13 Tapes of Hell (Avengers)

s. g. r.

"Steve, your turn." Bucky said, sitting back down as the TV turned on.

"Hello, Steve." The girl known as Ivy said, an obvious sharpness in her voice.

Oh, shit. Is the only thought running through Steve's head, along with everything he has done to her during her elongated life.

"You want to know what I'd describe you as a liar. Liar." She spat.

"Why a liar, Steve?" Bruce asked curiously. Steve pondered the question himself, not quite remembering himself, that was until..

"You said I won't make it, 'Got no potential.'" Ivy said, air quotes in use at the end. A quiet groan was heard from Steve, realization finally settling upon his face.

"What, Steve?" Natasha asked.

"I was the one who forbade her from joining the army. I didn't want to risk losing both my best friends, I had known her for a few years before Bucky joined the war, then when I did. I knew most things about her, how she would fake anything to get in." Steve explained.

"Should know I don't fake shit, I'll show you the door." She motioned to the door behind her, but continued. "You wanna put dirt on my name, knocking me down but in vain. Try to put stones in my way, but I got what it takes."

Yeah, you do. Steve thought sadly, remembering all the difficulties he put her through, all because he was selfish and didn't want someone else to risk their life. Because he wanted to come back- if he came back- to someone he knew and trusted.

"When you're playing with me, then you're playing with fire," Ivy said, flames igniting her body as she shifted back into the girl that they all knew. Said girl raised her left hand, pulling the extra length of the sweater up too, facing the back of it towards the camera as the flames flickered out. There laid another symbol, circular, and in America's patriotic colors.

Steve's eyes grew wide in horror. Oh my god, she was my soulmate- she was our soulmate- how the hell did she hide this?!

"Hating on me, then you're taking me higher," everyone lowered their head in shame. "Say that I'm weak, and I'll make you a liar. You said that I'm weak, and I made you a liar."

"So, Mr. I-would-never-do-something-bad-to-someone-who-didn't-deserve-it, what did you do?" Tony pressed. Steve rolled his eyes before responding.

"I forbade her from joining the army, I did everything I could to stop her. I made up rumors, put obstacles in her way, lied, did anything I could to stop her from joining-"

"And you thought it worked, too, didn't you? In the end she still got fucking hurt." Bucky cussed.

"Yeah, well I can't foresee the future. If I knew she would've been captured with you, I would've allowed her to join-" Steve tried to reason, only to get cut off again.

"That's the problem Steve! You don't own her! You don't make the calls in her life- you should've just dealt with yourself and not worried about her! She could obviously take care of herself, unlike you." Bucky spoke, shock and regret filling his face after he said the last sentence. "Steve, I'm sorr-"

"Your stories were made up, you want me to fall. I'll show you I'm greater, once and for all." The female said, eyes flashing a beautiful orange before fading back to their original color. "Now, you want to jump on the train, trying to copy Bucky."

The two friends shared a look, both knowing they messed up. Maybe not too bad in the present, but terribly in the past. They returned their attention back to the screen, now seeing the girl morphed into the Akal Winter, eyes having a red-orange tint to them.

"You act up like an enemy, really that was burning jealousy. Wishing you were friends with me? That's just a blurry memory." The Akal Winter spoke, shifting into Ivy.

"You act up like an enemy, really that was your jealousy. Wishing you were friends with me?" She let off, shifting once again into the familiar girl. "But you're dead to me."

Steve cringed at her words, as well as the rest of the team. "You said that I'm weak, and you're just a liar."

With those words uttered, the screen clicked off. Everyone sat in silence, basking in what she had said.

"Another soulmate, huh?" Bruce said, trying to ease the tension. "Five now."

"Well, I know I fucked up." Most of the team gaped at Steve's choice of wording, but they understood what he meant. Steve himself walked over to the box and picked up the next tape labeled...

(Explanation: when Bucky joined the army and Steve went to follow, the female wanted to join them. She also got rather pissed off whenever Steve would tell her no. Soon enough she took matters into her own hands, but when Steve found out, so did he. He made up any rumor, lie, gossip, or obstacle just to prevent her from joining. After this happened for a few weeks, she had given up any hope of joining, so she secretly started her own training with drills she remembered from her time on Asgard. Soon enough, Hydra came along and all that jazz. She discovered her soulmate mark and tied it with Steve once she saw him again, more like his shield. It was a perfect match. Once she had seen him again, she was filled with anger and shock. Constantly avoiding communication with him, even trying to not be in the same room as him at times. She didn't go past that, though, knowing exactly what it would feel like. She did do one thing though, she constantly showed off how impressive and advanced she was. She refused to ever have Steve say she couldn't handle something ever again. But alas, she couldn't handle the constant neglectful, abusive tendencies from her teammates. With only six days remaining, she started preparing for her leave, just as Steve had done to her before.)