DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Avengers, but it's probably better that I don't. I'd introduce too many OCs and the plot would just be one fanfiction trope after another. So yeah, only Beth and any other OCs, no matter how minor, are mine.

A/N: This is an OC-insert fic, as well as a Soulmate AU with lots of swearing, so if that's not your thing, this isn't the fic for you! Lots of fluff, not too much angst or whatever. If there's ever angst, it's just so there can be some ultra-fluffy resolution. No smut, but scenes of that nature will be present. Mostly Domestic Avengers, with some action but not a whole lot. I want this fic to be mostly light-hearted and fun.

Pre-Ultron AU (Basically, Bucky lives with the Avengers and has all his memories back), but spoilers for every movie up to Civil War. Faceclaim is Imogen Poots. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Into the MCU

Ah, the mall, my home away from home. When I wasn't in bed with a book or my laptop, I was out shopping with my best friend, Ali. I finished my hazelnut latte and threw the cup in the bin, before following my friend into a department store. We automatically wandered to the makeup section after grabbing a shopping basket each.

In the familiar area, I began searching the prices, looking for anything that'd been marked down. Nothing that was on sale caught my eye - it was all hot pink blush, and I was more an eye and lips kind of girl.

"Makeup wipes?" Ali held up a familiar packet for me to see, and I grinned, throwing a pack into the basket.

"I already have two unopened packets at home," I said. "But you never know when you'll need more. Especially when matte lipstick is involved."

Ali put two packets in her own basket. "Agreed."

After grabbing a few tubes of ultra-cheap lipstick, we headed from the makeup to the books (where I grabbed some thriller with a discount sticker), and eventually made our way to the clothes.

I bypassed the basic tank tops and jeans and random shirts with slogans, heading for the sale rack. Most of the stuff wasn't the best, and usually not in my size, but I could typically find a bargain or two. Ali was at one end and I was at the other, and I'd pawed passed only a few ugly items until I spotted it.

"Ali!" I cried, holding back an excited squeal. I grabbed the item off the rack and basically shoved it in her face. "Look at how fucking great this is! I need it!"

In my hands was a black hoodie with Captains America's shield made from red, blue, and silver studs on the front. It was the only one there and a size XXL, which I knew would swamp my petite frame, but I just had to have it anyway. It was cheap and it was mine.

My best friend raised an eyebrow, tucking a lock of brown hair behind her ear. "You don't even like hoodies. Actually, I'd say you hate them."

"Well, yeah, I do." I rolled my eyes. It was true - I only ever wore cute sweaters and coats, never hoodies. "But I love Captain America and it's on sale, so I'm getting it!"

I shoved the hoodie into the basket, moving some stuff around so the coat hanger could fit properly. Ali and I went back to searching through the sale rack, and while she found a cute lace top, nothing else caught my interest.

We were strolling passed the toy section when I spotted some figurines, and dragged Ali down the aisle. Next to the Star Wars display was an Avengers one, and I stared at the toys with longing.

"Did you marathon the Marvel movies again?" Ali asked, though the look on her face told me she already knew the answer.

"Only the good ones." I replied instantly. "In chronological order, of course."

"I honestly don't know why I'm shocked."

"You shouldn't be." I picked up a Captain America figurine, admiring how similar it looked to Chris Evans. Most toy companies were half-assed with how realistic they looked, but this one was surprisingly accurate. "Did you know I'm the same height as Steve before he got the serum?"

Ali groaned. "You've only told me a million damn times."

I gave her a shit-eating grin and put the toy back, letting her lead me away from the aisle.

Five minutes later, we'd left the store after buying our things and were heading to get more coffee. Even if Ali wasn't as much of a fangirl as I was, at least we shared the same enthusiasm for caffeine. She was actually the one who got me addicted.

We got lunch not long after our second coffees, and then decided to head home after a few more hours of wandering around. We hadn't had any more luck finding bargains, and Ali's boyfriend had called to say he'd made her dinner. The thought of those two always brought a smile to my face. Ali and Sam had been together since they were seniors, and were still just as madly in love as they'd ever been.

My own love life was pathetic, to say the least. Two boyfriends during high school, with each relationship lasting less than a year, and several one night stands in my late teens, but none since.

It really sucked for a hopeless romantic like myself. I knew I was pretty, and I presented myself nicely as well, but I was also clingy and weird as fuck, things that most guys weren't very fond of. Once they got to know me, they ran in the opposite direction. That or they tried to change me, which just pissed me off, and I ended up being the one who ran.

That's why I was such a huge fangirl. For most of my life, books and movies were all I had besides Ali and my small group of friends… Friends I had trouble staying in contact with since we graduated from high school five years ago. Oops. I had nobody to blame but myself, of course.

After driving myself home, I dragged myself up the stairs to my shitty apartment and fumbled with the old lock, needing to wiggle the key a little before it would open. Once inside, I quickly dumped my shopping bag in my room and headed straight for the shower, even though my stomach was loudly letting me know that I was hungry.

When my hair was washed and skin was clean, I headed back to my room and eyed the hoodie in the bag where I'd left it. I knew I was supposed to wash it before I wore it, but I just couldn't wait. Slowly smiling, I ripped the price tag off and slipped the hoodie over my head, then turned to the mirror.

