"Flares" - Chapter One

by darthelwig

*** I own nothing. I'm just having fun. ***

Wanda/Darcy

Darcy had never been to the Avengers complex before, but ever since Erik had been invited to set up shop there, she had been maybe not so subtly bugging Jane for the chance to go. What better excuse? Jane could catch up with Erik and compare research, and Darcy could satisfy her raging curiosity about "Earth's Mightiest Heroes."

Who knew? Maybe she could even get to meet them in person instead of just staring awestruck from a distance. Maybe even get a selfie or two. Being friends with one of the top researchers there had to come with some benefits, right? Her soul mark tingled at the thought.

The visit started off pretty much exactly as she expected, if "pretty much exactly" was actually a thing. Erik and Jane got caught up in comparing notes, and Jane marveled at all the tech and gadgets Erik had been provided in his lab. The Avengers spared no expense, apparently. Which showed in their entire facility, actually. Everything was shiny and new and absolutely out of her price range. "You break it, you bought it," she thought to herself.

She wasn't technically supposed to go snooping around, but listening to Jane and Erik wax poetic about science wasn't her idea of a good time. They could go on for hours, and she just didn't have the tolerance for that. Besides, the private areas of the compound possessed an irresistible allure for her. She couldn't resist. Or maybe didn't want to. Or both.

Either way, it didn't matter. She made sure her friends were set up with lots of caffeine and food, and went exploring. Maybe she would find that ever elusive soulmate. It was a long shot, but stranger things had happened, right? Especially around the Avengers.

For someplace as high security as this, their security was pretty lax once you got inside. People bustled about, but she just acted like she belonged and no one questioned her. Score one for playing it cool.

First place she entered was actually pretty easy to identify, what with all the exercise equipment. One of the weight benches was even in use at the moment. She wondered if he was one of the new Avengers she had heard rumors of. No one had any details yet, so she was dying with curiosity. "Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back," she liked to say. She demanded satisfaction.

She cleared her throat as she walked in and looked around, taking in the once again state of the art equipment. There was probably more money invested in this room than she made in a year. Maybe twice as much. Not that she was complaining. She loved what she did.

"Hey there," she said, with a little wave and a bright smile. The guy set the weights down carefully and grabbed a towel to wipe sweat from his face.

"Hi," he said, smiling broadly. "Are you new? I haven't seen you around before. Of course, I haven't been here all that long."

"Oh, I'm just visiting a friend. You know Erik? Mad scientist extraordinaire?"

"Yeah, I know him," he laughed. "Nice guy, but... quirky."

"That's him," she said, and stuck out her hand. "I'm Darcy," she said. He took her hand and shook it firmly.

"Sam. Sam Wilson."

"Nice to meet you, Sam. What do you do here? Are you an Avenger?" Blunt, as always. That's her. He laughed a bit nervously.

"Yeah, I am. They call me Falcon."

"Really? What do you do? What's your super power? I can't believe I'm meeting an Avenger!" She squealed as she pulled out her phone. "Can I get a picture with you? No one will ever believe me."

"Well... I don't have a "super power," but I have a flight suit that's pretty amazing. We're not actually supposed to be flashing ourselves around yet," he paused, considering, "but I guess a picture is okay."

"Yes!" She gave a little fist pump and almost hopped over next to him in her excitement. She probably stood a little closer to him than was absolutely necessary for the picture, but he was cute and she was happy, and what the hell. She actually took a couple shots of them before she was satisfied with the results.

"Thank you so much. I've always wanted to meet the Avengers," she said. Sam smiled at her kindly.

"Well, most of them are out on a mission right now, so it's just me and Wanda. If you wanna meet her, I think she's up in the dorms. She likes to spend time in her room."

"Who's Wanda? You mean there's another chick on the team now? Sweet! You need another shot of estrogen in there to keep everything sane." She grinned.

"Yeah, yeah. You girls always gotta stick together," he laughed. He had a really nice laugh, in her opinion. "Head through that door, then take the elevator up two floors. You can see how the Avengers live," he said, giving her a playful wink.

"Sweet! Thanks, Sam!" She bounded out the door like she was hopped up on sugar. Maybe she wasn't gonna get to meet all the Avengers right this moment, but she was gonna get to snoop around, and meet two of the new Avengers to boot. It was actually better than she expected her first day to go, really. And Sam had seemed so nice. He hadn't ignored her or kicked her out, and he had even given her the okay to come up and invade secret, sacred Avengers territory! Life could be good. It was just too bad he wasn't her soulmate. He seemed pretty awesome.

The elevator opened up onto a much quieter space than she had seen before, and it was easy to see why. This really was the Avengers' living space. There were couches and a tv, a kitchen area, bookshelves... And it looked lived in. There were a few well-thumbed through magazines on a coffee table, and a mug in the sink. Real-people stuff. The Avengers were human beings too, after all. What did she expect? Certainly not a jacket left draped over the back of a chair, or a blanket sitting in a lump on one of the couches. It was weird seeing your heroes do the same things you would do. She loved it.

There was a hallway off the kitchen, and she followed it. Most of the doors were shut, but there was one further down that was open, and she headed towards that, figuring that would be the most likely place to find Wanda if she was in her room like Sam said.

