A Stephanie Plum/Avengers soulmate fan fiction. Not canon for either genre. A bit AU too. Do not expect a Babe or Cupcake HEA. Friendly to all of Janet Evanovich characters. I don't own the characters, just having a lot of fun with them.
Soul mark markings are like tattoos visible on your body. A platonic soulmate appears in grey which a romantic soulmate appears in black. You can have multiple platonic, but multiple romantic is rare. Some markings appear at birth while others appear as dictated by fate. If your platonic or romantic soulmate dies, their mark disappears.
Chapter 1
My dad told me I was born a blank and remained a blank until my fourth birthday. It was rumoured if you were born a blank, you will remain a blank. Much to my mother's surprise, I suddenly displayed numerous grey markings overnight. In fact, I had 14 grey markings and 1 black. She was so concerned that she took me to see a specialist. The doctor wanted to include me in his research for soulmates. Not only did my markings show late, I also had the most markings he had ever seen.
After several appointments, my Dad insisted the doctor remove me from his research. "Helen did not have my permission for Stephanie to participate in your research. Soulmate markings are private," he practically yelled at the doctor. Dad used his military connections to remove all traces of me from Dr Gardner's research. Mom didn't understand why Dad was so angry.
When I asked him, he said, "Dr Gardner was planning to publish details of your markings, including your name, in his article for the medical journal."
I didn't really understand so I asked, "What would happen if everyone knew what my words said?"
"People could use them to manipulate you into thinking you're their platonic or romantic soulmate. I couldn't allow them to do that to you." We moved less than a month later. Valerie and I were removed from our school.
My Mom was furious when we had to move from Washington to Trenton. We had to start at a new school. I didn't really care since I had no friends at my old school. The other kids thought I was too weird. Valerie was upset to be leaving her friends behind.
On my first day at the new school, I saw a brown haired, brown eyed girl crying near the swings. She was wearing a Wonder Woman shirt. "Your shirt is cool," I said as I sat beside her.
She looked towards me and smiled. "I like your pigtails," she replied before she started giggling. Mom was helping Valerie get ready this morning so she told me to do my own hair. My ponytails were completely crooked. The left one sat lower than the right and contained less hair, ribbons were mismatched. "I'm Mary Lou."
"My name is Stephanie, but I like Steph better." Both of us could already read, so we carefully looked for our words on each other's body. She removed her left shoe to show me my words. I didn't know where her words were located. We eventually found them behind my left knee.
"You have a lot of words," she excitedly said.
"I know. Please don't tell anyone," I begged.
It was a few more years before I met my next platonic soulmate. I was 9 and was determined to fly off the garage. "Hi!" I yelled to the blond, green eyed boy watching me, "I can fly like Wonder Woman." I jumped off the garage, breaking my left arm when I landed on it.
"Stay right there. My dad's a cop," he said as he ran across the road. His dad carefully lifted me to place me in his car. The boy sat beside me in the back. "I'm Eddie Gazarra. I have your words here." He pulled up the sleeve of his right arm to show me my neat, loopy writing.
I started laughing. "I'll show you your words, but you'll need to help me re-wrap my arm." He nodded in agreement. Very carefully I removed the towel and ice from my left arm. In semi-messy handwriting were Eddie's words. "Your words just happened to be on my broken arm... in the exact spot where it broke."
We were fast friends since that day. He was always very protective of me. I was very happy to learn Lenny Stankovic and Mary Lou Molnar were his plutonic soulmates. Mary Lou and Lenny discovered they were romantic soulmates at Eddie's tenth birthday party. Mary Lou, Eddie and I attended the local Catholic school while Lenny attended the public school. He said his mom taught at the public school and his family wasn't Catholic. Eddie and Lenny were on the same Junior League football team.
A few days after my tenth birthday, another 5 platonic soulmate markings appeared on my abdomen and back. Mary Lou noticed the markings as we changed into our gym clothes.
I asked Dad after dinner that night. "Why did I get more marks?"
He led me to the garage to continue our conversation in private. "Those soulmates were probably born during the last few months."
"How do you know?" I asked.
"That's the way it worked for 2 of my platonic soulmates. I only had 1 platonic marking when I was born. My romantic soulmate marking appeared when I was 2. The other 2 platonic soulmate markings appeared when I was 7. Your mother is 2 years younger than me. Jasper and Colin are 7 years younger," he explained. "Joe Juniak and I met in kindergarten. I met your mother at your Aunt Jillian's graduation."
Aunt Jillian is Dad's younger sister. She is also Shirley the Whiner's mom. Shirley and her twin brother Vince are my age, a few months older than me. They are moving back to Trenton this summer. "What about Uncle Jas and Colin?" I asked.
He smiled before answering, "Rangers training during phase 2. Jas and Colin were in the Navy. They had to pass the rigorous SEAL training before they could apply for Rangers training. I was their commanding officer." Dad told me many fond stories about his Rangers training. I was so fascinated I researched Howling Commandos, the special ops group that was later renamed Rangers.
