Scott was lounging back in his seat on the Quinjet that he, the twins, and Sam Wilson were returning to the tower in. The mission the four of them had been sent on was supposed to be relatively short and instead ended up being long, complex, and a little messy. He was texting with Lexi, firming up plans for their "not-date" when he felt eyes on him.

Sending another text to Lexi before he looked up, he found Sam staring at him with one of those smart ass smiles on his face. "What do you want, Sam?"

"Who are you texting, Tic Tac?"

Scott rolled his eyes at the nickname. It had stuck ever since their first meeting, back when Scott had broken into a storage compound owned by the Avengers in order to steal the Signal Decoy for Hank. Scott had fought against him, disabling his flight pack and goggles in order to successfully steal the tech that Hank wanted.

Sam was a good-natured sort and even though he had been defeated by what he liked to refer to as a "bug with no actual fighting training" he had wasted no time in tracking him down and recruiting him when Cap went rogue to prove that Bucky wasn't behind the murder and attack on Wakanda's King T'Chaka.

Scott went back to his phone when another text came in. And Sam again asked, "C'mon, Tic Tac, who's got your attention so much?"

Scott looked back up at the man, "That is absolutely none of your business, birdbrain."

From across the jet a bored voice came, "He's texting his girlfriend, obviously."

"Pietro." Wanda scolded her brother.

The pair looked over at him where he sprawled on his back reading a book. Wanda was sitting across from him. She nudged her foot against his side.

Scott shook his head. "She's not my girlfriend."

Sam jumped on it. "But she is a she?"

Scott rolled his eyes and ignored him. But Pietro spoke up again, putting his book down and pushing to sit up, "Oh, so you aren't going on a date?"

Sam hooted, "Scott my man, look at you!"

Scott scowled, "It's not a date."

Sam leaned forward, attempting to get a look at the screen of Scott's phone. "Not a date, huh?"

"No. It's a not-date." Scott shifted his phone further away from the man currently trying to look at it.

"So, a not-date with your not-girlfriend. Sounds like someone is in denial." Sam teased.

Another eye roll, and Scott said, "Lexi just wants to be friends." Then he shut his eyes as he realized his mistake.

"Ah, so your not-girlfriend's name is Lexi? Sounds sexy."

"Oh my god, shut up birdbrain."

Sam shifted in his seat, throwing an arm across the back as he settled in to continue his teasing, "So, your not-girlfriend, Lexi, is going with you on a not-date as soon as you return?"

"She's just a friend. Friends hang out."

Now Pietro got involved, "Are you telling us you moon over the texts of all your friends, then?"

"What are you talking about?"

Sam smirked, "Speedy, over there is right. Every time a text comes in and it's from your not-girlfriend, you get this silly smile on your face and there are practically hearts in your eyes."

"Oh, whatever." Scott rolled his eyes and did his best to turn his back on the other men and ignore them.

"So, why don't you just ask her out if you like her so much?" Sam asked.

Scott sighed, "It's complicated."

Suddenly serious, Sam asked, "Because you are an Avenger?"

Scott jerked a shoulder. "That's part of it. And she just wants to be friends."

"But she's your soulmate?!" Wanda slapped her hand over her mouth as soon as the words were out of her mouth and three pairs of eyes snapped to hers. Scott's eyes closed as Pietro and Sam both turned from Wanda to stare at him.

"I'm so sorry Scott, I got caught up, and it slipped out." The young woman said distressed.

Scott opened his eyes and looked at her. "It's fine Wanda."

Sam held up a hand. "Wait, are you telling me that this not-girlfriend of yours, who you want to be your girlfriend, is your soulmate but she just wants to be friends?"

"Platonic soulmates are a thing birdbrain. Just look at Nat and Clint." Scott said blandly.

Sam wasn't having any of that. "Well, duh, but you don't just want to be friends so clearly it isn't just a platonic soul bond."

Scott threw his hands up, "I don't know, man. I said it was complicated, so leave me alone."

