumble back as the redhead came into your view. Your wide eyes met her furious ones when she turned around to leave.

You were genuinely scared and flabbergasted when her features hardened at you, her finger raising and pointing at you angrily.

“You always have to fuck everything up, don’t you?!” Her words were laced with venom before she stormed off.

Your gaze froze in place, trying to understand what the hell just happened. Fuck everything up? What could you have possibly done to her? You’d been avoiding each other like fire for months.

Shaking your head, you took a cautious step forward, your fingers placed on the door as you pushed it to open fully.

“Wanda?” You saw the woman sitting on the bed, her head in her hands.

She jumped up upon hearing your voice, her face looked terrified as she stared wide-eyed at your bewildered face.

The room looked like a mess as your eyes slowly skimmed around it. You were convinced a hurricane had gone through it a couple of times.

When your gaze raised to the brunette, you caught how she quickly pulled on her sleeve, holding it in place, making your eyebrows scrunch even more than before.

“What is going on?” She stood quietly, sniffling to herself. “Come on, Wands, we’ve known each other for over half a year.” You didn’t want her to feel attacked, but you could not help without knowing what was happening.

She fiddled with the material of her clothing, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth as anxiety colored her features.

Finally, she grabbed the sleeve before slowly moving it up.

Your eyes widened in shock when you realized what she was showing you. Immediately, you went up to the bed before taking a seat as you felt like your legs would give out at any moment.

You had expected everything but this. How was it possible? It could not be. The universe was messing with you—with your head.

It had to be a mistake.

But you could not stop staring at Wanda’s wrist, your name glowing brightly on it as she stood in front of you with a rolled-up sleeve.

Nothing made sense to you anymore. The soulmate could change? How would that even be possible, it was supposed to be the special bond between people.

Unchangeable, unbreakable.

But you knew better than anyone else now how the ‘unbreakable’ part worked. Your soulmate didn't want you.

“How—” You uttered out in disbelief, your hands pointing at the letters, but nothing else managed to come out of your mouth.

“I don’t know.” The brunette let out in a breath. Her tear-stained cheeks almost broke you when your gaze went up to hers.

She looked distraught, heartbroken, and tired. You could only assume how much of a toll the argument had taken on her. You did not have to guess what it was about.

Now, Natasha’s words made more sense than before. You could not blame her for being angry, but there was nothing you could’ve done to make the mark change.

You had no idea it could be done in the first place.

“Is this why—” Your thoughts went back to the interaction you had with the brunette earlier today. “—why you asked to see my wrist?”

She sniffled, nodding in confirmation. Her eyes were completely focused on her fiddling fingers.

“I thought maybe you had mine.” She said, wiping her nose as she looked up. “I needed an explanation, a reason.” She continued, her voice wavering as she tried to stop tears from coming out. “But when I saw it was the same, I just—” She paused, taking a deeper breath. “I didn’t know what to do.”

She quickly took a seat next to you. Her eyes were red as she covered them with her palms before sliding her hands to her head.

“She broke up with me.” The raspiness of her voice made the words that much sadder as breath caught in your throat in shock.

You felt terrible for Wanda. She was a great friend when she didn’t actively try to make your life miserable. Under all those layers of hatred she’d had for you was a sweet and helpful person.

You hated that this was happening to her.

But you could understand Natasha’s point of view. The amount of betrayal she probably felt right now was unimaginable.

Your arms went around the brunette, her body pressing to your front as she laid her head under your chin.

“Don’t worry.” Your hand rubbed her back as she shook in your arms, the silent cries spilled from her mouth again, making tears flood down her face. “We will figure it out.”

You hadn’t left her side since then. Two months had passed, full of you supporting and entertaining Wanda.

She had been miserable for the first two weeks, only crying into your shirt multiple times a day. Anything that had reminded her of Natasha made tears spill from her eyes like a waterfall.

The redhead had been like a ghost. You had barely seen her around, wondering how possible it would be for a person to be invisible like that.

It had become clearer when Sam had told you she had buried herself in missions, begging Fury to give her the longest ones.

You’d felt sorry for her, but you had noticed that the space Natasha had put between her and Wanda had worked well.

At the three-week mark, the brunette finally started smiling and replying to your jokes. You had almost forgotten how her laughter sounded until she had burst out one night when you’d watched sitcoms.

Her lit up face could not have looked cuter and better than in that moment.

After a month, she had wanted to go for walks again, get ice cream, or a pizza from your favorite place.

She was almost back to normal—or as normal as one could be after a break-up.

She had been more playful, more focused during training sessions, and bolder.

