I sighed heavily as I noted the out-of-order sign on the elevator of the lobby of my new apartment building. Of course, it was out-of-order on the day I was moving in. That was just the luck I was having lately. Not that I really should have expected anything different. The place was a bare step above shithole. But it was all I could likely afford for a very long time.

I cursed under my breath as I started up the four flights of stairs to the apartment. I guess it was a good thing I only had what I could fit into my car to move in and that the place came with some shitty furnishings. The manager had said the previous tenant had left them behind and I could keep using them or replace them. Once I reached my landing, I shifted the boxes so I could brace them against the door frame to get the door unlocked. Unfortunately, the key didn't seem to work. I cursed again.

"Do you need some help?" a masculine voice spoke from behind me.

I shifted the boxes in my arms so I could turn to face the man who was now standing in the apartment's doorway across from mine. Messy brown hair and clear blue eyes take me in while in my head I hear the words please say yes. I shut down the connection before I could get anything more. Normally, I wouldn't have to actively shut my powers down like this, but considering my recent upheaval, they had been acting up a bit. Thankfully, there was no resistance to shutting down the connection.

This had happened in seconds, and the man was waiting for my response. I fully intended to say no thanks, but what came out of my mouth instead was, "I can't get the door unlocked."

"Yeah, the locks suck."

He walked over and I shifted further from the door to give him room. He yanked the door handle hard towards him before he twisted the key in the deadbolt. Finally, he bumped the door with his hip. It swung into the interior of the apartment with a squeal. Wrinkling my nose, I make a mental note to spray those hinges.

The neighbor stays in the hallway as I enter the apartment and put the boxes I was carrying down on the rickety table in the kitchen/dining/living room. I glanced around the place, taking in the slightly yellowed walls and other furniture. Besides the rickety table, there are two dining chairs that looked extremely spindly, an armchair that seriously needed new upholstery, a couch that sagged, a scarred coffee table, and a few end tables that looked like a strong breeze would blow them over. To keep from getting too depressed over the state of the place, I reminded myself that the rent was really cheap and I only needed to be here until I got my feet back under me.

The neighbor was still standing in the hallway when I returned. I addressed him, "Um, thanks. I guess the manager didn't think it was important to show me just how difficult it was going to be to get into this place."

Hands tucked into the front pockets of his jeans, I hear his voice in my head once more; way better looking than the last guy. Annoyed that the connection wouldn't stay shut, I mentally shoved up more walls. A lopsided grin flashes as he shrugged and said, "Jack is an asshole who really only cares that rent gets paid on time and doing the absolute bare minimum of repairs and upkeep. Doesn't surprise me, he didn't fix that door before you moved in."

I jerk a thumb at the elevator doors. "So, the chances of that getting fixed soon…?"

That lopsided grin flashes again. "That elevator is broken pretty much all the time. About once every six months he gets a repairman out here. And it works for like two days before it's broken again for another six months."

I nod, "Of course."

"Even when it is working, you really don't want to risk it. Trust me."

I lift an eyebrow. "Trust you, eh? But I don't even know you."

He sticks a hand out. "Scott. Scott Lang."

I take it, surprised at just how rough and calloused his hand feels. "Lexi Bennet."

There is a slight flicker of something that passes over his face before he says, "Welcome to the building, Lexi."

I smile as I drop his hand, gesturing to the stairs. "Well, I need to finish unloading my car before I get a parking ticket or something for being in the back alley instead of the parking lot."

I felt his eyes on my back as I turned away and jogged down the stairs to haul up the rest of my meager belongings.

Scott watched the woman jog down the stairs, the auburn hair she had pulled back into a tail bouncing. The second her hand had grasped his, he knew. Knew what she was to him. He stood for a moment longer before he returned to his own apartment, pulling his cell phone out as he shut his door and leaned against it.

The line picked up on the third ring.

"Yo Scotty! What's happening bro!"

"Luis, I just met her."

"Man, what are you saying?"

"My soulmate Luis."

There's a loud shout on the other end of the call and Scott jerked the phone away from his ear for a moment before returning it. "Woah. Not so loud."

"Nah man, this is great! I'm gonna come over. I wanna meet her, bro."

"What? No. You are not coming over." Scott hears a dull thump and turns and watches through the peep as she enters her apartment with more boxes.

"Aw, c'mon man, I need to meet her. She's your special lady."

