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winterghost soulmate au where the first thing your soulmate says to you is written on your wrist

ava hated her soulmate. well, no, she didn't. but if she ever crossed paths with them, she had a lot to say. an entire speech, actually – something that her soulmate probably can't relate to, because they'd only ever given her a single word. just a plain, simple “hello.”

bucky's mark, on the other hand, is the opposite: a full sentence, impossible to write off as coincidence, impossible to belong to anyone but her. “hi, i'm ava starr.”

a name and everything, like his soulmate wanted to leave him no room to doubt it. and once upon a time, he was grateful for it; it would certainly make finding her so much easier, and he thanked his soulmate for that. but then again, that was before everything.

they might both be broken people, but their traumas had the opposite effects on their views about the concept of soulmates.

pre-hydra bucky was a hopeless romantic. he treasured his mark. he searched brooklyn high and low, constantly asking around for an "ava starr," completely enamored with a girl he’d never even met. but then came the war. then came the train, then hydra, and decades of trauma and stolen autonomy. when bucky lost his left arm, he lost his only physical proof of her with it. there's no mark on a metal limb to catch his eye anymore, nothing forcing him to think about it.

and by the time he's himself again, he's not the same guy anymore. so he decided he doesn't get to want this. too much blood on his hands, too many things hydra used him to do. even though he still remembers her name, he convinces himself he doesn't deserve a soulmate anymore. a weapon shouldn't ruin a good person's life. he tells himself looking for her would just be dragging someone innocent into the wreckage of what he is. so he stops looking for her– not that it matters, no, not anymore. after all, it's been decades. his soulmate was probably long gone, or maybe moved on with their life.

ava, on the other hand, was heartbroken at first by how generic her mark was, because what's the point of a soulmate mark that could apply to literally anyone? but she adapted, she always did. she had to. she made it her personal rule to introduce herself to every single stranger with “hi, i'm ava starr.” she wanted to make sure her person recognizes her instantly. for someone whose body physically hurts to even exist and whose entire life was controlled by people who used her, her soulmark was her only anchor to sanity. it was her lifeline, the one thing hydra or shield couldn't tamper with. to her, it represents a promise written into the universe that somewhere out there, a person exists who is meant just for her. someone who won't view her as a weapon or an experiment. in a world full of pain, her soulmate is the one good thing she was allowed to have.

bucky doesn't remember, but during his time as the winter soldier, hydra used him to train a young, volatile ava. the very first moment she saw the masked assassin, she said her signature line: “hi, i'm ava starr.” but hydra's mind wipes were too deep. the words triggered no memory, and he never spoke a single word back to her.

back then, before the world hardened her into the ghost that she is, ava was full of hope. naive, even. when hydra put her under the winter soldier’s guard, she talked to him every single day. she was grateful for his presence, no matter how cold he was. he was ruthless during training: he threw her to the floor, forced her past her limits, and never offered a hand, but she knew. she could see it in his hollow, exhausted eyes. that unlike them, he didn't enjoy it. he didn't take pleasure in her suffering. but no matter how much she spoke, no matter how desperately she looked at him for a single sign of humanity, not once did he ever reply.

so imagine bucky’s surprise when, after capturing a rogue group of misfits and pulling up in his truck to arrest them, the first thing one of them says to him is:

“hi, i'm ava starr.”

bucky froze.

he looks at her, really looks at her, at her striking, fierce face, the face of someone far too precious to be dragged into his dark world, and decides right then and there that she deserves so much better than a broken murderer. so, swallowing back decades of longing, he keeps his voice completely flat, stares right through her, and gives her the only word he thinks he's allowed to say:

and ava is of course flustered at first because she very obviously has a crush on bucky (bucky, that oblivious idiot, doesn't know of course) and she overcompensates by being sassy until bucky actually starts flirting with her. as a joke, of course, don't be ridiculous.

they decide to team up because duh, bffs and hyper-escalate the flirting just to make yelena uncomfortable. yelena is losing her mind trying to figure out if she broke them or if they're playing her.

"Stormbreaker is not to be used as a scratching post!"

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Every year, we're so excited to share our prompts with you and look forward to all your beautiful creations that will fill the month of October with all the fluff 🥰 also, we're trying something new this year, so make sure to scroll all the way down and don't stop at the main list of 31 prompts or the usual list of alt prompts...😏

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