You had helped her the best you could without crossing a line. You wouldn’t want to make her uncomfortable or scare her away.

So, you had kept your distance while being as supportive as possible. You knew she still loved Natasha. As much as she had tried to avoid the topic recently, it was clear she still had feelings for her.

She also stopped being anxious, finding peace as she indulged in reading again.

Just like right now.

A romance book was in her hands as she curled up in an armchair. A blanket thrown over her as her eyes skimmed over the words.

You were sitting in the same room, trying to figure out a good way to describe your last mission. Fury needed it for the debrief meeting that would be in two days.

The pen was banging against your head as it stayed empty, being unable to come up with anything good.

You despised this part of your job. It was stupid and useless—to you.

There were only so many ways you could talk about infiltrating enemy’s bases and bad guys attacking you.

Fury had always given you a look whenever the description had sounded too familiar. You would simply use the same one over and over again whenever it applied.

So, he had told you that this one would not be accepted if he saw anything similar to the previous ones.

You glanced at Wanda, hoping she would be finishing her romance story sometime soon and possibly help you with this nonsense.

But when you saw her focused expression, you could only sigh to yourself hopelessly.

The pen pressed against your lips before you started clicking it. There was nothing your brain could make up. Nothing new. The old versions were running through your head like a horse race.

It was the dumbest thing—

“Do you not like me?” Your body jumped in fear when the brunette harshly slammed her book closed.

Your wide eyes snapped to her in horror before you realized there was no danger. Not yet, at least.

“Uh, what?” You asked her, not hearing her words from how much you almost shat your pants at the sudden sound.

“Do you—” She repeated slowly, her eyes looking into yours in determination. “—not like me?”

The question almost made your eyes roll from how much it seemed to melt your brain. There was not a single thought in your head as you fell into a hole of confusion.

“Not like you?” You said again, making Wanda nod, as you hoped to understand her thinking process. “I do, we’re friends.” You spluttered out.

You had no idea whether the answer was correct or not. No matter how many times you repeated her words in your head, you could not understand what was the reason for her question.

Of course, you liked her. You would not spend your time with her if you did not consider her at least a friend.

“Ugh.” She groaned, her legs untangling as she pushed herself up from her seat, the blanket falling on the armchair. “That’s not what I meant.” Her mumble puzzled you even more as she walked to one of the shelves and put her book away.

It wasn’t?

Your eyebrows pulled together as you stared blankly ahead. Snapping out of the trance, you blinked rapidly as your eyes focused on the woman.

“W-well, then.” You got up from your seat. “What did you mean?” You hoped she would just tell you instead of having you figure it out.

You already guessed once and it was incorrect.

“Do you not like me?” Her body whipped around, facing you as you saw signs of frustration on her features. “Like me?”

Like her?

She sounded so confusing and weird.

Why wouldn’t you like—

Oh.

Oh.

“Why do you care if I do or not?” You asked from pure curiosity, your lips turning into an open-mouthed smile. But you were not happy. You were anxious.

The flashback from that moment on the couch came back to you, remembering how she had been acting right after, making you gulp.

“Because!” She groaned, throwing her arms up. “Is it something about me?” Her hand pressed between her breasts as she pointed at herself, making your eyes lower there involuntarily before you swallowed thickly. “Is it because of what I’d done at the beginning?”

You almost got whiplash from how your head shook at the sudden question. “What? No.” The words ran out of your mouth.

“Then what? Am I too ugly for you?” Her voice sounded like she was about to get offended, her eyebrow raising at you in challenge.

“No!”

“Too short? Too skinny?” She kept questioning, trying very hard to find out the reason. “Is it because of my powers?”

“No, Wanda.” You denied again, your palms pressing against your forehead as you rubbed your eyebrows while she kept throwing her arms around.

“Then what?” She took a step forward, her features hardening, but it was only a mask. You could see the uncertainty, the doubt, and the nervousness. “Because you keep saying no, and you keep doing nothing while I’m losing my mind for you—” Your eyes widened. She was what? “—getting your freaking name on my wrist from—” She was gradually getting more frustrated as her voice sounded stern and grounded at the same time. “—all the thoughts about how it would feel to have your lips on mine, but they never—”

You finally managed to shut her up, doing exactly what she wanted. Your lips almost smashed into hers, causing her body to tense for a second before you felt it relax.

Your mouth moved slowly against hers as you lifted your hand to her face. Gently cupping her jaw, you moved her face closer as she fisted the front of your shirt.

It was soft, delicate—perfect. You took your time kissing her and she did not seem to mind when both her hands went to your sides, lightly grasping at your clothing.