Darcy didn't know what to expect, but part of her had wondered if maybe Wanda would be some muscle-bound Amazonian type. Black Widow wasn't like that, but there weren't many women like her in the world. Darcy couldn't think of a single one, actually. That was sorta sad. The world could use more sexy-as-hell power females.

Her guesses about this new Avenger, though, did not come anywhere close to the truth. The young woman was slim, petite, and a little otherworldly, with her big green eyes and long, dark hair. Darcy gasped.

"Hey, you're that chick from TV!" The girl- she had to be the Wanda that Darcy was looking for- shot her a startled look. "I saw what you did in Sokovia. That was amazing, and I'm so sorry about what happened to your brother." Darcy kicked herself for mentioning Wanda's late brother when she saw the tears well up in the girl's eyes. "Jeez, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I say stupid stuff sometimes. It's a thing with me. I-"

Wanda raised a hand to silence her, and gave Darcy a smile. Darcy couldn't help but notice that, while it was sad, it was also damn beautiful.

"I did not think to meet you here, and now," Wanda said in her low, soft voice. Darcy froze, unable to believe what she had just heard, though the tingling burn of her soul mark Flaring couldn't be ignored. Was this really happening? I mean, she had sorta wished for something like this to happen, but wishes didn't really ever come true, right? This couldn't be real. She wasn't this lucky. This woman in front of her couldn't be hers.

"You-" was all Darcy could manage to get out. Wanda cupped Darcy's face and smiled, even as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I needed you so badly," Wanda said in a whisper as she leaned in close. Darcy could feel Wanda's breath on her lips as she spoke. "I thought you would come when Pietro died, to save me. This is better, I think."

"Really?" Darcy asked, her voice little more than a squeak.

"Now I am stronger," Wanda said. "I will not put him between us. There will be only you and me." Wanda leaned in, finally, and pressed her lips to Darcy's.

Darcy was a little lost with all the talk about coming at the right time. She was still in shock, but then Wanda was kissing her, and oh my god the woman's lips were soft. Darcy gripped Wanda's waist and pulled her closer, and was gratified to feel the girl's arms wrap around her neck. This was heaven. This was perfect. She could do this forever, stay here forever, feeling Wanda's body pressed up against her own.

When they pulled apart, it wasn't to go far. They stayed there in the circle of each other's arms, just enjoying their closeness.

Darcy still could barely believe her good fortune. Who would have ever thought her soulmate would be such a beautiful girl, and an Avenger too? If this was a dream, she didn't want to wake up. Turn off the alarm clock.

"What are you thinking?" Wanda asked.

"I'm thinking no one is ever gonna believe this," Darcy said with a shrug, going for honesty.

"Why would they not believe? I don't understand," Wanda said. "Do they not believe in soul marks? I could show them."

"It's not that. Just, you're a whole lotta good fortune, and I've never been all that lucky, you know?"

"That is silly," Wanda said. "You deserve good things, and it pleases me that you consider me one of those. Too many before you have not." She sounded so confident that Darcy thought maybe even she could start to believe it. "Would you like to see my mark?" Wanda asked.

"Yeah, I do."

Wanda stepped back and pulled her shirt off her right shoulder. Darcy pulled the girl's long hair to the side and looked at the mark, and there was her messy writing scrawled over Wanda's skin, the normally black writing of a soul mark having changed to a beautiful emerald green. She ran her fingertips over it, causing Wanda to shiver, marveling at how it made her skin tingle when she touched it.

"I can't believe those are the words you've had on your skin all this time. I'm so sorry," Darcy said, laughing. "Did you ever wonder how you would end up on TV?"

"Always," Wanda said, smiling. "It was a constant source of amusement for my brother, too."

"Hey, wanna see mine?" she said brightly, sounding much more like her old self again. Wanda nodded, and Darcy pulled her shirt down to show Wanda how her own mark trailed over her right shoulder as well. "Your handwriting is so pretty," Darcy said. "I've always thought that."

"Thank you," Wanda said softly as she pressed her lips to Darcy's soul mark. The heat that shot through Darcy when Wanda did that left her shaken and yearning.

"Damn, girl. That was intense! Whoa." Darcy felt almost out of breath.

"For me as well," Wanda said, but she didn't push for more. Darcy half expected her to. She could tell Wanda wanted to kiss her, possible even do more than that. Hell, she wanted it too. But maybe falling into bed together as soon as they met wasn't the best way to go.

They wrapped their arms around each other again and just stood there like that for a long moment, letting their heartbeats slow.

"So. You wanna give me the grand tour of the place? I've just been wandering around," Darcy said. "I'm sure you can show me all the best spots I'm not supposed to see." She grinned and Wanda giggled. Actually giggled. So, beautiful and cute too.

"I will show you," Wanda said. "Whatever you wish to see."

"I want it all, baby!" Darcy knew she was grinning like an idiot. "First we gotta take a picture, though. Pics or it didn't happen." She grabbed her phone and wrapped her arm around Wanda's waist, pulling her close. "And this seriously needs to have happened."

Wanda pressed a kiss against Darcy's cheek and smiled for the camera.