Scott watched as she heads back down for another load and wondered why she didn't have anyone to help her move. He considers if he should offer to help as he continued the conversation with Luis, "Because Luis, I just met her, she's moving in across the hall, and it's complicated."

"Bro, what are you saying?"

She was back, dropping more boxes. "I mean, it's complicated. I'm not her only soulmate."

"Daaaammmnnn Scotty. How you know that?"

Scott sighed, "I don't know, I just know. It's got to be the bond thing. I'm good with electronics and shit, not people and definitely not the soulmate science or whatever."

There was a whistle from the other side of the call. "Ah well man, that don't matter right? So not complicated. So, I can come over and meet her."

"Man, no. You aren't coming over to meet her. I barely just met her. We've exchanged like 20 words total. You come over here and word vomit all over her, she's going to run screaming. You want to make my soulmate run away?"

"Nah man. I don't want to do that. Fine. I won't come over."

Scott let out a sigh of relief. "Look, I'm going to go see if she wants help moving in. See what else I can learn about her."

There's a whistle again. "Sure bro, go get her Scotty."

Hanging up the phone and stuffing it back in his pocket, Scott opened his door just as she hit the landing with two large duffle bags slung over her shoulders and dragging a rather beat up suitcase.

"Hey again."

She paused with a hand on her doorknob and turned to him; her smile was a little fixed. "Hi."

Scott gestures vaguely at what she's carrying. "You want some help moving the rest of your stuff in? I might not look it, but I'm really strong."

She eyes him for a moment and then shakes her head. "No thanks. This is actually the last of it."

Scott laughed but stop when she didn't smile, just turned to bump open her door with her hip. "Wait, you're serious? You only have 7 boxes, two bags and a suitcase?"

She dumped the bags off her shoulder and turned with her head tilted slightly, brown eyes appraising him. "Were you watching me through the peephole?"

Scott stuffed his hands in his pockets, suddenly uncomfortable with the tone in her voice. "Ah, well, not like I was spying on you or whatever. I just heard you opening your door and looked out. And then I figured I would offer to help you."

"But you waited to offer that until you already watched me make four trips?"

This time, Scott shook his head. "I was on a phone call before."

Her eyes narrowed a little. "Uh-huh. Well, like I said, I'm good."

She started to close her door, and he called out to her, "I hope to see you around, Lexi!"

She paused just long enough to say, "I'm sure you will. We live on the same floor, after all."

Her door closed with a snap and Scott ran a hand through his hair ruefully. Well, shit, that was a bit of a disaster.

I watched out the peep as Scott stood in his doorway for a moment more, scrubbing a hand through his hair before he shook his head and turned back into his apartment.

That could have gone better. I move into the apartment, dragging the bags with my clothes into the bedroom. There is a full size mattress and box spring sitting on a bed frame that, like the rest of the place, looked like it had seen better days decades ago.

I sigh heavily again before dumping the bags in the middle of the room and heading back out to unpack the few things I actually had. At least I knew it wouldn't take an insane amount of time to get settled in. Though I was planning on using my first paycheck to do some major updating to the place to make it a little more bearable to live in.

My thoughts wandered as I unpacked. I let them roam wherever they wanted. When they wander over to next door, to messy hair and expressive blue eyes, I shook my head. I didn't need to think about him. The last thing I needed or wanted to deal with right now was any kind of relationship.

I just wanted to be left alone to pick up the pieces of my life.

I had a three-day weekend to get settled in before I started my new job, and I was going stir crazy before noon on Saturday. That was the downside to moving to a new city where I not only knew no one but also when I couldn't reach out to people in my past life. I guess the best thing to do would be to just go out and explore.

I headed to my bedroom to change out of the pajama bottoms and tank top I was wearing. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a loosely knit sweater, I picked up my phone and shoved it into a back pocket before I grabbed my wallet. It still felt a little weird to be leaving the house without attempting to hide who I was, but I had been told I didn't need to do that anymore.

I locked the door behind me and started down the four flights of stairs to the street. In the lobby, I came across Scott, who was shutting the door to his mailbox. His lopsided grin appeared as he turned towards me. "Hey, Lexi. Heading out?"

I checked the impulse to lie in response to the innocent question, reminding myself yet again that I no longer needed to do that. "Yeah. New city, need to discover all the new best spots and all that."

Scott was wearing jeans, with an unbuttoned plaid shirt over a black t-shirt. He tucked the mail he had pulled out of his box into his back pocket. "Makes sense. Um. If you ever want a tour of the best nearby spots, I'm your guy."