Both of your hands held her face as you both kept going, her sighs being swallowed by you as she tilted her head a bit.

You never felt anything like this before. It was strong despite how gentle you both were. You did not want to stop. It was consuming you, your head screaming for more.

You could keep her lips on yours forever.

You loved—

“Sss.” You hissed, causing the kiss to break as your face scrunched in pain. “What the—” Your eyes dropped to your wrist where you felt the sharp stinging.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Wanda's frantic questions were not enough to tear your gaze away as you stared down in shock. “Riley?”

She asked again in confusion before dropping her eyes to your wrist. She became quiet as a gasp escaped her mouth.

Your wrist was glowing brightly like never before, the letters spelling her name where Natasha’s used to be.

“I—” She stuttered out in surprise, but nothing else managed to come out.

Your eyes went up to hers as a smile crept up on your lips.

“I’m a bit late to the party, but still attended.” Your joke made the brunette huff in amusement. “But—” Her happy face changed quickly at the word as you licked your lips. “We need to figure this out.” You looked at her seriously. “With Nat.”

Her mouth formed into a thin line as anxiety took over her again. But she nodded, letting a small smile appear on her face.

“With Nat.”

You and Wanda had decided to take things slow. You didn’t want to jump into it just because your wrists said so. You had no idea how stable the soulmate bonds actually were after witnessing the name-change first-hand.

Flinging it into Natasha’s face also wouldn’t be the nicest thing to do, so you kept everything private. It hadn’t gone further than stealing kisses here and there.

You both were adamant about finding out the cause of what had happened. Wanda’s guilt was making itself more and more known whenever Natasha’s name came up.

The brunette confessed she had feelings for you for a while. She did not want to admit them to herself, but after she had seen the way you’d looked at her lips, she could not help it anymore.

But she could not deny she still loved Natasha. Despite all the arguments and mysteries, she felt the redhead was still her soulmate—just like you.

It was clear to you Wanda was more than a friend to you ever since you had almost kissed her that night, but you hadn't wanted to get in between her and Nat.

But ever since the name on your wrist changed, you could not help but wonder if there still was a chance for the redhead to finally accept you.

You were done with insults, with avoiding each other. You wanted to be civil at least. At best, you hoped it would somehow work out for the three of you.

You finally got a chance to possibly start some progress when you caught the redhead sitting alone at night. She was in the secluded corner of the living room, separated by the wall.

One soft bench was placed against the wall as her face reflected in the window. Her eyes were blankly staring through it, knees up to her chin as she leaned her head on it.

She looked small.

Exhausted.

Lonely.

You debated for a second if disturbing her right now would be a good idea. Your gaze lowered to the ground as you licked your lips.

Letting out a deep breath, you took quiet steps in her direction, hoping with your whole heart she would not behead you.

“Hi.” Your quiet voice made her eyes look at you from their corner. She did not acknowledge you, staring back outside in silence.

But you noticed how her jaw tightened, her shoulders tensed, and her gaze hardened as she made sure not to look at you.

Without a word, you slowly came up to the bench and took a seat next to the redhead. Her arms circled her legs harder as she shifted in her spot.

“What do you want?” Her harsh tone did not make you falter or flinch. You expected that. “Did you come here to laugh in my face?” The bitterness made your lips twitch in sadness.

She still thought the same of you. But how could she not? All she knew about you was that you were her enemy.

“I came to talk.” You said softly.

Her scoff was followed by a dry laugh as she raised her eyes to the ceiling. “Cause our talks are so interesting.” Her head was shaking in amusement and irritation as she pressed her tongue against her bottom teeth.

You took a slow breath, trying not to let her negativity get in the way.

“They can be if you give me a chance.” Her eyes didn't budge until she turned her head to you. Her eyes were red, undoubtedly from crying and you felt your chest tighten at the thought. Your eyelids faltered as your mouth opened. “Please.”

She stared deeply into your eyes, her head started shaking as you saw the tremble of her chin. “You took everything from me.” She let out in a whisper. “You took her.” Her voice betraying her as a small cry slipped through.

Sniffling, she blinked quickly as her hands wiped her eyes. She was falling apart right in front of you, trying to hide it unsuccessfully.

The guilt started ripping through your heart as silence embraced both of you. She was right—to some extent—but you could not control someone else’s feelings. You could not control the bond.

Looking down, your eyes went to your covered wrist, calculating how badly it could go if she knew. Or if it would help her understand you were in an unknown territory just like she was.