"If your soulmate markings appeared when the counterpart was born, does that mean I'm older than most of my soulmates?" I asked attempting to make sense of my markings appearing when I turned 4.
"Not necessarily. It certainly could mean you're older. I think it's more likely your platonic soulmates are intertwined. Don't be surprised if you meet them in groups," he explained. Some of my markings are in groups of 2 or 3. Only a few were in their own location.
We spent the next few hours fixing Dad's Buick. Mom used to get angry whenever I helped Dad work on his car. She quit harping once Dad said, "In no way should you force Stephanie to be anything other than what she is. She's a strong, independent and brave girl. I will not allow your twisted thoughts about what the Burg dictates is appropriate behaviour for girls to make her into one of those vapid clones."
He clearly saw how the Burg ideals were shaping the boys and girls. The 'boys will be boys' mentality gave the Morelli boys an excuse for their inappropriate behaviour. When I was 6, Joe Morelli held my hand as he led me into his garage. Uncle Jas just happened to drive past on his way to visit Dad. Just as Joe pulled down my panties to play choo choo, Jas busted into the garage to rescue me. I vowed to never be alone with the Morelli boys again.
My fifteenth birthday passed without its usual fanfare. In lieu of a party, I asked Mary Lou, Shirley and a few other female friends to sleep over. We played truth or dare. Before the party, Mary Lou warned me about Britney. She was planning to have me either expose my romantic soulmate mark or tell me what it said. As far as I knew, Britney only had 1 soulmate marking, platonic, not romantic. I insisted on setting rules before playing the game, everyone, except Britney, agreed. Anything regarding soulmate markings was taboo. You weren't allowed to ask someone to show the marks or what they say. Britney was so angry she stormed out of the house. Good riddance. We didn't need someone like her hanging around.
A few weeks before Christmas, another platonic soulmate mark appeared on my left leg along my shin. It was a very strange mark. Every second word was written in a different script as though written by 2 separate people. If you read the words as written, it didn't make sense. However, if you read every second word it made perfect sense.
Time seemed to be flying by. I wrote my last exam of my junior year. Next year I will be a senior. Eddie told me Joe Morelli joined the Navy and was leaving next week. I was relieved. Joe has been trying to catch me alone and unaware. Every time he was in my vicinity, I would be overcome with the feeling of pending danger.
On Thursday the following week, my spidey sense was working overtime. I was getting mixed signals. That ever present feeling of danger was equally matched by excitement. As I attempted to sort through those feelings, the door to the Tasty Pastry opened. I heard the lock engage as I moved from behind the counter.
I felt like I was Joe Morelli's prey. He circled around me before forcefully pushing me onto the floor behind the eclair case. I felt my shirt tear open. He ripped open my shorts, breaking the zipper as the button flew off. He flipped me onto my knees, pressing my head and chest to the floor. I was trapped. He pulled down my shorts and panties. I felt his finger enter me. Before he had a chance to do anything else, his weight was removed from my body.
"What the fuck man. You broke my nose," Joe screamed.
"Stay away from her. If you ever touch her again, a broken nose will be the least of your problems," my rescuer growled. He waited until Joe left the area. "He won't be bothering you again, Doll," he said as he gently pulled his T-shirt over my exposed body.
Recognizing his words, I took a closer look at my rescuer. I noticed his metal arm and gasped. "Please tell me this isn't my terminator nightmare coming true."
His eyes quickly found mine. "I need to see the words," he stated. I raised my right arm to show him the words written just above my armpit. He turned around to show my words scripted on his lower back. "I'm James Buchanan Barnes. My friends call me Bucky."
"Stephanie Plum. Thank you for saving me. I was so scared." He pulled me into his embrace as my body shook from the tears I could no longer suppress.
"I'll be around to watch over you. Call me if you're ever in trouble," he said as he pressed a piece of paper into my hand. His phone number was scrawled in tiny print on the paper. I carefully folded the note before placing it into my wallet.
Bucky waited in the shadows until my Dad arrived to take me home. "Are you alright Pumpkin?" Dad asked as I sat in the passenger seat.
"Yes Daddy. Thankfully nothing bad happened."
"Nothing bad? Stephie, you're dressed in an oversized T-shirt that doesn't belong to you. What happened to your clothes?" he demanded.
"Joseph Anthony Morelli happened. He attacked me at the end of my shift. One of my platonic soulmates rescued me." I absentmindedly stroked Bucky's words on my right arm. Dad noticed the involuntary response.
"You met a new one," he stated.
I laughed before replying, "Yes. I mistakingly thought he was the termination sent here to kill me. I love that movie."
"It gives you nightmares."
"Only because I watch it before going to bed," I explained.
"Something tells me it won't be causing you any more nightmares," he said through a smile.
"I suppose you're right Daddy."