Like I thought, the hoodie was huge. It was basically a dress, which meant there was no need for pants. Not that I'd wear it out of the house anyway, but I was pleased. It was soft and warm and absolutely perfect. Humming a happy tune, I quickly went back to my bathroom to blow-dry my hair and throw it up in a messy bun, then pulled on some thigh-high black socks and sat on my bed with my laptop.

Before I spent the next hour making dinner and eating, I had to check my email. I made sure to check it multiple times a day. Not because I was expecting any important emails, but because I needed to constantly delete all the spam that would overtake my inbox if I didn't. My junk folder could only filter so much.

I got in the habit of repetitively clicking the delete button, when I almost deleted something that actually was kind of important. The email was from a job I'd applied for, and I opened it eagerly, feeling hopeful.

Dear Miss Bethany Clarke,
Thank you for your application.
Unfortunately, although your qualifications and experience were of interest, you have not been successful on this occasion.
Thank you again for your interest and we wish you every success in the future.

I reread the short email a few times, the hope I'd felt a moment ago turning into annoyance. This wasn't the only rejection I'd gotten this week.

"Son of a bitch," I muttered. A little pissed off, I deleted the email and exited the browser, pouting at my laptop.

I loved shopping and, because of that love, I'd decided that I wanted to work in retail. I'd done a retail course at university while working part-time at Target, and had kept working there even after I graduated. But just over a month ago I lost the job due to downsizing, and now I was having trouble finding full-time work. Which was a bitch, because like the email said, I was qualified and had years of experience to go with it.

Living off my savings was okay for now, but the money wouldn't last forever. I was trying to be good with my spending, going shopping less and looking for sales when I did, but eventually I'd need to stop altogether.

It probably sounded stupid, but the thought of not being able to shop made me shudder. It kept me sane and kept me active - I could walk around the mall for hours. The feeling of buying something was so satisfying as well. It almost gave me a high. A little thrill in my otherwise mundane life.

Okay, I needed to stop thinking about that before I made myself upset. With a resigned sigh, I flopped myself backward, expecting to land into the fluffy pillows behind me. Instead, I fell. My eyes squeezed shut and I screamed, waiting for an impact that never came.

My body rolled and twirled through the empty air, but within moments, I barely felt like I was falling anymore, though I hadn't hit the ground. I opened my eyes and immediately regretted it as I found myself in a glowing white expanse that hurt to look at. I threw a hand over my face and realized that I'd definitely stopped falling. I was floating.

And then there was a pressure all over my body that was simply uncomfortable at first, but slowly increased until it was painful. It pressed upon me more and more, until it was unbearable and another scream tore from my throat.

My world became one of screaming and pain and that horrible whiteness that wouldn't go away.

Until it did.

I fell once more, painfully landing face-down on solid ground almost instantly. My eyes flew open and I barely had time to register that I'd landed on polished wooden floorboards when I began dry-retching. There was nothing in my stomach, the last thing I'd consumed being a small fruit salad hours ago, and for that I was thankful.

When the nausea passed, I laid my head back down, glad to be back on solid ground. I could hear myself panting heavily as adrenalin left my body, but that wasn't all. A chair scraped, and the sound of heels rapidly clicked along the floor like the person was in a rush.

"Tony, what the hell did you do?" A woman asked, her voice oddly familiar though I couldn't be bothered figuring out who it was. Shock, and what sounded like fear, laced her tone.

"I didn't do anything!" Replied a man, the voice again familiar. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping they'd shut up because a headache was starting to pound in my skull. "Jarvis, what's going on?"

Wait, Jarvis? As in, Tony Stark's AI? That Jarvis? Okay, I really needed to get up. With a groan I rolled onto my back, wincing as pain radiated throughout my body. I opened my eyes to see slate grey walls and a modern beamed ceiling... and glass. Lots of glass. Like, a fuckload. It looked like some fancy office building.

"It appears a portal opened up," a disjointed British voice stated, seemingly coming from everywhere all at once. Now that I had some context, I recognized it as Jarvis. "It was open long enough to let the woman through before it closed. I am unsure of the how or why, but I have detected traces of an energy I cannot identify lingering around the woman. Would you like me to run a scan to locate the source of the energy, sir?"

"Please do." A pause. "And notify the others of what's happened while you're at it."

"Of course, sir."

A face popped into my view, leaning over my body to get a good look at me. I knew the face instantly. It was Robert Downey Jr... or was it Tony Stark? I mean, if he was talking to Jarvis, it had to be Tony. Oh, my God. Wait a minute. Tony motherfucking Stark was staring down at me! My eyes widened on their own accord and I opened my mouth the say something - anything - but I couldn't find the words. Just my luck to be tongue-tied at that moment.

"Okay, hi, you're still alive." Tony said, eyes roaming down my body and grinning at what he saw. Not in a lustful way, but like he found something amusing. "Is that the Capsicle's shield on your dress?"

Dress? I frowned, before realizing that Tony thought my hoodie was actually a dress. I rolled my eyes and tried to sit up, before my body gave out and I fell back down. What the hell? My mind was alert, but my body was physically exhausted and not willing to cooperate. All of my limbs were heavy and a dull ache ran through my bones. Fantastic.

"Oh, fucking hell." I glared up at Tony. It seemed I found my voice after all. "Well, what're you waiting for? Help me up!"