“She has my name, yes.” The redhead huffed as another whimper attempted to rip through her throat. “But she had yours before.” Your fingers grasped at the sleeve, pulling it up slowly. “Just like I did.” Her face scrunched up in confusion before her gaze fell on your wrist.

She froze in place. Her breathing picked up as her wide eyes kept gaping at the letters on your skin.

She opened her mouth in shock. You could see the million questions running through her face that she wished to ask.

“I have no clue how it is possible.” You admitted to her, making her eyes jump to you. “Wanda and I have feelings for each other.” Her teeth clenched before she sucked in her cheeks as tears glossed over her eyes.

“But she still loves you.” Her mouth twitched. You were not certain if because she thought it was a lie or because she hoped it to be true. “And I’m sure we can find a way as well.” Your confidence was a long time coming. It had to be said. You wanted to believe that there was love for you two as well. That her name used to be engraved in your skin for a reason. “All I am asking is one chance.”

Her green, glossy eyes stared at your face, searching for something that only she knew. But you had nothing to hide, no reason to lie.

All you wanted was the truth. You wanted to show her the real you and for her to stop hiding behind a mask.

The way her facade faltered as she breathed in with a shudder made you look at her hopefully.

Her eyes softened before her chin scrunched as her shoulders shook, letting her tears flow down her cheeks.

She looked at you differently now. Very differently as she stood in front of you, ready to punch you right in the face.

“You’re just gonna stand like a grandma?” Her taunting made the side of your mouth raise for a second.

Your eye twitched before squinting. She really had a way with words.

It’d been an hour of this already. You had enough. You wanted to go eat.

“No.” You replied. “But you’re gonna be lying on the ground like one soon.” The smirk on your face made the redhead’s head tilt before she pounced on you.

Your forearms went up, shielding your body from an incoming hit. She swung her arm, trying to hit from the side, but you quickly blocked it before turning your body and grabbing her other arm.

Turning your back to her, you pulled her front flash against you before throwing her over your shoulder. She tried to slide from under you, but you were faster, blocking her legs while positioning yourself on top of her.

In the end, your strength was too much.

Your breathing was heavy as it finally gave you some rest.

“Seems like I won.” Your cocky tone made her scoff loudly.

Her raised head fell on the mat as you let go of her limbs, letting her arms lie flat above her.

“Whatever.” She tried to get up, but you didn’t let her, putting more of your body weight on her.

“Ah, ah.” You let out, looking at her with raised eyebrows. She was forgetting something. “I think you owe me a thing or two.”

Her eyes rolled at your stupid smile before a grin spread on her lips. You did not wait any longer before leaning down and connecting them with yours.

You would never get enough of this. They always felt so soft, no matter how roughly she kissed you.

Her arms went up to wrap around your neck as she pulled you closer, forcing you to put your hands on each side of her head to keep yourself up.

“Nat.” Your warning was met with a smirking face. “Not here.” Her hips did not stop moving against you, searching for friction.

“I thought you didn’t care where.” Your eyes rolled hard at her mocking tone, using your words from a few weeks ago against you now.

She had done it a lot in the last six months. It had taken time for you to get to a good spot, but once you had gotten there, it could not have been better.

The door to the gym opened with a gasp following immediately after.

“Are you guys trying to play without me?” Your entire head started rolling in exaggeration as the redhead laughed on the floor.

Sometimes, they could be a lot to handle. It did not mean you were unable to do it.

Standing up, you turned around to see offended Wanda as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her raised eyebrow and tilted head caused your playful plans to vanish instantly.

“She is.” You pointed at Natasha, throwing her under the bus faster than she could throw her knives.

A defensive sound came from her as she sat up on the floor, glaring at you playfully. “Count your days.”

“You would have to catch me first.” You looked over your shoulder as you walked to the door, sending her a cheeky smile. “Good luck with those short legs.”

Her gasp was so loud it bounced off the walls as Wanda laughed loudly.

The redhead did not waste time getting up before running at you and jumping on your back. You stumbled forward at the unexpected impact before grabbing her legs.

“Now, you have to carry me for being mean.” She declared, circling your neck with her arms as Wanda took the redhead’s water bottle.

The Sokovian came up to you as you sent her an amused smile that she returned, shaking her head at Natasha.

Your gaze drifted down to your exposed arms as you threw the redhead higher on your back.

A gentle grin spread on your lips as you stared at your wrists, both glowing brightly with the names of the women you had by your side.

Who would’ve known you could have two soulmates? You guessed that was what the second wrist was for. Because you were lucky like that.

All those travels, fights, tears, and struggles to get here.

The place where you belonged.

With your soulmates.