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The day started off like any other for Sam; a team meeting here, a training day from hell there. Now, he’s finally able to stroll down the street closest to his apartment in New York.
He could technically stroll through the air in his suit, but there was a feeling he couldn’t quite place that he ultimately accepted as content whenever he walked among the people in the city. Perhaps it was their amusing desire for autographs; Sam would never turn down the kids.
Deep down he knew it was because it reminded him of home in Louisiana. It was a comfort filling a piece of him that never quite felt fulfilled. He thought his heroic acts with his team would fill the void, but something was still missing. Sam didn’t tread on it too much and pushed it down til the next time his mind decided to wander dangerously.
As Sam turned the corner to return to his apartment, his body went forward and collided with the concrete. The sound of gasps and awe from surrounding civilians filled his ears as he tried to push himself up. It proved to be only slightly more complicated than it needed to be due to the extra weight of whatever had fallen on him in the first place. The said extra weight made a huffing noise and—
Wait a minute. What the—
“What the hell, lady?” Sam demanded. “Are you okay? Where did you come from? Did you just jump off the building or something?”
The petite woman scoffed and waved her hand dismissively before dusting herself off. As the crowd of people began to disappear, she pushed herself up and tucked something inside the sleeve of her blouse. “You could have helped a lady up,” she said, “and no I didn’t jump off a building.”
“I’m sorry, but my manners are kind of selective when it comes to people jumping on me,” he replied.
“I didn’t ‘jump on you’ as you say,” she snarled. “My landing was a bit off, yes, but this is no way to treat your soulmate.”
Sam couldn’t have heard this woman correctly. “I’m sorry, what?”
She nodded, her dark hair bouncing in the gentle winds. “My name is Pansy Parkinson, a witch, and I’m the better half of your soul, darling,” she said coolly, a small smirk playing on her lips. “I wouldn’t be here for any other reason.”
He would rather the Hulk smash before he believed that ridiculous crap. Soulmate? A witch? There was always another explanation somewhere, even if he did know another witch and mythical magic stuff existed out there…
With a groan, Sam rubbed the back of his head and blinked. “I need a drink.” He cast his eyes toward the woman. “And we need to talk.”
“Very well,” Pansy replied. “Where would you like to go to discuss this?”
Sam looked at the area around them. This was no place for whatever conversation was going to occur between them. “Anywhere but here.”
She nodded once again and stepped closer to him. “I’ll follow your lead, but if you try anything so help me Merlin I will not hesitate to hex you.”
The Avenger gave her a look over his shoulder. “Seriously lady? Well, same to you.”
He could hear her snort behind him, and he wondered what the hell he’d gotten himself into. Somehow.
The pair stared at one another from across the table. Sam rubbed the back of his finger under his chin and swirled the contents of his chosen bottle of beer around. Pansy leaned back in her chair with her legs crossed, rocking one of her heels and tapping her finger on one of her folded arms.
The silence was odd yet satisfying. He knew the first thing he could have done was alert the rest of the team, but he’d stopped himself. That void he’d been feeling for some time now wasn’t lingering in the back of his mind anymore. It was as if her mere presence silenced all the nagging thoughts and yearning emotions. Perhaps there was some truth to the soulmate stuff, but still, he needed answers. Having a soulmate was still a large pill to swallow after everything Pansy explained to him just moments ago in his dining room.
“Let me get this straight,” Sam said. “We’re soulmates because some magic brought you to me in an hour of dire need.”
Pansy nodded in response with a hum. “That’s right.”
Sam set his bottle down and lifted his brow skeptically. “And that need just so happened to be timed around your execution for selling out your friends during a war with a noseless madman.”
Pansy didn’t back down from the stare he’d given and was quick to raise her own eyebrow and the finger once tapping on her arm.
“It was only one person,” Pansy corrected. “And they’re being dramatic because it was the bloody Chosen One. We weren’t on the same side, what was I supposed to do?”
Slightly impressed by the quick response, Sam relaxed his stern expression. The Sokovia Accords almost tore the Avengers apart, but they managed to get through it together despite differences of opinion. He could have easily been in a similar position as Pansy if things didn’t go that way. “What did you expect would happen by coming to me with this?” Sam asked.
The witch switched her crossed legs and unfolded her arms. “I didn’t expect it to work actually,” she admitted. “I never completely believed all this soulmate rubbish before. I just knew that if I died then, all would be lost for someone in my heart. I thought it was my best friend, Draco.” Pansy leveled with Sam with a small yet sincere smile. “Then a pop later, I’m here in the States with your face exploding in my head.”
This was so much to take in—and believe for that matter—yet he’d survived and thrived with colleagues over a hundred years old and from a place supposedly of myths. Was this really the weirdest thing that could happen to Sam? Hell, holding Bucky’s robotic arm for him from time to time was weirder than this.
Taking a swig from his bottle, Sam took in the witch sitting across from him. She was a bit disheveled, but her overall posture and nature had a sense of grace to them. Her sharp eyes and even sharper tongue were attractive, to say the least; he did like 'em feisty.
Not that it was the top priority at that moment.
This woman, this witch, his soulmate had come to him in dire need. He couldn’t turn her away, and a part of him sure as hell didn’t want to. There would be some explaining to do to the rest of the team for sure, but he’d work that out later. Her magic might come in handy now that he thought about it…
“Well, Pansy,” Sam said finally. He stood up, walked over to her chair, and held out his hand. “You’re here now, so we’re in this…whatever this is, together. We’re gonna have to work on you using your magic in case you’re tracked with that, and I guess that means you’re staying here with me.”
Pansy glanced around the apartment with a small scrunch of her nose. “It needs a woman’s touch in here, and I suppose I’m inclined to take on the task now that it’s where I’ll be spending my time.” Her eyes stopped on his outstretched hand, and she took it, pulling herself up from her seat.
They were standing barely centimeters apart and looking directly in each other’s eyes. Sam swallowed hard at the glint that flashed in her dark-colored eyes, his heartbeat picking up upon the realization of their close proximity.
“There are those manners,” she said.
The day started off like any other for Sam, but it damn sure didn’t end that way.