Everyone has a soulmate.
In the beginning, everyone was born with the first words their soulmate(s) says to them encircling their right wrist.
The bonds were strange.
Occasionally, you could feel what they felt when the feeling was strong.
And once you bonded…
You knew everything about that person.
Not necessarily everything they've done, but you just understood them.
You knew their habits, you knew how they were going to feel about something, you knew the way they would react in any situation.
You knew them.
It's why the Bible often used 'to know' in a sexual way.
Because that's how you bonded.
But, like most everything, humans messed that up.
Well… it wasn't entirely humans.
Odin looked down at the humans and was alarmed; Midgardians were evolving at a much faster rate than the Asgardians did, at this rate they would soon surpass them. But, why were they progressing so fast?
The bonds.
The bonds gave them strength to carry on, and once completed, made them very powerful.
So, the bonds must be stopped.
Odin taught all of Asgard that those Midgardian bonds were a disease and sent his sons down to Midgard to tell their followers that.
Loki even removed many of the bonds.
Quickly people began to marry others, disregarding the bonds entirely, and slowly weakening themselves.
Soon, children were born without a mark or a bond.
But, just because they didn't have marks or bonds didn't mean they didn't have a soulmate
And when Maria Stark was born, .1% of the population had marks.
And .1% of that had two.
.
"She was going to be one of the best!"
"I know… But, under these circumstances, we must not allow her to take part."
"She would've… She would've been a god."
"Now we see that she was not destined for that path."
"Oh, say it; she's destined to be a whore."
"… Return her to her father."
Maria's eyes flew open.
"Miss Stark, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Jarv, just a weird dream," Maria said, pulling her dark brown hair into a messy ponytail.
"Would you like me to inform Miss Potts of this?"
"No thank you," Maria said, smiling slightly and tumbling out of bed.
.
"Good morning," Maria smiled, Pepper looking up from her tablet.
"You're up before eleven," Pepper pointed out "Everything okay?"
"I went to bed at, like, nine," Maria lied, not wanting to get into her recurring dream.
"Mornin' Munchkin," Tony said, yawning as he ruffled Maria's hair.
"You're one to talk," Maria replied "I'm only an inch under white woman's average. Just like you."
"Shush," Tony replied, pouring himself some coffee.
.
"Come on, Maria!" Pepper called "Happy's ready to go!"
"Do I have too?" Maria complained.
"You ask that every time; has the answer ever once changed?" Pepper asked, before pulling Maria into a hug "I won't be here when you get back."
"I know. I'll see ya soon, though, right?" Maria asked, Pepper smiling.
"Of course."
.
"Miss Stark, I'm sorry, but we're going to have to address these issues sooner or later," Doctor Graham said apologetically, Maria sighing.
"Can I at least pick which one?"
"Of course."
It was quiet as Maria considered which trauma would be easier to delve into.
Easy; the one that wasn't as raw.
"I think I'd prefer the one from when I was younger," Maria said, Doctor Graham smiling and nodding "Although, there's really not much to tell."
"Tell me everything and we'll go from there."
"When I was four, both of my bonds were suddenly filled with… fear. Completely and utterly terrified, so much, that I had to stay bedridden for three days, and wait until they'd calm down enough that it didn't come through."
"What were the exact feelings you got?"
"Well, first, fear. Then some sadness mixed in. And then some resignation. Then…" Maria frowned "Abject hatred."
"Hatred of what?"
"Not sure… Whoever put them in that situation?"
"That's pretty heavy for a four year old."
"Yeah… They're a bit older than me. I can feel it sometimes."
"Do you get feelings from them often?"
"Not really… whenever I feel strongly about something, enough that it passes through, I get this sudden wave of affection from the both of them."
"Any feeling?"
"Once I was super mad because of a comment about, um, Theresa, and I punched him… And I got a huge hit of love," Maria said, smiling slightly at the memory.
"You punched someone over a comment about Theresa?" Doctor Graham regretted her question when Maria suddenly closed off.