He stood up and moved to the back of the Quinjet and the three left just looked at each other.

️ ️ ️

They finally arrived and the second the debrief was done, Scott was practically dashing out of the tower. Steve watched in confusion as the man rushed out before he turned to look at Sam. The other man shrugged and said, "Bug boy has a not-date with his not-girlfriend."

Steve's face was a mask of confusion and Sam just patted him on the shoulder in sympathy before he wandered out to head to his own apartment. Steve turned from Sam to look at the twins, who were in one of their seemingly telepathic conversations with each other. He jerked a thumb toward the two departed men and asked, "Do you know what that was all about?"

Wanda said no but Pietro cut her off, "Lang has met his soulmate, only she just wants to be friends and that isn't the soul bond that exists."

"Pietro, that's no one's business but Scott's." Wanda scolded her brother again.

Pietro shook his head at his sister, "Wanda, do you really think any of us can actually keep secrets here? If others don't already know, I would be very surprised."

"Still."

Steve glanced between the twins and the elevator, considering the news when he turned back to the twins. He found only Wanda standing there.

She shrugged. "Piet got bored and left."

"Of course he did," Steve nodded. "Well, anyway, you did good, kid. Why don't you go get some sleep or something?"

Wanda nodded gratefully and slipped into the elevator and let the car take her to her apartment. She was still upset that she had blurted out about Scott's friend being his soulmate. Because of her powers, she was privy to a lot of things that other people did not want to share with others. Because of this, she always felt like she was invading people's privacy all the time and she tried her hardest to respect that. So, it felt like she had violated that for Scott and that made her feel bad.

The doors opened on the floor where her apartment was and her hair fluttered when she reached her door. Pietro was leaning against the wall eating an apple.

"You know you did nothing wrong."

Wanda shrugged as she entered the apartment, Pietro following her, "Technically no, I did not. But still."

Wanda continued to her bedroom, sitting down on her bed and pulling her legs up to wrap her arms around them. Pietro sat down next to her, "Little sis, you take too much on yourself."

"Piet, I am the same age as you."

Pietro bumped his shoulder against her, "No, you aren't. I'm 12 minutes older, remember?"

She huffed out a laugh, which was his intention. Then she leaned her head against his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her. "I just feel like I betrayed him, is all."

Pietro rested his head against his twin's hair, understanding exactly why she felt the way she did. She might be one of the most powerfully enhanced humans in existence, but Wanda had always been like this. She always felt things so strongly. Though he had never told her this, Pietro was certain the reason Wanda developed the powers she did in response to the experimentations by Striker and Hydra was because of how much she felt.

They sat there quietly for a moment, Pietro waiting until Wanda pulled away. When she did, he looked at her and raised his eyebrows in a silent question. She nodded. He stood up, pausing for a moment to look at her again, "You know that it's not even really a secret. Or at least not to everyone."

Wanda tilted her head, "Oh?"

Pietro nodded, "Yeah, he went to Bruce to ask him questions about soulmates, so he knows. And since Banner was in the lab with Parker and Stark, so of course they know, because Stark eavesdropped. And Stark currently has Clint checking her out, so you know that Nat also knows because those two share literally everything. Oh, and Loki has been circling her for nearly a month and a half now, using various disguises to do it. And of course, Thor likely knows because of Loki."

Wanda stared at her brother. "How in the world do you know all of that?"

Pietro shrugged casually, "I hear things."

Wanda shook her head, "And I'm the one who can read minds. I get why Stark has Clint checking her out, but why is Loki?"

Pietro finished his apple, tossing it towards the trash can, "Simple, she isn't just Scott's soulmate. She's also Loki's."

Wanda's eyes flared and her finger tips sparked, "What?!"

Pietro nodded, crossing his arms as he leaned against the dresser, "Yes. That should be interesting. Especially when you consider that Loki and Scott aren't her only soulmates. She has two others."

"What? Who?"

He shook his head. "Don't know yet. But I imagine we will find out soon enough. She has to know who they are because if she didn't, then there would be no way that Scott and Loki would know that she has more than them otherwise."