I smiled politely, "I'll keep that in mind. Got any advice for the best place for coffee?"

His grin flashed again, his blue eyes lighting up, "Sure, sure, two blocks north and three west. There is this little hole in the wall café. Not only the best coffee but also the best muffins. It's called Snack and Caffeinate."

"Cool, thanks. Well, guess I'll see you around." I tossed a wave in his direction as I pushed out the door and headed in the direction he suggested. I didn't have a coffee pot yet, and I was seriously under-caffeinated.

I returned to my place, toting several bags of supplies and one brand new coffee machine. It cost a pretty penny, but my addiction to caffeine was a serious thing. I stared forlornly at the still broken elevator. Getting the door open, I pushed into the apartment to dump my bags on the dining table. I rummaged around for a moment, coming out with a jar of petroleum jelly, a hammer, and a small box of nails.

Twenty minutes later, I was standing in the hallway and testing the door to see if the squeak was gone. Pleased to find that it was no longer squeaking, I was crouching and examining the box and strike plate in the door frame to figure out why the door was sticking so badly.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up to see Scott leaning in his doorway, watching what I was doing.

"You know, you seem kinda nosy for a neighbor in a city where allegedly no one is supposed to be aware of who their neighbors even are."

"What can I say? I have an innate curiosity."

I turned back to the door frame. "I'm trying to figure out why this door has to be yanked and then basically body slammed in order to open."

Scott came over and crouched down next to me. "You know I could look and try to fix it for you?"

I looked directly into his clear blue eyes, lifting an eyebrow. "Why didn't you offer to fix it for the guy who lived here before?"

"First, because he was already living here when I moved in and it was a bit of time before I caught on to how he needed to open his door. Second, and more important, I'm pretty sure he was a drug dealer or pimp or something and since I was on parole, associating with criminals was a bad idea."

We both stood. "And are you still on parole now?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I got pardoned."

"And what were you on parole for?"

He lifted a shoulder again. "That time? I stood with a friend when people wrongly blamed his soulmate for an attack."

That was a clear evasion, and I briefly considered pushing in to see what, but dismissed it immediately. "That time? You've been on parole more than once?"

His lopsided grin flashed. "Yep. In my former life, I was a thief. A pretty good one, if I say so myself."

I heard a warning bell go off in my head. "And what is your current life, then?"

He clicked his tongue before he said, "I do a bit of this and that. Security consultations. Electrical Engineering. Fully reformed of my criminal ways, if you were wondering." He made a crossing motion across his chest.

I sensed he was being cagey again, but ignored it for the time being. If anyone understood the need for being cautious, it was me. The timer went off in the apartment behind me. I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. "Well, Scott, I need to get that before it burns."

As I shut the door, I heard him call out, "See you around, Lexi."

I rested my forehead against the door and closed my eyes. I spent years doing everything I could to ensure that I stayed away from my soulmates. And now there was one living across the hall from me.

Scott returned to his apartment again, grabbing the stack of takeout menus he kept by the door and shuffling through them to find something to eat. If he wasn't so stubborn and insistent on keeping his own place and just moved into the tower like Stark and Rogers wanted, he wouldn't have to always figure out something to eat. He glanced towards his door, considering that if he hadn't insisted, he might not have met her. His soulmate.

Tapping his phone against his thigh, he considered things further. He knew as soon as he had touched her what she was. Shouldn't the same have happened to her? Hadn't all the stories the others said that as soon as they either touched or go within a certain distance of their soulmate the bond between them snapped into place and neither could deny it?

Maybe she was one of those people who had a different attraction type. Soulmates didn't always have to be a romantic or sexual kind of link between people. Sometimes the bond that formed was different. Something more platonic. But if that was the case, should he feel a platonic link instead of wanting her the way he did?

Scott pushed his hand through his hair again. He was smart, but as he told Luis last night, this was an area that he didn't really understand. Of course, there might be someone he knew he could ask. Though that meant he'd have to go into the tower and likely face Stark, who he had been avoiding lately.

Dialing the phone, he put in an order before he shot a text off to Natasha.

Scott: Do you know if Stark is going to be out of the tower at all sometime this week?"

Nat: Why?

Scott: I just need to know.

Nat: Pepper is his keeper, not me.

Shaking his head, Scott slipped his phone into his pocket. He should have realized that it would be useless to try to get information out of Natasha. He should have messaged Clint. Putting it aside for the moment, Scott flopped down on his couch, waiting for the food to arrive.