"I'm nowhere near ready to talk about that."
.
"Go well?" Happy asked on the drive back to the tower.
"Guess so," Maria replied.
"Do you… Do you talk about Theresa with her?" Happy asked, his eyes flicking back in the rearview mirror.
"Nope."
.
Maria slid into her spot in the middle of the classroom.
"Hey, Mari!"
"You know I hate that nickname," Maria replied, smiling over as her friend slid into the seat beside her.
"Yeah, well, I don't care," Jade replied "You do the homework?"
"Yep," Maria said smugly, Jade rolling her eyes.
"Hey, some of us have jobs and social lives."
"Doesn't homework come before social life?"
"They give you special treatment!" Jade replied, changing arguments.
"I'm under the name Jarvis."
"I think their more likely to recognize other parts of you than your name," Jade teased lightly before she noticed the smile on Maria's face had slipped away as she looked away, clearing her throat.
"Crap, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinkin-." Jade started.
"No, it's alright," Maria said, smiling reassuringly.
.
"I'm back!" Maria said, flinging her stuff onto the couch "And I'm here to give congratulations!"
"I'm here to receive," Tony replied, looking away from the files that were pulled up.
"What're those?" Maria asked, looking at the files; four different people.
"Some dumb thing I'm supposed to consult on," Tony said, rolling his eyes "Now, where are my congratulations?"
"Congrats on being the first entirely clean energy building!" Maria said grandly, falling back on the couch "Though, I must dock points for the fact it is nowhere near being done. Can I have some champagne?"
"Nope," Tony replied, turning back to his files.
"Why not? You were allowed to drink when you were fourteen. Although, I take it all back if that means I'm going to turn out like you."
"Rude."
.
Loki sneered in disgust as he tried to control one of the many SHIELD agents and was unable to.
"Diseased scum."
He then placed the staff against the mark on the agent's arms, causing them to fade away and the bond to be broken.
.
"Yeah. That's just previews, this is...this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tail diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered-!" Tony paused, feeling his heart fill with dread "Son of a bitch; Maria."
.
"Lady Stark," Loki said smoothly, Maria giving a stiff nod.
"Loki?"
"You've heard of me," Loki said, smiling.
"What do you want?"
"Your world," Loki said, holding her chin lightly to lift her head "But do not worry, Daughter of Stark, all I desire from you is leverage."
"You're going to use me to stop my dad from fighting you," Maria sighed.
"Precisely," Loki said "I won't harm you as long as your father complies."
"Us Starks aren't that great at compliance," Maria said, wrenching her head away from Loki, who chuckled.
"You will be."
Then Loki placed his staff to Maria's chest.
Nothing.
Loki sneered.
"You carry the Midgardian virus."
"What?" Maria asked, worried.
"The marks and bonds; no Asgardian or otherwise carry those, yet a select group of Migardians do."
"That doesn't make it a disease," Maria protested.
"A cleanse must come first."
"I don't like the sound of that," Maria said before Loki grabbed her wrist, shoving her sleeve up to expose her marks. Although Maria struggled, she was no match for Asgardian strength.
"Adulterous whore," Loki said disdainfully.
"Please don't!" Maria said, tearing up.
"Shush, child, it won't hurt." Loki then touched his scepter to her marks.
But unlike with the others, the marks didn't fade away.
They flared.
One turned bright silver and the other a bright red, and then it died away; the marks still intact.
"I don't understand," Loki said, frowning in worry as he released Maria's wrist "They should be gone. The bond should be broken."
"What happened?" Maria asked, mirroring Loki's worry even though she was pleased.
"I don't know," Then Loki looked up at her face with disdain "If I can't cleanse you of the illness, then I'll cleanse this universe of your existence."
And then he stabbed her in the chest.
.
Maria tore the tubes out of her mouth, taking deep gulping breaths as her vision swirled, making it so the only definite things were that she was surrounded by people in white coats and the phrase.
"It worked."