Wanda shook her head again, "How exactly did you hear all this?"

"Little sis, I can't give away all my secrets." He walked forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Then he was gone and Wanda was laughing as she stood up and got ready for bed.

Vision floated in through the wall. "Wanda, I am glad to see you are back."

She went to her soulmate, wrapping her arms around him. "Vis, I'm glad to be back. I hated it took so long."

The synthezoid ran a hand down the young woman's hair, "Darling, what is troubling you?"

He led her to the bed, laying down so that she could wrap herself around him like she had gotten into the habit of doing ever since their relationship began. When he originally asked her why that is how she beat liked to sleep, Wanda had stated simply that having him hold her helped keep the worst of the nightmares away. Vision didn't need sleep, or food, but he found great enjoyment in laying down with his soulmate and holding her while she slept.

Once she had snuggled herself into him, she sighed heavily and explained what had happened.

I heard the knock on my door as I was putting the finishing touches on my outfit. Scott refused to tell me where we were heading tonight, just said it wasn't going to be something super fancy. So, playing it safe, I had gone with a pair of black jeans and a bright red shirt. I called out as I pulled on a pair of converse sneakers and then answered the door.

Scott was standing there, wearing jeans, a grey shirt and a plaid over shirt he had left unbuttoned. His hair was a mess, but it was cute. As he took me in, that grin of his flashed, "Hey Lexi. You look great."

I couldn't stop myself from smiling in return as I thanked him and told him he looked great, too. He gestured grandly to the stairs before saying, "Let us embark on this official not-date."

Laughing, I followed him down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk. I glanced around, looking for the van he usually used when he needed to drive somewhere, but it was nowhere in sight. Looking at him in question, he jerked his head down the sidewalk and said, "We are actually walking. It's not that far away."

As we walked, I went through my mental catalog on what was in the area as I tried to figure out where we were going. But I came up completely blank. Scott asked me about what I had been up to, so I gave him a rundown of how exciting work at the library was. I almost mentioned Loki, but Scott was still acting like he wasn't an Avenger and I wasn't going to let him know I knew. Plus, the whole thing was Loki was just weird and complicated.

Not to say this thing with Scott weren't complicated. But with Scott, there was friendship, and that part was easy. And aside from that single kiss, he seemed okay with being friends. When he stopped in front of a building, I eyed the bright lights.

"An arcade? I thought we were going to dinner?"

Scott beamed, "Well, this arcade has some truly terrible pizza and shit we can munch on while we play."

"But an arcade?"

Scott held the door open. "Well, this is a not-date after all. And no self-respecting adult takes a date to an arcade, so clearly this was the best choice."

I laughed at his logic as the sounds of the place hit us like a brick when we entered through the second set of doors. I looked around at all the games. There was a bowling alley at the far end, and every kind of arcade game you could think of. From the classic to the more modern.

Scott bumped his shoulder against mine, holding up a sack that was bulging with quarters. "So, what do you want to play first?"

I spotted the air hockey table and pointed it out. As we wound our way over to the table, I looked over at him. "I'm going to warn you now, I have a serious competitive streak. And I'm not afraid to play dirty."

Scott's face lit up at the statement, "Well, then you are in for a treat. Because I too am super competitive and like to play dirty." He added a wink as punctuation and handed me one striker and put in the right number of quarters to get the game started.

The table turned on; the air pumping up with a hiss as the puck dropped into the slot on my side of the table. Grinning, I sent a wink back to Scott and when he blinked in surprise; I sunk the puck into his slot with a loud clunk.

Scott exclaimed, "Hey! I wasn't even ready."

I laughed again and said, "I warned you Lang, I am not afraid to play dirty."

I kept my eyes on his as he dropped the puck back on the table and attempted a ricochet shot. I easily blocked it, sending the puck shooting back and slipping into a gap that Scott left unintentionally open.

I spun my striker in a tight circle. "Two to zip, Scotty boy. And we've barely been playing for two minutes."

Scott dropped the puck on the table again, lining it up as he said, "So, you don't just play dirty, but you taunt dirty, too."

I grinned as he hit the puck towards me. "Damn straight."

The volley that proceeded was intense and lengthy, but ended with me sinking the puck into his goal yet again. I laughed gleefully and in that moment I heard the telltale thunk as Scott took advantage and got the puck into my goal.

"Oh no, look at that. I'm on the board. Three to one now."

I set the puck on the table, feinting to the right and then hitting it to the left. Another intense volley occurred and then the puck sank into my goal again. Several more volleys occurred until the score was sitting at 6-to-6.

Scott had scored the last goal. "Oh, no, Lexi. Lookitthat score is all tied up. You ready to lose?"

I bared my teeth in a feral grin. "Aw, those are bold words coming from someone who is going to lose."

I flipped the puck on to the table and shot it at him. The volley that followed was the longest and most intense yet, but finally with a loud thunk the puck slid home into Scott's goal.

I jumped, "Hah! Winner! You lose."

Scott laughed, sliding his striker across the table as he came over to me, "Man, you don't just play dirty, but you're a sore winner, too."

I slung my arm around his shoulder. "I told you. Wanna try best two out of three? Or are you afraid I'll win again?"

Scott shook his head, "How about instead I beat your ass at pinball?"

"You wish!"

Several hours later, the sack of quarters completely emptied, we left the arcade. I was carrying a ridiculously large stuffed elephant and Scott was wearing a chintzy gold crown.

I eyed the crown as we walked back to our apartment. "I can't believe you got that with your half of the tickets."

Scott proudly tapped it, "Well, since I was the king of the arcade, it only made sense."

I gasped, "What? You were totally not the king of the arcade."

"Pretty sure that I won the most games in there." Scott declared confidently.

"Pft. Pretty sure we tied, because you can't count skeeball since you broke the damn thing."

Scott turned around so that he could face me as we continued walking. "Don't be a sore loser, Lexi. It's not my fault you chose the giant purple elephant instead of the crown of winners."

I gave a smug smile, "So you admit you didn't actually win King of the Arcade, you tricked yourself into the title."

Scott spun back around so he could throw an arm companionably around my shoulder, "Don't hate the player, hate the game."

I groaned in mock disgusted and shoved against him as we walked up the stairs to our apartment building. Once we got to our landing, we stopped in front of my door, turning towards each other.

Scott's lopsided smile flashed as he leaned towards me and said, "If you want a chance to topple the king and win my crown, you'll just have to declare another not-date to the arcade."

"Bet your ass." Was my response.

We grinned like fools at each other for a beat before Scott's face got suddenly intense again. I swallowed thickly at the sudden change and said, "I had a lot of fun on this not-date."

He stepped into my space, his toes bumping against mine as he looked at me. "I did too."

We were breathing the same air, and I said, "Scott—"

His mouth cut me off. This time, the kiss was the exact opposite of the first one. It was all heat and passion. I was pretty sure I made some kind of sound in the back of my throat as my body responded to him. The hand that wasn't holding the stuffed animal came up and fisted in his shirt as he pressed me back against my door. He changed the angle of the kiss, deepening it as his tongue chased mine. He had one hand digging fingers into my hip and the other had buried itself in my hair.

Just as I felt an ache deep within my core, he was pulling back. I made some kind of sound of protest and I caught the faint smirk on his lips. He ran a hand through my hair for a moment before he said, "It's getting late."

I made some kind of half sound that was something like, "Mhm".

Scott's blue eyes glinted as he stepped back away from me, breaking all contact.

"You have work in the morning."

I again made that half sound and this time Scott grinned fully before he said, "Go to bed. I'll see you around."

He waited with his hand on his doorknob as I got my door open. I glanced over my shoulder and gave a hazy, "Good night, Scott."

His grin flashed again as I shut the door. The last thing I heard was, "Sleep well, Lexi."

Right. Sleep. That was totally going to happen now.